Do You Have Any Unpopular Gaming Opinions?

[Violent By Design]

I don't know if this opinion is unpopular or not but since we are on the subject of Final Fantasy:

The series peaked at VI (US 3) on the SNES. It's been downhill from there.

Also I have never understood the worship that VII gets on the internet. The best I can figure is that people were (understandably) wowed by "dat polygonz" at the time. It was a competent RPG at best, not the messiah of video games it is often made out to be.

*Ahem* Sorry about that - was that out loud?

Not an unpopular opinion but -


FF7 was the first RPG for many people, so all of the things that might not be unique to FF7 at the time felt unique to many other people.

The game also had massive scope for its time, and it had a pretty cool art style. The graphics were good too outside of the open world, where they're all Popeye looking.

The plot was a pretty big deal too, not many people played a game that was as "mature" as FF7 was, while still having that Shounen Animeish feel.


I used to slam FF7 a lot getting on the overrated train, but as the years go on, I look back and still see it's one of the best games in its genre (or sub genre). It has most of the things that other turn base RPGs have, and it was pretty ambitious in its scale. I dont like the materia system though.

[catnip]

I dont like the materia system though.

There's an unpopular gaming opinion! At least with my friends, who love it. I'm completely neutral; it's ok, but not fantastic, I don't think. I told my friends this, and they blanched.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Whenever people talk about Final Fantasy VII I feel like I'm the butt of some joke or that I just don't "get it." I mean, it's a good game - the gameplay mechanics are solid and Nobuo Uematsu's score is brilliant. But it's not that good.

The storyline is incoherent, the characters wholly unlikeable, the graphics sinfully ugly, and the game itself is excessively long and padded.

Its predecessor is simply superior in every way possible.

I'll play it again someday to see if I feel any differently, but it's not a game I'll ever be in love with.

[Opa Opa]

The storyline is incoherent, the characters wholly unlikeable, the graphics sinfully ugly, and the game itself is excessively long and padded.

Wait- Are we talking about FF VII or the entire jrpg genre?

[BoneSnapDeez]

I can deal with a terrible plot if the interaction between the characters is amusing and interesting to keep the game going (see Tales of Symphonia). FFVII unfortunately has the double whammy of bad plot and bad characters.

[Violent By Design]

The storyline is incoherent, the characters wholly unlikeable, the graphics sinfully ugly, and the game itself is excessively long and padded.

Wait- Are we talking about FF VII or the entire jrpg genre?

Honestly, I was thinking the same thing even if this is in jest. I mean the typical JRPG from the 90s has the same flaws that FF7 does. They're supposed to be written like crappy shounens.

[ilovesega]

I actually like Sega.

[KalessinDB]

I actually like Sega.

Wait, you're telling me your entire username is a LIE?!?

[dunpeal2064]

Whenever people talk about Final Fantasy VII I feel like I'm the butt of some joke or that I just don't "get it." I mean, it's a good game - the gameplay mechanics are solid and Nobuo Uematsu's score is brilliant. But it's not that good.

The storyline is incoherent, the characters wholly unlikeable, the graphics sinfully ugly, and the game itself is excessively long and padded.

Its predecessor is simply superior in every way possible.

I'll play it again someday to see if I feel any differently, but it's not a game I'll ever be in love with.

Well hey, I'll share what I think then!

I think the "storyline is incoherent" thing is overplayed. yeah, it gets pretty messy at a certain point, but for a first time player, I was able to follow what was going on. I actually found the story, for the time the game was released, to be fairly interesting. Not the greatest, but I do think "incoherent" just kinda blankets the game towards the negative. I think of the story as ambitious, if a little over-reaching.

Characters... well, its not my favorite lineup. The character growth and interaction in the game is terrible. The only thing they have going for them is that they at least look different, and therefore stand out. But, yeah, I agree with you here. Its not as bad as 8 or 9 (Vivi aside) though.

Graphics: Well, no complaints from me here, I thought the game was gorgeous at the time. I still like the backgrounds, the CGI stuff isn't too bad. I dunno, I grew up with it, so while I understand the graphics are bad, it just isn't a mark against the game for me. To me, its like faulting Dragon Warrior 3 for having poor graphics in relation to something like Terranigma.

Game length: Okay, here is where I completely disagree! The first time I ever finished FF7 (only my 2nd rpg mind you", I had clocked in 45 hours. Really, to me, this is an ideal length of a game. For someone that has a lot of games to play through, its still managable, but for someone (like me) who only had his lone copy of FF7 to play, the game was just long enough to not feel like it ended prematurely. Citing a Tales of ... game in your comparison up made me laugh, since that is the series I think of when I think of overly long, bloated games. I really don't see FF7 as a game with excessive length, unless you just aren't enjoying the game and are dreading every minute with it.

So yeah, not the best game ever. Neither is Chrono Trigger, but it seems much more acceptable to claim that as an above-average game. Its right about on par with ff7, both are decent, but highly overrated.

I think the answer to why people praise the games is a pretty simple one, though. When you play these games as a young person, or even an older person new to the genre, you don't know whats good or bad, you get attached to even the shittiest characters, you learn and break even the worst combat systems (if there are any), and you get involved in the story, no matter how silly it is. Its one thing the genre does similar to shmups, wherein if you like the genre and are just starting out, nothing really feels "bad". Its only playing these games as an adult that I have become over critical of them.

I'm just glad there is a constant stream of Final Fantasy discussion that I can barge into with a wall of text. It seems like I am writing about the series more and more!

[Exhuminator]

In my experience from reading about FF7 fans over the years... People who love FF7 were around 13 years old when the game debuted, it was their first RPG (or nearly), it was their first mix of polygons and CGI cutscenes, they were too young to know how bad the writing and characters were. Also FF7 debuted after a massive hype train, and merely having the game in their hands was a super exciting moment for said 13 year olds. As adults they look upon FF7 with glory and light due to blinding nostalgia.

Now I realize that's not all FF7 fans, but that describes a hell of a lot of people who love FF7 so much. In the opinion of someone who's played Final Fantasy since the very first entry in the franchise... Final Fantasy VII is just a "decent" RPG. Its core gameplay and exploration help make up for its terrible plot and insipid characters. The graphics though innovative at the time have aged terribly due to a reliance on technology more than solid art direction.

In the Final Fantasy series entirety, FF7 sits somewhere in the middle between the best and worst. The best? Final Fantasy VI is the greatest classic Final Fantasy there ever has been. And Final Fantasy XII is the genius brilliant evolution of the series' apex.