More like Final Fantasy VII/10
As a shameless self proclaimed JRPG fan who has only played (and enjoyed) persona 3-5, SMT 3 and 4, I thought I should check out the often acclaimed Final Fantasy franchise, and the remake looked cool but people say the original is better and there might be some meta story stuff, and the original is one of the most iconic JRPGs of all time, so, I checked it out.
(I’ve also played persona 1 too but I hated it and I’ve play some of persona 2 and it’s on hold)*
*(Not including action rpgs like dark souls or Nier, or turn based rpgs like Undertale or Omori)
Does it hold up without nostalgia in 2023?
Uhhhhhhh… kind of… if you mod it to shit* and keep in mind the limitations of the technology (and the context of video games at the time), it holds up pretty decently. In fact, I can clearly see why this is considered a masterpiece (by people who played it when it first came out and/or were young when they played it).
First the gameplay… It’s not very good for like 90% of the game. The real time meter filling of the action bar to represent the turns is interesting but it very rarely adds anything interesting to gameplay. The one time I remembered the game doing something with the real time aspect of the system was in the first like 2 hours of the game where one of the enemies has different attack patterns based on which animation form it’s in which you can wait out because of the system. I totally wouldn’t doubt the game does this in other times, it’s just not ever needed because…
THE GAME IS SO GODDAMN EASY FOR 80-90% OF IT. Seriously. This isn’t even the case of persona 5 “figure out the weaknesses and you win” type easy, it’s “literally 90% of the fights can be defeated using auto attack” easy. In fact, that was the optimal strategy for the first like 30% of the game until your MP pool gets big enough to justify using spells on non boss fights, is to just auto attack and then heal out of combat the damage you take from randos. Unless there are a bunch of enemies, then the optimal strat is to have a materia combo which is magic attack + all and use that to damage all the enemies at once.
Credit where credit is due though, the materia combination stuff is interesting and it’s something I think does mostly work for the gameplay, even without having a god tier knowledge of the game, there is some level of strategy that can be found in mixing and matching materia combinations to create your own types of characters out of your party members.
There were only a handful of sections that forced me to really think about my loadout and what I was doing to strategize and win. And I did really enjoy those sections! When this game is good, it’s good. Which is surprising for an old JRPG game because the only other JRPG game I played had a combat system that I loathed with every fiber of my being (persona 1) but IG I have my own personal issues with that. I am not going to lie though, I still think SMT 3’s gameplay is vastly superior and more fun in every possible way though maybe that’s unfair because it was 6 years later.
Summons are cool. They really add to the vibe of the game and create an epic atmosphere as you are summoning gods themselves to help you on your quest.
Speaking of vibes, that's the second thing. By vibes I mean completely separate from the quality of the characters, plot, story, themes, etc. individually. FF7 is able to create some immaculate vibes and tone through the combination setting and music alone, though also including characters sometimes. There is just this grand feeling of adventure that is captured perfectly in the game during certain moments. I am trying to be spoiler free here, but it’s hard to describe properly without examples. I think it’s clear from the opening scene alone that FF7 is capable of creating a great tone and setting. Especially when you keep in mind this was a PS1 game, and was the first 3D final fantasy, this thing must’ve been mind blowing back in 1997.
Unfortunately, it’s not 1997. While the game is great at creating vibes sometimes, other times it’s not and it definitely shows its age. This is especially true during the slower parts of the middle of the game where it feels meandering. While the plot is always progressing if you are following the main quest, it isn't nearly as exciting or interesting as the opening hours or the second half of the game is.
Though, that is getting into the third thing which is the story. Which is good… it’s fine. It’s like… there are flashes of brilliance, moments that I really like, not many of the emotional beats hit super hard for me, mostly just the epic vibes. The big spoiler (if you know) didn’t do anything for me partially because I knew it was coming but just because. IDK if this is because of me personally or because the old graphics make it harder to be immersed or if the story writing building to that point isn’t good enough to get me to feel anything, but I felt this way about most of the times that FF7 tries to be emotional. Sometimes the game medium holds it back from what the game could’ve been if it was like a novel or something.
Speaking of novels, I guess the reason why I can’t call it a masterpiece of storytelling is because I’ve read(/am reading) better fantasy novels. I guess the sci-fi aesthetic is unique though and it’s cool. It’s really cool. Again, I like the game, I just don’t vibe with enough to call it a masterpiece.
Overall, TL;DR is FF7 good? Yes. Shocker. Well known and beloved game is in fact good. Is it a masterpiece? Possibly for you. Should you play it? If you like JRPGs, yeah.
