The Final Fantasy 7 Flame War. What side do you fight for?

Looking at the FF VII section in this forum I can see that there is a definite divide between those that love FF VII and those who absolutely hate it. So today I’m starting up a poll to see which side has more followers.

You can of course just leave your vote in the poll above but it would be better if you also made a post detailing your reasons.

I am going to play the devil’s advocate for both sides of the argument, anyone wishing to join me can do so, just let me know if you are.

At the end I will declare not only the winner of the poll but also who I believe to be the side with the strongest argument. I will make said decision with the rest of those who act as the devil’s advocate with me.

Basically there are no strict rules in this, just don’t get too nasty and touchy over it; remember it is a game after all.
Just to warn all of those who are new to this forum that topics like these can turn pretty ugly, so be prepared.

That’s all I have to say for now, so let the flame war commence!

well i liked Final Fantasy VII, and Advent Children was ok. I really haven’t played much of the spinoffs.

I suggest some variety in this poll. Making it so black and white really won’t display much truth, me thinkz.

I can see this thread getting closed, because flamewars are usually frowned upon :-/ But, until or unless it is, I’ll add my input. I love FFVII, but not in a fanboy kinda way; I love it the same as I love II, IX, IV, XII, the whole series. And about the compilation; well, I don’t love the whole thing, but I do love Crisis Core. Advent Children was just an excuse to beef up the characters with cool new CG effects and voice acting to please the hardcore fans. Storywise, it contributes very little (if anything). Same goes for Dirge of Cerberus, although I do like Masashi Hamauzu’s soundtrack and the darker feel of the game is rather appealing. But my biggest gripe of all is how Advent Children, Crisis Core, and Dirge of Cerberus all feel like an entirely different world than the original FFVII. That same blocky, cartoonish look is suddenly absent, replaced by an equally cool, but totally foreign new realistic touch. Even the music could’ve stood to bear at least a slight resemblance to the original score; the tracks in Crisis Core that are supposed to be remixes of songs from the original barely even sound the same at all. Overall though, these flaws can be forgiven and while each compilation game feels like an entirely different universe altogether, on their own they stand as quality titles.

I don’t have a problem with FFVII per se, it’s the ignorant fanboys that I cannot stand.

I don’t have a problem with FFVII per se, it’s the ignorant fanboys that I cannot stand.

Actually, I would agree with that statement. In general I’ld say that the problem with FF VII is its fan base. They didn’t exercise any moderation in their admiration and ended up pissing off loads of people.
There was a poll on the best villian on Gamespot; Sephiroth was pitched against somebody called RAAM (well I think that was his name :-/) anyways, many people voted against Sephiroth just to get at the blithe fanboys/ girls. That just pissed me off (and I’m not even a fanatic) because it isn’t a clear indication on the true opinion towards the game. This is why I started this thread, basically it was curiousity on the true feelings towards the game.

I suggest some variety in this poll. Making it so black and white really won’t display much truth, me thinkz.

You’re probably right, but I just didn’t want to confuse things. Maybe I’ll make a more rounded thread on this topic later, depending on interest. Also I wanted people to post their views to see the way they were thinking, if more viewers agree with your sentiment, I’ll rethink this one okey dokey?
Thanks for the feedback. 🙂

You’re probably right, but I just didn’t want to confuse things. Maybe I’ll make a more rounded thread on this topic later, depending on interest. Also I wanted people to post their views to see the way they were thinking, if more viewers agree with your sentiment, I’ll rethink this one okey dokey?
Thanks for the feedback. 🙂

No problem.

I love the compilation
Personally, I don’t know anyone fan-personing it, so that’s why I don’t feel the slightest hint of animosity towards this game\movies\ova’s\merchandise\etc, so that’s probably one of the reasons I can’t understand why should anyone hate it. But I do know what it’s like to be constantly reminded how Awesomely Fantabulous something is, and that gets really old about the 25,000th time you hear it.
But fan-people aside, it’s a great game, which produced so many things that – in my opinion – enhanced the experience of the FFVII world

I understand why people hate it, I mean it’s overhyped and it’s popularity has undermined the games before and after it.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, it’s very very good.

I love the compilation
Personally, I don’t know anyone fan-personing it, so that’s why I don’t feel the slightest hint of animosity towards this game\movies\ova’s\merchandise\etc, so that’s probably one of the reasons I can’t understand why should anyone hate it. But I do know what it’s like to be constantly reminded how Awesomely Fantabulous something is, and that gets really old about the 25,000th time you hear it.
But fan-people aside, it’s a great game, which produced so many things that – in my opinion – enhanced the experience of the FFVII world

I understand why people hate it, I mean it’s overhyped and it’s popularity has undermined the games before and after it.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, it’s very very good.

