Final Fantasy VII

 PlayStation
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 2606 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,325 out of 2606
  2. Mixed: 105 out of 2606
  3. Negative: 176 out of 2606
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  1. supdude80
    Jul 26, 2022
    2
    most overrated game I've ever played, how do people think this is good..? it isn't memorable, enjoyable, or well-written, and it isn't impressive in any way either. the only thing stopping this from being a 1/10 is how iconic it is which is arguable since it has nothing to do with my opinion, but I don't want to sound like a review bomber while writing this, so I'm giving it an honest 2/10.
  2. Remakes_Rule
    Dec 22, 2021
    0
    Way worse than 2020 remake. In fact, remake improves in almost every aspect, characters, visuals, story, music, world feels more alive in remake, etc. 2020 did basically same that 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake did. Both remakes are better than originals. Sadly this old FF7 doesn't appeal to me at all, without this remake, i wouldn't even care about this story. Obviously it's cool that it wasWay worse than 2020 remake. In fact, remake improves in almost every aspect, characters, visuals, story, music, world feels more alive in remake, etc. 2020 did basically same that 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake did. Both remakes are better than originals. Sadly this old FF7 doesn't appeal to me at all, without this remake, i wouldn't even care about this story. Obviously it's cool that it was made, so thanks to that gamers have this masterpiece remake now, but original is just extremely outdated.… Expand
  3. theshallows
    Oct 25, 2022
    1
    Never liked it, everything feels so outdated and childish in this one, but remake is absolutely amazing. I would suggest just ignoring the original and play way superior remake.
  4. St33rpike
    Jul 18, 2012
    3
    With Final Fantasy VII, it became clear to me that SCEA had no idea what makes me actually want to play an RPG. Sure, the graphics were interesting, but the game play was so ridiculously slow. Also, the graphics often made the game MORE difficult, because it isn't clear where you can travel and which areas are merely background. The linear storyline left little room for exploration. AndWith Final Fantasy VII, it became clear to me that SCEA had no idea what makes me actually want to play an RPG. Sure, the graphics were interesting, but the game play was so ridiculously slow. Also, the graphics often made the game MORE difficult, because it isn't clear where you can travel and which areas are merely background. The linear storyline left little room for exploration. And the ridiculously long cinematics that accompany some of the combat maneuvers were just unbearable. I totally understand how many people love this game: the story was more complex than most games up to this point. However, the obsession with story and graphics over gameplay made this one a game I wish I could have returned to the store.… Expand
  5. ThatRetroGamer
    Jan 23, 2014
    4
    Kind of a guilty pleasure of mine. The game sucks, but there are some redeeming factors of the game that make me keep playing. But JohnnyD is right. I wasted 42 hours on this game. Wasn't worth it. But I've played worse RPGs. Still the graphics, story, gameplay,and characters are all a mess.
  6. Scooterrito
    Jan 24, 2016
    3
    I don't normally complain about the graphics in a game, especially one this old, but the art in this game has such low resolution that there were times when I couldn't tell what was going on. I didn't know where the floor ended and the walls began, so I spent an inordinate amount of time on every section. It was horrible. The characters were sort of interesting, but the turn-based combatI don't normally complain about the graphics in a game, especially one this old, but the art in this game has such low resolution that there were times when I couldn't tell what was going on. I didn't know where the floor ended and the walls began, so I spent an inordinate amount of time on every section. It was horrible. The characters were sort of interesting, but the turn-based combat is dull and there are lengthy walls of text explaining the overly complicated combat system. This game hasn't aged well at all, and I have a feeling that I wouldn't have liked it much even if I'd played it when it first came out.… Expand
  7. ChrisP.
    Nov 11, 2005
    4
    From what many people say, "The Best Game Ever". Unfortunately, I can't disagree more. What we are presented with here, is a game with a mediocre at best storyline. They tried to infuse it with so much psychological meaning, that they ruined it. The music is good, for the most part. Unfortunately, most people only remember the song, "One Winged Angel". There are many other songs in From what many people say, "The Best Game Ever". Unfortunately, I can't disagree more. What we are presented with here, is a game with a mediocre at best storyline. They tried to infuse it with so much psychological meaning, that they ruined it. The music is good, for the most part. Unfortunately, most people only remember the song, "One Winged Angel". There are many other songs in this game, most of which being subpar when compared to previous Final Fantasy soundtracks. All in all, it is a shame that this is how the Final Fantasy series was immortalized when much of the groundwork of this game was started in Final Fantasy VI. But hey, who wants to hear that?… Expand
  8. BenL.
    Mar 10, 2006
    2
    Indeed, I can't agree with Chris P. any more. People call this "the best game ever", and I honestly cannot see why. Alright, I'll hand it to you, it has good music, okay graphics (the regular animation was pretty icky, but the fmv's were pretty nice for the time), and a mediocre badguy. But, the plot was weak in many place, and the character development was terrible. Cloud Indeed, I can't agree with Chris P. any more. People call this "the best game ever", and I honestly cannot see why. Alright, I'll hand it to you, it has good music, okay graphics (the regular animation was pretty icky, but the fmv's were pretty nice for the time), and a mediocre badguy. But, the plot was weak in many place, and the character development was terrible. Cloud has the personality of a rock, and when it comes to RPG's a game may be better looking then the rest, but if its story clunks, then it will never pass for me.… Expand
  9. JohhnyD.
    Dec 25, 2007
    0
    Waste of time, poor graphics poor gameplay.
  10. MarkB.
    Aug 9, 2007
    0
    Final Fantasy 7 is probably the worst Final Fantasy in the entire series. I don't understand the cult following that It has. The music is bad, the gameplay is just abismal, the graphics look like crap, there is no character development and the story line is just retarded. Every time I play it I have to force myself just to finish the first disc, after that i fell like I want to drill Final Fantasy 7 is probably the worst Final Fantasy in the entire series. I don't understand the cult following that It has. The music is bad, the gameplay is just abismal, the graphics look like crap, there is no character development and the story line is just retarded. Every time I play it I have to force myself just to finish the first disc, after that i fell like I want to drill a hole in my head. If I could, I would go back in time and stop this game from ever being made.… Expand
  11. MaxW.
    Aug 13, 2005
    0
    A horribly overrated game. No voice whatsoever, the whole game is mute. Bad storyline and poor selection of characters. A bad RPG if it even is one.
  12. JesseR.
    Sep 23, 2008
    4
    The most overrated game ever. Lots of ADD-afflicted kids worship this game and refuse to try anything 2-D. This is sad.
  13. DonLaGGerGG
    Sep 15, 2020
    0
    My first RPG game I ever played and I consider it one of the greatest game of all time.
  14. gLoMeR
    Mar 11, 2017
    0
    El peor videojuego de la historia. Gráficos 0, Las cinemáticas muy bonitas pero en el gameplay los personajes no tienen manos, llevan dos piezas de jamón cocido en su lugar. Sistema de intercambio de golpes por turnos, no se puede considerar ni sistema de combate. Una auténtica basura.
  15. TheObjectivist
    Aug 13, 2015
    0
    Time to rip off the nostalgia beer goggles. This game is bad. It is not bad because of how poorly it aged. No, this was just never good to begin with.

