Marceline
01-13-2004, 02:32 PM
In the Retroactive section of this month's GMR, Final Fantasy VII was re-reviewed. The score was dropped to a 7/10 from a 9/10, Sephiroth was referred to as an effeminate gimp, and it was accompanied by the following article
FINAL FANTASY VII: Best Argument Starter Ever
Final Fantasy VII�s only inarguable quality is its success. While everything else is open to debate (is it well designed? Does it have a good story? Is it an RPG classic or the worst thing that ever happened to the genre?), the game�s smashing success and corresponding influence are right there in black and white and have left an indelible mark on history. When Square Enix announced a sequel to FFVII this year, millions around the world cheered. Granted, it�s an hour long non interactive sequel, but that didn�t seem to dampen the enthusiasm.
A cynic could argue that the masses have terrible taste, and maybe he�d have a point. It�s certaintly true that FFVII has aged poorly in the six years since its arrival. Everything it did has been done far better by its succesors- Square Enix has vastly improved the quality of its 3d artwork, completely reversed its tradition of terrible english translations, and otherwise fixed almost everything FFVII arguable did wrong. But still, nobody clamors for, or at least not all that loudly.
FFVII, then, is a testament to the power of a first impression.
First, think about it from a serious gamer�s point of view. For that end of the market, FFVII was not all that new. Hardcore fans had been there and done that on Super Nintendo. While the series� Playstation looked a lot prettier, its gameplay and storytelling style were just variations of established themes. Final Fantasy II defined the template of active-time battles mixed with a globetrotting adventure that continued through Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger, eventually leading to FFVII�s foundation. All Square added were flashy 3d graphics and a keen snowboarding minigame-fun stuff, sure, but you can see where RPG diehards are coming from when they downplay FFVII�s achievments.
Now imagine that FFVII is your first RPG. You�ve never played anything like it. You�ve never seen a 40 hour world spanning epic. You�ve never gotten to know charcaters you actually cared for, and you�ve never seen one of those heroes die and not return. You�ve never heard Nobou Uematsu composing at the top of his form. You�ve never seen min-maxed equipment modifications before or seen a Bahamut summoning. You think broken English localization is cute and kind of funny, since you�ve never played a game with a script that had actually been edited by a native English speaker. All this stuff is cool and new and beautiful, even if the cg characters haven�t quite aqquired mouths yet.
That was the experience millions of players had after sony hooked them with its campaign to bring RPGs into the mainstream. Like it or not, that Christmas blitz of movie trailers and TV ads in the fall of 1997 made legions of casual gamers into Final Fantasy fans- and RPG fans as well.
With six years of hindsight standing between then and now, is FFVII as great as its biggest fans have come to bill it? Certainly not, but in an ironic turn, it only has itself to blame for the games that have eclipsed it. It is because FFVII did so well that modern RPGs are so much better- the genre�s arrival in the US meant bigger budgets, better production values, and top-notch localizations for Chrono Cross, Xenosaga, and Final Fantasy X. If it weren�t for FFVII, games such as Dragon Warrior VII and Valkyrie Profile might have never even made it to the United States to become the darlings of the hardcore RPG set.
If you can�t give Square�s classic its propers as a game-and after so many years of rapid evolution in the genre, it�s hard to ignore the flaws- then at least give it respect as a historical event. Like it, love it, or hate it with a passion, every American gamer owes a debt to FFVII.
FINAL FANTASY VII: Best Argument Starter Ever
Final Fantasy VII�s only inarguable quality is its success. While everything else is open to debate (is it well designed? Does it have a good story? Is it an RPG classic or the worst thing that ever happened to the genre?), the game�s smashing success and corresponding influence are right there in black and white and have left an indelible mark on history. When Square Enix announced a sequel to FFVII this year, millions around the world cheered. Granted, it�s an hour long non interactive sequel, but that didn�t seem to dampen the enthusiasm.
A cynic could argue that the masses have terrible taste, and maybe he�d have a point. It�s certaintly true that FFVII has aged poorly in the six years since its arrival. Everything it did has been done far better by its succesors- Square Enix has vastly improved the quality of its 3d artwork, completely reversed its tradition of terrible english translations, and otherwise fixed almost everything FFVII arguable did wrong. But still, nobody clamors for, or at least not all that loudly.
FFVII, then, is a testament to the power of a first impression.
First, think about it from a serious gamer�s point of view. For that end of the market, FFVII was not all that new. Hardcore fans had been there and done that on Super Nintendo. While the series� Playstation looked a lot prettier, its gameplay and storytelling style were just variations of established themes. Final Fantasy II defined the template of active-time battles mixed with a globetrotting adventure that continued through Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger, eventually leading to FFVII�s foundation. All Square added were flashy 3d graphics and a keen snowboarding minigame-fun stuff, sure, but you can see where RPG diehards are coming from when they downplay FFVII�s achievments.
Now imagine that FFVII is your first RPG. You�ve never played anything like it. You�ve never seen a 40 hour world spanning epic. You�ve never gotten to know charcaters you actually cared for, and you�ve never seen one of those heroes die and not return. You�ve never heard Nobou Uematsu composing at the top of his form. You�ve never seen min-maxed equipment modifications before or seen a Bahamut summoning. You think broken English localization is cute and kind of funny, since you�ve never played a game with a script that had actually been edited by a native English speaker. All this stuff is cool and new and beautiful, even if the cg characters haven�t quite aqquired mouths yet.
That was the experience millions of players had after sony hooked them with its campaign to bring RPGs into the mainstream. Like it or not, that Christmas blitz of movie trailers and TV ads in the fall of 1997 made legions of casual gamers into Final Fantasy fans- and RPG fans as well.
With six years of hindsight standing between then and now, is FFVII as great as its biggest fans have come to bill it? Certainly not, but in an ironic turn, it only has itself to blame for the games that have eclipsed it. It is because FFVII did so well that modern RPGs are so much better- the genre�s arrival in the US meant bigger budgets, better production values, and top-notch localizations for Chrono Cross, Xenosaga, and Final Fantasy X. If it weren�t for FFVII, games such as Dragon Warrior VII and Valkyrie Profile might have never even made it to the United States to become the darlings of the hardcore RPG set.
If you can�t give Square�s classic its propers as a game-and after so many years of rapid evolution in the genre, it�s hard to ignore the flaws- then at least give it respect as a historical event. Like it, love it, or hate it with a passion, every American gamer owes a debt to FFVII.