FINAL FANTASY VII - LAST WORDS

                     From Stefan Herber

Having finally finished the game I feel a few more words are in
order, especially after having just finished the last review with
the words "it's extremely easy". I found that there was no way I
was able to defeat the final boss and had to restart and rethink
my strategy.  Many readers may also know that one of the better
monthly game mags recently rated it as the best RPG ever. Does it
deserve the accolade??

First things first - I can't wait for FF8 to be ported for the PC.
That should say something - the game is addictive with a very
strong story line and characterisations the depth of which one can
only find in the Ultima series. I'm sure to fully understand it a
knowledge of Japanese religion and philosophy would not be amiss -
it appears to preach a pantheist message which I suppose these
days is very politically correct.(This may sound
pseudo-intellectual - I promise you it isn't).  There are however
a number of holes in the story which may or may not be explained
next time round.

The downside remains however. The control system is a disaster
field and may well stop anyone trying it; to make matters worse
certain arcade side issues (most notably breeding and racing an
ostrich clone called a chocobo) are vital as certain areas with
the best spells are only accessible on one of these birds. Having
said that I found this quite fun....

But the best RPG ever (is it even an RPG?) Only if you think "The
Lion King" was a better film than "Citizen Kane".







                              - o -