Final Fantasy 7 is NOT overrated

Seems these days there's always an user in a Final Fantasy 7 related article commenting how the game is overrated and whatnot. In my opinion these are probably people whose first console was a sixth generation console (ps2/xbox/gamecube) or maybe old n64 fan boys that were unable to play Final Fantasy 7 way back when.

First of all lets do the visuals, Final Fantasy 7 came out in 1997, 15 years ago, so how did Japanese rpgs look those days?

http://youtu.be/vLTCpWvNLEY
Wild Arms for the Playstation, released 1996.

http://youtu.be/dJ-toUi9jDc
Final Fantasy 7 for the playstation, released 1997.

Wild arms was a fine rpg but we can see how Final Fantasy 7 was on a different level of visual quality in those days. Not only did the game look good but there were many locations with impressive looking backgrounds. I remember playing this game for the first time and thinking how Midgar would be the only location and that was fine by me I was enjoying it so far, when I entered the wold map for the first time after 10 hours I was even more excited. The FMVs were epic, the backgrounds were great, the combat visuals were simple 3d that looked amazing at the time, visually Final Fantasy 7 did a great job.

The gameplay was great, the materia system was a cool way to get new spells and it felt good getting that new materia wondering how many more spells it would hold. The limit breaks were fun to look at and crucial to combat. This game had one of the most fun mini games in any Final Fantasy, chocobo racing. Not only was chocobo racing fun but it was necessary to get the strongest summon spell in the game. The Golden Saucer was a fun place to visit for the arena and mini games. The game also had 2 bosses stronger than the last boss to provide a challenge after you completed the game.

The music and story in this game made you feel part of an epic story. Aeris theme made you smile, Sephirots theme intimidated you, the boss battle theme excited you, the chase theme pumped you up. Chasing all game after a seemingly invincible villain made the last boss fight feel very satisfying, specially if you hadn't seen Omnislash in the whole game like me. I last played this game years ago but I remember how Shinra wanted to use the earths life force for their greedy ways, I remember that SOLDIER was the military organization protecting Shinra, I remember that Avalanche were the rebels fighting Shinra, I remember that Sephiroth wanted to destroy the earth to become a god. I can barely remember what i was doing in Final fantasy 13, which i played like a year ago, I remember there was a black guy with a chocobo living in his Afro I thought was funny, that's about it.

While I enjoy every Final Fantasy for what they are, good rpgs, none of them impressed me and stayed with me the way Final Fantasy did and the way Square Enix is going I don't think they ever will again. The reason we haven't seen a remake of Final Fantasy 7 and will not in the near future is because Square Enix simply doesn't make epic rpgs anymore, they just make shallow/fmv filled/bad anime inspired rpgs that leave nothing memorable with you after completing them. In order to remake a game like Final Fantasy 7 with a long story, many locations and mini-games it would probably take them 10 years to complete. Respect what Squaresoft accomplished in 1997, hope and dream that we will eventually see an rpg like this again from Square Enix.

[Godmars290]

But the game is VERY overrated in that Square and its fans think that a grand statement can be made with a remake.

[Xanatos]

If you consider all the content FF7 has, if they do remake it with hd current gen visuals, then yes it will be a grand statement indeed. If it was easy it would have been done by now.

[Godmars290]

If they could remake all of that content in a fashion similar to the original title is the issue. That in attempting to make such a statement they've already failed with the old E3 presentation they only backed away from, and now have had to skip a console cycle.

[MaxXAttaxX]

It's not overrated. It's overhyped.
Of the PS1 games, FF9 is my favorite.

On the subject of remakes. I think they should remake better FF games... uh sorry, I meant other FF games. Games that haven't seen the light of 3D rendering yet, like FF6 with or something.

7 still a good game though.

[Xanatos]

If the remake comes great if not so be it the game is still a classic, I don't think that was the point of the article, not sure why you are so focused on that

[Godmars290]

Simply put, if not for the remake talk, if not for the trailer of what such would look like on the PS3, nevermind the insult of backpedaling which more than announced Square wasn't up to tasks they themselves announced, the very argument much less this blog wouldn't exist.

[TransientDreamer]

I respect what SE did and I consider FFVII to be a very enjoyable RPG. The problem is that many people - including yourself, to a point - compare every single post-FFVII installment to the latter. In that sense, the game is overrated; no Final Fantasy should be compared to another the way people compare FFVII to the rest of the series. FF has always been about moving forward, and trying different things.

[Xanatos]

I know what you are saying about trying different things like Final Fantasys 12 and 13s battle systems, I really enjoyed them. However there are a few standars that are to be expected from one to the next, Square seems to think its visuals but its not.

