A Look Back at Final Fantasy VII on the PS1

Final Fantasy VII is the game that made the series mainstream. It might be hard to believe, but there was a time in North America when not everyone knew about or liked Final Fantasy. Contrary to what some people think, not everyone was on the internet in the 1990s, and not everyone was subscribed to one or more video game magazines.

This was a big game for the PS1. The game was marketed heavily on TV and in magazines, and it felt like everyone I knew played it. Some people bought a PS1 to play the game. I’m not saying that everyone did, but quite a few of my friends did.

I still remember seeing fan art of the game being done in art class in middle school and high school. It wasn’t something I thought about then, but now that I think back then, it felt like this game transcended my school’s social circles. It was a big deal when it was released.

I was in high school when I first played this game. I didn’t own a PS1 until I got a job and saved some money. Even then, I bought Breath of Fire III as my first PS1 game. Eventually, I borrowed a copy of the game and fell in love with it.

TLDR: Still a lot of fun, but not as good as I remember it.

Narrative

I like the story of Final Fantasy VII, but it has problems. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is how Sephiroth doesn’t do much in the game. He has a lot of memorable moments, but he doesn’t do much. I’ll explain that in a little bit.

The game starts with Cloud working with a group of eco-terrorists led by Barret. Tifa is also involved with the group, and we learn a little about their relationship. While blowing up one of the Mako reactors, Cloud meets Aeris/Aerith (I will probably keep calling her Aeris).

Our main characters are fighting against the evil mega-corporation called Shinra. These guys are the main adversary during the game. I know Sephiroth has the bigger moments, but he doesn’t harass you as much as Shinra does during the game.

Once you leave the main city, you chase Sephiroth around the world while Shinra chases you. You get more party members like Red XIII, Cid, and Cait Sith during all this. There are also two optional party members: Yuffie, who can be found in any forest, and Vincent.

While you can learn more about each party member, the main plot explains Cloud’s backstory. When I revisited the game, I realized his story doesn’t make any sense, even with the game attempting to explain things. Once you get to Cloud and Tifa’s hometown, you find out that one or both have been lying. No one recognized Cloud, and the town hasn’t been burned down.

If there is a line in the game that says Shinra rebuilt and repopulated the town, that would clarify some of this. I didn’t see anything like that. It might be explained somewhere online, but I’m not interested in fan theories.

What is explained is that Cloud is a “failed” clone of Sephiroth. This is why he occasionally gets controlled by our big bad guy. I’m going to quickly cover some of the events to get to the end:

• We find out about Black Materia.
• Cloud gives the Black Materia to Sephiroth.
• Sephiroth kills Aeris/Aerith, but she summons “Holy” before she dies.
• Sephiroth uses the Black Materia to summon Meteor so he can become a god.
• The Weapons get unleashed on the planet.
• Shinra tries to blow up Meteor.
• Weapon attacks Shinra; our heroes kill most of the bad guys.
• Our heroes go to a cave to fight Sephiroth.
• You defeat Sephiroth and let Holy attempt to stop Meteor.
• Midgar gets destroyed, but Holy is able to destroy Meteor.

I do like the story. In 1997, I didn’t think too much about what was going on. Now that I’m older, I overthink what is happening in video games like this. I still like the story from Final Fantasy VI more than VII.

Author’s Note: I found a link to a blog that explains the localization process for FFVII and what caused the Aeris and Aerith name change (Link).  

Gameplay

What I like about the gameplay in Final Fantasy VII is how it improved on some things from Final Fantasy VI. When you revisit both games, you can see a version of the materia system in both games. It is much more refined in Final Fantasy VII but exists in both games.

Final Fantasy VII does away with the class-based system from the previous games. It lets you customize your party and party members. This is a cool idea, and I like the way it is done in this game.

This is the first Final Fantasy game to use a group of three for its party system. I don’t remember how I felt about it at the time. Looking at it now, I think this works well, as you can customize each character’s skills.

The limit break system is very cool! It was something different and made the game stand out. I like how each character brings something different to the table with their limit break system. I really like Vincent’s system. It was so cool to see the different forms he can change into.

I don’t have any problems with the gameplay. This is a wonderful turn-based RPG. I love the changes Square made between this game and Final Fantasy VI. I wish they had stuck closer to what they did with this game.

Visuals

I want to discuss two things here. The cutscenes, battle screens, and pre-rendered backgrounds look very good. The cutscenes still hold up today, but the character models in the game look bad.

When you look at the game’s development, the character models make more sense. The game was rushed to make a release date, which led to some things not looking as good as they could have. This was also the first Final Fantasy to use 3D models like this.

This relates to the fallout between Square and Nintendo over the decision to use cartridges on the N64 instead of disks. That story is beyond what I wanted to cover in this post. Like other companies trying to transition between 2D and 3D graphics, Square had some troubles.

They made the transition quicker and better than other companies. The graphics look much better in the games Square would release a year after Final Fantasy VII. You can see this when you look at the character models between Final Fantasy VII and VIII.

The cutscenes look very good. For a nearly 30-year-old game, most of them look very good, and only a few are a little blocky at times. This is barely noticeable and can be forgiven due to the game’s age.

In the battle scenes, the monster’s models are fair to good, while the models of your party members look very good. The summons and magic spells look good enough for a game released in 1997. Everything comes down to the game, and it’s still looking good for the most part.

For an early 3D game, Final Fantasy VII looks very good—better than many of the games that came before it. Some of the graphics look rather bad. It is why I think the 2D Final Fantasy games hold up better than some of the 3D RPGs released in the 1990s.

Conclusion

This is one of my favorite RPGs. It also happens to be one of the first games I’ve beaten and one of the first RPGs I played. The game means a lot to me, and it is always fun to go back and play it.

As I’ve gotten older, I can see more flaws with parts of the game that I didn’t notice or care about when I was younger. That doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of the game. They make me smile now as I can get a chuckle out of the strange parts in the game.

Playing this game almost feels like comfort food at this point. I get a warm feeling when I play the game, and it makes me feel happy. Final Fantasy VII is one of the many games I can always return to and have a good time playing.

If you like this post, please check out my other posts on RPGs, such as Ogre Battle or Secret of the Stars.