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Final Fantasy VII and How Nostalgia Colors Opinions

Posted by Cole Stryker

 

A few days ago I rhapsodized about A Boy and His Blob, only to have Bob Mackey provide me with a reality check. The game had its flaws. He's right! This morning I read IGN's roundtable discussion on Final Fantasy VII, which set out to determine if the game is overrated. 

I don't think FFVII could have possibly come at a better time in order to enjoy canonical status today. A huge portion of today's video game journalists were probably ten to fifteen when the game was released. I vividly remember seeing the game's trailers aired during ABC's TGIFriday. Even my parents were impressed. 

FFVII did a lot of things right. Emotional impact, grand scale, excellent atmosphere. These are the things we are likely to remember about video games. Much moreso than the battle systems and core mechanics, areas in which many people feel the game fell short. My point is, thinking back to those days when you're a rugrat, dwarfed by you parents' 27" Sanyo, staring wide-eyed as the Jenova conspiracy unravels before your eyes, it's easy to overlook glaring flaws. Nostalgia has no place in games criticism, if we are going to be serious with each other. I think that all reviewers are a little guilty, to a degree. Just look at my anticipation of A Boy and His Blob. But when it comes to evaluating an existing game, I try to leave the nostalgia at the door.

Related Links: 

Would You Play a Final Fantasy VII Remake? Hmmm?

Know Your Final Fantasy IV Trivia. It Could Save Your Life.

Cloud's Ghostly Face Says, "More Final Fantasy VII? Only I Know, Suckahs."


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Comments

Eddie said:

I think that round table at IGN was trash. It came off as really halfhearted. When I hear they want to judge if a game is 'overrated' or not, I expect some debate, not some "here's what FFVII meant, now lets drop a few quotes in."

- Eddie

March 9, 2009 10:46 AM

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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