Tom's Hardware Giveaway - Final Fantasy VII!

[SHCPlayer]

FFX is probably my favorite Final Fantasy there is. I vividly remember playing it on PS2. It had breathtaking scenery and the graphics were good for those days. But what I most like about the game is its story.

[SPOILERS FOLLOW]



You go all the way to the end, only to find out the Tidus was but a dream? And that his father was the antagonist all along?



[SPOILERS END]

Also, the game had a fun sport called Blitzball. TBH I hated it in the beginning, but after I got the hang of how to play it, man I played match after match. All in all, a brilliant game.

 

[Mr4]

Honestly, and I know this is a cheesy answer, but I can't pick a favorite! I grew up with so many of the Final Fantasy titles that I can't pick! Final Fantasy is my FAVORITE game series ever, overall, but not one game in particular! So many of them are AMAZING! Final Fantasy VII is probably the one I've played through most times however, but Tactics has so many different ways to play and it's very good! I like that each new Final Fantasy tries to be unique and different from one another, trying to establish something that makes that particular Final Fantasy memorable!

 

[craywyn]

i think the best final fantasy i played was FF-X.
Yuna was so cute !

 

[gothicfighter]

The only experience I have with the FF games is trying to run it on an PS2 emulator, so I can't comment on the series, but I enjoyed the little bit I've played of it. The fact that I've never owned anything other than a gaming PC might have something to do with it.

However, I can tell you about my favorite RPG - Gothic. I haven't played any other game that matched its atmosphere and the connection between you and the world you're playing in. You're totally free to explore the world since the beginning, talk to hundreds of voiced characters, or get your ass kicked by a Scavenger you're going to beat empty-handed later in the game - the NPC's don't scale to your level. And it's rare a sequel is better that the original game, but that's not the case with Gothic II. It improves upon the base laid out by the first game and it doesn't stop there - the DLC (Night of the raven) makes it even better, but also extremely difficult (among the most difficult games I've played).

 

[doty1tm]

FFVII is probably my favorite if for nothing more than the feelings of nostalgia it brings. It was my first foray into the Final Fantasy universe. Since then I have come to love almost all FF games.

 

[ZeroRequiem]

Well I've got multiple favourites in each generation. I really like FF1, it started everything and it has something special to offer. In the PS1 era I enjoyed FF8 the most, all 3 installments were great though. In the PS2 era FF X was phenomenal it was so advanced compared to the PS1 titles, and it was the first game in the franchise to use voice acting. FF X quickly became my favourite game like ever. It has an interesting story with a couple of twists, had insane graphics (back then),memorable characters, sphere grid made it unique, blitzball, awesome minigames, blitzball!!, grinding for the celestial weapons (dodging lightning strikes anyone?), dark summons, BLITZBALL!!.

Then moving on to PS3, when I first saw the trailers (FF 13 and Versus 13) at E3 in 2006, I was ensured that I'm gonna need a PS3 so just started saving money for it mainly because of these 2 games. Was it worth the money and wait? Well I'm one of the few guys who enjoyed FF 13. It was different, it had questionable design choices but I still liked it. And what about Versus 13? I was more hyped about that but it just got delayed and delayed then scrapped and moved to current gen consoles. It was kinda sad a couple of years ago seeing that the game makes 0 progress, no news, no screenshots, nothing. Then they re-revealed it on current gen. consoles and Im excited all over again!

But the list is not yet over. I own an imported version of Type-0 on the PSP and it's awesome! Really good setting, interesting characters, gameplay is phenomenal.

 

[Colin Lee]

Like others, I've actually managed to never play one. Baldur's gate and Icewind dale were so much better.

 

[Rohan Rathi]

Definitely Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7.

Being a person who was born when final fantasy 7 came out, crisis core was the first Final Fantasy game I had played. It sort of introduced me to this vast series of games and got me hooked to the final fantasy 7 saga. I was inclined to play final fantasy 7 (more than a decade old game at that time) when people talked about playing games like Crysis. Crisis Core was my first final fantasy game and I'll bet, it isthe best atleast for me. It introduced me to the characters of the main game as well. So i knew who Aerith, Cloud were when i started the main game and amplified the story telling of FF7.

Cheers.

 

[kebler68]

I've always been a fan of the Tales series myself. I'm a bit torn picking between Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia as my favourite.

 

[marcustheadore]

Love FF7, grew up with it, all the kids in the neighborhood played it. I would say ... city of the ancients.... Sephiroth falling out of the sky to immortalize Aerith. The scene is a bit R rated for violence, and that's part of what made it amazing. I had never played anything other than Mario Brothers, but this game was treating me like an adult. I don;t even know if my mom would have allowed me to play it if she had known this was going to happen. As the years rolled by I realized the villain Sephiroth was a big part of the games greatness, and scenes like this one in the city of ancients, or the cut-scenes in Niblehim where Sephiroth was walking through fire with that sinister music playing, are what contributed so greatly to the overall experience. That's my favorite, sad as it was in the story line. Their was a full range of emotional depth to the story though, chocobo's were lighthearted and fun, until that dark choco rider showed up... I remember Having to save Tifa from Don in the Midgard slums, and the fun music that played. Anyway thanks for the nostalgia in bringing it all up. I'll definitely be into the remix. Long live TomsHardware!

