Why is FF7 so difficult? Can I reduce the Difficulty (UK PS1 Platinum version)

[Blockinlick]

FF7 is quite an easy game... if you've had it 12 years, then you never picked it up and played it until now lol. Just the fact that you don't know what materia is, is evidence of that.

The game isn't really that hard, it's more like it's not simple. Once you get the hang of all the subtle ways you can tactically make your characters more efficient, the more the game becomes exponentially easier.

You said you had trouble beating the Scorpion? You probably attacked while it's tail was up. You see, the scorpion does not attack at all while it's tail is up unless you attack too. So that means that as long as it's tail is up, you've got an opportunity to use potions, keep your guard up, and maybe change your characters positions [Front/Back rowing] without the worry of being attacked. Then when it's tail is back down, you resume shoving your foot up it's @$$.

You said you had trouble beating the timer? Now this one baffles me... as I've beat that timer in under 3 minutes several times. When I'm feeling lazy and barely try, I still beat the timer in under 6 minutes.
Are you getting lost in the reactor or what?
Maybe you aren't running from battles? If that's the case, just hold in R1 + R2 on your controller when you encounter a battle until your characters run away. This should buy you lots of time to get out. I'm guessing that this is your problem. Also do not forget to help Jessie get his foot unstuck, going back for him is a massive loss of time too.

It's simple things like this that you need to know in order to play FF7 without frustration.

One huge tip I have for beginning is always to learn to utilize the Front/Back Row feature. When you're in your party Menu [Opened with Triangle], select Order. The White hand should appear above a character [Usually Cloud]. While it's on Cloud, hit your OK button [This is by default O, but... Did you also know you could customize your button config? I always swap X with O, because it seemed backwards to me.] again and it should start flashing. Hit it one more time while it's flashing and Clouds pic will shift to a different position.

What did you just do, you ask? Well, it mostly depends on what side you're attacked on, but most enemies attack on the left... so it's best to keep your healing/ranged characters to the right [This means they're in the "Back Row"] and your heavy hitters to the left [This is Front Rowed]. Anyways, I digress, I'll explain what this means.

Front Row: Characters in the Front Row do more damage, but also receive more damage.
Back Row: Characters in the Back Row do less damage, but also take less damage. However, Ranged weapons/characters do not receive any back row damage penalties. So always keep Barret Back rowed while he's using a Gun [Some of his weapons like Cannonball aren't ranged though].

That's why. You wouldn't believe how significant it really is to winning battles easier.

Do keep in mind that some enemies will attack from the right... when this happens, your parties positions will be reversed. If this happens in a boss battle [The one that comes to my mind is the Tank boss after you escape from Shinra HQ], either start over so you can reverse their positions or you can do the following in battle.

When it's your characters turn, you can do 1 of two things instead of Item/Magic/Summon/Attack. You can actually either "defend" or "change". Defend means your character loses their turn, but takes less damage while defending until next turn. Change simply changes your character from front to back row and vice versa. You can defend by hitting the right arrow button while on a characters action menu [In a battle ofc] and another little window pops up saying [Defend]. Select that. Change is the same exact thing, but is the left arrow button instead.

So when you face bosses who show up on the right, you can quickly change your characters positions to better suit that enemies position.

I realize this thread is dead, but maybe this info will help someone out down the road.

[dritchie87]

Wow i can remember my first time playing the game when i was 11 or so, i had no idea how to play it correctly but still got way further than that! My advice would be to use a guide to tell you where to go so you don't waste time looking for the next route to go and also this will stop you having as many battles, also have you tried holding the back buttons whilst in a battle? This will let your party run away from certain battles, although your guys will not gain health and magic power if you do this! So only do it now and again! Make sure you save whenever you can.

[bergqvistjl]

Grind, grind, grind, and grind some more. Level grinding is the easiest solution to making FFVII an easier game to play. You wouldn't want to turn off random encounter battles because they help level you up as you go along the game itself. The moment you run away and start avoiding them is the moment all the bosses are going to be seemingly impossible to beat and pass on to play the game.

