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"Final Fantasy VII" (PS1)
One of the highly-recognized RPGs that still holds today in terms of gameplay and challenge. Deep in story and strategy, this title has showcased the true beauty of storytelling, adventure and graphical animation (considered high-end during the time of its release). Truly a spectacle that'll shine forever in video game history.
(Note: this review was previously posted and written prior to the merging of RPGs For Brains and SHOWSOTROS Productions.)
Ah yes, here it is: Final Fantasy VII. One of the first games to come to mind when asked about the realm plunging deep into RPG country. A beautiful theme of caring for the land humans happily hibernate in, while pursuing aims to living existentially—a mirrored reality reminding us why Life is a great thing.
Almost immediately, you're headed into fights with enemies and suddenly a boss fight. Being a turn-based RPG, any other related RPG you may have played prior to this shouldn't be quantum logic to you, making you feel right at home. Knowing your group AVALANCHE and its members, various dialogues and cleanly figuring out the plot of the game, you continue to raid Reactors to and fro. You then run into, whom I consider my biggest video game crush ever, Aeris—the flower girl, or the slum drunk if you weren't interested in her, whose infectious and sweet personality would repay Cloud romantically, yet become a blessing for most of your fights thanks to her cure-related limit breaks. From knowing your party members' stories all throughout, what the drama with Don is about, the Turks, meeting Red XIII and saving Aeris should provide a chunk of what you need to do. Being the reluctant hero as he is, Cloud now needs to "settle the score" with his arch-enemy Sephiroth. As for the Shinra government, they too, as mentioned by Barret in the beginning, want all the Mako energy from the 'Promised Land,' as does Sephiroth making this a triangle of trouble. As you hop city by city, continent by continent, to stop both Shinra and Sephiroth, you meet a couple of new folks, like Cait Sith and the optional Yuffie and Vincent, who'll give you more leverage into stopping the possession of Mako energy to protect and save the Planet. In addition, you find that white magic Holy could be what the Planet needs to be saved from the casting of the black materia—Meteor. Sephiroth, toying with Cloud occasionally, does something unforgivable at the City of the Ancients, setting Cloud ablaze with rage for revenge.
On the second disc, you learn about the Jenova Reunion over at the Crater and more about the fate of the Planet. Unfortunately, as Cloud and his crew go past their limits to save the Planet, he offers Sephiroth the Black Materia, thus casting Meteor. It is then that the life of the Planet and everyone in it are at stake, and there's no time to waste. Meanwhile, as you escape execution from the Shinra authorities, you search for Cloud and begin to learn about his true story—the main reason he joined SOLDIER. After that, Shinra is at it again in the Sephiroth sweepstakes, only this time they're at Midgar trying to enter in the Crater. However, the operator of the cannon secretly turns the other cheek, becoming the main villain needed to be stopped.
Onto the third and final disc, the time has come: having learned about Holy becoming the key ingredient to saving the Planet from Meteor, Red XIII's grandfather Bugenhagen informs that eliminating Sephiroth is the only way. This is it: after chasing him city to city, and stopping Shinra at the same time, Cloud gets a shot at his revenge for the calamities Sephiroth threw in every which way. As with all fights involving Sephiroth, you fight Jenova—his 'mother'—and a couple forms of Sephiroth; the tougher form being Safer Sephiroth. After hammering the final nail in the coffin against Sephiroth, the Planet is finally saved by Holy...or was it?
With fluid controls and great gameplay, I can't resist but mention the numerous grammatical errors in the dialogue. I completely understand if all was rushed, having been the most awaited game to be released. However, don't let that deter you into picking this classic up. Also, with the integration of cut scenes and polygon-esque graphics—considered "highly advanced" back then for a 32-bit game in the late nineties—should give you a clear glimpse of video game technology in the past. It's certainly not like today with high definition graphics, but then again, graphics are just decoration and in no way can expatiate pure goodness of a video game as a whole.
As for my gameplay, I (literally) mastered ALL the materia I've equipped for all party members, along with obtaining all their ultimate weapons and all their limit breaks. I nearly burnt out doing so. Benefits of this? The final fight with Jenova and Sephiroth become so easy, you can likely live with using the "Attack" command without any defense magic, and probably a few Megalixers (assuming you've equipped Ribbon to block any status ailments from them). All my characters were at Lv99, was able to master one—I know, only one—Knights of Round materia and eliminated both Emerald and Ruby Weapon prior to the final fight (thank you, Mime materia). With all this time invested in maxing out your party members, makes the final fight super easy against Sephiroth; it's nothing compared to fighting the Weapons, both of which are much tougher with a higher amount of HP and a flurry of vicious attacks. However, if you're up for a challenge, these enemies are a great test of your gaming skills; they don't need to be eliminated to save the Planet, and rather are just there as an optional fight to push your skills to the limit (you do learn about the Weapons casted by the Planet in Disk 2).
