Why FF7 is so popular.

[FF9isthebest]

Wanna know why? This is why....

GameFAQs: Final Fantasy VII (PS) Miss-able Items FAQ by mira

One guide to rule them all, in FF8 and FF9 you have to speed run, low level, wait for bonuses, miss items while your trying to race a clock, forget to save a dog etc etc etc...

In FF7 you read this guide, and that's it. No crap to worry about, no low leveling bonus gimmick (since you can morph items to max stats), no bothersome card games, just straight up grinding levels and item finding. I get the complexity's in FF8 and FF9 (among others) but this game lets you just sit back and not worry about anything besides learning a few Trine spells and Pandoras box there isn't much to miss. Sure you can miss key items specially if you don't do all the hottub gangbang comedic gayness, but I was going to do that to only I left the Whorehouse and they never let me back in...... Oh well screw keyitems.

[Unknown Entity]

I'm pretty sure that not the only reason why it's popular. It has all of the little tricks to make the game a walk in the park, sure, but the game has been out for fourteen years - it's been played enough times to find the the things that can be taken advantage of. And it's still popular fourteen years later because of the compilation. If it wasn't for the countless sequels, the hype for it wouldn't be as great.

Missing particular key items isn't even a big deal, especially in the Wall Market area. It just gives you a different scene at the Don's place when he picks his woman for the night.

It's got a likeable story and cast too. Not to mention the music, which is awesome throughout.

Sometimes the simplest of ideas is better. I hate FFVIII levelling up system because it ridiculously confusing. How many tutorials do you need to sit though in order to get the gist of handling your characters? Jeeeeese... x.x

[Angel of Iniquity]

Soooo, the lack of quests, from what you are saying, makes it popular?
...>.>

[FF9isthebest]

Just trying to say its more accessible and doesn't punish you as heavily for not paying attention, which makes it less of a headache to complete.

And yea I agree it had the coolest characters that's another reason.

[Freya]

Soooo, the lack of quests, from what you are saying, makes it popular?
...>.>

That may be. Imagine a kid who's playing FF for the first time. FF isn't an easy game, you have to think a lot and you shouldn't miss anything. You have to keep track of where you are going and have to listen to the people in the town to get on with the story. (At least in the past FFs it was like that... see FFVI, VII and VIII... these are the ones that come to my mind first when thinking about this "scheme".)
So now there's this kid who's never played an FF before - and there aren't many side quests on the way to confuse this kid and it's rather easy to follow the main story. If kid likes, he can beat the Weapons later, but there isn't really much to be done.
Besides, if kid is good, he can find many many secrets in the game... in waterfalls, in Shinra Mansion and.... somewhere I don't remember where Yuffie can be found. ^^"
What I want to say is this: FF7 MAY be popular because it's easier to follow the main story. There are no side quests leading you to other places or even making you feel like you're not good enough in this game.

Another reason: I'm pretty sure many people can understand how Cloud's mind works. And Sephiroth seems to look pretty cool to girls. (Aw, sorry, but when I hear girl's screaming about how coooo~l Sephiroth is, I get the impression that they just base their opinion on his looks.)

[Unknown Entity]

and.... somewhere I don't remember where Yuffie can be found. ^^"

Wutai.

Admittedly, I'll agree FFVII is one of the easiest Final Fantasy games to play. But then again, I've not really played a hard one. I think FFIX looks to be a pain in the ass with its card game, rope jumps and perfecting that fighting scene at the start. That's probably a little too ridiculous for the first few hours of playing a game, imo. I was worried I'd never be able to jump the rope a thousand or whatever times needed to get the best item, but it turns out you can later.

Like I said, simple ideas are usually better.

[nix]

Spoiler: To me its the characters that make it strong, characters mix well together given they all have different back grounds etc, the villain is badass throughout and there is no confusion in the story really despite its complexities. You feel for the characters and the dilemmas they go through, it gives the impression the story had been thought about a long time before creating it in full, alot of work went into it. With 8, it started off strong but then they just started randomly changing the villains, which is good from a story wise perspective i guess but it just didn't hit home as there wasn't much emotion from the characters, they didnt have as much hatred for the villains as they did from 7, it was just all over the place. The characters had very little backstory and in the end they all grew up in an orphanage together? but forgot about it? The story just seemed to have random story spikes thrown in for the sake of it, it just seemed rush, the story turned to shit when it turned out Edea was being mind controlled from a sorceress in the future that may have turned out to be rinoa? i don't know, its all over the place and poor decisions made in the progression of the story. And not to mention all of the characters, they looked cool i guess but other than that they were all pretty lame. FF9 was a blast and im even considering playing it again, it was an awesome rollercoaster ride all the way till just before the end when the story fell to shit with necron. Strong and some likeable characters and not to mention a combat system that was a relief after the disaster of FF8's To me, FF7 didnt have any wall in it where it faultered or at any point seemed lame, it didnt have a card game but it did have plenty of side games in gold saucer, and chocobo breeding. Top class shit if ya ask me!

