10 Video Games That Influenced EVERYTHING You Play
4. Final Fantasy VII
I'm not going to wax lyrical about how "Final Fantasy VII is the best RPG of all time" because for one, it's not, and two, it's not even the best in the series. Final Fantasy VIII is.
But to deny the cultural impact and influence that VII had is just pure head in the sand-ness.
It's not that JRPG's weren't already available pre-FFVII. Wild Arms, Suikoden and Breath of Fire were already doing the rounds before Squaresoft's PlayStation debut.
That all changed in late 1997, and the boom that followed in FFVII's wake was staggering. So, why? What did VII do that was any different than the above?
It was a technical showcase for the console, for one. That such a world could be created on the PlayStation was a marvel, as was the vastness of the story it told.
It opened the floodgates for slews of sequels, new franchises like Vagrant Story and Parasite Eve, as well as other Eastern developers finding a more receptive market for their titles in its wake.
RPG's had depth now, not just the standard "hero kills villain and saves world" trope we all knew.