Don’t Look Away: You May Get Lost
Final Fantasy 7’s plot is a little tough to grasp in a simple synopsis. There are many twists and turns in the story, and it really does require an in-depth explanation. What it does provide is decent character development, a complex narrative, and more than a few tears. Nobuo Uematsu out does himself once again with an amazing soundtrack, including one of the most intense boss battles of all time in “One-Winged Angel.” The music adds the perfect touch with wonderful melodies and captures every moment. Final Fantasy 7 marries sci-fi and fantasy in this entry, allowing for medieval inspirations with a more modern twist. Each area is carefully constructed and, for the most part, the story moves along quickly.
That being said, there are a few spots where the pacing slows to a crawl. The narrative itself becomes increasingly complex and character development is allowed into territories that were previously untouchable. Without the strict censorship, Final Fantasy 7 was allowed to tackle some darker subject matter (though Celes attempting suicide in FF6 is pretty dark).
On the other side of the coin, some have found the story to be overly complex and dramatic. Also, the translation is thought to be a terrible short-coming – there are a significant amount of simple errors in the English translation. Regardless, FF7 is viewed as one of the best in the series and perhaps one of the best games of all time.
Breakthrough to Blocks: FF7 Graphics Then and Now
Final Fantasy 7’s graphics are one of the game’s major pain points. When the game first released, the look and feel was something that had never been done before. The realistic backgrounds and in-battle character models were outstanding to say the least. However, the over world character models were blocky and deformed. Another point of contention centered on spell and summon animation. While both were graphically outstanding, one of the biggest complaints is the time sucked up by long spell animation. There is no skip option, so when it comes to long summons, players are left re-watching the same spell over and over again.
There is no quick fix for the spell animation, but the future has brought gamers MODS. Players who’d rather look at cleaner looking character sprites have the option of upgrading their graphics with some downloadable player mods. Of course, you’d have to re-purchase the game.
Final Fantasy Basics
Final Fantasy 7 is much like its predecessors; players use a main party to travel across an over world map, through dungeons, towns, and other areas in search of plot points and hidden treasures. While the scaling has improved, the character models were still blocky and awkward. As with the previous series, players have access to a number of different vehicles that aide in exploration, so there are no surprises here. Players can also run into random battles in order to build up experience and find gold.
Battle System: Set Up
The battle system in this game is incredibly simplified when compared to previous entries. For character set-up, each character can equip a character specific weapon, plus an interchangeable piece of armor and accessory. While accessories boosts stats or provide protection from magic or status ailments, the armor and weapon contain different slots for materia.
Materia is the central skill system of the game as well as a major plot point. Depending on the equipment slots, players could junction several types of materia in order to cast spells, perform actions like ‘Steal,’ or add effects to a character’s equipment. There are several equitable materia types: green for magic, yellow for skill, red for summon, purple for support, and blue for junction materia. While the characters don’t have any innate unique abilities, players could customize the stats based on materia set-up.