    The graphics were actually terrible even in their time. The Playstation was in no way a weak system, ever. But this game seemed to mistake the system for an N64 with cutscene capability, and was designed as such. Even for the Nintendo 64,    Time to rip off the nostalgia beer goggles. This game is bad. It is not bad because of how poorly it aged. No, this was just never good to begin with.

    The graphics were actually terrible even in their time. The Playstation was in no way a weak system, ever. But this game seemed to mistake the system for an N64 with cutscene capability, and was designed as such. Even for the Nintendo 64, a consumer would balk at the graphic design student quality textures, with terrible shading and singular drab colours. Note that the PS1 was a 128-bit system, and the N64 was a 64-bit system, and the two had wildly different graphics capabilities. Square Enix did not seem to take that into account when making this. Everything looks unpolished and deformed, with even the titles of that year all exceeding it in graphical quality by a significant degree.

    The music also suffers, being below even MIDI quality at points. Even entries of the series on the same system grossly surpassed it. Hell, even Final Fantasy VI, which was on the SNES, a 16-bit cartridge system, had higher audio fidelity at points. I can only surmise Square Enix did not have a very easy time understand the system specifications or what a CD-ROM could hold.

    The characters are bland, seeming like either cliches or characters from a dime store novel. Here's what you have: Brooding Character 1 w/ past regrets and obligatory big sword, Innocent young flower girl, Angry black man with machine gun arm, Brooding Character 2 with a gun, Obligatory airship engineer, Mutant dog, Cat with Megaphone, Obligatory ninja, Love interest, and last but assuredly least: Generic psychopath with obligatory big sword, watered down Oedipus Complex, Messiah Complex, and the personality of styrofoam. These are terrible even for a low budget game.

