Final Fantasy VII (1997)

Talking about Final Fantasy VII in 2025 it's a very special experience: It has been almost thirty years since its publication to universal acclaim, tons and tons of pages have been written about its legacy, its themes and its meaning. It inadvertently created a franchise that includes movies and spin-offs and special appearances, yet at this point we found ourselves in a sort of lull between the second and third instalments of the Remake trilogy, so not a lot of hot takes and content is being produced at the moment and still, it is Final Fantasy VII: what is there to say? How do you recommend a game like this? Do people still listen to recommendations?

How, in the year of our lord 2025, do you talk about the OG FF7? It is like looking for something new to say about Breaking Bad , or The Beatles or Miguel de Cervantes (Esta es para mi gente hispanohablante). It is Final Fantasy 7, man. go play it. It still holds up nicely (Don Corneo and the polygons not withstanding), but it is such a good game, such a momentous piece of gaming history.

This is my fourth play through, which I decided to do as preparation to play the Remakes. I half expected to have a hard time completing the achievements because, let's face it, my capacity for grinding and min-maxing is greatly reduced from my middle-twenties' peak and I don't have nearly enough time to spend on a game as before. Yet I found it surprisingly pleasant. There is grind, but the grind is soft, and kind of easy and rewards you with awesome, game breaking stuff. I remember the Chocobo breeding and Gold Saucer arena way worse than it actually was, or maybe I just instinctively know what to do and the grinds do not take that long any more (It took me an afternoon each). So it was actually a nice time doing this grindy tasks while getting ahead on my favorite podcasts.

And the story... Man, I hope that the remakes keep this simplicity and straightforwardness. I don't mean that this game is devoid or complexity, which OMG it is not, even at this point when it has become the inspiration for so many others. The story is still fresh and impressive and fool of depth, and constantly reminds me why the game is so fondly remember. Hell, in this playthrough I even reconnected with Vincent and Caith Sith, in general my least favorite characters. I can see them now in a new light and how much tragedy and action potential they add to the story.

Timeless. A Classic. We should play it forever. Hopefully the remakes hold up.

The 2012 PC release of Final Fantasy VII is a straightforward port of the legendary 1997 PlayStation title, it retains the original game's powerful storytelling, iconic characters, and strategic turn-based combat, which helped define the golden era of JRPGs. A lot of ideas used on this title, on literally every single element of it's mechanics, are still used to this day, especially when it comes to the narrative and story-telling. Never before we had seen things like flashbacks and deep backstories for important characters, they pretty much simply existed, and you had a paragraph worth of information about them, mostly mechanical ones, they never felt like real people that could actually exist, and you could relate to.

This version is essentially a cleaned-up reissue of the earlier 1998 PC port, with a few minor updates to make it run on modern systems. It includes support for cloud saves, achievements, and a slightly improved MIDI soundtrack, though it still lacks the polish of a full remaster, so only play this if you can tolerate decades old graphics. The character models are blocky, the pre-rendered backgrounds are low-resolution, and there's no native widescreen support, similar to the original title. QOL improvements are minimal, despite these shortcomings, the game remains fully playable and faithful to the original experience, so if you never had the chance to play the original, this is your best bet on modern systems.

For players new to the series or long-time fans revisiting Midgar, this version offers a nostalgic trip, but it feels dated without the help of mods. Particularly speaking I never used any mods, though I did some research and there is an amazing modding community behind this title, especially when it comes to Steam. So I highly recommend exploring the Steam community, you'll certainly find something to enhance the experience, a good one would be to improve the 3D model details. Ultimately, it’s a solid way to experience a classic, but not the definitive version by today’s standards. I consider this one of my childhood's best experiences playing videogames, I'll never forget the first time I saw it and was absolutely blown away by it's graphics.

I remember it vividly, it was in the second disc section where you board into a moving train, in order to try to stop it, lots of fighting and a timer to see if you can make it before it crashes into a small town that exists in the train tracks. For a lot of people this was their first cinematic gaming experience, it was for me, and an unforgettable one that deserves all the respect of the entire gaming industry, for following a lot of it's formulas, even up to this day. It is definitely a must for FF and JRPG fans, don't skip it, absolutely one of the best games of all time, with one of the best stories and characters the gaming industry could provide. I also highly recommend to 100% this title, it has some amazing optional content, such as hidden characters, bosses, dungeons and unique items.

