The Original Final Fantasy 7 Still Holds Up

gamerant.com:

It's been more than 25 years since the original Final Fantasy 7 released, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake has renewed many people's excitement about the franchise. Final Fantasy 7 was a monumental title, a game that pushed the boundaries of storytelling and captured the imaginations of those who played it. It can be difficult to imagine that now when revisiting the original, however: blocky characters, turn-based combat, and corny dialogue date the entry. Yet for the most part, the original title still holds up, whether it's on PC, the Switch, or the original PlayStation.

Spin-offs of Final Fantasy 7 have done great work developing its universe. The Advent Children movie redeemed Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Dirge of Cerberus dipped its toes into the shooter genre, and Crisis Core helped fill in the blanks of Zack's story. But for all the success these titles warrant, they owe a great debt to the original Final Fantasy 7. The world of Gaia and all of its characters made such an impression on audiences that they have remained at the forefront of gaming for more than two decades. The original Final Fantasy 7 was able to accomplish this despite technological limitations of the time.

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While some players see set camera angles as dated design, this approach to how players perceive the world of Final Fantasy 7 is a vital part of what makes it work. Each screen has been laid out such that items and other important objects aren't visible but can still be found. Consequently, players have to decide whether they want to risk more exploration at the cost of potential random battles. This trade-off between exploration and combat elevates the tension of a JRPG's otherwise static