Introducing my girlfriend to FF7

Eathrin

I am a massive fan of Final Fantasy 7 and my girlfriend enjoys playing retro games, so naturally the next step to take was to introduce her to one of my favourite ever retro games and my favourite on the PS1.

I've been watching her play, trying to keep my mouth shut and let her discover it herself as I did when I was a kid. But there are a few difficulties.

She seems to be having an extraordinarily tough time with it. First off with the button presses (but I guess that's natural) but also with navigating the 3d environment and even the directional controls somewhat. The little section between the Wall Mart and Aeris' house was an absolute nightmare!!
I don't recall ever having such trouble myself, and very young!

Then there's the gameplay itself. Like I said, I'm trying to keep my mouth shut. But I find it VERY difficult to do so when she walks right by a piece of flashing materia on the ground or spends 10 minutes trying to figure out a 1 minute puzzle (like the trainyard early one). She also seems to cry for help when she can't (or doesn't want to bother) figuring out a more time consuming puzzle (like at the Wall Mart). None of the puzzles in the Shinra Bldg. are being done correctly either.

Even when she buys new equipment or materia in the store, she fails to understand that it needs to be equipped. She couldn't figure out what "All materia" meant either. It hasn't happened yet but I suspect when she reaches the next limit level (2) that she won't be able to figure out how to upgrade.

I could forgive her for a lot, like not knowing about positions on the battlefield or about battle strategies but some of the stuff seems so blinding obvious! She's going to let half of the game pass her by!! I think it'd be a waste to guide her through the game myself or let her use an online guide.

She says (without much enthusiasm) that she likes it, but I'm not sure she can really enjoy it if she can't play it properly.
Is she having too much trouble for a first time player?
Opinions?

Will keep ye posted.

MitchKoobski

Deja Vu anyone?

Eathrin

MitchKoobski wrote: »

Deja Vu anyone?

I recall reading a similar thread before:o
I'm not spoofing here if you're doubting my sincerity.

Darkglasses

Oh man, you're doing it all wrong. Stop watching and let her enjoy it for herself. Final Fantasy games are a bit special, can you imagine playing them for the first time with someone telling you how to play it "right"? In my imagination, it might ruin it all.

(I'm not sure exactly how involved you are in the gameplay, but I really think it should be mostly a solo experience)

Eathrin

Darkglasses wrote: »

Oh man, you're doing it all wrong. Stop watching and let her enjoy it for herself. Final Fantasy games are a bit special, can you imagine playing them for the first time with someone telling you how to play it "right"? In my imagination, it might ruin it all.

(I'm not sure exactly how involved you are in the gameplay, but I really think it should be mostly a solo experience)

I agree completely. I'm a little paranoid about her turning to the internet for help.
I'm not really giving her any help at all, when she asks me how to do something I tell her I'm not giving hints and to read the text thoroughly.
I can tell she gets frustrated, but I don't want to give her more advice than to just "explore the area thoroughly", "talk to people" or to "take some time to get used to the menu".

I've asked her to play more on her own, I really want her to get into it, but I don't think she's quite there yet which is why I'm giving her a little push to play. I'd rather not be watching over her shoulders.

Oh and fyi, she's not really experienced RPGs before (neither had I when I got the game for my 7th Birthday). She likes Mario, Spyro, Crash and karting games on the ps1 and n64. I know that's irrelevant to this forum but it's worth keeping in mind.

Retr0gamer

To be honest if she isn't enjoying it might be better letting her not play it. If she is playing it willingly then that's ok, she won't enjoy it if you force her. It's probably best to let her discover things on her own as well. FFVII is a total cakewalk by RPG standards so missing items at the start of the game isn't going to lead to a game breaking situation.

It might have been better starting with something a bit simpler as well and working up to FFVII? Just a suggestion. It was probably all our first RPG as well but we had the experience of a lot more games behind us so knew a bit of what to expect. Even still I did silly things on my first play through like not knowing how to equip an accessory until the very end of the game. In other games this would be game breaking but FFVII isn't that tough so I it never caused me trouble. She'll pick it up just give subtle hints if she needs it.

Also don't expect her to be blown away by the game, it's aged a bit and the story isn't as mindblowing as you thought it was when you were seven. Just saying this in case you are disappointed in her reaction.

