WTB Final Fantasy 7

me-skywalker

IM looking to buy Final Fantasy 7 anyone got a secondhand copy anywhere or know any sites can buy them new or secondhand? am looking to buy quickly so offers will be dealt with asap!

F1ngers

Do you have a PS3? You can download it for €9.99.

Or else FFVII on amazon

FFVII on ebay

juanpablo1983

You can buy it on the Playstation Store for use on either the Ps3 or the PSP, Its great. Its 9.99 Euro.

Retr0gamer

Love the ebay listings saying that it's rare when it's one of the best selling games ever.

Glico Man

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Love the ebay listings saying that it's rare when it's one of the best selling games ever.

But to be fair it is very hard to find.

Retr0gamer

It isn't really, it's not exactly suikoden 2. It's the 3rd best selling PS1 game ever and regularly is sold second hand. It's radiant silvergun syndrome, not rare at all but highly sought after.

Gunmonkey

I think I saw the listing ya are talking about, he had games like Ratchet & Clank 2 listed as being "rare"....just trying to inflate the price by claiming its a hard to find game.

me-skywalker

yea taht rare tag really annoys me.. ther are some for .like £98 really ridiculous i got mine for £30! happy days!!

me-skywalker

wat about a memory card for the good aul ps? any palce taht stocks these bad boys?

Retr0gamer

30 sterling for FFVII? You were ripped off.

As for the memory cards only place is to get them online.

me-skywalker

Retr0gamer wrote: »

30 sterling for FFVII? You were ripped off.

As for the memory cards only place is to get them online.

how was i ripped off? seems grand price to me!

ah ive got a 3rd party memory card lyign around a shoe box on my top shelf i thinks.......

Retr0gamer

You can get a brand new game for less and you can get it for 10 euro on PSN. I wouldn't pay more than 10 euro for it and it usually finishes at 20 euro or less at the very most on ebay.

Put it this way, you can get Persona 4 for 25 euro. It's brand new and a far superior game.

noodler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You can get a brand new game for less and you can get it for 10 euro on PSN. I wouldn't pay more than 10 euro for it and it usually finishes at 20 euro or less at the very most on ebay.

Put it this way, you can get Persona 4 for 25 euro. It's brand new and a far superior game.

I am halfway through P4 and have been for about 3 months.

Its a charming game but it certainly is not as fun as FF7

ShaneU

I've finished both persona 4 and final fantasy 7 and ff7 is much much better. Persona 4 is mostly a dungeon crawler with a bit of pokemon style monster raising.

Retr0gamer

I still think a lot of FFVII's appeal is the nostalgia factor. It's not a bad game in any sense, still quite good fun, but the battle system and materia systems are huge step backwards from what went before in the series, the story is absolute nonsensical tripe made worse by a bad translation and the mingames are pants. Was listening to the retronauts podcast about it and they pretty much confirmed everything I think about it. Persona on the other hand had a coherent and charming story with one of the best battle systems of any RPG and I'm finding it a lot more fun. There's a good link here from jeremy parish about FFVII:

http://www.gamespite.net/toastywiki/index.php/Games/FinalFantasyVII

It's pretty venomous but it's because he wanted to stir up the fan base for a laugh but pretty much everything he says is true.

noodler

I want to stay specific here to P4 and FF7 here. I see nothing in P4's battle system that is in the least bit progressive. Grinding the same dungeon twice with a very lazy/boring/uninspired (whatever) ten floor system. The grinding really is merciless.

I like the fact you can actually die though. How far in are you Retro? I might try get back to it soon but I am also tempted to start Rogue Galaxy.

Retr0gamer

I'm actually ploughing though P3, about halfway through, floor 160ish in Tartarus. I'm loving it and presuming P4 is better if it's the big improvement I heard it was. I found the battle system in Persona to be one of the best ever. You really have to use elemental weaknesses to your advantage unlike FFVII were it hardly factors in and the game is a cakewalk anyway. Also haven't had to level up or grind at all as long as I don't run from battles and keep getting back attacks. FFVII's battle system and materia system are so simplistic and easy by comparison. P3 however is taking a short break while I finish System Shock 2.

Rogue Galaxy is good but Persona is way better. I was actually playing Rogue Galaxy until Persona 3 came along

GothPunk

I bought FFVII for £10 on eBay. €30 is a bit much.

The dungeons in Persona 4 just get better and better, some of the bosses in it are so creative from a design standpoint. I've been watching the OH play it and she has been watching me play Persona 3 FES. Persona 3 is harder in some ways and easier in others, but the dungeons in Persona 4 (with their individual themes) I find quite charming.

