Final Fantasy 7
Developer - Squaresoft
Publisher - Sony
Players - 1
Extras - memory card
The bit on the box
"The Shinra Corporation is draining
our planet of it's life-forces. Cloud Strife a cold-hearted mercenary,
accepts a mission from a group of eco-warriors, unaware that it will lead
him on a journey that will change not just his life, but the lives of every
soul in the universe...Welcome to Final Fantasy VII - an epic adventure
on 3 CDs where sorcery and science collide, where friendships are lost
and won and where one man can make a difference that lasts forever!"
Graphics
Unlike most RPGs to surface from Japan Final Fantasy
7 does not use retro-style 2D graphics, but rather does everything
in polygons over beautifully drawn backdrops, and while still using the
Japanese "cute" look in the main movement and map sections, the characters
in fights and cut-scenes transform into more humanesque figures, some that
look anything but cute. Also the FMV in the game joins with main gameplay
sections seamlessly (much like Abe's Oddyssey) and gives the image
that the player is taking part in more than a game. The movement screens
unlike Suikoden and Alundra (which are both done semi-bird's
eye view) is done in more of a camera-angle Resident Evil type way,
which can be confusing but for the excellent marker feature that puts arrows
on all the exits to the screen and shows a small hand hovering over the
main character so you never lose sight of him.
Sound
The sound in this game is adequate. Some of the tunes
while sounding great for awhile can get irritating because they are repeated
so much. Also theres is absolutely no speech in the game, all talking done
by the characters is done in text format and even the cutscenes have no
verbal sounds. This doesn't hamper the game though because if speech had
been used the actual size of the game would no doubt have been cut down
so as not to be contained on many more CDs than the three the game comes
on. The sound effects in the combat scenes are your standard clink, bang,
explode and do their job well.
Gameplay
At first the interface was daunting but thankfully the
game has built-in tutorial areas that are cunningly woven into the story
(like when Barret asks Cloud how to use Materia and it goes through a quick
lesson on how to use them). Movement is easy enough (although directions
do change with the camera angles) and combat is done in a menu driven time-bar
based turn system. Fighting is simplicity itself although I did notice
later in the game that if I wanted to use an item that was quite a long
way down my item list there was no quick way to find it. Once you learn
all the interfaces in the game though, you will wonder if it can be done
any better than what Square have done here.
I feel a verdict coming on
Final Fantasy 7 is the best RPG on the playstation.
It has better graphics than all the others and better sound than most.
It also has an incredibly involving storyline that will keep you playing
for a long time. Some players that aren't fans of RPGs might also like
this, and even the most seasoned RPGer and adventurer will struggle to
finish this game in under 40 hours (it took me just under 60). There are
also lots of secrets to be found and most likely you will not find everything
first time around, so there is some replay value. This is definitely a
game that deserves to be in most collections (unless you really hate RPGs,
in which case why are you reading this review you big girl's blouse!).
Reviewed by D.R.T.Barrett
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