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Yes, folks, this is the real thing — Japan's legendary RPG
master Square's first RPG on the Sony Playstation platform.
Weighing in at 3 CDs, it's no lightweight; only the
recently-released KOWLOON'S GATE being larger.
 As in the playable
demo CD included with TOBAL
NO. 1, the game begins with a FMV
pullout pan of Midgard, a dilapidated industrial city. The
scene then shifts to a train arriving at a station near an
industrial plant. Suddenly, characters jump off and you're
right in the game. The segue from FMV into the actual game
is your first clue to the amount of careful attention that
was devoted to the product.
The city of Midgard |
Cloud cruising on his motorcycle. |
You are Cloud, a young mercenary hired by the Avalanche organization to aid
in their assault on a Shinra Corporation Makoh reactor.
Shinra Corporation is using these reactors to drain the
magical essence of the planet away to power huge industrial
plants. Cloud is joined by Barret, the giant leader of
Avalance, and Tifa, a childhood friend from his home town of
Niflheim. Cloud is a former Shinra army soldier whose
mysterious past is slowly revealed as the game progresses.
The magic system
involves the use of "Materia," the very essence of magic in
solidified form. The characters' armor, weaponry and
accessories have a capacity to hold materia, enabling them to
cast spells, summon creatures, and perform various special
attacks. Other materia can affect more general things such as
experience gain, luck, etc.
Tifa casts a spell. |
Cloud goes berserk. |
From time to time you'll come across small "minigames" to play. While this
is nothing new for next-generation console games, the quality
of these is stunning. The snowboarding game on CD #2 simply
outclasses the full-sized game COOL BOARDERS of the same
genre. There are numerous FMV cut-scenes interspersed
throughout the game. All those this reviewer has seen have
been complimentary to the story rather than just gratuitous
eye-candy.
CD access is inobtrusive,
using cut-music already preloaded from the player. FF7 seems
to use a fairly intelligent preloading scheme, as only rarely
does any action really pause to load from the disc. Memory
card data is similarly efficient — only one block is taken
per save, as opposed to two, three, or even more by RPGs that
appear much less complicated.
"Life" carries a big meaning in the Final Fantasy universe. |
Cloud decides to help Avalance bring down the Shinra Corporation. |
The music, composed by Nobuo Uematsu, fits the material very well. The early
music used in Midgard evokes a gritty industrial urban
environment, while later tracks are reminiscent of Elizabethan
and Renaissance styled pieces. A full review of the 4-CD
soundtrack is beyond the scope of this article and will appear
separately in a future issue of EX.
There are a few
minor nits to pick with the game. Some of the prerendered
screen backgrounds are just so lush that one may find oneself
lost in them. One bug was also noticed: at one point it is
possible to get your character jammed behind another with no
possibility of getting back out, necessitating a game reset
(all four shoulder-buttons, select and start — more games
should use this option) and reload from the previous save.
As is typical of the Japanese RPG form, the game is extremely
linear. You may not see the train tracks, but the feeling you've been railroaded is
unmistakable.
Stunning backgrounds permeate both the cutscenes and the game itself. |
Final Fantasy 7 is a graphical tour de force, with visuals like none other in its class. |
This reviewer has run out of superlatives to describe this game. Either buy
the import now or wait for the English release in September,
but if you're an RPG fan at all, don't pass this one up.
They don't get any better than this.
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