Why Final Fantasy VII is Still the Best RPG Ever Made

The author explains why this legendary RPG is indeed legendary, and why no role-playing game has managed to beat it.

[Codewow]

I can agree with this article. 7 and X-2 were my all time favorites in the franchise. I just wish X-2 was on steam as well...

[crxss]

FFVII holds an immense amount of nostalgia for me. I could believe it's the best if I ignore everything Square put out for the FF7 compilation

[bouzebbal]

FF7 is special because it is the first commercial FF game that everyone has been talking about. It's an awesome game but to me FF6 is better, i can't explain why.

[Aceman18]

For me it will always and forever be FF6 that's the greatest RPG ever created.

[MWH]

you lost me on x-2

[Codewow]

I only enjoyed X-2 because that was the one I played the most after borrowing it from my friend. So my opinion is pretty biased.

[sanosukegtr123]

That was my first rpg game.

[Zero-One]

I still have a problem with VII's ending and Yuffie, but aside from that, I still love the game whether anything likes me doing that or not.

[3-4-5]

Can't be the best game ever when you allow one hit kill monsters to block the next village 4 hours into the game.

I was really liking most of it until then.....ALL my motivation for playing completely dropped off.

Not sure why...I wanted to like, but that very moment was like a " WTF...WHY!?"

That part of the game serves no purpose but to add frustration.

It adds to the game in no way, and for it to be THAT EARLY in the game is just a joke.

I'm sure the rest of the game is cool, but when something like that is ALLOWED or chosen to be in a game then it's just too much..

I'm glad it was made for all of you to enjoy or love but it's stuff like that that have me questioning the final fantasy series and just how "great" it really is.

( Part I'm talking about is right after Midgar. You go to a village and right after have to go to the 3rd village on foot or chocobo, but either way a one hit kill monster that kills my entire party FINDS ME EVERY TIME ON MY WAY THERE.....

No matter which route I go, chocobo or no....It finds me...a battle starts...and My team dies.)

^ Literally serves no purpose to any game ever....but or course it was left in the " Greatest game of all time"...

What a joke. Solid game but far from the best.

[averagejoe26]

Not sure if you're trolling or just really... And I mean.. REALLY bad at video games... I never had an issue with this part of the game... Neither did any of my friends whom I watched play through the game (and they aren't even big gamers)... Sorry bud

Also, this part does serve a point in the game by showing off Sephiroth's strength when you later realize that tough monster was destroyed by him

[3-4-5]

No I'm actually pretty good at almost every game I play. It's literally the only game besides Robocop 3 back on the NES that gave me trouble.

Well Battletoads too I guess, but back then all games were hard. Yea I grew up playing much more difficult games than FF7.

To add more: I was just really frustrated at the time and kind of wanted to get on with the game. Just got out of Midgar and that happened. I was just like " ahh whatever..F this for now."

But I never went back.

Not trolling, just venting. lol

Music, characters & Art Style were awesome to be honest, but that one part in the game was just not needed and at that particular moment in time, it was enough for me to give up on the game. Not sure why...it just is what it is.

I understand this is some people's favorite game of all time.

[Viperoholic]

BTW i do think FF7 and FF8 was the best in the series. FF8 was on par if not better then FF8.

[Viperoholic]

.

[Viperoholic]

LOL i played this game so much and was so good at it. I replayed it my second time and killed that monster in that part of the game. I just leveled my guys all up to beat him. it was awesome.

[WonderboyIII]

Grandia and Chrono Trigger are better RPGs

[MWH]

Hello brother,

Chrono Trigger maybe but not Grandia. After you cross to the other side of the wall the excitement starts to fade and that final boss was a joke.

I love Grandia, one of the best rpgs, but not better than FF7 in my humble opinion.

[WonderboyIII]

The light heartedness in comparison to the overcomplex over-sad story made me feel better.

[Magicite]

For me FF9 was the best FF, but best RPG was Chrono Cross.

[SegaSaturn669]

I just played X-2. It was such a joke. I really enjoyed that you could assemble a team of monsters but the story was absolute drivel, so I have mixed feelings on it.

[maniacmayhem]

It's good and definitely memorable but the best ever?

I think the jump from NES to PS1 made this game a great experience. But when looking back the story had it's flaws and huge plot holes. But there is no denying that gameplay, characters and action was spot on

I think the Tales series has surpassed FF and even FF7. Vesperia and Xillia are some of the best RPG's I played this gen.

And I can't wait for Xillia 2 to come out.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

Yea 2013/2014 was me catching up on Tales games. I beat GracesF, Abyss3DS, Vesperia, and Xillia in that order. Vesperia currently is my #1 in the franchise. And while I liked FFXIII I enjoyed the Tales series this gen a lot more.

