Like Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VII was Square's debut on a new gaming platform: the Sony Playstation. And as FFIV wooed the minds of many, FFVII did no less. An absolute success, and I'm quite sure it is the #1 selling Playstation game of all time. Still, over 4 years after it's release, it consistently ranks in the Top 10 FAQ pages at GameFAQs. Featuring a well-developed cast, an amazing storyline, extensive playability (but a pretty bad translation), it is no wonder FFVII is the best game out there.

Gameplay: 10+/10

The materia system in FFVII gives the player infinite combinations and a new twist on the battle system. Countless materias are out there to find, each with new and unique abilities. Each character now has his/her exclusive weapon, which means more gil (no more GP) spent. The armor system has been simplified, in fact, total equipment is one weapon, one armor, and one accessory.

Music: 10+/10

Uematsu gave a strikingly different sound in this OST than any other before. Building off some of his new-age works in FFVI, Uematsu goes all-out with modern instruments, and style, even having a hard-rock boss theme! It is definitely different from his classical FFIV OSV. Most pieces are still made with PSX's MIDI system, which is unfortunate, but the orchestral renderings of these pieces will blow you away. Simply amazing.

Storyline: 10+/10

The storyline of Final Fantasy VII is a daring one by Sakaguchi, in that it's implementations are so subtle, you have to be looking for them to catch them. The simple gamer may not appreciate this too much, but after a few plays through only then one can fully grasp what this game is all about. I'm not going to spill it right here, but it's very deep and thought-provoking, and just amazing and beautiful. There are but 9 main playable characters in FFVII, 2 of them optional, yet all these characters and their personalities, even the optional ones, are fully developed, revealing each trait and how it came to be. (Of course, for the optional characters, you must do optional things). It's really amazing. Trust me on this one.

Final Dungeon: 7/10

Well, the final dungeon isn't exactly a thrill, it's pretty much play straight through, but you can get some neat treasures, and there are great areas to level up as well.

Final Boss: 9/10

The final boss is pretty fun. Once again, I believe Square was refining their boss fight ever since FFV, where there were 2 consecutive fights, and FFVI, where there were 4. There is a switching party feature here, and there are 3 consecutive boss battles. (Well 4, but the last one is not difficult.) Although you can get major damage spells that kinda ruin the strategy of the final fight, it is still a challenge with normal equipment.

Replayability: 9/10

There are MILLIONS of things to do with Final Fantasy VII (and there are a lot of rumours too). There are numerous mini-games, and the Coliseum from FFVI has been refined and improved to a full-fledged Battle Arena. Not to mention beating the mega-hard bosses that lie around the world. (To speak would be to spoil, so I'll refrain.) There are bunches of things to do here, and soon you'll find yourself thirsty to 'master' the world of FFVII.

Overall: 10+/10

Awesome. Simply awesome. I can't say more. It's the best. Storyline: awesome. Music: awesome. Gameplay: awesome. This is the apex of RPGs: the game other RPGs are compared to, this game defines RPG quality. It is amazing. Buy it, steal it, kill for it, just play it!