By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Ocarina of Time vs Final Fantasy 7

 

I prefer...

Ocarina of Time 105 58.33%
 
Final Fantasy 7 75 41.67%
 
Total:180

Final Fantasy VII and it's not even close. It's just objectively better in so, so many ways. Above all else, you can still play FFVII today and it feels good, Ocarina of Time feels clunky and hasn't aged well.

Audio - FFVII is one of the ONLY games in the history of the medium that can outfox Ocarina of Time, and only by the slimmest of margins. The things that get me are that the Forest Temple is one of the most annoying tracks of all time and Navi is the most annoying HEY LISTEN ever.

Graphics - FFVII but again, not by a huge margin. The FMVs are so much better than anything OOT has, the battle graphics and animations are better, and the 2D work on the backgrounds is better, too. actual walking around animations and graphics go to OOT, but again, not by much.

Story/Characters - FFVII and it's not even close. I think the story of OOT is just a rehash of LTTP, remarkably generic and simplistic. It has no great characters aside from MAYBE Shiek/Zelda, almost no story to speak of beyond 'dude's evil, time travel to kill him'. FFVII to this day is still one of the better stories in gaming. No moments compare to Aerith's death, the villain is far more memorable, the writing ... exists, which is more than can be said for OOT (I actually think FFVII's writing is pretty damn good, but all it needed to do was exist to beat OOT's lackluster, barebones writing and plot). Seriously, FFVII has a better, longer story, better characters, better writing, and more memorable moments throughout its runtime. Not even close.

Gameplay - This COULD go either way, since both have vastly different gameplay styles. However, I think FFVII gets it for two reasons: Volume of content and longevity (As in how well it aged.) There's just so, so SO much more to do in FFVII than there is in OOT. The story is longer, there's more side content, there's more variation in the builds/style, the materia system is still pretty great to play with today, and there was never any issues with poor conveyance/confusion with this like there was with OOT. the world is bigger, the story is longer, there are more places to explore, more dungeons to clear out, etc...but OOT's dungeon design is pretty great overall with a lot of great stuff to play with. I do think these two are pretty close overall, but I think the breadth/volume of content in FFVII gives it the edge, and above all else the fact that OOT feels dated and clunky and cumbersome now while FFVII can still be enjoyed (Turn based battles don't age poorly, it's kind of one-sided in that respect) makes all the difference.

I don't think there's a single way that OOT is a 'better' game and I don't understand why people think it's so grand. to date, I feel OOT is one of the most overrated games ever. I don't think it's bad, it's a solid 7/10, which is a good score...I just don't think it aged well and even for its time it had issues with conveyance and just being an uglier, clunkier version of A Link to the Past.



My Console Library:

PS5, Switch, XSX

PS4, PS3, PS2, PS1, WiiU, Wii, GCN, N64 SNES, XBO, 360

3DS, DS, GBA, Vita, PSP, Android

Around the Network
Runa216 said:
Final Fantasy VII and it's not even close. It's just objectively better in so, so many ways. Above all else, you can still play FFVII today and it feels good, Ocarina of Time feels clunky and hasn't aged well.

Audio - FFVII is one of the ONLY games in the history of the medium that can outfox Ocarina of Time, and only by the slimmest of margins. The things that get me are that the Forest Temple is one of the most annoying tracks of all time and Navi is the most annoying HEY LISTEN ever.

Graphics - FFVII but again, not by a huge margin. The FMVs are so much better than anything OOT has, the battle graphics and animations are better, and the 2D work on the backgrounds is better, too. actual walking around animations and graphics go to OOT, but again, not by much.

Story/Characters - FFVII and it's not even close. I think the story of OOT is just a rehash of LTTP, remarkably generic and simplistic. It has no great characters aside from MAYBE Shiek/Zelda, almost no story to speak of beyond 'dude's evil, time travel to kill him'. FFVII to this day is still one of the better stories in gaming. No moments compare to Aerith's death, the villain is far more memorable, the writing ... exists, which is more than can be said for OOT (I actually think FFVII's writing is pretty damn good, but all it needed to do was exist to beat OOT's lackluster, barebones writing and plot). Seriously, FFVII has a better, longer story, better characters, better writing, and more memorable moments throughout its runtime. Not even close.

Gameplay - This COULD go either way, since both have vastly different gameplay styles. However, I think FFVII gets it for two reasons: Volume of content and longevity (As in how well it aged.) There's just so, so SO much more to do in FFVII than there is in OOT. The story is longer, there's more side content, there's more variation in the builds/style, the materia system is still pretty great to play with today, and there was never any issues with poor conveyance/confusion with this like there was with OOT. the world is bigger, the story is longer, there are more places to explore, more dungeons to clear out, etc...but OOT's dungeon design is pretty great overall with a lot of great stuff to play with. I do think these two are pretty close overall, but I think the breadth/volume of content in FFVII gives it the edge, and above all else the fact that OOT feels dated and clunky and cumbersome now while FFVII can still be enjoyed (Turn based battles don't age poorly, it's kind of one-sided in that respect) makes all the difference.

