Reminiscing on FF7...

[Jack Karneval]

So I just finished reading this entire series of letters between Kirk Hamilton & Leigh Alexander from Kotaku, which is a very popular gaming news website. Back in 2011, Leigh proposed the idea to Kirk that he should play one of Leigh's most beloved games, Final Fantasy 7, and they would proceed to write to each other about their experiences and thoughts with the game. After reading these letters, I won't deny I am nearly crying my eyes out... http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/03/the-final-fantasy-vii-letters-part-1-welcome-to-mi.html

I'm sure many people on this forum are gamers much like me, many of whom have gotten into gaming at differing points in their respective lives. I for one, have proudly been a gamer since I can remember first picking up a Super Nintendo controller around the age of 5 and being absolutely enthralled by Yoshi's Island...

I don't know how many of you gamers out there have played through and beaten Final Fantasy 7, but I'm sure you all know what it is, and the lasting effect it has had on the Role-Playing Game genre in general. I first played FF7 on a demo I somehow managed to steal from my brother back in the days of owning a Playstation, and I remember thoroughly enjoying it to the point where even at the age of 7, I knew I wanted it day one. Fortunately, I was lucky to get it pretty much day one, and proceeded to barely play through disc-one before accidentally deleting my save which pretty much caused me to entirely lose interest in it, but alas! My step-brother at the time, being the ultimate completionist that he is, gave me his save file where he had basically completed almost every single side-quest, mastered every single materia, earned every single ultimate weapon, limit break, this that, YOU NAME IT! What this allowed me to do was have the ultimate playground with which to experience what I considered all the "cool" things in the game at the time. I mean hell, I was 7 years old, I had very little idea what the story was about, I just wanted to watch a character summon Knights of the Round and muff stuff up!!!! And much like my 7 yr old self, I lost interest again shortly after slaying Jenova & Sephiroth for the umpteenth time, and traded it in.

But ladies and gentlemen..... the seeds had been sown as they say....

I'm sorry if I'm waxing poetic here, but I know I'm not the only one here who can bravely and proudly say that video games have weaved themselves into so many parts of my life, and are such a huge proponent of the person I've become today. Over the years I constantly went back to Final Fantasy 7 in some way, shape, or form; whether it be downloading the soundtrack, re-reading what the story was about, talking to people about it, ya-da ya-da ya-da. I was so dumb-founded with excitement when Square-Enix announced that they were going to re-release FF7 for the PC last year, and you can bet anything you want that I downloaded it day one. You see, I had never actually played through the entirety of the story up until the end, and I proceeded to do just that, and bloody hell what a journey it was! It was like I went back in time and grabbed a hold of my younger self and proceeded to finish the journey that he/I started long ago...

So I guess that begs the question... why am I in tears? Well I literally cannot explain to any of you in a coherent way why Final Fantasy 7 is such important part of me, but I can tell you if you read those letters that Kirk & Leigh wrote each other, you will be on the path to understanding. It doesn't help that while reading those letters, I was listening to FF7's soundtrack. Perhaps if any of you ever meet me, and you want to see me tear up on the spot, walk up to me and play "Aerith's Theme"....

What was the point of this post.... I don't know, maybe reply with a game that has had the same effect on you, or maybe reply if you have the same feels as I do about FF7....

I need a tissue.... 

[PointyFox]

I played and beat FF7 when it was new and thought it was an average game.  I have never understood why people liked it so much.  Though those who did probably spent a very long time playing it and have way more memories of it than I do.  All I remember is missing out on the ultimate weapons and missing the chocobo theme park.  I hate missable things in games.  I also remembered that in the last fight, Sephiroth had attacks that triggered a minute long cutscene that he'd do ad nauseum, reducing everyone to 1 hp, and turning them into spinning, confused, asleep, berserk, poisoned, paralysed, petrified, feared, stunned frogs if you didn't have some sort of coat equipped on them. WTF.  Anyway, I get that same feeling as you when I find old save files from games I've spent thousands of hours playing with other people, like Phantasy Star Online for Dreamcast and Gamecube.   It's like visiting a neighborhood you grew up in that has been frozen in time.