As a shameless self proclaimed JRPG fan who has only played (and enjoyed) persona 3-5, SMT 3 and 4, I thought I should check out the often acclaimed Final Fantasy franchise, and the remake looked cool but people say the original is better and there might be some meta story stuff, and the original is one of the most iconic JRPGs of all time, so, I checked it out.
(I’ve also played persona 1 too but I hated it and I’ve play some of persona 2 and it’s on hold)*
*(Not including action rpgs like dark souls or Nier, or turn based rpgs like Undertale or Omori)
Does it hold up without nostalgia in 2023?
Uhhhhhhh… kind of… if you mod it to shit* and keep in mind the limitations of the technology (and the context of video games at the time), it holds up pretty decently. In fact, I can clearly see why this is considered a masterpiece (by people who played it when it first came out and/or were young when they played it).
First the gameplay… It’s not very good for like 90% of the game. The real time meter filling of the action bar to represent the turns is interesting but it very rarely adds anything interesting to gameplay. The one time I remembered the game doing something with the real time aspect of the system was in the first like 2 hours of the game where one of the enemies has different attack patterns based on which animation form it’s in which you can wait out because of the system. I totally wouldn’t doubt the game does this in other times, it’s just not ever needed because…
THE GAME IS SO GODDAMN EASY FOR 80-90% OF IT. Seriously. This isn’t even the case of persona 5 “figure out the weaknesses and you win” type easy, it’s “literally 90% of the fights can be defeated using auto attack” easy. In fact, that was the optimal strategy for the first like 30% of the game until your MP pool gets big enough to justify using spells on non boss fights, is to just auto attack and then heal out of combat the damage you take from randos. Unless there are a bunch of enemies, then the optimal strat is to have a materia combo which is magic attack + all and use that to damage all the enemies at once.
Credit where credit is due though, the materia combination stuff is interesting and it’s something I think does mostly work for the gameplay, even without having a god tier knowledge of the game, there is some level of strategy that can be found in mixing and matching materia combinations to create your own types of characters out of your party members.
There were only a handful of sections that forced me to really think about my loadout and what I was doing to strategize and win. And I did really enjoy those sections! When this game is good, it’s good. Which is surprising for an old JRPG game because the only other JRPG game I played had a combat system that I loathed with every fiber of my being (persona 1) but IG I have my own personal issues with that. I am not going to lie though, I still think SMT 3’s gameplay is vastly superior and more fun in every possible way though maybe that’s unfair because it was 6 years later.
Summons are cool. They really add to the vibe of the game and create an epic atmosphere as you are summoning gods themselves to help you on your quest.
Speaking of vibes, that's the second thing. By vibes I mean completely separate from the quality of the characters, plot, story, themes, etc. individually. FF7 is able to create some immaculate vibes and tone through the combination setting and music alone, though also including characters sometimes. There is just this grand feeling of adventure that is captured perfectly in the game during certain moments. I am trying to be spoiler free here, but it’s hard to describe properly without examples. I think it’s clear from the opening scene alone that FF7 is capable of creating a great tone and setting. Especially when you keep in mind this was a PS1 game, and was the first 3D final fantasy, this thing must’ve been mind blowing back in 1997.
Unfortunately, it’s not 1997. While the game is great at creating vibes sometimes, other times it’s not and it definitely shows its age. This is especially true during the slower parts of the middle of the game where it feels meandering. While the plot is always progressing if you are following the main quest, it isn't nearly as exciting or interesting as the opening hours or the second half of the game is.
Though, that is getting into the third thing which is the story. Which is good… it’s fine. It’s like… there are flashes of brilliance, moments that I really like, not many of the emotional beats hit super hard for me, mostly just the epic vibes. The big spoiler (if you know) didn’t do anything for me partially because I knew it was coming but just because. IDK if this is because of me personally or because the old graphics make it harder to be immersed or if the story writing building to that point isn’t good enough to get me to feel anything, but I felt this way about most of the times that FF7 tries to be emotional. Sometimes the game medium holds it back from what the game could’ve been if it was like a novel or something.
Speaking of novels, I guess the reason why I can’t call it a masterpiece of storytelling is because I’ve read(/am reading) better fantasy novels. I guess the sci-fi aesthetic is unique though and it’s cool. It’s really cool. Again, I like the game, I just don’t vibe with enough to call it a masterpiece.
Overall, TL;DR is FF7 good? Yes. Shocker. Well known and beloved game is in fact good. Is it a masterpiece? Possibly for you. Should you play it? If you like JRPGs, yeah.