Haha I’d been posting these periodically on the FFVII sub for the past month or so, these are just the compiled result, plus a few I never posted. I usually take photos and video of games I’m playing just to either post online or mess around with as fun low stakes art projects.
Honestly I don't even blame you for FF7, I was playing it on my crt monitor with the filters on and i couldnt help but take some pics, makes me jealous looking at these and makes me wanna play FF7 with a CRT tv this time ngl
OP understands the main purpose of this subreddit: colorful pictures of games displayed on CRTs. I also agree that FF7 aged well, as long as you play it on an SD CRT.
Man I feel so silly. I didn't realise at first, at least until I saw your comment. I thought man had loads of CRT TVs stacked up on a unit or something. Like CCTV style.
Big agree,
I tried to play it on ps4 some years back for the first time since the 90s. Thought it aged really poorly, was awful to look at. I recently replayed it on ps1 with my CRT and it’s truly beautiful. I had a blast. The medium really makes a huge difference for some games/art
Finally, a good take about FF7. Most people who say it "aged poorly" are playing the PC version with shitty HD texture mods and a bunch of other garbage, not realizing the game was specifically designed for 240p on a 15kHz CRT.
There is a reason why I never recommend the PC version or any other versions based off of the PC version, and why I only recommend the PS1 version. The pre-rendered backgrounds and 3D models are both running in the resolution they were designed for: 240p. The PC version breaks the design with the 3D models rendering at a higher resolution, while the pre-rendered backgrounds still remain 240p. Not to mention the battle menus on the PC version run at 15fps, while on PS1 they run at 60fps.
Just got flashback to trying the input combos during limit breaks on the FVIII PC-version. That was such a bad experience.
I played it on PC first when it released, but have no love for it. PSX version is so much better in all ways. Remember hearing the real soundtrack for the first time a when i got the PSX-version.
A lot of games with pre rendered backgrounds kind of just look off on modern displays. Being able to tell between the background and what's rendered in real time is kind of immersion breaking. The crt kind of creates a blending effect. The RE1 remake on gamecube looks absolutely stunning on a CRT display
I do think it was partially as both FF8 and FF9 have higher polygon models than 7. I think it was also because they were aiming for the chibi models they had for the final fantasy demo on the ultra 64 before it had been revealed as the N64 and to use cartridges
I read somewhere a while back that the developers couldn't decide on which art style to use. In the end they used all three:
The chunky low-poly overworld models
The detailed, more realistic battle models
The FMV models
I think this is why the game looks a bit disjointed and it's probably the biggest reason why people say the game has not aged well.
Not sure I agree with that because to me FFVII was never a looker to me. It did cool things with combining FMV with real-time graphics and other stuff, but for every pretty moment there were dozens of 'ughh why am I fighting a sentiment house' moments.
For me it's the story, the varied gameplay and the insanely brilliant music that makes the game special. I think those elements hold up pretty well, outside of a few questionable translations.
The thing that gets me is how inconsistent the game is about it. If it was just the chibi models on the overworld, and the high res model in battles and cutscenes it would probably been ok, but some of the pre-rendered cutscenes use the high res model *or* the chibi model seemingly at random. If it was a design decision it doesn’t seem to have been a very thought out one.
Also, I definitely don’t think they should have used the chibi models on screens where the camera is close to the player. That first scene in the train station leaves a pretty bad first impression because that low poly model of Cloud takes up most of the screen and is the first thing you see after the opening cutscene. There’s no performance reason to use those models anyway since the PS1 isn’t being stressed at all in those scenes being that everything else on screen is just pre-rendered.
The other issue the game has is the bizarrely low frame rate - the battles I can sort of understand, I never understood why the *whole* game runs at something like a capped 15fps other than to maybe keep it consistent with the FMVs, but to be honest it felt pretty bad to play even in 1997.
It's was just weird growing pains for Square. Sometimes they'd be chibi even in the cut scenes, especially early on. I think the decision to go with a more mature model probably came late.
I like the aesthetics in IX over VII or VIII by a good margin personally. VII has that problem where the 3d models sit over pre rendered backgrounds and it just looks floaty and wierd. FFIX it's significantly less pronounced and everything seems to gel together more for me.
tbf I played OoT on a CRT not too long ago and even there it doesn't look the best. But I played the 3DS remake since I was a kid, so of course I'd hate on the OG.
Yeah man FF7 looks fire on a CRT. Pre-rendered backgrounds have never made the shift well to flat panels unless designed with them in mind. AI might be able to bridge the gap soon. And things like the Moguri mod are a good attempt but just not quite there.
