Why do people call this the best game ever?

[hoggys2much]

Hello everyone newbie here.

Can someone tell me just why the heck this game is so popular?

I am new to Final Fantasy and on Saturday I downloaded this game after everyone saying it is "the greatest game ever".

So I started the game at 12:30pm and by 12:50pm I was deleting this utter stinking garbage from my Xbox One S hard drive.

Here is what I saw:

A game with badly dated graphics. I know what was capable for consoles 1997 and I could give you stacks of games with far superor graphics.

A text based game in 1997!? You what?! You would expect that on the Genesis/SNES but not on the Playstation/Saturn/N64.

Small ugly looking sprites.

Horrble battling sections

Terrible music.

I was left wondering how this crap of a franchise has got to 15 games.

Here is the crappygames wikia page on Final Fantasy:

Category:Final Fantasy Games

crappygames.miraheze.org

Look at all those games. I have never seen so many for one franchise.

Before anyone comes on and says maybe text based games aren't for me I played Phantasy Star 2 - 4 on my Playstation 2 thanks to having the Sega Genesis Collection and Phantasy Star 1 on my 360 thanks to having the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection and Phantasy Star rips the ever loving crap out of Final Fantasy VII.

So tell me again why Final Fantasy is so popular?

Oh and before anyone asks why I didn't download the remake I can't as I am on Xbox One S. Yet again Xbox gets ripped off by companies.

 

[Sashikiru]

20 minutes isn't enough time to fully experience the game. The story is what makes the game so great. Although VII isn't my favourite Final Fantasy, it is an amazing installment.

If you want to try out an old Final Fantasy game, also in the same year VII was released is Final Fantasy Tactics. It is text-based but there is beautifully 2D animated cutscenes with voice acting and the music is better than VII in my opinion.

 

[hoggys2much]

20 minutes isn't enough time to fully experience the game. The story is what makes the game so great. Although VII isn't my favourite Final Fantasy, it is an amazing installment.

If you want to try out an old Final Fantasy game, also in the same year VII was released is Final Fantasy Tactics. It is text-based but there is beautifully 2D animated cutscenes with voice acting and the music is better than VII in my opinion.

Thank you for the response.

That was something else that threw me was the setting. I am so used to my RPGS being set in mediaeval times that it seemed so weird having one set in the present day or whatever it was.

I was so looking forward to seeing the hot Tifa but now I wont.

So what is the story about that makes it so good?

Thank you for the suggestion of the game but I do not think I could ever go back to text based games. I like my RPGS along the lines of Fable or the greatest RPG ever in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. I have thought about replaying Phantasy Star but I don't know if I could after playing the 2 games I mentioned.

I did have my eye on Final Fantasy XIII because Lightning looks hot and there is a Tomb Raider DLC for it (IMO Tomb Raider is the greatest franchise known to man) but I have read and heard that the game is terrible and Lightning is a horrible protagonist so that has put me off a bit.

 

[Sashikiru]

The story of FF7 basically is about an Electric Company named ShinRa who discovered that the Life Stream that lies within the planet is a useful source of Energy. Buildings called Mako Reactors suck up the life stream to create Mako Energy. Liquid Mako Energy was infused into a Mercenary Organisation that works for ShinRa called SOLDIER. The energy gives them extra strength. 1000s of years ago, an alien called JENOVA fell to the planet and wanted to destroy it because of the selfishness of man but was captured and kept inside a Mako Reactor in Nibelheim, Cloud's home town. Professor Hojo discovered that he can fuse Mako Energy with the Cells of Jenova to create even powerful beings and monsters, so he uses his son as his first experiment, being Sephiroth. Sephiroth has no memory of the events and is known as the hero of Midgar who works for SOLDIER. At this point in time, Cloud was hired by ShinRa to be an Infantryman, basically a ShinRa Guard. He meets a SOLDIER called Zack Fair and they plus Sephiroth visit Nibelheim for a mission. Tifa is there and is their guide. They visit the ShinRa Mansion and discover a secret underground lab that is run by Hojo. They discover JENOVA in the Nibelheim Mako Reactor and Sephiroth discovers a library in the lab that has documents and notes about his experimentation and that it has made JENOVA his Mother. Sephiroth goes insane and burns down Nibelheim and Zack goes to fight him, Cloud slowly trailing behind. Cloud kills Sephiroth after Zack is knocked out but is found by Hojo and they are sent to be new experiments to be like Sephiroth. Both Zack and Cloud are infused with both Mako Energy and JENOVA cells and once they escape the lab after being there for 4 years, ShinRa sends troops out to kill them so their true evil deeds are not brought to the world's attention. Zack is killed by ShinRa Infantrymen and Cloud survives. Before Zack dies, he tells Cloud that he is his living legacy and to take his sword with him (The Buster Sword).

