5/5 ★ – soulfulgamer19's review of Final Fantasy VII.

I now understand why this game is considered a masterpiece. I played Final Fantasy 7 for the first time from 2020-2021 and I went in completely blind other than knowing it was highly regarded. The first thing that struck me was that the music is just out of this world amazing. After hearing music this emotional, it is actually hard to play any other JRPG and settle for less. Nobuo Uematsu is a genius and the feelings he managed to evoke with the limited soundscape of the PS1 is remarkable. My favorite tracks were Cosmo Canyon, Highwind Takes to the Sky, and of course, Underneath the Rotting Pizza. The music is so great it compensates for the limited graphics as a storytelling tool. You can feel the exact emotions of each scene because of the tone expressed by the score, despite the fact that the characters look like Lego figures. Speaking of characters, Final fantasy 7’s cast might just be perfect. The characters are all so memorable and each one has a unique backstory and motivations. You know why they’re on this quest and no one is there for no reason. Each party member is multilayered and has a character arc too which I love. In particular, I appreciated Barret’s transformation from an antagonistic rebel to a reflective steward for change. Cloud’s transformation is amazing as well, going from a lost soul copying someone else to being his own man with a clear purpose—to save his loved ones by saving the planet. These themes of identity formation and environmentalism really make the game relevant and timeless as well. Because of its message, Final Fantasy 7 does not feel dated even though I played it over 20 years after its initial release. To the contrary, it felt all the more applicable to the present where climate change is an urgent issue, and corporate-controlled politicians are still allowing the environment to deteriorate and imperil a habitable future for us all. Final Fantasy 7 actually made me more of an environmentalist than I previously was, which speaks to the power of video games to inspire sociopolitical and personal change. Despite these heavy themes, Final Fantasy 7 has a healthy amount of humor which keeps the experience light-hearted and sometimes just flat-out hilarious. Stand-out moments to me were Cloud’s cross-dressing, Barret’s general obstreperousness, and the play at the Golden Saucer with the adorable twirling animations. This levity is very welcome and other JRPGs could learn from incorporating more humor as well. Despite the passage of time, Final Fantasy 7 still comes off as an incredibly ambitious game given the amount and variety of content that Square Enix managed to pack in. I would often marvel at the cinematic cutscenes, seamless transitions, richly detailed backgrounds, vast number of summons, and varied gameplay mechanics beyond traditional turn-based combat. To elaborate on this last point, I was particularly impressed with the motorbike racing, the skiing sequence, the real time strategy segment at Fort Condor, and the many quirky minigames at the Golden Saucer. Even modern JRPGs don’t have this amount of variety. It all contributes to feeling like you are playing a high budget, movie-like adventure with enough diversions and dynamism to keep you engaged throughout. When you do have to engage with the main combat mechanics, it is a very simple and approachable active time battle system. I am more of a fan of purely turn-based combat (without a timer) since it’s more relaxing, but I admit the ATB adds some tension that enhances the experience at key moments. There is a rich materia system and plenty of summons which allows for lots of customizability, but getting deep into all that is not required and fortunately you can keep the combat simple if you’d like. I also played the Switch version which thankfully includes several quality of life features like a 3x speed option, an invincibility mode, and the ability to turn off random encounters. I loved all these features because as a busy adult, it allowed me to focus on enjoying the story and only playing for a challenge when I wanted to rather than being forced to grind or wade through repetitive random battles. All in all, I understand and agree with why Final Fantasy 7 may be the perfect JRPG. It has lovable characters, amazing music, timely and timeless themes, and it is just a blast to play and behold. If, like me, you want to understand what all the hype is about and you’ve never played a final fantasy game before, I recommend you give Final Fantasy 7 a try. You may just become a fan for life.