    The story is nothing special, although it decides to condone eco-terrorism and make the main villian need a patsy in order to have any definite power. It basically is this: Bad company poisons the world, Captain Planet and his crew come to save the day, then main character crossdresses, and then more Captain Planeting until the story basically whittles down to two almighty balls, fetch quests spanning many hours, meaningless exposition on an already cringeworthy cast, and bad Freudian element implementation. And then apotheosis, followed by battling inside a person's brain against someone you just killed. Then sequels.

    Gameplay isn't anything to write home about. Dumbed down to an insulting point, the game handholds you through poorly designed linear plot areas, makes the magic system a brainless chore, throws constant minigames at you that serve no purpose, and ultimately just wastes your time. Three discs of pain, and nothing more.

    This game, most notably, has some of the most obscenely terrible quality control, as there was a debug enemy in a plot-relevant point of the game in the NTSC-J region.

    I only wish there could be -1.    … Expand
  16. HannahL.
    Jan 14, 2006
    0
    This game is boring. Graphics are horrible, and they could've done better. I wouldn't be so angry if that was the best they can do, but I saw other ps1 games that have WAY better graphics than this. Cloud has like horse hands. And it's always so dark. And, it's SUPER boring. It's impossible to finish this game.
  17. jrh23
    Dec 25, 2015
    0
    Story,Characters,Twists, Blah Blah Blah. It's good for a game to have a decent story once in a while, but the gameplay still has to be good for it to be a good game. All you do in this is sit through cutscenes, walk around a little, go through a tedious combat section, sit through more cutscenes, read some dialogue, walk around, another boring combat section, more dialogue, more cutscenes,Story,Characters,Twists, Blah Blah Blah. It's good for a game to have a decent story once in a while, but the gameplay still has to be good for it to be a good game. All you do in this is sit through cutscenes, walk around a little, go through a tedious combat section, sit through more cutscenes, read some dialogue, walk around, another boring combat section, more dialogue, more cutscenes, and then it's over. The outdated graphics don't help either.… Expand
  18. sufflaminandus
    Apr 14, 2019
    3
    I will be brief.
    jRRG: automatic base score of 1 (almost total linearity, infantile predictable story consisting almost completely of stereotypes, one-line dialogues, lack of character development, trivial linear equipment system, random encounters, lack of role playing in role playing game (!!!), lack of quests, grind)
    Feel of adventure: +1 Combat system: +1 (though I got through    I will be brief.
    jRRG: automatic base score of 1 (almost total linearity, infantile predictable story consisting almost completely of stereotypes, one-line dialogues, lack of character development, trivial linear equipment system, random encounters, lack of role playing in role playing game (!!!), lack of quests, grind)
    Feel of adventure: +1
    Combat system: +1 (though I got through almost all of the game by pressing one command: attack)
    =
    3/10.

    P.S I'm sorry, all you fans of childhood memories, but 1997 is the year when Fallout was released and, at last, we have something to compare jRPG against. And, excuse me, but I consider scoring FF7, or any other jRPG, higher then 3 an offence to creators of Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment.    … Expand
  19. Broyax
    Mar 28, 2017
    2
    Bien sûr, il faut se replacer dans le contexte et graphiquement (on parle de la PS1) c'était fort joli. C'est la seule espèce de "qualité" qu'on pourra dénicher en fouillant méticuleusement un tel étron, si on espére y trouver quelque chose, cela va de soi. Ce jeu est l'ambassadeur en Occident des otaculs et autres **** ceux qui se déguisent et dont la cervelle dégouline par les oreillesBien sûr, il faut se replacer dans le contexte et graphiquement (on parle de la PS1) c'était fort joli. C'est la seule espèce de "qualité" qu'on pourra dénicher en fouillant méticuleusement un tel étron, si on espére y trouver quelque chose, cela va de soi. Ce jeu est l'ambassadeur en Occident des otaculs et autres **** ceux qui se déguisent et dont la cervelle dégouline par les oreilles sirupeusement.