I completely agree, look how sharp it looks on my Avant…
https://i.postimg.cc/MT6kD7b5/366-F33-A3-0-B66-437-B-A1-B7-C12-C980-BFD7-D.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/N0wvyqKW/3-CEB06-F3-7392-401-D-B501-DE2125-DD1802.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/JzXW44zN/91-A066-A4-CB01-48-EF-B4-B2-6-AC7-A4-EA0-AAC.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/DzqF5yVv/C9036039-B72-D-425-C-B8-B1-8644-DDAF6999.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/1XXkxydN/D3-C8-E725-53-AD-4-BEC-94-E4-376-EA009-E7-CF.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/SK7FCT8j/D45-EB63-C-8151-4500-BC7-B-780658849-E58.jpg
I've quit FF7 so many times because something felt off. It's a game that shaped my childhood, even though I didn't get that far.
But, I have a disc, a PS1, and a curved Trinitron now. I'm extremely lucky to be able to play it the way I did as a kid. I'll be able to actually get through it, while things feel right. <3
I think there's absolutely no question that the game is beautiful in all regards. One of a kind. I played it through the 2000s when the ps2 and ps3 were out and it was objectively still fascinating.
Btw, is that composite or rgb?
I typically do everything with composite (I’ve never had higher quality hookups on a CRT, besides a few years when my brother got a decent Trinitron in the late 00s).
Although here’s the part that will truly get me some possibly justified sideways glances here…
>!I couldn’t find my PS1’s baggy with its composite cables while swapping places with my Genesis (I usually only keep about 2 consoles hooked up at a time) on my most recent swap/rotation of my consoles, and decided to embrace some nostalgia by making this my first playthrough of FFVII fully using RF hookups in over 20 years. I probably wouldn’t do it again for quite a bit, but I rather enjoy the process and the softer look for what it is. I don’t hate it, but obviously once I find that baggy I’m switching it back to composite.!<
RF is great. My CRT has one shared S-Video/Composite input that doesn't work if you have both plugged in. Since most S-Video console cables also have Composite, I send each console's S-Video directly to the TV, and send each's Composite into an RF modulator then into the TV's antenna jack. This way I can easily just press the Antenna/Input button to switch between the nice blur of RF and the nice sharpness of S-Video for any of my consoles without having to climb behind it to hook cables up.
For mixed 2D/3D like the Final Fantasy games and Mario Kart 64 the RF blur makes everything look seamless, plus it smooths out dithering in pure 3D like Metal Gear Solid. For pure 2D like SNES and Genesis, I usually like the S-Video sharpness, but sometimes [you want the blur there too](https://twitter.com/CRTpixels/status/1380227917481918466), so I'm really glad I made it so easy to switch.
I think the only dated part of these old RPGs is the random encounter battles, but it might also be that as an adult I don't have the same time to play as before. The blocky look of the characters never bothered me, if anything I prefer it over ff8s where facial details look like a mess, ff9 got the balance right.
I cannot stress enough just how much better CRTs look for those older games. Anytime I see someone tell me they prefer square pixels for SNES or others I get a little angry inside, lol. Like, that can't be true. I cannot even play the older babes that Nintendo gives you for NSO because they just look so horrible compared to how they looked while I was growing up with CRTs. It's like looking at the Sistine Chapel via Polaroid. Like, yeah, you can sort of see what the artist intended, but it's leagues away from the actual way it was meant to be seen.
Who says FF7 aged poorly? A couple years back when the garbage remake came out I fired up original recipe FF7 and it was great. The remake has already aged poorly.
Both people are wrong
1.
Ff7, like the early Resident Evil titles, were designed with CRTs in mind. Those pre-rendered backgrounds only work properly on a CRT
2.
FF7R was (and is) going for something different to the original. It is not a replacement, and was never meant to be. Og ff7 is perfectly available. If you don't like the new direction, that's ok, but it certainly has not aged "poorly" by any means. I personally don't really like any FF7 in particular tbh, but can see what they were each trying to do
You are wrong on both points.
1. There is no such thing a "only work properly on CRT".
2. You don't remake a beloved classic and have that remake "going for something different".
Depends how you define "work."
Do those pre-rendered backgrounds physically display on almost any display? Yes of course. Do they look correct and GOOD on non-CRT displays? Absolutely not, at least not without a scaler.
FF7R is a remake, so yes they can re-design it however they want. They took the original ideas from FF7 and applied modern gameplay style, graphics, and sound to it. You are thinking of a remaster, not a remake. A remake can be whatever the hell the want it to be. A remaster is just a graphical upgrade with some minor gameplay and quality of life improvements.
This sub literally exist BECAUSE non HD games looks well better on CRT, because they were designed for it. Oh, and it looks like you're confusing "remakes" and "remasters".
I literally own ten CRTs because I like the way they look. But the idea that old games were designed specifically for CRTs is blatantly wrong.
In no way am I confusing remake and remaster.
How? CRTs were the primary display technology when these games were made, they absolutely were designed specifically for CRTs, and color graded on CRTs, and tested on CRTs.
Yes CRTs were the defacto standard display technology back then and were used by the game designers. But saying a game was specifically designed to only look correct on a CRT implies it was a conscious choice. In fact there was no alternative. A game being designed to look correct on the only choice of display available is not the same.
