/vr/ - Retro Games

Final Fantasy 7. Need I go on?... okay! First for starters, the plot! Oh my squeaky crusts it's a good'n. At first you think you're playing as a member of the resistance against an evil empire. You're submerged in the slums of Midgar (think Detroit) and you can imagine spending the rest of the game blowing up reactors-- BUT -- whoooosh suddenly you're set up and things are not as they seem. Now we're after a man in black, on the trail of Cloud's sordid past, and we're looking after an ancient (whose fate anyone can guess :'( ). Yeah guys, this game is more than meets the eye. If you thought Akira was a dumb biker game for brutes then you probably have similar misconceptions about this gem of a title. The game set video games on the map in 1997. You don't even know!!!

Look at those flowers. I thought I could sniff them in the 90's. The church made me consider going to Sunday mass. Gosh darn it guys, this game is good! It has complex characters. It has a huge overworld map with towns and villages who define their world. There are secrets. Tears, laughter, humility. Sometimes we can't play the hero. In Final Fantasy 7 you don't always play the hero... but you can still SAVE THE PLANET!

Play Final Fantasy 7. It's a miracle.

Bar none. Every single second from the opening cinematic to the moment Cloud leaps off a speeding bullet you feel like you've leapt into the future. Look at those flowers. See them? Back in the day you could almost sniff them if you didn't know no better. Every part of this epic reminded you that 1997 was the year video games could be taken seriously. Sure later entries were prettier in a few trivial details but nothing before or since has signaled a full on change in the cultural zeitgeist like Final Fantasy 7. And to think... this all began with a flower girl. Kind of beautiful.

FFVII has always been a close game to my heart. It just has this... undefinable feeling to me. I can't say it's nostalgia, I beat FFVI long before I finished FFVII. But there's something about this game - whether it be the backgrounds or the music - there's something, so real, so thoughtful about the world and the characters. It touches me in a way few games can.

I came across a list dealing with the "top ten games that deal with emotional issues". FFVII ended up being the number one game on the list; in fact, the writer even titled it as /the/ emotional game.

I feel his entry on the list sums up how I feel about the game well:

"Down to number one. I'm sure you've had one of these two reactions: 'YES! NAILED IT! FFVII FTW!' or 'Dammit! This overrated game again!' The very fact that FFVII is so much discussed vehemently today testifies to its greatness. Our 'emotional game' could only be this game. No other option exists. The game is a festival of true emotions, deep characters, memorable events. Unlike other games, you'll live with this game. You'll recognize its characters as real people. It's the most human game out there.

You walk with the game's protagonist, Cloud, with his arrogance and cool attitude but grows to learn to value the importance of comradeship and his friends. You learn to respect the charismatic Sephiroth. You understand the emotional value behind the relationship between these two men, which is a complex mixture of respect and hostility. A dead character, Zack, shadows the events of game and injects a sense of loss. You are fascinated by the dark, sardonic character of Vincent. You fall in love with the sweet Aerith, and her death scene and funeral is one of the saddest most shocking scene in the history of gaming. And this is just tip of the iceberg.

FF Tactics is the ultimate pluralistic games which encompasses all ideas and philosophies. FFVII does the same with emotions, it contains all you've felt. It's a gigantic work of art."