The Best Game of All Time : Final Fantasy VII

When someone makes a list, or in this case, claims something is the best, it's always hard to compare because everyone seems to have different criteria for why something falls where it does on the list.

I'm an avid video game fan. Not to the point that I don't do many other activities, but to the point that it's one of my favorite ways to spend my alone time. In 1997, Square Enix (Squaresoft at the time) released Final Fantasy VII, which has become my favorite game of all time, but for a select set of reasons. Firstly, games need to be considered on the platform of what they were like upon release. You cannot tell me Final Fantasy I (1987) is a better game than Final Fantasy XII (2006). But you can tell me that at the time of release, you enjoyed FFI more than FFXII. Upon release, FFVII was a pioneer. While there were others around the same time, it was a major step forward for games being presented in 3D, and the graphics were stellar for the time. The length of the game (three discs, sixty hours without doing "extra stuff") was astronomical. The technology side of the game made it impressive, but the immersing storyline, standard setting characters, and customizable party options cemented the game as a classic, and a perennial contender most "Best of" lists.

The second reason the game sits atop my list is the personal side; what it meant to me in my life. I was in the middle of grade school at the time of the release, and I developed at least three or four lasting relationships due to daily discussion of the game. You'd go home, play the game, go to sleep, come back the next day and talk to your friends about the game. The game also was my first, though certainly not last, plunge into a Role Playing Game (better known as an RPG). The quality of the game is always part of why it comes up high on many lists, but to discount the fond life memories I have of earlier life due in large part to this game would be to discount an unavoidably important factor.

Sure, the game has boatloads of naysayers: overrated, terrible story, terrible characters; really whatever you can come up with, someone has complained about it, justly or unjustly. Part of it comes with being a popular game, and part of it is just people who have conflicting opinions. Either way, the impact on the industry and on a small part of my growing up is enough for me to give it the praise.