More than just a game

S

Sealer

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When I first played FF7 I was stunned. I didn't really understand a lot of it, as I was little, stupid, and had limited english capabilities. So I watched the movie scenes, fight scenes, magic and... fell in love with this steampunk world.

When I started playing the game for second time, I managed to grasp the mysteries of universal language by this time and found out that the story (which part I licked before) really grabs me by the hand and leads throughout the game. After watching ending sequence I thought "Damn it, this is more than just a game". And by this I mean it evoked more feelings, felt more like a story, a book, a movie, both merged together and cooked and ready to be eaten by puny me. Mind you, I always had a weak spot for books and so I totally dig how the story was telled in FF7.

Now that I think about it, it wasn't the first game I played that evoked strong feelings in me. The first one would definitely be an old Amiga "Another World" (Or Pc "Out of this World") where there were no words, all character interaction was based solely on gestures, looks, and actions. The ending sequence from that game is a classic not to be forgotten, check it out if you dig "retro" games.

But FF7 was longer, bigger and generally more epic in a scale of epicness. I realized that it makes the gaming experience much more personal, and more (warning: elitist bastard term ahead) special. I was feeling feelings, when I read about Winnetou dying, and I was feeling feelings when Aeris got murdered.

Bottom line. Average, most, normal strategyactionrpgshooterrace game doesn't give me this tingling feeling. Final Fantasy does. I'm going through 8 now and yeah, it's as good as it can get.

I am an elitist bastard indeed.
 
I've probally got 500 - 600 hours in it.

I have to agree that Final Fantasy VII was a good game. The music was perfect for each scene, which added to how people felt. Characters were good and had a vibe about them. It was like reading a really good book, sometimes you have to read it twice maybe three times. Final Fantasy VII is a personal favorite of mine.
 
I first played Final fantasy in 1997 and it really set my standard of games since i had all the other ff's. This is master piece I said, I have cleared the game s many times i cant even remember and everytime i say the same thing this game is awesome, the storyline, the caracters, the other games and advent children its just great i have no bad critics of this game and yes to me its more than a game.
 
It's a game with a good developed story like any other Final Fantasy game title (except the X-2), i personally think it gets more credit then it deserves i found Final Fantasy IX and XII story better then FFVII. I don't get emotional or anything about this game, in fact i think that this game as been so explored from every aspect possible that i lost interest about it...

"Too much of anything is bad for you", i guess that's how i see Final Fantasy VII.
 
Indeed. But back then, I've never experienced anything like this. It's kind of a paradox - it is just a game, yet playing it gave me thrills no game managed to give me before. I'm pretty sure that if I started with later series I wouldn't get so sissy about it, but at that point everything about this game was outstanding, it was simply mind blowing. Combining this with good character development and dramatic story and we've got an experience outside of games like Resident Evil, or whatever came at that point.

On the side note I've seen vids of Silent Hill 2, and I must say I've been impressed on how much character development and mystery has been managed to put into that game. Definitely the only survival horror game I know that actually bothered to have some serious character development in it.
 
Sealer said:
I'm pretty sure that if I started with later series I wouldn't get so sissy about it,
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In which case you'd be in my position..

FFVII was (I think) the 5th FF game I played and to be quite honest it wasn't as enjoyable as the other FF's I had played (FFVI, FFVIII, FFIX & FFX). I still think it was a good game but I thought it was way too over hyped when I played it.

Sealer said:
"Damn it, this is more than just a game". And by this I mean it evoked more feelings, felt more like a story, a book, a movie, both merged together and cooked and ready to be eaten by puny me.
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I think that is what a good game shoud do. I see games as movies, but the number one differance is that you actually interact with them, which makes them seem more personal than movies. Naturally some games just exist for the purpose of having fun. But I think a good game with a good storyline should evoke feelings as you described.

In that sense, I don't think FFVII was anything more than just a good game.
 
Ah, I remember it all clearly now.

I was visiting my auntie's house one day some twelve years ago and caught my cousin playing this game. He said I could have a go if I wanted, considering we were both computer game fanatics. I got hooked from the very first cutscene! I'd never played anything so amazing before.

It was the first Final Fantasy I'd ever played, so this is what dragged me into its wonderful world.
 
its the same with me and also if you notice the world today, many of the issues about the life of the planet in ff can be put on everyday events in real life. if it were just that simple, summon holy and save the real world.. but the ending give me the most curiosity, it brings up the question, did the world feel that having humans on it was good, or was it bad?
 
While this isnt my favorite Final Fantasy game, third favorite behind VI and IX, but there is truly something special about this game, and its the fact that it was one of the first 3d rpgs and easily the most remembered. There were some good character, the only issue is the game is lacking in the character development, but it was fun, light hearted and was relateable to this world we live in
 
I think FF7 is pretty much the reason I'm still keeping up with this fandom, which is very telling. I mean, I admit there are better games, and even the other Final Fantasys are superior to FF7 in some aspects, but the fact that this was my first and favourite Final Fantasy just makes it much more magical than the others.

Of course, even though this game is my number one based purely on nostalgia, I never quite rank it as my favourite. I love FF9, FFT and FF6 for the very same reasons I love FF7. They incite the same epic feeling, and I feel just attached to those characters as I am to the FF7 ones, but... Nostalgia is a powerful force.

It's the same reason The Lion King will always hold a special place in my heart. Even though there are better movies than The Lion King, the fact that The Lion King was the first movie I ever saw in a theatre makes it special. FF7 is my Lion King in that regard.
 
