Final Fantasy 7 opened up your love for RPGs exactly the same way it did for everyone in '97. FF7 was the first RPG that really went mainstream, all of a sudden RPGs became cool because of it.

Man I never get tired of seeing this nearly 30 year old game blow people’s minds. All the naysayers who say it’s just nostalgia or first RPG syndrome, they’re proven wrong time and time again. Final Fantasy VII is just so special - a timeless masterpiece for the ages

Sephiroth is the easy fight. The true test is found in Emerald and Ruby Weapons

Im sure someone mentioned this by now but the game director (i believe) made the choice to have a beloved character die because of him losing his mother and he wanted to put in a story about losing a loved one but having to pick yourself up and move on giving us one of the most heartbreaking stories but also an inspiring one.

It's been topping best of all time lists for decades for a reason ;)

00:42 he says this whilst having one piece curtains.... hmmmm....

As a teen in the 90s where Arcades were still relevant, FF7 opened the door for RPGs.
I played fighting games and platformers almost exclusively, the odd scrolling shooters like Raiden sprinkled in.
I went to a friends house and watched him play FF7 and saw him use Bahamut Summon. I knew instantly I had to play this game.

I became an RPG junkie from then on.

Xenogears is amazing. It was released in 1997 (the same year as FF7) and had a limited release in North America due to religious controversy. It has amnesia, mechs, reincarnation, classism and romance. Everything about it is great - the combat, the music, the characters, and especially the story. It's my favourite RPG of all time. I love it.

Great video. FFs from 6 to 10 are all absolute peak. The golden era. The others are good too, but 6-10 are simply magical. Enjoy the ride!

putting yourself around the campfire was absolute chefs kiss

20:40 Trivia: the name "Bizarro Sephiroth" comes from a localization misunderstanding, where "Rebirth Sephiroth" was interpreted as "Reverse Sephiroth".

So "Bizarro Energy" should be "Rebirth Energy", which actually explains its effect.

It's interesting to hear someone's first reaction to Sephiroth as an adult like this. As a long-time fan of FF7 I've come to see Sephiroth as an adversary but not so much a villain necessarily. The "Sephiroth" you interact with for most of the game is the result of Sephiroth's psychotic break and some kind of amalgamation of his consciousness with Jenova's. Jenova isn't really a villain either--she's more like an interstellar predator who just sees this world and its inhabitants as prey.

The true villain of the game is Hojo. He's just a guy who is so obsessed with his experiments that he literally doesn't care if he destroys the world and kills everyone on it. He murders people, experiments on them and ruins their lives just because he feels like it and wants to see what can happen. He experimented on his own wife and unborn child, directly creating both Sephiroth the man and the main adversary of the game. He continues to help Sephiroth/Jenova, to basically everyone else's detriment all the way up until his death. He allies himself with Shinra just because it gives him resources and access to what he needs, but in reality he doesn't care about them either. He helped cover up the Nibelheim incident including experimenting on Cloud and probably gave the orders to kill Zack. He murdered Professor Gast and Aerith's mother. He put Aerith and Nanaki in a cage together to see if they would fuck. Just an overall vile guy.

I was lucky enough to start my gaming journey with Final Fantasy VII, and while I didn't have the capacity at 4 years old to really understand how great it was, I never had to be skeptical of whether RPGs could be worth my time. At each phase in my life that I replayed the game, I found a new experience waiting for me, a new way to relate to this game that's influenced so many aspects of who I am. It continues to be my favorite, with the Remake trilogy beside it.

That said, there are plenty of other games of the same caliber:

Final Fantasy X is probably the tightest narrative in the series, I struggle to even describe it without spoiling anything. It's deeply human and explores many of the same themes as VII but on a more small-scale and personal level. It's also got the best depiction of romance in the series, hands down.

Ys VIII is a pretty unique game, even within its series. You're an adventurer on a pleasure cruise that gets attacked by a creature and washes up on a deserted island, and so you need to figure out how to survive while exploring the island and finding survivors, building a community, and hopefully getting yourself off the island.

Legend of Dragoon excels in its combat system. Timing-based combo attacks that grow stronger the more you succeed at them keeps you engaged in every battle to improve both your character's power and you own skill in tandem. Comes attached to a compelling world with interesting lore and a narrative that will keep you guessing.

The fact that you have a physical Bradygames strategy guide gives me chills and I'm a bit jealous...  I only have a PDF of it.

Calling the world map "the green hub world" is wild 😂😂

My job has a robot that plays the chocobo race theme while it transports items around the warehouse it is awesome.

I had a similar journey with this game. I tried it out earlier this year as I wanted to see why people love it so much and ended up falling in love with it myself.

It wasn’t my first RPG as I’d played Lord of the Rings The Third Age and enjoyed it enough as well as the first disc of Final Fantasy IX which I do intend to get back to someday. However, this was the first time it hit me at how good it was - I used the BrandyGames strategy guide like you did.

My final battle with Sephiroph was also intense. I somehow missed the save crystal so I had to press on and hope for the best. I spent an hour on the two way fight with the giant Sephiroph monster and eventually won. Then I got to the final fight a little cocky with the victory within my grasp….

Aaaannnd then Sephiroph used this spell which turned everyone into frogs which means I couldn’t use any of my spells or attacks. I had items which prevented this but stupidly unequipped them assuming that they wouldn’t be needed. This resulted in me dying and having to go back through the final dungeon all over again.

Tried again the next day and made a point to make sure I got the save crystal before the final boss. Made my way back to the final boss with no issues. It was challenging as it seemed like Sephiroph was killing the characters who were using the exact moves I needed just before they could use them. However, Tifa's limit break allowed me to finally beat him once and for all.

I came away wanting to check out more RPGs and am currently playing through FF VII Rebirth on PS5. The gameplay is quite different and whilst I still prefer the OG game (which now joins Resident Evil 2 and Spyro Year of the Dragon as one of my absolute favourite games of all time) I’m having a great time playing through the game.

Super Nova blew my mind when I first saw it as a kid haha

I bought this game from watching the TV commercial, I was a genesis kid so I never even heard of Final Fantasy before, it ended up being my favorite game of all time.

It’s so much fun figuring out materia combinations.