OK then, judging by what you two are saying, it’s is the fan base that gave the game its ‘unpopularity’ so to speak.
Would you say that most people liked the game for what it was but got sick and tired with the over whelming adoration it got afterwards?

Definitely, it’s the popularity that got the game over that made people hate it. A lot of people hate it when something gets hyped so often, I’ve fell for it too with other games (eg I hated Left 4 Dead, now I’m quite hooked after playing it), it happens.

I think another factor is the fans who played the game late, in ’97 the graphics were new and gorgeous, and it was never before seen in full 3D. Since then FF7 looks really shoddy and the newer fans think it looks quite lame.

Definitely, it’s the popularity that got the game over that made people hate it. A lot of people hate it when something gets hyped so often, I’ve fell for it too with other games (eg I hated Left 4 Dead, now I’m quite hooked after playing it), it happens.

I think another factor is the fans who played the game late, in ’97 the graphics were new and gorgeous, and it was never before seen in full 3D. Since then FF7 looks really shoddy and the newer fans think it looks quite lame.

It’s funny really because I’ve never played the game myself; I’ve only ever watched the story digest on the AC special edition. But all considered I thought it looked OK graphics wise, I mean I’ve played worse. Though compared to the graphics of today I suppose it would appear to be quite lame.
The first game I played was CC, which I absolutely adored. So as you can imagine I was quite amazed to see that many other people seemed to hate it, but after seeing some of the fanatism on Gamespot and such like I understood why they might hate the whole thing; it being constantly stuck in thier faces like that and all. However, I thought the game deserved so much better than all that crap.
It’s good to know now that most of that hatred is geared towards the fanboys/girls.

Have I got it right there, or is there something I’m missing?????

Nope you’re pretty much spot on. The game is very good, it has it’s flaws, and by todays standards it doesn’t look as good as more recent games, but it was overhyped. But just because it was overhyped it doesn’t mean it’s bad, and that’s the main difference, or at least that’s what I think. 🙂

Well I agree with you for what it’s worth. 🙂

I love the game, I hate the compilation…

Hate the game. Like the compilation more.

I would think the majority of members here already know of my ‘distaste’ for FFVII by now, however allow me to reiterate:

FFVII was a good game, not a great game and most certainly not the greatest game ever. Some may contribute the Role Playing Genre’s explosion into mainstream gaming to FFVII, which I may give it credit for. I did love FFVII, back when it first came out… yet now, due to the fanatical fanbase and their narrow mindedness in worshipping anything to do with FFVII… I hate them like sin. Also, while I can understand why SE did the whole "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" to get more money, using different development teams who had nothing to do with FFVII in the first place, who altered parts from what was told in FFVII and people accepting that as canon (I’ll refer to Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and the ‘new’ backstory about Vincent Valentine which conflicts of a sort with what is told about Vincent in FFVII.).

FFVII as it is, is a good game. Not the perfect game it’s fanbase would claim as there is no such thing as a 100% universally accepted perfect game, as every person has their own idea of what game is perfect, as it’s just personal choice. Another probably minor reason due to my dislike, are how the ‘fans’ compare other games with FFVII and turn around and say that FFVII is still superior… no matter what damn genre of game was being used in the comparison. Whether it’s a sport game, survival horror, puzzle, other RPG or even FPS, to these ‘FFVII fans’, they are all inferior when compared to the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII".

As Neo Xzhan stated:

I don’t have a problem with FFVII per se, it’s the ignorant fanboys that I cannot stand.

That is 100% true.

Another probably minor reason due to my dislike, are how the ‘fans’ compare other games with FFVII and turn around and say that FFVII is still superior… no matter what damn genre of game was being used in the comparison. Whether it’s a sport game, survival horror, puzzle, other RPG or even FPS, to these ‘FFVII fans’, they are all inferior when compared to the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII".

Idiots! Do they really? I mean how can you compare a sports game to an RPG????? Like you said, we can all have our prefferances, but that is just going way too far.

Nah, the game itself is crap

I love the game, I hate the compilation…

the more the better

the more the better final fantasy is awesome

Yeah, I spent a good part of high school lashing back against FF7 and wrote thousands and thousands of words trying to shit on people for liking it, but then I went back and realized I played that game for 300+ hours (more than nearly any game since), got every chocobo and mastered every summon. In the end, it was the fanboys that made me forget that it was actually one of my most favorite games. I mean I know it wasn’t the best but whatever. You lose a lot of the reason why you played the game when you’re encountered with idiots that ruin your conception of the game for you. I, personally had to zone it all out to actually go back and like FF7 again.

FF7 is alright. As far as the compilation goes, I spent a lot of time playing Crisis Core, which was great, but apart from that…

I lol’d at how cowboynwo keeps posting the image for his PSN card.

There’s a sig option you know…

Well, his two posts aren’t impressive enough for me. His PSN card won me over though. I worship anyone who has 551 trophy-looking thingies.