October 2nd, 2004
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Beauty in silicon
After at least a month of binge-ignore-binge, I finished Final Fantasy VII tonight. It took the old PlayStation I got from Brian Salomon third year (who originally bought it from Dennis Linden) [I only know this because he wrote his name on the inside of the CD tray], but I beat it. The PS2 kept freezing for some reason in the final battle, I must have been too cut for the game. After defeating both the Ruby and Emerald Weapons, Sephiroth was a complete joke. I didn’t even get to use Mime once, my KOTR took him out in one W-Summon shot (since I did about 9K damage with each of the thirteen hits).
Technical jargon aside, I beat the game because it’s a beautiful, terribly engaging piece of craftsmanship that is well deserving of its victory in the GameFAQs poll for best game ever. I’ve beaten it a couple times on the PC, but this was the first time on the PS. Actually, it’s better because you don’t notice the aliasing as much. Oh right, I said no more technical jargon.
Final Fantasy VII is a wonderful title because it excels in virtually every sense of what makes a game great, and it’s a great reminder why I got into this business (which is sorely needed after the last three weeks). As sad as it is to say, I actually have more than several old Square RPGs still in the shrink wrap because they take so much time, and I end up playing my favorites over and over, all the way through (Final Fantasy IX and VI are the reigning champions of that vice). I really should open up Saga Frontier 2, Chrono Cross, Legend of Mana, and FF: Tactics. That’s to say nothing of Star Ocean 2 [abruptly stopped one-fifth the way through thanks to the naming-game-heroines-after-your-current-GF curse] and the still incomplete Parasite Eve 2.
Speaking of Parasite Eve, I think I need to beat that next. Fortunately, that is a game that can be done in under nine hours, so I can tear through it in an afternoon if I use a walkthrough (which of course I will by now the fourth time). Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I may even start right now (after an obligatory trip to Sunkus for some kind of vibrance-inducing beverage). Forget the fact I’ve slept just barely more than the time I’ve spent on the train and at lunch. Pshaw! Great gaming awaits! (Damn Aya Brea looks nice, despite having been on the hideous cell mutation beat for seven years…)
And they ask why I became a Master of Entertainment Technology…
