Final Fantasy VII is regarded as one of the best, and most important, video games, regardless of genre, ever made. During development, it was marketed as being groundbreaking and revolutionary. Squaresoft (at the time) put millions of dollars into advertising, and the results had to be a rousing success. VII is the highest selling game in Square’s catalog and fourth highest-grossing with just over a Billion Dollars, but it wasn't just hype that sold FFVII. It was the story, characters, battle system, music, and graphics combined into one behemoth. Even those who consider FFVII to be only alright when compared to the rest of the franchise still recognize its greatness and deserving place in any top 10 lists. For the sake of it, I did Google, FFVII sucks, and only found sarcasm, questionable Devil's Advocates, and posts about the Remake.
Before I begin, I will state that many of these comparisons are foolish, since they’re across gaming generations with limitations, but I will fully accept my dunce cap. I also assume much of the depthless characters are such because of hardware limitations. I've always thought FFVI is just as deserving of a 3D Remake as VII is. The disk and PS1 hardware were so vastly superior to SNES specs that this really is just a waste, but, yadda yadda yadda, easy answers, train of consciousness, and whatnot.
Why the game is so well regarded, by critics and fans, is a many-fold discussion, but I'll keep it to two. My first object of note is the game's depth and expanse in storytelling and characters. While VI has a similar vein of cast members, Shinra and the Gestalt Empire play second fiddle to their more memorable creations, Sephiroth and Kefka. Even the secondary characters have breakthrough moments. There is no one to compare the Shinra Executives, Scarlet, Heidegger, and Palmer too. Shera, Bugenhagen, Marlene, Dyne, and Gast all play pivotal roles on account of their unique personality. There's no room for secondary antagonists like the Weapons, Turks, and Jenova. And the excessive characters get in the way of depth, except for six of them; quality over quantity. The Empire has four named characters, half being the main villains. The Returners have only Bannon. Ultros is rad, but what's his story? Does he really add anything to the game, as Jenova does? Final Fantasy V has a secondary cast that shines but are fewer in number. Cid/Mid, King Waltz, and Gilgamesh. IV has groups that are memorable, like the Sylphs, Summons, and Troia Epopts, but no one shining star. I suppose The Mysidian Elder comes close, but he doesn't even have a name! Cid, Unei, and Doga try their hardest in III, but II does do a great job. Besides Hilda and Cid, the number of fourth party members that made an impression is astronomical for its time. Ricard, Leila, Minwu, and Josef are all more interesting than Leon. Gordon even has character growth. Sadly, the antagonists are all lacking, including The Emporer, who is just evil for the sake of evil.
As I just said, two-fold, and the first thing I think of when I think about VII is the characters. Except for Yuffie, everyone has some plot relevance. While I’ve said Cid has no reason to be in the party, he is a part of the plot. It is his rocket that goes to space, men (and name) on the Highwind, and plane that works as the boat. Compare him to Gau, Relm, Krille, or Edge. Remove them, and the game is the same. While I’m not sure about Cid’s motivation, he is pivotal. Now compare the party dimensions to party members in other games.
Krille is the granddaughter of a Warrior of Light and barely speaks when she's in the party. Besides the destiny trope, why her?
Relm can draw pictures and has no relation to the Empire, Kefka, or the party.
Edge is a ninja prince who had his home destroyed by Golbez. That doesn't make him special in this world.
Sabin is a forlorn prince turned wayward monk.
Locke is just a thief with woman issues.
Setzer is a wannabe rapist with an airship and woman issues. Meanwhile...
Barrett is a coal miner whose life was destroyed by an evil corporation. So he raises his friend's daughter and turns into an eco-terrorist. He's similar to Edge, but Shinra doesn't randomly destroy everything (intentionally). And his counter-part, Dyne, creates a foil adding depth as the player wonders how the game work if Barrett went the same route as his childhood friend.
Red XIII is the last of his species and has spent his whole life believing his father was a coward only to learn how he sacrificed for the future of the town, which encourages Nanaki to become the great destroyer of space aliens. But first, he's kidnapped by Hojo and experimented on.
Cait Sith is a stuffed animal made to spy on the party. He’s willing to sacrifice himself, several times (which is more than you say for Fawkes from Fallout 3), who ends up being a double agent, and even a voice of reason at one point.
Tifa is a childhood friend, who is with you for all of your drama, a cause of said drama, helps you through that drama, becomes a bartender (life outside the plot), and becomes your love interest, maybe.
Cid is a gruff engineer who wants to go space, helped create several of the technologies used in the game, and has a toxic relationship with his assistant. That is, until he goes to space, realizes she was correct, and makes amends.
Yuffie is a ninja who plans to steal your Materia, is in a personal war with tradition and modernism, and ends up still wanting to steal your Materia...they can't all be zingers.
Cloud is a former soldier who just had his brain wiped, so he doesn't know who he is until he meets his best friend's old girlfriend. When she dies in front of him, he re-vows revenge on his enemy and saves the world.