I love FFVII, I still love the battle system and I think it is one of my favourite games - nostalgia does play a part in my love for it too. I think that I like FFVII a lot more than Persona 3 FES/4, but I think that Persona 3 FES and 4 are better games, if that makes any sense. Persona 4 is perhaps one of the greatest games I have ever played/watched. I like how in Persona status ailments seem to actually effect gameplay moreso than other RPGs I have played. I will have to finish both games to see how the story holds up, as Persona 3 is quite slow to start (I'm only just starting the 3rd block of Tartarus though).

I was thinking about starting a Persona thread so that we could all discuss how awesome it is. :pac:

Retr0gamer

GothPunk wrote: »

I think that I like FFVII a lot more than Persona 3 FES/4, but I think that Persona 3 FES and 4 are better games, if that makes any sense.

It doesn't make any sense but I get what you are saying

I think many people if they went back and played FFVII now and tried to view it objectively they will see that the game is an unfinished mess with pretensions of being like evangelion but falling flat on it's face storywise and having a very uneven pace. I think the real miracle is that it's still buckets of fun to play despite this.

I used to be of the opinion that it was the best game ever but when I went back to it after FFX, Grandia, Suikoden 2, FFVI, etc. I was a little shocked. Those were much better games but nostalgia had clouded my judgement. At the time FFVII blew people away since there wasn't a game as visually stimulating at the time.

Anyway we've had a few Persona threads before but at the time not many people would have played them so yeah another Persona thread would be great It's after doing a panzer dragoon orta to me. After I played that game I bought a saturn to play panzer dragoon saga. With Persona 3 I've been hunting down all the Shin Megami Tensei games and plan to play them. For anyone hunting down good PS2 RPGs I hear SMT3: Nocturne/lucifers call is an amazing game and hard to track down.

RAIN

And behold you asked and you have received.

I am on Disc 3 of FFVII as we speak doing a bit of grinding before I go into the northern crater.

Yes it is uneven, yes its frustrating but criticising any JRPG for being pretentious is a bit of a moot point. There are all unbelievably pretentious.

Iv played it through before and this 2nd time I have to say I enjoyed it more, the one thing that is extremely hard to swallow is the way it nearly punishes you for playing the damn thing.

I like its delusions of grandeur because its big enough and packed full of so much mythology that it makes you feel like your playing through a fantasy epic.

I do agree with you about it not being the best thing ever but its the best game iv played this year ...but its been a quiet year so far.

Retr0gamer

Well I couldn't call the mythology pretentious because it's really just copying Evangelion, which is also guilty of the same thing, and slaps religious symbolism in for no reason other than the japanese audience thought it was cool at the time.

Yes, it really is very flawed but I hope most of us can come to an agreement that it's a flawed masterpiece?

noodler

I'm lucky so cos I played it again last year and till enjoyed it immensely.

Any diminished joy I have for the game simply comes from having played it too often.

Gummy Panda

Retr0gamer wrote: »

With Persona 3 I've been hunting down all the Shin Megami Tensei games and plan to play them. For anyone hunting down good PS2 RPGs I hear SMT3: Nocturne/lucifers call is an amazing game and hard to track down.

I have a copy on my desk now thanks to gameseek.co.uk. I now have digital devil saga 1 & 2, P3&4, SMT3 and devil summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs The soulless army.

I just like to add one thing..... Persona and FFVII are nothing compared to Dragon Quest!


/sh1t stirring

Retr0gamer

Hmm, Dragon Quest VIII the only one I played is a far better game than FFVII but it's close between Persona 3

Just thinking back to when I started on boards, I'm pretty sure you coul search and find a few posts from me stating that FFVII had a storyline that coul match the best works of film and literature. How wrong was I, FFVII's storyline is utter **** when you think about it

Gummy Panda

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Hmm, Dragon Quest VIII the only one I played is a far better game than FFVII but it's close between Persona 3

Just thinking back to when I started on boards, I'm pretty sure you coul search and find a few posts from me stating that FFVII had a storyline that coul match the best works of film and literature. How wrong was I, FFVII's storyline is utter **** when you think about it

Seriously.. buy DQIV and DQV on DS. I played some DQVIII and only stopped as i was already playing P3. It wasn't cause P3 was better, more that i wanted to save DQ for when i have time of work.

