Greatest Games of All Time!! - Issue 1.5

If it hadn't been for Catherine and Ann Marie leaving comments regarding the last blog, I'd never have re-read and realised how much detail I left out from the review. So here, as Issue 1.5, is the continuation (and conclusion) of my FF7 review.

Graphics

As I said before graphics and game processing aren't necessarily what make a great game, and rather strangely, FF7 falls into this category. By today standards, the graphics achieved by FF7 on the Playstation is...well....crap.. HOWEVER, the cinematics graphics are incredible, it is hard to believe that graphics (which rivalled some PS2 games) were achieved on the PSOne. Take the picture below of Sephiroth. Now that is taken from the PSOne version. Compare that to the image of Sephiroth from the previous blog, that was created no longer than a year and half ago for the film "Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children". As you can see, what was achieved is beyond words for its time.

Now of course with the exception of these cutscenes, the rest of the graphics has a great deal left to be desired. Throughout the game, not including the cutscenes, there are three "phases" of the graphics engine. The first is the World Map and Town Map phase (see right). This is the lowest quality graphics, with blocky hands and very little character detail, it is only evident to me now why this was the case. To make the game as detailed as the cutscenes, the game would have to have been about 10 discs long. DVD technology was in its earliest stages. The second being the battle screen, a higher resolution with more detail, basically what you would expect from PSOne. The final phase is the Cloud Vs Sephiroth fight at the end, close to cutscenes standard.

It is only with the rumoured arrival of a FF7 remake for the PS3 that we may see graphics like the ones to the left.

While this rumour is still unconfirmed, it is certain without any shadow of a doubt that a FF7 remake would be the top selling game of the decade.

I detailed before many aspects of characters and plot threads and so on, but now I'll actually focus on character images, strengths, etc.

Cloud - the main character, close quarters character, ideally supposed to be the strongest character you have. In FF7, each "ultimate weapon" offers the character 8 materia slots (which is how you equip your character with magic) joined in pairs to give 4 double slots. Cloud's ultimate weapon is "Ultima Weapon" which you get after defeating Ultimate Weapon. Confusing, probably, I'll explain later.

Tifa - one way to describe Tifa would be…well.....a rival to Lara Croft if you know what I mean. Her physical attributes lets just say....dominated the screen when it was a close-up. OTHER than that though, Tifa is a fist fighter. Her ultimate weapon is the "Premium Heart". Obtained by the Wall Market shop guarded by the Gatling gun on disc 2/3.

Barrett - who you could describe as "the muscle". He could be a ranged or close quarters fighter, depending on how he was equipped. His ultimate weapon is the "Missing Score". This weapon is obtained on your way to the 'Sister Ray' cannon in Midgar, so long as you have Barrett in the party.

Cid - is the bad ass of the group, aggressive, always has a cigarette, and owns an airship. He is a close combat fighter, wielding long weapons such as spears and lances. His ultimate weapon is the "Venus Gospel", which you get by talking to the old man at the base of the Rocket in Rocket town.

Aeris - is the least aggressive of the group. Her focus really is magic. Her limit breaks and ultimate weapon have to be gotten in certain circumstances, playing the right tune on the piano and obtaining the weapon in the Temple of the Ancients respectively. The only kick in the balls about that is that Aeris is killed after that by Sephiroth. He actually kills a playable character, and any good equipment you gave her is lost too!

Red XIII - it's quite hard to place Red XIII a role. Whilst he is a close combat fighter, it's my opinion that he holds a more solemn and wise approach than anyone else, possibly because of his upbringing. His ultimate weapon, the "Limited Moon" is obtained from his 'Grandpa', Bugenhagen, in Cosmo Canyon (his hometown).

Cait Sith - really has no specific role...comical maybe. He too is a close fighter, and his ultimate weapon is the "HP Shout", obtained on floor 64 of the Shinra Building during the 2nd raid. Needless to say I never used him in the party unless I had to.

Yuffie - is the brat kid, very spunky and hyper. She too is a ranged fighter (a ninja to be more precise). Her ultimate weapon is the "Conformer", obtained from a treasure chest inside the sunken Gelnika Airplane which you can only reach using the sub.

