Can FFXIV 2.0 top Final Fantasy VII?

[Rane]

Final Fantasy VII is excellent. Atmosphere, narrative, and pacing help make it so.


Atmosphere: The Sector 5 Slums aren't just depressing because they're slums. The music, the grays and browns, the shadows, the dilapidated structures, the graffiti, and the trash strewn about all contribute to that area's unique atmosphere. All of these individual parts work in concert to create a sense of place you just don't find in most games.

Narrative: VII's narrative certainly has its flaws. Sephiroth is thrown down a pit in a mako reactor, then he's hanging inside a crystal in the northern cave. "Parts" of Jenova manifest themselves as Sephiroth clones, then turn into enormous monsters that you have to defeat. Those things don't fit together so well.

However, for the most part the storytelling is much better than that, and at times it's straight-up amazing. Take the circular narrative. One of the first images you see (Aeris's face within mako energy) is exactly the same as one of the last (Aeris's face within the lifestream), yet the meaning that each scene holds is completely different. The story concludes where it begins, but at a different point entirely.

Also, there's this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HigA3K5yFLE&feature=player_detailpage#t=467s
(major spoilers if you click)

Pacing: Frantic action is followed by calmer, quieter portions of the story. Rather than being wasted as "filler", these segments of the narrative focus attention on the characters themselves, building relationships and further defining personalities. Here, the absence of action allows for the player to focus on the characters themselves. It's no coincidence that you first meet Aeris in a moment of quiet immediately following a botched bombing attempt, a boss battle, and a death-defying fall.


There's much more that went into making VII what it is, but I think I've said enough for now.

Final Fantasy VII is not a perfect game. It is, however, one of the best I've ever played.

[Malakhim]

This. VI and IX were far better, imo. Heck, even VIII with all of it's flaws was more enjoyable than VII for some reason.

It's all about FFVIII's aesthetics and how the design of everything in the game fits well with the theme it's trying to portray.

Also junction system.

[Kyuuen]

FF VII is a good game, but I agree that it's over-hyped. For me V, VI, and IX are my favorites, can't really put an order to them though. >.<

[Airget]

No Final Fantasy VII Remake Until Original Has Been Topped -- Square Enix CEO

Wada admits that current FF games aren't up to VII's quality.


Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada gave today a specific condition on when we'll get a remake of Final Fantasy VII.

During the Q&A session of the company's annual shareholder's briefing (transcribed here), Wada was asked the expected question about the much wanted remake. His response was something to the effect of, we'll make a Final Fantasy VII remake once we've made a Final Fantasy game that exceeds the quality of FFVII.

If you get the feeling that this statement belittles Square Enix's current development prowess, you're pretty much spot on. Wada admitted that at present, the company is not making Final Fantasy games that exceed the quality of FFVII. If they were to release a 7 remake right now, the FF franchise would be done with, he said.

While the staff would happily make an FFVII remake, this is something that if they decided to do, they'd have to give it their full effort.

source: andriasang
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It is just my opinion, but I have to agree with the boss.

I really hope FFXIV can actually top FFVII. What can the dev team do to top FFVII?

Thinking about it, doesn't this go against the fact that FFXI is the most profitable FF to date, which means that they have an FF that has topped VII which is XI lol.

When it comes to FF7 the people who have comments about it are
Fanboys/girls who love it
Fans of the FF series
People who genuinely don't like it
Those who don't like it for the sake of being hip
Those who don't like it because of the fanboys lol

I'll admit it I'm the same way with Harry Potter I never picked up a single book in the series because to me it felt very overrated lol. However I may bring myself to pick it up some time later in my life to find out I enjoy it but this is where I think most of the hate for FF7 comes from. It comes from people wanting to go against the current and hate something that they don't understand or won't take the time to understand. if you play through the game yourself and ignore the whole Cloud/Sephi fanboys you'll most likely find yourself enjoying the story and plot that follows.