I don't think there's a single way that OOT is a 'better' game and I don't understand why people think it's so grand. to date, I feel OOT is one of the most overrated games ever. I don't think it's bad, it's a solid 7/10, which is a good score...I just don't think it aged well and even for its time it had issues with conveyance and just being an uglier, clunkier version of A Link to the Past.

I think i agree with most what you said.

OOT had it graphics back then and those didnt age well,and whatever it has to fall back to is flawed or simplistic by todays standards while ff7 has only aged poorly partly in graphics but has lots of other things going for it.



Runa216 said:
Final Fantasy VII and it's not even close. It's just objectively better in so, so many ways. Above all else, you can still play FFVII today and it feels good, Ocarina of Time feels clunky and hasn't aged well.

Audio - FFVII is one of the ONLY games in the history of the medium that can outfox Ocarina of Time, and only by the slimmest of margins. The things that get me are that the Forest Temple is one of the most annoying tracks of all time and Navi is the most annoying HEY LISTEN ever.

Graphics - FFVII but again, not by a huge margin. The FMVs are so much better than anything OOT has, the battle graphics and animations are better, and the 2D work on the backgrounds is better, too. actual walking around animations and graphics go to OOT, but again, not by much.

Story/Characters - FFVII and it's not even close. I think the story of OOT is just a rehash of LTTP, remarkably generic and simplistic. It has no great characters aside from MAYBE Shiek/Zelda, almost no story to speak of beyond 'dude's evil, time travel to kill him'. FFVII to this day is still one of the better stories in gaming. No moments compare to Aerith's death, the villain is far more memorable, the writing ... exists, which is more than can be said for OOT (I actually think FFVII's writing is pretty damn good, but all it needed to do was exist to beat OOT's lackluster, barebones writing and plot). Seriously, FFVII has a better, longer story, better characters, better writing, and more memorable moments throughout its runtime. Not even close.

Gameplay - This COULD go either way, since both have vastly different gameplay styles. However, I think FFVII gets it for two reasons: Volume of content and longevity (As in how well it aged.) There's just so, so SO much more to do in FFVII than there is in OOT. The story is longer, there's more side content, there's more variation in the builds/style, the materia system is still pretty great to play with today, and there was never any issues with poor conveyance/confusion with this like there was with OOT. the world is bigger, the story is longer, there are more places to explore, more dungeons to clear out, etc...but OOT's dungeon design is pretty great overall with a lot of great stuff to play with. I do think these two are pretty close overall, but I think the breadth/volume of content in FFVII gives it the edge, and above all else the fact that OOT feels dated and clunky and cumbersome now while FFVII can still be enjoyed (Turn based battles don't age poorly, it's kind of one-sided in that respect) makes all the difference.

I don't think there's a single way that OOT is a 'better' game and I don't understand why people think it's so grand. to date, I feel OOT is one of the most overrated games ever. I don't think it's bad, it's a solid 7/10, which is a good score...I just don't think it aged well and even for its time it had issues with conveyance and just being an uglier, clunkier version of A Link to the Past.

The gameplay in Zelda was perfect and set the base to all future 3d action adventure games. FF VII is a fantastic game, but has no real gameplay innovations compared with snes rpgs. Only the graphics were innovative in final fantasy 7. And these were not even cohesive between battle, world exploration or cinematics.
The story of final fantasy 7 is very interesting and handles deep themes, but its structure is that of a basic anime shonen and has stupid flaws like "Tifa knows everything from the beginning"
I write this as a big fan of FF 7 who has enjoyed the game many times. But Zelda ocarine of time is the best game.

Sorry for my bad english.



Loneken said:

The gameplay in Zelda was perfect and set the base to all future 3d action adventure games. FF VII is a fantastic game, but has no real gameplay innovations compared with snes rpgs. Only the graphics were innovative in final fantasy 7. And these were not even cohesive between battle, world exploration or cinematics.
The story of final fantasy 7 is very interesting and handles deep themes, but its structure is that of a basic anime shonen and has stupid flaws like "Tifa knows everything from the beginning"
I write this as a big fan of FF 7 who has enjoyed the game many times. But Zelda ocarine of time is the best game.

Sorry for my bad english.

If the gameplay had been perfect, there wouldn’t have been room for it to improve. But 3D Zelda gameplay did improve greatly in the titles that followed.



Game play perfect for that time. 

Super mario 64 was perfect , but consecutive games  improved the gameplay.
FF 7 has no better gameplay than FF 6, only graphics.Technology allows us to improve if used well.
The point of game design is to improve, not to do more of the same every time.

FF 7 was a fantastic game in that time, and  a gigantic event in the reception of role-playing games by the mass public. But the discussion refers to which of the 2 games is superior, not more popular.
Although the comparison does not seem correct by the type of game Zelda (Action adventure) FF7 (Jrpg) are.