[Nate-Dog]

I thought Xillia was dire. Vesperia I agree on, however.

[King_of_Nothing]

Xillia didnt do it for me either. Vesperia was amazing though!

[F4sterTh4nFTL]

No.

[-Foxtrot]

It's good but I think other Final Fantasy games did things better then FF7

It was the first game which evolved the series but lets be honest something like Final Fantasy 8 and even Final Fantasy 9 did things better then Final Fantasy 7

I mean I still think Final Fantasy 8 pretty much took most of the things in FF7 and stepped it up. Better story, better music, better character development etc

I really feel the majority of people who go on about FF7 these days haven't really played it, it's newer gamers hearing about how good FF7 was and are going off what other people have said.

[MWH]

"I mean I still think Final Fantasy 8 pretty much took most of the things in FF7 and stepped it up. Better story, better music, better character development etc"

http://img3.wikia.nocookie....

[-Foxtrot]

Why you posting that...sorry but it was a better game

People pretty much hate on FF8 because it wasn't a direct FF7 sequel...that's all, and most people today who haven't even played on it just repeat what they've heard. Most of the things people go on about with FF8 are exaggerated to hell. I'm not saying it's perfect but it does most things better then FF7.

Character development for one, especially Squalls transformation from beginning to end

[MWH]

sorry Foxtrot, you're a nice fellow I even like your avatar but my fellow gamer; I cannot disagree with you more.

FF8 had some charming moments but it's hardly comparable to 7 let alone doing everything better.

I played nearly 200 hours, chocobo world, collected all the cards, proof of omega, name it I done it. but in the end I came to realize that FF8 was lacking in almost every way.. it was:

http://img1.wikia.nocookie....

[-Foxtrot]

Lacking...it was hardly lacking, it was full to the brim of things to do. Triple Triad for example was just the tip of the iceberg. There were many things to do.

[Nerdmaster]

"especially Squalls transformation from beginning to end"

I think you meant "from the end of disc 3 to end".

To be fair, I finished VIII but never could endure VII until the end. I think that if they removed Squall, Zell, Selphie, the "plot twist", the long GF animations, and the whole "enemies level up as you do", I could have really liked VIII.

[-Foxtrot]

"I think you meant "from the end of disc 3 to end"."

....Urm...no

From Disc 1 to Disc 4 there is massive character development

Disc 1 - Lonely Selfish Jerk
Disc 2 - Has to face up to responsibilities
Disc 3 - Starts to Care for those surrounding him
Disc 4 - A brace heroic leader surrounded by friends.

[DashArrivals]

FF7 was the best game that I'd ever played in my entire life, UNTIL I played Demon's Souls. Can't wait for an eventual FF7-remake

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

It was good but I still feel like it's kinda overrated but, that could be just cause I think FFVI is better.

[Aceman18]

FF6 is just that damn special.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

uh no it not. Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, FFIV, VI, VIII, IX and X, Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenogears, Tales of Symphonia, Abyss, and Vesperia, Bravely Default, Radiant Historia, Persona 4, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Ni No Kuni, Earthbound, Mother 3, Golden Sun, Fire Emblem Awakening, Valkyria Chronicles and many others are WAY better.

[Fishermenofwar]

Chrono Trigger is sick...I loved the combo attacks...And Frog?Glen was Epic...I liked him better than the main character...

[goldwyncq]

Only 3 RPG from that list are actually better than FFVII.

[King_of_Nothing]

Whole lotta nope in that list. Only a few of them are on par with VII. The vast majority of those cant even touch it.

[ritsuka666]

Nope.jpg. This title belongs for Grandia Jrpg.

[Baka-akaB]

Nope not even close with title like Xenogears , Chrono Trigger , Chrono Cross , some of the "Tales of" , FF tactics , FF6 etc . it was and still is great , but isnt even the best amidst its own serie , let alone the whole genre .

The one massive advantage it got over some of the old titles , was the CGI and 3d realisation ... when most of those were either 2d or had a way smaller budget

[DasTier]

"Why Final Fantasy VII is Still the Best *JRPG Ever Made"

Fixed

[Nate-Dog]

I was coming here for this, thank you.

[Whitey2k]

funny thing is the amount of time square is making XV they could of finished the remake of FF7 since it was shown at E3 in 2005 just shows how stupid and pathetic they really are

[Fishermenofwar]

Couldn't agree more...

[mamotte]

Amm...... best RPG? Never. VI is actually better, and, at least for me, the best RPG is Chrno Trigger.

[Fishermenofwar]

Agreed my friend

[rextraordinaire]

Best rpg, for me, goes to Persona 4 and Valkyrie Profile Silmeria. I guess it's *gasp* a matter of taste.

