REVIEW - Final Fantasy VII (1997/2012)

So I've been playing a lot of retro games recently, some that are pretty okay andd some that are just legendary. I was on Steam the other day, and I saw the "Legendary Final Fantasy VII on sale for €3.49. I was intrigued to see what made it so legendary, and as someone who enjoyed Final Fantasy VI and A Realm Reborn: Final Fantasy XIV Online maybe FF7 was worth at least one playthrough. After all, it IS one of the highest rated games of all time, right?

Final Fantasy VII takes place on a fictional planet similar to Earth. The game starts off - and sort of ends - in the city of Midgar, a city ran by the conglomerate corporation Shinra Inc., who are seeking to drain the planet's blood (known as Mako) for their own personal profit. Many people disagree with the way Shinra do things, and a group of rebels known as AVALANCHE (yes All caps because I dunno) have had enough. A train pulls into Midgar and AVALANCHE announce their plans to blow up the Number 1 Mako reactor, with the help of a mercenary: the game's main character, Cloud Strife. The journey that Cloud goes on throughout the game's 3 discs is one of triumph, laughter, love and heartbreak. FF7's amazing plot is only surpassed by one thing:

It's amazing gameplay.

Final Fantasy VII uses the trademarked Active Time Battle system first introduced in 1991's Final Fantasy IV. Time is constantly flowing during battle's, so quick thinking and decision making are almost a necessity to win. What set 7 apart from every other game in the series were two things: Materia and the Limit Break. Materia sort of worked like Esper's in Final Fantasy VI although the mechanic was much easier to understand. You could equip any Materia to any character and they would have an effect on them, such as increasing or decreasing Max HP/MP. They would also level along with characters towards a Master level, when they would be traded in for a tonne of cash or to use their Master ability. Limit Breaks were special attacks that occurred when a character sustained enough damage to activate it. (indicated by the Pink Limit meter in the battle window) When Activated, characters would unleash devastating attacks ranging from 80 to 90000+ HP damage in total. It's a fast, fluid and most importantly addicting battle system.

Graphically, even for an early PlayStation game, Final Fantasy VII doesn't impress. Characters are blocky and have pretty much no detail on them and the pre-rendered backgrounds look muddy especially if you have the 2012 PC Re-release. The game is really unappealing to the eye, although I'd say back in 1997 the Full Motion Video scenes looked stunning!

Musically, Final Fantasy VII has one of the best soundtracks on any game ever made. The composer, legendary FF series veteran Noubo Uematsu deserves a round of applause for the music he made for this game. The theme's of Cloud and Tifa are amazing, but the song Opening Theme~Bombing Mission is just godlike and you should check it out when you get the chance.

What can I say that hasn't been said already about this game? It's amazingly written and beautifully constructed. Sure, it looks like complete shit but graphics are not everything in a JRPG, just ask Tales of Xillia. You should all play this game, ASAP.

Story: 9
Gameplay: 10
Graphics: 3
Music: 10
Personal Enjoyment: 9

FINAL FANTASY VII (PS1/PC) FINAL SCORE: 8.9/10