New to FFVII

[Irihi]

Okay so this is going to sound odd, but I've never played FFVII before. My husband however just recently bought it for me and I've been procrastinating in playing it only because I've already got FFXIII on my hands as well as another game that is not of the FF series.

In reading some reviews I heard that it was a first for a lot of FF fans and that it was among the best. I'm late in playing it, as you can already tell so I avoid reading anything that involves spoilers simply because I do not want to ruin my own game play before I've had the chance to even begin it.

So my questions for this game, with as little spoiler revealing as possible, what can I expect from this game? How can I best optimize my game play? What are some cons in the game that I should look out for?

I'm sorry if none of these questions make sense, I just want to get to know the game a little bit before I jump head first into a tank of sharks and have my butt handed to me by not knowing what I'm doing.

 

[Dragon Mage]

It's your lucky day! I'm THE Resident Expert on Final Fantasy VII! (seriously, just check out the quote in my sig.)

Well, as far as difficulty goes, FF7 is probably one of the best ones to start out on. It's challenging enough to make you feel like you accomplished something but the combat is simple and straightforward (no gimmicks like the trigger button in FF8 or the Myst-Chains in FF12): Simply press the button to get the result. The game eases you into it pretty well.

(Psst! Little spoiler but.... you will meet your first boss early in the game: A robot with a big scorpion tail. At this point, the main character will shout "Attack while it's tail is up! It's about to counterattack!" Which is great and all but do as I say and DO NOT ATTACK WHILE IT'S TAIL IS UP! So many have died making this mistake. It's a mistranslation: He's supposed to say to NOT attack while the tail is up. A lot of people get turned off this game because they keep dying at the first boss just doing what the game is (stupidly) telling them to do! XD You can tell characters to defend by pressing the -> directional button and selecting 'Defend'. They'll take less damage and helps waiting out the threatening stage of the boss.)

Appreciate the wonderful simplicity of limit breaks in this game. Appreciate it passionately because I assure you it doesn't last in the series. FF7 set the milestone for limit breaks: it charges, you select it, it happens, effect takes place, awesome victory ensues. Every game in the series since then has made it a mission to make limit breaks anything but straightforward: Thankfully, you don't have to worry about this in the game.

For god's sake, DO NOT CHANGE THE CHARACTER'S NAMES. I know it sounds like a silly thing to bring up but it really impacts on whether or not you connect with the characters. So don't name anyone 'Sausage' or 'BitchTits'. It can also effect how well you understand the game.

Combat is very straight forward and the materia system (that's the magic system essentially) is also very easy to learn and you can eventually get very creative with. If you really want more guidance on it, I'd recommend looking up a guide on GameFAQs, but it really isn't necessary. I caught on very quick, and FF7 was the first video game I ever played. Ever.

First thing I'd do if I were you is to go into the options menu and set your text speed to as fast as possible. If you're a fast reader like me (or most people for that matter) this will really cut down the annoyance level.

You can expect a lot of information being thrown at your head in this game, all of it plot-related. So all I can say is PAY ATTENTION. Nothing in this game is said without two meanings to it. This does, of course, assume you care anything about the plot and understanding the plot. Some folks do, some don't, I've no idea what your prejudices are on that matter. But, if you DO care a great deal about plot and characterization, when you finish playing this game, you WILL have to immediately replay it, because it's like a really good mystery movie: when you go back and watch it from the beginning, suddenly everything clicks into place and you go, "Ooooooooh! Now I get it! Now I see why they did that! How clever!"

If you ever want to get a really full, in-depth plumbing of the plot after you've finished the game, then check out my nifty breakdown of it HERE. It will answer every question, I swear.

Also, this is a game that is very engaging, through and through. Expect yourself staying up late at night playing the game with a slight glaze over your eyes.

To ensure you get the full range of experience from this game, I would advise consulting -- now and then, not all the time -- this walkthrough HERE. It's the best walkthrough for this game you will ever find. Absolute Steve writes the best FAQs out there and there's no one on the seven interwebs that will disagree, trolls notwithstanding. If you are stuck or don't know what to do, just a quick consult with this guide will soon have you set back on track.