Retr0gamer

I have them both and can't wait to play them, I've heard DQ IV-VI are exceptional. I just need to beat phantom hourglass and castlevania first

me-skywalker

well i got FFVII & FFVIII for €25 great deal.. taht ebay price was a compelte rip off too alte to cxl now!! ah well you live and learn.

well the indepth character story in 7 is what draws you into the game and the small town to big city transformation and taking on an evil corporation is somethign ppl can identify as thigns to be apart of! its a great game regarldess of the nostalgic factor!

Gummy Panda

me-skywalker wrote: »

well i got FFVII & FFVIII for €25 great deal.. taht ebay price was a compelte rip off too alte to cxl now!! ah well you live and learn.

well the indepth character story in 7 is what draws you into the game and the small town to big city transformation and taking on an evil corporation is somethign ppl can identify as thigns to be apart of! its a great game regarldess of the nostalgic factor!

Seriously.. if you think the character story in FFVII is good then get yourself suidoken 2. Luca blight is a great character.

noodler

I loved DQ8, outstanding game. However, FF7 is much better. Even for all its flaws. DQ8's story was a complete and utter afterthought.


EDIT: I mean FF7's story was much better, obv I prefer FF& overall but my point in this post was about the story.

Retr0gamer

I much preferred the story of DQ8. It wasn't anything special but the writing for the characters was top notch, had me laughing a few times, and it was just good charming saturday morning cartoon fun. The battle system was also leagues above FFVII when you started getting the better abilities. FFVII's storyline is just a complete and utter mess when you really think about it. It makes no sense and is all over the place. It also lurches wildly from being serious to being nonsense quite often. There's a few interesting scenes but it just doesn't seem to gel well and was obviously rushed since it's just evangelion all over again.

I also second Suikoden 2 as being a better game than FFVII and having a much better story. Pity it's so hard to find.

Gummy Panda

We all know DQVIII is better due to Golden Oldies alone

Trode is great

noodler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I much preferred the story of DQ8. It wasn't anything special but the writing for the characters was top notch, had me laughing a few times, and it was just good charming saturday morning cartoon fun. The battle system was also leagues above FFVII when you started getting the better abilities. FFVII's storyline is just a complete and utter mess when you really think about it. It makes no sense and is all over the place. It also lurches wildly from being serious to being nonsense quite often. There's a few interesting scenes but it just doesn't seem to gel well and was obviously rushed since it's just evangelion all over again.

I also second Suikoden 2 as being a better game than FFVII and having a much better story. Pity it's so hard to find.

I think we are confusing great voice acting with a great story personally.

There was absolutely nothing for me as good as the Zach reveal, the Aeris death, the Weapon battle at Midgar etc etc. The DQVIII story was very simplistic, which is no bad thing in itself, they focused on the game which was excellent.

Retr0gamer

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Trode is great

Yangus and Trode made that game, thought the ending was hilarious.

noodler wrote: »

I think we are confusing great voice acting with a great story personally.

There was absolutely nothing for me as good as the Zach reveal, the Aeris death, the Weapon battle at Midgar etc etc. The DQVIII story was very simplistic, which is no bad thing in itself, they focused on the game which was excellent.

I'm not confusing great voice acting with a great story. Dragon Quest VIII is a very simple story excellently told, like a lot of the best literary and film works. Nobody can say seven samurai is a complicated story but it's still an example of great storytelling. FFVII on the other hand is a mess. It's mostly about the CGI spectacle. There are some good scenes between characters like some you mention but the whole thing doesn't gel with very serious moments in between long stretches of silliness. bookending aeriths death with some snow boarding action isn't good storytelling. It's also far too similar to Evangelion for it's own good what with the alien force crash landing in an artic crater and the weapons being there just to give the japanese audience the mecha battles they like. A lot of people confuse the ambiguity of the story for cleverness. The story is actually very simple but ambiguous because it's just not told very well.

noodler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Yangus and Trode made that game, thought the ending was hilarious.



I'm not confusing great voice acting with a great story. Dragon Quest VIII is a very simple story excellently told, like a lot of the best literary and film works. Nobody can say seven samurai is a complicated story but it's still an example of great storytelling. FFVII on the other hand is a mess. It's mostly about the CGI spectacle. There are some good scenes between characters like some you mention but the whole thing doesn't gel with very serious moments in between long stretches of silliness. bookending aeriths death with some snow boarding action isn't good storytelling. It's also far too similar to Evangelion for it's own good what with the alien force crash landing in an artic crater and the weapons being there just to give the japanese audience the mecha battles they like. A lot of people confuse the ambiguity of the story for cleverness. The story is actually very simple but ambiguous because it's just not told very well.