These events cause Cloud to have some kind of PTSD and claims that the events Zack was in, he was the Zack guy, a SOLDIER, not an Infantryman. He now infused with Mako and JENOVA cells, JENOVA is now his Mother too, and Sephiroths brother. Sephiroth returns and is able to control Cloud like a puppet and gets him to do some of his biddings.

That is as simple as I can put it

FF13 is by far the worst out of the series. I played like 5 minutes and I already disliked the mechanics and the character Sazh. If you are wanting a good Final Fantasy RPG with errr... elegant female characters... Final Fantasy X and X-2. It is not text-based (besides speaking with NPCs) and that story is terrific ( I played it like 7 times on different consoles)

 

[Vivi-Gamer]

As much as I love the game I cannot play the modern port - The 4:3 aspect ration kills it for me alone. But also i find the character models to look a little off - like they have a glossy finish on them.

I personally use my Modded PS Classic to play the game ( I own the game on PS1 disc before anyone starts...), this gives the game a nice upscale and I can play the game stretched in widescreen which adds the immersion for me.

I can see why someone might struggle to get into it these days with the polygon character models - I personally don't mind them but I know I struggle with 8-Bit games myself.

If you really are struggling I recommend maybe trying Final Fantasy X. The game has been Up-scaled to 4K on Xbox X (Not sure about S, but it still looks damn good!). Many think of this game as a joke from the infamous laughing scene but looking beyond that I still feel this game is the best entry point into the series! It excels in every category one could want from a JRPG - Combat, Set-up mechanics, story, characters, world building, music - it's all there! The only minor complaints I can see are some of the voice acting and apparently some find linear - But the journey throughout Spira with the Summoners Pilgrimage caters for that structure well.

I'm from the UK and Imported a copy from Amazon, if you're happy to get a digital version I recommend waiting until it's on sale - S-E are usually quite generous with digital sales on consoles.

 

[Sashikiru]

If you really are struggling I recommend maybe trying Final Fantasy X.

Yeah I recommended that game in my previous reply. It is a good one to play if you are starting out the FF games too.

 

[hoggys2much]

The story of FF7 basically is about an Electric Company named ShinRa who discovered that the Life Stream that lies within the planet is a useful source of Energy. Buildings called Mako Reactors suck up the life stream to create Mako Energy. Liquid Mako Energy was infused into a Mercenary Organisation that works for ShinRa called SOLDIER. The energy gives them extra strength. 1000s of years ago, an alien called JENOVA fell to the planet and wanted to destroy it because of the selfishness of man but was captured and kept inside a Mako Reactor in Nibelheim, Cloud's home town. Professor Hojo discovered that he can fuse Mako Energy with the Cells of Jenova to create even powerful beings and monsters, so he uses his son as his first experiment, being Sephiroth. Sephiroth has no memory of the events and is known as the hero of Midgar who works for SOLDIER. At this point in time, Cloud was hired by ShinRa to be an Infantryman, basically a ShinRa Guard. He meets a SOLDIER called Zack Fair and they plus Sephiroth visit Nibelheim for a mission. Tifa is there and is their guide. They visit the ShinRa Mansion and discover a secret underground lab that is run by Hojo. They discover JENOVA in the Nibelheim Mako Reactor and Sephiroth discovers a library in the lab that has documents and notes about his experimentation and that it has made JENOVA his Mother. Sephiroth goes insane and burns down Nibelheim and Zack goes to fight him, Cloud slowly trailing behind. Cloud kills Sephiroth after Zack is knocked out but is found by Hojo and they are sent to be new experiments to be like Sephiroth. Both Zack and Cloud are infused with both Mako Energy and JENOVA cells and once they escape the lab after being there for 4 years, ShinRa sends troops out to kill them so their true evil deeds are not brought to the world's attention. Zack is killed by ShinRa Infantrymen and Cloud survives. Before Zack dies, he tells Cloud that he is his living legacy and to take his sword with him (The Buster Sword).