It is a really good game, the music just fit and right at the time they belong to, that's what I hate of the other games sometimes I can't find any music when the scene needs one, my excitement goes all off. =(

FF7 actually was my first FF which led me to the others and how sad it was when I played FFVIII because it gave me the opposite feeling xD but really play IV and VI really kept me going.
 
I Think the game itself was so well thought out and ahead of its time. I mean this was one of the first really big games on the PlayStation, it literally revolutionised gaming. It set the bar at such a high standard I think. I remember at the time it came out it was all over the gaming news, it seemed to be all that was talked about. And then there's the storyline which was amazing, made you really get involved. And it's true that games should do that, but not many games before could connect with you in such a way.

The graphics do look a little shoddy now in comparison, but that doesn't matter, since I played it through again recently and it didn't bother me at all, and you still have the same connection with all the characters despite the lack of graphics.

Epic, just epic.
 
I agree with you completly on this pooint. Ff7 was the final fantasy game i ever played on and it was when i was about 6 years old. I diddnt underdstand the whole plot of the game at that age and after i completed it i went back to it again a little later and grasped the story just likre that. This game is just like an interactive book tbh and it was incredibly well thought out. I dont think that squaresoft could of ever made a better game (as it is my favourite :D) You can look at the backgrounds of all the characters and develop a big understanding of what they are feeling too.

~epic game~
 
Baralai Lionheart said:
I Think the game itself was so well thought out and ahead of its time. I mean this was one of the first really big games on the PlayStation, it literally revolutionised gaming. It set the bar at such a high standard I think. I remember at the time it came out it was all over the gaming news, it seemed to be all that was talked about. And then there's the storyline which was amazing, made you really get involved. And it's true that games should do that, but not many games before could connect with you in such a way.

The graphics do look a little shoddy now in comparison, but that doesn't matter, since I played it through again recently and it didn't bother me at all, and you still have the same connection with all the characters despite the lack of graphics.

Epic, just epic.
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agreed!

i started playing it in 1997, though i didnt understand it that well, i played it until i actually understood the storyline. this game will be one game that will be tough to beat. the storyline is extremely strong. 10/10!
 
I also started playing this game in 1997. I think it is very rare for any games to really draw me in like that. Especially these days, I'm getting more and more difficult to keep impressed. Halo 3 is one of those few, but that's probably in large part to my reading the books and knowing the backstory.

But anyway, Square&Co have always intended the Final Fantasy series to be "More than a game". That's what RPG's are for. More so than a movie, where you only watch, or a book, where you only read, they allow you to make the decisions that effect the outcome of saving the world. Becoming engrossed in the story simply means that they did their job well.
 
looneymoon said:
I think FF7 is pretty much the reason I'm still keeping up with this fandom, which is very telling.
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Same here. Final Fantasy is a great series but this is the one single game that not only got me into FF but really into gaming in general. I'd played game before but never loved enough anything enough to hook me. This one hooked me in the lip and pulled my fat ass into the FFVII fanboy boat. I've been sailing first class ever since.
 
Relient A said:
I also started playing this game in 1997. I think it is very rare for any games to really draw me in like that. Especially these days, I'm getting more and more difficult to keep impressed. Halo 3 is one of those few, but that's probably in large part to my reading the books and knowing the backstory.

But anyway, Square&Co have always intended the Final Fantasy series to be "More than a game". That's what RPG's are for. More so than a movie, where you only watch, or a book, where you only read, they allow you to make the decisions that effect the outcome of saving the world. Becoming engrossed in the story simply means that they did their job well.
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That is exactly the point, it IS more than a book or a film in which you are merely a bystander, the auidence. In Final Fantasy you become part of the story and become connected to it. And this was never true more so than in VII.

When I replay it i can still remember the emotions of what I thought the first time I played through at various points (leaving Midgar, finding out about Barret's past, Nibelhiem) and it's more than just remember sections of a book or film, because in a sense I was there, I was experiencing it.
 
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You weren't the only one feeling feeling about it.A million others were too.That's why it has become so big.
To tell you my own story,I played this game not very long ago but after the PS2 had come out.I love good graphics and I knew this one's would suck in comparison with the PS2 games' graphics.Still though I went ahead and played it after a friend of mine recommend it to me and after having watched the movie(from which I didn't understand anything concerning the story,and maybe that was what attracted me andmade me excited and willing to play that old game).So I borrowed it and started it.At first I didn't think it was that great because I wasn't playing it seriously since I wasn't that of big RPG fan and I kept on losing to the first boss.After my friend helped me beating that damn Scorpion I got back to it.As soon as I moved on I started getting really attached to the characters,they were just so real and unique than other game characters.As the story progressed it would become more and more complicated.It managed to make me not to want to sleep to see what's gonna happen next.The events were so unexpected and the music which was played in every stage,in every situation different and so expressing.Not to mention that epic moment when Aeris got stabbed by Sephiroth,the sight was teriffying and the music just so sad but beatiful at the same time.
~I dunno what else to add,just a big Bravo to all those who worked hard to make the FFVII as we know it.
 
This was my first final fantasy game and I found it pretty amazing. Never played an RPG before. The story was good but at times so confusing. But the battles were cool and it was a whole new world that opened for me. After a good while trying and dieing I got the materia covered. But that system was in my opinion a lot clearer and more straightforward than that of FF8 (but that is another discussion). For me the best final fantasy is still FF7 for the reason that it was my first ever rpg and the characters were good. I felt connected with them and for me that is important.
 
Like others, this was the first FF game I ever played. I also love the steampunk type world it offers. It will always be my favorite video game. My room is littered with FF VII junk & have more ordered & on the way. lol

But yes, I agree great game!


:chocobo:~pdm
 
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