Is Final Fantasy 7 That Great ?

Don't get me wrong I don't think Final Fantasy7 is a bad game; I just think it’s a very overrated and over hyped. I know of plenty hardcore fans that claim it’s the greatest Japanese Role Playing Game (JRPG) of all time. But many people that adore Final Fantasy 7, because it was the first JRPG they ever played. If you played Final Fantasy 4-6 first, you would have realize that they are better games with better character growth systems, better stories, and even though the graphics are not as advanced I think they hold up better overtime. “Where to start?” I know how about the battle system and the story line the most important elements of a JRPG. Final Fantasy 7 failed to add anything meaningful or different to the {ATB} system that wasn’t already used in Final Fantasy 4-6; other than the long ass summon spells. Bahamut Zero and Nights Of The Round yeah do I need to say anymore, and don’t get me started on the use of save points and random battles. Now, the Materia System which essentially gives any character the same ability kind of breaks the system, because there’s no different between the case of characters; unlike Final Fantasy 5 which did a far better of executing the use of this system. The Materia system hides the fact that there is no real progression in the leveling system, because whatever Materia you give to one character doesn’t necessarily mean the character is good, just the Materia is. One the biggest problem with Final Fantasy 7 and other modern JRPG’s is they suffer from is a bad story lines and poor character development. The main character is a sword- wielding, spiky-haired hero, get this he Has Amnesia! Well I’ll be damn imagine that. Go and play a game called Planescape Torment and Memento; I don’t know about you but I’m sick and tired of stories using amnesia it’s the most overused plot device in JRPGs period. Also what kind of fucking name is Cloud Strife; the name is half Emo have Goth and very lame. Just joking about that previous sentence I really don’t care about the names of the characters.

But most of the characters in the game are clichés like the Mr. T clone Barret; Cid of course who is in ever Final Fantasy game; the bizarre anime character that has no place in the story Cait Sith; Aeris the girl whose magic powers will determine the fate of the world. The list goes on but I will stop to talk about one particular character I that requires a closer look. I am referring to the worst character to ever grace a video game, Yuffie. Webster dictionary defines a (Ninja) “as a member of a feudal Japanese society of mercenary agents, highly trained in martial arts and stealth (ninjutsu), who were hired for covert purposes ranging from espionage to sabotage and assassination”. Why do I hate the adorable, fun loving ninja? First of all, her name is Yuffie. Second, ninjas are neither fun loving nor adorable! Infiltration, carnage, and drinking the blood of their enemies is what makes ninjas happy. Yuffie on the other hand is the stereotypical anime chick that jumps up and down screaming “Ya-ta!”. What’s my point? Yuffie is the only ninja in the history of video games to break the tradition of ninja being awesome in spite of their lame surroundings. Final Fantasy suffers in my opinion the worst character designs ever to grace the series; I would think the story would carry the game right? Not so; the main protagonist has amnesia which is lame. The setting is cool, he lives in a technologically advanced steam punk world or so you think until you leave this highly futuristic city. Too find the entire surrounding world looks like a generic Final Fantasy countryside. It’s like leaving Neo Tokyo and winding up in Tennessee for the rest of the game. Here's a quick run down of the story, so Cloud meets Sephiroth, who is still filled with teen anger towards Shinra his Mom and Dad. To get back at them for being mean, Sephiroth arbitrarily burns down a village and summons a meteor. Aeris decides that she is going to use the power of love and hope to stop him, and gets stabbed in the back. In a scene that is poorly executed, then she dies. Whoops!, I should have put a spoiler alert for that, but you can’t ruin a story that is already bad. Cloud has amnesia so he forgets to cast resurrection. Cloud kills Sephiroth but is too late and Aeris uses her magic to stop the meteor. Oh and I forgot to mention Cloud thinks he some guy name Zack, because when Zack was about to die he told Cloud to live for him. Fin

And that’s why I don’t like Final Fantasy7, but who the hell I’m I to judge. I really didn’t even make any good or compelling points to back my argument; I guess I’m just hating to hate something a lot of people enjoy.