It doesn’t imply anything about being a conscious choice, it’s just a fact.
New technology being invented years later doesn’t mean the developers weren’t being intentional with what they had at the time. What are you even trying to argue?
You're arguing semantics right now, and I don't care to do that with you. The games were developed for use with CRTs, fact. Idk why you're even trying to argue about this unless you're just a terminal redditor.
Technically there are some things that only work properly on a CRT. If you want to go into a tangent about it.
Motion clarity (we're getting there, but strobe modes haven't been great yet, and they don't do well with 60Hz content, we'll need rolling scan simulation to get that crystal clear CRT motion clarity).
Without shaders then you also have tapering lines and rounding to the pixels as they're rendered by the CRT, due to how the beam is round and becomes smaller to show darker shades. This creates some "texture" and the roundness of the edges gets rid of blocky pixelation without making things blurry. (and for blurry small TVs you also have blurring on top of this, especially in composite or s-video).
Exact refreshrates only work on CRTs, well until recently with freesync/Gsync/VRR support. Tink4x, MiSTer and emulation (RA has it) can all do VRR output for monitors/TVs that support it, no need for buffered hiccups from a Hz mismatch.
Scanline based light guns only work properly on CRTs.
-------------
This is all pretty unrelated though, FF7 Remake is awful and got rid of the charm and 90s anime design of the original game. Stripping all of that out of it, turning it sterile and by the numbers. Instead of celebrating that point in time, going all out with the original designs and style that the creators were going for with higher quality assets, models etc. Things that actually match the original artwork and design documents, but have it be in-game.
Sort of similar to how render64 is doing that for Super Mario 64, realizing what couldn't be done but keeping the style of the original conscept art and renders.
[https://youtu.be/cE6YB31pX-Y?si=MN9BSYmmsuqfVhYd](https://youtu.be/cE6YB31pX-Y?si=MN9BSYmmsuqfVhYd) Here's an example of what being faithful to the franchise is. (what if Mario in the new Super Mario movie actually had Mario's voice and looked on-model without the weird generic bland dreamworks/illumination looking redesign)
Companies are scared to use designs or art directions that go outside of what's been the most popular ones in the last decade or so.
theres so many kids who grew up on fortnight and overwatch, who never even seen a crt in their lives. these people wont take time to look at classics fairly.
Preaching to the choir, OP. It pains me when people say that VII looks like crap. The remasters do, yes, but the OG on a crt looks fantastic.
I don’t understand the hatred for the chibi models either. They’re simplistic and polygonal, but I think they look fine.
I don't have a PS1 but have a Wii connected to a Sanyo 32 inch CRT TV with The newest Wiistation PS1 emulator with 240p support and looks not as good as the pictures but still looks great.
[Here is a picture of how it lookes](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fcrt-and-lcd-setup-v0-qjcer267soic1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D2481%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3Dd334af59234f261c688cb7da83e03731a1843993)
i replayed the OG version on a 55" LCD with no filters or anything recently. i wouldn't say it has aged poorly at all, it's just a product of its time, and its still the best video game ever made.
I recommend it. I’ll always say the CRT magic is the best, but playing this game on a smaller screen should definitely help clean up any potential “grit” that would otherwise appear on a larger digital display.
For me, I think they just stylistically went in a different direction from what I like versus 8 and 9. You can tell 9 really pushed the PS1, but all three look great and had beautiful details in the pre-renders. These are some awesome photos. You should do 8/9 too if you get time!
Yeah the switch rerelease I have looks terrible but that’s because the polygons and the backgrounds really clash, they didn’t do anything to account for the fact that this was made to look good blurred together on a CRT
100% agree with OP. On a CRT, even over composite, the game shines to this day. I just got a round to playing it this year and was blown away by how much I enjoyed it for exactly the reason cited: it was incredibly atmospheric and the pacing was perfect.
It has aged poorly even on a CRT. Those character models do not look good. FF9 looks much better visually
The pre rendered backgrounds however look so much better on a CRT and making the character blend better into the background. When you play at a high resolution + 240p background the characters look so out of place since they are high res while the background doesn’t change. That does make the game look so much worse than it did on a PS1 with a CRT
The people that say that shit just play on emulators and modern TVs, and haven’t played on a CRT in decades, if ever. That early 3D era aged really well
people say it aged poorly based on
1) low polygon character models
2) low resolution backgrounds
3) the world map being aged as a game design philosophy and also in terms of resolution and gameplay mechanics
I'd argue argument 2 is fake because of the CRT look, it doesn't need anymore res to shine and give us plenty of details. But those two other I agree with, even though it doesn't phase me because of nostalgia I guess. I like FFIX and VIII better in this regard, also because those had way better cutscenes. You can absolutely say the quality of the cutscenes aged poorly compared to IX and even to VIII. World map atmosphere is also way better in VIII and a tad better in IX but not that much. All in all, looking at the prerendered backgrounds from locations and the characters, I think IX is basically perfect on a CRT, but VII also has a lot of areas where things might feel blocky and less detailed compared to others, an issue I think doesn't show up at all in IX.