I remember twenty-three years ago playing Final Fantasy VII and being completely blown away. Transitioning from 2D to 3D experiences, companies like Nintendo, Rare and Square seemed to make the leap seamlessly, completely altering how we see video games and still influencing the biggest games released each year. But Final Fantasy VII was more than just a company figuring out how to add a new dimension to their long-running franchise. Final Fantasy VII was - for many players - their introduction to role-playing games, their entrance into games that told an actual story, and done with visuals that were completely unlike anything that had ever been seen before. Final Fantasy VII became a classic almost immediately, a game that was put on a pedestal that it still remains on today, as one of the most influential games ever made.

I remember playing Final Fantasy VII a lot when it came out, an eleven-year-old with his strategy guide in hand, ready to explore the world of Final Fantasy. Even with help within my reach, I never played much beyond Midgar, the small town in which FF7 begins. That didn't matter though, the experience of teaming up with AVALANCHE, meeting Aeris and trying to take down Shinra was enough for me. I couldn't get past the Shinra tower, so instead of powering through, I tended to just restart the game and play through Midgar again. I can remember only once getting outside Midgar, past the first disc, then getting stuck once more, only to give up yet again.

But despite how much I loved the game and how important it was to me and to gaming in general, I never finished Final Fantasy VII. Over the years, I played the other games in the franchise, always with FF7 in the back of my mind as a game I should've always finished. When the Final Fantasy VII Remake was given an actual release date, I figured it was time to finally give another go at this massively important game.

Honestly, I started the game dubiously, with my arms metaphorically crossed. Had twenty-three years of fan love and blind admiration made this game seem better than it actually was? In a weird way, I felt this throughout the Midgar section that I had played so often as a kid. I found the narrative to be all over the place, a game that flies from multiple terrorist attacks, directly into a cross-dressing minigame. It all felt like a mishmash of ideas that wasn't quite coming together for me.

But then, I got into the world. At times, I did find the process of going to a new area and learning some secret about some member of my party to be a bit too predictable, but getting to explore this world really opened my eyes to the grandiosity of FF7 and how huge this game must've felt in 1997 - especially considering it still felt massive to me in 2020.

The narrative, which I originally found to be a bit too scatterbrained at first started to become a massive strength to me. What starts as an adventure to find and defeat the game's villain, Sephiroth, becomes something else entirely, then it becomes something else again. This game evolves in a way that even though I knew certain things would happen, I was surprised by how much they influenced the game that came after. There's a certain amount of joy that exists in this game that rightfully doesn't exist again once the first disc ends. Later on in the second disc, I found it fascinating that the game takes away some of the primary characters - a twist I didn't know was coming - in order for the player to appreciate the secondary characters that they may have left on the sidelines.

Which leads me to something that I greatly appreciate about FF7, which is how the game navigates the player without ever feeling like it is holding their hand. It wants the player to explore with new characters, but finds a genuinely interesting narrative reason to make the player do so. Areas of the world are closed off - even though entering the overworld always feels like a giant undertaking - but the lack of exploration options come from the vehicles that you've found so far in the game. It doesn't feel like the game putting restrictions on the player, but rather, a natural progression that makes sense narratively.

There are still parts of Final Fantasy VII that haven't aged particularly well, as one would expect. Almost every minigame feels like a product of its time and while it's certainly ambitious, they are hard to navigate all these years later. When I originally played this game, I had a problem moving around some spaces - like the train graveyard - and these issues still came up all these years later. While this might just be me, I also feel like I missed a lot of what this game had to offer simply because I didn't know the game was offering it. Reading through some guides after I finished the game, I saw side missions and hidden items that I would've never known about. Finally, I do actually wish this game held my hand a little bit more. There are simple things that I figured out on my own through trial and error, like how to move up levels in my limit breaks, but things like the barrier meter I never learned throughout my entire time playing the game. While this didn't really get in the way of things, I do think it likely made the game harder for me, and I do wish at times the game would give me more obvious idea of where I should go. There's one part where I had to find a key in the ocean, and I saw no implications that that was what I was supposed to do until I searched for the answer online.

But the core of what made Final Fantasy VII such a great game still works remarkably well here. I found fighting and leveling up in the overworld to be a surprising blast, as I tried to explore different combinations of what I could and couldn't do against each enemy. The materia system is arguably the simplest and most intuitive magic system in any Final Fantasy game I've ever played.

I was also still in awe of the game's transitions from video segments to parts that I could play. It's easy to see where one starts and one beings nowadays, but it's still extremely impressive all these years later.

Of course though, what keeps this game in the hearts and minds of players is the story, a narrative that still surprises and still has a massive amount of heart behind it. It's a remarkably complex story in its relationships, but I never feel like the game gives easy solutions for these dynamics.

Final Fantasy VII is ridiculously ambitious in what it was trying to do and the fact that it succeeds in almost every thing it attempted is remarkable. Square threw everything and the kitchen sink into this game and it worked wonders, tying gamers to this franchise for decades with a rich fighting system and an engaging story that still remains one of the most beloved today. It only took me twenty-three years to finish this game, but Final Fantasy VII was well worth the wait.

