Final Fantasy video retrospective: Part V

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 13th 2007 at 9:30AM }

And here's where Final Fantasy went mainstream: Final Fantasy VII. Multiple discs, video cutscenes, a memorable death, and something called a PlayStation, made this the break-out installment in the series. It even spawned numerous spin-offs and a movie. FF VII was also the game which got the Roman numerals back on track.

At this point we wouldn't mind seeing a PS3 remake of Final Fantasy VII, which haunts the system and gamers since that silly tech demo at E3 2005. SquareEnix is bringing Final Fantasy IV back around with a graphics update for the DS. Shiva knows SquareEnix isn't opposed to rehashes. Who knows, we could see a PS3 remake -- at least it would be a system seller.

See also: Part I & II, Part III, Part IV

Tags: brandonjones, episode5, finalfantasy, finalfantasyretrospective, partv, squareenix

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

samfish @ Aug 13th 2007 9:36AM

I want FF VII remake on the Wii.

Just to watch Sony fanboy heads explode, if nothing else.

Verde @ Aug 13th 2007 10:07AM

Cruel Samfish, haha!

I dunno. Surely SE knows that FFVII is a commonly asked for remake. I don't see why they wouldn't do it, they like their remakes lately. What console got it would be interesting, though.

hvnlysoldr @ Aug 13th 2007 11:05AM

agreed

DVersion @ Aug 13th 2007 9:41AM

And this marks when the series got lame.

Stevo @ Aug 13th 2007 10:17AM

Yeah, I was a diehard FF fan until FF7 & 8. I'm sure my aging/changing tastes had something to do with it-- but for some reason I found both of these games really slow on whole with really great points scattered scarcely throughout.

Captain Jody Anthony XVIII @ Aug 13th 2007 9:55AM

ah, final fantasy 7. the game everyone loved and now for some reason everyone on the internet hates, much like ocarina of time. i still think its great and is one of my favorite PS1 games. (It's no Suikoden 2, but then again what is)

samfish @ Aug 13th 2007 10:08AM

Damn kids just got no respect for the classics, is what I always figured it was.

Captain Jody Anthony XVIII @ Aug 13th 2007 10:12AM

I just figure its people that have never actually played these games before, and pretending that they have.

samfish @ Aug 13th 2007 10:17AM

That's probably the more likely scenario, sadly.

...but complaining about kids makes me feel superior, so I'm gonna stick with that one.

Damn kids...not respectin' the classics...not gettin' off my lawn...

Stevo @ Aug 13th 2007 10:24AM

I consider FF2(4) and FF3(6) classics-- not FF7. But I guess that's arguable.

Captain Jody Anthony XVIII @ Aug 13th 2007 10:28AM

i'm with you on the kid hate. there are so many balls and frisbees that landed in my yard that I picked up and yelled 'I'm keeping it now!' while standing in my open bathrobe and slippers with yellowed underwear, afterwards walking into my house and enjoying a scotch.

Raikage @ Aug 13th 2007 2:13PM

True, you don't have to like the game, but you have to respect it IMO.

See there are a couple games I don't really like that I should, and wish I did, namely anything Final Fantasy and 3D Zeldas and 3D Marios.

I'm not sure what it is, I'm just not too fond of them. But I respect them. Final Fantasy has great stories. OoT is one of the greatest games ever, period. And Mario 64 defined the 3D platformer.

But, I have weird tastes. I don't like RPGs and RTSs but my favorite game ever is a combination of them... How does that work?

BTW it's Ogre Battle 64... now get it on the VC!

Exo @ Aug 13th 2007 4:10PM

lots of people just like to hate os stuff because its popular.

though I dont think that it helps that a huge amount of ff7 fans act like retards on and off the net. but really you could say the same for halo.

Mr Intel @ Aug 13th 2007 10:35AM

ff7 is great ff9 is my personal favorite in the series next to tactics but the greatest rpg of all time goes to Xenogears on ps1 if you have never played it your missing out on the greatest video game experience of your life

J44xm @ Aug 13th 2007 10:55AM

It might be a good game, but man, first-generation 3D was pretty ugly.

hvnlysoldr @ Aug 13th 2007 10:55AM

I loved FFIX the best. It had the fantastic elements and great style with the shiny 3D. But it was also critically important to me a throwback with design and everything to the older games. Characters have classes and could tell their stories and personalities through them much easier than being jack of all trades. The monsters and cities and everything looked straight out of a fantasy world instead of all the jaggedness of FFVII and FFVIII. I could actually play them compared to FFVII and FFVIII what with their complex junctions and materia and weird movement.

shivr @ Aug 13th 2007 5:32PM

I would agree with you riiiight up until the last disk. Srsly, wtf was up with that ending? It kinda ruined the game for me :( That and the villian was weak throughout (half the time I forgot his name).