[acantha]

FF7 is now on steam, for those who are inspired to play the game again. Its the same version as the PC rerelease for earlier in the year, but now its steam, so thats nice i guess.

[Binge]

:| ummmm.... my opinions don't matter here.  I hope you love the games you love.  That is all

/quit too many like minded people enjoying the company of other like minded people with pants down, privates exposed, and standing in a circle.  Didn't want to be the last jerk in the room.

[Jack Karneval]

I played and beat FF7 when it was new and thought it was an average game.  I have never understood why people liked it so much.  Though those who did probably spent a very long time playing it and have way more memories of it than I do.  All I remember is missing out on the ultimate weapons and missing the chocobo theme park.  I hate missable things in games.  I also remembered that in the last fight, Sephiroth had attacks that triggered a minute long cutscene that he'd do ad nauseum, reducing everyone to 1 hp, and turning them into spinning, confused, asleep, berserk, poisoned, paralysed, petrified, feared, stunned frogs if you didn't have some sort of coat equipped on them. WTF.  Anyway, I get that same feeling as you when I find old save files from games I've spent thousands of hours playing with other people, like Phantasy Star Online for Dreamcast and Gamecube.   It's like visiting a neighborhood you grew up in that has been frozen in time.

Phantasy Star Online... the menu song "Song For Eternal Story"... OH MY GOD DEM FEELS......

[noisyturtle]

It was OK. Didn't have the same impact on me that games like Chrono Trigger or The Longest Journey did story wise, or Symphony Of The Night and Panzer Dragoon did design wise though. It was however an important turning point in gaming history for modern RPG design and structure.

[PointyFox]

I played and beat FF7 when it was new and thought it was an average game.  I have never understood why people liked it so much.  Though those who did probably spent a very long time playing it and have way more memories of it than I do.  All I remember is missing out on the ultimate weapons and missing the chocobo theme park.  I hate missable things in games.  I also remembered that in the last fight, Sephiroth had attacks that triggered a minute long cutscene that he'd do ad nauseum, reducing everyone to 1 hp, and turning them into spinning, confused, asleep, berserk, poisoned, paralysed, petrified, feared, stunned frogs if you didn't have some sort of coat equipped on them. WTF.  Anyway, I get that same feeling as you when I find old save files from games I've spent thousands of hours playing with other people, like Phantasy Star Online for Dreamcast and Gamecube.   It's like visiting a neighborhood you grew up in that has been frozen in time.

Phantasy Star Online... the menu song "Song For Eternal Story"... OH MY GOD DEM FEELS......

I was camped out online with several other people when they said they were going to pull the plug on it, then a few months later when they did for real.  NOLing, S-rank, Sange & Yasha, De Rol Le, Jade/Red Dragons, SCHTHACK, Barubary, TMG, meseta, lobbies, walk through walls, PKing, Red Ring Rico, Rare item, davil's tail, hanter shield, moonuatomaizaa, apsaras, spread needle +99, SNARF GUN...

[Lanx]

ff7 came out freshman year of college for me, i really didn't know about it and when my then girlfriend (now wife) said here go try it, it was my first ff game. by that time i was 2 console generations behind (snes/n64). so we're reading the big brady games guide book, doing that long a## race for chocobo for knights of the round together, it was great.

then it get's ported to the PC, with higher graphics, and i'm like... well it's time to get a voodoo card. (back then video cards were 2d video cards, you needed a separate 3d add in card).

while it's nostalgic, it's HARD to play, it's so SLOW, and the graphics are horribad, i still have the PS original discs and pop it to a PSONE (the small white one) or hook it up to the ps2 (i have these older consoles around for DDR), then i get annoyed with the damn memory cards!

ffx would be my pick of "hits you in the feels"

[PointyFox]

ff7 came out freshman year of college for me, i really didn't know about it and when my then girlfriend (now wife) said here go try it, it was my first ff game. by that time i was 2 console generations behind (snes/n64). so we're reading the big brady games guide book, doing that long a## race for chocobo for knights of the round together, it was great.

then it get's ported to the PC, with higher graphics, and i'm like... well it's time to get a voodoo card. (back then video cards were 2d video cards, you needed a separate 3d add in card).

while it's nostalgic, it's HARD to play, it's so SLOW, and the graphics are horribad, i still have the PS original discs and pop it to a PSONE (the small white one) or hook it up to the ps2 (i have these older consoles around for DDR), then i get annoyed with the damn memory cards!

ffx would be my pick of "hits you in the feels"

FFX was my favorite of the FF games.

