 Final Fantasy VII - PS
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| GENRE |
RPG |
| PLAYERS |
1- 1 |
| PUBLISHER |
Square |
| DEVELOPER |
Square |
| ESRB |
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Final Fantasy VII was a huge disappointment when I finally got around to playing it. I could easily let pass the ridiculous graphics with the silly Popeye-style characters. Great graphics do not make a great game, after all, and the graphics *were* pretty good for its time. I could even let go the terrible mish-mash game world, with its clumsy mixing of cyberpunk and swords-and-sorcery. It is so over-the-top that it would have given a good game some flavor.
What I could not let go are the unfocused plot, the superfluous characters, and the horrible translation job on the dialogue.
Let's start with the dialogue. Whoever translated FF7's dialogue from the original Japanese into English should have been dragged out into the street and shot. Or at least fired with extreme prejudice. Perhaps they were fired (or shot), because the translation jobs on future FF games were not nearly as bad as this. Improper grammar and typos abound, to the point that the player often can only figure things out by trial and error. For example, in the very first boss battle against a giant scorpion robot, at one point the main hero says, "Attack while its tail is up! It's going to counter-attack!" Well, if you do attack while its tail is up, then it does counter-attack, but you only learn this the hard way by attacking like the game tells you to. Badly translated dialogue like this permeates FF7. Quite literally, half the time it is impossible to figure out what anybody is talking about.
The other half of the time, it is impossible to care for what anybody it talking about because of the lame, unfocused plot. Throughout the game, FF7 just can't decide what it is about. There is an over-arching storyline about saving a world on the brink of an ecological disaster, but the story is muddied by more side-plots, characters, and villains than you can shake a game controller at. Between all the different agendas, plans, betrayals, deaths, and so much more, it would have been difficult to follow the story even with properly translated dialogue. Throw in the bad translation and the storyline turns into a huge mess that is impossible to figure out. Even die-hard fans of this game can't agree on exactly what happens at the end and endlessly debate what the story is about.
The game actually starts out promisingly, with a fairly simple story about a resistance movement fighting the good fight against a diabolical megacorp which is slowly but surely bleeding the planet of its life. When the game takes its first major twist and introduces the second major villain, it begins to falter and get confused. At that point, FF7 basically turns into a running battle to cram in as many thinly related (when related at all) characters and side-plots as possible. Add to that malodorous concoction the occasional boring, pointless minigame which is required to advance the main storyline and you end up with a game that quickly turns into a lifeless slog.
It doesn't help that the gameplay gets bogged down with the standard FF-style random monster battles. To level up your characters and earn money, you have to spend a lot of time fighting monsters. This has always been the biggest weakness of the FF series, because it makes the games very boring very quickly. FF7 does have one advantage here: while the story is terribly unfocused and confusing, it still manages to progress at a perfect pace for your characters' levels. You will never find yourself aimlessly wandering about for the sole purpose of leveling up to tackle the next major dungeon, unless you want to. So, while tedious, at least the random battles do not get excessive.
But they are still tedious. And since the storyline is too confusing to really understand, this turns the entire game into a boring slog that has no point. Yes you're trying to save the world, but from what? And why? The game never adequately explains itself, and without an explanation there is no justification for playing in the first place. At least the music is nice to listen to, even given its midi quality. The music really is good. Too bad it was wasted on such a bad game.
And as if all that's not bad enough, FF7 is just too easy. The materia system is mainly to blame for this, because thanks to it, all the characters are basically just clones of each other. It does not matter which characters you put in your party because all the special abilities are gained by equipping magic orbs called "materia". So just choose whoever you want, equip them with your favorite load of materia, and you're ready to go. Want to change your party? Don't worry about switching out your characters for a more ballanced set, just switch your materia. There is no strategy, no worries about party ballance, no thinking whatsoever. Booooooooooring.
I have tried to play through FF7 at least a dozen times. Every single time, the tedious gameplay, incomprehensible storyline, and extremely low difficulty level have caused me to lose my interest long before I made it to the final boss. This game was a huge disappointment for me and remains on my list as one of the most over-hyped games of all time.