Another thing: explore a lot. The level grinding never hurts and you can find a lot of interesting things.

At some point, you will be told by an NPC in the game to go see 'the Weapons man upstairs.' This is a mistranslation. There is no Weapons man. It is, like the cake, a Heinous Lie. But don't panic. It just means for you to go upstairs and basically interact with a bunch of NPC's who will then instruct you on all these various and different aspects of gameplay -- basically, all the in-game tutorials you could possibly hope to find, some of them fairly obvious, but it's still worth looking into your first time through.


The GREATEST con of this game is simple: O button for selecting things; X button for canceling things. This game was the last of the series to follow this pattern -- it is now totally reversed for the rest of the series and for pretty much all games nowadays. So if you've played ANY game that's new or slightly new, you're going to be cursing your muscle memory a LOT. Even I do it, and I've played this game, oh.... 11 times? And you can't remap the controls, unfortunately.

Also, LEVEL GRINDING. Get used to it. A LOT of level grinding. Granted, you can level pretty quick at first, and later in the game too with the right materia and equipment, but still, FF7 is one of the worst games when it comes to outright amounts of level grinding. Often, this isn't so much because of leveling your characters (you'll be pretty well-off around level 70, which trust me, you won't need grinding to get to) but because you're levelling your materia. And levelling your materia can be vital. Seriously. Some materia you need more of or simply need to be a higher level -- expect to spend a few days doing nothing but running in circles and killing things.

At some point in this game (this isn't really spoilerific because it's optional) you will get the chance to catch and breed wild chocobos. FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR SANITY AND THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF YOUR WALL, TV, PLAYSTATION AND CONTROLLER, LOOK UP A GUIDE FOR THIS. Trust me. Just do it. Even I do, and I'm the FF7 Resident Expert.

That's it, really. It's a very well-balanced game. Go play and enjoy! Then come back and read my break-down post to understand the plot! (The game was written to be intentionally ambiguous and misleading -- even the director said as much -- so no one, bar none, will understand the plot without doing research and a ton of playthroughs, which I have done. That's the other major con. Not to toot my own horn, but my thread pretty much answers all questions.)

 

[Prince Oberyn Martel]

Expect awesomeness and charm (and 1997 graphics, though the cut scenes are still great).

Optimize your gameplay by locking yourself in the room so knowone can disturb you. With this in mind its probably a good idea to put a bowl down for the husband or something. He won't be seeing you for a while.

Not many cons, really. Just keep in mind it hasn't been translated very well and so makes an already complicated story even more confusing. However it does make for some good laughs at times.

Trust me. Just do it. Even I do, and I'm the FF7 Resident Expert.

Really? I know that shizzle off by heart

 

[Blockinlick]

Well, DM pretty much covered all other aspects of your question, but I'll provide you with some helpful tips to go along with his advice.

However, first I have to respond to this

you're going to be cursing your muscle memory a LOT. Even I do it, and I've played this game, oh.... 11 times? And you can't remap the controls, unfortunately.

False. You can go to your game menu, select Config, go to Controller and switch it to Customize. This will allow you to swap X with O. However, when it comes to certain little side things, like Chocobo raising, you will need to switch them back to Normal temporarily. Also, it does not work when playing the Fort Condor side mission, where O and X stay as default.

Anyways... to the tips.

#1: Grab 3 Restore, 3 elemental attack materia [Fire/Lighting, I usually go with 2 Lightning and 1 Fire] and 3 All [As in noun not plural] Materia ASAP. You find one Restore before facing the first boss at the very beginning, you can then buy 2 more [As well as the elemental materia] once you get to the Sector 7 hideout. I highly advise you buy them then and always keep them equipped. There are many places to find the All materia, however, it cannot be bought, so it's wise to look up a guide that tells all of the locations and grab the first 3 most convenient to you [Assuming you've already started and may have missed out on one or more].

The elemental materia are very nice through the game. There are some bosses that are weak to lightning [Mostly mechanical] and some key opponents weak to fire.

