Final Fantasy VII | legendarygaming

Final Fantasy VII

Playstation 4 Version

Hailed as one of the greatest Japanese role playing games of all time, Final Fantasy VII makes its debut on the PSN Marketplace as an updated port from its original PC version. Released on Playstation in 1997, Final Fantasy VII took the world of role playing by storm as one of the best the Playstation had to offer. But advancements in modern gaming development produced far superior RPG’s, making Final Fantasy VII seem like nothing more than a shadow of its former glory.

Final Fantasy VII follows a group of rebels on a quest to save the planet from a psychopathic villain known as Sephiroth. The result of a secret government experiment, Sephiroth has already been physically enhanced, but he’s crazed for even more power. His ultimate goal is to combine himself with spiritual forces of the planet to become its supreme leader. Upon release of the original title on Playstation, Sephiroth was regarded by series fans as an iconic super villain not to be trifled with. But future role playing games have given developers such superior methods of displaying their imagination that Sephiroth looks like a wimp by comparison.

Although the PSN Marketplace version of Final Fantasy VII is graphically superior to its original counterpart, gameplay mechanics and story presentation are far outdated. With that said, Final Fantasy VII isn’t one of those timeless games you can go back and play with the same level of enjoyment you originally had. Slow world map movement, frustrating mini-games, limited story presentation, and no voice acting make Final Fantasy VII completely inferior to modern RPG’s… And that’s not because of the stylistically different turn-based combat system; there’s no problem with that. Were simply dealing with a video game that had revolutionary gameplay and story-telling in its era, but has been so far surpassed in those areas since, that it now comes across as an ancient artifact compared to modern RPG’s.

I originally completed Final Fantasy VII twice during its Playstation era, and just like anyone else, I was blown away. Taking a trip into the past for this third and final time was motivated by nothing more than nostalgia, and it wasn’t exactly worth the hype. And sure, video games like Super Mario Brothers 3 or Donkey Kong Country 2 are timeless, but they’re also rare. It’s not easy creating a game that still has viable gameplay ten or twenty years after its release. So it’s no ‘end of the world’ scenario for Final Fantasy developers having failed the test of time with a game once considered legendary by fans all around the world.

Leveling up my characters never felt better than ever using the games (all new) feature to speed up time. Collecting “ultimate weapons” and defeating all three of Final Fantasy VII’s super bosses: Ultima Weapon, Ruby Weapon, and Emerald weapon, was a complete blast. But other than epic boss battles and character upgrades, Final Fantasy VII was lacking in its ability to convey emotion to the player, in part due to its exclusion of voice acting. But with a once great title comes a shot at redemption… Developers are currently in the process of creating a Final Fantasy VII remake entirely from the ground up, complete with high quality graphics and voice acting. I wish Final Fantasy developers success in this epic endeavor, regardless of the fact that it’s incredibly risky. Like an NFL quarterback, down by seven points, in the fourth quarter, and with fifteen seconds left on the clock; Final Fantasy developers are looking to lead their team to an over-time comeback with a Hail Mary… And regardless of whether or not that Hail Mary hits its target, you’ve got to admire their guts for taking a shot at the end zone.

Overall Rating

7.3/10