November 8, 2006

Final Fantasy VII ファイナルファンタジーＶＩＩ (Fainaru Fantajī Sebun ? Developers Square Co., Ltd.

, DotEmu (Steam, console re-release) Square Enix , DotEmu Publishers Square Co., Ltd.

/ SCE America

/ (PC)

SCE Europe

Square Enix (Steam, console re-release) Eidos Interactive Release dates January 31, 1997: PlayStation January 31, 1997 / September 7, 1997 October 2, 1997 (International) / November 17, 1997 PC / June 24, 1998 PlayStation Network April 9, 2009 (International) / June 2, 2009 / June 4, 2009 Square Enix Store / August 14, 2012 May 16, 2013 (International) Steam / / / July 4th, 2013 Dive In October 9, 2014[1] iOS WW August 19, 2015 PlayStation 4 WW December 5, 2015 Android WW July 6, 2016 PlayStation Classic[2] WW December 3, 2018 Nintendo Switch and Xbox One WW March 26, 2019 Genre Role-playing game Game modes Single player Ratings ESRB:

USK:

ELSPA:

PEGI:

ACB: Teen 12+ 11+ 12+ PG Platforms PlayStation, PC, PlayStation Network, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Dive In (formerly), PlayStation Classic Final Fantasy VII is the seventh main installment in the Final Fantasy series, developed and published by Squaresoft. It was released in January 1997 for the PlayStation, and was later re-released for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android, Xbox One and Switch platforms, it is also included on the PlayStation Classic mini console. It was directed by Yoshinori Kitase, produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi, with a score produced by Nobuo Uematsu and character designs by Tetsuya Nomura. It was the first title in the series to feature three-dimensional graphics, pre-rendered backgrounds and numerous full motion videos, and the first to be released in Europe.

Final Fantasy VII follows the story of mercenary Cloud Strife, who is hired by the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE—led by Barret Wallace—to help fight the mega-corporation Shinra Electric Power Company, who attempts to drain the planet's lifeblood as an energy source to further their profits. Apathetic to the cause, Cloud initially fights for personal gain, and for the promise he made to childhood friend Tifa Lockhart. Cloud eventually joins forces with many others to save the planet, which is threatened by Shinra and Cloud's nemesis Sephiroth, and discovers a reason to fight for a cause other than his own.

The gameplay is a departure from previous entries in the series in many ways. Though it retains the Active Time Battle pseudo-turn based menu command system, Final Fantasy VII features three party members rather than four. The Materia system allows the player to customize each party member's abilities to their liking, and the Limit system grants them unique combat skills. Though minigames had been a recurring feature, Final Fantasy VII introduces numerous new ones, many of them playable in the theme park Gold Saucer varying from racing with Chocobos to snowboarding.

Final Fantasy VII is the best-selling game in the series with over 12 million units sold. It is widely renowned as one of the most influential RPGs to date.[3][4][5] Its memorable soundtrack, characters and story make it one of the most popular games in the series, a prominent feature in popular culture, and a frequent candidate for lists of the greatest games of all time.[6][7][8] The popularity of the title has spawned a remake, titled simply Final Fantasy VII Remake, and a series of prequels, sequels and spinoffs titled the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VII uses the Active Time Battle system, in which the party member's action is input with a command in a menu once their ATB gauge fills, with up to three playable characters in a party, who can have various weapons, armor, accessories and—unique to the game—Materia equipped. Party members stand in a row (though their position can be altered in the menu) facing rows of enemies, which come arranged in one of many attack formations: facing them, surrounded by them, or surrounding them. The character commands include Attack, Magic, a command provided by Command Materia, Summon or Item command to use an item in their inventory, with the additional ability to Defend or change row.

Abilities the character can use depend on their equipped Materia, which can provide additional Magic, Summon and command abilities, or in other cases swap out commands for more powerful equivalents (such as W-Item replacing Item), and allows them to use any combination of abilities. Materia can also provide enhancements when combined with other Materia, or simply provide support abilities on their own.