Couple those with the grey morality of VII. None of those names are good for the sake of being good. Hell, the first mission of the game has you blowing up a power plant, killing an untold amount of innocent people. And the second mission has you doing it again! AVALANCHE are not the good guys. Red only joins the party to escape being a test subject. Cait is actively working for the bad guy. Cid is abusive. Aerith is the only truly kind person in the group (and another reason she's the main character). Others mean well and have their moments, but they're concealed out by bombing a power plant. Although, I guess Red doesn't have any negative qualiti4s about him, either. Speaking of negative qualities, is Sephiroth even the real bad guy? Sephiroth is how he is because Shinra made him that way. And Shinra only made him because Hojo found the Jenova cells. Who's the real villain in Final Fantasy VII? Hell, we see Sephiroth before he becomes the great evil, where he's just a normal guy. At least as 'normal' as a super-soldier can be. We meet him in Cloud's flashback, and in Crisis Core, where he's a down-to-earth person with a personality and is, ultimately, fighting for good. Well, he's fighting for Shinra, so 'good guy' may not be the operative word, but you understand. The point I'm trying to get at is, Sephiroth has more growth and development than every other Final Fantasy main villain combined. Everyone else, from Garland to Kuja, is evil for the sake of evil. No one shifts from good guy, or even neutral guy, to bad. Kuja has backstory, but he's always evil in his game. It's debatable if he has a face turn late, but I'll not sold on that theory. There's grey morality on the evil side, as well.
Returning to the protagonists, Cloud doesn’t want to be the main character. For the first part of the story, he’s being led around (paid) by Barrett. Once they're out of Midgar, he gets, unknowingly, pulled around by Sephiroth because of an event from five years ago. And them he rights for Aerith and the planet, at last becoming the good guy. As someone who wants to fight for Aerith (and the planet), I can identify with that. He grows into the hero role, and until then, it's a revenge quest. And if you've ever fought a Tonberry, you know revenge is something to avoid.
Bart lucks into it, and Cecil is fated. Cloud was the first anti-hero who turns into a full-fledged hero. Squall, at no point, even pretends to be or is worthy of the title, hero. No one comes close. Cloud, himself says that he shouldn’t be in the party since he can’t be trusted. He, while mind-controlled, handed Sephiroth the key to destroying the world, which was the event leading to Cloud uncertainty about himself.
To say nothing of Aerith. I talked about her comparisons when she died, so I’ll keep this short. No other death in FF has had the same effect on gamers. Galuf gets forgotten, and his death isn’t a driving force behind the plot. FFII has characters who die, left and right until it becomes a gag.
But, even on the same, or better, hardware, VII has amongst the beat growth in the franchise. For the reasons stated above, no one in VIII grows. XII only has Ashe change as the penultimate event. XIII has little change, with every character being the same on game one as game three. Drink every time Snow yells for Sarah, or when Lightning acts edgy. In other franchises, Serge is a silent protagonist. Roddick wants to save his friend until he gets swept into a galactic war through space and time. He ends up being the inspiration for a dog's name in the sequel. Claude is just looking to get home, due to his mistake, until he falls in love with the alien and abandons his old life. There's no destiny there, but there's also no connection between him and Wise Men. Fate follows the Roddick route until he learns he's a genetic experiment. And that is repeated by Edge. Fei is how God communicates with the human realm. If you think I need to expand my horizons and ploy non-Square games, you'd be correct, and I plan on fixing that over the course of this blog.
Everyone has an interesting personality, during, as well as before the playtime starts. Costa del Sol is one of my favorite places because the parry separates and does their own thing. In other games, characters simply hang out and say generic things. Everyone is unique and memorable regardless of it they're active in the party or not. Now, there is one thing VII doesn’t do well with uniqueness and that is the battle system.
Which brings us the second part of that two-fold discussion:
The materia system is a mechanic I’ve never liked. That is, until the job class challenge. The other thing VII gets praised for is the battle mechanics, which revolve around the materia system. In other games, Final Fantasy or otherwise, characters tend to do their own thing in battle. Some characters are fast, get multiple hits, but have low HP, while others are big, slow, and tanky. Some buff, while others debuff. Some specialize, while others generalize. In VII, everything revolves around the magic rocks. In normal playthroughs, this usually means the party shares the same 20 magic rocks making them boring and samey. However, thanks to the JCC, everyone retains their differences. Like in the real world, it’s our differences that make the whole world work properly. In normal playthroughs, this great customization is lauded as everyone can be ready for every possible outcome. You're never caught unprepared. It makes proper set-up feel rewarding, and also really easy to do. I, however, have felt that makes everything bland, boring, and simplistic. None of the characters mean anything. You can throw three of anything, Moogles, Meeseeks, random NPC characters, into the fight, and it doesn't matter. If Yuffie is the same as Barrett, why does it matter who's in my active party? Why switch it up? With the challenge, the customization is still there, and everyone actually has gravitas. Want Cloud to be the white mage? Feel free, nay, encouraged. Barrett, the Black Mage, enjoy your pun. And the characters feel like they should be super villain stomping WMDs while being set apart from random chaff. If anyone can use everything, you are not unique. Jobs are just as customizable as they are in III and V. It’s always been there, but I just never saw it through my terrible eyesight. It’s given me a new love and respect for VII. It takes a long time to get into, and an even longer while to fully finish, but that's a good thing. You always want to be striving for something, wanting to grind out that one last materia. I don't think it's good for a first-time playthrough, but as a veteran player, I think it's how the game should be experienced. Many of these blog updates are filled with me praising the challenge, so I'll cut to the chase and end this long-winded speech now.
I’ve been writing for three hours and prooving, once more, I need to stop and, actually, plan out my thoughts ahead of time. And writing on a phone sucks! I’m sick of typing, but I’ll reiterate once more the greatnesses of Final Fantasy VII. This challenge run has helped to recognize just how good the game is. I’ve always considered VII a second-tier experience in the franchise, but I’m rethinking it now. The more I'm ruminating over everything, the more I think it is deserving of its masterpiece status. It's making me think about the game, want to play it again, and even try other games in the franchise with a similar challenge. I suddenly want to try FFVI, but limit what espers can be equipped to who. Look out for that in the eventual future!
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