    En effet, on y retrouve la quintessence de la japoniaiserie et du prétendu jeu de rôle ; prétendu, car il n'y a rien de rôliste là-dedans (un inventaire et des points d'expérience ne suffisent pas...). Prétentieux, niaiseux à souhait, débordant de mauvais goût artistique, FFVII est par ailleurs dirigiste et sclérosé par des mécaniques de jeu bordéliques et bâclées, la faute à des choix de design balourds et non assumés.    … Expand
  20. hauwhian
    Jul 11, 2020
    0
    Compared to Final Fantasy VI (or Final Fantasy III in the U.S.) this game is a downgrade. The story is inferior, the music is inferior, and the gameplay is not as good as Final Fantasy VI. But because of very good marketing and pushed forward by Playstation technology at that time, which for the first time a game can display videos...this game received huge income, became the best saleCompared to Final Fantasy VI (or Final Fantasy III in the U.S.) this game is a downgrade. The story is inferior, the music is inferior, and the gameplay is not as good as Final Fantasy VI. But because of very good marketing and pushed forward by Playstation technology at that time, which for the first time a game can display videos...this game received huge income, became the best sale of all Final Fantasy Series. But a true Final Fantasy Fans will always know: Final Fantasy VI is the best of all RPG GAME.

    Why I gave 0 for this review: because I hate the story that Aerith must be dead. Maybe Aerith may become alive in FF VII REMAKE. Square Enix already altered the story...

    I will give score 7 if Aerith were alive in the original FF VII, really. This is a good game, but not the best.    … Expand
  21. DinoBeam
    Aug 21, 2021
    4
    God I was so hyped for this, and the first few hours of the game that take place in the cyberpunk city TOTALLY live up to the hype. After that it is awful.

    First, it is so beautiful, each shop, each house, each room is hand drawn and unique, which makes the world feel so real, this is a special accomplishment [no assets used]. The city feels real. The grind feels well paced and fun.    God I was so hyped for this, and the first few hours of the game that take place in the cyberpunk city TOTALLY live up to the hype. After that it is awful.

    First, it is so beautiful, each shop, each house, each room is hand drawn and unique, which makes the world feel so real, this is a special accomplishment [no assets used]. The city feels real. The grind feels well paced and fun. The art style with the music is complimentary.

    After you leave, you instantly feel that tugging in your heart that you should stop; seriously even with a guide and the speed and deathproof boosts that the Nintendo Switch version offers (which I forced myself not to use for 16 hours], even with that it feels like a lifeless hollow grind with no point. This game falls off a cliff taller than the one in Death Note. I do not joke. So many of the reccomendations from people are people who played it back in the day and use the annoying, time wasting, dumb grind as a way to wind down because they don't bother to deep breath or meditate so they can play a real game like Bloodborne or Dragon Quest IV on the DS.

    I seriously warn you that overall the game is **** and, if you can get it very cheep on sale, if you truly love jrpgs, I highly encourage you to get it just for the first few hours, because at first it really is actually as good as they say!    … Expand
  22. Jack662
    Feb 1, 2021
    0
    I like remake way more. Remake made this game actually feel alive and mean something. This one feels extremely outdated and not interesting, sure it's the same story, but in this one it's just not fun to play it. Remake made it fun. Turn based combat made original extremely slow and boring. Characters feel lifeless in original, but in remake it's complete opposite. In remake combat isI like remake way more. Remake made this game actually feel alive and mean something. This one feels extremely outdated and not interesting, sure it's the same story, but in this one it's just not fun to play it. Remake made it fun. Turn based combat made original extremely slow and boring. Characters feel lifeless in original, but in remake it's complete opposite. In remake combat is amazing, characters actually feel real etc. Would i have liked it in 1997? Well no, because then i would have played it in 1997. Instead in 1997 i played true classics like resident evil (1996). But 2020 remake of FF7 actually made me interested in this series.… Expand
  23. Kyweaver16
    Jan 24, 2023
    0
    Overrated piece of crap. Truly hot garbage that people only say is good because they haven't played another JRPG in their life.

Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PS1 Game of 1997
1
#1 Most Discussed PS1 Game of 1997
2
#2 Most Shared PS1 Game of 1997

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
92

Universal acclaim - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. GMR Magazine
    90
    Brought RPGs into the Western spotlight and contained the most debated plot twist of an era. [Feb 2003, p.97]
  2. Gamestyle
    90
    You can play the game time and time again. Always finding something new, from a new piece of materia to a new place, to defeating the ultimate weapons. The story twists and turns all the time always keeping you guessing as to what will happen next.
    Read full review
  3. Thunderbolt
    90
    Without a doubt, FF7 is one of the top Final Fantasy games out there. It is also one of the best RPG adventures of all time.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »