|
|||||||||||
Final Fantasy 7Interestingly Final Fantasy 7 should really be FF4 in the states, because this is the fourth FF game here, not the seventh. The other 3 were only released in Japan. FF7 is a beautiful cinematic RPG brought to you be one of the greatest companies of all time, Square. This marks one of the first, and hopefully not the last 3-d RPG on the playstation. The premise of the game is based on a future where machines and magic coexist. The player takes control of a variety of characters in a quest to save their planet from a gruesome fate. I know, its all too familiar, but is still is an okay story...GRAPHICS...Even though its been a year since the game was released, the graphics are still some of the best on the PSX, among any genre.Throughout the game, you will be treated to many high quality cinematics, which ooze quality and high production costs! The characters are true 3-d polygons, pretty detailed, and better than the traditional 2-d superdeformes smurf/mushroom people of older games. The backgrounds are very well rendered and highly detailed, and can easily be compared to the level of detail in Resident Evil 2. Combat is a large part of any RPG, and the graphics for the combat engine are astounding. A nice touch is that each weapon is represented differently, so no two weapons look alike. The characters are shown in very high detail, and the special effects are simply spectacular. The spells especially the summonings, must be seen to be believed. The camera is free moving during combat, giving the battles a very cinematic feel. Sound....Alot of people have complained about the music in the game as not being true high quality. I agree that its not the best, but it is fairly good. The sound effects though are very nice during combat. Control...The control here is flawless, very tight and intuitive.Combat is realtime, so the control scheme must be smooth so the player can execute the actions quickly. The scheme does not dissapoint. Gameplay...The meat of any RPG lies in the gameplay itself, and FF7 gives the player one of the deepest experiences that I have ever encountered. The game is spread across 3 CDs, and gives the player a whole world with dozens of locations to explore. It should take 40-50hours to finish the game, and then I recomend playing it again to find all of the secrets. The plot although linear is very convuloted and twisted, and will keep you on the edge of your seat. The ability to customize your characters and their magic ability via the materia interface increases the depth dramatically. All in all a very deep and enjoyable experience. The problem comes in how you will view other RPGs when you are done. Wild Arms is a perfectly fine RPG, but after FF7 it just didn't seem worth playing. So hopefully the arrival of new RPGs like Shadow Madness and Parasite Eve will not be dissapointing. GRAPHICS...10 SOUND......8 CONTROL....9 GAMEPLAY...10 OVERALL....9 A very enjoyable game, just don't get too close to Aeris... |
|||||||||||
|