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Originally posted by chill_rx:
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the Materia System in FF7 is/was the most level well-balanced magic system invented...
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I must disagree. The Materia system was fundamentally flawed because it made all of the characters into essentially equal magic users. With a system like that, party selection is entirely based on who has the best stats and equipment. There's no need in that sort of system to make a (strategic) decision: "I've got room for one more character now - should it be a mage, a strong fighter, or an overall balanced character?"
Instead, it's "Who are the three toughest fighters I've got? OK, now you will cast KOTR today, you will mime him, and you will quadruple-cast Ultima." The Materia system removes some of the most fundamental differences between characters, and makes them essentially the same guy with a different sprite and different limit breaks. Give me something like FF4 instead, where every change in party members required a change in combat strategy.
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