[Hak Foo]

I had the FF7 PC port originally when it first came out.  I didn't get a PSX til 2003.

I played the re-release a bit before it came out on Steam.  It just didn't age well.

The function was okay, but their heart was just not in making a PC game.  The save-slot concept seemed completely unreformed from the PSX mindset of "finite slots on a card", and the interface didn't support a freaking GAMEPAD well.

[naokira]

https://soundcloud.com/iambulb/ahead-on-our-way-ff7-cover

Play it. I promise it'll bring to happy tears

[bobjane]

I own copies of the 1997 PC and PS1 versions. Bought the remake from Square Enix on day one. Now they put it on Steam after claiming that the Square Enix release would be exclusive. Paid 4 times for this game.

FF13 they delayed the Jap audio Eng subtitles version. Paid twice for that.

Now FF13 Lightning Returns and onwards no more Jap audio Eng subtitles versions.

I love FF but Square Enix is one of the worst companies in terms of ethics, squeezing fans for every last dollar and then some, and non existent customer service.

[Jack Karneval]

I was camped out online with several other people when they said they were going to pull the plug on it, then a few months later when they did for real.  NOLing, S-rank, Sange & Yasha, De Rol Le, Jade/Red Dragons, SCHTHACK, Barubary, TMG, meseta, lobbies, walk through walls, PKing, Red Ring Rico, Rare item, davil's tail, hanter shield, moonuatomaizaa, apsaras, spread needle +99, SNARF GUN...

Wow man, brings back serious memories  Course, I played it on the Xbox version, which shortly after I started playing people just hacked the crap out of it. I remember having an item that you could equip that would give me enough stats with a Level 1 character to equip the almighty J-Sword  Nothing beats the time I managed to get the Orotiagito though, that was awesome, and I'll never forget having one of the Mag things that was a hamburger!

If you're in the US fox, then I'm presuming you, much like me are waiting for them to finally release PSO2. When it finally comes out we should definitely see if we can get a GH group going!

[noisyturtle]

ff7 came out freshman year of college for me, i really didn't know about it and when my then girlfriend (now wife) said here go try it, it was my first ff game. by that time i was 2 console generations behind (snes/n64). so we're reading the big brady games guide book, doing that long a## race for chocobo for knights of the round together, it was great.

then it get's ported to the PC, with higher graphics, and i'm like... well it's time to get a voodoo card. (back then video cards were 2d video cards, you needed a separate 3d add in card).

while it's nostalgic, it's HARD to play, it's so SLOW, and the graphics are horribad, i still have the PS original discs and pop it to a PSONE (the small white one) or hook it up to the ps2 (i have these older consoles around for DDR), then i get annoyed with the damn memory cards!

ffx would be my pick of "hits you in the feels"

FFX was my favorite of the FF games.

You mean FFX: The Cut Scene the Game? Yeah, blitz ball was great too

[badcop]

FF7 is up there as one of the best games i played.  I was young when it came out so maybe why i hold it as high as i do.  It was vast and complex and one of the first real big games i beat.  FF7 and ocarina of time are for sure in the top 5.  I went back to try and play it a few years ago and i do agree its so slow and drawn out but the music is amazing and i still listen to the live re recordings from time to time when it comes on shuffle.

i was browsing the steam forums when it was announced and apparently they replaced the original soundtrack with low quality midi crap.  i dont know how true that is but its holding me back from picking it up.

[Jack Karneval]

FFX was pretty good, but it seems like with every nteration since FF7, they've been getting more & more ridiculous, if that's even a fair word to use to describe a game that by it's nature.... is pretty ridiculous lol. I'll even wholeheartedly admit that I am completely and utterly biased because FF7 was my first Final Fantasy, but whatever....