Once a Limit gauge fills, the Attack command is replaced with "Limit", and a character has access to one of their specific Limit abilities (depending on their current Limit level and unlocked Limit abilities). Unlike the battle abilities provided by Materia, each Limit is character-specific with unique effects varying from dealing physical or magical damage to providing healing and buffs, which factor in different stats. Though most simply require choosing the ability and then choosing its target, Tifa's Limits and Cait Sith's second Limit require the use of Slots, and Vincent's Limits as well as one of Red XIII's Limits transform themselves to become more powerful yet uncontrollable rather than choosing a target. The Limit system is partially inherited from the Desperation Attacks of Final Fantasy VI, but is based on a gauge rather than HP percentage, and includes a greater variety of abilities beyond simply damaging.

While the majority of previous titles featured four playable characters, Final Fantasy VII features three, which became the standard in following games. Though many of the status effects are borrowed from status effects from previous titles, the Barrier and MBarrier (known in other games as Protect and Shell) have a limited use visualized by a gauge, which, like the main ATB gauge, can be sped up using Haste and slowed down using Slow. As the first three dimensional title in the series, the default camera setting moves it throughout the battle to focus on the command being used and their effects, unlike previous entries where the camera was fixed on a top-down position.

Through finding new Materia, weapons, armor and accessories, party members can be made more powerful and versatile. For defeating enemies, the party is rewarded EXP distributed to members alive, and halved for members not in the party, which allows the party to level up. AP is also awarded, which levels up the Materia equipped to the party members.

Each character has their own set of starting stats, which grow when the character levels up, though there are numerous other ways to boost stats. Stat-upgrading items boost a specific stat, and though difficult to come by, can be obtained ad infinitum through methods such as morphing enemies. Stats are further affected by Materia equipped, e.g. some Magic and Summon Materia will reduce HP and Strength in favor of Magic and MP as a penalty. Some Materia, such as HP Plus, exist to boost a specific stat. Stats max out at 255, meaning they cannot counteract reductions in these stats by Materia—unlike HP and MP, which can reach 9999 or 999 respectively.

The stat penalties incurred by equipping Materia are negligible, and the stat differences between party members are often not relevant. The player can thus easily use any party member for almost any role, and thus choose a preferred party based on their character and relevance to the current story segment, if they so wish. Due to the Materia system, the player can customize the party to their liking and give any role to any player character. The exception is Aeris who is presented as a dedicated mage by her stats and her default placement in the back row.

There are five kinds of Materia: Magic Materia, Summon Materia, Command Materia, Independent Materia and Support Materia. Magic and Summon Materia provide upgradeable magical and often elemental abilities to the Magic and Summon skillsets respectively. Command provides unique command abilities, such as Steal. Support Materia can be linked with other Materia to produce various effects, such as protection against or enhancement of attacks with elements and statuses found in Magic and Summon Materia, or can boost the abilities in other ways, such as allowing spells to hit all targets or be used as a counter to an attack. Independent Materia provide other boosts that can be simple stat increases, or can change the way a character can be used (such as Counter Attack). Each Materia is upgradeable through AP dropped by enemies, upgrading the abilities they provide, or unlocking new ones; once a Materia is mastered, it is duplicated and a new base Materia is created, ready to be equipped and upgraded.

There are four Limit levels, which determine how much damage a character must sustain before their Limit Break gauge fills. There are usually two Limits in each level except the fourth, which provides a single Limit, but requires a Limit item acquired from a short sidequest. Additionally, each character has an ultimate weapon that calculates damage in a unique way to that weapon based on different factors. Limits, and equipment are the only things truly unique to party members, and the player may choose to style their equipped Materia on these party members based on these factors. Though base stats are also unique to a character, they can be boosted easily, and their effect is ultimately negligible.

