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Alphachris on 12 September 2012
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Well, i must admit that Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger were initially not released for the SNES in Europe. I have played both games only after they were re-released on the handhelds.

Chrono Trigger had only 1 ending for the first playhtrough. You could only see the other endings on New game +... so the whole story was created as a linear story for the first playthrough.

I don't think that reading a summary of a story is comparable to playing the game. The summary only gives you a brief idea of what is going on, but you miss many things not covered in the summary.

For me, the great JRPGs make you think about a moral dilemma and the characters are there for oyu to see different points of view. Western stories often have a black and white scheme and do not want to make you think about what is going on. They are just more than simple entertainment. Like a theater play they want to change the way you think about moral dilemmas.

Final Fantasy VII For example made you think about environmental problems. Final Fantasy X made you think about the consequences of blind belief. Final Fantasy XII made you think about the impact of powerful weapons like the use of atomic bombs. Final Fantasy XIII made you think about the effects of Propanda...

They all share deep and complex moral dilemmas that you are not confronted with in "normal games". Sophistiacted JRPGs even left the hero vs. villain scheme and tried to deliver characters of equal importance. And the villains are not just pure evil, they all have their own motivations. Also games like Grandia or Suikoden have their own focuses on moral topics.

If you reduce these games to the simple gameplay mechanics, you lose a lot of what they are meant to be. Sure, if the gameplay is atrocious, you would probably stop playing. Thinking about what is going on or why certain characters are acting like they do is just part of the fun. Maybe that is why modern JRPGs like Final Fantasy XII or Final Fantasy XIII are often criticised for their stories... because you can't just passively watch them. You have to put in some thinking and memorizing.

It is just a matter of preference. For me Oblivion was the most boring RPG that I have ever played. You have the gameplay and you have the content, but without a good main story the whole game felt like a waste of time. I was missing something that wanted me to keep playing. I want to see what will happen next... In Oblivion the "next" thing is just a stupid sidequest or a randomly generated dungeon because the main story was just uninspired and boring.

Well, perhaps you should just avoid FF7. You already made your mind about the game and I don't think that you will enjoy it properly. The Materia system was interesting, but Final Fantasy games are seldom a real challenge. Most FFs have a good combo that makes the whole game all too easy... but as I said the story is the real focus of a good JRPG.