Crono @ Aug 13th 2007 10:57AM

I missed out on Xenogears, and Parasite Eve. Still kicking myself over both of those.

FF7 was the reason I purchased a playstation. Actually, I take that back. I purchased FF7 for PC, but the port was so God Aweful (and the music and sound effects got boned into Midi), that I hated it. So I purchased a playstation (used) with a copy of FF7 included off E-bay. My first E-bay purchase. I got all the way through the game without a walkthrough, and showed up at the final cave armed with (what I thought was) the best equipment in the game: Crystal Armor/swords.

Yeah, I couldn't beat Sephiroth. I played through the game from the beginning AGAIN, after learning some secrets, and was finally able to beat the game.

FF6 is still my favorite, but FF7 is pretty damn good.

Crono @ Aug 13th 2007 11:05AM

Oh, and the only thing that brought this game into the mainstream was the marketing. Square and Sony used FF7 FMV to make it appear that the playstation was actually capable of displaying that quality of graphics in game. They also made it appear to be more like an action game than a traditional RPG. Lots of people bought FF7 that normally would have never bought RPGs before.

It was a total bait and switch. I remember I was pissed off when I first realized my mistake.

Megaqwerty @ Aug 13th 2007 11:15AM

The PSX version of FFVII used MIDI as well: your sound card just sucked.

Well, the port in general sucked: it's unplayable on modern machines without a whole cocktail of patches.

Megaqwerty @ Aug 13th 2007 2:20PM

The PSX version of FFVII used MIDI as well: your sound card just sucked.

Well, the port in general sucked: it's unplayable on modern machines without a whole cocktail of patches.

Crono @ Aug 13th 2007 2:17PM

I know it used midi in PSX, but the music was composed and arranged specifically for that midi bank. (Actually, I think all or most PS games had their own midi bank). It didn't translate well to PC midi, even with an AWE64. And what sucked even more is if you got a driver update, ther would be suble changes to the midi bank. What what was once midi 150 (Choral Ahhs) now became something stupid like windchimes. It totally ruined the game.

Crono @ Aug 13th 2007 11:01AM

Yeah, junctions went way over my head too, but materia seemed pretty straightforward to me. Its an extension of the espers in FF6, except materia gave you the buffs when you equipped them, instead of when you leveled up.

I just find that the sprite based games have far more expressive characters than any of the 3d games to date. FF12 would be close, except the voice acting isn't good enough (better than 10, but still not stellar)

RedWing @ Aug 13th 2007 11:42AM

FF7 is the best FF to date IMO.

Jonny @ Aug 13th 2007 11:48AM

FF4 was amazing, FF6 by far the best in the series, i loved the angsty teenager feel of FF8 but maybe that's because I was watching a lot of Dawson's Creek at the time (don't hate, it's a long story but trust me, it was worth it). I couldn't get into 9, 10 was pretty good and I never played 12. I hate FF7. 7 was like watching the dumbed down "Lifetime original movie" version of your favorite book. People that think that 7 had a "rad story" or "memorable characters" need to expand their horizons a little bit. Read some books with more than 16 pages or go see some movies that don't have Ben Stiller.

Hamfo @ Aug 13th 2007 12:24PM

Wow, I love FF7, although I thought their review was weak. Still, the game had such a complicated and nuanced story that it was probably hard to put all the good stuff into 5 minutes so I can't blame them too much.

The only other FF that made me orgasm this much was Final Fantasy Tactics. I wonder if that's what they're going to do next? Since it technically was made after FF7.

Dash @ Aug 13th 2007 12:31PM

Most overrated game ever. Period.

RedWing @ Aug 13th 2007 12:41PM

The very fact you say that Dash, proves the game is good. Halo is overrated, FF7 is overratted, Pokemon, Mario, Zelda, MGS are all overrated. For every good game there is always haters like you who claim the game is "overrated"

samfish @ Aug 13th 2007 2:29PM

Damn kid! You don't know what the Hell you're saying!

And keep your damn dog out of my tomatoes!

Megaqwerty @ Aug 13th 2007 2:33PM

Indeed. FFVII is good. Halo is good. Metallica is good.

But they do not deserve the vast majority of credit attributed to them and thus are bestowed with the title, "Overrated."

Now, FFVI...

Dash @ Aug 14th 2007 10:52PM

Hit the nail on the head there. I never said it was bad, in fact FF VII is a pretty damn good game, but its certainly not the best FF game in the series. It just bugs me how crazy people are over it when previous games in the series were better, but lacked the publicity and popularity that VII had and are less well known.