[DragonKnight]

Sorry, but FF7 is overrated. While I'll grant that as a game, it is really good (even though it's one of my least favorite FF games ranking 5th in my personal top five), it isn't what people are making it out to be. Personally, I believe Crisis Core had a better story and Zack is a FAR better character than Cloud. I hate Cloud. His character is filled with too many holes. For example, even accepting the ridiculous element that he was living Zack's life due to Mako poisoning, Mako doesn't instantly make you a capable fighter. Cloud, when he was a Shinra soldier, sucked. How did he instantly become able to use the Buster Sword with such mastery? Then he regains his identity and what? You don't remember Cloud as Cloud, you remember him as Zack. Cocky and confident and clueless to women. Zack should have been the main character of FF7, especially after his life and experience was fleshed out in Crisis Core. It would have made for a better game to have a fugitive EX-Soldier helping out a terrorist organization than an ex Shinra Trooper no one remembered, thus making it easy on the story whenever Cloud would encounter someone from Shinra.

Sephiroth is a panzy too as a villain. He's borderline crazy but doesn't ever cross the line a la Kefka. Rufus made a better villain because he genuinely wanted people to fear him, even though he was underused.

The supporting characters were underdeveloped and the only ones with real personality were Barret, Cid, and MAYBE Yuffie. I couldn't care less about Aeris dying. Never used her in battle unless I had to. She made a better story element than a character. Tifa, for someone who can pummel anyone with her fists, was terribly weak as a female protagonist. Just standing by as Aeris tried to take Cloud from her, and then doing nothing when Aeris was gone. Sure, she ultimately brought Cloud back to his senses but really showed that the game was all about the struggle between Cloud's demons and Sephiroth.

The music was good. My favorite tracks are the Wutai Theme, the Cosmo Canyon Theme, and the Lifestream theme. I hate Sephiroth's theme. Too grandiose. The final boss battle would have been more epic were it just Cloud vs. Sephiroth in his human form the whole time. I personally like Jenova's theme far better than Sephiroth's theme.

The environmental graphics were amazing, no doubt, but I didn't like the blocky sprites at all. Didn't care if it had never been done, it wasn't fun playing with a walking lego character. The battle sprites were really good though.

Chocobo Racing was too easy. Once you knew about the infinite stamina trick, you could never really lose. Though FF7 does have the widest variety of mini-games I've ever seen even to this day. It's a shame SE chose to reduce mini-games to essentially one or 2 after each iteration of the series.

All-in-all, people give this game way too much credit. Successful marketing made this game the best selling in the series, but there are far better Final Fantasy games before and after it in my opinion. SE won't make a remake until they can beat it in terms of reception and sales, but that won't happen until SE start listening to what people want. We don't want production values at the cost of deep story, characters, and gameplay. No more FF13, more of the stuff that made FF7 have such a great reception.

[Xanatos]

Sorry I stopped reading after you said Crisis Core has a better story.

[DragonKnight]

That's fine, if you want to believe that an identity crisis victim fighting a nihilistic momma's boy is better than a soldier realizing everything he's been fighting for has been wrong, struggling against everything he knows, saving his friend, and dying a hero; that's your choice.

[UnitSmiley]

@DragonKnight

His hometown is burned down, family dead, hero murdered, experimented on like a lab rat, has the biggest organization on the planet against him, his fight against Sephiroth ends up killing a close friend, and on top of that finds out the last however long of his life he wasnt who he thought he was.

Thats more than enough reason to be depressed. Now in FFVII he has a bigger threat so he doesnt act too depressed since he needs to focus on the meteor and Sephiroth at the time.
Now after that his focus is gone so everything else starts really sinking in.

Feeling depressed after all that doesnt make a "nihilistic mommas boy", it makes him human. :/
And he does end up getting through it.

[Xanatos]

@ UnitSmiley

Waste of time to argue with that kind of person, hes obviously one of those people that played ff7 a week ago with a mind set that the game sucks. Oh and btw ff7 is not the best selling FF, ff13 holds that title.

[UnitSmiley]

Eh oh well, millions still love it!

Btw FFVII is actually the best selling FF. FFXIII isn't even close.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[Capt-FuzzyPants]

I don't know if CC can have a better story because in a sense they're part of the same plot. If there is a series with a continuing plot line that has links so they tie together you cant single out a specific game or movie or episode and say that one had the best plot. They are all the same in the grand scheme. I just thought CC did a great job of making Zack a character.

[Omnislash]

You get an agree since you are an actual Final Fantasy fan.

I think the game is one of the best but not the best. It set the bar for RPG's and it was a huge leap if you look at any games pre-FF7 I think it deserves the praise, even though I personally think FFX is the best Final Fantasy game. It had a better backstory and more developed characters.

[LiViNgLeGaCY]

FFVII was always my favorite. Not overrated in my opinion.

And no, it wasn't my first FF. It's actually my third. IV was my first, followed by VI.

[Dasteru]

Wow thats a first assuming you are being honest. Never seen anyone before who has played both IV & VI before VII yet still prefered VII. 99% of people who think VII is the best, started their FF experience with it.
Entirely nostalga.

I have been playing FF since the first, all in order and personally i would take IV, VI or IX over VII any day.

FFs in order from best to worst IMO would probably be.

