Final Fantasy OverratedFebruary 13th, 2008 by Monique
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What I’m about to say is crossing the line. It’s sacrilegious. I will be stuck down by lightning from the gaming heavens. Fanboys and fangirls will have my head on a replica Masamune sword tomorrow. And still, I have to say it. I have to confess. I have to come clean.
You see, I don’t like Final Fantasy VII.
I got onto the Final Fantasy bandwagon relatively late. I think it was 2000 when I found a PC copy of Final Fantasy VIII and played my way through, awkward controls and all. From that experience a lukewarm fan was developed and a Playstation eventually purchased. 
My friends told me to play through according to the time line, even if the games had zero relevance to each other, and so I did. I played Final Fantasy VI next and I liked it almost as much as VIII. The graphics were dated and the cut scenes embarrassing, but the characters dug into me and I genuinely cared about the world they inhabited. I loved Celes and thought Kefka was pretty fucking whack.
After I beat VI, I turned to VII. Now, before I explain myself too much and get into my personal views, let me just say this game was laid out to me as the best game in the history of video games. My friends told me a thousand times that it was the best game of the decade, no century. This was the Holy Grail of RPGs, and I was to bow and grovel to Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart’s superiority. When one of my friends gave me a copy of their game, the amount they had played it was evident in the cracks on the jewel case and the tattered instruction manual. This was not just a game. This was the best game in the world, and it was about to justify the Playstation’s price tag completely.
In theory, at least. In reality, it did nothing for me.
I’m not here to rag on FFVII completely. I’m not naïve. I understand it was a groundbreaking game, whether I like it or not. I also understand it was one of the biggest and in-depth games of its time. I know Final Fantasy consistently reuses elements from it in other games and its fanbase is, well, for lack of a better catch-phrase, off the chain.
But let me reiterate what I said at the beginning of this article: you see, I don’t like Final Fantasy VII. For some reason, even though I tried my best, I could not get involved in the narrative. I didn’t fear Sephiroth and I didn’t think he was sexy. When Aeris died, I wasn’t sad because she died so much as I was sad that the one character I had potential to like got a giant samurai sword to the gut. When Cloud was in a wheelchair later on in the game, I laughed. Nibelheim burned down, and I just rolled my eyes. I found Tifa Lockheart to be vapid and annoying. Though she was the fabric from which Rinoa (FFVIII) and Garnet (FFIX) were cut, she was too unrefined and underdeveloped for my taste.
What did I like about the game, then, you ask?
A lot of things, actually. I liked Midgar. It was grungy and dark; clever and full of ambiance. I liked the Honeybee Inn. I liked the dates on the Golden Saucer. I liked the soundtrack. I liked the combat system. I liked the quests to get Yuffie and Vincent, the challenge of the weapons, and Cid with his goddamned tea. I even liked Jenova.
Still, when you add up all these elements? When you get the calculator out and you punch in numbers? They don’t create a whole. They create a half which is why I didn’t say hated Final Fantasy VII. It’s why I just didn’t like it–too much.
So, maybe I’m a gaming rebel. I’m going to be exiled or be burnt at the stake, right? You’re coming for me wearing Cait-sith suits and brass-knuckles, right?
Or maybe not. Maybe you understand. Maybe you hate Final Fantasy X, or you hate Final Fantasy IX, or you thought Princess Ashelia was really poorly conceived. In fact, unless you’re a raving and devout fanboy or fangirl, you probably have one of your very own Final Fantasy secrets; one or two characters you hate, a game you never finished, or a personal pet peeve about a plotline.
In the end, I think the thing with Final Fantasy, and why it’s such a successful series, is that it has something for everyone. No matter what type of gamer, there’s usually one of the series that appeals to you if not more. Maybe you disliked Princess Garnet and hoped Zidane would choke on his own, uh, tail—that doesn’t mean you can’t like Yuna and Tidus’ story, does it?
February 13th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
FF7 seems to be an extremely polarizing game. While I enjoyed the game when it came out, and it was my first Final Fantasy game, in retrospect I wouldn’t categorize it as “greatest RPG ever” or even “greatest Final Fantasy.” The Midgar section at the beginning was terrific, but the portions after that were a mixed bag of good and so-so. The characters were interesting, but I can’t say I was really attached to any of them. The materia system was only a minor innovation over the esper system.