Regardless, people also think the JRPG style of gameplay and design is outdated, I think this is untrue, it's just a different design philosophy that can still work today. But hats are also outdated.. or are they out of style?
Its wonderful on a CRT. I find S Video to be the sweet spot. Composite on a PS1 is fine too. Some games ill use my HDRetrovision cables for component but this one I prefer that slightly softer vibe.
Haters gonna hate.
I think people who say that just aren't into these kinds of games (they're not that popular anymore), or if they are, they are used to way more modern mechanics / faster gameplay etc
I think the nugget of truth in the statement is that the art that made the SGI renders could be rendered to a much higher fidelity. We aren't getting the artist's full intention due to limitation of 1997 processing power and the delivery medium. It would be truly spectacular to see FF7 assets rendered at higher resolution. I have a memory of someone on qhimm a decade ago saying that Square no longer had the original assets. My memory might be wrong or that statement might not be correct, but it fits in with the FF7 PC re-release not being a remaster.
CRT or not, it still looks pretty bad. The character models suffer especially. The sixth gen is far more forgiving as character models often look like lower resolution versions of modern games, rather than having mit-hands and block faces.
Nah, the models still look like shit and both FF8 and 9 proved that fact
Played through the game last year on my Trinitron using component cords on my PS2, the weird limbs on rhe characters aint it
No, it has aged poorly. It does look a lot better on a CRT than on an LCD but this game came out on the same system as Breath of Fire IV and Symphony of the Night. The use of 3D in this game was not good. They were too ambitious and didn't really know what they were doing with the tech.
It's not the graphics that aged poorly (well, those too, but to a lesser degree), but everything else. In nearly all other aspects from storytelling to combat, even to translation with the fun Woolseyisms, the games before it (at least 4, 5, and 6) aged better into the modern age (especially 6), and the later PS1 games did a lot better as well. Pixel art also ends up aging better than those pre-rendered backgrounds and textureless polygons, especially on a CRT.
What does this even mean?
Yeah, there is more than one game in the world. If someone says that Streets of Rage 2 looks gorgeous, it just looks weird to go up and be like, “Yoshi’s Island looks better.”
Like, maybe? But what’s the point? More than one thing can look good.
But what’s the point? When did I mention a comparison between the two?
This is like if someone says bagels are delicious and you feel the need to clarify that actually oatmeal tastes better. Like… why?
Holy crap, did you really take over 100 photos just for this post? That's some serious dedication there.
Haha I’d been posting these periodically on the FFVII sub for the past month or so, these are just the compiled result, plus a few I never posted. I usually take photos and video of games I’m playing just to either post online or mess around with as fun low stakes art projects.
Honestly I don't even blame you for FF7, I was playing it on my crt monitor with the filters on and i couldnt help but take some pics, makes me jealous looking at these and makes me wanna play FF7 with a CRT tv this time ngl
OP understands the main purpose of this subreddit: colorful pictures of games displayed on CRTs. I also agree that FF7 aged well, as long as you play it on an SD CRT.
This here is the key: “SD CRT”. Not a crazy sharp PVM with high line counts.
Man I feel so silly. I didn't realise at first, at least until I saw your comment. I thought man had loads of CRT TVs stacked up on a unit or something. Like CCTV style.
Big agree, I tried to play it on ps4 some years back for the first time since the 90s. Thought it aged really poorly, was awful to look at. I recently replayed it on ps1 with my CRT and it’s truly beautiful. I had a blast. The medium really makes a huge difference for some games/art
i'm really glad i found a couple nice crts on facebook market recently. i just hope they last a long time.
I'm no expert but if you take good care of them and maybe learn how to do stuff like replacing caps they should last you a very long time.
Finally, a good take about FF7. Most people who say it "aged poorly" are playing the PC version with shitty HD texture mods and a bunch of other garbage, not realizing the game was specifically designed for 240p on a 15kHz CRT. There is a reason why I never recommend the PC version or any other versions based off of the PC version, and why I only recommend the PS1 version. The pre-rendered backgrounds and 3D models are both running in the resolution they were designed for: 240p. The PC version breaks the design with the 3D models rendering at a higher resolution, while the pre-rendered backgrounds still remain 240p. Not to mention the battle menus on the PC version run at 15fps, while on PS1 they run at 60fps.
Just got flashback to trying the input combos during limit breaks on the FVIII PC-version. That was such a bad experience. I played it on PC first when it released, but have no love for it. PSX version is so much better in all ways. Remember hearing the real soundtrack for the first time a when i got the PSX-version.
