Final Fantasy VII Review (PlayStation)
This game should have been subtitled “Final Fantasy VII: Missed Opportunities”
~by tankMage (November 2023)
Score: 89/100 (Decent)
It has been said many times that Final Fantasy VII divided fans of the series. As a long time FF7 detractor, I can confirm that some of us were not happy with the way it turned out nor pleased with the direction the series took in general. After playing it recently, I have had a change of heart. Final Fantasy VII is a very good game, almost an excellent one, and I think it was somewhat wrongfully blamed for taking the RPG genre in a direction it was already headed in for some time, though that topic is beyond the scope of this review.
The seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series has a lot going for it thanks to an interesting world filled with cool characters, a rather unique magic/skill system, great sound track, and some good gameplay. However, it also feels like it could have been better realized. Players are forced to wait to get most of the interesting Materia, which is what determines a character’s skills and spells. Dungeons are often very brief. Both the plot and game progression drag at times. And the story really struggles to come up with reasons for the party to visit places at times. While these problems can be a persistent nuisance throughout the adventure, players who are able to look past FF7’s foibles will find a rather compelling RPG beneath all the dirt and grime.
Note: I am aware that Squeenix remade FF7 a few years ago, but that game doesn’t deserve my time and money and that’s all I’ll say.
The Materia Blues
Ok, so we’re going to cover what I think is the biggest failing of FF7 as well as its greatest strength: The Materia system. Characters learn most of their skills and spells from items called Materia, which are inserted into slots in weapons and armor. Skills and spells can only be used if a character has the Materia that they are tied to equipped. Materia also gain a form of exp and level up, often becoming stronger or teaching new abilities. Fully master a Materia and it will produce a copy of itself. While this is a great premise, the game is really stingy with Materia and it takes forever to get a decent collection together.
Most of the early game Materia are for spells like Cure and Fire. Materia that enhance melee attacks or stats are almost unheard of until the second half of the game, and even then they are rare. On top of that it, takes forever for some Materia to level up. Consequently, for much of the game character setups feel the same unless you are really creative with your Materia. This issue could have been easily avoided by being a bit more generous with Materia or just makinng weaker versions of really cool ones. I understand that the devs were probably just trying to balance the game and give players something to do on Disc 3, but it could have been handled better. Even without the best Materia, I was able to easily beat the game when it first came out, so it’s not like the game was well balanced anyway. Sadly, this was a lost opportunity, because the Materia system had tremendous potential. At least what we got was ok.
Story
I really love the cast of Final Fantasy VII along with its setting, which is probably best described as fantasy/cyber punk…which is a weird combination of ideas come to think of it. In fact, it wouldn’t be unfair to think of this game as a sort of anime version of Shadow Run. It’s also pretty dark as the story starts out with a group of outlaws who blow up a Mako Reactor in the city of Midgar, likely killing a bunch of people in the process. The group (known as Avalanche) understands that the Mako reactors are harming the planet and their leader (Barret) is trying to save the world, but his methods are questionable to say the least.
The company that runs Midgar and the Mako Reactors is pretty evil itself, so there’s a shortage of heroes. This is where one of FF7’s greatest strengths comes into play as the characters grow and develop into heroes despite their often questionable pasts. Players will likely become attached to Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Cid, Aeris, and the rest of the team as they grow.
Even with solid character developement, the actual plot is somewhat lacking. Squaresoft seemed to have trouble coming up with reasons for the party to travel around the world and players are constantly told “follow this guy to town X” or “go here to get the MacGuffin, because we need it”. In all fairness, this is a really common issue with RPG story lines that Final Fantasy VII is no more guilty of than hundreds of other titles. If anything, I think the excellent character development and setting stood out in contrast to the weak plot, making its flaws glaringly obvious. Also, the ending sucks and nothing will change my mind about it. Don’t expect any real closure unless you watch the Advent Children movie, which picks up where the game left off.
Graphics
FF7 was lauded for its graphics when it hit store shelves in late ‘97, but out of the three Final Fantasy games on the PS1, it aged the worst. Even Wild Arms, which predated FF7 by a year or two, holds up better.