For my money, the greatest RPG ever is Chrono Trigger, with Earthbound and FF6 coming close behind. I also really enjoyed FFX; despite the main character, the storyline was interesting, the cast of characters was diverse and the sphere grid was a great compromise between customization and individual character skills.
February 14th, 2008 at 12:17 am
A lot of people hate FFVII, but you come it from perspective of someone who also loved FFVIII, which is a rather unique combination of tastes I say…
But yea, what can I say, I loved FFVII. It hasn’t aged as well as the other games because it can’t be classified as retro like FFVI, and it comes off cliché nowadays due to all the anime influences with American audiences weren’t used to a decade ago.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:58 am
You already know that FF7 was my fave game EVAR. But it was also the first FF I played, the first non-atari/sega game I played, the first RPG I played, and blew me away because I just had no idea a game could be like that.
I think I still like it better than the others, because it was quite grown-up/dark. Swearing, brothels, cross-dressing, and Midgar was inspired (and I think is the main reason the game worked - the rest of the game was okay, but it was definitely Midgar that was the definitive FF7 city)
I think you fall in love with the first FF characters you play - and much like in real life, that first time will always be special, even if deeper, more complex relationships/characters come later.
Sadly, it probably won’ age that well. It did a lot of new and interesting things, and the result can come across as a bit of a mess, I think. You have to be in the right kind of age-group/stage for it.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:10 am
The only FFs that I actually liked were VII and VIII. However, VIII was the only one where I loved all the characters. VII was special for me because of the fact that it taught me English when I was a kid and I did lots of mental growth at the time so it became special in that way… I loved Cid to bits and hated Tifa because she was so two dimensional with her personality.
All the other Final Fantasies after 8 have been just a big meh for me. Sure, I can play them and even enjoy them, but they aren’t anything super special in my eyes.
(Although, I really like the character design in XII. Balthier and Fran = win.)
February 14th, 2008 at 5:58 am
It surprised me initially but there are actually plenty of people that agree with you. Personally I haven’t played it yet. Just recently I decided to play all of the FF games right thru from 1-12. I’m still playing FF Origins, man the original FF now that is just frustrating.
I think that FF:TA for the GBA was also way overrated, its a good game but pales in comparison to the original PSone classic.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:27 am
I didnt’ really enjoy any of the Final Fantasy games I’ve tried. I’m attracted to the nicely designed characters, etc. but I don’t like the way it works.
I’ll explain: I don’t like regular turn-based battles as they just annoy the Hell out of me (’okay, now I’ll hit you while you stand there and do nothing… okay now it’s your turn. okay, so now I’m hit and will just stand here until I can move again’… zzzz). I find it something to be expected on real pen & paper RPGs, but immensely boring in video games. If they’re turn-based, let it be in a disguised way, such as the one in KOTOR or other BioWare RPGs.
Another thing that turns me off in Final Fantasy games, is that you’re not really doing the choices in the game. Not the ones that advance the story. I like doing those and not just following the real main character around like a mindless puppy.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:08 am
I love FF7 for one reason and one reason only. Chocobos. No, not really. For me, like Suzie above me, it was the idea that a CONSOLE GAME could be so intricate and yet expansive at the same time. My experience with console games at that point had mostly been Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, and Sonic the Hedgehog. I had one PC rpg, that I liked a lot, until I got to the end and found out that I had missed one step in my journey that made the last fight impossible, and I couldn’t go back and fix it. So the free-form style and the idea that here was a whole -world- that I could explore as I liked really appealed to me. Plus I had a great time working through the chocobo breeding to get the gold one, so I could have Knights of the Round. It opened up a whole new world of gaming to me, and I will always love it because of that. Even if the graphics are crap, lol!
February 14th, 2008 at 8:42 am
One of my biggest problems with VII is how slow it is, starting out. I was going to replay it last year, but it just took sooooo long to get into the actual game that, even though I knew it was coming, I wasn’t interested. I agree; I was actually mad when Aeris died because she was my most valuable party member. And though I loved parts of the game, it just wasn’t my favorite.