A lot of games with pre rendered backgrounds kind of just look off on modern displays. Being able to tell between the background and what's rendered in real time is kind of immersion breaking. The crt kind of creates a blending effect. The RE1 remake on gamecube looks absolutely stunning on a CRT display
It's just the Popeye models that irk me. Everything else is beautiful
The backgrounds have always looked good and the spike hair has always looked silly.
It's not the hair so much as the bad chibi overworld models. They're not cute or have much fidelity so they don't look good imo
True. But was true in 1997 as well.
I totally understand the development constraints. I'm glad by ff8 they figured out how far they could push the ps1
I don't think that was a development constraint. It was a design decision. If it was a good decision or not is up to debate.
I do think it was partially as both FF8 and FF9 have higher polygon models than 7. I think it was also because they were aiming for the chibi models they had for the final fantasy demo on the ultra 64 before it had been revealed as the N64 and to use cartridges
I read somewhere a while back that the developers couldn't decide on which art style to use. In the end they used all three: The chunky low-poly overworld models The detailed, more realistic battle models The FMV models I think this is why the game looks a bit disjointed and it's probably the biggest reason why people say the game has not aged well. Not sure I agree with that because to me FFVII was never a looker to me. It did cool things with combining FMV with real-time graphics and other stuff, but for every pretty moment there were dozens of 'ughh why am I fighting a sentiment house' moments. For me it's the story, the varied gameplay and the insanely brilliant music that makes the game special. I think those elements hold up pretty well, outside of a few questionable translations.
The thing that gets me is how inconsistent the game is about it. If it was just the chibi models on the overworld, and the high res model in battles and cutscenes it would probably been ok, but some of the pre-rendered cutscenes use the high res model *or* the chibi model seemingly at random. If it was a design decision it doesn’t seem to have been a very thought out one. Also, I definitely don’t think they should have used the chibi models on screens where the camera is close to the player. That first scene in the train station leaves a pretty bad first impression because that low poly model of Cloud takes up most of the screen and is the first thing you see after the opening cutscene. There’s no performance reason to use those models anyway since the PS1 isn’t being stressed at all in those scenes being that everything else on screen is just pre-rendered. The other issue the game has is the bizarrely low frame rate - the battles I can sort of understand, I never understood why the *whole* game runs at something like a capped 15fps other than to maybe keep it consistent with the FMVs, but to be honest it felt pretty bad to play even in 1997.
It's was just weird growing pains for Square. Sometimes they'd be chibi even in the cut scenes, especially early on. I think the decision to go with a more mature model probably came late.
Final Fantasy IX has the worst character models IMO. They all look like those evil dolls that come to life in horror movies.
I like the aesthetics in IX over VII or VIII by a good margin personally. VII has that problem where the 3d models sit over pre rendered backgrounds and it just looks floaty and wierd. FFIX it's significantly less pronounced and everything seems to gel together more for me.
I always liked final fantasy 8. It has some goofy characters ofc but not like the other PS1 titles
FFVIII has great character models. Yeah the characters themselves are often weird, but the models are great.
Bad take.
Well, it's my take to have. The character models look terrible.
I replayed it recently and the backgrounds look razor sharp with a ps2 with component.
Who said it aged poorly? I’ve never heard that.
[удалено]
tbf I played OoT on a CRT not too long ago and even there it doesn't look the best. But I played the 3DS remake since I was a kid, so of course I'd hate on the OG.
Takes me immediately back to High School
Yeah man FF7 looks fire on a CRT. Pre-rendered backgrounds have never made the shift well to flat panels unless designed with them in mind. AI might be able to bridge the gap soon. And things like the Moguri mod are a good attempt but just not quite there.
I completely agree, look how sharp it looks on my Avant… https://i.postimg.cc/MT6kD7b5/366-F33-A3-0-B66-437-B-A1-B7-C12-C980-BFD7-D.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/N0wvyqKW/3-CEB06-F3-7392-401-D-B501-DE2125-DD1802.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/JzXW44zN/91-A066-A4-CB01-48-EF-B4-B2-6-AC7-A4-EA0-AAC.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/DzqF5yVv/C9036039-B72-D-425-C-B8-B1-8644-DDAF6999.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/1XXkxydN/D3-C8-E725-53-AD-4-BEC-94-E4-376-EA009-E7-CF.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/SK7FCT8j/D45-EB63-C-8151-4500-BC7-B-780658849-E58.jpg
That site is cancer
I've quit FF7 so many times because something felt off. It's a game that shaped my childhood, even though I didn't get that far. But, I have a disc, a PS1, and a curved Trinitron now. I'm extremely lucky to be able to play it the way I did as a kid. I'll be able to actually get through it, while things feel right. <3
No one has said it aged poorly. One of the greatest games of all time!
that goes for all retro, it's just mandatory to play on a crt for me when it comes to retro these days
I thought the same thing the first time I played Chrono Cross a few months ago. I couldn’t believe a game in the PS1 could look that beautiful.
