Final Fantasy 7 original is one of the best stories in Final Fantasy’s vast saving the world collection. Somehow, in its super blocky and minimal facial animals, you were able to get not only the difference of personality types but the emotional strain each character went through in the long journey to destroy Meteor.
In the anticipation of the game, there were so many people both overly excited and nervous in equal measure. Would my favorite characters be represented the way that I saw them in my head? What romance is going to me most organic choice? The boss fights that I’ve memorized and know so well, are they still in the story??
Here, I’ll give my first impressions from my first 15 or so hours of gameplay, both pros and cons that I’ve seen so far.
Pro – Graphics
The character animation, the enemies, the cutscenes are absolutely completely stunning. Everything is beautifully put together from the small little nods to the overall feel. Seeing the emotion in the characters faces is done so perfectly with the characters that we already know.
Pro – Fighting
The battle system in the game is so much more advanced then it was in the prior game but still keeping with the original feel of the game, which is strange because the fighting style is still so different. The keeping of the Materia and still changing the stats of the players when you place the materia. The taking out the two lanes of fighting makes it a lot more fluid of a fight.
Pro – Story
The story in the original Final Fantasy 7 was so good, the base storyline is still reused today quite heavily. The detail they go into this story, the small talks through from characters who had next to no personality before. It makes the sad cutscenes heart wrenching and it instils that same feeling that your characters are going through as well.
Con – Minor Graphics
While the graphics are amazing, there are pieces of the graphics that if you look at them are kinda crappy. The area in particular where this jumped out to me was at Aerith’s house. If you’re running through or just going through the story, you may not notice as much except for one mission, and that is where you and Aerith gather flowers for the Leaf House. Smaller details like flowers that are designed to have a softer approach were given a blurry edge.
Con – Enemy Spawns
In almost every single Final Fantasy game, there are random battles that come in and they will seemingly come out of no where. This game didn’t really have too much of that. In order to get respawns, you have to completely leave the area and not just a different spot in the same map. The only consistent place you can just grind for experience is in the Colliseum.
Con – Fast Travel
This map is HUGE, which is great. There’s a ton to explore, lots of nooks and crannies for treasures, good areas for fights. The only bad thing about big maps is it’s brutal to go from one side of the map to the other. The fact you have to play for almost 20 hours before you unlock a fast travel while doing side quests is a bit rough.