Until XII came out, VIII was my favorite, which is funny because I think VIII is the least liked of the series. But like someone else said, you fall in love with the characters that you played first and VIII was my first Final Fantasy. They’ll always hold a special place in my heart…. ^_^
February 14th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I think the views here are extremely well put. Final Fantasy 7 was, to me, the LOW point of the series, and a low point that Square never recovered from thanks to all the fanboy fawning. I found the story vapid and incomprehensible; Sephiroth a laughably unscary villian; Cloud in no way, shape, or form was even remotely heroic or a hero; Tifa was a cookie cutter character from the vein of Hollywoods moronic attempts to figure out a “strong heroine” character; Almost all the other characters were so vapid that I never understood why anyone liked them; Aerith, can’t forget her, was likable at least, even if she was the Japanese Stereotyped “proper female”;…. I think I ran out here.
Seriously tho, an RPG relies on it’s characters. As you yourself noted, FF6 wasn’t great, but the characters were well done and made you CARE about them. Since the leap to 3-d, Square forgot how to do that. I always hear stories about how people cried when Aerith died, or how worked up they get in other scenes. I just go “Huh?”. The characters in FF7 were as flat as the cardboard on the bottom of the Pizza box. About the only character I liked in the game (Cid) was a real ___hole, but at least he was intentionally being that way.
What always bugged me about the FF7 love is Cloud tho. He became the basis for every Final Fantasy hero after that. The closest they got to breaking that mold was FF10, and they ended up with Clueless instead of different. While I can’t blame Square for wanting to capitalize on their greatest success, I can and do wonder how completely they managed to brainwash their fan-base into thinking this is a GOOD thing.
So all the fan-boys and -girls who want more FF7, have fun. I stopped even trying to buy FFs and hoping they could recapture the glory of their early 2-D days. I’ll go over here and play the GOOD games, Like Morrowind & Oblivion, like Kotor and its sequel, like Jade Empire, Like NeverWinter Nights, and like Mass Effect (if I ever manage to afford a 360. I WISH this one was coming to PC…. ). Maybe, if I’m feeling really ambitious, I’ll kick up Wolrd of Warcraft or City of Heroes and go pal around with real people…. Nah, who am I kidding, even in those games I spend most of my time Soloing and beating up the natives.
- Polecat
February 14th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I liked FFVII, but I’m in that group who played it at a very pivotal time, when it first came out. VI will always be my favorite, though, because it was the first I played, and I fell in love with the world and characters to the point where I thought about them constantly. I would have to agree with whoever said that the first FF someone played is usually their favorite, simply because playing a FF game is a new and different experience, no matter which one it is. VII-IX are all equally amazing in my eyes, but I didn’t care for any of the FFs after those (with the exception of XII, which I can’t say anything about because I haven’t played it yet). I will say that Tifa annoyed me to no end. I liked Aeris much more than her, and Yuffie was my favorite (although most people cite her as the annoying one). Tifa was just so uninteresting and…whiny, even.
I will admit that I’ve become slightly jaded by newer games. I’ve never beaten each FF more than once because it’s hard for me to go back and dedicate that much time to it when I already know the story.
February 16th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Was really interesting to see everyone’s reply, I was expecting to be lambasted for my choices so I’m glad you guys found merit in the article.
February 17th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I have played Final Fantasy since I was a small girl watching my brother play it until I was old enough to press the button to turn the NES on. When FFVII came out on PS1 I HAD to have a PS1 to be able to play it because of how much of a FF fangirl I was. I was slightly disappointed with the graphics and because I was young I didn’t understand the storyline much.
I won’t discredit it and say that it didn’t do anything. Because of the game it brought about new changes in RPG’s and gaming in general. But if someone says it’s the best game from the FF franchise, I will vehemently disagree.