I think there's absolutely no question that the game is beautiful in all regards. One of a kind. I played it through the 2000s when the ps2 and ps3 were out and it was objectively still fascinating. Btw, is that composite or rgb?
I typically do everything with composite (I’ve never had higher quality hookups on a CRT, besides a few years when my brother got a decent Trinitron in the late 00s). Although here’s the part that will truly get me some possibly justified sideways glances here… >!I couldn’t find my PS1’s baggy with its composite cables while swapping places with my Genesis (I usually only keep about 2 consoles hooked up at a time) on my most recent swap/rotation of my consoles, and decided to embrace some nostalgia by making this my first playthrough of FFVII fully using RF hookups in over 20 years. I probably wouldn’t do it again for quite a bit, but I rather enjoy the process and the softer look for what it is. I don’t hate it, but obviously once I find that baggy I’m switching it back to composite.!<
RF is great. My CRT has one shared S-Video/Composite input that doesn't work if you have both plugged in. Since most S-Video console cables also have Composite, I send each console's S-Video directly to the TV, and send each's Composite into an RF modulator then into the TV's antenna jack. This way I can easily just press the Antenna/Input button to switch between the nice blur of RF and the nice sharpness of S-Video for any of my consoles without having to climb behind it to hook cables up. For mixed 2D/3D like the Final Fantasy games and Mario Kart 64 the RF blur makes everything look seamless, plus it smooths out dithering in pure 3D like Metal Gear Solid. For pure 2D like SNES and Genesis, I usually like the S-Video sharpness, but sometimes [you want the blur there too](https://twitter.com/CRTpixels/status/1380227917481918466), so I'm really glad I made it so easy to switch.
I think the only dated part of these old RPGs is the random encounter battles, but it might also be that as an adult I don't have the same time to play as before. The blocky look of the characters never bothered me, if anything I prefer it over ff8s where facial details look like a mess, ff9 got the balance right.
The fmvs on such a display.. must be so orgasmic.. (I finished ff7 on a small ass psp 💀)
>(I finished ff7 on a small ass psp 💀) same lol, first thing I played during quaratine
I cannot stress enough just how much better CRTs look for those older games. Anytime I see someone tell me they prefer square pixels for SNES or others I get a little angry inside, lol. Like, that can't be true. I cannot even play the older babes that Nintendo gives you for NSO because they just look so horrible compared to how they looked while I was growing up with CRTs. It's like looking at the Sistine Chapel via Polaroid. Like, yeah, you can sort of see what the artist intended, but it's leagues away from the actual way it was meant to be seen.
Yeah I don’t think the AI upscale pc mods are really that good looking. CRT or shaders do way better
Who says FF7 aged poorly? A couple years back when the garbage remake came out I fired up original recipe FF7 and it was great. The remake has already aged poorly.
Both people are wrong 1. Ff7, like the early Resident Evil titles, were designed with CRTs in mind. Those pre-rendered backgrounds only work properly on a CRT 2. FF7R was (and is) going for something different to the original. It is not a replacement, and was never meant to be. Og ff7 is perfectly available. If you don't like the new direction, that's ok, but it certainly has not aged "poorly" by any means. I personally don't really like any FF7 in particular tbh, but can see what they were each trying to do
You are wrong on both points. 1. There is no such thing a "only work properly on CRT". 2. You don't remake a beloved classic and have that remake "going for something different".
Depends how you define "work." Do those pre-rendered backgrounds physically display on almost any display? Yes of course. Do they look correct and GOOD on non-CRT displays? Absolutely not, at least not without a scaler. FF7R is a remake, so yes they can re-design it however they want. They took the original ideas from FF7 and applied modern gameplay style, graphics, and sound to it. You are thinking of a remaster, not a remake. A remake can be whatever the hell the want it to be. A remaster is just a graphical upgrade with some minor gameplay and quality of life improvements.
This sub literally exist BECAUSE non HD games looks well better on CRT, because they were designed for it. Oh, and it looks like you're confusing "remakes" and "remasters".
I literally own ten CRTs because I like the way they look. But the idea that old games were designed specifically for CRTs is blatantly wrong. In no way am I confusing remake and remaster.
How? CRTs were the primary display technology when these games were made, they absolutely were designed specifically for CRTs, and color graded on CRTs, and tested on CRTs.
Yes CRTs were the defacto standard display technology back then and were used by the game designers. But saying a game was specifically designed to only look correct on a CRT implies it was a conscious choice. In fact there was no alternative. A game being designed to look correct on the only choice of display available is not the same.
It doesn’t imply anything about being a conscious choice, it’s just a fact. New technology being invented years later doesn’t mean the developers weren’t being intentional with what they had at the time. What are you even trying to argue?
You're arguing semantics right now, and I don't care to do that with you. The games were developed for use with CRTs, fact. Idk why you're even trying to argue about this unless you're just a terminal redditor.