Despite its grammatical flaws, this is a staple in an RPG fan's video game library. In the culture of role-playing games, VII seems very much a requirement to play before venturing out to other RPGs. Included with it comes its philosophical message/meaning and story defining the true meaning on what Life is really all about. Don't even think about jumping into a forum filled with avid RPG gamers discussing your passion for RPGs without playing and finishing this game. That's how good this game is.
- A true classic that will run the player through almost every human emotion in existence.
- Story still holds deep, philosophical discussions to this day.
- Its popularity pushed a modern remake of the game, along with its own feature film Final Fantasy: Advent Children
- HUGE replay value.
- Unusual yet funny misspellings.
- After playing for a while, the Weapons pose a stronger, more fun challenge than Sephiroth.
Fan Rating
Profile |
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| Game Title | Final Fantasy VII |
| Description | An epic adventure across 3 cd-roms. What begins as a rebellion against an evil corporation becomes much more. And what erupts goes beyond imagination. With vivid landscapes, lush 3D animation and environments, Square Soft's multi-million dollar masterpiece is like nothing ever seen before. And it is only on PlayStation |
| ISBN / Bar Code number | 711719416326 |
| Video Format | 1.33:1 (4:3) Full screen |
| Audio Format | Stereo |
| Language(s) | English |
| Disc(s) | Three (3) |
| Region(s) | NTSC |
| Genre | RPG - Role-Playing Game (Turn-based) |
| Rated | T - Teen |
| Released | January 31, 1997 (JP), September 7, 1997 (US Black Label), March 27, 2000 (US "Greatest Hits"), November 17, 1997 (EU) |
| Video Specification | Color |
| Licensed by | Sony / SquareSoft |
| Developer | Square Co. |
| Company | SquareSoft (Square Co.) |
| Product / Item / Catalog Number | SCUS-94163 |
| Copyright | Final Fantasy VII © 1997 Square Co., Ltd. |
| Other Formats | PlayStation 4, Android, iOS, PC, PSOne Classics |
| Quoted Reviews | "...quite possibly the greatest game ever made." —GameFan Magazine "Towers over the competition in terms of graphics, sounds, story and playability" —Game Pro Magazine |
| Other | -- |
Hironobu Sakaguchi
Director
Yoshinori Kitase
Music Composer
Nobuo Uematsu
Main Programmer
Ken Narita
Character Design & Battle Visual Director
Tetsuya Nomura
Art Director
Yusuke Naora
Image Illustrator
Yoshitaka Amano
CG Supervisor
Kazuyuki Hashimoto
CG Movie Director
Motonori Sakakibara
Character Modeling Director
Tomohiro Kayano
Magic Effect Director
Hirokatsu Sasaki
Special Magic Effect Director
Shintaroh Takai
Battle Stage Director
Akira Fujii
Graphic Outside Contractor Art Director
Hitoshi Sasaki
Outside Contractor Coodinator
Hiroyoshi Hamada
Animation Director
Hidetoshi Omori
Battle Plan Director
Yasushi Matsumura
Map Plan Director
Hidetoshi Kezuka
Map Plan Co-Directors
Takeshi Endo
Motoharu Tanaka
Masato Yagi
Main Character Modeler
Hiroshi Arai
Battle Programmer
Hiroshi Harata
Character Programmer
Hiroshi Kawai
CD & Movie Programmer
Shun Moriya
Sound Programmer
Minoru Akao
Sound Engineer
Eiji Nakamura
MA & Recording Engineer
Kenzi Nagashima
Story by
Kazushige Nojima
Yoshinori Kitase
Based On The Story by
Hironobu Sakaguchi
Tetsuya Nomura
Field Section
Programmer
Keizo Kokubo
Event Planners
