Final Fantasy VII Review

Final Fantasy VII (PC)

When Final Fantasy VII was released for the Sony Playstion a couple years ago, it captured the hearts of gamers, RPG junkie or not, with it's huge compelling storyline and jaw dropping graphics. Although it had it's share of faults it was a smashing sucess. A year later, working with Eidos, Square has released a PC port of this epic title. The wait is finally over and the question is... Is it worth buying again? Well, yes and no.

Let's start from the beginning. Long long time ago in a galaxy far fa- err... sorry, still got a of case Star Wars fever. Anyways, let's go all the way back to the NES. Back in those hay days, there was a little company called Squaresoft fighting to stay alive. They needed a huge title to resurface. Using the last of their effort and money they released their final hope, suitably entitled, Final Fantasy I. Fortunately for Squaresoft, FF1 sold well enough for them to continue and taking this momentum to their advantage, Square pumped out sequal after sequal which all sold more copies than it's precedor.

Square's seventh installment in this immensly sucessful series continues this trend selling well over five million copies worldwide.

After just about every Playstation owner bought their very own copy of this much hyped and coveted title, Square decided that they wanted to make a few extra bucks and delivered PC users a port. Unfortuneatly FF7 suffers from a severe case of consol-itis and doesn't take advantage of the PC's capabilities. I'm sure the folks at Square could've done better than just directly porting it. Although, Square has implamented sharper graphics (Hey, you can actually tell Don Corneo has a cigar in his mouth rather than a bloody nose :-) not a lot has been improved or added to the PC version. Also, the menus all seem to have a bigger font now, but maybe it's just me. All the bluriness seen in the Playstation version is nowhere to be found now, which is good. The pre-rendered backgrounds seem very pixelated if you run it in full screen mode, even with a 3d accelerator which is basically a must have unless you want to play the whole game with a 4in. x 3in. gameplay screen. This shows laziness in Square's part.

In battle graphics are spectacular and I couldn't find anything wrong with that. The characters are sharp/crisp and the summons are, simply putting it, breathtaking. In case you havn't played FF7 YET *cough* Allen *cough*, summons are when the character "brings" a monster, usually elemental, into battle for a powerful attack. Now let's not forget the equally impressive magic spells. I wont even try to explain how the magic system works since so many other reviews have already covered this... If you really want to know, check out IGN's (PSX) review. Final Fantasy's attention to visual detail is unmatched in this genre. I'm being a real nit-picker commenting on this, but isn't it very strange how Cloud (main-character) can spin that bigass sword on the tip of his finger... I just don't get it. I mean that thing must weigh at LEAST 40 pounds.

Control is no big issue here and it's quite simple/baisc. It's a RPG, just select the attack/choice/etc. you want and simply push ENTER, although a Sidewinder gamepad is highly recommended for gamers with larger hands. All buttons functions are explained clearly in the manual.

Most of the game takes place in a strange retro future type of setting which suits the story perfectly. FF7 screams of action right from the beginning of the game. You start in middle of a mission and you will engage in a battle w/ two ridicously easy enemies so you can get a feel for the fighting system. For almost 95% of the game you control Cloud Strife, a mercenary for hire, a former member of an elite military rank called SOLDIER with a cloudy past. Much of the game is shrouded in mystery until you near the end of the first disc , which takes anywhere from 20-40 hours to complete. I'll leave you to find out the story on your own, but I will say this. FF7's story line is immersing and will keep you addicted until it's completed... and you'll still want more.

Sound-wise this game is excellant. Masterfully composed music plays throughout FF7 and you'll find yourself humming them at work.

All in all, this game must be bought and played. If you already own the Playstation version , you've already seen everything. If you've never played FF7 before (shame on you) and own a good computer, I recommend getting the PC version. This title simply cannot be passed up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.