February 17th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Interesting take. I wouldn’t worry too much about being burnt at the stake, though: it kind of seems to me like the “cool” thing to do is hate on FFVII, make fun of Sephiroth fanboys, and claim either IV or VI as the best of the series. =P
Personally, VII was, like many people, my first Final Fantasy, but also my first real RPG after Pokemon. I’m an old Zelda fan, so when Cloud stepped off that train in the beginning I kept mashing buttons trying to figure out how to use the sword XD;. But anyway, I really loved Nanaki and Vincent and didn’t really care much about anyone else. I thought it was cool and enjoyed it but I didn’t think it was the best thing since sliced bread (largely because of arrrgghhhh random encounters!).
… Yeah, that’s my unprovocative opinion ^^;
February 19th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I agree. FFVII is totally overrated. I am a big fan of FFI-VI but VII really annoyed me. The plot was a bad remake of FFVI.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I think…it was hyped up way too much for you. A lot of people subconsciously view hyped up media with a more critical eye, and for some reason it’s also a lot harder to become engrossed in. It’s happened to me plenty of times…so blame your friends!
February 19th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Yawn? Why so much text to say so little? I don’t care what you think.
February 19th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Korinthian, if I might say, yawn @ your comment. I don’t care what you think, either.
February 20th, 2008 at 3:39 am
I have some words for you all.
Baldur’s Gate Series
Planescape Torment > all
Look them up.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:34 am
Honestly, FF7 does kinda suck. It’s just too long for me. Yet, FFIX is just perfect for me (probably cause i love the characters, the locations, and the plot) and is my favorite probably. And anyone who dare say that FFIX is not the best…well you’re entitled to your opinion
February 20th, 2008 at 8:13 am
I could understand why people would feel this way about VII, but the fact is that VII was different for a reason. Polecat, you complain about how the storyline wasn’t to your liking, how Sephiroth wasn’t a good villian, how Cloud was a crappy protagonist, etc. The problem with your comments seem obvious to me, as you want every RPG to be a black and white, I’m the good guy hunting out the bad guy, game. VII made you think about who was bad, and whether or not Cloud was doing the right thing or not. Every character in the game had a personality, albeit, their personalities were there to help Cloud figure out who he was. I can see the flaws in the game for sure, but to look at the game and say it’s not good because it’s not like other RPG’s seems hypocritical to me, where all we want in the gaming industry today is innovation.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:05 am
What you say is completely true. Although I personally liked FFVII, I couldn’t STAND FFIX. FFIX was, in my opinion, one of the worst FF games ever made. I think it was how childish the game looked. Look at FFVII and FFVIII, the main characters of those games were pretty badass. FFIX had to offer an androgynous bitch-boy with a tail. The worst thing is they realized the artistic styling was super lame and went back to something a little more “serious” in FFX.
GOD I hate FFIX
February 20th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Final Fantasy 7, oh where to begin. I liked it, I liked it a lot when I purchased it (1yr after its release). I enjoyed the story and the music. However, it is far from my favorite. In my eyes, 4, 6 and 8 are gems. 4 and 6 had it all for me, story, characters I could really feel for and nice battle systems. 8 Had those….minus the nice battlesystem. In all honesty if someone were to tell me the number of hours I spent playing FF6 alone, it would make me sick
I don’t really know what to say about 7 anymore than I have, I think most of the people are just on the fan bandwagon “WUT!? This is popular with the type of people I’d like to be friends with?! Oh yeah love that game!” but whatevs, people like different things.
Final Fantasy 4
Final Fantasy 6
Final Fantasy 8
Earthbound
Super Mario RPG
^—- Those games sucked years outa my life
February 21st, 2008 at 10:23 am
I love FF7 BUT I must agree. it is really over done now. I mean I know its sqaure’s money maker but I mean COME ON they over did it and killed it for alot of people =/.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:19 am
alot of hate being spewed here. i just want to say ff7s story was deep and yes confusing if you didnt pay attention, but thats what made it good. god forbid a story be deep! and its character development was excellent. with the exception of say ff1, all ff games have had good character personality.
people are saying cloud doesnt act like a true hero. wow, thats exactly what square was going for. cloud was insecure and unsure of himself and felt like he couldnt do anything. he was ashamed for not making it into soldier, and felt useless cause he couldnt save the people he loved.