To sum up:
Pros:
+ Well-paced story
+ Very nice music
Cons:
- Incomprehensible story
- ...Which is loaded down with too many sub-plots and characters
- Horribly translated dialogue
- Tedious gameplay
- Silly, boring minigames
- Easier than breathing
Neutral:
* Wacky-looking graphics that date the game something fierce |
This review rating:  |
Views: 1529 |
Final_Form
Joined: Feb 9, 2007
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| Posted: Feb 15th, 2007 at 5:57 pm |
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| dude you are not a fianl fantasy fan ive played through completing every goal boss and mini game 7 times it still dosent bore me your pros and cons are also mixed up |
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Fredde
Joined: Mar 9, 2007
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| Posted: Mar 9th, 2007 at 3:30 am |
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| you are a very stupid man... go back to playing super mario! |
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ShadeTail
Joined: Nov 6, 2006
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| Posted: Mar 11th, 2007 at 1:54 pm |
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| Interesting that you assume I'm a man... |
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Hawk_one
Joined: Sep 19, 2006
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| Posted: Apr 26th, 2007 at 5:34 pm |
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| I actually managed to suffer myself through to the final boss at my second playthrough. Heck, I even managed to suffer through the horrible Chocobo breeding so I could to the boring Chocobo Racing so I could do the tedious Battle Arena so I could finally get myself some nice materia. And I killed Ruby and Emerald Weapon... Though the first time I -really- tried doing Ruby, I actually fell asleep and thus ended up losing (I'm serious). Just telling you that you're not missing much, except the one good score in the game ( "One-Winged Angel") during one of the final boss battles. |
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LinksOcarina
Joined: Nov 9, 2005
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| Posted: Feb 6th, 2008 at 11:31 pm |
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| While I agree with a majority of the points you present here, I think your grade was too harsh. Yes the story is tedious and bad, and yeah, the combat system is decent-good, but overall, the game had some merits as an RPG. At the time the graphics were the best mix you can find, plus the score is one for the ages. Overall, I would consider a B-C for FFVII, not a D though. |
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ShadeTail
Joined: Nov 6, 2006
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| Posted: Jun 23rd, 2008 at 6:02 pm |
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| Links: I acknowledged that it has a few merits. I mentioned that I really like the music, and that I could really enjoy a story that mixes swords-and-sorcery with science fiction if done right. I even said that I felt the graphics were good for their day. rnrnBut the tedious story, bad characters, boring gameplay, and horrid dialogue translation utterly kill the game for me. rnrnSo I stand by my grade. I fell that overall, this game is terrible. |
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McCoy
Joined: Feb 18, 2008
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| Posted: Jan 6th, 2009 at 5:48 pm |
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| I actually agree with you. on pretty much everything. the plot was unbelievably bad. I mean, it was like they couldn't make up their minds! The random battles are annoying as sin. I honestly couldn't stand them. It gets boring in numerous places, I didn't really care for the Materia system, the characters were. well, crappy. I didn't really like the idea of mixing high-tech stuff with magic and almost medieval weaponry. I mean, you look at all the other Final Fantasies. they didn't do that. They had airships, that was the extent of the "high tech" stuff. Not laser cannons and ships and stuff like that. It didn't mix well. Now Final Fantasy VIII. it seemed to work. VII. ick. It felt like that should have taken place far after Final Fantasy XII. The whole thing just felt awkward. The music was good, but beyond that. what was so great?? All I ever hear about is Sephiroth and the Buster sword. |
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George16
Joined: May 13, 2007
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| Posted: Mar 4th, 2009 at 1:50 am |
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| Haha Shes a woman thats why she doesnt like it. She should just go back to cooking and cleaning and stop playing MAN games =) |
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ShadeTail
Joined: Nov 6, 2006
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| Posted: Jul 9th, 2009 at 4:45 pm |
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| Interesting that you assume I'm a woman... |
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Errorist
Joined: Jul 11, 2009
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| Posted: Jul 11th, 2009 at 3:48 pm |
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Yeah, get back in the kitchen and stop reviewing games.
Final Fantasy VII and you give it a D? Did you ever own a Playstation? |
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Errorist
Joined: Jul 11, 2009
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| Posted: Jul 11th, 2009 at 3:48 pm |
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Yeah, get back in the kitchen and stop reviewing games.
Final Fantasy VII and you give it a D? Did you ever own a Playstation? |
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ShadeTail
Joined: Nov 6, 2006
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| Posted: Jul 16th, 2009 at 6:23 pm |
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| The fact that you children are replying to my review with nothing but blatantly sexist ranting (even though you don't actually know my real gender, LOL) shows quite a bit about you. For one thing, it shows that you can't refute even a single word I wrote. |
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Errorist
Joined: Jul 11, 2009
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| Posted: Aug 8th, 2009 at 1:12 am |
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You're a woman with a brain a third of the size as my own. This is why you can't understand the storyline of the game, your small brain.
Now where is that sandwich? |
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Errorist
Joined: Jul 11, 2009
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| Posted: Aug 8th, 2009 at 1:12 am |
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You're a woman with a brain a third of the size as my own. This is why you can't understand the storyline of the game, your small brain.
Now where is that sandwich? |
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Errorist
Joined: Jul 11, 2009
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| Posted: Aug 8th, 2009 at 1:13 am |
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You're a woman with a brain a third the size of my own. This is why you're confused by the storyline of the game, your tiny brain.
Now where is that sandwich? |
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Errorist
Joined: Jul 11, 2009
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| Posted: Aug 8th, 2009 at 1:13 am |
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You're a woman with a brain a third the size of my own. This is why you're confused by the storyline of the game, your tiny brain.
Now where is that sandwich? |
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Errorist
Joined: Jul 11, 2009
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| Posted: Aug 8th, 2009 at 1:13 am |
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You're a woman with a brain a third the size of my own. This is why you're confused by the storyline of the game, your tiny brain.
Now where is that sandwich? |
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ShadeTail
Joined: Nov 6, 2006
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| Posted: Aug 17th, 2009 at 6:01 pm |
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| Attention gamers: As the case of the unfortunate Errorist shows, playing FF7 turns you into a cretinous misogynist with no taste nor ability to tell men and women apart. Don't become another statistic; just say NO FF7. This has been a Public Service Announcement. |
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Errorist
Joined: Jul 11, 2009
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| Posted: Sep 18th, 2009 at 1:11 am |
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You should be told to only review games you actually have played. I'm 100% sure you haven't invested more than an hour into Final Fantasy VII.
And you are a woman, don't deny it. Woman. |
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Errorist
Joined: Jul 11, 2009
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| Posted: Oct 13th, 2009 at 9:53 pm |
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This just in, ShadeTail has been voted worst video game reviewer ever.
You have to play the game to review it, mongoloid. |
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