Final Fantasy VII

Japanese people think all black people are Mr T.

If this game was just the Chocobo breeding and racing, it would still be one of the all-time greats.

even playing this for the first time 22 years later, it is great. what struck me most is how different it is from what the developed fandom led me to believe. I was under the impression it was a game about an emo kid who falls in love with a flower girl. instead, it has a giant laser named after a Velvet Underground song, and Cloud and Tifa have sex before the final battle. in other words, it rules, and it's a shame JRPGs went towards what people thought FF7 was rather than what it actually is.

I could nitpick this game forever - the plot is too convoluted, the visuals have aged horribly, tonal whiplash is common, the combat isn't anything special, and so on - but what can't be denied is just how MASSIVE this game was, both in story and impact. It singlehandedly raised the bar on what games could be, both technically and emotionally (because THAT SCENE traumatized a generation of gamers for life), and I have to respect it as the landmark it is.

Cloud Strife is the deceptively deep emo prettyboy we all aspired to be as nerdy teens

I love everything from the great storyline to the sublime music. It's definitely my favorite game of all time, and my many fond memories of it have made me resolve to do two things: 1) To face the dastardly Sephiroth alongside Cloud, Tifa and the rest of the amazing characters in Midgard once again soon 2) To seriously consider quitting my day job and go into business as a full-time Chocobo trainer.

Graphically maybe it doesn't hold up but back in the day the graphics were amazing. This deserves the praise it gets: the music and story are both incredible, with the latter being fairly deep. I like turn-based combat so it has never bothered me, and I thought maybe the materia system wouldn't hold up but I actually played this game last year for a while and it did. I have no issues with FF7, it was a turning point in games and is the best post-SNES Final Fantasy.

Still holds up today and in a recent play through I enjoyed it as much as ever. The design and sound is startlingly harmonious and the now aging battle system still has what it takes to challenge. Inseparable with MGS as my favourite game ever.

One of those games I played constantly as a kid. I loved it so much I was always looking to find secrets online on secret characters or things I might have missed and tried to do nearly every rumor despite how farfetched.

FOR ITS TIME, it was revolutionary. Great story, interesting characters, fun RPG, Neat and zany areas of its world, hours of content, and I love the 2D rendered background art. Minor bugs and repetitive battle music is a con.