Outside of battle, characters use different, blockier models. The player controls the party leader—normally Cloud, but Aeris, Tifa, Barret, and Cid are party leaders briefly in the story—and can traverse and interact with the environment. This can involve interacting with non-player characters to use their dialog boxes, which can involve purchasing items and equipment from shops or progressing the main story or sidequests. Many areas feature treasure chests and areas that are not safe zones feature random encounters with enemies. Newly introduced in the game, players can traverse the environment in ways beyond walking, often involving climbing ladders or jumping across gaps.

Locations are accessed through the world map hub. The world map has few places without random encounters, and less interaction with the environment. It can be traversed on foot, or through one of the many means of transport, most notably Chocobos and the game's airship, the Highwind.

Final Fantasy VII features more minigames than previously seen in the series, many of which are playable in the Gold Saucer theme park. Players can race Chocobos to earn prizes, and breed new Chocobo varieties that can traverse otherwise inaccessible parts of the map. Other minigames in the Gold Saucer include Shooting Coaster, and others which also feature in story missions (such as snowboarding).

Minigames also happen outside of the Saucer. E.g. in Junon the player must perform CPR, participate in a parade, free Tifa from a gas chamber and partake in a slap fight between Tifa and a Shinra antagonist. At the Icicle Inn the player must use a snowboard to reach the bottom of the mountain. Fort Condor has a miniature RTS game where the player must position units to fend off an attack of monsters.

An energy manufacturing mega-company known as Shinra, Inc. is harvesting the sheer life energy of the Planet (known as the Lifestream) as a simple fossil fuel. The Lifestream is processed and made into products ranging from electricity and heat to Mako and Materia. The latter two materials can work miracles, granting the wisdom of the Ancients to the user. However, the Lifestream, like most other fuels, is finite in supply, and the Planet's lifeforce is being malevolently drained by the constant exploitation of Mako by Shinra. Though aware of the harmful effects, they function without remorse.



However, the real battle lies not with a corporation, but a force much more competent from the distant past. A long-thought dead warrior bent on becoming a god by draining all of the Lifestream from the Planet has risen again and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.



Now a small rebel group emanating from the slums must quell the various dangers toward the innocent, and one mercenary for hire must look amidst the lies and deception and find the man he is within. Official Introduction

The planet of Gaia, referred to simply as "the Planet" by its inhabitants, has three main continents. The planet is a living organism, and its lifeblood is the Lifestream, the liquid form being Mako, that wells in the substrata. Above the surface Mako crystallizes into Materia that allows its users to manipulate the powers of the planet in a phenomenon many call magic. Harvesting Mako as an energy source drains the planet of its life, and corrupts life forms, creating monsters in the wild.

The planet was once home to the Ancients, who called themselves the Cetra. The Cetra traveled the planet cultivating life wherever they went, and were said to be able to enter communion with the planet itself. At the end of their journey, legends tell, the Cetra entered the Promised Land, a place of supreme happiness.

The dominant faction of the world is the Shinra Electric Power Company, a powerful corporation that harvests Mako as an energy source. Shinra is seen as responsible for raising the quality of life for everyone in its sphere of influence. It has its own army, its special force being the SOLDIER, and is present in most parts of the planet. Shinra is opposed by a small terrorist organization known as AVALANCHE who seeks to stop Shinra from killing the planet by draining the Lifestream.

Shinra's base of operations is the metropolis of Midgar ringed by eight Mako Reactors that drain Mako for energy. While the upper city is an industrial powerhouse with a generally high quality of life, the lower city is made up of slums and receives little light and its air is polluted. The harvesting of Mako energy has made the area around Midgar a barren wasteland habited by monsters where flowers rarely grow.

Cloud Strife is the main protagonist, introducing himself as a former member of SOLDIER who now operates as a mercenary. Cloud is caught up in the actions of eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE, and although initially uncaring toward their mission, he has a change of heart when he begins to discover his shrouded past.

is the main protagonist, introducing himself as a former member of SOLDIER who now operates as a mercenary. Cloud is caught up in the actions of eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE, and although initially uncaring toward their mission, he has a change of heart when he begins to discover his shrouded past. Barret Wallace , the leader of AVALANCHE who wields a gun on his right arm in place of his injured hand. Despite his brash and loud-mouthed personality, he is a caring person and loves his daughter Marlene.