I must note that you need to learn how the All materia works. Basically, some weapon/armor slots are linked, this means the two materia in those slots can be "Junctioned". Support [Blue] materia enhances whatever materia it is junctioned with. So if you have two linked slots, one has Fire and one has an All, that spell will target all enemies instead of just one or in the case of Restore, can restore all allies instead of just one. However, the number of times you can target-all with that spell per battle is limited by how many levels that All materia has [The Stars = it's level]. So if your all is at level 1, that means you will be able to use that spell on all enemies/allies once per battle.

#2: Over-Leveling is a good idea if you've got patience, but doing it in the right area requires you to pay attention to how much XP and AP you're getting out of every monster you kill, that way you can know what areas you're really getting a bargain of XP from.

The 4 best over leveling areas in the game that I know of [Compared to your level the first time you reach that area] are:

-Outside Corel
Where Barret gets heckled and blameed for their town burning. Exit to the right [after you first enter from the north side on the train tracks]. The serpents monsters that you encounter often give really good XP and AP, and the other monsters you encounter are pretty nice too. I over-level to 25 here.

-The Cave of the Gi
Where Red XIII's grandfather Buganhagan takes you on a mysterious trip. Don't continue with the quest, just over-level right by the entrance until you run out of MP's to heal, go back to Cosmo Canyon, heal at the Inn, and repeat. Then when you think you've over-leveled enough, continue on with the quest. I over-level to 35 here.

-The Temple of the Ancients
After you defeat the [Semi-Boss: Don't wanna spoil it] when Sephiroth departs in the "Writing on the wall room", do not leave that room, the serpents here give amazing XP and there is conveniently a guy outside to heal you every time you're low on MP or health. I over-level to 45 here, but honestly, if you've got the patience to put another hour into it, it's realistic to hit 50 here.

I suggest using the Odin summon [There is no way to not spoil it, if you want it you'll have to look up how to get it] to get the fights over quick and easy, as Odin will kill every non-boss monster with a small chance to miss each one. If you don't have Odin, you should [If you follow my advice] have Bolt 2 and Fire 2 [Junction them with All] to hit them all at once and kill them faster. However, this takes longer as it not only doesn't 1 hit them but also drains more MP.

-Outside Mideel
I don't want to spoil anything, but I wait until "Clouds predicament" is over to start over-leveling here. It's the best place to get experience until you can get into the northern cave. If you grabbed a Ribbon accessory or two in your journeys, use them here, for those damn insects that cast their sleep-spells at an annoying rate.

#3: Get used to the game forcing you to use certain characters at certain times, including Aeris, Barret, Red, and Cid each one time. Basically, sometimes your materia can get divided and you've got to be prepared for it, if you're not [Especially when you're raiding the Shinra HQ when Rufus shows up] you could be in dire straights. When the game gives you the option to select a party and rearrange your equipment and materia, do it wisely.

That's honestly all you need to know. The other advice I can give is to pick a party of three and stick with it, if you divide your experience between too many characters, they'll all be much weaker. For a beginner, I suggest working with Cloud, Barret, and Red, as you get them early and they're arguably the best imo anyways.

The next bit of advice is only useful at the end of the game
___________________________________
...and one final area to fine tune your characters to the end, should you enjoy the end-game grind to perfect your characters is what I call the "Green Room" in the northern cave. When your characters get to the bottom and decide to take separate paths, take your chosen party and go left with them and right with the rest. When you go left, you should enter a Green Glowing room and once again your party questions on whether to split up again, don't do it, take all three and go to the bottom opening. Follow the blue cave area all the way down until you get to another green room. Here is where you need to be careful. Approach the next area and it will show everyone on the screen. They will say something like "This is the end", then get back off of the screen to the left. This opened up the dead end that was the "Up" option earlier, which is where you will be over leveling. So back up the blue cave and back to the other green room where there were two choice and go in the other opening. Now you should be in an area with water, vines, mako, [and the song that was playing while Rufus was there thinking he found the Promised Land staring WEAPON in the eye literally.] Here you can run into 5 different monsters.

#1: Movers
These always come in groups of 3 and give a total of 2400 AP, which is enormous, especially if you're rockin' 3x AP Gain weapons like Apocalypse.

#2: Magic Pots
Don't worry about these guys unless you have Elixers, but if you do, they're worth sacrificing, as each of these guys are worth 8000 XP and 1000 AP. [They are indestructible unless given an elixer].

