After many speculations, Squaresoft finally chose Sony to release the next generation of its flagship series, Final Fantasy. It was 1997, and that's when the CD era truly began.

Graphics : 7/10

Following its technical prowess for Super Mario RPG, Squaresoft pushed the boundaries farther thanks to the larger capabilities of the PlayStation. However, the end result is mitigated.

When the screen has a first-person perspective (as if you were seeing from Cloud's point of view rather than from above him), the characters look rather gross and clumsy – pixelized Lego blocks, to quote another review. Cloud's hair look like it had a ton of gel, Tifa's hands look like rectangles and the faces in general have no expression.

However, the battles were a great success. The characters have much more human-like proportions. They finally attack enemies directly – something Phantasy Star II did in 1989 – with elaborate movements. They also all have a whole set of “limit breaks” (they get to use it when the gauge is full) that let them unleash their fury – Tifa's can consist of over 8 attacks when her level is high enough. And they all have victory dances; they don't just wave their hands up and down.

On their sides, enemies also attack you directly at last. Although not drawn as well as the main characters (especially humanoids like Shinra soldiers), they still have elaborate moves showing the evolution of the game. Bosses especially are now gigantic!

Magic has also shown a great improvement. There are of course the classical magic spells (fire, ice, thunder, cure), but now anyone with the appropriate materia can learn enemy spells. There are also several summons that are not limited in their use except for magic points. They also suffer from excess pixelization, but their animation is well-done nonetheless.

Finally, Final Fantasy VII innovates with a new feature: Cinematics. Throughout the game, you will see several movies instead of seeing the regular in-game characters. These too were done magnificently for 1997, although they look a little to manga (very wide eyes, tiny nose and mouth). They are a very nice improvement that only got better through the years. Although (personal preference) I find the summon monsters' animation, especially the stronger ones, to be a little too long especially since you can't skip them.

Music : 7/10

Why spoil a winning recipe? Nobuo Uematsu returns once again to compose the soundtrack, which spans over four disks. But like the graphics, the music could have been improved.

Indeed, so many tracks seem like a set back from Final Fantasy VI, and even IV as the music sounds very synthesized. Unlike IV and VI, VII doesn't sound like it tried to mimic real instrument. As a result, the regular battle theme, the victory fanfare and many of the themes you hear inside Midgar almost sound like music from the Genesis era. It's a shame as music like Aerith's theme, Bombing Mission and Chasing the Black Caped Man would have sound better with better orchestration (it was greatly improved with VIII).

Nevertheless, the soundtrack is still memorable. JENOVA (“big boss” theme), the Birth of God, One-Winged Angel (final battle) and Fiddle the Chocobo will all make you forget about the music's shortcoming with their appropriate tone.

Addictiveness: 10/10

Wow! Whatever graphic and music shortcomings this game has, it put energy to try and hook people to the game.

There are so many sidequests that completing them all will require well over 50 hours. You can breed your own chocobo in order to win races but also create the ultimate bird that will walk everywhere on the map; there is an arcade (the Gold Saucer) where you will relive some of your adventures (snowboarding, riding a submarine) and win prizes; there is a well-improved battle arena where you control your characters but they get handicaps each round (think ribbon ), and there are TONS of materia to look for to cast your magic. Of course, there are also those nearly-impossible-to-kill monsters (Weapons), which will challenge every strategy you can think about.

Story: 10/10

Finally, an odd Final Fantasy with an addicting story line! I wonder if the game would have been released in 2001...

You play Cloud, a former member of Soldiers, Shinra's elite fighters, turned mercenary. You are hired by Avalanche, a small faction trying to destroy Shinra, which they find to be oppressive and tyrannical. As you bomb the Makou reactor number 7, your character gets involved in a thicker plot that plans to actually destroy Shinra altogether. But to do so, you will have to fight your own demons...

Not only is the plot complex (not complicated) but it explores some very modern themes like personality disorders (accompany by the appropriate Who Are You), friendship and self-esteem – Cloud has it quite low... However evil he may be, Sephiroth is a more likable villain than Kefka with his deep intelligence and insights. At some point, he actually *helps* Cloud realizing his troubles.

Finally, there are many cleverly knitted plot twists that will blow your mind. [sp] I know I thought Cloud was genetically engineered until he admits having copied his friend Zach's story.[/sp]

Depth: 10/10

Not only is the plot good, but it's fairly elaborate, spanning over three disks. It's believable enough to get your attention going for the length of the game.

The depth also applies to sidequests. Just for the chocobo mini-game, catching the right ones in order to breed the right ones (and then breed the ultimate one) is probably one of the most elaborate sidequests there is.

And however frustrating the materia system might be, it was well-thought of. I've never tried getting ALL of them (which ultimately yields the ultimate materia for each category), but just for the Bahamut summons, you will have to work quite some time to get the ultimate one.

Difficulty: 7/10

As an RPG veteran, I didn't find the game to be all that difficult except for the Weapons. However, there are points less experienced players might find difficult.

First, most materias play directly on your statistics. For example, green and red materia will tend to decrease your strength but increase your magic. Be careful not to overload your attackers with those. Also, your number of “all” attacks is limited by the strength of the appropriate materia, which can be frustrating. Finally, the materia's growth depends on your equipement. The ultimate weapons yield no growth at all so be careful.

Second, unlike previous Final Fantasys, there is a whole more action that requires perfect timing (to press buttons, to do CPR, to smash enemies while riding a motorcycle and in order not to freeze). Since I'm not into action games, it was quite a challenge.

Finally, the final dungeon has an unusual feature: YOU choose where to put the only save point. Be careful not to use it too early!

In short, Final Fantasy VII is a masterpiece every RPG geeks must play. Despite technical shortcomings, the game has a very interesting, deep and thorough story line, there are plenty of sidequests – which are elaborate too – to keep you busy and some of the tracks will addict you (my personal favorite: The Birth of God).