These events cause Cloud to have some kind of PTSD and claims that the events Zack was in, he was the Zack guy, a SOLDIER, not an Infantryman. He now infused with Mako and JENOVA cells, JENOVA is now his Mother too, and Sephiroths brother. Sephiroth returns and is able to control Cloud like a puppet and gets him to do some of his biddings.

That is as simple as I can put it

FF13 is by far the worst out of the series. I played like 5 minutes and I already disliked the mechanics and the character Sazh. If you are wanting a good Final Fantasy RPG with errr... elegant female characters... Final Fantasy X and X-2. It is not text-based (besides speaking with NPCs) and that story is terrific ( I played it like 7 times on different consoles)

Thank you for that.

I am sorry but the story sounds blooming awful. Still trying to figure out what people see in the game.

I see with you only playing XIII for 5 minutes you can see where I am coming from with only playing VII for 20 minutes.

I know all about FF X and that totally cringeworthy HA HA HA laugh scene. I saw it several years ago on a website called cracked.com and that put me off FF even more.

 

[hoggys2much]

As much as I love the game I cannot play the modern port - The 4:3 aspect ration kills it for me alone. But also i find the character models to look a little off - like they have a glossy finish on them.

I personally use my Modded PS Classic to play the game ( I own the game on PS1 disc before anyone starts...), this gives the game a nice upscale and I can play the game stretched in widescreen which adds the immersion for me.

I can see why someone might struggle to get into it these days with the polygon character models - I personally don't mind them but I know I struggle with 8-Bit games myself.

If you really are struggling I recommend maybe trying Final Fantasy X. The game has been Up-scaled to 4K on Xbox X (Not sure about S, but it still looks damn good!). Many think of this game as a joke from the infamous laughing scene but looking beyond that I still feel this game is the best entry point into the series! It excels in every category one could want from a JRPG - Combat, Set-up mechanics, story, characters, world building, music - it's all there! The only minor complaints I can see are some of the voice acting and apparently some find linear - But the journey throughout Spira with the Summoners Pilgrimage caters for that structure well.
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I'm from the UK and Imported a copy from Amazon, if you're happy to get a digital version I recommend waiting until it's on sale - S-E are usually quite generous with digital sales on consoles.

Thank you for the reply.

First up I totally agree with you that the 4:3 aspect ratio was garbage.

Second I do not mind polygonal games (I have The Mega Drive collection on 360) but to me it looked like just a bunch of triangles and squares stuck together. I felt as though I was playing Starfox on SNES but I have never played Starfox as I never owned a SNES but I have seen plenty of Starfox and that is what it felt like playing. I heard somewhere that FF VII was meant to be on the SNES but it delayed and then put on PS1.

Third the X One S is fully 4K the only thing it doesn't do is High Dynamic Resolution and my games look incredible on it. I didn't get the One X because 1. Lack of money, 2. I looked at some screen shots between the S and X and in some I didn't notice much difference and I thought in some the S looked better. 3. I Only have a cheap 4K smart TV with no HDR so what was the point in getting the One X when my TV couldn't handle it.

Forth I think (I could be wrong here) that the Final Fantasy games are coming to Game Pass that I have. It was Game Pass that I downloaded FF VII from. IF FF X is on Game Pass I will give it a go despite that totally cringeworthy ending.

 

[Sashikiru]

Forth I think (I could be wrong here) that the Final Fantasy games are coming to Game Pass that I have. It was Game Pass that I downloaded FF VII from. IF FF X is on Game Pass I will give it a go despite that totally cringeworthy ending.

The cringe laugh is in the middle of the game, not the end lol. X-2 is really good so that is worth a play

 

[Miko]

Hey Hoggys2much, welcome to the forums!

FFVII certainly isn't for anyone, but for a lot of members here it was one of our first Final Fantasy games growing up & nostalgia is what kept it as the best game ever. If memory serves me correctly FFVII was actually initially planned to be released for the SNES if that means anything to you.

