i felt that the ending was some what lacking in greatness. the plot was... complicated... i mean come on "hi im cloud im an ex-soldier... no wait im not... im a failed clone boo-hoo... no wait i need to take responsibility..." please! i dont get it... why couldnt zack just live instead of cloud. he was so much better! anyway the game... first hour i was like "well this is interesting" second hour i was like" omg aeris nooooo!" third hour i was like "this is getting boring now let me kill sephiroth NOW!" the last hour i was like "wtf crap sort of ending is this???" it made no sense. the best part of the game was yuffie... worst part aeris death... funniest summon is FAT CHOCOBO... and the greatest emotional part was vincents story. you know what i think??? the game could use more yuffie and less emo-cloud

I have reviewed some games before, but it'll be my first FF review.

Introduction: Final Fantasy 7 is the first Final Fantasy I've played and from what I heard as a general gamer, it's supposed to be the best (but apparently hardcores think differently). Anyhow, let's get to the meat of this review.

Gameplay: Typical of RPG in that period. Command, Items, Magic, Attack. Supports. Groups. Basically, it has all the elements of RPG and I can't say it's anything too innovative because I believe all this already existed before. I mean sure, there might be some minor innovations, but there isn't anything too significant other than maybe Limit Breaks, which I believe started on FF7. Overall, the gameplay is really enjoyable, but it does get repititive. I mean, you just select the commands and go. There isn't any "variation" and unfortunetly, this is something to deduct on and is something that has to be improved in the RPG genre itself for that time period (which it did in some RPG games like Mass Effect or SW KOTOR). In the end, it's good, but not great. I honestly can't see anything above an 8. One other minor note is bugs and glitches. Those are sometimes annoying. Therefore, 8/10.

Story: By logic, story is either the most important or second most important element since story is the basis of carrying foward a RPG game. Fortunetly, the story for Final Fantasy carries through. While I wouldn't call it a mind-blowing story, but I would say even for this day that it's one of the deepest stories I've ever seen in the video game realm. For example, you'll recall a significant event only to find there are at least 3 different variations or other factors that will make that recall more important and different. While character development isn't deep deep, but it's more than solid for a good score. You'll explore and know everyone's background by the end of the story and that's an nice addition to help a RPG game. As for plot, it's good in that it's grand and big. Normally, that's good because it makes the player feel more important, but if there is one weakness in the story, it's the WOW-factor. Sure, there is one moment that blew half of the player's mind away, but honestly, it isn't big enough and I personally believe people overrate that moment. I've seen bigger twists in other RPGs (Jade Empire and KOTOR just to name 2). As such, the story barely lacks the perfect 10.
Therefore, 9.5/10

Music/Graphics: I know the game looks like pretty horrible since we're in the PS3 age, but for that time period, it's amazing. The FMV is even more amazing and I believe it's considered by some to be revolutionary. Music is decent, but nothing to be jumping about.
9.5/10

Replayability: Story as a whole is linear and unfortunetly, there isn't too much replayability. There is some replayability in that you can train different Materias and try out the sidequests, but even then, it's nothing too special. Whether or not you'll replay will most likely depend on whether you are hardcore or not because if you're not one, you'll most likely feel that the time could be spent on another game.
7/10

Who I reccomend it?
Certainly. The characters are deep. The story is deep. The gameplay might get a bit repititive, but it's still fun (as long as bugs don't get in the way). And though it's a bit late to say this, the graphics are revolutionary... for the gamers of the last decade.
Overall: 8.725/10

For those wondering, the overall score is based on the math. I accredited 35% of the score to gameplay, 40% to story, 15% to music/graphics, and 10% to replayability.

ERE I DONT HAVE THE PATIENCE TO WRITE A REVIEW FOR ONE OF THE BEST GAMES EVER....SO I WILL JUST WRITE ABOUT HOW COOL OF AN EXPERINCE IT WAS TO PLAY AND HOW FUN IT IS TO PLAY EVEN NOW SO MANY YEARS AFTER ITS RELEASE AND WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH FANBOY/GIRLS U IGNORANT FOOL WHO EVER U ARE.....IN CONCLUSION FF7 WAS EPIC AND IF U HAVE ANY THIONG BAD TO SAY ABOUT THIS GAME U WILL DIE IN BURNING HELLFIRE... I ALSO LIKE MACCAS COOKIES

dude, I agree it's enjoyable, but I won't go as far as saying it's one of the best ever. This is my view from a general gamer's view. If you honestly don't feel the RPG gets a bit repetitive, then you must be really hardcore.

I don't care about fanboys/girls. There is nothing wrong with them, but even as a fan (as I am of FF7), one should still keep an objective mind when evaluating a game. The truth is that the game can't get a perfect score based on its replay value and gameplay. And if anything, the glitches might really annoy some people. Some people have endless heart attacks from the parts where everything stops (but music continues) and you have to switch discs to get past it (but then screw up the FMV the rest of the way) or a famous one is the waterfall scene where everything turns PURE BLACK. There is a way to get past it, but it's annoying and doesn't help.

And dude, how are some people ignorant when they're just stating facts? To say that this game is perfect with no flaws is ignorant. In matter of fact, I believe Game(something) placed this as one of the 25 most overrated games and personally, I can see why. Great game, but defitnitely not one of those once in every 5 years grand masterpeices.

And dude, it's not nice to say that someone will die burning in hell...

I loved this game, though the first time I done it without finding Yuffie or Vincent, but I hated the last two Sephiroth bosses, they kept killing me, But then again I never really changed my party and Cloud was way overpowered