Recent reviews by Superlinear

FF7 is good (obviously) and is an important milestone in gaming history. If you consider yourself someone who enjoys video games as a hobby, I think you should play this at least once.

...However, considering this game is now over 25 years old, we should add some pretty big disclaimers to the above statement.

First and most obvious, the graphics are tremendously dated, and they are dated in that super special way that only early 3D games can achieve. The backgrounds are mostly pretty nice. They are pre-rendered and could potentially fit in a modern pixel game. The character models, however, are just straight up colored blocks. You have to use a fair bit of imagination to immerse yourself. With that being said, I do think they fall into the "so bad that it's actually good" category. I found myself amused as Cloud raises his polygon arms to spin the buster blade around.

On to the story - The story is charming, but can feel tonally weird at times. While FF7 is significantly better than other "Japanese to English" titles of the era, it still struggles with not quite matching how a native speaker would approach these situations. For example, there will be tense moments in the game, and the characters meet those moments often with cheesy dialogue or out of place words that someone with a better grasp of the language wouldn't use. It's not enough to ruin the experience, but there are plenty "what the f@#$ does that mean" moments.

Lastly, I would say the gameplay is fun and suits the game very well, but is pretty simple - especially when compared to modern turn-based titles. Modern turn-based RPGs, even the modern Final Fantasy titles, has significantly improved and added depth to the genre that you will notice is missing in FF7s combat. This doesn't mean it's bad. In fact, I did enjoy the battle system a lot with its many types of spells, limits, and "pseudo real-time" turn system. It just is a product of a earlier moment in gaming.

If any of that feels like a dealbreaker, just go play the FF7 Remake. Just about everything is improved in the remake. Otherwise, I'd say that you owe it to yourself to experience a touchstone in gaming history.

It's perfect.

BOY

Hard to beat the original.

5/5 [Loved It]

Dark Souls honestly gives you every reason to hate it. The RPG systems are obtuse and poorly explained, Many items/weapons are pretty much worthless, it's basically impossible to tell what damage type an enemy is weak to, and death is frequent. However, once you figure out this unforgiving game, it offers some of the most rewarding challenges in gaming. Very seldom do I feel an overwhelming sense of triumph, but Dark Souls manages to offer it to me with every boss. If you have some patience, read some guides, and make sense of how best to build a character, you will be rewarded with an experience that will change how you view games forever.