Considering I thought the entire game took place in Midgar before playing this, the scope of this game really surprised me. It has a very timeless, epic feel to it even today. Also, I played on the switch version which had 3x speed and the ability to disable random encounters; I don't know what I would have done without these features honestly.

Plot: A little bit of a generic save the world plot honestly but it is saved from this by two things: ambitious plot twists (two specifically) and the bittersweet ending.

Characters: Great. Extremely memorable. Had any of these characters died it would have been very impactful which is arguably the sign of a good character. Dived into the backstory of all of them which helped make it feel like a family. Not a huge fan of Vincent and Yuffie being optional/the fact that you can just miss out on their content without a guide honestly though.

Gameplay: Not a huge fan of turn based games and this wasn't much of an exception. When you are spamming "A" through like 80% of the battles there is probably something wrong with your mechanics. This was amplified by the fact that there are too many random encounters. You cannot go far at all on the world map without having an encounter, which significantly limits the enjoyment I feel exploring the world map. The materia was a fairly interesting device, though, but I never really felt any incentive to try and strategize or obsess over anything because you never really have to care too much about it to progress.

Visuals: The pre rendered backgrounds on this thing are so gorgeous. The character models are obviously dated but the backgrounds make up for it. I don't think I'll forget a lot of these backgrounds any time soon; they are just that memorable.

The more I think about this game the more I like it. Gorgeous, timeless and inspiring.

DONE. Beat it. I have finished Final Fantasy VII. Good for me.

My thoughts are a little scatterbrained right now, so it's going to be difficult to write a review. I didn't take notes as I was playing, but I remember most of my impressions. I'm just coming down from the high of the final boss, which was an exhilarating experience, but I'm still cognizant of the reasons why I can't justify a five-star review. I'll break it down into parts, like any reviewer worth his salt.

Story:

People like to praise this particular entry for its storytelling, and, all in all, I do agree with that praise. I wasn't always convinced of its greatness, but overall it's a very unique story about a group of ecoterrorists trying to stop A) a group of scientists destroying the planet with technology, and B) an evil demi-god trying to destroy the world so he can rule it. It's a bit convoluted, and I'm going to have to watch a few YouTube videos to figure it all out, but it was compelling, I'll give it that. The parallels to our current political climate of climate change vs oil and gas were not lost on me, and it was a particularly interesting experience playing the last half of this game during the current Coronavirus pandemic.

Combat:

This was really good, for the most part. Fairly typical Final Fantasy stuff. Once I really mastered my core set of characters and got them set up the way I liked it, I had a lot of fun beating up on the baddies. I gotta say though, I didn't prefer the Materia system to the Esper system in FF6. So basically, magic in FF7 works by equipping each character with Materia, which increases in power over time. And it's actually kind of nice because the power is associated with the Materia, so if you fully power up your Lightning Materia, you can then give it to another character, who will have access to the full power of Lightning. This made it easy modify characters and try new things.

This was really annoying, however, any time you had to switch out your party and re-manage your whole Materia set-up. I think ideally you're supposed to just have enough Materia to fully equip every character the way you like it, but that's way too time consuming, and I didn't like most of the characters. More on that later. The Esper system, on the other hand, still allowed you to give any power to any character, but after enough time, that character fully learned that ability and didn't need the Esper anymore. I would have much preferred this. I spent about twenty minutes before going into the boss fight reequipping all my Materia because the game took it all away from me, and I was going to be pissed if I had to do it all again if I died. Luckily, I did not.

Characters:

Like FF6, FF7 has a large (but not as large) cast of characters that, for the most part, you can sub in and out of your party throughout the game. Some parts of the game force you to have certain characters, but it's up to you to manage your party, make sure they're all nicely equipped, and pick your favourites. For me, however, I kind of just fell in love with my main three characters and was annoyed any time I had to use anybody else. I went into the final boss with Cloud, Yuffie, and Vincent, and that's who I played with for most of the game. I did level up Barret for a while near the end of the game as a backup, but I didn't end up needing him. And some characters I just never used. Like Cait Sith. Because he sucks.

As characters, they were all fine, except Cait Sith, but as characters you actually need to battle with, they were not all fine, especially Cait Sith. I suppose most of them could be good if you worked them enough, but I just couldn't be bothered. Cloud, Yuffie, and Vincent for me.