Technically there are some things that only work properly on a CRT. If you want to go into a tangent about it. Motion clarity (we're getting there, but strobe modes haven't been great yet, and they don't do well with 60Hz content, we'll need rolling scan simulation to get that crystal clear CRT motion clarity). Without shaders then you also have tapering lines and rounding to the pixels as they're rendered by the CRT, due to how the beam is round and becomes smaller to show darker shades. This creates some "texture" and the roundness of the edges gets rid of blocky pixelation without making things blurry. (and for blurry small TVs you also have blurring on top of this, especially in composite or s-video). Exact refreshrates only work on CRTs, well until recently with freesync/Gsync/VRR support. Tink4x, MiSTer and emulation (RA has it) can all do VRR output for monitors/TVs that support it, no need for buffered hiccups from a Hz mismatch. Scanline based light guns only work properly on CRTs. ------------- This is all pretty unrelated though, FF7 Remake is awful and got rid of the charm and 90s anime design of the original game. Stripping all of that out of it, turning it sterile and by the numbers. Instead of celebrating that point in time, going all out with the original designs and style that the creators were going for with higher quality assets, models etc. Things that actually match the original artwork and design documents, but have it be in-game. Sort of similar to how render64 is doing that for Super Mario 64, realizing what couldn't be done but keeping the style of the original conscept art and renders. [https://youtu.be/cE6YB31pX-Y?si=MN9BSYmmsuqfVhYd](https://youtu.be/cE6YB31pX-Y?si=MN9BSYmmsuqfVhYd) Here's an example of what being faithful to the franchise is. (what if Mario in the new Super Mario movie actually had Mario's voice and looked on-model without the weird generic bland dreamworks/illumination looking redesign) Companies are scared to use designs or art directions that go outside of what's been the most popular ones in the last decade or so.
>Scanline based light guns only work properly on CRTs. My time crisis gear Is the only reason my partner tolerates my hulking crt
theres so many kids who grew up on fortnight and overwatch, who never even seen a crt in their lives. these people wont take time to look at classics fairly.
Eh? Who cares about kids not playing old games. Pong and Atari 2600 are from before my time. Do I need to go back and play those?
Those games were much more simplistic and are not up to par with RPGs from the 80s and 90s, bad faith argument.
Do you not understand that most kids today hold the opinion that 80s and 90s games are "much more simplistic and not up to par"?
And they are incorrect. OP is not.
Irrelevant, Pong is 2 lines and a pixel, to argue it's on the same level as Chrono Trigger or FFVII is a joke.
Btw, I agree with you that FFVII Remake and Rebirth are worse than the original, in a number of ways.
This game was magical to me when I was younger.
Preaching to the choir, OP. It pains me when people say that VII looks like crap. The remasters do, yes, but the OG on a crt looks fantastic. I don’t understand the hatred for the chibi models either. They’re simplistic and polygonal, but I think they look fine.
I don't have a PS1 but have a Wii connected to a Sanyo 32 inch CRT TV with The newest Wiistation PS1 emulator with 240p support and looks not as good as the pictures but still looks great. [Here is a picture of how it lookes](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fcrt-and-lcd-setup-v0-qjcer267soic1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D2481%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3Dd334af59234f261c688cb7da83e03731a1843993)
Agreed. With 7heavenmod & crt it's even better.
Man nothing beats the brightness and color of a CRT sometimes.
I love the ethereal glow you get sometimes. Very ambient.
i replayed the OG version on a 55" LCD with no filters or anything recently. i wouldn't say it has aged poorly at all, it's just a product of its time, and its still the best video game ever made.
PlayStation looked damn good on a crt
Wish I could see this in person.
How about PSP? Is it worth to play ff7 on PSP? Would love to play on CRT but dont have place for it..
I recommend it. I’ll always say the CRT magic is the best, but playing this game on a smaller screen should definitely help clean up any potential “grit” that would otherwise appear on a larger digital display.
Yes, this is how I remember it. Thank you for the post! It’s been a while since I’ve seen it on a CRT
Hey, I even thought the game looked fine playing on my Switch lol. Just took some getting used to
I’m glad I still haven’t played pretty much any FF yet outside of a good bit of FFIX I’ve soo much to look forward to
For a sec I thought I was looking at a wall of TVs
Whoever said it aged poorly is flat-out wrong.
For me, I think they just stylistically went in a different direction from what I like versus 8 and 9. You can tell 9 really pushed the PS1, but all three look great and had beautiful details in the pre-renders. These are some awesome photos. You should do 8/9 too if you get time!
I’ve always loved the aesthetic, I never understood people who said it aged poorly
Wow you're not wrong. Wish I could plug in my ps5 and keep the aspect ratio to the original.
Unbelievable. I gotta play this someday.
These games just weren't made for LCD/LED screens, people should try them on CRTs before saying anything regarding if they "hold up today" or not.
