What made FFVII stand out?

[Setharion]

You know there are so many jrpgs, but what made people jump out for ff7 back in the day? Now I'm more of a fan of 6, but I do love 7 alot and since that was such an iconic game I'm curious what you all felt made FF7 so popular?

[Tomtin]

For me, it's simple and it's something that really applies to everything i enjoy with stories...character development. I've played many an rpg, seldom do I remember every character in them.

[Phoenix S117]

I played it long after it had come out and everyone and their grandmas had played it, but what most people talk about is the characters, so that's why I decided to play it. Cloud, Sephiroth, and Aerith are pretty iconic.

[Setharion]

Yea I think character build up is key, when FF7 came out though i wasnt feeling it...it was weird for me since i had been playing FF since its release in the 80s and 7 just didnt do it for me when it came out.

I wonder if FF7 would of been the same if it had never jumped to Sony.

[Tomtin]

I've been playing FF since the first with the four warriors. 7 grabbed me the same way 6 did...in a very good way.

[stepheno1683]

The characters, world, and materia system are all boss.

[BobbyB]

I never could finish the game..though I didn't get a chance to play it until the PS2 was out..

[Setharion]

You know i will say the beginning of FF7 is pretty epic too. Theres just something about that build up that was pretty badass.

I finally came to love the game, but it took me some years to do so.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

all the FMVs.

Honestly, I like the game, but I just don't think it holds up well over time.

[stepheno1683]

May 3, 2011 13:20:26 GMT -5 BobbyB said:

I never could finish the game..though I didn't get a chance to play it until the PS2 was out..

May 3, 2011 13:55:24 GMT -5 Setharion said:

You know i will say the beginning of FF7 is pretty epic too. Theres just something about that build up that was pretty badass.

I finally came to love the game, but it took me some years to do so.

The motorcycle scene as well is epic. I remember I created a save right before that scene and would reload the save to watch it over and over again.

[adam99x]

To me, it the FMVs. They were ahead of the time in terms of creating visual appealing videos that were unmatched by any other company out there. When it comes to game-play, sure it was good, the characters were memorable, but I wouldn't put this game ahead of FFIV, FFVI, or even FFXII which a lot don't like. FFVII created a revolution in JRPGS in terms of what could be done for it's time, but the game just wasn't all that great. As said before, the 3d graphics were new (even though they were blocky as hell - out of combat), the FMV's were fantastic, the soundtrack was hit and miss (yes, i said it). Maybe I hate the game too much because VII became the mainstream FF title. Everyone wants FFVII to be remade and I would much rather have a FFIV or FFVI remade. Those games are much more epic then FFVII could ever be because they relied more on story rather than FMV's to show off a few cute cut scenes.

[GameDadGrant]

Yeah, the production values at the time is what really set it above everything else. It was a much darker, more modern game. The whole visual aesthetic just put it into a league of it's own.

The fact that there was a solid game underneath all the shine, with a robust new character-customization feature (via the Materia), haunting musical score, a huge world to explore with tons of secrets, challenges and mini-games, along with a varied cast and the RPG genre's first "tortured" hero... the game became a classic instantly.

But the first thing that grabbed everyone's attention were the production values. Those FMVs were off the hook back in 1997.

[CreepinDeth]

I loved it because it wasn't your traditional RPG. Most RPGs up until that time dealt with historical events. Meaning they all seemed very medieval. FFVII was set in a cool, futuristic world that had so much visual stimuli, it was nuts.

The FMVs, as mentioned by others here, were just extremely detailed and my mind was blown when I saw they combined the actual polygon models into the FMV.

One other reason that might seem kind of juvenile (I was 14 when it released), it was one of the first games that I saw that had cursing in it. Before this, you had a bunch of Mario's and other games that appealed to everyone, but this was a mature-themed game. It had death, it insinuated sex. Not a whole lot of games that came out during that time were walking that line. I guess you can say it's one of the games that helped push video games out of that "Toy" stigma.

And last but not least, the music. The traditional FF music no longer in 8-bit midi, but a full blown soundtrack with new creations that just fit the game perfectly.

[Setharion]

Let me ask you guys, is it me or do older final fantasys seem to have more "tracks" in their soundtracks? Like im playing FFIV right now again and it always hits home, but there are so many mood setting tracks and thats what i felt was so great about older FFs.

Alot of modern day rpgs seem to have 2 or 3 tracks that play in various areas, while the other games just had more tracks. Im not sure, its just how it seems and music is what really made these older final fantasy games come to live i always thought.

[Tomtin]

Well, since we are on the topic of ff7, I always felt it had the strongest soundtrack and I feel stupid for forgetting about it. I actually own the soundtrack discs. The only other game that I own the soundtrack to is castlevania symphony of the night! And FF7 is better no doubt.