20 minutes is definitely not enough to get the entire grasp of Final Fantasy VII, it's about a 30+ hour game after all. I can understand the lack of appeal to the graphics but I don't think many people, whom have some kind of an idea about FFVII, go into playing the original expecting beautiful graphics. I agree it's not the best having blocky hands, but that's the nostalgic charm I feel when looking at them now

But I'm sorry you didn't like the game! I do hope you decide to go back into playing it in the future! I love many songs from the entire OST, many of which you don't get to hear till near the end. Maybe one day you'll change your mind and really enjoy the game!

or stomp on it even more!

Regardless, welcome again to the forums! Try to keep double posts to a single post & I hope to see you around some more if you decide to stay a while

 

[Dionysos]

Honestly, if you hated it that much it might just be that the Final Fantasy franchise, or Final Fantasy VII specifically, isn’t for you. And that’s okay. Nobody should force you into liking it if it doesn’t gel with you.

But for many others, including myself, it means so, so much.
More than a couple of paragraphs in a post can effectively express to an outsider to the franchise.

Final Fantasy VII being ‘the best game ever’ is subjective, and not all Final Fantasy fans agree with that. Final Fantasy fans are a much broader bunch, covering multiple generations of fans over a long period (1987-present). Each game is different to the last, and this has encouraged the game’s longevity. There isn’t a single ‘Final Fantasy story’ but multiple stories set in separate universes, merely joined together with the spiritual essence of ‘Final Fantasy’. Like a phoenix, the franchise is reborn each time a new numbered mainline instalment is released.

Final Fantasy VII is a huge part of the franchise’s history and is dear to the hearts of many. In addition to the game’s merits for storytelling, it is also because it was the first PSX title in the franchise and for many it ended up being their first. There was a generation used to playing games like Crash Bandicoot, Tekken, Tomb Raider, etc, which are great classics in their own genres, but lack narrative depth. Many people did not expect to encounter a story as large and epic in scale as Final Fantasy in a video game, so it blew them away. SNES fans would have known what was possible already, if they had been lucky enough to play FFIV or FFVI first (or FFII and FFIII as these titles were localised in the west at the time since, sadly, FFII, FFIII and FFV were only released later outside Japan).

Sure, Final Fantasy VII has long been criticised for the unintentional comedy of its rapidly outdated Lego-style field models, but that only adds to its charm for many players. But putting that aside, and taking the plot seriously as intended, the story itself and the characters are also very dear to me.

It is a pity that you do not like Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtrack too. Personally, I think it is fantastic and has a magical quality to it, and is also a vital aspect of the game’s storytelling. If you only played twenty minutes of the game then that suggests to me that you may have so far only heard ‘Opening Bombing Mission’ and ‘Mako Reactor’ in their intended contexts. These aren’t really reflective of the soundtrack as a whole. The original soundtrack was also partly limited by what was possible at the time, so if you seek a better sound quality then I recommend you try the Distant Worlds orchestral renditions or Final Fantasy VII Remake’s versions.

If your interest in the franchise does not come naturally, or if you don’t desire to enjoy it, then that’s fine too. But if you are seeking a way to potentially open your heart to the franchise to allow yourself to enjoy the game, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome to the forums!

 

[Ilyena]

Considering how awful the voice acting was in X, I will text-based over terrible voices any day. At least that improved with Xll and going forward.

I think some people call it the best game ever because for them, it is the best game ever. For many people it was their introduction into Final Fantasy or RPGs or video games in general. There's a certain amount of nostalgia there and memories of having a great time playing. Opinions are subjective so I wouldn't really consider the crappy games wiki to be the definitive word on bad games.

Like others have said though, Final Fantasy VII or FF in general just might not be your cup of tea. The later games in the series have voice acting and eliminate the ATB system, so they might be worth a look if you have any interest. It's unfortunate that the FF7 Remake was PS4 exclusive but look on the bright side: when they finish releasing all twenty parts some time in 2040, surely it will be available for the Xbox Five Z (assuming Bill Gates hasn't made us all zombies with his vaccine microchip plot).

 

[hoggys2much]

I just want to say thank you to everyone for the replies.

Ilyena you say the voice acting got better after FF X but according to the crappygameswiki the voice directing in FF XIII was terrible.

