I was just thinking that, after all these years, most of peoples unimpressive opiniouns of Final Fantasy 7 and its love triangle don't simply originate from being slow at catching on to things.
But from also not mastering the game. I mastered the game years ago, and it still took me years to totally understand the nooks and crannies of the thing.
Personally I don't think its enough to simply get to the end, I feel that you have to talk to almost every person, search everywhere and fiddle with everything e.g dates/Icicile Inn/Shinra mansion/Weopans/Lucrecias cave/etc, before you can even BEGIN to form an opinion on that rpg.
Am I the only one that feels this, because this seems to be the most prevelant feature in peoples misunderstanding of certain ideas.

I remember talking to someone once about reading Final Fantasy 7 and about what to take from the game, and eventually, I said there is a difference between:
-Blindly taking what your given (like the lying manual)
-Taking what you want to take (twisting something till it suits your opinuon)
-Taking what they may want you to take (taking something as it is as well as knowing when to read between the lines)

(Yeah-she didn't get it either)

But now I think about it, I don't think you can take much of anything from the game (except perhaps option 2-taking what you want) at all unless you really master it.

I don't know what do you think?

When I first played it, I just followed the game blindly just passing throught the stages and everything. Then I stopped when I reached nearly the end of the second disc before our PS was lent to my brother's friend.

But a few years later, I realized something I wanted to know more about it, but only did after playing it again on the PC. Found that there was more to the game than meets the eye and went on a Clorith craze :P.

Though many of my friends prefer FFVIII to FFVII, I think that this game holds more than just getting throught the game.

I may not see what you're trying to show, but this is my view :D.

I'm the ultimate rambler so excuse me most of the time. But I agree with your view. I'm simply trying to say that, it's not a good idea to judge the game, untill you've done everything in it. I like FF8 but theres something about 7 that's just very special I feel.

I dunno... even if you know the game very well, it's possible to form different opinions and interpretations of what happened in the game. There were few clear cut answers given.

For example: did the ending sequence where Cloud Omnislashed Sephy and the hand reach scene occurred happen in Cloud's mind? Or did it happen in reality? Or was that Cloud's spirit?

There was blood on Cloud's face during the hand reach scene, which would indicate that it happened in reality rather than in Cloud's mind. Yet, we saw Cloud separate from his body before he got pulled through the tunnels to Omnislash Sephy. We also saw Cloud "split" in the Temple of Ancients, yet no one seems to think that happened in Cloud's mind. So how do we know if it happened in reality, in Cloud's mind, or whether it was Cloud's spirit? We don't know for sure - it's all up to interpretation.

That's just one example, but there's plenty of other questions that can't be conclusively answered no matter how well you know the game.

Yes, it is impossible to make a perfect view of the game, even if you master it 100% a thousand million times, there will always be many loose points, and many interpretations per people that play the game. Unless you talk directly to Sakaguchi, Nomura and Kitase (especially Sakaguchi since he made the original story), and if they decide to tell you the truth behind all those loose points, you or anybody else will have a perfect view of FFVII.

I think it's QUITE possible to form an opinon without "Mastering" the game as you say
The way I play RPG's is I blow through the first time, just following the plot(maybe I'll take a few side quests). If I like the main story and characters enough, I'll replay it later and get all the good stuff. I just don't see investing 300 hours into a game I don't particularly enjoy

Did you know the official walkthrough actually says you CAN'T get Aeris' ultimate limit until after she dies? I had someone email me and ask me how I'd gotten it, and he told me that the manual says you can't. Weird huh?

Nomura was co-author of the original story with Sakaguchi. (See the game credits for FFVII at www.mobygames.com)

I'm rather annoyed that Sakaguchi isn't on the AC team. <_< I know he was fired from SE, but it looks like they could at least make him a consultant or something.

:lmao: Which official manual says that?

I agree with you, Everchanging, that the more you do in the game, the more backstory you get, and therefor you get a better grasp of the storyline. I do think a lot of people form opinions on the game without really getting into much of the background. But I also agree with Anastar and Clerith-son in that there are still scenes in circumstances in the game that require interpretation, no matter what background info you get.

But anyway, you make an excellent point. Think how your understanding of the game would be different if, say...

1. You never found Vincent
2. If you did get Vincent, but never bothered to get his final Limit Break
3. You never returned to the Shinra Mansion for the flashback with Cloud and Zack (I stumbled into that one randomly... imagine my pleasant surprise!)
4. You didn't have Aerith and Tifa in your party when you went to Gongaga

etc.

Thanks Buhon. Yeah I agree with Anaster and Clerith-son to. Final Fantasy 7 is an ambiguious game full stop. That's why it's important to get as much back story as possible, and you get that mainly through mastering the game. It can really get to me when a see an entire essay or debate, or not even that-fanfiction which is really good to read and than has a loads of bits that show that the author hasn't really understood the game. Stuff like that.

I heard that when Cloud battles Sephiroth at the end of the game, its supposed to be their pysches battling-the reason why there might be blood on Cloud, might be because the body can't live without the mind-(The matrix said something like that) so if their pysches are fighting than perhaps their body can feel it.

It was on a website-it explains it very well and is extremley plausible I think. But you are right, FF7 is a game left to interpretations.

Some of you guys think to much.......Thinking is the enemy(sends little army soldiers to go kill thinking cells or whatever there called)

Ive only ever had 2 opinons for Final Fantasy 7 and its my favorite game :D

1.Cloud And Aerith are the true couple Of Final Fantasy 7
2.Final Fantasy 7 is totaly unfished in story and logic on how you put things together..........Its like it has time gabs between things so it dosent make sence

neurons... or brain cells, if you prefer. I've already killed plenty of my own...

I agree that FF7 does have some gaps in time and logic... but I don't think it's an incomplete game at all.