Well as usual there is a fundamental disagreement between us. Not everyone went from loving the stroy to absolutely hating it like you did.

DQVIII has barely any story for me. I can't bash FF7 for a couple of pieces that don't gel so well together when the whole thing is far more complicated, ambitious and downright mature to be perfectly honest.

Theres a bunch of other scenes/settings I could recount. Maybe the Pickham/Compared to the Midgar Slums? I mean I know what you mean when you say DQ went for the Saturday morning cartoon approach but I nearly always prefer the story that is more realistic and serious. The slums story was told in a realistic fashion in FF7 with the acceptance of a dog-eat-dog mentality for those society has forgotten, a gentleman's club (granted DQ had one too), suicide and it al culminated with the (IMO anyway) dramatic collapse of Sector 7. So many scenes in FF7 that DQVIII can't touch emotionally - More to the point though, DQ doesn't even attempt to do because they acknowledge it is not that type of game.

It doesn't make it any less fun to play but I just feel one has a serious plot which was far more ambitious and intricate than the other. I am sure that will trigger an intricate=flawed point from yourself but for every knitpick you have I could probably find 5 more great moments.

Retr0gamer

I agree with you that the first 5 hours in Midgar are quite special but after you leave midgar the story is a complete mess. There are some good scenes but between them there's a whole load of crazy silliness that doesn't fit the bill. The turks tunr up way too much and act like a comedy foursome. The crazy minigames and silly humour don't fit in with the tone of the game. Cait Sith feels really off in all of his story sequences. It's actually a really simple storyline, nothing special at all especially if you watched anime you would have seen it all already. It just seems clever because it's so hard to understand due to a poor translation and the rushed storytelling and ending making it nearly impenetrable. The style is all over the place as well. It's like it doesn;t know whether to go all out blade runner and adds in areas reminiscent of the older games and FFVI's steam punk. It's not helped by the CGI being made by different teams over the course of the game either. And is it really that mature? Most of the emotional scenes are saturday morning cartoon stuff as well except with a gritty colour palette.

Animo

Is DQVIII really all that good? I got it about 2 years ago and gave up on it. Mainly cos I found it to be very slow moving and everythign just became tedious to me after awhile. Is it worth giving another shot?

Retr0gamer

If you play your RPGs for story then no. It takes a good while to get going. If you play them for great characters and battle system then it's one of the best RPGs made. The gameplay really comes into it's own when you unlock better abilities a bit further into the game.

knuth

@Retrogamer: Your whole argument of the transalation being flawed is ridicilous. People reading your comments would think that the game's text was using hyroglifics as it's method of communication. There are a few typo's here and there throughout the game, big deal? I certainly DO NOT think it's a relevant point to the game as a whole.

noodler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

If you play your RPGs for story then no. It takes a good while to get going. If you play them for great characters and battle system then it's one of the best RPGs made. The gameplay really comes into it's own when you unlock better abilities a bit further into the game.

I was actually hooked after the first dungeon tbh! By the time I got to the Abbey...well forget about it.

lordlame wrote: »

@Retrogamer: Your whole argument of the transalation being flawed is ridicilous. People reading your comments would think that the game's text was using hyroglifics as it's method of communication. There are a few typo's here and there throughout the game, big deal? I certainly DO NOT think it's a relevant point to the game as a whole.

I think he is referring to the impact on the storyline rather than the odd typo for its own sake. I mean I certainly didn't get that it wasn't actually Seph you were chasing around Disc 1 at the time I played it (Its weird - I believe it is suppossed to be Jenova and you fight a Jenova monster everytime you run into him but its usually implied that its a Jenova monster he is unleashing upon you rather than being a fight against him exactly).

Some other great bits though, the Kalm flashback and the Aeris' parent flashsbacks on the recordings in the Snow Town. God I loved Disc 2 so much.



EDIT: Can I ask a brief PSP question here? I played 'a' version of this game on the PSP which runs well but the music is playing too fast. Is this the same story with the 'official' version which is down loadable from PSN?

Kiith

noodler wrote: »

I think he is referring to the impact on the storyline rather than the odd typo for its own sake. I mean I certainly didn't get that it wasn't actually Seph you were chasing around Disc 1 at the time I played it (Its weird - I believe it is suppossed to be Jenova and you fight a Jenova monster everytime you run into him but its usually implied that its a Jenova monster he is unleashing upon you rather than being a fight against him exactly)

That's exactly how i saw it the first few times i played through it.

noodler

Kiith wrote: »

That's exactly how i saw it the first few times i played through it.

