Response: ‘Is Final Fantasy VII Overrated?’

One of IGN’s latest features is to revisit videogame classics and ask whether or not they are overrated. The most recent game to be discussed (full article) is Square’s epitome of JRPG goodness, Final Fantasy VII (FF7).

See what I did there? I instantly qualified FF7 as the best JRPG ever, the quintessential example of the genre, before even getting started. Levi Buchanan’s article is flawed from the get-go because he places FF7 on the same pedestal.

He presupposes that FF7 is considered to be the best RPG of all-time. The problem with writing an article that starts with that position is that I don’t believe it’s an assessment that most serious RPG gamers would give. I have had the best RPG debate quite a few times and it doesn’t usually come up as a candidate. Some of the usual suspects are Chrono Trigger, Baldur’s Gate (pick one), and Final Fantasy III (I know it’s really FFVI but I played it as III so it will always be III to me). FF3 is my favorite game of all-time so that shows you where I stand.

So, I’m interested to know how he came to the opinion that FF7 is considered the greatest RPG ever. Is this his opinion? Have RPG gamers around the IGN office told him that? Judging from the comments of his coworkers in the article, they appeared split in their opinions of the game. A game this hotly disputed can hardly be called the best ever if there’s not some semblance of agreement as to its status in the first place.

Maybe it’s the best because it has sold better than all others? If that was a valid argument then Wii Play would be one of the greatest sports games in history. What I’m getting at here is that it’s terrible to begin a discussion of whether something is overrated or not by crowning it as the best ever. That issue is really a separate discussion from determining if something is overrated.

Let’s take a real world comparison. Is Johnny Unitas an overrated quarterback? A lot of older folks would say he was the best QB ever. Knowing this, I could easily surmise that he is the best and begin the evaluation from there. However, looking at the facts, Joe Montana had better stats, more championships, playoff wins, etc. Many people would say that Joe is the best QB ever but that’s not really important. What matters is that the point is disputed enough that you can’t definitively say that Unitas is the best ever. Nor Montana. So, if you’re writing an article discussing whether or not Johnny Unitas is overrated and you’re beginning with the opinion that he is considered the best QB ever, then you’re probably going to determine that he’s overrated. I don’t think there is a single person who really knows football that would say Unitas was overrated.

This same line of thought needs to be applied to FF7. If you are starting with the presupposition that it is the best RPG ever then yes, it’s probably overrated. I don’t think it’s right to start from that point when, clearly, a lot of people vehemently disagree. So, the discussion of whether or not FF7 is overrated should begin with the idea that it is great but not the quintessential RPG.

Let’s start from there then. Is FF7 overrated if you are evaluating it as being absolutely awesome but not necessarily the greatest RPG of all time? In my opinion, hell no! FF7 is a fantastic game. It broke new ground with graphics in the genre, had an awesome story that kept you guessing at every turn, featured wonderful characters, a fresh take on magic using Materia, stunning summons, and, most importantly, was downright fun to play. That’s all that really matters. The game was a blast to play. If you didn’t have fun playing FF7 then you aren’t going to have fun playing any RPG. You can argue that many RPG’s have superior stories or better battle systems but you simply cannot say that the game is not fun.

If you consider FF7 to be the best RPG ever then, in that light, it is probably overrated. However, if you consider it to be anything less than that I’d have to say it lives up to the lofty accolades that are placed upon it.

What do you think? Is FF7 actually the greatest RPG ever and I don’t know anything? Does anyone care if it’s overrated if it’s fun to play?

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