Final Fantasy VII - PC Review - Gamecenter

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Final Fantasy VII
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CNET Gamecenter Review
By Hugh Falk
(7/14/1998)

Game at a Glance
Recap: A wonderful, addictive RPG that shows its console roots
Ups: Dazzling, unique environments; skilled storytelling
Downs: Can only save at save points; some video cards are incompatible
Multiplayer: NA
Single player: Excellent
Demo: Available
Patch: NA
The Final Fantasy series has a long and glorious history in the world of console gaming, but Final Fantasy VII is the first title to reach the PC. And I can honestly say, fellow PC gamers, you have never played a game quite like this before. If I had to sum it up in only three words, I would use: amazing, bizarre, and huge. (I'd then speak to my editor about adjusting my price per word.) However, because I have more than three words to work with, let me try to put this game in a PC perspective. FFVII is an RPG, but I'm hard-pressed to find a PC equivalent. I'll compare it to (and this is a stretch) Ultima III.
The basic premise is the same as Ultima III: The player controls a party of characters, which is a subset of all the characters available. Represented by a single entity (Cloud, FFVII's main character), the party moves around the world map. When the party encounters a monster, the Final Fantasy VII view changes to the battlefield, where individual characters take turns fighting in strategic-level combat. Characters gain hit points, magic points, experience points, spells, and abilities as they fight.
Unlike many other RPGs, FFVII lets players name their characters. However, FFVII has much stronger elements of plot and action than most Ultima-type games. It doesn't have to be finished in a strictly linear fashion, but the story is far more scripted than the average RPG. Expect long periods of character interaction and storytelling. Although I find this annoying in many nonadventure games, I found it refreshing, even welcome, in FFVII. The story unfolds with a style and skill that rivals many novels--Japanese translation and all; the plot was engaging and kept me on the edge of my ergonomic workstation saddle.
Any comparison to the Ultima series ends once you consider FFVII's sound and graphics. Battle sequences feature awe-inspiring graphics that are different for each character, monster, spell, and weapon. Half the fun of the game is watching how new items and enemies react in battle. Equally breathtaking is the noncombat scenery. The 3D polygon-based characters are simple, but the environments they traverse are skillfully rendered in amazing detail, and there's always some interesting camera angle that makes the most of the scene.
FFVII also features "event games"--mini-arcade challenges that are a console staple. If your hands and eyes are as coordinated as Don Knotts's wardrobe on Three's Company, you will have problems with some of the event games. However, these are a relatively small part of FFVII, and with patience, even Mr. Furley could make it through. Personally, I enjoyed the event games and the speed of battles. The battle system is turn based, but each character can attack after a given time, lending immediacy to combat.

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Final Fantasy VII

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