#09 - Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
As guessed by Veknoid.
Final Fantasy VII, like Metal Gear Solid just below it on my list, was hyped to the high heavens in all the Playstation magazines I read, and again it was another game that I felt could never live up to all the hype. But it did.
I'd actually never played a JRPG before FF VII, it was literally my introduction to the genre. A genre which fast became my favourite ever (only thing that holds a candle to it is 3D platformers), but all these years of JRPGs and I'm still trying to find something which delivers the same impact VII had on me.
The emotional punch of the game was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I cried. I was 8 and I cried. I loved the music, I grew attached to the characters, and the game's locations are probably the most memorable I've ever come across. You won't forget Midgar slums any time soon. But the game offered so much more. The world-saving plot was beautifully told and fantastically paced, the combat was enjoyably strategic and fluid and there was tonnes of optional stuff to do outside of the main quest. I mean, a whole section of the game was filled with an arcade which you could actually play. My mind was blown.
There's only been one JRPG which has ever bettered FF VII (which I'll get to in due course), but as an introduction to the genre I literally could not have picked a better game.