, the leader of AVALANCHE who wields a gun on his right arm in place of his injured hand. Despite his brash and loud-mouthed personality, he is a caring person and loves his daughter Marlene. Tifa Lockhart , Cloud's childhood friend and member of AVALANCHE, runs the bar 7th Heaven in the Sector 7 slums, which serves as the group's hideout. Her sympathetic exterior hides fearsome fighting skills.

, Cloud's childhood friend and member of AVALANCHE, runs the bar 7th Heaven in the Sector 7 slums, which serves as the group's hideout. Her sympathetic exterior hides fearsome fighting skills. Aeris Gainsborough , a flower girl from the Sector 5 Slums who befriends Cloud. Cloud's resemblance to someone she used to know mystifies Aeris, and she joins him and AVALANCHE on their quest to discover more about her heritage.

, a flower girl from the Sector 5 Slums who befriends Cloud. Cloud's resemblance to someone she used to know mystifies Aeris, and she joins him and AVALANCHE on their quest to discover more about her heritage. Red XIII is a quadrupedal, flame red beast capable of speech. The party rescues him from capture by Shinra. He speaks little, but when he does, his words are often important.

is a quadrupedal, flame red beast capable of speech. The party rescues him from capture by Shinra. He speaks little, but when he does, his words are often important. Cait Sith , a robotic cat atop a stuffed Mog, operates as a fortune teller at the Gold Saucer. He shouts commands to his Mog in battle using a megaphone.

, a robotic cat atop a stuffed Mog, operates as a fortune teller at the Gold Saucer. He shouts commands to his Mog in battle using a megaphone. Cid Highwind, the foul-mouthed, chain-smoking pilot of Rocket Town dreams of being the first man in space. His dreams were foiled when he was forced to abort the mission. Despite his bitter attitude, Cid has a good heart and cares about his friends.

Optional characters

Yuffie Kisaragi , first encountered as the Mystery Ninja, can be randomly encountered in any forest. A self-professed Materia hunter, she is sneaky and playful, and "hunts" Materia to restore her home of Wutai to its former glory.

, first encountered as the Mystery Ninja, can be randomly encountered in any forest. A self-professed Materia hunter, she is sneaky and playful, and "hunts" Materia to restore her home of Wutai to its former glory. Vincent Valentine, discovered sleeping in a coffin at Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim, is a former Turk with a traumatic past. After being subjected to numerous experiments, Vincent became able to transform into monstrous forms, but sealed himself in the coffin due to guilt in his past. Like Red XIII, he speaks little but offers helpful advice when he does.

Guest

Sephiroth, is a non-controllable temporary party member during a single sequence. After resurfacing years after being deemed dead, pursuing Sephiroth becomes the party's main motivation.

The soundtrack was Nobuo Uematsu's 22nd work for Square. It covers a wide variety of musical genres, including rock, techno, orchestral and choral.[9] It was largely created with MIDI sounds,[9] which have been described as giving it a "distinctive mood and feel", and were used according to Uematsu to reduce load times.[10] As the beginning of the PlayStation era, Uematsu was now able to use sounds recorded in a studio, which he claimed was the "biggest change" to music in video games.[11]

Like the game, the soundtrack has been well received. Popular pieces include "Aerith's Theme", a subdued and melodic character anthem, and "One-Winged Angel" (the first composition for the series to use recorded voices), and "Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII", which has been featured on several album releases and analyzed by Video Game Music Academy. Both of these pieces have appeared on Classic FM and been featured in the Hall of Fame at position 9 in 2015.[12] The album as a whole was given 5 stars by AllMusic.[13] The sound quality has received criticism for its MIDI sound, with RPGFan describing it as "standard MIDI sound" which "lacks almost any depth of tone", though conceding the rest of the soundtrack is great unless one "can't stand the sound of the MIDI synth".[9]

Music from the game has been commercially released on an original four-disc soundtrack, a single disc album of selected arranged tracks titled Final Fantasy VII: Reunion Tracks, and piano-only arrangement of selected tracks, the Piano Collections: Final Fantasy VII.

