Considered by many to be the greatest game of all time, Final Fantasy VII has become Squaresoft’s legacy to the 3D era. As the first Final Fantasy to be made for the Playstation, it was developed with the ambitious goal of creating a game with an untouchable story, tremendous characters, amazing design, mouth-watering special effects and great musical accompaniment. In this it most definitely succeeded.

Final Fantasy VII tells the story of Cloud Strife, a mercenary with a dark past, who joins AVALANCHE, a group of freedom fighters, to bring down the corrupt political power Shinra. It is soon revealed that Shinra is not the true enemy and Cloud must battle against the new and deadly threat of a demon from his past, the iconic Sephiroth. The plot is remarkably rich. Within the main story arc are many smaller stories that build the players understanding of the nature of each of the characters.
Everyone has a history, often mysterious, and an important role to play.

A mature story with compelling and memorable characters is what makes Final Fantasy VII so renowned. The combination of a beautiful musical score written by Nobuo Uematsu and lush hand-painted environments created an absorbing and iconic world. As with each new Final Fantasy game, a fresh gameplay mechanic was introduced. The Materia system allowed players to collect small coloured gems, which would infuse the equipped character with certain abilities. Equipped Materia could then be ‘levelled up’ in battle, unlocking further abilities and powering up ones already learnt. This degree of customisation was unlike anything players had experienced in a Final Fantasy game before.

This is a game that has truly stood the test of time and will continue to be one of the greatest achievements of not only game design, but also tremendous storytelling for many years to come.

Content contributed by Shaylepriest.