Note: Open FF7 spoilers, but nothing specifically from the remake since I haven't played that.
It took Final Fantasy VII Remake releasing and getting good reviews, but I finally went and played through the entirety of FF7 on Steam after nabbing it for $5 during the winter sale. I used the excellent 7th heaven mod to update the textures and some of the gameplay. I cannot recommend 7th Heaven enough. It only took a bit of config to get the DS4 d-pad working correctly through DS4Windows and it felt about as native as it could be.
I'm surprised that I was able to make it this long with only the Aerith plot point being spoiled. Everything with Zack and Cloud being a puppet for Sephiroth came out of nowhere. I was also surprised at how little Vincent (and Yuffie) come into the main plot and seem to be completely optional. I was also surprised at how little thought was given to how much death and destruction Avalanche is responsible for during the prologue. It's been a really long time since I played a JRPG from that era so it was very much a blast from the past. The nonsensical Cait Sith character is completely out of place with the reset of the setting (even Red XIII is pushing it). I did like that I completed the main story in under 30 hours. In a day when an action game like Assassin's Creed can be 80+ hours it was refreshing. The plot generally moves along pretty quickly outside of one or two lulls.
Playing through it now, it's easy to see why it made such a big splash. While the graphics (the replaced models and textures are actually pretty decent in 7th Heaven) aren't much to look at now, it definitely would have been groundbreaking at release. In addition to the general edginess and the more "modern" world compared to more common RPGs of the day it makes sense that it stood out. I could have done without most of the minigames. Most of them weren't fun or intuitive.
Are any of the FF7 spinoffs worth looking at? Advent Children? I'm planning on taking a stab at the remake at some point, but after a break. What other RPGs from the 32-bit era hold up?
It took Final Fantasy VII Remake releasing and getting good reviews, but I finally went and played through the entirety of FF7 on Steam after nabbing it for $5 during the winter sale. I used the excellent 7th heaven mod to update the textures and some of the gameplay. I cannot recommend 7th Heaven enough. It only took a bit of config to get the DS4 d-pad working correctly through DS4Windows and it felt about as native as it could be.
I'm surprised that I was able to make it this long with only the Aerith plot point being spoiled. Everything with Zack and Cloud being a puppet for Sephiroth came out of nowhere. I was also surprised at how little Vincent (and Yuffie) come into the main plot and seem to be completely optional. I was also surprised at how little thought was given to how much death and destruction Avalanche is responsible for during the prologue. It's been a really long time since I played a JRPG from that era so it was very much a blast from the past. The nonsensical Cait Sith character is completely out of place with the reset of the setting (even Red XIII is pushing it). I did like that I completed the main story in under 30 hours. In a day when an action game like Assassin's Creed can be 80+ hours it was refreshing. The plot generally moves along pretty quickly outside of one or two lulls.
Playing through it now, it's easy to see why it made such a big splash. While the graphics (the replaced models and textures are actually pretty decent in 7th Heaven) aren't much to look at now, it definitely would have been groundbreaking at release. In addition to the general edginess and the more "modern" world compared to more common RPGs of the day it makes sense that it stood out. I could have done without most of the minigames. Most of them weren't fun or intuitive.
Are any of the FF7 spinoffs worth looking at? Advent Children? I'm planning on taking a stab at the remake at some point, but after a break. What other RPGs from the 32-bit era hold up?