#3: The pony thing and clown guy [Haha, idk the names]
These guys are mostly useless except that you can [and should] steal an elixer from the pony thing. [Which in turn, you can use on Magic Pots, get it?! Hehe].

#4: Master Tonberry
These guys are useful for two things. 1. You can Morph them into Ribbon accessories [You must get the final blow with Morph] and 2. You can also steal an Elixer from them as well [Which, as stated already, you can use on Magic Pots].

#5: The eyeball bat things
Utterly useless encounter... hope that you encounter them least often.

Basically, kill movers for massive AP, collect Elixers from other enemies in the process, and kill the magic pots after giving them elixers provided you have any. [W-Item works well here].

Also note that there is a cheat to multiply your elixers as much as desired, but I'm not going to tell you what it is unless you want to know, as I assume you want to play legit.

 

[The Witch]

First off, don't expect FINAL FANTASY VII to have the same battle system as XIII. It's a lot slower and a lot simpler but just in case you get lost in how to play, the game will explain to you how to use materia, magic, etc.

Anyway... there's a lot if misconceptions that people(to this day) walk away from the game thinking is true... and it mainly has to do with the main character's(Cloud Strife) story being so... confusing.

Without giving too much away, my only suggestion is for you to pay close(very close) attention to the main character... what he says, who he says it to, where he's from, and how he treats certain people. Also... sometimes, what people say in game... isn't always true. That's all I can say, just don't believe every word someone tells you.

It's a beautiful and tragic story, especially for Cloud. You'll find Cloud to be a character unlike any other(well, at least back in 97). He's a bit of a cold one(or jerk as the creator said) but I think you'll grow to love him as you see him progress as an individual and he learns to soften up and actually start to show concern for the planet for once(after meeting certain people for the first time)... and through the trials he's forced to endure.

I once saw Cloud's character summed up as "A man unbound by principles or emotions"--and I think that fits him pretty darn well, at least until he met the rest of the gang.

Speak of the gang: the game really is made up of a motley crew. There's a character in it that everyone usually falls in love with. It's got a gang very much like FFXIII. So if you like XIII you'll like the cast of VII.

It's hard for me to not give away the most beautiful details about this game, but once you play it I'm sure you'll see them. I know I did... and it's why it's my favorite game ever(next to Deus ex)

Oh! And one more thing!

I would suggest staying away from any walkthroughs/explanations like on those game sites and whatever. This is a game where you make decisions and where you draw the conclusions. Reading other people's ideas or thoughts(no matter how much they "back it up")only ruins the experience the creators intended you to have. Of course, this isn't including finding out where things like Bahumut is.

 

[Sheechiibii]

The story is really good and engaging. It's one of the best FF games so I hope you enjoy playing it. Expect an awesome story, great world to play around in and super characters with a lot of depth. Just...at the begining of the game, don't take everything at face value, sometimes people in the game aren't truthful so you should keep an open mind to save getting confused later on.

Best way to optimize gameplay? Hmm...well my tip would be don't use Cait Sith, Yuffie or Aerith. They're pretty useless as characters and although Aerith seems like a good healer early in the game her growth isn't that good, Cait Sith is just...not really worth playing. He's not really specialised in anything and doesn't have many limit breaks, I used him my second play through as my mage because I liked his character but there's much better fighters/mages. There are two optional characters in this game, Yuffie and Vincent -not really a spoiler since I won't say anything about them - one is useless, one is great.

Not sure about cons, I guess some people find it confusing and I have to admit, the first time I played it I got totally lost and confused, just make sure you don't fall into the trap of believing everything that's told to you early on, because there are twists in this game.

Enjoy!

Xx..xX

 

[The Witch]

What? o_o

Aerith's magic capabilities are the best in the game.

My suggestion as a team is for you to have: Cloud(as the strong hit) Aerith(so she can heal and give you limit breaks and whatnot) and either Vincent, Yuffie or Tifa because all of these characters are literally the strongest and best to use during game play.

Yuffie comes second behind Aerith with magic ability and she also has great physical damage on opponents-- not as much as Vincent but still a lot. The magic AND power really enables you to win any fight.