Sorry for my bad english.



Around the Network
Hynad said:
Loneken said:

The gameplay in Zelda was perfect and set the base to all future 3d action adventure games. FF VII is a fantastic game, but has no real gameplay innovations compared with snes rpgs. Only the graphics were innovative in final fantasy 7. And these were not even cohesive between battle, world exploration or cinematics.
The story of final fantasy 7 is very interesting and handles deep themes, but its structure is that of a basic anime shonen and has stupid flaws like "Tifa knows everything from the beginning"
I write this as a big fan of FF 7 who has enjoyed the game many times. But Zelda ocarine of time is the best game.

Sorry for my bad english.

If the gameplay had been perfect, there wouldn’t have been room for it to improve. But 3D Zelda gameplay did improve greatly in the titles that followed.

You missed his point.  The gameplay was revolutionary in OoT where future games followed the same core formula and mechanics, and built off of them moving forward.  Final Fantasy VII did not really revolutionize much compared to the RPGs found on the SNES.  It had better visuals than SNES RPGs and told a great story, but thats it.

That was his legitimate reason for picking OoT.  No less legeitimate than someone picking FFVII because to them, they prefer the storytelling.  The fact that he misused "perfect" when he even states in his own post that he has bad english does not seem like a good reason to call him out TBH.



Nintendo Switch Friend Code: SW-5643-2927-1984

Animal Crossing NH Dream Address: DA-1078-9916-3261

Shiken said:
Hynad said:

If the gameplay had been perfect, there wouldn’t have been room for it to improve. But 3D Zelda gameplay did improve greatly in the titles that followed.

You missed his point.  The gameplay was revolutionary in OoT where future games followed the same core formula and mechanics, and built off of them moving forward.  Final Fantasy VII did not really revolutionize much compared to the RPGs found on the SNES.  It had better visuals than SNES RPGs and told a great story, but thats it.

That was his legitimate reason for picking OoT.  No less legeitimate than someone picking FFVII because to them, they prefer the storytelling.  The fact that he misused "perfect" when he even states in his own post that he has bad english does not seem like a good reason to call him out TBH.

I did not miss the point. Simply use the term perfect as meaning perfect.. 

As for your argument about FF VII, and the ones from others in this thread trying to diminish or completely dismiss the game’s achievements, revisionist history style, I couldn’t care less.

I’m not here to call one game as less revolutionary than the other, in order to make one look above the other. As far as I’m concerned, both were stellar games for their time. And I prefer one over the other because it reached me more. For reasons that aren’t less valid than yours or anyone else here.

Last edited by Hynad - on 18 February 2020

Loneken said:

Game play perfect for that time. 

Super mario 64 was perfect , but consecutive games  improved the gameplay.
FF 7 has no better gameplay than FF 6, only graphics.Technology allows us to improve if used well.
The point of game design is to improve, not to do more of the same every time.

FF 7 was a fantastic game in that time, and  a gigantic event in the reception of role-playing games by the mass public. But the discussion refers to which of the 2 games is superior, not more popular.
Although the comparison does not seem correct by the type of game Zelda (Action adventure) FF7 (Jrpg) are.

Sorry for my bad english.

I don't think this argument holds up.

Let's take for example Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Sonic Generations, two games that came out around the same time.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 built on the foundation of Mario Galaxy without improving much.  Just better (debatable) level design. But since Mario Galaxy was amazing, Galaxy 2 was still an amazing game.

On the other hand, Sonic Generations was a pretty massive improvement from the last game, Sonic Unleashed.  But, since Sonic Unleashed was at best "ok" Generations was just pretty good.

Even though Generations was a bigger improvement over its predecessor, Super Mario Galaxy 2 was a much better game.

So, just because Ocarina of Time was a bigger improvement, doesn't necessarily mean it was a better game.  Although I think it is a better game just because it's better on its own merits.



I prefer Ocarina of time by far in all aspects. I am also puzzled at people saying ff7 has a good story but different strokes I guess But I'd take OoT simple story over the convoluted nonsense that was ff7 story



Shiken said:

You missed his point.  The gameplay was revolutionary in OoT where future games followed the same core formula and mechanics, and built off of them moving forward.  Final Fantasy VII did not really revolutionize much compared to the RPGs found on the SNES.  It had better visuals than SNES RPGs and told a great story, but thats it.

That was his legitimate reason for picking OoT.  No less legeitimate than someone picking FFVII because to them, they prefer the storytelling.  The fact that he misused "perfect" when he even states in his own post that he has bad english does not seem like a good reason to call him out TBH.

I'll add perfect is an open term as it doesn't mean something can't be built upon.

On people saying FFVII being playable today is a thing the reason FFVII is playable today is not really the story or anything like that it's because of a trait of its genre most JRPGs have simplistic gameplay you can take almost any JRPG that was turn based or has a variant of turn based gameplay and it would be playable today as it's far more simple in gameplay Octopath Traveler would be playable in 20 years while many games out now may not be.