The original 1998 trailer of Final Fantasy VII features a piece of music called "Final Encounter" by Steve Baker that isn't featured in the game or the soundtrack.[14]

Xenogears started out as an early concept conceived by Tetsuya Takahashi and Kaori Tanaka for Square's Final Fantasy VII. The company deemed it "too dark and complicated for a fantasy", but Takahashi was allowed to develop it as a separate project.[15]

Planning sessions for Final Fantasy VII began in 1994 after the release of Final Fantasy VI. At the time, Final Fantasy VII was planned to be another 2D project for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.[16] According to Tetsuya Nomura, the series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi originally "wanted to do a detective story" with the first part involving a "hot-blooded" character named "Detective Joe", in pursuit of characters after they had blown up the city of Midgar.[17] Many staff members chose instead to work on Chrono Trigger, and development was halted.[16]

Development of Final Fantasy VII resumed in late 1995, and required the efforts of approximately 120 artists and programmers, using PowerAnimator and Softimage|3D software.[18] This was the largest game development team at the time, and included Japanese CG artists working alongside Hollywood CG visual effects artists. Final Fantasy VII was the most expensive video game of its time, with a production budget of around US$45 million.[19]

As a result of the high quantity of memory storage required to implement the motion data for characters, only the CD-ROM format would be able to suit the project's needs and thus the game would be developed for Sony's PlayStation platform.

Visually, the goal was to make Final Fantasy VII a completely unified work with a single style running from beginning to end. The transition from 2D computer graphics to 3D environments overlaid on pre-rendered backgrounds was accompanied by a focus on a more realistic presentation. The green and blue of the game's logo set the theme for the color tone for the rest of the game, reflected in the Mako energy and Lifestream that play crucial roles.[20]

The co-director and scenario writer of Final Fantasy VI, Yoshinori Kitase, returned to direct and co-write Final Fantasy VII. He was concerned the franchise might be left behind if it did not catch up to the 3D computer graphics used in other games at the time. Unlike with Final Fantasy VI that had an ensemble cast, Cloud was planned as the main character since the beginning. [21] Nomura helped create the basic story, and the team came up with the characters during that time. He cites Barret and Cait Sith as two characters he had wanted to create for a long time, but everyone else was created during the writing of the story.[21]

The original script of Final Fantasy VII, written by Sakaguchi, was rather different from the finished product. Sakaguchi wanted to craft a story that told of how someone having passed away does not mean they are gone, and to show a realistic death rather than a "Hollywood" sacrificial death that previous games in the series had done. These desires developed into the Lifestream, and the game's iconic death scene whose subject subsequently remains a part of the cast's lives.[22]

Scenario Writer Kazushige Nojima,[23] along with Director Yoshinori Kitase,[24] has stated in the Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimania interview that Spira from Final Fantasy X is the 'ancestor' civilization which colonized the Planet of Final Fantasy VII. This is reinforced by Shinra's mention of potentially harnessing the Farplane as an energy source, which his descendants would go on to do with the Lifestream many centuries later, as the Shinra Electric Power Company.