Vincent - is the most mysterious of the lot, and often offers wise counsel. He is a ranged fighter, but his limit break transforms him into a close combat fighter aswell. Whether he attacks up close or at range is determined by the computer. His ultimate weapon, the "Death Penalty" is found at Lucrecia's Cave in the waterfall at the centre of the world, again using the sub to get there.

In conclusion, my final party configuration was Cloud, Vincent and Cid.

Additional Content

The Weapons
My use of the phrase "Weapons" describes a group of 5 enemies, 2 of which you fight mandatory, 2 which you may choose to fight, and 1 that is killed by the Junon Cannon. The "Weapons" are released by the Planet when the planet is in danger. In this case the danger is Sephiroth who summoned the giant comet METEOR using the black materia.

Diamond Weapon - the first one you fight, mandatory of course. Diamond Weapon emerges when Shinra begin charging the Midgar Cannon (formerly the Junon Cannon) to fire at the Northern Crater where the real Sephiroth is. Ultimately, your party does not kill Diamond Weapon, as once the Cannon fires, it passes right through it.

Ultimate Weapon - is the perhaps the most annoying of the lot. He encounters your party at several points in the closing stages of the game, most notably when Cloud is discovered floating in the Life Stream. In order to fight Ultimate Weapon, you have to chase and collide with him in the airship, several times I might add, and fight him a couple of times until he rests over the Hidden Forest near Cosmo Canyon. Once he is killed in battle by your party, he explodes, allowing you to travel up to the Hidden Forest.

Emerald Weapon - is one of the optional fights, and is equally as tough as Ruby Weapon. To make matters worse you are under a time limit to beat him because you have to fight him underwater after bumping into him with the sub. At 1,000,000 million hit points and at 20mins for the fight...it ain't easy.

Ruby Weapon - the other optional fight, he partially emerges after you defeat Ulimate Weapon. The annoying aspects of this fight is that his armour is so strong that you do ZERO damage to him, you have to wait until his claws emerge behind you. And he has an attack which removes one of your characters from play, usually the best one, aka Cloud.

Sapphire, Jade and Omega Weapon - Sapphire Weapon (pictured) met its end quickly in FF7 when its head was blown off by the then Junon Cannon at point blank range. Jade Weapon appeared in another FF7 project "Before Crisis". It is the first Weapon to be awakened since the 1st Jenova incident. Omega Weapon is the final and most powerful Weapon of the pack, and features in the PS2 title, "Dirge of Cerebus", who's main character is Vincent. While the other Weapon creatures were made to protect the Planet, Omega was made to absorb the Life stream and unite all life on the Planet into itself, before departing for another world to transplant the Life stream.

Okay...so what else...

Let's see:
>Chocobo breeding to reach secret areas of the World Map
>Chocobo racing
>Battle Arena
>Fort Condor Battles
>Golden Saucer Mini-Games
>Master Materia Quest
>Ultimate Weapons and Limit Breaks
>Cloud's Past (Twice)
>Dress to get into the Strip Club thing
>Hidden Forest Mini Quest
>The Sunken Ship
>Vincent's Past
>Yuffie Quest

>And so much more..

Well, I think that's all I can say. I mean Wikipedia will give you so much more like. All in all, a well deserved title as one of the best of all time. I probably won't get a chance to review the film: "Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children", so in short I'll give you an idea of what it holds.

(1) Fantastic CGI. Simply flawless, without a shadow of a doubt the most impressive CGI film ever.
(2) Sephiroth. Sephiroth. Sephiroth. Sephiroth. Sephiroth. Sephiroth. Sephiroth. And oh yeah Sephiroth!
(3) The One Winged Angel remix track. When you hear it along side the Sephiroth and Cloud fight at the end.....speechless.
(4) The Turks, seen as the always have been, cool incarnate.
(5) Rufus!!! Even though we thought he died when Diamond Weapon fired upon Midgar before getting blasted by the cannon!

Hell....just watch the damn thing. And if you want to see more Sephiroth and all that stuff I was going on about in Cloud's past, download the animated film "Last Orders".

Wow...ok....another greatest of all time on the way soon!
Death or Glory awaits Ladies and Gents!

~The Damo