I've liked almost every Final Fantasy I've played to varying degrees with of course FF7 being the pinnacle of my love for Final Fantasy. Where the "almost" part comes in.... is Final Fantasy 13, because in my opinion that game was a complete and utter disgrace and failure on Square-Enix's part, sorry FF13 fans.

FF7 is up there as one of the best games i played.  I was young when it came out so maybe why i hold it as high as i do.  It was vast and complex and one of the first real big games i beat.  FF7 and ocarina of time are for sure in the top 5.  I went back to try and play it a few years ago and i do agree its so slow and drawn out but the music is amazing and i still listen to the live re recordings from time to time when it comes on shuffle.

i was browsing the steam forums when it was announced and apparently they replaced the original soundtrack with low quality midi crap.  i dont know how true that is but its holding me back from picking it up.

The PC version of FF7 when it was first released didn't contain the soundtrack as Uematsu had intended for players to hear it when it came out originally back in the day. Why Square-Enix didn't update it with this past re-release of the PC version is beyond my comprehension. Apparently they're ways to fix it, but when I played it, I didn't bother, nor did the soundtrack seem "low quality" it's just that some songs sound slightly different. I wouldn't let this deter you from buying the game, definitely do it and play it again!

[noisyturtle]

FF13 fans.

Those exist? My god, they must have been born with no imagination and a penitent for masochism and walking down one-way corridors.

[nubbinator]

Those exist? My god, they must have been born with no imagination and a penitent for masochism and walking down one-way corridors.

All kinds exist.  I get made fun of sometimes for really liking FFIX.  I didn't care much for VII, but I loved IX.  After that, FF was terrible.

[noisyturtle]

Those exist? My god, they must have been born with no imagination and a penitent for masochism and walking down one-way corridors.

All kinds exist.  I get made fun of sometimes for really liking FFIX.  I didn't care much for VII, but I loved IX.  After that, FF was terrible.

Well 9 was amazing! Maybe the peak of post-pre (post SNES pre PS2) modern FF style. 7 and 8 were basically the same game, just that 8 had a (much) worse storyline less likable characters. 9 took everything about those two and just magnified them by 10x. The game was amazing, but lost as the PS1 was on it's last legs and the PS2 was getting ready to take over the world. FFX is the devs getting their hands on this new tech and all the space a dvd could hold vs a little ol cd rom, so it felt like they just went crazy with all the cut scenes and gratuitous portions of the game that felt out of place but were shoved in there because OMGSOMUCHROOMFORACTIVITIES where as 9 actually let you play the damn game. I get flack for liking 12 sometimes, but it's almost not even a FF game. Honestly if it weren't for words like Pheonix Down and Moogles running about, 12 could've stood alone as a decent rpg but gets a bad rap because people likely wanted more of the same, but instead got a departure from the series.

13 is an absolute travesty of an abomination, like Square took all the designers out back and had them shot, then just threw a bunch of money at some metrosexual emo artists whose idea of level design is a bajillion moving walkways crammed into a series of corridors that lead to predictability. It's like Ambien in digital form.

[badcop]

Those exist? My god, they must have been born with no imagination and a penitent for masochism and walking down one-way corridors.

All kinds exist.  I get made fun of sometimes for really liking FFIX.  I didn't care much for VII, but I loved IX.  After that, FF was terrible.

Well 9 was amazing! Maybe the peak of post-pre (post SNES pre PS2) modern FF style. 7 and 8 were basically the same game, just that 8 had a (much) worse storyline less likable characters. 9 took everything about those two and just magnified them by 10x. The game was amazing, but lost as the PS1 was on it's last legs and the PS2 was getting ready to take over the world. FFX is the devs getting their hands on this new tech and all the space a dvd could hold vs a little ol cd rom, so it felt like they just went crazy with all the cut scenes and gratuitous portions of the game that felt out of place but were shoved in there because OMGSOMUCHROOMFORACTIVITIES where as 9 actually let you play the damn game. I get flack for liking 12 sometimes, but it's almost not even a FF game. Honestly if it weren't for words like Pheonix Down and Moogles running about, 12 could've stood alone as a decent rpg but gets a bad rap because people likely wanted more of the same, but instead got a departure from the series.