Other Gameplay:

I think this is a big part of why I can't give it a five-star review, and why parts of the game dragged on. FF7 tried to take advantage of the fancy new controller and cool graphics of the PlayStation by throwing in all these mini games and things. Some of them worked, some of them didn't. I couldn't stand Fort Condor. Snowboarding sucked. The Gold Coral was the worst place in the world. And other things were just kind of there, like marching in an army. I can't say it was bad, but it certainly wasn't engaging.

Side quests were pretty cool in this game. I liked how there were optional characters to find, and at any given time there seemed to be lots of little secrets you could discover if you went exploring. However, some of them I just really can't imagine how you would find without a walkthrough. I didn't use a walkthrough for most of the game, so I know I missed a lot of things, but I did use it for some things, like finding the location of some of the Limit Breaks.

MINOR SPOILERS IN THIS PARTICULAR PARAGRAPH

Ok, so there's a cave. A very hard-to-find cave. And if you go into that cave with a particular character, you will see a cut scene. Afterwards, the cave will be empty. Then, if you leave the cave for a while and fight a few enemies, you can go back to the cave, and voila! There's your Limit Break for you. WHY WOULD I EVER THINK TO DO THAT? Even if I figured out how to trigger the cut scene, I would never come back because THE CAVE WAS EMPTY. Like holy crap how did people play this game in 1997.

General Impression:

Overall, I did really enjoy this game. I took a break from it for a few months because other games were more compelling and I wasn't overly compelled by the gameplay, but my impression after beating it is quite positive, and I will be finding a place for it in my top 50 games list. The music was awesome, and I definitely see where Kingdom Hearts drew a lot of inspiration. I really enjoyed learning about the dynamic between Cloud and Sephiroth, which is hinted at in Kingdom Hearts but never explained. I still don't really understand it, but I'm sure someone on YouTube will tell me all about it. The ending is fantastic, and the final boss will definitely make a top 10 list if I ever make one.

Despite its flaws, I do solidly recommend this game.

There, how's that for an off-the-cuff review?

We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers And sitting by desolate streams; World losers and world forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems.

-Arthur O’Shaughnessy

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Once in awhile, a title comes along which defines its respective genre for years to come.

Today, September 7, 2017, we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the North American release of Final Fantasy VII. Twenty years ago, this game became an instant legend and it’s remained a source of fascination and adoration for those two decades, with only a few of those anti-culture contrarians claiming it’s crappy and overrated. For the rest of us with our heads on straight and our eyes full of Mako, we know that Final Fantasy VII may not be perfect (get back, you savages!) but it sure is an incredible experience representing a milestone in gaming history.

The immediate problem that confronts us is this: it’s really intimidating to review, analyze, and in some areas even criticize a legend. When a game is as beloved as Final Fantasy VII, when it’s surrounded by a sea of rumors, hoaxes, tributes, fanfics, fan art, fandoms and fandumbs, spin-offs galore, the tease of a remake, and favorite “ships”, it becomes this insurmountable mountain of a task to write on the game. How do you say something about Final Fantasy VII that hasn’t already been said? What could you write about it that could possibly appeal to (or satisfy, for that matter) the seething masses of religious-level fans that adore this game? How could you possibly criticize the nuances of its mechanics or its storytelling and survive unscathed after the inevitable internet backlash? Yet I believe that great artists and art deserve good criticism.

This is a moment of transparency for us. For me at least. It’s really hard to write about famous games! It’s very intimidating. That’s why I personally fluctuate from reviewing newer games to older games, titles that everyone has heard of to hidden gems, classics and legends to obscure unknowns. Maybe, if you’re a reviewer, you suffer the same malady, and I wonder what you do to get around it?

In any case, we couldn’t exactly pass up the opportunity to review one of the most beloved games in history (next to what, chess and football?). We couldn’t miss the opportunity on its 20th anniversary, either. A massive bucket of gratitude must go to the Black Humor Mage (a founding member) for creating the germ of the content below and proposing to write a review for Final Fantasy VII on September 7th, 2017 at all.

Since we had to do this game justice, since we felt we couldn’t just do a regular review, here’s what’s about to happen. Let me present to you our first ever Dualcast Review!

Think the dual techs in Chrono Trigger. In a Dualcast, two mages combine their respective magicks to produce a piece that receives input from both writers in a kind of back and forth conversational format, emphasizing two different perspectives at once. I’ve wanted to do something like this for some time now and this anniversary of FFVII proved to be the perfect chance to create a Dualcast.

Click here for the full review... https://thewellredmage.com/2017/09/07/final-fantasy-vii/

Rating

10/10

Mini-review

Second best Final Fantasy. Great characters, great story, great setting, and amazing music. This game is great and I truly believe it deserves all the praise it gets. The gameplay is your stand JRPG affair which can be a bit of a turn off but I personally didn't hate it too much.

Recommendation

I highly recommend this game.