I think it’s a matter of taste. I prefer JRPGs, so FFVII is the best one for me. But both are great games in their own right.
Ocarina is more innovative and its formula was copied for many years. Z Targetting especially (I know some other game used something very similar before OOT), set an example for everyone to follow.
And FFVII, while not that innovative, also set its own legacy: if not for FFVII the West would have missed many great JRPGs from then on. It opened the floodgates and publishers started thinking of US and Europe as viable markets for JRPGs. So we have FFVII to thank for that.
Ocarina of Time was the first third-person 3D game that I thought actually had decent controls. I didn’t play it too much because I didn’t have an N64, but after trying it on a friend’s system I spent years seeking out things like Soul Reaver, Beyond Good & Evil and the Dark Cloud games to get a similar experience.
FFVII was just the existing JRPG formula with Little Big Adventure-style graphics.
OOT is objectively bad in hindsight, despite having played it like 20 times myself because of the place it holds in my memory as being something I’d never experienced before. Here’s the argument: youtu.be/XOC3vixnj_0?si=xnuSdmY942tBQGpp
FF7 has its flaws but IMO is a better designed game
Thing is those criticisms also mostly apply to FF7.
Disconnect between combat and exploration? I see that for Zelda, but ff7 goes harder, with a random encounter jolting you into a different game engine for combat.
To much time in combat waiting while nothing happens? FF7 battle system is mostly waiting for turns to come to with lots of dead time.
Exploration largely locked to narrative allowing it? Yeah, FF7 had that too, with rare optional destinations a very prescribed order and forced stops. It opens up late in the game.
The video generally laments that OOT was more a playable story than an organic gameplay experience, and FF7 can be characterized the same way. Which can be enjoyable, but it can be a bit annoying when the game half of things is awkward and bogs things down a bit. Particularly if you are getting subjected to repeated “spectacle” (the slow opening of chests in oot, the battle swirl, camera swoops, and oh man the summons in ff7…)
They both hit some rough growing pains in the industry. OOT went all in on 3D before designers really got a good idea on how to manage that. FF7 had so much opportunity for spectacle open up that they sometimes let that get in the way. Also the generally untextured characters with three design variations that are vastly different (field, battle, and pre rendered) as that team try to find their footing with visual design in a 3d market.
You’re correct on all fronts, but I guess what I would point out is that those design elements were a staple of the FF franchise long before 7. It was another turn based strategy role playing game in a series of turn based strategy role playing games. With OOT you had a real time action adventure franchise with a game using design elements you’d expect from…well, from a turn based strategy role playing game xD
That’s where I have issues with OOT in hindsight. It stumbled in executing on its own self-image, whereas FF7 did a better of job of understanding itself
Water Temple itself was not bad. What was bad was having to pause to switch boots. There are mods nowadays to allow equipping boots to the d-pad and it makes the temple much more fun.
I’m here to add my opinion that FF9 is superior to FF7.
In general, I prefer when your characters have set classes. It feels like it lets the characters have more fleshed-out personalities.
Without spoiling anything, it allows you to tell story through the medium. Have a character who spent his whole life in one class, relying on specific skills, and he maybe goes through a huge fight to signify that he’s changed for the better? Congrats. You have a class change! Now you’re a level nothing!
Maybe someone traumatizes a caster, and now they can’t concentrate, giving them a chance to fail their spells!
When I was a kid, I didn’t really get into RPGs until after 7 was already out. I got into Arc the Lad, Jade Cocoon, and FF8 on the PS1. When I tried to go back and play FF7, it looked so ugly, I had a hard time connecting with it.
As an adult, the story and mini-games were frustrating. The obsession with the game is annoying as well. Although it’s undeniable the impact it has had on gaming.
For the record, I’ve beaten 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 13-2, 15, 16, Crisis Core, Dissidia, Dissidia 012, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line
Copied from another comment of mine, I have beaten 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 13-2, 15, 16, Crisis Core, Dissidia, Dissidia 012, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line.
I love a lot about IX. However the combat is much slower than the other games. IIRC, an attack has to complete entirely and the character returns before the next character goes. While in VIII, the next queued attacker starts moving before the last one finishes their movements. Additionally, IX has 4 characters in battle. If you’re bring strategic, it can be very slow moving. Also, every boss has a valuable steal, but chances of stealing it are low. So if you take the bait, you will spend a lot of time repeatedly trying to steal. Also, your abilities are tied to your equipment unless you grind out enough points to unlock them, meaning you either keep bad equipment, upgrade and abandon abilities, or grind until the abilities are unlocked.
Also, the chibi-style art isn’t for everyone. I had more issues with 7’s style. But it’s a preference.
The game's story is thread-bare and incomprehensible in places because a bunch of stuff got cut extremely late to get the game out the door. The entire Zack thing. Yuffie and Vincent had almost everything related to them cut out entirely. And then there was the english localization which fixed some of those issues but added more of its own with the pretty bad translation making things even harder to figure out. Square would end up doing the same thing but far far worse with Xenogears with large chunks of the game removed and replaced with text at the beginning of the second disc to give one example.
I love the music for both and both games were part of my teen life, and I replayed Ocarina of Time a lot more… but I agree with FF7. Nobuo Uematsu is incomparable.
I would switch mechanics and atmosphere myself, but I agree overall that it is 2-2. Both are good for different reasons and they weirdly do not overlap on any of them with the exception of music which both were only slightly above average. With that said the OoT soundtrack is much more memorable. There is only a single FF7 track that I actually remember well.
It’s really gameplay vs story. Ott heavy on game play where ff7 can be like reading a book. nothing really revolutionary about its game play some beautiful backgrounds and a deep storyline. Ott has some seriously revolutionary 3d interactions.
I didn’t love 7’s story. There’s a bunch of fluff with every side-character having their own mini-story. The amnesia plot line in particular was annoying.
I generally like the whole lifestream stuff. But I think the whole story is pretty mid compared to the storylines of other Final Fantasy games.
Agreed, as a game, as in fun, ff7 wasn’t very good. That music, those visual designs (the pre rendered stuff), and the story (though it suffered from bad localization) were compelling. But random encounters, fights filled with mostly waiting to be able to do things, the best attacks doing too much spectacle which was nice the first time, but pretty boring on repetition… The materia management became frustrating as you got more party members and no way to arrange or search, even with in game dialog mentioning how it was a pain…
Chrono Cross actually had significantly better game design, with enemies on screen and no standing around waiting for some characters turn to come up before anything would happen. Wish ff7 had clipped the “no action allowed by either side” time and that would have helped immensely. Then it just becomes a matter of if the player prefers real time adventure to menu driven play.
Final fantasy. The controls and camera on oot we'e so annoying I quit after about 30 minutes. That's not to say ff doesn't have its own issues with camera and such.