13 is an absolute travesty of an abomination, like Square took all the designers out back and had them shot, then just threw a bunch of money at some metrosexual emo artists whose idea of level design is a bajillion moving walkways crammed into a series of corridors that lead to predictability. It's like Ambien in digital form.

I agree FFVIII felt like 7 and I barely made it last the first disk. It's not bad just stale.

9 I missed all together. I'm not quite sure how that happened. I stupidly loaned my friend my ps1 and it got lost and my ps2 was sold (again I'm stupid) to fund next gen gear.


FFX was a great game IMO. I don't compare it to the others because it did stray from the norm with the voice acting. It's still better than most of the games coming out today.

[Lanx]

13 was good... i didn't finish it (time and all that) but i was playing the imported chinese version (this one has japanese voices and english subtitles). the leveling wasn't bad and the different roles were like jobs, so it was ok imo. It lacked in that there is no one likable except for maybe lightning.

voice acting really solidifies a game for me, if the english localization sucks (and let's admit it always does) i have to get the japanese import, otherwise the game is just "fail" for me.
(besides auron english voice in ffx)

[nubbinator]

I agree FFVIII felt like 7 and I barely made it last the first disk. It's not bad just stale.

9 I missed all together. I'm not quite sure how that happened. I stupidly loaned my friend my ps1 and it got lost and my ps2 was sold (again I'm stupid) to fund next gen gear.


FFX was a great game IMO. I don't compare it to the others because it did stray from the norm with the voice acting. It's still better than most of the games coming out today.

If you don't want to play with an emulator, I still have my PS2 and FFIX and probably my PS1 as well.  I think I also have Chrono Cross.  Pay for shipping both ways and you can borrow them until you play through them and beat them...though looking at eBay pricing, you might be able to find them for the same price as shipping.

I have to disagree with you on X.  I absolutely hated it.  It was like giving an ADHD kid a box of Lego.  When you come back, there's nonsense strewn all about and they've thrown together something that makes no sense at all.

[Binge]

[badcop]

I agree FFVIII felt like 7 and I barely made it last the first disk. It's not bad just stale.

9 I missed all together. I'm not quite sure how that happened. I stupidly loaned my friend my ps1 and it got lost and my ps2 was sold (again I'm stupid) to fund next gen gear.


FFX was a great game IMO. I don't compare it to the others because it did stray from the norm with the voice acting. It's still better than most of the games coming out today.

If you don't want to play with an emulator, I still have my PS2 and FFIX and probably my PS1 as well.  I think I also have Chrono Cross.  Pay for shipping both ways and you can borrow them until you play through them and beat them...though looking at eBay pricing, you might be able to find them for the same price as shipping.

I have to disagree with you on X.  I absolutely hated it.  It was like giving an ADHD kid a box of Lego.  When you come back, there's nonsense strewn all about and they've thrown together something that makes no sense at all.

thanks for the offer but i'm lucky if i can get 2 hours a month of video games.  it would take me years!

[llovro]

Also you shouldn't pass on FFIV and FFVI. Both really good games.

[JPG]

My favorite of all is FF8, even if I never got past half of it. I completed FF9, but I found it "ok". Never played FF7, got to someday!

[Jack Karneval]

My favorite of all is FF8, even if I never got past half of it. I completed FF9, but I found it "ok". Never played FF7, got to someday!

One day I'll go back and revisit FF8 & FF9. Also I just want to clarify on something that some people may or may not be confused about. The version of FF7 that is available on Steam is the one that contains the crappy MIDI music files from the original PC version. However, if you buy it off of Square Enix's website, it does in fact have the soundtrack like it was meant to be heard from the PSX version.

[foxer]

My favourite ever game. Still got my original copy from '97, too. Will never get rid of it and I never get bored of play throughs, either.