After you can easily beat the random encounters with about 2-3 hits, they shouldn't be a bother anymore as they pop up. As far as the ATB goes, listen to the others who have posted advice.

Well the random encounters is what kill me, they're literally within every 2 seconds of each other, it's crazy. How do I run away?

What do you mean about grinding?

[ribbit]

FFVII is already the easiest game in the series The enemy encounters aren't that frequent. Level grinding is just killing enemies over and over to mass level yourself up instead of moving on with the game, but you really shouldn't even have to grind till a bit later on in the game. I think you hold L and R to run away? I can't remember off the top of my head.

[bergqvistjl]

FFVII is already the easiest game in the series The enemy encounters aren't that frequent. Level grinding is just killing enemies over and over to mass level yourself up instead of moving on with the game, but you really shouldn't even have to grind till a bit later on in the game. I think you hold L and R to run away? I can't remember off the top of my head.

Thanks. Maybe i'm just bad at games

[ribbit]

It's okay. No one starts out great at games Each game has a learning curve so if you keep playing you'll figure it out eventually.

[Bambi]

Yeah its L1 & L2 to run away, if you tap it when you get back attacked it will turn you back around again.

And yes, it may be an easy game. To thiose of us who have played it into the ground. i know when i first played it i didnt have a clue. so dont kick yourself too much haha!

[Shinra Executive]

I've had FF7 For around 12 years now (First got it age 8) but I'm still surprised at how difficult it is. Took me days to get past the 10 mins timer when you set the first bomb off (and even then I can rarely beat the Scorpion Boss in the first place) Is there any way to turn off the random battles that I get? It's really annoying because I walk a tiny amount and then I'm in another battle wastes a couple of minutes and decreases my health too. Also, is there any way to stop the enemies from retaliating while I'm in the middle of choosing what attack to use? I have to button bash really quickly to select my attack to use on them, so I can attack them before they get a chance to attack me, and then i've got to wait aagess for my time bar to fill up while they get a chance to attack me again. it sounds silly to me. The furthest I've got is meeting Aeris, but I seemed to be going around in circles. That was a few months ago and I ended up losing my save so I had to start from scratch again but I haven't got as further since, or I give up out of sheer frustration, because the random battles are soo annoying. Is there any way to lower the difficulty of the game (UK PS1 Platinum version) or get rid of the random battles?

It's pretty evident that you aren't too familiar with role-playing games. I would say that you should perhaps play something more standard to get you started, but there's little no need for that really. Once you get the basics down, it's all smooth sailing from there.

In the menu, you will see an equipment section. This is where you equip weapons and armor. You will find them randomly, but most of them are in shops. It's important to keep your characters optimally equipped, because enemies only get stronger as the game progresses.
The more you level up, the higher your base HP and otherwise stats will be for each character.

You also get magic n the game, called 'materia'. You can equip these in the materia section of the menu. These magics are equipped to nodes that are on your weapons and armor, and some of them are attached to each other. So long as you equip the materia, the character can use it in battle. But if for example, you put a cure magic in a node attached to another with an 'all' materia, it will cure everyone in the party. The same can be done with offensive magic.

Random battles are just the way the game is, as well as most Final Fantasy games are. They are important, however, because this is the main way your characters are going to get stronger. Running away from them too often will leave you stuck at every boss battle you get into.

You will get the hang of it, you just have to study the game a bit more.

[Bambi]

It was my first RPG, if I can get it, anyone can, he just might have to play it again straight away like i had to do

[.Mosh]

I feel if your new to the series it can be hard at the start, it took me a week (school etc and hanging out with friends and other toys) till i beat the scorpion due to me always attacking it when its tail was up. Well that was many many years ago and I was very young but after that the game is surprisingly simple. The only part that is hard for me in any playthrough because I forget to level up enough was the 'Temple of the Ancients' (Fuck you demon wall) beside that the game was easy......oh and materia keeper (if your a low level....ugh trine)