[Illusive_Man]

FF9 is much better game than FF7.

[salazarnaruto52]

Thank you :)

[bangoskank]

Couldn't agree more. Easily the best post SNES installment.
Chrono Cross and Panzer Dragoon Saga are also much better games from that generation. Oh, almost forgot Suikoden 2.

[DualWielding]

No, that's Persona 4 (Golden) or Suikoden 2

[Chrono]

It's a great one but not THE best.

[salazarnaruto52]

The title should say "why FFIX is still the best RPG ever made"

[Whxian]

its hard to really say what the best jrpg is, but if we just look at rpgs that that are from squaresoft, that i'v enjoyed more than ff7, then i enjoyed ff6,8,9 and xenogears more.

[Summons75]

It was good game but the weak story and poor characters made it difficult to be great. You want great look at Ff6,8,4,9,5 chronotrigger, Grandia.

[averagejoe26]

You mention weak characters then go on to say 8 and 9 were better

8...Selphie...Irvine...Zell.. . Couldn't be more forgettable characters... And I love ff8

9 suffers from similar character issues... Barely any depth besides vivi and dagger...

[Summons75]

That's completely inaccurate, sure they have some forgettable characters but the entire cast of FF7 is unlikable. Seriously how am I suppose to like a stereotypical black man, an Emo, or a villain with mommy issues and worst off they introduce some of the main cast as TERRORIST who killed hundreds of people! At least 8 & 9 most of the characters were likeable and made the game interesting character development wise. FF7 I couldn't wish all the painful character could hurt get by any fast so I could hope the game could get better, needless to say the plot just got messy and convoluted after disc 1.

[Spotie]

Playing it now. Literally.

It's better than I remember, but still not better than VIII, X, Xenosaga, Valkyrie Profile, Legend of Dragoon, Valkyria Chronicles, Breath of Fire III, or Persona 3/4.

In my opinion.

[goldwyncq]

There's no such thing as the best RPG ever, or the best game ever for that matter. It's all subjective.

[HeavenlySnipes]

Not even the best by Square
Chrono Trigger and Cross are better games

[ps360s]

For me it will be FF7 as that's the first RPG I had played

[feraldrgn]

Both were good at the time, though X-2 was a little hard to stomach.
I can't return to either of them though, they lose my interest about half way through.
Best part of FF7 is Midgard.

Also, Crisis Core was a brilliant prequel.

[breakpad]

totally agree the best ever and it is not gonna happen again unfortunately

[sanosukegtr123]

There is something about it. That was the first rpg game I ever played and a years later I brought it on the psn for the vita. YEAH!!!

[Adrian_v01]

FF VII was my first rpg, but the best one so far to me is Persona 3.

[TuxedoMoon]

I guess? Personally, my favorite PS1 RPG from square was Xenogears. I used to think FF7 was the best on ps1...untill I played through Xenogears (think it came out a year after FF7?). The story, battle system, and world were all just very interesting. Plus, who doesn't like jumping into a mech and stomping on monsters?

Square needs to get on that FF7 HD remake. But then again I don't think Square likes money anymore. Fans be begging for an FF7 remake, but NOPE! Instead they give us FF13-2&3! I'm sure they have enough money to develop FF7 HD from all the money they get from FF14's subscriptions and various mobile games.

[ninjahunter]

Ok golden sun.

[aliengmr]

I remember the first time I played FF7, got 5 min in and shut it off, couldn't stand it.

I'm not hatin on it, I fully agree that it's a great game, but it was the first time I can remember genuinely not liking a game.

It was me and not the game.

[AshleeEmerson]

This and Dark Cloud are my favorite of alllll time (Legend of Dragoon was awesome ad heck too).

I can only imagine how awesome the remake would be. One thing I don't understand is how some people think they would mess it up by it no longer being a turn based rpg... Sounds silly to me considering that's how the original is.

In the wake of a remake, I found this the other day.

http://teespring.com/bringb...

Got mine ordered when I seen this last month!

[renerak]

I don't know abt wheather 7 is the best rpg. But as a person who only played 7, 8 and 9 just recently. I enjoyed 9 the most and for me it was the best final fantasy story then 4 and 3. Only 9 felt like it was natural, the other ff stories felt like trying too hard. Only xenogears managed to have a complex story which felt real in that world and not trying. So from my point of view who is not affected by nostalgia ff 9 was truly the best ff i have played.

[Kiddcarter]

No love for vagrant story anybody? I can't say whats the greatest of all time, i just know personally I go back and forth all the time between ff7 and vagrant story as my two favorite rpgs and two favorite games period