SuMtOnE @ Aug 13th 2007 12:49PM

http://www.petitiononline.com/ff7remke/petition.html

Crono @ Aug 13th 2007 2:32PM

No.

mrajh @ Aug 13th 2007 1:00PM

This began the FMV crap we still have to deal with to this day. I don't wanna watch a game I wanna play it. Anyway I was to busy playing 2 games that were released a around the same time.Goldeneye and Oddworld.

maxx @ Aug 13th 2007 1:04PM

Here here. I agree FF7 was a bad turning point for the series. If nothing else, it marked when the games got really, really easy. I managed to beat 7 in a couple of weekends. 10 was the next one I played, and it was only a half decent challenge for a couple of boss fights. I'm playing part 12 now. It too, is very easy, but I'm at least enjoying it. 67 hours into it and I'm still not finished yet. It's no FF6, but in my opinion it is the best FF since 6.

hvnlysoldr @ Aug 13th 2007 1:46PM

Try 9. It's a throwback to the old design and there's challenge in completing every quest and treasure and still make it to the end in 10 hours.

maxx @ Aug 13th 2007 3:59PM

@hvnlysoldr, I actually did buy 9. I bought it last year for $20 on ebay. And then I had to go buy a PS1 memory card too (grrr!). Anyway, I tried to get into it but I couldn't quite do it. I got about 5 hours into it before moving on to something else shinier and newer. I really liked the throwback style (that's what made me want to buy it), but the pacing was way too slow for me. It seemed pretty easy too, but I fully expected that. I may get back to it someday. It definitely has a much more appealing setting and art style than FF8 in my opinion.

VampireHunter Z @ Aug 13th 2007 1:09PM

I loved this game but I still don't know what happened in Cloud's past. It was really confusing since they showed so many versions of the same event. Did he return as a SOLDIER or was he just a private? Were those his memories or was it that other guy's?

RedWing @ Aug 13th 2007 1:52PM

Watch Final Fantasy 7 : Last Order. Zack was in Soldier, Cloud was just an ordinary shinra soldier who happened to be with Zack and Sephiroth in Nibelheim. Cloud had some of Zacks memories in the game i think.

VampireHunter Z @ Aug 13th 2007 2:52PM

Last Order? Never heard of it, I'll have to look it up. I just remember that stuff didn't add up. Plus what happened to Zack?

Covarr @ Aug 13th 2007 1:58PM

I'd enjoy a remake, but not on the PS3. If they did it on the PS3, they'd do it in full 3D, and it would lose some of the charm of gorgeous pre-rendered backgrounds. I'd much rather see it on the DS or PSP, with the same basic style intact (but much better quality character models, please). The DS would be great because, as they proved with FF3DS, the touchscreen works quite well for battles. Also, the touchscreen would be great for some of the minigames, such as the motorcycle game or the snowboarding game. Not that I would mind a PSP version, though, as it would still be improved over the original.

Mainly, I'd prefer a port to a handheld. They are powerful enough for improvement over the original, but not so powerful that Square-Enix would ruin it. Also, it'd be nice not to be limited to only playing at home.

duscrom @ Aug 13th 2007 3:38PM

Of either one of those, I'd rather see it on the PSP. The DS's low resolution screen, would be much worse on those pre-rendered backgrounds the the PS3's RT versions. Remember, FFVII's 3d was pretty simple compared to now... the PS3/Xbox 360 would have no problem doing it in perfectly.

The DS on the other hand is about as powerful as the original PSX, so, it couldn't really offer too much.. though FFVIII already had upgraded character models.

shivr @ Aug 13th 2007 5:39PM

yeah but I own a DS and not a PSP. So it should come out on DS :p

Covarr @ Aug 13th 2007 5:47PM

I also own a DS, but not a PSP. I'd get a PSP for FF7 (as well as Crush and a few others), but it would be cheaper for me for a system it's already on :)

And, PSP games generally cost more than DS games anyway. I don't like that.

generaldane @ Aug 13th 2007 2:15PM

My favorite is easily FF6 ff7 7 was decent but it wasnt the super special awesome game everyone was making it out to be also both of those games pales in comparison to the almighty one and only C.H.R.O.N.O. T.R.I.G.G.E.R.

Crono @ Aug 13th 2007 2:18PM

generaldane @ Aug 13th 2007 2:23PM

no to what?

Crono @ Aug 13th 2007 2:26PM

In response to the FF7 remake petition.

Joystiq, sometimes when I click "reply", the browser reloads the whole page and then moves the page to the comment box without the "replying to ..." note. Othertimes I click reply and and just jumps to the comment box with the tag. I think it may have something to do with how the reply button is coded vs how we can get to read comments. Like, you can read comments by pressing the comment button on the home page. You can also read comments by clicking on the story and scrolling down to the comments. I'm thinking the reply button only works with one of the above cases, and not both.

maxx @ Aug 13th 2007 4:04PM

It does the same thing to me. I have to hit Reply twice or it puts my comment down as a new one instead of a response to someone else. If you don't see "replying to (username)[Undo]" right above the text box, then you're not actually replying to someone. I'm using IE7 (I know I know, I'm at work; can't use Firefox until I go home), so that probably has something to do with it.