That said, there’s a certain charm to this game’s visuals and the summons are really cool looking. A lot of detail went into the maps as well, which is probably why the character models look so bad…once again FF7 has an issue with contrasts. It would have been a lot better (and cheaper) to just use 2D spites and maps, saving the 3D stuff for battles and FMVs. That’s what a few other PS1 RPGs did and it worked out. I hate to keep pointing out what the devs should have done in a game from last century, but these mistakes were so obvious and they were as jarring in the late 1990s as they are now.
Sound and Music
The sound effects used in FF7 are reminiscent of those from earlier games, which is fine in my opinion since they act as a sort thread of continuity connecting two different eras in the series. The themes are crafted beautifully and are some of the best songs on the PS1. I also love Cid’s theme and it’s one of my favorite songs from the series.
User Interface
As a series, Final Fantasy usually gets it right when it comes to menus and the like. Squaresoft did a good job with FF7 as well. Most of the menus and commands are convenient to use, but I did get confused with the Materia inventory, which is its own separate thing. That said, I’m glad they made a separate inventory for Materia, because they start to build up after a while and would really clutter the standard inventory otherwise.
One thing I really hate about the UI is the way the game handles spells and summons. The devs must have given every spell/summon a designated spot in the menu, which is fine, but a character can’t have all the spells and there are big gaps in the magic menus thanks to this. It was really irritating having to scroll through a bunch of empty slots to get to a summon in the middle of a battle, especially with the Active Battle System allowing monsters to attack while I was scrolling. Maybe there’s a way to sort magic and I missed it, but that means you have to sort a bunch of spells every freaking time you change someone’s Materia loadout. Sheesh. What’s worse is the item menu has an autosort function, so it’s not like they didn’t know how to implement such a feature.
Gameplay
Squaresoft may have had some problems coming up with reasons for the characters to travel the world, but players have plenty of incentive. Midgar, the first area players visit, is almost a game unto itself. When the party leaves Midgar the player gets to see it was just part of a much larger world full of surprises. While FF7 may be stingy with Materia, it is certainly satisfying finding it as well as all sorts of weapons, armors, and even secret characters.
Combat is fairly exciting, but the monsters tend to be kind of weak. For the most part, an experienced RPG player is not going to have a lot of trouble unless they go out of their way to challenge themselves. Dungeons are often very brief, but I don’t really mind, because they are also nicely designed with plenty of secrets, but I can see how they can be disappointing. It’s also worth noting that the final dungeon is kind of tough depending on how well prepared the party is and how much you know about the game, which is a good thing in my book.
Of course, you can’t review FF7 without talking about its mini-games, of which there are many. There’s a side quest/mini-game where Cloud participates in a parade disguised as a Shinra soldier, Chocobo racing, an arcade, and much more. There’s almost too many mini-games and I kind of got bored of them. However, they are mostly fun and the rewards for them make them worth the effort.
I covered the Materia system at the start of this review, so I’ll just say it had the potential to be one of the best skill mechanics ever, but was just very good due to being not fully realized. That said, some of the combinations players can create are awesome and summons are fun to use. Combine the Materia system with a good battle engine and game world and you get a very good game. Too bad it fell just short of true greatness.
Final Thoughts
If you haven’t closed this page in disgust from reading all my complaints about FF7, then thanks! Like I said, I once hated this game, but it really grew on me and now I think it’s not just good, but one of the essential PS1 RPGs. I often wonder what I would have thought about it in a different context, since gaming (especially RPGs) was a very different medium in 1997. Maybe I’d like it more, maybe I’d hate it. Who knows? Maybe my fifteen year old self just fell victim to all the marketing hype and failed to appreciate this game for what it is: a very flawed classic.
Recommendations
There’s better RPGs on the PS1, so I would start here if you are just starting to explore the console. For Final Fantasy fans and hardcore RPG players this is an essential title.
Thanks for reading my review of Final Fantasy VII!
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