A launcher that needs to be online for a single player game from the 90s? Are you kidding me? And trying to map the controls on Steam Deck is tedious and cumbersome. Screw Square and just emulate it.

I never understood how a near 30 year old game could be the best game ever,
I never understood how people can enjoy turn-based games,
I never understood the hype behind games with "bad graphics",
I understand now.
I am a person who likes to be corrected and over the years i was corrected for so many times.
I think video games corrects me in the most humbling way because ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ FF7 has to be one of the best games i've ever played.
The charm this game has is quite literally unmatched.
The soundtrack, art design, characters, story and so on.
Must play for everyone.

Alright, so 60 hours later, credits rolled, controller dropped and I get it. I finally get it.

I see why Final Fantasy VII was so ahead of its time, why people talk about it like it’s sacred, why these characters basically became legends. It’s not just nostalgia. This game earns its reputation.

Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first: it’s a 1997 game. And you can feel it. The dialogue can be rough and the graphics are obviously outdated on some parts. But, Pro tip: if you’re playing it today, check out Tsunamods on the web. They’ve got texture upgrades and a full voice-over mod that makes the whole thing feel a lot more alive. Total game-changer.

The story? Absolutely blew me away. I went in thinking it’d be this straightforward save-the-world kind of thing, but there are twists, betrayals, sci-fi turns, emotional sucker punches... It moves. And even though the dialogue is a little clumsy, the characters themselves are just so good. Every one of them gets their moment, their arc. Red XIII’s story, for example, hit way harder than I expected.

And you know what’s maybe the most impressive thing? The story’s themes feel even more relevant now than they probably did back in '97. Environmental destruction, corporate greed, the fight against overwhelming systems of power - it’s almost scary how spot-on it is. But the game never gets preachy about it. It just tells its story and lets you feel it.

And speaking of surprises: the exploration! I thought the whole thing was gonna be Midgar. You spend HOURS in that city, and it already feels huge and full of life - then bam, you’re tossed out into this massive open world like it’s no big deal. And it just keeps expanding. Airships, chocobo breeding (which I did not expect to be so addicting), even a freakin' submarine. Every time I thought “okay, this is as big as it gets,” the game just laughed and threw something else at me.

Combat was another pleasant surprise. I liked the materia system. Mixing and matching them however you want feels so good, and I loved just messing around with it. And then you have summons that look insane even by today’s standards, enemy skills you can steal, and limit breaks that make you feel like an absolute beast when you pull them off.

Difficulty-wise, I cruised for the most part. There were a few mini-bosses that spiked harder than they had any right to, but otherwise it was pretty fair, especially if you actually took time to explore and gear up.

And then Sephiroth. The final battle. Watching Cloud’s ridiculous, super-extra limit break felt like the perfect send-off after everything we’d been through. And right when I thought it was over... that post-credits scene. Did not see that coming. Hit me right in the heart. Not gonna spoil it, but seriously, sit through the credits.

TL;DR; Sure, it’s a little outdated. Yeah, the graphics are a bit janky, and the early CGI scenes are hilarious if you squint too hard. But honestly? It holds up. The soundtrack is iconic, the character designs are unforgettable, and the emotional beats still land like a punch to the gut. Final Fantasy VII isn’t just a game. It’s a journey. And honestly? It's one of the best I’ve ever been on. 10/10