The Materia system was decided upon by the team, where weapons and armor can be equipped with any Materia. It was decided the battles wouldn't be about characters with individual, innate skills, but that combat would change depending on the way Materia was used.[21] Tetsuya Nomura came up with the idea of adding Limit Breaks to the battle system as an expansion of the Desperation Attacks of Final Fantasy VI as a way to bring out the characters' individual personalities and the unique character animations would further emphasize their individuality.[21]

Visuals and art direction [ edit | edit source ]

The series' long-time character designer, Yoshitaka Amano, was in the process of opening up art exhibitions in New York and France, and was unable to be as involved as in previous titles. Tetsuya Nomura was instead chosen to draw the character designs by Hironobu Sakaguchi.[25]

The game follows in the footsteps of Final Fantasy VI in presenting a world with more advanced technology than previous installments. The gamut of the game's technology covers space flight, robotics, advanced genetic engineering, automatic firearms, directed energy weapons, automobiles, helicopters, limited anti-gravity technology, and major global corporations; the level of technology in the world of Final Fantasy VII could be said to approximate that of near-future science fiction.

Final Fantasy VII is the first Final Fantasy game to show blood in a scene.



During the scene where the Sister Ray is about to fire at Diamond Weapon, a voice can be heard over an intercom.[26] (This is hardly audible due to the music that continues to play in the background. It can be heard while viewing the cutscene video clip that is on the PC version.)

There are five other examples of audible vocalization in the game: in the FMV sequence when Midgar's Sector 7 plate is collapsing onto the slum underneath, the slum's residents give a frightened scream. At the end of this sequence, President Shinra observes the chaos below from his top floor office in Shinra Tower listening to opera music. The sound of pilots and/or air traffic control can be heard communicating when Cloud first arrives in Upper Junon airport. During the Safer∙Sephiroth battle "One-Winged Angel" includes vocalized lyrics. And lastly, children's laughter is heard as the epilogue sequence draws to a close. These make Final Fantasy VII the first game in the series with audible voice acting. The voice actors involved are unknown and not named in the credits.

Modding community [ edit | edit source ]

A Final Fantasy VII PC modding community have spent the best part of 10 years working on a number of different mods, predominantly for the PC version of Final Fantasy VII, but some of the modding community have been working on PS versions. The patches have been known to improve both the audio/visual experience as well as the gameplay.

Final Fantasy VII was released January 31, 1997 in Japan, and later that year on September 7 in North America and in October 2 internationally. Its United States marketing budget amounted to $100 million,[19] spent on a three-month marketing campaign. This consisted of three thirty-second television advertisements found in Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons and on channels such as ESPN and MTV, as well as print adverts within magazines, such was Rolling Stone and Spin, and within comic books by DC Comics and Marvel Comics.[27] The $145 million budget, of which $45 million was development costs and the rest marketing,[19] made it the most expensive video game release of all time until Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2011,[28] even when not taking into account inflation.

The North American and PAL releases of Final Fantasy VII made substantial changes to the original Japanese version. Several areas of gameplay have been made more difficult by adding in new bosses. Random battle rates were cut down, and Materia swapping between characters was made easier. New flashbacks of Tifa meeting the semi-conscious Cloud on a train station, and a flashback of Cloud and Zack escaping Nibelheim, were also added in.

This version was re-released on PlayStation Network in North America on June 2, 2009, and in Europe and Australia on June 4 of the same year. The re-release made it playable on PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita consoles. It was downloaded 100,000 times within the first two weeks of release, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation game on the Network.[29]

The game with the changes made to the North American version was re-released in Japan as Final Fantasy VII International, the first International Version, a semi-recurring feature of the series. It includes Final Fantasy VII: Perfect Guide, a special fourth disc with maps, character information, design sketches, and other trivia. A later limited version, Final Fantasy VII International Advent Pieces: Limited was released in a collectible metal case that could be assembled into a display stand.

This version was re-released on PlayStation Network on April 10, 2009.

In 1998, the game received its first port to the Microsoft Windows platform. The re-release features smoother graphics and fixes to translation and spelling errors (such as "This guy are sick" and "Beacause Cloud"), though the audio quality was diminished. The PC release is popular among modding communities.