Kazushige Nojima
Keisuke Matsuhara
Hiroki Chiba
Motomu Toriyama
Jun Akiyama
Kazuhiko Yoshioka
Hideshi Kyonen
Kazuhiko Aoki
Special Thanks
Takashi Tokita
Masato Kato
Map Planners
Masaru Oka
Naoya Kawahira
Satoru Tsuji
Toshio Kurihara
Junko Iriguchi
Masashi Nakata
Ryo Tsurumaki
Concept Art by
Tetsuya Takahashi
Takayuki Odachi
Background Designers
Takaharu Matsuo
Matsuzo Itakura
Kenzo Kanzaki
Kazuyuki Ikumori
Yukio Nakatani
Takeshi Okui
Hiroshi Matsuyama
Kazushi Urata
Yasunori Higuchi
Masaaki Hayashi
Sub-Character & Character Texture Designer
Kazuhiro Okawa
Assistant Character Designer
Fumi Nakashima
Character Modelers
Takanari Tajima
Murasaki Iriguchi
Hiroyuki Hoshino
Character Animators
Norihito Takami
Tatsuo Heianzan
Battle Section
Programmers
Akihiro Yamaguchi
Kazumasa Fuseya
CG Programmer
Masaharu Inoue
Planners
Takayoshi Nakazato
Goro Ohashi
Masahiro Kataoka
Takatsugu Nakazawa
Special Thanks
Toshiaki Suzuki
Monster Modelers
Kouichi Ebe
Yoshio Yamakawa
Hirohito Yamamoto
Character Animators
Tatsuya Kando
Kuniharu Takeuchi
Go Kikiuchi
Monster Designers
Shin Nagasawa
Tetsu Tsukamoto
Battle Stage Designers
Hideyuki Matsumoto
Jun Mastsuo
Kyuji Kawase
Masahide Tanaka
2D Animetors
Kenichirou Okamoto
Hiroyuki Yotsuji
Magic Effects Section
Graphic Designers
Youichi Tanaka
Hiroyuki Ikeda
Kunio Asahara
Programmers
Kentarow Yasui
Shinichi Aoyama
Mitsuo Yoshioka
World Map Section
Planner
Masato Yagi
Programmer
Yasuo Kuwahara
Graphic Designer
Hideyuki Matsumoto
Effect Designer
Takayuki Odachi
Chocobo Race Section
Programmer
Keitaro Adachi
Graphic Designer
Ryotaro Takahashi
Planner
Hiroki Chiba
Condor War Section
Programmer
Ryo Muto
Graphic Designer
Hiroyuki Yotsuji
Planner
Kazuhiko Yoshioka
Submarine Chase Section
Programmer
Shin-ichi Tanaka
Graphic Designer
Hiroyuki Yotsuji
Takeshi Sanda
Planner
Motomu Toriyama
Highway & Roller Coaster Section
Programmer
Tatsuya Yoshinari
Graphic Designer
Takeshi Sanda
Planner
Keisuke Mastuhara
Snowboard Section
Programmer
Tadamichi Obinata
Graphic Designer
Daiki Komatsu
Planner
Jun Akiyama
CG Movie Section
Field CG & Movie Designers
Hiroyuki Honda
Yoshinori Moriizumi
Kanako Aoki
Yuko Akiyama
Ayako Kuroda
Movie Engineers
Motohisa Adachi
Ryusuke Sasaki
Banprest Co, Ltd.
Tadao Odaka
Koji Tanaka
Koji Kobayashi
Keiko Imamura
Takeshi Yamazoe
Kazutoshi Sakai
Daisuke Shigeta
Battle CG Support
Monster Animators
Masateru Suzuki
Kouichirou Soeda
Junnichi Murata
Reina Ikeda
Mari Miyamoto
Yusuke Tanaka
Manabu Inokuchi
Kyouko Muramatu
Kenji Kadonishi
Yousuke Asahara
Hiroyuki Hamada
Ikuyo Yoshida
Nobuhiko Imai
Yukimasa Nakauchi
Makoto Yagishita
Monster Modeling
Yuki Kawaguchi
Rie Masuda
Kumi Kanai
Nokazu Sato
Kazuhiko Torishima
Toshimasa Takahashi
Yoshihiro Takeshita
Yoshiyuki Oku
Hideo Kubota
Takuya Tsunakawa
Hideo Yoshikura
Yuu Kondoh
Sound Effect
Yoshitaka Hirota
Yuichiro Mori
Mitsuhiro Iwadate
Yoshikuni Nakamura
Sephiroth Choir
Soprano
Matsue Fukushima
Minae Fujisaki
Alto
Kazuko Nakano
Saki Uno
Tenor
Toru Tabei
Daisuki Hara
Bass
Toshizumi Sakai
Masashi Hamauzu
Excerpts From "The Creation"
Composed by Joseph Haydn
Soprano
Matsue Fukushima
Tenor
Daisuki Hara
Synthesizer
Masashi Hamauzu
SQUARE USA STAFF
Tool Programmers-LA
Paul Ashdown (V.P.)
Yun-Po Paul Fan
Shiro Kawai
CG Designers-LA
Ron Sabatino (V.P.)
Sharon Packer
Joseph Black
Nicholas Hoppe
Suzanne Berger
Doug Smith
LA Unit Coordinators
Junichi Yanagihara (S.V.P.)