For one thing this is why FF7 is held higher then most other FF games, it's because of all the side stuff you could do that wasn't part of the main game but were added challenges to test yourself or to do something that you liked.
-You like to raise chocobos, then get a golden one and earn knights of the round
-you like fighting tough bosses? Here are two weapons to kill have fun
-you enjoy mini-games and challenge battles? here's the golden saucer go wild
-you just want to play the story? find ignore the above and beat sephi
-you like tower defense games? Then head NE from Junon and have fun
-you see that serpent you have to get past to reach the cave you can use a chocobo but if you want to challenge yourself do it on foot. Oh and btw you can kill it later on if you want, you don't have to but the choice is yours
-you wanna customize your character? here's materia add the magic/skills/traits you want them to have
-There are two characters you can get but you don't have to get them, also if you do get them they have their own side stories to follow
-------------
Compare it to previous FF series, yes everyone loves FF6 for it's dark story and lively characters but the story was pretty straightforward up to the second act which did make things interesting by giving you the choice of who to re-recruit since you didn't have to recruit everyone, everyone just recruits everyone cause it feels natural but I'm pretty sure you only need to recruit a few to move on, it makes things tougher but it's still the choice of being able to pick and such.

FF5 had the job system though the story itself is pretty fast maybe like 20hrs if you steam past everything, that's with most FF titles before 7 though the play time was maybe 20-30hrs to complete everything. 7 was I'd say the first in the series to have a run time of 99+hrs if you wanted to do everything and take your time. And yes while this could be done in other FF games FF7 was the first game to have secrets to figure out I honestly don't recall the titles before that having many secrets to figure out it was pretty straightforward with everything, sure maybe the occasional summon you have to find and fight but overall they were easy to spot.
-------

Then take FF8 into account that's a good game to but the content was
-secret guardian forces
-triple triad
-decent customization system with guardian forces and attaching magic cards to improve stats
-card system for magic which you had to draw from mobs to be able to use said magic
-unique lving system in which every boss in the game was in your level range so rather then having to be x level to face3 off against a boss you would always be on "equal" footing with them.

Then FFIX which went to the traditional look but overall a pretty straightforward story and not much to do minigame wise:
-Tetramaster which was quite acompelx game lol
-used gear to gain skills
-some teammates could combine their skills if fighting together
-ability to set skills using AP

Then 10 was a sphere grid system:
-sphere grid everyone learns the same thing cept for some unique aspects like summoning
-blitzball
-monster battle challenge
-secret summons

----------
This is where you might realize something I'm writing this all off the top of my head, I"ve played FF9 a few months ago so those aspects I remember, I haven't player 7/8/10 in a while and I have played 12 but it doesn't add to the point I"m trying to make.

Out of all the FF's I'd say the one I haven't played in a long while is FF7. Yet as you can see above I can still recall a lot of aspects the game held and remember a good majority of the story as well as the progress and what happened during the journey.

The way FF7 was presented showed off a huge world you start in a simple town Midgar and from their after you go through 2-3 power plants, fend for yourself, meet up with your old allies and lose some comrades you infiltrate the enemy base and at that point you can literally say that this feels like a whole game in itself. You start off as a group of rebels, get split apart from them, meet up with them again and then take down the big baddies. They way it presents itself is like a 3 story arc beginning middle and end yet this was only the beginning. You leave the town and now you are presented with a world map to explore and from their you realize the game has only begun. Midgar was only a starting point that foreshadowed future events which already start when you head to the next town and get some of Cloud's backstory.

But ya for the above this is what makes FF7 memorable it is a good game, and if you genuinely don't like it then you might not be a fan of the story but you can't deny at how well executed the game was and how much they put into the game to really show how much they cared for their fanbase. The game itself did not hold any punches and tried to pack as much of a game they could to make it an awesome single player experience. It's that very reason that made people turn their heads and scoff at how awful 14 was when it was first released, it's fair to compared everything to FF7 because FF7 is the pinnacle of how an FF game should be released. If you can't release an FF game with the same passion as FF7 then the fans will notice it and be turned off by said FF titles. Which is why people were also bleh about 13 because of how straightforward it was and lack of being able to do any side stuff only challenges all over the 2nd to last chapter of the story.

