Final Fantasy VII

9.0, huh.
Actually, I'm surprised at such a high score. It kind of implies near perfection — unless you use a strong rating curve.

I think there's too little diversity between the characters (in combat) to be deserving of that. Combat was way too reliant on the materia to be interesting for me.

Also, I hated the minigames.

I don't suppose you'd give a subset of scores on different aspects, such as combat, non-combat mechanics, story, etc.?

The reason I ask this is because people value different things. One might be interested in a story and be willing to bear with mediocre game mechanics to experience it. Or vice versa.

This might sound weird, but I have had absolutely no problem going from the field models to the battle ones. The only time that has even remotely bugged me is with the FMVs: in some (particularly early in the game), the characters are chibi, but in others, they're normally proportioned.

I also take issue with the materia system not being "elegant". It's not on the same level as FF's various job systems, but it is a pleasure to use. Would you say the inelegance is due to its huge range of possible configurations?

Good review, though. It is true that humor is a major component in the game: it helps to ground the characters, make them appealing (including certain villains), and also, by its mere existence, enhances the dramatic scenes when they do appear. It seems like a lot of the fans (not to mention the creators of the Compilation of FFVII) just focus on the drama, though |

Honestly I would still give this game a 10.

The models were a lot less jarring when you think about the miniscule FF VI sprites that came before it. At the time this game looked incredible, but I think it still looks pretty good on an HDTV.

The music is top notch. Final Fantasy always had great music.

The controls are responsive. I put the battle speed to the max setting and characters will attack instantly. This is a feature lacking from FF VIII and IX which was restored in X.

It's not a perfect game. It's not the best RPG of all time. It is the most significant Japanese RPG to hit the western world though.

Fun review, nice screen shots too.

[quote name='ID2006']
Actually, I'm surprised at such a high score. It kind of implies near perfection — unless you use a strong rating curve.[/quote]
I have nitpicks with games I give 10s, to be honest. I see how that's weird but I think scales are more understandable if you get familiar the reviewer's material.

I don't suppose you'd give a subset of scores on different aspects, such as combat, non-combat mechanics, story, etc.?

Click to expand...

That approach has never made sense to me, to be honest. I think it's nice to just talk about the design as a whole and not cut it up into individual pieces, you know? The subset style is really a thing of the past these days, and I don't miss it.

Though if my writing is vague I apologize. I probably missed some key points.

[quote name='blueshinra']
I also take issue with the materia system not being "elegant". It's not on the same level as FF's various job systems, but it is a pleasure to use. Would you say the inelegance is due to its huge range of possible configurations? [/quote]

No I agree, it's not nearly as rich a system as a lot of other JRPGs. It's extremely cookie cutter stuff, and if this game was more drawn out I think it'd have a hard time carrying my interest.

Good review, though. It is true that humor is a major component in the game: it helps to ground the characters, make them appealing (including certain villains), and also, by its mere existence, enhances the dramatic scenes when they do appear. It seems like a lot of the fans (not to mention the creators of the Compilation of FFVII) just focus on the drama, though |

Click to expand...

Pretty much the hardest part of writing this was convincing myself that I hated FFVII fans and not the actual game, lol. I'm quite tired of hearing how much people cried over so-and-so's backstory when a majority of the game is actually a total circus. It's the same people who want to see this game made in the Unreal Engine. They seem to completely misunderstand some of the game's most important concepts.

But is it a safe bet?

i'm evolving, crotch. cut me some slack!