...yeah, and
this is two-decades-worth of "progress":
I realize that you were simply going for the "easy joke"... but it still pains me how many "kids today" simply
can't appreciate what a goddamn
revolution those low-poly characters were
"at the time".
Story-time, kids!
Imagine 25-years-ago being a 1st-gen console-gamer. You just finished the best
RPG that you've ever played:
"Final Fantasy 6"... it had a vast world, interesting characters, clever game-machanics, and a truly
epic storyline!
It also looked like
every other RPG from the mid-90's:
"square 8-color characters" flickering around
"tiled 8-color backgrounds" to the sound of
"beeping 8-bit chiptunes".
...but nobody gave
that a second thought; because even the
best console-
RPGs back then were
"just games", they certainly weren't supposed to be
"art".
Then, later
that same month... you pop-in the "demo disc" from the newest
PlayStation™
Magazine (
...LOL, "magazines"...) and witness this:
This was still on the
PS1! Fully-animated
3D-characters! Environments that look like the
actual concept art! Multiple discs of
pre-rendered cinematics! An
orchestral soundtrack that was so impressive, the game's composer eventually performed the "Final Boss Fight Music" in front of the Emperor of Japan!
...and when you finally
played the game, it wasn't just "style without substance"; every aspect of it was as-good or
better than previous
RPGs. The most diverse, distraction-filled world to-date (
...even going on an actual "date")! Unparalleled character-development! A "linked-materia" mechanic that simultaneously revolutionized both magical-progression and character-customization! Another
epic storyline!
(
Full disclosure: despite the many "amazing moments" and "incredible character-arcs" in FF7's story line, the "overall narrative" probably wasn't quite as good as a few of its contemporaries...)
Hell, FF7 was so thoroughly-developed that some of the individual locations could themselves be
an entire game by today's console standards...
(
Spoiler alert: the world of FF7 is far to too vast to be realized in its full-fidelity on the PS4, so "Part 1" of the remake is believed to take place entirely within the first city... with the remainder waiting for the PS5)
No matter what any "hipster" may tell you,
Final Fantasy 7 is not
"overrated"... it literally
redefined what was possible in a console-
RPG; each one that came before it would forever be considered a
"Retro RPG", and even those that came after it had to somewhat-imitate it if they hoped to be considered a
"Next-Gen RPG".
...and if it turns out that I
never get to play this "remake", I will still be absolutely
thrilled that a "new generation" might
possibly begin to understand what those low-poly characters meant to us
"at the time".