Also with how 13 was received 14 got it worse because it's like man SE is 0/2 with FF's released this year and how long have we been waiting for? It was definitely a good kick in the butt that allowed them to get their heads in check and not only fix 2.0 but finally create a venue in which people can actually communicate their ideas and thoughts close to SE.

With enough time though I think 2.0 can top VII in sales, it'll just take a lot of passion and the passion is definitely there, all it takes after said passion is a good advertising group to be able to convey the same passion that was shown before FF7 was released.

[Nikita]

I loved Final Fantasy X the most of the offline titles and that is getting an HD remake. I couldn't care less about VII HD. :P

[Andrien]

I loved Final Fantasy X the most of the offline titles and that is getting an HD remake. I couldn't care less about VII HD. :P

its not a remake. its just an HD version.

[Andrien]

Thinking about it, doesn't this go against the fact that FFXI is the most profitable FF to date, which means that they have an FF that has topped VII which is XI lol.

When it comes to FF7 the people who have comments about it are
Fanboys/girls who love it
Fans of the FF series
People who genuinely don't like it
Those who don't like it for the sake of being hip
Those who don't like it because of the fanboys lol

I'll admit it I'm the same way with Harry Potter I never picked up a single book in the series because to me it felt very overrated lol. However I may bring myself to pick it up some time later in my life to find out I enjoy it but this is where I think most of the hate for FF7 comes from. It comes from people wanting to go against the current and hate something that they don't understand or won't take the time to understand. if you play through the game yourself and ignore the whole Cloud/Sephi fanboys you'll most likely find yourself enjoying the story and plot that follows.

For one thing this is why FF7 is held higher then most other FF games, it's because of all the side stuff you could do that wasn't part of the main game but were added challenges to test yourself or to do something that you liked.
-You like to raise chocobos, then get a golden one and earn knights of the round
-you like fighting tough bosses? Here are two weapons to kill have fun
-you enjoy mini-games and challenge battles? here's the golden saucer go wild
-you just want to play the story? find ignore the above and beat sephi
-you like tower defense games? Then head NE from Junon and have fun
-you see that serpent you have to get past to reach the cave you can use a chocobo but if you want to challenge yourself do it on foot. Oh and btw you can kill it later on if you want, you don't have to but the choice is yours
-you wanna customize your character? here's materia add the magic/skills/traits you want them to have
-There are two characters you can get but you don't have to get them, also if you do get them they have their own side stories to follow
-------------
Compare it to previous FF series, yes everyone loves FF6 for it's dark story and lively characters but the story was pretty straightforward up to the second act which did make things interesting by giving you the choice of who to re-recruit since you didn't have to recruit everyone, everyone just recruits everyone cause it feels natural but I'm pretty sure you only need to recruit a few to move on, it makes things tougher but it's still the choice of being able to pick and such.

FF5 had the job system though the story itself is pretty fast maybe like 20hrs if you steam past everything, that's with most FF titles before 7 though the play time was maybe 20-30hrs to complete everything. 7 was I'd say the first in the series to have a run time of 99+hrs if you wanted to do everything and take your time. And yes while this could be done in other FF games FF7 was the first game to have secrets to figure out I honestly don't recall the titles before that having many secrets to figure out it was pretty straightforward with everything, sure maybe the occasional summon you have to find and fight but overall they were easy to spot.
-------

Then take FF8 into account that's a good game to but the content was
-secret guardian forces
-triple triad
-decent customization system with guardian forces and attaching magic cards to improve stats
-card system for magic which you had to draw from mobs to be able to use said magic
-unique lving system in which every boss in the game was in your level range so rather then having to be x level to face3 off against a boss you would always be on "equal" footing with them.