Shinichiro Kajitani(V.P.)
Ryota Toyama
CG Outside Contractors
Field & Movie Section
Links Coporation
Hiroyuki Seshita
Ikuo Hishii
Yoshihisa Hirano
Michiko Kanno
Kaori Saitoh
Miki Saitoh
Keiichi Abe
Terushige Watanabe
Amoe Hosogai
Makiko Mizushima
Yuuichiro Mouri
Kouji Ichiyama
Tatsuya Ezaki
Hiroshi Kamohara
Natuyo Kobayashi
Sigeko Sogame
Sanae Nakanishi
Teruyuki Nagoshi
Kunihiko Mohara
Sachiko Yoshida
Atsushi Funabashi
Milai Corporation
Masanori Usuba
Masahisa Kaneko
Kazuhiko Konta
Tsugio Yamamura
Satoko Matsuda
Hajime Hidaka
Miku Kayama
Yasuhiro Sugitani
Pixy Corporation
Akiko Ige
Akihiro Tsuchiya
Masanori Ikeda
Jun Terai
Image Corporation
Kouichi Ishiwata
Okayama Yousuke
Toshiyasu Shimada
Jeongtae Kim
Daisuke Miura
Junko Anzai
Fumihiro Otsuki
Isao Tokunaga
Kazuhiro Kinpara
Noriaki Kato
Masaaki Tanabe
Yasuhiro Tezuka
Wilco Japan Inc.
Hideaki Noguchi
Yukihiro Shibamoto
Makoto Sugawara
Hiromi Takahashi
Sakiko Aoki
Kaori Nagasaki
Tamotsu Machida
Omnibus Japan
Yoichi Harato
Haruo Koyama
Michitaka Sato
Taro Ibusuki
Tetsuo Kojima
Tetsuji Nakaoka
Mae Hirose
Hidekazu Miyake
Kenji Tanabe
Seichi Tanaka
Tomohiko Syuto
Hiroshi Murakami
Hanako Kido
Mitsugu Kobayashi
Jyunji Munekata
Aritsune Kawamura
Kazushi Sugawara
Akira Watanabe
Naoko Hatsukari
Kenji Ogura
Katsuyuki Amano
Satoshi Takagi
Mami Kojima
Yuki Masuda
Hiroyuki Morohoshi
Yuichi Morio
Norihiro Ohtsubo
DAAC Corporation
TOSE C.G. Section
Monster Model Support
NHK Enterprise 21
Masayoshi Obata
Field Design Support
Atelier Musa
Shigemi Ikeda
Kusanagi
Nobuhito Sue
Hiromi Kariya
Umigame Jimusho Corporation
Hiroyuki Hayashi
Algo-Nicus
Shunichi Baba
Yukitomo Watanabe
2D Animation Support
Studio Gazelle, Inc.
Ikuo Sato
Shuji Miyata
Yoshikazu Samura
Hideki Watanabe
Sound Engineer
For Additional Movie
Tak Ogawa
Recording Engineer
For Additional Movie
Masayoshi Okawa
Special Thanks
Izumi Kawanishi
Masayoshi Yanaka
Teiji Yutaka
Kaoru Yamanoue
Shinsaku Kozuma
Yasuyuki Noda
Makoto Tanaka
Yoshiaki Nakayama
Toyoshi Okada
Yusuke Yamamo
Quality Assurance
Hiromi Masuda
Yoshia Shibano
Yuji Saito
Tsuyoshi Fusano
Miki Ito
Yuki Hasegawa
SQUARE SOFT, INC.
Product Development Coordinator
Michael Baskett
QA Manager
Jon Williams
Customer Service Manager
Rick Thompson
Executive VP, Strategic Planning
Yoshihiro Maruyama
Vice President Of Marketing
Jun Iwasaki
Assistant Marketing Associate
Kenji Mimura
Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc.
Associate Producer
Seth Luisi
Assistant Producer
Jeffrey Ng
Senior Producer
Perry Rodgers
QA Manager
Mark Pentek
Lead Tester
Mike Benton
Assistant Lead Tester
Christian Davis
Licensing Manager
Etsuko Kobata
Business Coordinator
Taku Imasaki
Vice President Of Marketing
Andrew House
Director Of Product Marketing
Peter Dille
Director Of PR and Promotions
Jeff Fox
Product Manager
David Bamberger
Publicity Producers
Shinji Hashimoto
Tadashi Nomura
Kiyotaka Sousui
Executive Producers
Tetsuo Mizuno
Tomoyuki Takechi
Kiyotaka Sousui
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