Vincent has some of the coolest and strongest limits in the game, next to Cloud, so he's got the power behind his attacks to get a battle finished PLUS he can attack enemies hovering in the air. Which you'll come to love later on.

Tifa, while she can't hit enemies if they're in the sky, she has a strong punch to her and her limits have some strong hits as well. When I used her I found magic wasn't her best quality and I ended up preferring her to pack the heat on through her physical hits rather than wasting time on magic.

And Aerith, as I said, is THE strongest magic user in the game. Her physical attacks might not be as strong as the others but her ability to use magic at such high strengths makes her worth leveling up and keeping on your team. Not to mention her limits can either heal your entire team, literally MAKE YOU INVINCIBLE against attacks, or give your team their limit breaks(which will undoubtedly help you win the battles.)

Either way, Aerith can heal you and power up your other team members, a definite win-win with her.

I guarantee if you focus and use those five characters you'll find gameplay a lot easier. and by a lot... I MEAN A LOT.


oh, and in the game you'll see a character named AERIS. It's supposed to be translated as Aerith but the translators messed up and used the Japanese pronunciation instead of the English. It's like how they say in Japanese "SephiroS" instead of "SephiroTH"---they can't pronounce the TH sound.

 

[AerithG]

My Aerith was better than all my other characters. Equip Enemy Skill on her and go to town!

But I suggest in VII, like f a r f a l l a said...use Cloud (because you have to, of course), Aerith, and then someone like Tifa, Yuffie or Barrett (I always used Tifa, but w/e your preference to use is). Another thing, kind of like I mentioned above, is to take advantage of the Enemy Skill materia so you can learn some handy skills from common enemies (and some bosses) to make your boss battles and other enemy encounters much easier.

I personally always stick to two characters to tank and spank and one to heal the party, but it's really up to you. That's why Cloud/Aerith/Tifa worked so well for me (until...a certain part in the story). Let's just say don't forget to take off all the materia, accessories, and what not from Aerith by the time you get to the City of the Ancients. :\

 

[Sheechiibii]

What? o_o

Aerith's magic capabilities are the best in the game.

And Aerith, as I said, is THE strongest magic user in the game. Her physical attacks might not be as strong as the others but her ability to use magic at such high strengths makes her worth leveling up and keeping on your team. Not to mention her limits can either heal your entire team, literally MAKE YOU INVINCIBLE against attacks, or give your team their limit breaks(which will undoubtedly help you win the battles.)

Either way, Aerith can heal you and power up your other team members, a definite win-win with her.

I guarantee if you focus and use those five characters you'll find gameplay a lot easier. and by a lot... I MEAN A LOT.

Aerith's good for magic at the begining of the game but after about half way through the game she's got nothing more to develop, so compared to others I would never use her again. If there is one thing I never do anytime I replay this game it's having Aerith in my team. But each to their own.

Have to admit I don't know much about Yuffie's capabilities as I don't think I've ever used her, whenever I get her she's much weaker than the rest of my team.

Xx..xX

 

[Leon1242]

Guys, it's Aeris. Not Aerith, at least I think. Anyway FF VII has a hella lot of side quests and items you can find when you reach disk 3. Although I will give you advice now. When you reach disk three, work towards getting the Gold Chocobo so you can grab the "Knights of the Round" materia. You may find it incredibly handy for the final boss fights.

 

[Sheechiibii]

Guys, it's Aeris. Not Aerith, at least I think.

It's officially both. Aerith is the origional name, from the Japanese game. For some reason the developers decided to change it to Aeris in the English version of the game. So they're both correct I guess. I always call her Aerith because I feel like that's what her name was meant to be, why they changed it is beyond me.

Xx..xX

 

[Prince Oberyn Martel]

It's officially both. Aerith is the origional name, from the Japanese game. For some reason the developers decided to change it to Aeris in the English version of the game.

They didn't 'decide' to change it. It was one of many major mistranslations.

I also suggest switching party members semi-regularly, at least, and not completely neglect characters you may not have much care for. Reason being that at some point or another in the game you may be forced to have them in your team regardless (Aeris/Aerith at Temple of the Ancients and Cait Sith at Junon on disc 2 for particular examples) where you don't want to be burdened with an under-levelled party member.

