It's fair to say that when it comes to RPGs, there's everyone else, and then there's Square . Nothing has ever approached the Final Fantasy series as the benchmark against which all RPGs are ultimately judged. Final Fantasy VII sold more than a million copies in the US, more than any other RPG ever to hit PlayStation, and deserved every bit of its success, bringing the series into 3D with style and ambition to spare.

Verdict

At the end of the day, given that so much of the game is so outstanding, it just makes the game's faults stand out in sharp relief. For every moment of breathtaking delight, there are a dozen predictable, endless battle sequences. For every scene that genuinely moves you to laughter or tears, there's at least one where you want to grab Squall by the short hairs and slap some sense into him.

On the other hand, there's no denying that in many ways Final Fantasy VIII is another high water mark for console RPGs. Certainly, no other game (on PlayStation at least) has ever looked this beautiful, or contained such a sheer volume of places to explore and secrets to ferret out. It also boasts about the trippiest ending sequence ever in the history of videogames, and that alone pretty much makes it worthwhile. It may not exactly convert anyone who's never played an RPG before, but there's enough magic here to make any true believer's toes tingle.