Welcome to the final entry of SEQUEL HYPE MONTH! I actually really enjoyed doing theme months, so perhaps I’ll revisit the idea soon!

For our grand finale, we are giving away what, in my own humble opinion, was the pinnacle of gaming in the 90’s, one of the greatest games released on the original PlayStation, Final Fantasy VII! Okay, so there isn't an actual "sequel", but it's getting remade so that counts right?! Plus, it's still a great game either way! It brings me back to the old days when a game was more than just pretty graphics, when it made you feel things and shed manly tears. Hopefully, the upcoming remake takes all of the things that made it a wonderful, defining moment of late 90’s gaming, and adds SUPER HD GRAPHICS so that we can all worship Sephiroth in all his glorious one-winged beauty.

We’ve got seven (7) copies to give away, and here's how you can enter! Tell us about your absolute favorite installment of the Final Fantasy series and what made it so great; or, if you haven’t played any or just weren’t a fan, what do you think is the greatest RPG/RPG-variant ever made and why? Winners will be randomly selected from among all participants.

I’m hoping to see some old-timers show some love for things like Tactics Ogre, Chrono Trigger, and Earthbound! And remember—this is an open discussion! Chat amongst each other! Debate and argue (but keep it polite)! Things are more entertaining when everybody gets passionate about it!


Contest will run until 12 PM EDT on Friday, July 31st. That’s 12:00 noon. Winners will receive their prize via Steam gifts; a Steam account is required to receive and to play the game. One entry per user. Attempts to cheat the system will result in automatic disqualification.



Be sure to join our Steam group! We’re actively looking for volunteers to write community reviews for games, so if you’re interested, please reach out to me for more details!

 

[squibbfire]

FFX tended to get a bit boring with its..yunalesca story(one you never really see)...most of the time Final Fantasy stories dont get so...monotone...ff7 does a wee bit...but it doesn't drag on like FFX.

 

[squibbfire]

Like others, I've actually managed to never play one. Baldur's gate and Icewind dale were so much better.

omg...

i played that when it first came out and felt like I needed someone to force me to finish it...


That being said...i still will give some props to the game ...it changed a little how bioware made games i think

 

[squibbfire]

I've always been a fan of the Tales series myself. I'm a bit torn picking between Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia as my favourite.

I recently plays tales of xillia and couldn't believe how fantastic it was. it would be a great game a newcomers or advanced rpgs who want to change it up!

 

[squibbfire]

Final Fantasy 8, despite it's numerous flaws, remains one of my favorite RPGs of all time. I know the flaws, so let's leave them out of this. What was great about it to me, was running around a (at the time) visually stunning world, brimming with characters, amazing music, and memories. Playing Triple Triad in Balamb Garden remains a staple of my teen years, ahe visuals were unique, the music amazing, and the vastness unparalleled at the time. I've plenty plenty of Skyrim, Morrowind, etc, and while "vast", those worlds feel empty and dull, FF8 while smaller in scale, felt enormous and infinite.

The music was so fantastic in that game...especially balamb gardens theme...

Why does squaresoft go back to these days...imagine if ff8 has a sequel

 

[squibbfire]

Has anyone here played Shining Force games for Sega genesis?

It was a fun little grid based strategy RPG...with a great story and great characters. I highly recommend it!

 

[Dancebeat]

Best installment of the Final Fantasy Series for me is Final Fantasy VII. The Story, the Music and the gameplay are Legend, can't wait to play it again.

Th best RPG/RPG-variant I ever played is still Konami's Cyber-punk RPG SD-Snatcher for MSX2 which came out in 1990.

 

[Vynavill]

If I had to name a favourite amongst the series, I'd say it was FF VI. There's something about Terra (or I should say Tina) and her (mis)adventures that just sticks with you, no matter what. It doesn't feature the nice job system FF V had, but the depth the story reaches is amazing IMO. I've felt something similar only from FF IX, but not quite like it.
As a side note, while FF VII was a pretty nice game, I still don't get how most people considers it the absolute best...
Drop in your opinion about it and help me understand, if you want, for now, the only explanation I've found is that I don't get fazed by a silver haired 1.8m tall dude with 1 wing, a black coat and a 2m long sword

Since they're mentioned in the opening statement tho, if I had to name a favourite outside the series, I'd definetly say Chrono Trigger. Turn-based tactics aren't really my genre, while I still pretty much like them, so Tactics Ogre really doesn't fit, but time travel and apocalypse-bringing spiky creatures? That's better.

Spoiler

Besides, the game was actual before its time: Lavos is an alien parasite that fell on Earth during the prehistoric era, and eventually buried himself in the planet's core to siphon its energy, all to produce spawns that he could send to other planets and repeat the cycle. All its efforts were made to help humankind evolve while pursuing newer technologies, thus producing more energy for him to consume, until he would need no more, trashing the planet.
One could say that, somewhat, this is what's happening nowadays with the energy crisis, with humankind being Lavos...
Or maybe that's just me overthinking stuff.

