I have been playing video games since I was about four years old on the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and today playing video games is still a favorite past time of mine. I've grown to love many titles and many genres, so it is difficult to pick one all-time favorite. But if I have to pick one, though it is cliché, it would have to be Final Fantasy 7. It is the only video game I've played over 3 times that lasted over 60+ hours to complete from start to finish, and it is the only game I've bought multiple times (either from losing it, or from being damaged). So by comparison, it must be my favorite game.
The main storyline was very compelling and solid, and each character had an interesting story of their own. The main protagonist, Cloud Strife, is set on a "Hero's Journey" along with his allies Barret, Tifa, Aeris, Red XIII, Cid, Cait Sith, Yuffie and Vincent to fight the main antagonist Sephiroth. As already mentioned, each character has their own touching story and their reason to fight, including Sephiroth. This makes the main story so much more interesting because of the amount of depth it has. Though Cloud is the main protagonist, each character pulls their weight in the story, and you want to see what happens next for each character. Not only were the characters well rounded, but the entire Final Fantasy world was solid; its environments and its creatures, and its magic. It is truly an epic story, and the video game equivalent to Star Wars.
The story is absolutely better than the actual gameplay. The fighting would become very repetitive, and navigation would become a nightmare (which explains the 60+ hours of playing time). But you'd keep pushing through and sacrifice that time just to progress the story because if you can't beat the boss, you'd have to build the characters up until you can. But the gameplay serves well for the type of story it is. Final Fantasy is a type of Role-Playing Game (RPG), and the Final Fantasy world is pretty big. The RPG game lets you roam freely about the world and fully immerse yourself in it, which you can find hidden characters, levels, bosses, weapons, materia, etc. at your own pace. It is meant to be progressed slowly, taken in bits at a time, like a television series. And just like a television series, it can become addicting, where you can't wait for the other episode to air so you can find out what will happen next, so you'll find yourself spending hours just building up the characters so you can beat the boss and see the story unfold.
FF7 was also the first for many things for me while playing video games. It was the first game I played all night until the morning. It was the first and only game to get me to cry (with Red XIII’s story). It was the first game I played with bad words and partial nudity, which was really cool to see as a kid in a game. So the nostalgia plays a big part of why this game is my favorite. With all things considered: the story, characters, villain, cut scenes, music, nostalgia, everything; it actually comes to no surprise this is my and many other’s favorite video game.
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