cloud was never meant to be the guy who is all “YAY LETS GO TEAM! WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE SET OUR MINDS TO!” and if you came away with that then you must not have been paying attention, at all.
ff8 is another peopelecry about the story. cause “the real enemy isnt revealed til so late in the game” so what? does it matter when? the plot before you find out makes perfect sense. (though all being from the same orphanage is kinda funny, id believe it more of they all came from the same garden)
people like to complain squall is a cloud ripoff, being a loner. and yes he may be a loner, but for different reasons.
ff9 is easily the most under-rated ff game. due in part to its release so close to the end of the ps1 era and due to close minded people. peopel cry ff9 looked “childish”, “cartoonish” god forbid a video game based on a fictional fantasy land have a cartoonish style. ff9s story is equally driving in all areas and emotions than any other ff. just because ff9 didnt have a REALISTIC look is a lame excuse to call it a bad game. the look fit the game.
April 7th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
While I loved FF VII, I hated FFVIII. I still to this day hope Squall ends up drowning in a pit of hydrochloric acid while being devoured by hydrochloric acid-proof carnivorous penguins. He was the whiniest b*tch in any game I’ve ever played, and the reason I couldn’t bring myself to finish the game. This opinion has raised eyebrows (and a few tempers), but eh, so it goes. So I know what it’s like to hold an unpopular opinion in the face of the fanboy horde, and I sympathize with you.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
My first post here, and I’m one of those FF7 fanbois.. It was my first RPG.. Since then, I had no idea how much time I (and my brother) spent playing that game, leveling to 99, leveling all the materias (until it birthed new ones, and level it up again), doing all the sidequests (even wasting hours and hours figuring out how to resurrect Aeris, based on rumors from my friends only! is it even true it’s doable in Japan version?)
But I guess most posters here are correct, that your first game (or ff series) may taken that special place.. I heard all the good reviews about Chrono Trigger from my friends, saying that it’s the best rpg ever. Played it, and thought it was too dragonball-esque (granted characters were made by Toriyama), and didn’t really enjoy it.. I found out that to all my friends who liked it, it was their first rpg. So maybe the theory holds true.
For nostalgic only, I tried playing it again a year ago, only to find the plays are too “blocky” for me, and stopped playing right after the first boss lol. Though I would grab it in a heartbeat if Square decided to recreate the game with the latest graphic (even with the same storyline!)
So to all that say FF8++ is better than 7, maybe coz the graphic is better, and of course as time goes, game developers would upgrade their games based on their experience and the feedbacks they received..
Although looking the above FF6 screenshot (Kefka), it looks very good!
PS: Sorry for the long babble, bored at work P=
April 28th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
…blashpemy. i r kidding, everyone can have an opinion, and you do make good points. the story on 7 does kind of tail off at the end, and just hopes you pieced enough together to figure it out yourself. X is still my personal favorite, and i’ve been playing actively since II on SNES (i know, IV, whatever).
June 4th, 2008 at 6:19 am
I never finsihed VII because I came to it after playing X (which I thought was AWESOME) and I just couldn’t deal with how poor the game looked.
I know… shallow.
I’m sure if I had played it when it first came out I would forgive the horribel horrible graphics… but I didn’t. And going back to VII after playing X with everyone telling you the VII is so much BETTER than X only to be confronted with incredibly cheesy dialogue and awful graphics was a bit of a blow.
Although I DO like the story. Had great fun watching advent children and playing Direge of Cerberus and Crisi Core… I just cant deal with the shoddy playstation 1 graphics, controls and ‘quirky’ dialogue.
Also: Grinding sucks and you gotta do a fair bit of it in VII
Never really loved VIII either, Squall is just incredibly annoying
June 8th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
seriously guys, how can you slate such a good game, in my eyes it is the best game for its time, it is the second highest game ever sold on ps1 only second to grand turismo, this game was created to perfection, and u guys are so shallow minded to pick at the graphics, it was made in 1997? :S lol wat u xpect?
but its an epic game, a classic.
hah, well this game stands head and shoulders above any game ever created tbh and i don’t know how u ppl can call it annoying? lol well your entitled to your opinion i suppose..