When One Game Just Wasn't Enough...

I know that I already did a post about Square-Enix and its penchant for beating the same drum for thirteen years, I realize exactly how much I have to say on the topic.  Don't get me wrong...the news of Square-Enix's forthcoming release of Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation on Valentine's Day, 2011 is something that made me nearly piss myself with excitement - I've been waiting for that release date for nearly three years.  More to the point, I have actually enjoyed playing the rereleased titles much more than any of the other tripe S-E has put out over the past five years.  Still, for most of the last half of the past decade, Square-Enix seemed intent upon living off of the fame of one game:

Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII was originally released on August of 1997 (my sophomore year of high school), and was Squaresoft's first venture into the world of disc-based gaming.  Easily the largest game made by Squaresoft at the time, this installment in the series introduced an entire generation to the JRPG genre, and for many is the best Final Fantasy game against which all others are measured.

Before I get too far into the history of the game, I'm going to leave the research to my readers and move on to my "Compliment Sandwich," in which I praise the game, rip it to shreds, and then give some redeeming qualities.  I often do this with videos games as a way of determining whether or not something worthwhile can be gleaned from a title, and if not, I generally sell it back to Gamestop.

1.)

Final Fantasy VII was the first, and arguably best, Square release for the Playstation One.  It was certainly the most commercially successful.  It blended together many elements perfectly - a fantastic score provided by Nobuo Uematsu, a vast story set in an increasingly complex and expanding world, and a number of extra side quests to entertain even the most vocal critics of linear gameplay.  To date, Uematsu's track, "One-Winged Angel," is used to close all of the Final Fantasy video game concerts, and often leads the entire audience to clap throughout the piece along with the beat; should an encore be in order, this song comes first, always to uproarious cheers.  This game sports the most spin-offs, accessories, and merchandise of any other installment - it is no small wonder that this game is used by Square as a cottage industry.

FF VII was also the first game in the series to be set outside of the world of knights and castles that made Final Fantasy games popular, instead placing the player in a modern and futuristic setting.  The characters were the first in the series to be rendered in 3D polygonal models, and even though they looked both blocky and awkward, at the time, they were a great triumph in terms of graphics and it was no surprise that people were impressed.

2.)

There are, however, MANY shortcomings with this game that rarely receive mention when being reviewed by people for whom this was their first Final Fantasy:

a.)  While the characters were revolutionary in terms of their rendering, and were, for the first time in America, allowed to swear, they were not relatable.  The main character had no character (which ends up being a plot point), and the others around him, with the sole exception of Aerith, are almost entirely unlikable.  When you finally get to the point where you can unlock Vincent (the sole "mystery" character in the entire game), you are excited just to get a character whose abilities are in the slightest bit useful.  

This is not entirely the fault of the character designers; rather, it is a direct result of poor development on the part of the writers and a rushed production schedule on the part of the game developers.  When pushed for time, both the writers and developers caved to the pressure of clamoring business executives who insisted that they needed the much-awaited hit sooner, rather than later; when money is the main concern, the plot and integrity take a major hit.  Always.

b.)  FF VII has more plot holes than a mystery novel written by an Alzheimer's patient.  It is very clear that Aerith is supposed to be resurrected before the end of the game from the list of "dummied" items (items removed from the game by the developers that were intended to be used by the players for an undisclosed purpose - the reasons for their removal is often because they would too greatly sway the game in a player's favor or they simply ran out of time to include them in the sequence of events).

This is just one of the MANY plot holes surrounding the characters, whether it concerns their backgrounds, their relationships to the other characters, or their importance to the story.  Certain characters (Cait Sith, for example) are almost entirely useless, serving no other purpose than to entertain a captive audience.  Yes, he eventually factors into the grand scheme of things as a spy, but when you eventually find the man behind the character in the Shinra Building, it's such a let down that you don't even care to use the character ever again.

c.)  While the game is incredibly engaging in terms of its story, it is not, in fact, a plausible story arc.  The fact that it is engaging has more to do with the fact that you have no clue what's going on for most of the game.  Suddenly, you're in a janky truck, or on a motorcycle, or snowboarding down a mountain...but, for what?  Why, exactly, are you marching in this parade with the other military soldiers?  There must be some sort of cultural disconnect between Japanese and American culture that leaves me thinking, "...What?"

To be entirely honest, the game's storyline is almsot indecipherable.  Somehow, this former special-ops soldier found out that he (along with the main character, Cloud...who never says anything intelligible or even gripping) was an experiment made from this alien creature's DNA.  And somehow, JENOVA is his mother...and Cloud's mother, as well).  The whole thing smacks of bad Dark Shadows reruns.  Perhaps it is because the game's landscape is so far removed from the world of antiquity, and I just don't like Sci-Fi that I find it preposterous. 

d.)  The magic and abilities system is cumbersome, at best, and allows only for very limited character customization.  Each piece of Materia must be leveled up and upgraded in addition to leveling up your characters, and with each new piece of Materia acquired, you must level it up from scratch.  This more than doubles the necessary amount of requisite level grinding needed in order to have any chance against stronger enemies, and forces an unnecessary and often just doesn't have the payoff that it did in older games.

3.)  Despite all of the things that I find wrong with this game, it was, perhaps, the last Final Fantasy game that I enjoyed on even the most basic levels.  The play control was decent, and even the giant holes in the plot were more than made up for by the vastness of the world in which it was set.  To this day, listening to the music from this game when I sleep provides some of best dreams I've ever had, and the most peaceful rest of my week.

Overall, Final Fantasy VII provides for some great entertainment so long as you aren't too particular about things like story, plot, or character development.  It is a fantastic introduction to the world of RPGs, with a setting that is likely more accessible for a younger generation of gamers who didn't grow up in the world of dragons, knights, wizards, and castles.  It is ironic, though, that the current trend in MMORPGs is a return to this Medieval setting, though World of Warcraft really is geared toward adult gamers more so than teens.

What is not okay is how Square-Enix continues to pimp this game out over and over again to try to capitalize on the success of this one title - and if they ARE going to do it, at least make games that are (a.) remotely playable, (b.) worth the money, and (c.) are more than just gimmicky test projects for other titles outside of the series to see if a game will be successful.

Merry Christmas, everyone, from the Curmudgeonly Gamer!

-Marcus J. Hopkins

GAMES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Available on PSX and Playstation Network