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FINAL FANTASY VII: VII Years Later

The best-selling FINAL FANTASY VII.
© SquareSoft

There have been quite a few FINAL FANTASY games released over the years, but one seems to keep popping up everywhere these days (yes, I'm talking about FINAL FANTASY VII). Sure, it took fans of the series years to get any type of real "sequels" to it, but it has finally happened. With a CG movie slated for later this year and a new slew of titles recently announced (a mobile cell phone game and a new recently announced title starring the character, Vincent), no other FINAL FANTASY title can attest to this type of success. But why?

It really is amazing to see the success of FINAL FANTASY VII. The game has been out for years and it still has a loyal following, something that most games lose after just a few months. Why is this? While it may not be the first game in the series released in the US, FINAL FANTASY VII was definitely the one that made the biggest impact. Sure, James will say that FINAL FANTASY VI (or III) was the best, and I'll argue that I enjoyed FINAL FANTASY VIII the most, but there is no denying that FINAL FANTASY VII did so much more than most developers would ever dream of. Many of the things introduced in VII still play a major factor in the development of RPGs today, and not many have matched up to its storytelling or magic system (woohoo, material!). And when you combine one of the greatest casts of characters ever put into a movie or game, you're bound for something this big. TR

I'm personally a big proponent of FINAL FANTASY VI and FINAL FANTASY V, even though FFVII is great. I've played through VI more times than any other FINAL FANTASY game, and I love the diversity of FINAL FANTASY V's job/ability system.

The biggest reason FFVII took off was the massive marketing campaign, along with the incredible graphics. RPGs hit their heyday on the consoles thanks solely to that game and that game alone. There will be a large contigent of gamers who fondly remember CHONRO TRIGGER and the other SNES classics, but FINAL FANTASY VII caught the mainstream eye and became a showpiece for the PlayStation. People were drawn in by the demo that was at game stores everywhere. The beginning of that game was absolutely compelling, it was amazing, it drew you in, and people who never played RPGs finished it. JS

As stated in the above column, Square Enix could be planning on a FINAL FANTASY VII spin-off starring Vincent...Nintendo has once again passed on Spaceworld and the Tokyo Game Show...Activision has announced plans to develop sequels to CALL OF DUTY and TRUE CRIME...CATWOMAN hit stores this week...

I can't believe I'm doing this, but there is NOTHING coming out next week. Catch up on good stuff like KARAOKE REVOLUTION VOLUME 2 and ESPN NFL 2K5... unless you like HAMTARO games.

Gamers' Thumb is our weekly Video Game column.