'' C'mon newcomer follow me. ''

[Dark Nation]

You know, now that I think of my exit from Midgar I got to wondering how RED 13 managed to get down the wire that the team slide down to escape from Midgar after the highway chase.

Anyways I decided to send the team to Junon whilst I level up on my own...for some reason I really enjoy Cloud being on his own in the heat of battle..my team is around level 23/25 and Cloud is LVL30.

^ Random monster from when Cloud told the story of the reactor... Shame you don't get to fight these things in game.. they look useful.

^ I think you can clearly see the madness setting in the eyes of the one winged Angel...

Anyways I fought Jenova on the ship and managed to take it out with the use of my new Summon Shiva...

I am about to enter Barret's home town so that'll take up most of my evening...

 

[ForceStealer]

You do get to fight the Mako-drenched humans in Crisis Core

They're strong as all get-out.

 

[Dark Nation]

Just exited Cosmo Canyon after smokin some blow round the camp fire and now headed north...

Seriously thinking about ditching all my materia and doing an enemy skill run.

 

[Flintlock]

Yep, Enemy Skill materia is really the only one you need.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

^^This is probably my favorite materia. If I had to pick two materia to play the whole game though with, it would be that one and W-Item materia.

 

[Dark Nation]

Just about to enter rocket town...

I am still pondering on my materia options...

Plus, what was everyones fave party line up ?

Cloud plus who else ?

 

[Shademp]

I always lined party members up so that everybody would get their limit breaks levelled up equally. So I have no favorite setup during disc 1 and disc 2, I just focus on everyone getting the limit breaks of Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and finally Level 4.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Cloud, Yuffie and Cid was always my favorite.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

As you can swap everyone's abilities around in FFVII (except for the Limit Breaks) and as once you get the stat materia, people's stats don't mean as much, I usually go with whoever's dialog I like the most. So usually, Cloud, Tifa, and Vincent (Red XIII before Nebelheim). And even then I'll switch it up for certain scenes if characters have special dialog.

As far as battles go, it's not the stats I pay attention to so much as what row character's have to be in to maximize their defense/offense. Vincent I like because his weapon is always long range, so he always takes half damage from physical attacks (and several of his weapons have 225 Accuracy, so Deathblow actually becomes a viable strategy) and he's got the best Magic/MP stats after Aerith so he's my main magic caster. Tifa isn't as fast as Yuffie is, but her Strength stat is better, so running out of MP on her isn't a huge problem. And then there's Cloud.

 

[Dark Nation]

ok so I've just finished a game of silly buggers with Yuffie and now I have my full team.

So it's decision time...

Cait and Red are pretty much out of the picture.

Tifa will probably join them at some point and Aerith will be leaving us soon...

I have totally forgotten how good CID is... he's billed as a middle of the road sort of a character but being reminded of how he handles himself in battle I've got plans for him.

Engineer, would you say Barret is more of a Tank and Vincent a dark mage ? I am having trouble picking a gunner but I might just go with yuffie for speed.

 

[ForceStealer]

I thought Cait Sith was the best mage after Aerith?

 

[Cat Rage Room]

I think it's tied between him and Vincent. I know though they both have magic weighted stats.

I didn't swap out Materia much for people. Once I had enough for everyone, I started assigning roles.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Barret is definitely a tank. He's got the highest natural HP and Vitality and is tied with Cloud for highest Strength. He's also got the lowest natural MP, Magic and Spirit and is tied with Cid for lowest Luck.

In FFVII there is no difference between White and Black mages, there's just what materia you give people. So feel free to split up the Summons, buffing, healing, destruction materia between people. And as you can get four enemy skill materia, there's no reason for everyone to have one...

The biggest difference between Vincent and Cait Sith are their Limit Breaks and how their weapons handle. However, both of their Limit Breaks are finicky to use, and unless you know what you're doing, they can both bomb on you (I mostly ignore their limit breaks as I'm using them for magic casting anyway...). As far as their weapons go... none of Cait Sith's weapons are long range and all of Vincent's are. Vincent's weapons also have better Hit% over all (112% is the lowest Hit% and two of his weapons are 255%) as well as a better Atk stat. Cait Sith's weapons have better Magic bonus however. So as far as their equipment is concerned I find Vincent to be more flexible if for whatever reason casting magic isn't something you want to be doing at the moment (Vincent's Strength stat isn't penalized by being put in the back row).

As far as their stats go, Vincent and Cait Sith have the exact same stats for Vitality, Magic, Spirit, Dexterity and Luck. Cait Sith has a slightly higher HP and Strenth stat then Vinicent does (but nothing major), and Vincent has a higher MP then Caith Sith does. Once you get HP% materia, the HP difference doesn't mean much (and even then I've got everyone with an Enemy Skill materia with White Wind on it...) and I prefer more MP to more HP.

If you're looking for a speedy character, RedXII has better stats overall then Yuffie does, but he's not Long Range. It really all depends what you want.

Just remember that the materia system is extremely flexible (almost to the point of being game breaking if you exploit it enough) and just about any combination of characters will work.