The ps1 is the perfect justification for a crt. Looks like absolute dithered, refried dogshit on modern but looks beautiful on crt 👏 👏 👏
Yeah the switch rerelease I have looks terrible but that’s because the polygons and the backgrounds really clash, they didn’t do anything to account for the fact that this was made to look good blurred together on a CRT
Absolutely. Playing it on a modern flatscreen, some of the magic is lost.
Nah man, back in the day it was amazing. Xenogears is another good game that’s backrounds looks amazing
100% agree with OP. On a CRT, even over composite, the game shines to this day. I just got a round to playing it this year and was blown away by how much I enjoyed it for exactly the reason cited: it was incredibly atmospheric and the pacing was perfect.
It has aged poorly even on a CRT. Those character models do not look good. FF9 looks much better visually The pre rendered backgrounds however look so much better on a CRT and making the character blend better into the background. When you play at a high resolution + 240p background the characters look so out of place since they are high res while the background doesn’t change. That does make the game look so much worse than it did on a PS1 with a CRT
The people that say that shit just play on emulators and modern TVs, and haven’t played on a CRT in decades, if ever. That early 3D era aged really well
i got ahold of chrono cross before ff7 and it basicaly made it so i can never look at it the same way everyone else does
people say it aged poorly based on 1) low polygon character models 2) low resolution backgrounds 3) the world map being aged as a game design philosophy and also in terms of resolution and gameplay mechanics I'd argue argument 2 is fake because of the CRT look, it doesn't need anymore res to shine and give us plenty of details. But those two other I agree with, even though it doesn't phase me because of nostalgia I guess. I like FFIX and VIII better in this regard, also because those had way better cutscenes. You can absolutely say the quality of the cutscenes aged poorly compared to IX and even to VIII. World map atmosphere is also way better in VIII and a tad better in IX but not that much. All in all, looking at the prerendered backgrounds from locations and the characters, I think IX is basically perfect on a CRT, but VII also has a lot of areas where things might feel blocky and less detailed compared to others, an issue I think doesn't show up at all in IX. Regardless, people also think the JRPG style of gameplay and design is outdated, I think this is untrue, it's just a different design philosophy that can still work today. But hats are also outdated.. or are they out of style?
Its wonderful on a CRT. I find S Video to be the sweet spot. Composite on a PS1 is fine too. Some games ill use my HDRetrovision cables for component but this one I prefer that slightly softer vibe. Haters gonna hate.
That’s what I thought, until I played FFIX… that’s pixel perfection
Legend of Dragoon is the GOAT. Fight me
7, 8, 9 are gorgeous and will always be better than any HD remake
Thank you for posting so many pics , I think since these TVs are gonna stop existing soon people with good sets should rlly start doing this
square aged it poorly
Yes. The blue tinged glow of the game fit the time period well and it's a whole vibe. Hard to replace using lcd
I think people who say that just aren't into these kinds of games (they're not that popular anymore), or if they are, they are used to way more modern mechanics / faster gameplay etc
I think the nugget of truth in the statement is that the art that made the SGI renders could be rendered to a much higher fidelity. We aren't getting the artist's full intention due to limitation of 1997 processing power and the delivery medium. It would be truly spectacular to see FF7 assets rendered at higher resolution. I have a memory of someone on qhimm a decade ago saying that Square no longer had the original assets. My memory might be wrong or that statement might not be correct, but it fits in with the FF7 PC re-release not being a remaster.
CRT or not, it still looks pretty bad. The character models suffer especially. The sixth gen is far more forgiving as character models often look like lower resolution versions of modern games, rather than having mit-hands and block faces.
Nah, the models still look like shit and both FF8 and 9 proved that fact Played through the game last year on my Trinitron using component cords on my PS2, the weird limbs on rhe characters aint it
I dont think it aged poorly in terms of graphics and art style. What aged poorly is the fact that you need 3 CDs to play it.
No, it has aged poorly. It does look a lot better on a CRT than on an LCD but this game came out on the same system as Breath of Fire IV and Symphony of the Night. The use of 3D in this game was not good. They were too ambitious and didn't really know what they were doing with the tech.
It's not the graphics that aged poorly (well, those too, but to a lesser degree), but everything else. In nearly all other aspects from storytelling to combat, even to translation with the fun Woolseyisms, the games before it (at least 4, 5, and 6) aged better into the modern age (especially 6), and the later PS1 games did a lot better as well. Pixel art also ends up aging better than those pre-rendered backgrounds and textureless polygons, especially on a CRT.
Panzer Dragoon Saga looks better
What does this even mean? Yeah, there is more than one game in the world. If someone says that Streets of Rage 2 looks gorgeous, it just looks weird to go up and be like, “Yoshi’s Island looks better.” Like, maybe? But what’s the point? More than one thing can look good.
It means panzer Dragoon Saga is the better looking game of the two
But what’s the point? When did I mention a comparison between the two? This is like if someone says bagels are delicious and you feel the need to clarify that actually oatmeal tastes better. Like… why?
Like.... Because.....tubular!!!!