| arbitor365 said: well, here is a list of RPGs that I have beaten that have had better storylines, characters, replay value, gameplay innovation, environment diversity or a combination what I just listed, than FFVII.
seiken densetsu games so, if there is a FFVII fan who has played all these games that can come forward and refute what I just said and still claim FFVII to be the best, bring it on. And I’ll listen, but I guarantee that you are wrong. There are better games out there that deserve theat #2 spot more than FFVII does. as for opinions, If someone has only played only 5 or 6 RPGs (one of which being FFVII), how would they know which is the best of the genre much less the best game of all time? those kinds of people make up a huge majority of FFVII's fanbase, especially the more zealous ones. That is why its popularity gives it no merit. If you havent played more than 10 RPGs, than you dont have the viable knowledge or the right to say which is the best of all time. it may be an opinion, but its an ignorant, baseless one. FFVII’s popularity means nothing. And you may be wondering “ok mr smartypants, why was it so popular then and still popular today if it really wasn’t that great?” I have a one word answer to that question and it is the single force behind all of the pretentiousness, nostalgia, popularity, hype and success of FFVII…… “graphics.” That’s all. Everything leads back to it. Ponder it for a moment. Gameplay – wasn’t really much different from 6 (though it was more chaotic and choppy). Why did it seem revolutionary? Because it was using 3d polygon models instead of sprites. So, its simply graphics, nothing more. Environments -- though midgar was cool, there wasnt a huge diversity of locations throughout the game. for example, FFVI brought you to way more interesting locations than FFVII ever did. so why do people praise the style of FFVII? im sure you saw this coming....... graphics Storyline/characters – from a movie/literature critic standpoint, there really isn’t much depth to the characters of FFVII. Most are either pointless, annoying, melodramatic or shallow. There nothing really dynamic or original about these characters (besides their big swords). So why do fans swear their allegiance to them. Because they were “wow’ed” by the clearer, more realistic appearances of them. Once again, it all falls back on graphics. If they all looked like sprites, they wouldn’t have all these fanboys today. You cant deny it. Hype – it was the first 3D FF game, as the whole world today knows. So obviously, that gave it a lot of hype. In fact, that was the cause of all of its hype. Graphics once again account for it. Nostalgia – thanks to this hype, millions of kids played it. thanks to that and the graphics, it was instilled in their tiny brains as “amazing” and “the best.” Nothing could possibly overwrite something so nostalgic. Millions of kids had this branded into their psyche. And why was that? Why was it so widespread and popular? Why did so many kids inevitably play it? The graphics.
In a nutshell, graphics begot hype, hype begot sales, sales begot a wide child demographic, the wide child demographic begot unprecedented nostalgia, and unprecedented nostalgia begot fanboys, universal acclaim and a popularity that overshadows everything else in the genre. All of this, because of one word…… “graphics.” So is it any surprise, why huge RPG fans (or you could say experts) like myself, hate this game And why we look down upon people who put it on a pedestal?? Am I not alone here?? |
Gameplay - was awesome, it was 3D gameplay too, which was awesome. It had the Materia system too, which you somehow missed out on, oh... And the Chocobo breeding/racing, and the many... Many other minigames to add to that. A bunch of different vehicles too for that matter.
Environments - Yes, graphics here is the main thing... Because it looked more realistic, and at least IMO... It was nicer to look at.
Storyline/Characters - FF7 has had more spin-off's and movies made of it and it's characters than any other Final Fantasy game ever. Fact. Which shows just how deep the characters are. Plus, it's easier to get attatched to a character that looks and feels more real than a 2D sprite. And when you get attatched to the characters, you get attatched to the story they are in.
Hype - Can't argue here, the graphics helped it a LOT. But wait, surely that means good graphics were... Popular... Yes? So how can it be a bad thing? Oh... And Sony had a major ad campaign for it too 
Nostalgia - Could also kinda add graphics into the equation, as it is one of the reasons for being attatched to the characters. But hey, i think it is nostalgic because yaknow... It was a damn good game for it's time.