[Lanx]

i'll be a nerd, wife and i wanted some game music at our wedding, and the available slot was the cake cutting, it was "eyes on me" (ff8), i really wanted to fit "to zandarkand" in there, but that song is too sad for a wedding.

[Jack Karneval]

I think the orchestrated version of Aeris' theme would be a beautiful wedding song, but I'm pretty sure everyone would just think it was really nice, and I'd be the only one standing there bawling my eyes out lol.

[TheSoulhunter]

Final Fantasy VII / VIII / IX were great imo (from X on it went downhill in my opinion) and they belong to my all time favorites! They had a awesome soundtrack which (imo) includes some of the finest othestral compositions to date, Nobuo Uematsu is a genius. Together with Hans Zimmer's Gladiator score, and Basil Poledouris Conan the Babatian score, the 3 Final Fantasy OSTs belong to my all time favorites as well. I really wish they would redo FFVII  with modern graphics (like shown in the famous tech-demo), and a full orchestrated soundtrack (as they have done with a handful of the titles already), the rest (gaming mechanics and story etc.) should be kept as it was...

PS. Should have gotten the Aerith Orpheus musicbox when I had the chance, now it's worth a fortune >_<

[Solidus]

So is FF7 worth getting on steam? I'm debating on whether or not I should buy it, since I heard it has DRM.

I was born in '92 so I kinda missed out on FF7 by a couple years. I remember watching my brother play it, so I'm considering getting it just for nostalgia's sake.

[Jack Karneval]

Final Fantasy VII / VIII / IX were great imo (from X on it went downhill in my opinion) and they belong to my all time favorites! They had a awesome soundtrack which (imo) includes some of the finest othestral compositions to date, Nobuo Uematsu is a genius. Together with Hans Zimmer's Gladiator score, and Basil Poledouris Conan the Babatian score, the 3 Final Fantasy OSTs belong to my all time favorites as well. I really wish they would redo FFVII  with modern graphics (like shown in the famous tech-demo), and a full orchestrated soundtrack (as they have done with a handful of the titles already), the rest (gaming mechanics and story etc.) should be kept as it was...

PS. Should have gotten the Aerith Orpheus musicbox when I had the chance, now it's worth a fortune >_<

I have said to many people since that fateful E3 Tech-Demo that if Square ever does a modern re-creation of FF7 that I will without batting an eyelash buy whatever console they put it on!

[Lanx]

square is too dumb to make a HD remake of ff7. I heard that their recent hd remake kingdom hearts 1.5 had to be made from scratch because all the stuff was lost somewhere, rumor? but also i read that a remake of ff7 in HD would cost way too much, it's sad too i think ff7 had the best materia leveling.

[TheSoulhunter]

I wish they would create all the game content in much higher quality than needed in first place (ie. 3d models with higher polygon count, textures in higher resolution...), and when they are about to release the game they could batch-downconvert the content to what current hardware is capable of and keep the originals for later re-releases (combining it with a tweaked or new engine utilizing new shader effects etc.) or free downloads  in future (ie. when the game has still a huge fan base in a decade... CS or Q3 anyone?). Right now most of this HQ redos are fan driven (Black Mesa, DukeNukemHD, ChiliQuake, etc.).

[ImaMoFoThief]

I have never played FF7 before, is it 100% worth it on steam?

[Jack Karneval]

I have never played FF7 before, is it 100% worth it on steam?

Do not buy it on Steam, for some reason Squaresoft in all their infinite wisdom decided it'd be a good idea to put the lower quality version of the soundtrack on the Steam release as opposed to the copy of it you buy from Square's website.

TL:DR = Buy it from Square's website..... NOT STEAM! 

[ImaMoFoThief]

I have never played FF7 before, is it 100% worth it on steam?

Do not buy it on Steam, for some reason Squaresoft in all their infinite wisdom decided it'd be a good idea to put the lower quality version of the soundtrack on the Steam release as opposed to the copy of it you buy from Square's website.

