This game is a masterclass in storytelling in its character writing and journeys of growth. It has some flaws (party characters essentially disappearing into the background as the main story progresses), but to me a 5/5 score isn't a perfect game but something that intensely outshines its flaws.

The ATE system is still one of, imo, the most genius devices across any game I've played for really fleshing out each character. Optional bits of genuine moments between the party and NPCs that come around to being incredibly memorable in spite of their generic designs went a long way to making the world feel alive and really help the player connect.

But the real reason to play this game is Tetra Master. God I love Tetra Master.

You know that game that everybody never shuts up about and feels like when you finally play it that there's no way it could ever live up to the hype? That game that feels like you've had every story beat spoiled for you, that you're certain is overrated?

Against all odds FFVII somehow managed to come out ahead of being overhyped. This is another one of those standout titles I put off playing for over a decade before finally dipping my toes into and it lives up to every little bit of praise it's ever gotten, honestly. Somehow the story that seemed so convoluted when retold through word of mouth from others managed to click and all those essential, important pieces of the puzzle that I missed out on absolutely captivated me. Not much to say about this game that hasn't already been said.

FFIX clears this game though.

As someone with no nostalgia for this title, and only finally played it with the release of this iteration; what a fantastic game. The character writing is a bit weak, especially due to having such a massive cast, but each character manages to stand apart in terms of gameplay and overall makes teambuilding and strategy feel personal and fun. The story is great as well in the way it subverts nearly every trope of a traditional JRPG and pulls it off so convincingly, genuinely could be considered groundbreaking for the time period in which it was written.

It was very easy to see why this is such a beloved title.

FFV to me feels underappreciated even though it's the title where the franchise started getting really, really good and sprinted ahead into being the frontrunner for JRPGs. The class system in this game is phenomenal and the story is genuinely pretty fun - still one of my favorites to this day. It's not a perfect game by any means, and is honestly pretty difficult in the back half, but it's very sincerely worth the time it asks you to invest into its grind.

The main failings of this game are in the story; the villain could be stronger in terms of writing and the character journeys aren't totally notable, though done well enough. Overall one of my favorite games in the franchise that feels incredibly overshadowed by FFVI (for fair enough reason, I guess).

This might be my hottest take for the franchise but I didn't fall in love with this one like everyone else. The character stories are all just reskins of one another almost entirely 1:1, the party members get cycled too quickly to really establish a bond with any individual character, and the huge twist at the end is really of absolutely no consequence to anything that transpired in the story other than just being a shock value moment for the protag. Twists are supposed to make you re-evaluate and re-contextualize everything that happened in the game. Not to mention the character arc that Cecil goes through actually seems to make him WEAKER in the back half to the point of becoming my most useless party member for the final fight.

The game still stands on its own but it feels like I missed what made this game special for everyone else. I suppose it may just be my lack of nostalgia for this entry, though.

The best thing it did for the franchise was the ATB gauge, if nothing else, in my opinion. I'd argue FF2 had a stronger story and did an extremely similar twist significantly better.

This game is so incredibly miserably grind reliant and will punish the player for any misstep they weren't even aware could be made.

Yet it's honestly still not that bad. I have a strange soft spot for this game in spite of my lack of nostalgia for it. I would wager it's due to being the franchise's first attempt at a character-driven story and for just being different. In fact, the story was actually surprisingly bleak and well-told. Characters die and their deaths have real weight. The game does not end in a picture perfect fairy tale.