 

[Ilyena]

Ilyena you say the voice acting got better after FF X but according to the crappygameswiki the voice directing in FF XIII was terrible.

If we consider X the nadir of voice acting in the series (which I do), then just by comparison, it's better. XIII was...it had its issues. I got bored with it a few hours in. As soon as I was in Snow's POV, I noped the fuck out because I loathed his character. Some of the voice acting was okay, some was cringe. It's difficult to get more cringe than Seymour in X though.

 

[Six]

Final Fantasy VII is definitely my favourite.

It was the first in the franchise that I was introduced to as my tiny little seven year old self, so it has a massive amount of nostalgia tied to it for me. However, it's also genuinely been the only FF game that made me "bond" with the cast. Tifa is my personal favourite, Aerith being my least favourite in the game.

The soundtrack, the story, the monsters, the battles, I just really enjoyed it all. I do think that a lot of people who will yell "It's the best FF" the loudest are OG fans who played it back in the day when it wasn't as "dated" as it seems to be now. I could still replay FF7 at any time now, mind you, but I do think it's more of a "nostalgia" for most people. Not to suggest the game isn't great, because I think it is. As Dionysos suggested though, I think that's subjective.

If you ask people "what makes a great game" the answers will vary so much, and that's the great thing about the many instalments in FF, I think, there's most likely gonna be something for everyone.

Personally I'm not big on X for example. Loads of others think it's absolutely amazing.

 

[Sashikiru]

Tifa is my personal favourite, Aerith being my least favourite in the game.

Take it you didn't get your heart stabbed when Sephiroth kills her?

 

[hoggys2much]

Sorry to everyone here but I think I will be passing on this franchise.

I had a look at a FF X video on youtube and it looks as though the battling is done the same way in all the games which I hate. I like to do my battling the way it is done in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ( greatest RPG ever) and Fable where I can go in with either all swords and guns blazing or take the cautious route and fight from a distance.

So once again thank you for everything.

Also has this forum got an off topic section where we can talk about other things?

 

[Six]

Sorry to everyone here but I think I will be passing on this franchise.

I had a look at a FF X video on youtube and it looks as though the battling is done the same way in all the games which I hate. I like to do my battling the way it is done in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ( greatest RPG ever) and Fable where I can go in with either all swords and guns blazing or take the cautious route and fight from a distance.

So once again thank you for everything.

Also has this forum got an off topic section where we can talk about other things?

Yes we do, Gaia and Spira are your go to sections for other games, and graphic design/artsy stuff.

We also run forum events every once in a while here: https://www.finalfantasyforums.net/forums/blitzball-stadium.107/

If you’re into MMOs, Final Fantasy XIV might be worth looking into, but it’s a niche in itself. Sometimes the franchise just isn’t for everyone really, and that’s okay. I’m not the biggest FF fan myself Love VII, but I’ve barely touched the rest, so can I really say I’m into the franchise...? Don’t tell!

 

[Dionysos]

I had a look at a FF X video on youtube and it looks as though the battling is done the same way in all the games which I hate. I like to do my battling the way it is done in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ( greatest RPG ever) and Fable where I can go in with either all swords and guns blazing or take the cautious route and fight from a distance.

If action based fighting is your thing, FFXV is perhaps closer to that. Or the MMOs, in some ways. The FFVII Remake has qualities like that too, although in that one you skip between party members whenever it suits you.

You might even prefer Kingdom Hearts to Final Fantasy.

But if Final Fantasy isn’t your thing, there’s no shame in that at all. We don’t all like the same flavour ice cream.

Also has this forum got an off topic section where we can talk about other things?

As Six says, we have plenty of sections you could discuss non-Final Fantasy stuff in.

You could even post a thread about your favourite rpg I you like. I know nothing about Dragon's Dogma, for example. There might be people here, like myself, missing out on that.

I’m not the biggest FF fan myself Love VII, but I’ve barely touched the rest, so can I really say I’m into the franchise...? Don’t tell!

The wolf takes off the wool.

You’re fired!

 

[Sashikiru]

You might even prefer Kingdom Hearts to Final Fantasy.

I agree. It is more action and no turn base, bonus if you like Disney too. It is strange to know that a crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy works so well.

Speaking of which, there is a Final Fantasy VII Easter Egg in the Disney show, THE OWL HOUSE