Which? That it was him or that it wasn't?

Retr0gamer

lordlame wrote: »

@Retrogamer: Your whole argument of the transalation being flawed is ridicilous. People reading your comments would think that the game's text was using hyroglifics as it's method of communication. There are a few typo's here and there throughout the game, big deal? I certainly DO NOT think it's a relevant point to the game as a whole.

Translation of FFVII is horribly flawed I'm afraid. Not only are there ridiculous typos but somethings just aren't spelled out very well like what noodler mentions and characters say some ridiculous lines as well. It's commonly regarded as being one of the worst translations for a game and does have a negative impact on the story which is why it's not just me that mentions it as a negative when discussing FFVII. Off course.

noodler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Translation of FFVII is horribly flawed I'm afraid. Not only are there ridiculous typos but somethings just aren't spelled out very well like what noodler mentions and characters say some ridiculous lines as well. It's commonly regarded as being one of the worst translations for a game and does have a negative impact on the story which is why it's not just me that mentions it as a negative when discussing FFVII. Off course.

I really, really would have to qualify what I said by saying a few poor translations in a 70 hour+ epic hardly reduced it to nonsensical babel.

There was a lot more dialog in it than in say FF6 and they were pushed for time. Take FF8 for instance, theres LOADS of stuff in that which doesn't make a lick of sense by comparison. Would we blame that on plot or translation?

Retr0gamer

Well FFVIII is in a different level of it's own and is probably due to both the translation and the plot. FFVII really is quite bad though and compared to the excellent translation job of FFVI there really was no excuse.

Gummy Panda

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well FFVIII is in a different level of it's own and is probably due to both the translation and the plot. FFVII really is quite bad though and compared to the excellent translation job of FFVI there really was no excuse.

Good aul Ted Woolsey

For extra effect:

knuth

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Translation of FFVII is horribly flawed I'm afraid. Not only are there ridiculous typos but somethings just aren't spelled out very well like what noodler mentions and characters say some ridiculous lines as well. It's commonly regarded as being one of the worst translations for a game and does have a negative impact on the story which is why it's not just me that mentions it as a negative when discussing FFVII. Off course.

That's poor criticism. Spelling and typo's in a 12 year old game... ugh not even going to go there.

I think due to it's huge franchise and popularity that it's easy for people with nothin to do to nit pick to their hearts content

Retr0gamer

Ted didn't do the FFIV translation. The only FF game he did was FFVI. Nothing wrong with son of a submariner, I use it all the time.

It's also issues much worse than spelling errors and typos I'm talking about. A lot of plot elements from the original japanese script aren't conveyed due to how bad it was.

Mindkiller

I honestly don't see how VII is an Evangelion rip. Other than the Meteor apocalypse (Second/Third Impact) and the Weapons (Angels), they are two very different stories.

Lucifer's Call/Nocturne on the other hand is very "Evangelion-ey". One particular element which they share is the whole

rebirth of the world after the apocalypse

thingy.
Its also one of the greatest RPGs I've ever played (100% compendium woot). A must play for anyone with a passing interest in Shin Mega Ten or the Persona spin-offs.
Also

Dante's in it

I always found VII to be a charming adventure. The diarogue could certainly do with an update alright, but other than the Seph/Jenova revelation at the Northern Crater (which was lost in translation) FFVII's story is a basic enough enjoyable fantasy romp.

FFVI is superior in near enough every way though (Minus the Esper system. Materia FTW)

Gummy Panda

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Nothing wrong with son of a submariner, I use it all the time.

Ya spoony bard!!

Retr0gamer

The thing about Nocturne is that it pretty much takes place after the **** hits the fan. FFVII is the usual save the world stuff Nocturne is basically what happens after the world is screwed, a bit like the second half of a certain other RPG that I won't mention so as not to spoil it. FFVII has way more in common with evangelion. And to be honest Shin Megami Tensei has been dealing with games based on the apocalypse since well before Evangelion.

I really must play Nocturne but I'd have to start with SMT 1 and 2 first

Gummy Panda

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Nocturne is basically what happens after the world is screwed, a bit like the second half of a certain other RPG that I won't mention so as not to spoil it.

What RPG?

Use the spoiler tags

is it

FFX in that tidus homeland is long gone