Where to start? We’ve covered countless games here at UltraGN, with many of them being stored warmly in the retro oven. Final Fantasy 7 is a different story though, in all honesty. This is the game as far as a whole generation is concerned; the game that brought RPGs firmly into European gamers’ mindset; the game that provided players with an epic, unforgettable story; the game that won Sony the Christmas 1997 battle. Final Fantasy 7 was that very title. It still is.

What’s more, it is a complete pain in the derriere to look upon objectively. Having completed the game at the age of 16 whilst depriving myself of sleep, food and society, I went on to complete it again twice in the next couple of years, each time exploring the world fully and gaining all the items and weapons I could. Heck, part of me still wants to give the thing a full and proper fourth run-through [subsequently started and am now 24 hours in – Ed], so attached to parts of it I’ve become.

For those not familiar with the game, run quickly to your nearest video games vendor and pocket yourself a second-hand copy right away. Before you do that, read on a little. Initially kicking off in the futuristic city of Midgar, the story initially revolved around ex-military member Cloud and his band of eco warriors’ attempts to sabotage Shinra Corp, a company drawing energy from the centre of the planet and supplying it as electrical power for profit. Things quickly become rather more complicated and it’s up to Cloud and a gang of friends to save the world from impending doom.

It all started as an intriguing beginning to a vast storyline, encompassing the usual themes of love, loss, bravery and discovery without ever treading the line of becoming corny. It was as if the final credits had cast a fishing line back through the game, hooking players in and dragging them relentlessly towards the game’s climax. Whatever stage you were at in the game, something inside you always desperately wanted to see what happened next and prompted you to play on just that little bit extra each time a save point came about.

Whilst travelling about a huge array of vastly different settings were visited, each having memorable townsfolk, quests and styling. Who could forget the red lions of Cosmo Canyon with its thumping tribal theme, or the oriental culture of Wutai on the far western continent? Then there was the Golden Saucer, which was visited as part of the main quest and then later available as a host to a number of addictive mini games and side quests. The blend of highly technological cities with rural locations beautifully altered the pacing of the storyline too, with quieter, more reflective moments in town giving the player a great chance to find out about the ragtag bunch of characters he was travelling with.

What a bunch they were, too. From Mr. T-alike Barret and his hefty gun arm to the quiet, fragile Aeris, each had their own detailed back-story and every single on of them was given their fair share of time in the spotlight. Heck, some of the characters had entire quests all of their own, with it being possible to bypass two of them if you didn’t get involved in their relevant storylines. By the time the final battle unfolded you knew each of your team well enough to actually care about what happened to them all in the ending, something that is key to any enduring RPG.

Beneath the great storyline and memorable locations, the game itself featured the latest tweak to Squaresoft’s levelling system. Doing away completely with jobs of any sort, characters were instead given abilities by slotting gems into their weapons and armour. Each gem – named Materia – carried either magic, stat bonuses or limit breaks, and linking them together would often create stronger attacks. The resulting process of swapping between weaponry and different Materia for each character could occupy the most tactically-minded player for hours on end, although the system was designed well enough so that players could get by with a mere bit of tinkering if they preferred concentrating on the story.

Then there were the visuals. For the time they were brilliant, with a range of hugely detailed pre-rendered backdrops. Characters themselves were created with relatively simple polygons and weren’t too detailed, but their bobble-headed anime nature was charming. Throughout the game some wonderful cut scenes were spliced in to portray the more dramatic developments in the story, all in shiny FMV.

Providing the backing for all this, veteran Final Fantasy musician Nobou Uematsu provided a stonking soundtrack that veered wildly from dark, brooding instrumentals to light-hearted ditties whenever the mood suited. Hands up who can still hum the battle victory tune, or the chocobo theme? The Final Fantasy 7 soundtrack remains to this day one of only two game soundtracks I have ever seen fit to buy, and I can link each tune to specific points and locations in the game with ease.

Going back to my earlier point, it has proven difficult to look at Final Fantasy 7 objectively after all. There’s very little you could criticise the game for, and any title which lasts 40 hours and still makes you want to come back for more of exactly the same has got to be something special. More than being the game that won Sony a sales race or opened Europe to proper RPGs once and for all, on a personal level it’s probably the game that solidified my love for video gaming as a whole. A heck of a lot of people – me included – have a lot to thank Cloud and his travelling band of friends for, even some ten years on.