The year 2020 gave me time to begin the Final Fantasy franchise from the very first game. The first game is more or less Baby's First JRPG. No characters have "canon" names or classes, the villain is threadbare, and the plot is also completely generic. The second game repeats many of these issues but presents named characters in the hopes that you'll grow attached to them. Final Fantasy III and V both utilize the now iconic "job system" where characters are given complete freedom in how they build their party, allowing any character to fill any role. V has a somewhat compelling story to boot, but the world and character depth is lacking. The only games I played in the franchise that I considered fantastic were IV and VI. Both featured sprawling storylines, a memorable cast of characters, and compelling villains who kept me invested in the unwinding narrative of the game. The combat in both is also great, showing me that I had been sleeping on this JRPG series for my entire life.

All of this is to say: Final Fantasy VII blows all of the previous games out of the water.

STORY:
FF7 contains what I feel like is the best story of the first seven games. I know many will argue that 6 is the best and was never surpassed, and that's fine. The story of FF7 was much more moving to me, with themes beyond the previously standard "perseverance is key!" The cast of FF7 struggle through personal loss, mental illness, and conflict of galactic proportions all within a tight forty-hour campaign. The method the creative team utilizes to reveal information throughout the game constantly surprised me, and many of the late game twists and revelations moved me close to tears. FF7 is one of those rare games that I will never forget the key moments of its story for as long as I'm around.

CHARACTERS:
The cast of FF7 is by far my favorite of the first half of the Final Fantasy franchise. The modern image of pre-Remake Cloud Strife was an edgelord with a big sword. The events of FF7 dive into Cloud's mental state and reveal a complex hero full of torturous inner-turmoil. Within Cloud's internal conflict are many of the game's most potent themes, and in my mind he is will always be hard to surpass as the greatest video game protagonist ever. The rest of the characters each have unique personalities and relationships among one another that make them more memorable than the slew of Final Fantasy characters who preceded them. I will remember Barret's distrust of Cloud growing into an earnest friendship, Tifa's steady love for her childhood friend keeping him afloat, Aerith's eternal optimism, Yuffie's tightly-guarded sensitivity, Red XIII's ascent into maturity, Cid's reckless leadership, and Vincent's tortured past. And Cait Sith. Sephiroth is of course one of the most iconic villains of all time, and the looming shadow of your final encounter with him hangs over Cloud and the others for the entire game. The game's minor villains are all also just as memorable, with Rufus and the Turks being the obvious standouts. The villains are each developed to the point of being arguably as complex as the central cast, and the game only prospers through this attention to detail.

GAMEPLAY:
I can say I enjoyed most of the turn-based combat in the previous titles, but FF7 is the first game in the series where I actively had fun playing it. The combat system expands as you collect equipment and materia throughout the story, enlarging your battle menu from a simple ATTACK to something with numerous combat options for any unexpected encounter. The materia system gives players the same wealth of customization as the job system in FF3 and 5, but I actually find the materia more intuitive and convenient for the player. The materia system allows for a greater degree of experimentation without the fear of having to regain progress in a new class. In older FF titles, I felt the need to stick to one class per character for most of the game in order to have them suitably prepared for the final boss. FF7 encouraged me to change things on the fly and figure out exactly what worked for me. As with all FF titles (and maybe any JRPG), it is easy to overlevel and make the final boss rush a complete joke. I don't really have an issue with something like this as I think it encourages the player to explore the depths of the world and unlock as many special abilities and weapons as possible. It's especially not a problem in FF7, where the player can seek out maximum level secret bosses after the game has ended. Utilitarian gameplay like moving your character around or managing your inventory and equipment is all serviceable, and modern releases of this game have made the process even snappier. The difficulty is fairly balanced; there are some enemies who will randomly destroy you if you aren't prepared for it, but you can overcome any challenge in the game through training and acquiring the proper skills.

GRAPHICS:
The elephant in the room. The character models in FF7 certainly have charm, but they are definitely often hard to take seriously and at the worst of times even immersion breaking. The actual battle models all look fantastic and introduce some of the wild character design the series would later become known for. Luckily with this being a PC release, it is very easy to mod the game into looking relatively fantastic. You can even replace the childish character models if you want. FF7 is definitely a product of its time so I don't knock it for the graphical setbacks. It's hard to remember that twenty years ago these graphics were revolutionary. I do have to say that the FMV cutscenes still look great, even with some stiff character animations. I found the stylized graphics charming more often than I found them distracting.

OVERALL:
Final Fantasy 7 has stood the test of time for a reason. Through its deep story, lovably complicated characters, timeless dynamic gameplay, and memorable art style and designs, FF7 will be remembered forever as one of the most iconic games ever made. I'm lucky to say it is now one of my favorites. Play it before you die.