In 2012, Square Enix re-released the game for the PC platform. It was initially released through the Square Enix Store in August 14, 2012, before later released on Steam on July 4, 2013. Initially, the re-release appeared on August 5, 2012 on the Square Enix Store, as a result of testing the site for the product's relaunch, though the product upon purchase was unusable, and Square Enix offered a refund and a free copy of the re-release to those who had bought it.[30]

In addition to graphical resolution improvements to the previous port, the re-release also featured cloud saving, as well as unlockable achievements and a Character Booster feature. The audio quality received many complaints, and on 27 September 2013, Square Enix upgraded the in-game audio.

The system requirements for this release are as follows:

Minimum OS Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 (32/64bits) Processor 2GHz Memory 1 GB RAM Graphics DirectX 9.0c-compatible graphic card Hard Drive 3 GB available space Others DirectX 9.0c

Square Enix account

This version was released as International in Japan. Additionally, on October 9, 2014, it was made available in Japan on the Dive In platform.

iOS and PlayStation 4 [ edit | edit source ]

On December 6, 2014, at PlayStation Experience event in Las Vegas, the Final Fantasy brand manager Shinji Hashimoto announced that Final Fantasy VII will be re-released on PlayStation 4, based on the 2012 PC re-release version.[32] It was originally slated for a spring 2015 release, but in E3 2015 Square Enix conference it was announced its release had been delayed to winter 2015, after a release on iOS platforms[33] The game was released December 5, 2015, a year after its announcement. Purchases of the title include an exclusive theme that uses screenshots from the E3 2015 trailer for the remake as wallpapers, "Aerith's Theme" from Piano Collections: Final Fantasy VII as background music, and menu navigation sound effects from the original game.

Both the mobile and PlayStation 4 ports are based on the PC port in 2012. They share features including the resolution, achievements, while bringing additional boosters, namely the ability to boost the speed, max character stats and to disable random encounters. Additionally, this was the first re-release in which the field character runs by default. A trailer for Final Fantasy VII Remake, shown at E3 2015, is also featured in the PlayStation 4 release.

PlayStation Classic [ edit | edit source ]

On December 3, 2018, Sony released a PlayStation Classic mini console, which includes the original Final Fantasy VII among 19 other games. This version includes a save state feature not available in earlier versions.

Critical reception [ edit | edit source ]

Final Fantasy VII received widespread critical acclaim upon release. Reviews from video game magazines and newspapers were highly positive, with 49 reviews giving an average aggregate score of 97%, including 26 perfect scores, according to Magazines from the Past.[34]

In North America, the game received 17 perfect scores from reviews in North American print publications upon release.[34] GameFan called it "quite possibly the greatest game ever made," a quote which featured prominently on the back cover of the game's jewel case.[57] The Electronic Gaming Monthly panel of four reviewers gave the game scores of 9.5 out of 10 each, adding up to 38 out of 40 overall.[43][58] GamePro praised the "massive world," experimentation "with spells and weapons, encounters with weird creatures," and "soap opera-ish story line", concluding it has "classic" written "all over it."[47] Game Informer called it "the most amazing RPG we've ever seen"[59][60] and "the best RPG ever made."[46] Just Adventure called it "the greatest game ever created" and "a work of art" and "masterpiece that goes beyond video games." They praised the "very dark and emotional story" as "beautifully conceived" and called it "a very inspirational and powerful video game."[53]

In the United Kingdom, Edge noted, "The 'interactive movie' has long been a dirty term to anyone who values a playable videogame, but FFVII succeeds in coming closer than any title yet," with the "highly complex, melodramatic story and excellently orchestrated chip music" combining "to make players feel real empathy with the characters," a "task usually shied away from by the action/comedy-orientated western graphic adventures."[61] Paul Davies of Computer and Video Games described it as "truly unique" and "an incredible new era of interactive entertainment" that could "revolutionize" belief of "what a video game can achieve", with arguably "some of the best moments in entertainment history", including "excitement" and "heart-rendering" emotional scenes, concluding that, with a "thrilling" storyline "brought to life with ingenious" gameplay, the "future of PlayStation is assured by this key to the future of games."[39]