Darkglasses

Just give her the game and walk away Earthrin, it's for the best!

Eathrin

Retr0gamer wrote: »

To be honest if she isn't enjoying it might be better letting her not play it. If she is playing it willingly then that's ok, she won't enjoy it if you force her. It's probably best to let her discover things on her own as well. FFVII is a total cakewalk by RPG standards so missing items at the start of the game isn't going to lead to a game breaking situation.

It might have been better starting with something a bit simpler as well and working up to FFVII? Just a suggestion. It was probably all our first RPG as well but we had the experience of a lot more games behind us so knew a bit of what to expect. Even still I did silly things on my first play through like not knowing how to equip an accessory until the very end of the game. In other games this would be game breaking but FFVII isn't that tough so I it never caused me trouble. She'll pick it up just give subtle hints if she needs it.

Also don't expect her to be blown away by the game, it's aged a bit and the story isn't as mindblowing as you thought it was when you were seven. Just saying this in case you are disappointed in her reaction.

Maybe I needed to hear this.
The game from the new perspective looks surprisingly easy, but I can see yet running into difficulty soon without equipping say a restore materia (as the last one is still with Aeris and she is currently out of the party) or maybe if she still hasn't got used to equipping new weapons later on.

I've asked her to play away on her own so of she enjoys it she'll continue and if not then I guess it's not for her.

And yes, I was hoping she'd be as blown away as the child in me was :P

Retr0gamer

If she needs help she will ask. Just try not get frustrated at her and don't go grabbing the controller! Try dropping some subtle hints.

Eathrin

Delighted.
She's just been playing on her own there and text me to tell me she's just died at the boss battle after the motorcycle chase but will try it again.

I'm actually glad that she died though, maybe that's strange. But her dying to me means she needs to find a way to improve and that the game is not too easy for her.

Eathrin

I'm quite happy now she's made her way past the Kalm flashback.
She's grasped how to equip weapons, armor and accessories and materia too.

There are certain things she has not got yet which she probably won't for the whole game, I know I didn't on my first play through. Things like swapping materia between active and inactive party members and field orders. I'm expecting her to overlook the second limit break level as I haven't even seen her access that option on the menu once.

It makes me think of how intricate some details in the game are. It's really very difficult to experience it entirely on your first play!!
I must remain silent, but there's a tonne of things between now and the end of the game that can be missed and I hope that's some motivation to want to play the whole game again at some stage in the future.

As far as RPGs go, it's clear to me that this game can be enjoyed by anyone. However it is somewhat easy (it's good in that way for beginners).
Slightly OT but are any of the other Final Fantasy games more challenging?
Or what other RPGs would you reccomend to me?

Retr0gamer

FFVII would be about as challenging as FFVI and FFIX. Really most FF games from FFIV onwards are very easy until you get to around FFX which I found a challenge since I wasn't overlevelling. The problem with some FF games is they can be a little more complicated than FFVII. The old FF games 1-3 are pretty damn tough though.

Then there's FF Tactics for PS1 and PSP, quite possibly the toughest RPG I've played. I think they smoothed the difficulty for the PSP game but heard it's still pretty tough.

I don't think there's anything wrong with explaining the game mechanics to her to help her out. I mean for a lot of us it was probably our first RPG but for your GF it might well be her first game with any sort of depth.

FFVII being easy however does make it a good beginners game.

Eathrin

Retr0gamer wrote: »

FFVII would be about as challenging as FFVI and FFIX. Really most FF games from FFIV onwards are very easy until you get to around FFX which I found a challenge since I wasn't overlevelling. The problem with some FF games is they can be a little more complicated than FFVII. The old FF games 1-3 are pretty damn tough though.

Then there's FF Tactics for PS1 and PSP, quite possibly the toughest RPG I've played. I think they smoothed the difficulty for the PSP game but heard it's still pretty tough.

I don't think there's anything wrong with explaining the game mechanics to her to help her out. I mean for a lot of us it was probably our first RPG but for your GF it might well be her first game with any sort of depth.

FFVII being easy however does make it a good beginners game.

I forgot that I had played tactics on the PSP which was somewhat challenging! As the title suggests it required more tactical thinking and less straightforward than VII.

I figured the less I said to her, perhaps the more challenging VII would be and hence more enjoyable.