 

[The Witch]

Guys, it's Aeris. Not Aerith, at least I think. Anyway FF VII has a hella lot of side quests and items you can find when you reach disk 3. Although I will give you advice now. When you reach disk three, work towards getting the Gold Chocobo so you can grab the "Knights of the Round" materia. You may find it incredibly handy for the final boss fights.

It's officially both. Aerith is the origional name, from the Japanese game. For some reason the developers decided to change it to Aeris in the English version of the game. So they're both correct I guess. I always call her Aerith because I feel like that's what her name was meant to be, why they changed it is beyond me.

Xx..xX

It's a translation error. If you speak Japanese you cannot pronounce the "TH" sound. A Japanese person calls SephiroTH "SephiroS".

Aerith, as we know, is supposed to be an anagram for "Earth". Now, when the Japanese people say "Aeris" they are only ending it in an S because they cannot pronounce the TH sound. So--much like when we translate Sephiroth's name with a TH instead of a S... we were supposed to do the same for Aerith. It's just there was a translation error.

There are even magazine interviews from 1996-1997 of the official people translating her name as Aerith... once again, it was a translation error with the game. Just like there's other translation errors in the rest of the game.

Another example of this sort of thing is the female name Rukia from the anime Bleach. It's suppose to be Lucia but--once again--the Japanese cannot pronounce the L sound so when they try to pronounce it it comes out as an R sound instead.

So, in a way, yes, both are correct: If you speak Japanese you will pronounce it AERIS and if you are English you should pronounce it Aerith.

So, I hope the newcomer to the game will take this into account and will go with the proper version.

 

[Leon1242]

Ahh my appologies farfalla. I didnt realize she was also known as Aerith.

 

[Dragon Mage]

*ahem*

I think they meant that Aerith can be difficult to play with at first because she has such low HP in the beginning. That, and she deals pretty low damage unless you spam magic, but since she's got such a great magic score, people tend to save her MP for healing and not attacking. She can be a more difficult character to optimize play with unless you know a bit more about what you're doing. Which means, don't limit her to healing exclusively, which can be hard to do early in the game since your HP is low.

I know my first time through, I almost never had her on offensive in the very early part of the game. She was very valuable later on, however. Provided you level and equip her so she's on the same playing field as the other chars.

 

[The Witch]

*ahem*

I think they meant that Aerith can be difficult to play with at first because she has such low HP in the beginning.

Everyone has low HP in the beginning... even Cloud.

That, and she deals pretty low damage unless you spam magic,

Which is what her character is practically built for.

but since she's got such a great magic score, people tend to save her MP for healing and not attacking.

Why make her attack when you can make her heal the others, make them invincible, or grant them all of their limits?

She can be a more difficult character to optimize play with unless you know a bit more about what you're doing.

My first time playing I had all her limit breaks except for Great Gospel.

I know my first time through, I almost never had her on offensive in the very early part of the game. She was very valuable later on, however. Provided you level and equip her so she's on the same playing field as the other chars.

As everyone should do for every character. Why? because each character has a major impact in battle.

Ahh my appologies farfalla. I didnt realize she was also known as Aerith.

>.<
No need for apologies, sug. I was just trying to help out with this confusing information.

 

[Richard B Riddick]

Why make her attack when you can make her heal the others, make them invincible, or grant them all of their limits?

That's something I've wondered about RPG combat systems.

Sorry if I go off-tangent.

Anywayz, breaking someones arm or leg can take seconds with a good effort. Healing a broken arm or leg takes months with proper therapy and medical care. It may be much more difficult & time consuming to heal injuries than it is inflict them.

A little known fact may be that doctors & physicians who have an intimate knowledge of human anatomy - how to treat injuries and heal people, also have a working knowledge of how to do the complete opposite. They know which bones and areas of a persons body break the easiest and maybe which angle to hit it from to make it break with very little force.

Anywayz, Its possible healing characters would be more skilled than characters who focus solely on inflicting injury. If only because healing injuries are so exceedingly difficult.

