I used to call this "the most overrated Final Fantasy game ever", but after replaying it I have to admit... it's actually pretty great. Playing it back to back with VI it's simultaneously striking to see the creators ambition spilling over everywhere, and surprising just how much of the 16-Bit DNA is still in there.
The PSX entries exist in a genre that is still awaiting a second reneissance - the fixed perspective pre-rendered background game. It's easy to look back at clumsy controls or weird graphical artifacts and write this off as just a concession to technical limitations, but I think there's a lot of artistry on display in it. There are shots you just don't get in games with a modern dynamic camera- zoomed out shots of the hulking reactor machinery, or clostrophobic close-ups of Cloud crawling up a vent, or watching the player character spiral down into the depths of the shinra mansion, getting smaller and smaller as they travel away from the camera. Occasionally it's annoying, but more often than not in VII it's charming and shows off the creators' cinematic ambitions.
This is also, weirdly, somewhere the proximity to the SNES still shows. VII uses a lot of zoomed out overhead shots that give you a plan view of the levels you're in. Places like Shinra HQ, for instance, are basically viewed from above the same way they would be if the game was made for the SNES, as if the dungeon were a doll house where we've lifted the roof off and peered inside. The sequel will completely abandon this kind of presentation, never allowing the camera to break the fourth wall, for better or, more often, worse.
In terms of RPG mechanics, I still find this one a bit frustrating. The materia system gives you lots of fun powerups and options, but a lot of them don't show up until deep into the game, and the progression for materia is glacial. The synergies don't show up until very late in the game and the stat adjustements will never really matter, which limits the ability to make distinct builds. By the end game I could make Tifa a counter-attacking, holy-punching monk machine, but by that point a lot of strategies were also trivialised by summoning Knights of the Round 10 times in a row. It's a good system, but it feels like the game itself is only just scratching the surface of its potential.
Ultimately, I find this game most memorable for the stunning visuals and set pieces, for the charming if clumsy attempts to turn everything into a minigame, and for the tough as nails superbosses. It doesn't beat out my SNES favourites, but it is as good as everyone says. Play it with some CRT filters if you can, the pre-rendered backgrounds look absolutely gorgeous under that soft nostalgic light.
The PSX entries exist in a genre that is still awaiting a second reneissance - the fixed perspective pre-rendered background game. It's easy to look back at clumsy controls or weird graphical artifacts and write this off as just a concession to technical limitations, but I think there's a lot of artistry on display in it. There are shots you just don't get in games with a modern dynamic camera- zoomed out shots of the hulking reactor machinery, or clostrophobic close-ups of Cloud crawling up a vent, or watching the player character spiral down into the depths of the shinra mansion, getting smaller and smaller as they travel away from the camera. Occasionally it's annoying, but more often than not in VII it's charming and shows off the creators' cinematic ambitions.
This is also, weirdly, somewhere the proximity to the SNES still shows. VII uses a lot of zoomed out overhead shots that give you a plan view of the levels you're in. Places like Shinra HQ, for instance, are basically viewed from above the same way they would be if the game was made for the SNES, as if the dungeon were a doll house where we've lifted the roof off and peered inside. The sequel will completely abandon this kind of presentation, never allowing the camera to break the fourth wall, for better or, more often, worse.
In terms of RPG mechanics, I still find this one a bit frustrating. The materia system gives you lots of fun powerups and options, but a lot of them don't show up until deep into the game, and the progression for materia is glacial. The synergies don't show up until very late in the game and the stat adjustements will never really matter, which limits the ability to make distinct builds. By the end game I could make Tifa a counter-attacking, holy-punching monk machine, but by that point a lot of strategies were also trivialised by summoning Knights of the Round 10 times in a row. It's a good system, but it feels like the game itself is only just scratching the surface of its potential.
Ultimately, I find this game most memorable for the stunning visuals and set pieces, for the charming if clumsy attempts to turn everything into a minigame, and for the tough as nails superbosses. It doesn't beat out my SNES favourites, but it is as good as everyone says. Play it with some CRT filters if you can, the pre-rendered backgrounds look absolutely gorgeous under that soft nostalgic light.