[Dan558]

It has the best Chocobo system to date. FF9 is second and was ok but I didn't like how you only had one chocobo, you couldn't name it and the hot-cold system was ok at best.

Every other final Fantasy just has Chocobos tacked on somewhere. FFX was pretty much the worst since it was so limited and the lack of a world map. FFXII was only good because it made the insanely boring treks that game is so full of slightly more bearable when you had to go back to places IF chocobos were available. FF6 was simply rent a chocobo in a couple towns, nothing special (cept music). I can't even remember FF8 chocobo stuff. Before 6 you were just lucky sometimes to come across a chocobo.

[Pete]

Technically Yuffie is first found in the forest by Junon

I won't get into the sequels and all that jazz, since before all that, the game was still incredibly popular.

I think that VII is so popular mostly because it was so hyped and and accessible to people. It's one of the first video games I can recall with tv commercials and several dual-page magazine ads. It was also the first true RPG that many of us have played, and so it's something akin to a first love. Plus, the story was fairly gripping and very immersive; if not compared to other FF's, then at least compared to other games of its time.

[markandrewkinzett]

The plain simple answer is Pioneer game on Playstation and also the game is just AWESOME. No more than that answer needed!!!

[Xanatos]

As Pete already said, for it's time Final Fantasy VII had huge commercial impact, Square took care to make it more accessible to western market, which wasn't the case with it's predecessors. It was one of the first games on PS1, first RPG experience to mass amount of players, and let's be honest, it was, and still is a good game.

[Angel of Iniquity]

I am wondering, If FF8 or FF9 were to come first, were they to become as popular?
I have a feeling that being one of the first truly western popularized Rpg games from Japan, in my memory, helped it succeed.

[Zidane77]

The reason why it's popular is that the first game is just super epic, and those who played it at the time when it came out, they know how good it is.
Alot of people nowadays go only by graphics and single out PS1 games.

Just 1 epic game and one of the best, FFVIII is also easy to master.

[Locke4God]

Yeah, 7 just completely reinvented the RPG industry as a whole. It's almost as important as the very first FF which did the same thing. Other than 1 & 7, there isn't a more "important" game in the series.

[Zargabaath]

Yeah, 7 just completely reinvented the RPG industry as a whole. It's almost as important as the very first FF which did the same thing. Other than 1 & 7, there isn't a more "important" game in the series.

I would say that FFIV & FFX are on the most important FF lists. Final Fantasy IV really introduced story & characters on a level not done before, at least in FF. Final Fantasy IV also brought the mode 6 (I believe) when using the airship. This is when Sakaguchi really wanted to focus on graphics as well.

Final Fantasy X brought voice-acting and fully 3-D world.

[Linus Li Lelouch]

I am wondering, If FF8 or FF9 were to come first, were they to become as popular?
I have a feeling that being one of the first truly western popularized Rpg games from Japan, in my memory, helped it succeed.

Interesting indeed... Only good post worth quoting

[Yuri3458]

I would say FF VII became popular becaue of it being the first many have played. Such a story some wanted to follow with the characters. it was the second rpg I ever played and made me want to play other FF games which is how I started the series so it was fun for me. Not my favorite though I still think FF IX was one of the best in the series. The first rpg I played though was Suikoden and is still my favorite rpg of all time you can't beat the game in that game with the wonderful story that goes along with it. It is by far one of the best rpgs ever.

[matt]

I am quilty of calling this the greatest FF game of all time in my youth, as with many people it was the first RPG i played and I admit i still love it through and through, it was the first game I had downloaded to my psp and I still love it however FF9 is out and out my favorite I like the fact it went back to the roots of the gameplay and equipable features, but still ill always have a space in my heart for the game

[Tepsha]

The characters are just amazing in the game. Cloud, Sephiroth, Vincent, Cid, Tifa, Aeris, Barret.... They're just all so well done with great backstories and unique characteristics and attitudes.

And the story line, best you can find in pretty much every game.

[IdiotWithHair]

Obviously it's the swords. And the hair. Truly, Cloud has mastered the art of manipulating gravity. Also, him and Sephiroth are very pretty. And don't forget the visionary foresight Square had to include a character like Cait Sith; a stuffed toy riding a larger stuffed toy, whose weapon was a microphone! EVERYBODY loves the cat.

There was also a pretty sweet, complex story that kept my attention to the end, and some really kickass, likable characters. And Yuffie.

[Genesis_787]

Why? Well it has a deep story line that keeps you going till the end, the characters are all so memorable, the levelling and battle systems are simple and work well and the Materia system is so simple yet so fun trying various combinations for different results.