If a fire 3 attack takes 3,000 EXP to learn and boosts magic power by +3. A cure 3 should probably take 15,000 EXP and boost magic by +10.

Characters like Aeris who are primarily skilled healers should probably have massively larger bonuses.

Any fool with a baseball bat and some matches can demolish burn down a house. Destroying things is easy.

It may take another level of dedication to actually build a house or repair one.



That's the main reason I have respect for healing characters and builders over ones only capable of destroying things..

But, who knows........ Maybe, I'm biased..

 

[Dragon Mage]

*le sigh* I wasn't arguing that Aerith is a weak character, Cali. Just that people tend not to use her build properly the first time through -- obviously because it's their first time through.

Everyone has low HP in the beginning... even Cloud.

Yes! Exactly. Which is why Aerith tends to be regulated to only a healer at the start because everyone has such low HP (but hers is the lowest, mind you) that they desperately need some healing after just a battle or two. Maybe less.

Let me try and explain why some folks may not see her as an asset to the party. Keep in mind that this is just one way some folks strategize their parties, and is by no means the best, absolute or only way to strategize. Just a common one.

If you're a gamer that is thinking, "How can I most efficiently win a fight?" the answer is, of course, to deal the most damage in the smallest amount of time. Since Aerith has such a great magic score, and thus heals so much damage, folks will use her to heal the party almost exclusively, with her offensive casting taking very little of her actual turns. So Aerith will heal 70% of her turns, but only attack 25% of her turns. The other 5%, she may be doing stuff like stealing (because she has a high luck as well, other than Cloud, who won't be stealing much because he deals the most damage.)

So, to a person who is focusing on Damage Per Second (DPS) Aerith would be a decidedly BAD character to keep in the party since she deals little damage physically unless she's casting magic, but then most of her MP is going to be chalked up to healing and buffing.

For people that are a little more patient in winning their battles, Aerith is invaluable to the party and not taking her would just be, well... stupid. :\

Why make her attack when you can make her heal the others, make them invincible, or grant them all of their limits?

I was actually talking about the very, very beginning of the game: Midgar and shortly after you get out of Midgar. It is HIGHLY unlikely anyone would have gotten all of her limit breaks, especially her ultimate limit break, within that time frame.

In the beginning is what I said.

Also, for the very first playthrough, limit breaks are a toss up. You're never sure what you're going to get, though you can guess what they'll be only after you've gained some. Who would ever guess that Yuffie gets a pretty good healing limit break? So unless someone goes to look up a guide they won't know what her limit breaks do. There's a principle of uncertainty there for the new player.

My first time playing I had all her limit breaks except for Great Gospel.

So did I. But this is something that comes later in the game. Not the beginning, which I've been specifically referencing for the sake of this thread.

I'm not attacking Aerith in anyway. I loved Aerith as a team member because she really becomes a heavy-hitter, both offensive and defensively. I used her all the time. But for DPS people (which are very common now, thanks to WoW) she is a handicap. Which is silly, really, because the FF games are NOT to be played via DPS. They just weren't built that way.

As everyone should do for every character. Why? because each character has a major impact in battle.

I definitely agree, but some folks don't want to spend a lot of time level-grinding. Can't say that I blame them, either.....

 

[Sheechiibii]

I'm not attacking Aerith in anyway. I loved Aerith as a team member because she really becomes a heavy-hitter, both offensive and defensively. I used her all the time. But for DPS people (which are very common now, thanks to WoW) she is a handicap. Which is silly, really, because the FF games are NOT to be played via DPS. They just weren't built that way.

I definitely agree, but some folks don't want to spend a lot of time level-grinding. Can't say that I blame them, either.....

Well for me I disliked her for other reasons. While she can be powerful, it's a case of by the time you get her good stuff it's pointless at that point in the game. I was only giving my opinion, and I'm definitely not a DPS player, but I never use Aerith now because I used her my first playthrough and wasted my time.

Each to their own though. On my first plathrough of games I often go for the character I like best personality wise (especially in VII because only your team members accompany you through towns) and then their abilities. In VII I like to have Cloud, a mage and a summoner/fighter. I usually go for Tifa and someone else.

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