Today marks 15 years since the release of Final Fantasy VII, AKA, The First RPG You Ever Played. The legacy of Final Fantasy VII looms large over the entire franchises and indeed, over the entire video game industry. It brought RPGs to the forefront of the mainstream, something that hadn’t happened at that point. It compelled thousands of games to have an amnesiac for a hero and it made teenagers the world over cry tears of sadness after the death of Aeris. Sure, Tifa was hotter, but Aeris was the kind of girl you could see yourself settling down with. Maybe bring her home to Nibelheim and start a family, away from the hustle, bustle and terrorist threats of Midgar.
I personally received FF VII for Christmas in 1997 and with it, a Playstation. It was the first non-Nintendo system I had owned since the Genesis and it felt so new and exotic to my 16 year old self. I remember that Christmas break like it was yesterday: my hands practically shook as I held the controller in my hand and the opening cut-scene played. My favorite game series in glorious 3-D graphics! My mom and I fought for control of the TV for the next 2 weeks. She was intent on watching as many year-end specials about Princess Diana as possible and I was trying to save the world from Sephiroth. Clearly, one of us had our priorities out of whack.
FF VII’s legacy is still strong today, although there was something of a backlash after a few years from some of the old-school Final Fantasy fans, myself included, who were upset that our particular favorite game from the pre-FF VII days was being overshadowed by the sudden surge of new fans. For me, that has largely passed. I remembed how much I loved playing FF VII and even today, hearing the music makes me want to boot it up for one more go. Final Fantasy VII was a landmark game for millions of people and the clamor for a remake has only grown stronger. Maybe Square Enix will grant our wish, but until then, we have the memories to hold us over.
What are your thoughts about Final Fantasy VII? Join us in the Lifestream by commenting below!
Man, I’ve been listening to the original soundtrack to this all week. I don’t know what it was about this game that hit me just right, but I wish I knew. I’ve said it before here, but one of my biggest worries about gaming experiences is that I’ll never experience another game quite like Final Fantasy VII. I don’t know if I’m just not able to or what anymore. It was such a unique time in my life. I was 14, had just bought a PlayStation (because the N64 stopped having a steady flow of great games) and just played this for almost 2 weeks on end. It was unlike anything I’d seen in any medium. It was pretty magical. I could wax hyperbolic about it forever. I know the game is full of flaws, and age has not been kind to it. But it’s hard for me to care about those things.
Didn’t like it. The combat system and I didn’t get along well. And the characters, BOY did we not get along well. Aeris’ death meant nothing to me purely because her character was rather dull ‘oh I’m the goodie-two shoes nice-girl love-interest’, wheras Tifa was a much better character Also I thought she was a better party member for my line up. She could white-mage/DPS really well anyway. I do love the music though. So damn great. Especially when they have some of the best tracks in Theatrythm.
There were aspects of FFVII I enjoyed, it did some great things to break up the pace of the game. Some of the quests weren’t too bad either (sneaking into brothels is fun!).
And Anthony? The first RPG I ever played was Dark Cloud, so don’t assume anything! 😉
[quote comment=”19842″]Didn’t like it. The combat system and I didn’t get along well. And the characters, BOY did we not get along well. Aeris’ death meant nothing to me purely because her character was rather dull ‘oh I’m the goodie-two shoes nice-girl love-interest’, wheras Tifa was a much better character Also I thought she was a better party member for my line up. She could white-mage/DPS really well anyway. I do love the music though. So damn great. Especially when they have some of the best tracks in Theatrythm.
There were aspects of FFVII I enjoyed, it did some great things to break up the pace of the game. Some of the quests weren’t too bad either (sneaking into brothels is fun!).
And Anthony? The first RPG I ever played was Dark Cloud, so don’t assume anything! ;)[/quote]
Uh, according to the Internet, Final Fantasy VII was the first RPG ever. Everything before that was so crappy and prehistoric that it has been erased from the Jedi Archives.