 

[Flintlock]

^ That's a good post. But the differences between the characters' stats is really quite small in VII, especially compared to other games in the series which have job classes, etc. Aeris will normally do more damage with magic than Barret, but if you want to turn Barret into a mage, just load him up with red and green materia to get the relevant stat boosts (they increase magic, magic defence and MP at the cost of HP).

You can also use sources, if you have them, though you won't be able to get your hands on a large quantity until quite late in the game.

Limit breaks and equipment make up the biggest differences between characters, so if you put personal preferences aside, that's what should determine who you put in your party. Cloud, Barret and Cid is a popular combination because they have arguably the best high-level limits (besides Aeris). I usually play with Cloud, Barret and Tifa for most of the game because I like having the "original" crew. I guess I feel like they have more reason to fight than, say, Cait Sith. Tifa can also be the most powerful character with the right set-up (Powersoul, Mystile, Curse Ring, Deathblow+Added Cut).

With all that said, if you're still interested in the stat differences (and I wouldn't blame you, I love this kind of detail), I found this graphic:

I have some problems with it, not least because it's based on the lowest possible stats each character can have at level 99, but it's a starting point. For a more accurate comparison you'd have to consult the party mechanics guide on GameFAQs. Have fun!

 

[Dark Nation]

So after busting into the Temple and kicking some fanny not to mention running around after a silly looking wizard for ages we ran into the Demons Gate....

Cloud and co took care of him fairly easily, as you can see above, Cloud delivered the final touch...

I remember Demons gate being more of a pain in the arse first time around..But no matter He's gone now...

^ The weirdest creature I've seen yet....some kind of weird cross over between a vampire and a run away mutant vagina...

Enjoyed the Seto quest earlier... If only you got to play as Seto for a battle or two, as a memory being told by Boogey.

Anyways where am I now ?

Well...

 

[ForceStealer]

This is kind of a badass screenshot (And, the Force Stealer doesn't hurt )

And yeah, as I've gotten older (or maybe just as I've experienced the game many times) I've found that the Seto quest affects me more than Aeris' death. Great Warrior playing and Red barking all that stuff at Bugenhagen and Seto crying crystal tears? Goosebumps, man.

 

[Dark Nation]

This is kind of a badass screenshot (And, the Force Stealer doesn't hurt )

And yeah, as I've gotten older (or maybe just as I've experienced the game many times) I've found that the Seto quest affects me more than Aeris' death. Great Warrior playing and Red barking all that stuff at Bugenhagen and Seto crying crystal tears? Goosebumps, man.

agreed 100%

My trip down memory lane has been fun so far.

 

[Dark Nation]

Ladies & Gentlemen...

A minutes silence for the flower girl....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-as6Kbcj4c

Good night ladies and gentlemen...

More to come after me and the gang get wasted in her memory...

​

 

[ForceStealer]

More to come after me and the gang get wasted in her memory...

This would be the nerdiest, most incredible night at the bar and I can possibly imagine.

 

[Dark Nation]

Ok So I completed Final Fantasy 7 About two weeks ago.

I've been pretty busy so I have no screen shots but I'll share my thoughts anyway.

Over all I think the game stands the test of time. It was still an engaging story even though I already knew what was happening. The graphics in the FMV are still pretty funky...

I don't know if its just me or it's always been this way but it didn't take me long to become something of a God after the Gold saucer...The enemies just aren't up to it . There are some who have a few tricky Status altering attacks but nothing that couldn't be overcome pretty swiftly.

Goes without saying that when I entered the northern creator I didn't see any reason to come out... Everything outside the creator is pathetically weak and feeble. I used enemy away when I was on the map as I seriously couldn't be arsed.

My fave scene in the entire game will always be a toss up between Midgar attacking Diamond weapon and Cloud travelling down the tunnel to settle the score with Seph.

I had zero trouble dealing with any of the bosses but it was fun to see Super Nova again, I had totally forgotten he had that... I instantly recalled that move being a real pain in the arse first time around after he blasted me with it...

I honestly think Enix should stuff fucking about and get this game repackaged...the story is there as is the fanbase... doesn't have to be a carbon copy, upgrade the fighting model if you have to but give it an upgrade..

It was a pleasure to go down memory lane again and I enjoyed the hell out of it...

I can see why the younger generation with their advanced warfare type graphics would be put off, but it's not like Square soft got out of bed in 1997 and decided fuck it, we'll make everyone's head a box.

Of course,

I had gone through the entire game without ever getting a game over until I ran into that little bastard with the lantern...I had totally forgotten about tonberry.... Stabbed the shit out of cloud and boom... dead....

 

[Airling]

I'm not sure which are worse, tonberrys (tonberries?) or malboro...

Goes without saying that when I entered the northern creator I didn't see any reason to come out... Everything outside the creator is pathetically weak and feeble.

I think you've hurt Emerald Weapon's feelings.

 

[lesteramont]

replaying too! just played through the north crater and doubled my items (thanks jegged . com for the butt kicking walk through) and aroun lvl 80 gonna try emerald soon, pretty stoked as i never beat the weapons before. I always lost files or went to college etc