Why is final fantasy 7 so critically acclaimed and popular?

I don't understand the hype behind this series nor the praise. I don't understand why critics find so special about it. final fantasy is a painfully average turn based japanese role playing game, has mediocre gameplay, undeserved marketing hype from the media, generic, and is absolutely nothing special.

Final Fantasy 7 is completely generic and unispired, all you do in the game is press X this and that and the repetitive level design gets on your nerves. The multiplayer in these games are nonexistant but it's inferior to Chrono Trigger, and MYST. Hell, the game barely did anything new or innovative. Final Fantasy 7 is just average compared to most  japanese role playing games.

Final Fantasy 7 doesn't deserve the 10's and 9's its gotten from "professional" reviewers as the game seems more like a 5 or a 6, if they were going to give Finaly Fantasy 7 a positive score it oughta be a 7 or a 8 but not a 9 and 10.

They're even better console JRPG's than Final Fantasy 7 on the N64 like Turok, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark. Final fantasy 7 belongs in the line of other average JRPG's like Resistance 1/2. Killzone 2, BioShock, Far Cry, and Crysis. Finaly Fantasy 7 isn't a bad game but its not in the same league as Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Trigger, Rune RPG, Suikoden, Dragon quest, Goldeneye 007, and most of all Half-Life. Final Fantasy 7 is probably the most overrated game in existence and it's more overrated than GTAIV and Halo combined.

Whats so special about Final Fantasy 7?

I think it would have been because it was the first Final Fantasy game to use 3D graphics. Seems about right.

I finished playing it about 2 weeks ago, i made it work (finally) on my psp and I found it to kinda meh.

I just don't see the emotion that people say it has, it just seems really dreary and adolescent.

I guess most fans could claim that it was the founder of the 3D JRPG genre but it's incredibly overrated.

People that did not play Final Fantasy VII in 1997 will never understand the reason for this and will always ask these questions. 

Basically, yes, this game is all based off of hype for the most part, even back when it was release.  Here are some of the things it did, which practically no console game was doing at the time: 

• 3D Graphics for a Role Playing Game
• The amount of FMV/CG and the quality of them for the time period
• Identifiable protagonist
  
• Black Party Member
• Death of Party Member
• Use of language
• Weird situations
• Conjuring of emotions within the player
• Really cool Gameplay Mechanic with the Materia System
• Mini games/Chocobo Raising/Racing/Snowboarding
  

Let's not go down that road, shall we?

I shall not get into an argument about Final Fantasy. All I shall say is that it is a good game series.

Final Fantasy VII did a lot of groundbreaking for it's time, something that would influence many other games from there on. Comparing it to today's standards is a very silly thing to do. JRPGS and games in general have evolved since Final Fantasy VII was released over 10 years ago.

Even so, most people don't praise FFVII for it's gameplay, but for it's storyline. There's also a lot of nostalgic factor for people who still enjoy it today. For people who did not play the game remotely close to it's release they will probably not enjoy it nearly as much, simply because many games have come out that have surpassed it.

True, the games impact still resonates even to this day in the genre.. Great game for it's time, and still today for the story it brought.

1) This should be in the Final Fantasy VII forum.

2) I think its popularity stems from the fact that for a lot of American and especially European gamers, it was their first Final Fantasy. From experience and from listening to other people, it seems like your first Final Fantasy is generally the most memorable and most fondly remembered. That's certainly the case with me (and yes, VII was my first FF). Also, while it may seem tired and clichéd nowadays, a lot of people who say that tend to forget that Final Fantasy VII established those clichés and has subsequently influenced a lot of other JRPGs.

3) keyhunter said:

"They're even better console JRPG's than Final Fantasy 7 on the N64 like Turok, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark. Final fantasy 7 belongs in the line of other average JRPG's like Resistance 1/2. Killzone 2, BioShock, Far Cry, and Crysis."

Gameplay was great back then, as some has said.
But I still love this game. It's the story that makes it so amazing.
My last playthrough was about a year ago.

I'm in the 'meh, I saw nothing great about it back then, and definitely not now' bunch. Its rather pointless to debate this and try to answer a question like this though, there will always be people on both sides...its just opinions versus opinions.

Part of the reason people like it so much is that it was their first "real" RPG. Before Final Fantasy 7, there were other good RPGs, but they weren't nearly as popular or successful as FF7. The RPG was a more niche genre back in the day. Final Fantasy 7 was like Guitar Hero or Starcraft or World of Warcraft; it wasn't the first game of it's respective genre, but it was absolutly the genre's first mainstream success. Final Fantasy 7 was massive, and on a system that had been branded and marketed as the "cool kids, serious" platform, compared to the Snes status of being a "toy".
Obviously, Final Fantasy 7 doesn't hold up, and it doesn't have the same appeal it did back in the day. Want to know why? Because it's a 12 year old game! Most 12 year old games, especially first and second generation 3D titles, look and play like garbage all of these years later.
Reguardless of your feelings of the game, critically, Final Fantasy 7 is one of the two most important RPGs ever made; between FF7 in 97 and the release of Pokemon Red/Blue in 98, the RPG genre gained a dramatically wider audience. You could compare it to what Knights of the Old Republic did for Rpg's in 2003, but on a much more dramtic scale.
Yes, Final Fantasy 7 has loads of problems. Oodles of problems. But 12 years later, all of those complaints are beside the point. Final Fantasy 7 is an important game in the history of gaming. You can't go back to it, and it doesn't stand the test of time. Most games don't.
Saying you don't like FF7 is only really interesting if you didn't like FF7 back in 1997.

@keyhunter:

'They're even better console JRPG's than Final Fantasy 7 on the N64 like Turok, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark. Final fantasy 7 belongs in the line of other average JRPG's like Resistance 1/2. Killzone 2, BioShock, Far Cry, and Crysis. '

You don't know what a JRPG is, do you?

Isn't this just a copy and paste of that Halo thread?

...........................Your a duche bag........A JRPG is something that is a JAPANESS ROLE PLAYING GAME and this does not mean Golden Eye, Resistance e.g. So you are a duche bag. If you cant even respect that the game is 12 years old, c'mon. "Uninspired level design" this was the first game to have that kind of level design! You nut muncher!

So... was there a reason to copying from this thread

I don't understand the hype behind this series nor the praise. I don't understand why critics find so special about it. Halo is a painfully average shooter, has mediocre gameplay, undeserved marketing hype from the media, generic, and is absolutely nothing special.

Halo is completely generic and unispired, all you do in the game is shoot this and that and the repetitive level design gets on your nerves. The multiplayer in these games are decent but it's inferior to Battlefield, Unreal Tournament, Call of Duty 4, and Tribes. Hell, the game barely did anything new or innovative. Halo is just average compared to most PC shooters.

Halo doesn't deserve the 10's and 9's its gotten from "professional" reviewers as the game seems more like a 5 or a 6, if they were going to give Halo a positive score it oughta be a 7 or a 8 but not a 9 and 10.

They're even better console shooters than Halo on the N64 like Turok, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark. Halo belongs in the line of other average shooters like Resistance 1/2. Killzone 2, BioShock, Far Cry, and Crysis. Halo isn't a bad game but its not in the same league as Call of Duty, Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Unreal Tournament, Tribes, Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, Doom, No One Lives Forever, and most of all Half-Life. Halo is probably the most overrated game in existence and it's more overrated than GTAIV and Final Fantasy VII combined.

Whats so special about Halo?