Final Fantasy VII (PS1) PS5 4K - Part 31 - Sephiroth (Ending + Review)
1For those wondering how I maxed my characters levels, look up the W-Item glitch. You can use it to get 99 Elixirs which can be used on the Magic Pots in the Northern Cave that award massive EXP and AP. Took around 6-7hrs to fully max all nine characters.
My thoughts on this game, granted, I first played through the entire game back in 2018 (I know, I'm super late to it), but here we go. And for reference, I know this game set the standard back in 1997 with how revolutionary it was. Now with that out of the way...
This game didn't age well, in my opinion. Unlike FFIX, there were several glaring issues right off the bat that I'll get into.
I. Graphics - I know it came out in 1997, but the lego characters combined with the pre-rendered backdrops just look so jarring and out of place. Resident Evil 1 came out in 1996 and held up way better, graphically, in my opinion (not including the FMV's).
II. Gameplay - Most of the gameplay I really didn't like this time around. Not a fan of materia, much prefer IX with certain roles for characters. Also, it honestly feels like filler and a lot of the battles drag on. For those wondering why I sped up the game x3 during my run, this is why. There's a reason this gameplay was left in the past, and it made me appreciate the remake so much more.
III. Pacing - The first disc is actually well-paced, but once you reach midway through the second disc, it's literally endless dialogue thrown for exposition purposes. They should've broken it up a bit more, as several of the scenes literally were longer than some Metal Gear Solid cutscenes. Cloud's Subconscious, looking at you.
IV. Characters - As much as the characters are iconic, after Midgar, so many of them take a back seat to Tifa/Red XIII. You can even go the entire game without even getting Yuffie or Vincent (I know they're side characters, but still). Barret literally is just a side companion after the fall of Sector 7 and Cait Sith and Cid Highwind don't really offer much, other than a "let's join the party" moment. Still though, Cid is my favorite character from the original.
V. Materia - Not a big fan of it. Much prefer the leveling system of IX with characters having certain roles. It sort of defeats the purpose of having individual characters if they all learn the same spells and attacks (outside of Limit Breaks).
I know this time around I didn't do a positives and negatives chart, but overall, playing this in 2022, it illustrated to me why I prefer the remake over the original. Yes, the remake only covers Midgar, but I don't think this game holds up nearly as well as people want it to. The battles are cumbersome, materia takes quite a while to level up and by then, it's not that useful outside of extreme challenges. The story is all over the place, same with the localization (I'm aware of the context considering it was 1997), and as iconic as Cloud has become over the years, this PS4 version is just...not it. No upscaling or HD textures. The only useful thing were no battles, x3 speed boost and all Limit Breaks cheats.
Overall...even though this is what started it all, I still would highly recommend the remake over this. The graphics look incredibly dated, the gameplay is subpar at best and the translation is often lost to readers from the localization efforts at the time. I know this gives the full game compared to the remake that is only Midgar at the moment, but...yeah, not my favorite.
Final Fantasy VII - 6/10 (I'm giving it a bit higher due to how revolutionary it was for the RPG market at the time in 1997).
Final Fantasy VII on PS5 - 5/10 (The boosters help, but even they can't wipe away the endless boredom you feel with battles feeling like filler and dialogue thrown in, especially in disc 2 and beyond. Also, ending is still blocked from recording on a 25-year-old game. Come on Square Enix).
I know this put Squaresoft on the map and it set the standard for JRPGs in the west, however, I can't really recommend it, as I would choose the remake over this. I really think nostalgia is getting in the way of people's honest depiction of this game, as it's flaws become more glaring and obvious as time goes on.
Sorry guys☹️
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