Final Fantasy 7 tells the story of Cloud Strife, and Ex-Soldier who's helping out a resistance group by the name of Avalanche against the government/corporation Shin-Ra. Cloud begins out as a self-centered, apathetic gun for hire but becomes more entrapped in the story as both Shin-Ra and the evil Sephiroth, a former war hero gone bad, threaten to destory the world.

Graphics -
Final Fantasy, graphically, can be a mixed bag at times. There is an inconsistency on how the characters are represented. Some times, they're superdeformed and other times (some CG sequences, battle events) where the characters look faily normal. In-game, most characters are built with a few polygons, none of which have any texture-mapping. The CG FMV sequences are nice and the background are well done.

Gameplay -
This is where FF7 really comes across. The Materia system allows for a great amount of customization for gamers, allowing them to play the game as they like. Each character has a different series of special attacks, and there are a huge variety of locations and enemies. Along with the basics of the game, there are a huge number of mini-games, each with their own rewards. The Chocobo Racing and Breeding are both addictive, and the Battle Circle is good fun. With two hidden superbosses and a lot of things to don and visit, you might spend a lot of time doing things that don't further the story along.

As the first Final Fantasy for the PS, this game managed to sweep the market and make RPGs a mainstream game-type, and for that we acknowledge the pioneering aspect of the game. But, compared to newer games, such as FFVIII, Chrono Cross or Vagrant Story, the graphics just come across as last generation. Sporting the greatest array of mini-games available in a RPG to date, Final Fantasy VII is still a fun ride for it's now-reduced cost.

- - kinderfeld