The contaminating hype surrounding Final Fantasy VII, the three-CD Sony PlayStation game, is nothing if not abidingly obnoxious. Spinmeisters are even comparing savvy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi to venerable Star Wars genius George Lucas. But Final Fantasy offers game geeks a future so dramatically surreal and constantly compelling that comparisons to other media do it no justice.
This title lures you like a seductive siren in a machine. You are Cloud Strife, a sword-shouldering do-gooder armed with spells, energy orbs, ice, and a moody, superherolike crew. Rarely daunted, your gang helps you save the cyberworld Midgar from the Shinra – evil, super-rat bastards who are more sadistic than Gotti, Valachi, and Vinnie the Chin combined.
The graphics are so fiercely intense that fire seems to lap at you as if it’s a demon with its own devilish personality.
Ultimately, Final Fantasy VII looks, and sometimes plays, like a 64-bit game. Unfortunately, you’ve got to play with the nonergonomic Playstation controller, which may make your tendons ache. Is the pain to play worth it? Hell, yeah!
Final Fantasy VII for Sony Playstation: US$30-$49. Sony: (800) 345 7669.
This article originally appeared in the November issue of Wired magazine.
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