In Final Fantasy VII, the Final Fantasy saga makes it's 3D debut. Whether it's the best of the series is subjective; however, it's safe to say that if you like JRPGs, you won't be disappointed. FFVII provides an engaging world and plot, and classic active time battle gameplay.




In Final Fantasy VII, the Final Fantasy series takes a sci-fi turn. Rather than a medieval world, the story begins in an industrial city. You'll spend the first few hours of your game here before exploring the wider overworld as you track down the villain, Sephiroth. As with almost all JRPGs, the game is plot heavy. You'll frequently find the gameplay suspended in favor of dialogue and cut scenes. However, these scenes rarely go on too long, and are almost always engrossing. The mix works well and provides you time to relax after battling through a dungeon of random encounters. The story focuses on the origins of the main character, Cloud, and his relationship to Sephiroth. However, the story also makes time to explore other characters in your party as you travel the world visiting locations from their past. By starting out in the city of Midgar, the hub of the FFVII world, the story immediately grabs you. The journey following your exit from Midgar slows down the pace and excitement of the plot. As your continue your journey, the excitement and stakes will build once again, before reaching a climax near the beginning of the second disk. Following this, the story slows down once again and gives the player a chance to explore before the final dungeon. Overall the tonal shifts work, keeping the story fascinating, but providing plenty of downtime for you to just have fun and explore. There are some flaws in the story, such as Barret's role as an African American stereotype. However, overall it is quite strong.



The gameplay of FFVII should be familiar to anyone who has played any other final fantasy between IV and X. Battles occur in active time battle format where each character can make a move when their timer bar is fully filled. Characters can then attack or use classic Final Fantasy abilities like cure and protect. FFVII's adds a couple editions to this classic Final Fantasy style. When a character gets damaged, they build up a limit break bar which allows them to use a super attack. This adds some fun and variety to battles. Additionally, Materia can be attached to weapons and armor, allowing most abilities to be learned by any character in the game. However, different characters have different limit breaks and stat spreads, so they aren't all interchangeable. Difficulty varies from fight to fight, and some bosses are quite formidable. You'll often have to use different strategies against different bosses rather than relying on one consistent cheap trick. The final boss is particularly tough, and I had to train for a bit before I was strong enough to take it on. Additionally, there are a couple bonus bosses that are even tougher and will require careful planning to take down. In addition to battles, there's a large overworld to explore filled with numerous secrets. Exploration can be a blast, especially after you obtain the ability to freely explore the entire overworld late game.



In addition to it's strong story and gameplay, the graphics and music in FFVII are also top notch. The cutscene introduction to Midgar in particular is stunning and thrusts you right into the world. The music matches the environment quite well, and features many memorable tracks. The music varies from light and carefree, to emotionally poignant.



All in all, FFVII is a wonderful JRPG and is essential for any fan of the genre.

Decent review. I enjoyed reading it. Final Fantasy VII Is one of my favorite games in the series. For people that enjoy RPG's, this is a MUST PLAY.

As far as the review itself goes, I thought you could have gone into a little more detail about the game. Also, I would fix your spacing a little. One space is fine between paragraphs you have several which makes it a little strange to look at.

Anyways, keep up the good work!