TL:DR = Buy it from Square's website..... NOT STEAM! 

but simplicity of steam

[Patchwrks]

I played and beat FF7 when it was new and thought it was an average game.  I have never understood why people liked it so much.  Though those who did probably spent a very long time playing it and have way more memories of it than I do.  All I remember is missing out on the ultimate weapons and missing the chocobo theme park.  I hate missable things in games.  I also remembered that in the last fight, Sephiroth had attacks that triggered a minute long cutscene that he'd do ad nauseum, reducing everyone to 1 hp, and turning them into spinning, confused, asleep, berserk, poisoned, paralysed, petrified, feared, stunned frogs if you didn't have some sort of coat equipped on them. WTF.  Anyway, I get that same feeling as you when I find old save files from games I've spent thousands of hours playing with other people, like Phantasy Star Online for Dreamcast and Gamecube.   It's like visiting a neighborhood you grew up in that has been frozen in time.

Phantasy Star Online... the menu song "Song For Eternal Story"... OH MY GOD DEM FEELS......

I was camped out online with several other people when they said they were going to pull the plug on it, then a few months later when they did for real.  NOLing, S-rank, Sange & Yasha, De Rol Le, Jade/Red Dragons, SCHTHACK, Barubary, TMG, meseta, lobbies, walk through walls, PKing, Red Ring Rico, Rare item, davil's tail, hanter shield, moonuatomaizaa, apsaras, spread needle +99, SNARF GUN...

I'm not sure if you'll read this but I was one of the original developers of schtserv.  It's nice to see that people still remember this.

[Grim Fandango]

I loved FF7.

People now look back on it and think it is overrated. But there was something magical about it at the time. It came out when the final fantasy series was at its best, after the release of the phenomenal FF6 (3 in the US I believe). But that was not all. For a lot of us, this is the first time we would get to see one of these epic Square  Japanese RPG stories played out in 3D and with CGI. I remember how excited me and my brother were, being big fans of games like "Secret of Mana" and previous FF titles.

To me, the game did not let me down. It had all those great Final Fantasy and Japanese RPG elements, but the presentation went one step beyond what I had seen before and the story was a little more intimate and personal than the usual "save the world" kind of deal that we were used to in Japanese RPGs. The gameplay, while traditional and turn based, also held up well and the materia system was interesting. The game also had enough secrets and optional content to keep these interesting, and the story was epic.

I think that when you look back at a game , sometimes people forget the circumstances and time it was released in. I also think that when something becomes a smashing hit, people have a natural tendency to put it down. I do not think it is because they are spiteful individuals, but probably because when a game gets enough hype, it probably does get more credit then it deserves. However, in cases like this, with games that are a part of gaming history and that provided many people with an experience that they had not seen before, I prefer to just let it have the praise. 

I will probably get it one Steam an replay it at some point. However I do feel that if you have not played it by now, you have sort of already missed out on the game in a way. It is impossible to wow you now the way it wowed people back in '97.

[Jack Karneval]

I will probably get it one Steam an replay it at some point. However I do feel that if you have not played it by now, you have sort of already missed out on the game in a way. It is impossible to wow you now the way it wowed people back in '97.

I'll agree and disagree with this statement. If you read the letters between Kirk and Leigh in my OP, Kirk touches on this topic of having not played the game, but yet knowing some of the big plot points from just being a gamer and reading gaming related content. Yet when Kirk reaches some of the major plot points in the game he is overly astounded at their presentation, and just experiencing it first hand has a major effect on him. I'd have to say that if you're one of those people who can't enjoy an older game just because the graphics aren't anywhere near what the current gen has to offer, then I'll politely say that you should change because you are missing out on some really solid experiences both old and new. A lot of new incredibly well done indie games have come out in the past year that follow a retro style, and why should you rob yourself of those experiences just because you can't deal with some 8-bit graphics lol?

[velvetdon25]

I was still a little uncertain on how I felt about the "3D" rendition of Final Fantasy when I first played FFVII back in '96 (I imported mine). To me the best Final Fantasy games are FFIV(2) and FFVI(3), and those happen to be in 2D.

Now a days it's just an action game with starting with 12 and then after 13 it has been pretty much been a action game with RPG elements in it.

So to me the last great "FF" game would be the Lost Odyssey which imo should have been the "true" FF13.