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I suppose that Final Fantasy VII is the game that turned me on to RPGs in general, and as I played through it, it was the greatest game I'd ever played. Now, however, looking back, I see that although Final Fantasy VII was a great game, great is never good enough.
Let's get the negatives out of the way first. The graphics come to mind. They're not in any way consistent. The battle models look like Anime characters, the FMV models look like much more realistic Anime characters, the world map models look like anime characters painted by a 5 year old. Some kind of graphical consistency would be nice.
Also on my list of beefs are the FMV. The package says there are 60 minutes of it, but it certianly doesn't seem like it. And as for the world map graphics, when you walk around, all of your characters are condensed into one, which is pretty stupid, in my opinion.
Probably the biggest problem I have with this game, though, lies in the ending. I guess the best way of putting it, is that it seems anticlimactic. You go through so much with these characters and then ..... it's just over.
Those are pretty much the only things that piss me off in retrospect, so now for the good news. The battles are interesting, requiring the use of a uniquely balanced Materia System (A continuance if the Crystals theme from earlier FFs) which you equip to gain Magic, but they also decrease stats. Throw in the varying kinds of materia and you have a vast system that takes a while to master.
The limit breaks were another neat feature of FF7. After a character takes so much damage, he or she is able to perform a special attack, and as your levels go up you gain new limits to use. (Albeit that the Limits aren't as good as in FF8, but....)
In addition to the battle, the replay value of the game is excellent. The game has numerous diversions, such as beating the WEAPONS, mastering all the materia, mastering the games in the GS (The Speed Square is particularly addicting), getting everyones Limits and Ultimate weapons, Breeding chocobos, etcetera.
The sound isn't anything special, like FF4, FF5 and FF6, but it's nothing to complain about. Some of the chocobo themes are enjoyable, as well as the Turks theme and the Bone Villiage music.
The story, well, about the story. As I said in the review intro, it's great, but not that great. You follow the story of a mercenary with the unlikely name of Cloud as he joins with the rebel group AVALANCHE lead by Barret (I read a review where he was called a Mr. T look-alike and this is true) who are fighting the evil Shinra Co. Eventually, he finds the Shinra president murdered and it looks to be the work of an old army buddy of his, the legendary Sephiroth who is thought to be dead. Now he must discover Sephiroth's true intentions, as well as his own identity, all while dealing with the death of a lover and saving the world.
Sounds promising, right? Well, it is, but it's also complicated (not in the good way, like Xenogears) and a translation that is, if I may say so, shoddy, doesn't help. Plus many sequences, like the ending, could have been rewritten for a much more effective experience.
Lastly, I must mention the control of the game. It's fairly easy to master, but for some reason, Square has chosen to make the O button it's select option instead of the X button like most games. This can be changed, but unless you do,and you're used to using the X button, you may screw up at the critical point in a battle.
Overall, Final Fantasy VII is a game that is worth buying. It converted many gamers to RPGs (myself included) and it was basically the biggest game of 1997. If, however, you want a real meaty RPG, go for FF Anthology, FF8 or Xenogears.