VI
IV
IX
V
XII
I
VII
X
VIII
III
X-2
II
XIII-2
XIII

[Kratoscar2008]

The whole FF series is overrated, after playing Suikoden and Persona series i realized how overrated the FF series is.

FF7 is a great game granted is not my favorite but is great nevertheless it has everything a good RPG needs and more. You are right it has great mini-games my favorite is the semi-srpg mini-game in the phoenix canyon (Forgot the name) its so funny that i still have a save to play it.

It has a good history and the gameplay is super, there are games that are far overrated than FF7 like GTA 4, thats an overrated game.

[Treian]

My issue with FF7 is that is over shadows all the other FFs and is compared. That is why it is over rated.

[Hicken]

Agreed. I liked FFVII when I first played it. Played it after VIII, though, and found VII lacking.

I also found Legend of Dragoon and Breath of Fire III to be better games from different developers, but the same time period.

But as time wore on, nothing could be better than VII, according to many. It made me almost HATE the freaking game, the way VII fans tried to make every other game insignificant. As they tore into VIII to find something worth complaining about, I took a closer look at VII, and found that there were indeed some problems. I had never been a big fan of Sephiroth, who seemed to lose it over nothing, and Crisis Core only made that more apparent. It also made Cloud look weak as a character, and it made Zack, the most mysterious character in VII, look like he should have been the focus of VII's story. (I agree with Dragon Knight above: Crisis Core's story was leagues better than VII's was.)

Even here, few are willing to accept that VII is not the perfection that they wish it to be, but the truth is that Cloud and Sephiroth could have been done better; and with them being the focus of the story, it makes it all lack.

Of course, it's all down to personal opinion, but it's amazing how invalid your opinion is when it contradicts that of a large group. Sure, it would make some sense if you didn't have valid gripes, but if you DO, it makes no sense to be lambasted.

[Tuxedo_Mask]

While I like FFVII, I don't want a remake. I'd rather see SE try to surpass FFVII than just make the same game again. Sure, it would look better if they remade it on modern systems, but you can still play it on the PSOne if you want to.

It's nice to play games from the past, but I want to see better games from the future too. I agree that SE has focused more on the graphics than gameplay, but I think they can still get back on track if they just realize that games are supposed to be fun to play first and foremost.

[user5467007]

Yes it is...it's so overated that people feel the need to put FF8 and FF9 down because they feel threatened that those two games on the PS1 actually did a lot of things better then FF7 and it's not fair because if we take FF8 for example which is extremely hated on for no reason, unlike FF13 where it's totaly deserved, it makes FF8/FF9 look crap when in fact they are actually better from gameplay to the music.

It's only been named the "best" FF game because it was the first FF game on the PS1 which was in full 3D and because at the time the graphics were amazing.

[tidusforeverx2]

It is overrated. No question. I'm not saying it's a bad game but people give it way too much credit today. Sure it's a classic but people need to let it go. The reason that people do giver it too much credit because it was the biggest leap in gaming up to that point. I personally don't like the game. But I am greatfull that it set up so many other titles for greatness, like The Legend of Legia. I thought that was a much better game that many people overlook. But to say that it was the most memorable is only to say wow this is when they were finally able to make you attached to certain characters. But in this day and age no one is making memorable characters which is why the excitement is gone. I really don't think that they are doing a bad job now but it has become harder to satisfy the consumer especially at a 60 dollar price point and peoples expectations are really high. But people just get pissed when they take their time to make a freaking awesome game which is whats gonna happen with versus xiii. That's square's side. I don't care if it takes another 2 or three years but it will be one of the best damn games of its kind and they know it has to be. if it takes that much longer it will be frustrating, but when it does come out it will be freaking glorious. At least that's what i think.

[poolsharky27]

IMO - VI is the overrated one.

Because of Hipsters, see below:
'I liked final fantasy(FF6) BEFORE it was cool(FF7)'

>I played 4+5+6 before 7
>6 is in my low tier of favorites

On topic, 7 deserves it's praise, but it is overrated in the sense that it distracts players from trying something new/different.

Heres my tiered rankings for those curious:

Best Tier:
T / 10 / 8
Great Tier:
7 / 4 / CC
Okay Tier:
5 / 13 / 13-2 / 10-2
Barely tolerable(Couldn't finish the first play-through, haven't replayed more than twice tier):
12 / 9 / 6
Outdated(good for their time tier):
1 / 2 / 3

Opinions, opinions everywhere!

[Ulf]

Everyone's own personal FF ranking is fascinating, to me.

I have to concur with the majority, that FF7 was good, but definitely not in the top 3. I'm surprised to see some folks rank games like FF:CC high, and FF 6 low, as well, or that anyone could even stand to play through X-2 (which is my personal worst fav... although I have yet to play FF3).

[MacDonagh]

I wasn't very big on FF7 if I'm honest but I can understand why people really liked it because it was a game changer in terms of how JRPGS were represented. Whether or not that was a good thing is another story.