Slightly off-topic
Just to name a couple more RPGs that deserve not being forgotten:
- Terranigma
- Seiken Densetsu series (Secret of Mana)
- Tales of series
- Baten Kaitos
- Eternal Sonata
- Lost Odyssey
- Magna Carta
- Front Mission (anything but Evolved, borderline, but still fitting )
- A long, long list

 

[Malovec]

Welcome to the final entry of SEQUEL HYPE MONTH! I actually really enjoyed doing theme months, so perhaps I’ll revisit the idea soon!

For our grand finale, we are giving away what, in my own humble opinion, was the pinnacle of gaming in the 90’s, one of the greatest games released on the original PlayStation, Final Fantasy VII! Okay, so there isn't an actual "sequel", but it's getting remade so that counts right?! Plus, it's still a great game either way! It brings me back to the old days when a game was more than just pretty graphics, when it made you feel things and shed manly tears. Hopefully, the upcoming remake takes all of the things that made it a wonderful, defining moment of late 90’s gaming, and adds SUPER HD GRAPHICS so that we can all worship Sephiroth in all his glorious one-winged beauty.

We’ve got seven (7) copies to give away, and here's how you can enter! Tell us about your absolute favorite installment of the Final Fantasy series and what made it so great; or, if you haven’t played any or just weren’t a fan, what do you think is the greatest RPG/RPG-variant ever made and why? Winners will be randomly selected from among all participants.

I’m hoping to see some old-timers show some love for things like Tactics Ogre, Chrono Trigger, and Earthbound! And remember—this is an open discussion! Chat amongst each other! Debate and argue (but keep it polite)! Things are more entertaining when everybody gets passionate about it!


Contest will run until 12 PM EDT on Friday, July 31st. That’s 12:00 noon. Winners will receive their prize via Steam gifts; a Steam account is required to receive and to play the game. One entry per user. Attempts to cheat the system will result in automatic disqualification.



Be sure to join our Steam group! We’re actively looking for volunteers to write community reviews for games, so if you’re interested, please reach out to me for more details!

I started my Final Fantasy journey way back in Christmas 1995 when my younger brother and I got Final Fantasy 3 for the super Nintendo. It was such an amazing game. The story that was involved and the music, people always forget the music of Final Fantasy 3. It was simply perfect to the story. The lush plethora of characters made it such a riot to party up with people with. In addition being able to play with two players is something of what I call a lost art of RPGs.

The first and small thing that caught my eye about this game was the Names in all CAPS. i know it sounds strange, but if you recall reading plays in grade school and middle school, it was like a script on a movie. It was like I'm in a play! Pretty cool.

Most RPGs pander to a single player view and honestly that just isn't right. It was a game that brought my bother and I a little closer in a house that was for a lot of my childhood divided. I'll never forget the moment when you meet someone like Setzer and fly the airship out. I mean the first time I ever played a game that had a "free world" feel up to that point was Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, and that was really really small compared to Final Fantasy 3.

I played Final Fantasy 3 so much in fact, that I was powergaming the entire game by next Christmas. Finding which party did what best and where everything was. Going through esper power ups and eventually beating that game with only three people just to see a different ending. For the time it came out, it was truly a great game.

 

[leykadiotis]

Final Fantasy VI.. The original one!!

 

[Retro Game Players]

Personally FF7 was the best of the series, besides Mystic Quest of course. But as far as one of my favorites of all time? Soul Blazer on SNES.

 

[firebomber4]

Definitely FINAL FANTASY VII.

Because :

1. It is the first Final Fantasy I played
2. I love the world, the characters, the game system (especially Materia System and The Condor Tower)
3. The story is also great, it follows the classic JRPG but with some modern elements added to it.

My favorite part of the game is :
1. Condor Tower
2. Gold Saucer
3. Collecting Materia
4. Completing the Enemy-Skill Materia
5. Chocobo Farming ---> Getting Knights of the Round

Back in the days, I always play it after getting home from school until my mom yelled at me. (LOL)

 

[Guest]

I never played Final fantasy but I watched it's trailers and it was awesome...
my favorite RPG series is The Elder Scrolls because it gives you the freedom of choice in many decisions and because it is very customizable and it has a big open world which offers many hours of playing as well as the various mods this series of games has, my preferred among this series is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
as I played it I can tell it is awesome but it has many bugs (the only downside )... and I think I would like The Elder Scrolls Online because there is some kind of cooperation and teamwork possible, didn't buy yet but I will soon and test it out !!!

 

[bwohl]

I've never played the FF series, but I would defiantly like the opportunity. My favorite RPGs are Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Explored every corner and grabbed all the Easter eggs. Please select me!!!

 

[claudchavez]

Final Fantasy II because it was the first in the series to implement the skill-based advancement system.

 

[drbones8472]

FFXII is my favorite so far. It has it's flaws like any game, but I liked it the best for whatever reason.