Then FFIX which went to the traditional look but overall a pretty straightforward story and not much to do minigame wise:
-Tetramaster which was quite acompelx game lol
-used gear to gain skills
-some teammates could combine their skills if fighting together
-ability to set skills using AP

Then 10 was a sphere grid system:
-sphere grid everyone learns the same thing cept for some unique aspects like summoning
-blitzball
-monster battle challenge
-secret summons

----------
This is where you might realize something I'm writing this all off the top of my head, I"ve played FF9 a few months ago so those aspects I remember, I haven't player 7/8/10 in a while and I have played 12 but it doesn't add to the point I"m trying to make.

Out of all the FF's I'd say the one I haven't played in a long while is FF7. Yet as you can see above I can still recall a lot of aspects the game held and remember a good majority of the story as well as the progress and what happened during the journey.

The way FF7 was presented showed off a huge world you start in a simple town Midgar and from their after you go through 2-3 power plants, fend for yourself, meet up with your old allies and lose some comrades you infiltrate the enemy base and at that point you can literally say that this feels like a whole game in itself. You start off as a group of rebels, get split apart from them, meet up with them again and then take down the big baddies. They way it presents itself is like a 3 story arc beginning middle and end yet this was only the beginning. You leave the town and now you are presented with a world map to explore and from their you realize the game has only begun. Midgar was only a starting point that foreshadowed future events which already start when you head to the next town and get some of Cloud's backstory.

But ya for the above this is what makes FF7 memorable it is a good game, and if you genuinely don't like it then you might not be a fan of the story but you can't deny at how well executed the game was and how much they put into the game to really show how much they cared for their fanbase. The game itself did not hold any punches and tried to pack as much of a game they could to make it an awesome single player experience. It's that very reason that made people turn their heads and scoff at how awful 14 was when it was first released, it's fair to compared everything to FF7 because FF7 is the pinnacle of how an FF game should be released. If you can't release an FF game with the same passion as FF7 then the fans will notice it and be turned off by said FF titles. Which is why people were also bleh about 13 because of how straightforward it was and lack of being able to do any side stuff only challenges all over the 2nd to last chapter of the story.

Also with how 13 was received 14 got it worse because it's like man SE is 0/2 with FF's released this year and how long have we been waiting for? It was definitely a good kick in the butt that allowed them to get their heads in check and not only fix 2.0 but finally create a venue in which people can actually communicate their ideas and thoughts close to SE.

With enough time though I think 2.0 can top VII in sales, it'll just take a lot of passion and the passion is definitely there, all it takes after said passion is a good advertising group to be able to convey the same passion that was shown before FF7 was released.

This was so good I had to quote it. You are right on the money when you made those points of all the memorable aspects of FF7. From music, side quests, Aeris death, and to all the way to the gold saucer. All that is deeply embedded in my memory forever.

FFXIV can use all of that.

[Riv]

I'd say VII has already been topped by other FFs >.>

[Destain]

IMO FF games better than VII
FFIV
FFVI
FFIX
FFXII
FFT

[Duelle]

It's not hard to make something better than FFVII.
Look at X, or hell X-2 but I can consider that to be true only for me. I still prefer the story of IX over VII's.

'topping' VII is merely a matter of time, when VII is some old that the nostalgia moves to another game. I s'pose XI will probably be the one to take it's place over time, it's newer and just as ridiculously nostalgia-ridden.

It's a lot more complicated than that. VII came about during a major point in gaming history, and was part of a trend of games moving into CG and polygons. VII happened to be there at the right place, during a time where the Final Fantasy name had a lot of weight. You'd need a similar situation to match and surpass VII's "success". Plus SE would need to do the crapton of advertising they did for VII, which I haven't seen them do for any other FF game that came after it. And I mean outside Japan, not Coca Cola commercials that air only in Japan and nowhere else.