Retrospective reception is also positive. Based mostly on online retrospective reviews written years after its release, GameRankings has given the game an average rating of 92.4%, based on 31 reviews.[36] It also currently holds an average rating of 92 out of 100 at Metacritic, based on 20 reviews, again mostly online retrospective reviews years after its release.[37] Combining both contemporary reviews from its time and retrospective reviews years after its release, MobyRank has given the game an overall average rating of 95%, based on 62 reviews.[35]

Final Fantasy VII won many Game of the Year awards for 1997. It won an Origins Award in the "Best Roleplaying Computer Game of 1997" category.[62] At the second CESA Awards (now Japan Game Awards), it won the "Grand Prize" and the "Best Scenario" and "Best Sound" awards.[63] At the first Japan Media Arts Festival, it won an "Excellence Prize" in the "Digital Art (Interactive Art)" division.[64] It was also awarded the Readers' Choice awards for "All Systems Game of the Year", "PlayStation Game of the Year", "Role-Playing Game of the Year", "Best Graphics of the Year" and "Best Music of the Year" by Electronic Gaming Monthly,[65] as well as their Editors' Choice awards for "Role-Playing Game of the Year", "Best Graphics",[66] "Hottest Video Game Babe" (for Tifa Lockhart), "Most Hype for a Game", "Best Ending", and "Best Print Ad",[67] in addition to Readers' Choice nominations for "Most Original Game of the Year" and "Best Sound of the Year",[65] and Editors' Choice nominations for "All Systems Game of the Year" and "PlayStation Game of the Year".[66]

On May 17, 2018, Final Fantasy VII was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame as a member of its 2018 class, and is the first title in the series so accredited by the project.[68]

Commercial performance [ edit | edit source ]

Final Fantasy VII sold over two million copies within three days of its release in Japan.[25] The momentum inspired retailers to break the release date in North America, where the game continued to sell well.[25] The title sold just under 10 million copies for the PlayStation,[69] which makes it the second best-selling PlayStation game of all time behind only Gran Turismo with 10.8 million.[70]

The 1998 PC version sold over 1 million physical units,[71] and the 2013 Steam release also sold over 1.2 million digital units,[72] bringing total PC sales to over 2.2 million units. Combined, the PlayStation and PC releases sold over 12 million units.

Since 1997, Final Fantasy VII has been chosen by many game magazines and other publications as one of the best video games ever made. Most recently, in 2012, Time named it one of the "All-TIME 100 Video Games".[73] Historically, Final Fantasy VII became an influential watershed of the 3D generation of consoles and games that would use the format in the 1990s, and helped establish the format's succession as the new technological frontier and standard for the mainstream industry.

In 2013, GamePro included Final Fantasy VII in its "20 most innovative games ever made" list. They stated described it as "a classic that touched an entire genre of gaming" and "an entire generation of gamers." They also stated that its "status as an early PlayStation One exclusive gave Sony the edge it needed to compete in and eventually dominate the video game industry."[74] In 2008, game designer Peter Molyneux stated that Final Fantasy VII was the game that defined the RPG genre.[75]

Final Fantasy VII has also often placed at or near the top of many reader polls of all-time best games. Most recently, in 2014, Sony Computer Entertainment conducted a poll with over 10,000 Japanese fans, where Final Fantasy VII was voted the second favorite PlayStation game of all time (behind Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride), the second best game that impressed "more than a movie or a novel" (behind Final Fantasy X), and the most wanted remake.[76]

In a 2017 retrospective, Jeremy Parish of USgamer praised the game's use of the "unreliable narrator" literary concept, comparing it to Fight Club, The Sixth Sense, and Memento. He also praised how it uses the gameplay to progress the "unreliable narrator" literary concept beyond that usually seen in film.[77]

On December 3, 2018 Sony released the PlayStation Classic which includes the original Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VII appeared, along with Final Fantasy Tactics, in Smithsonian Art of Video Games exhibit held between March 18 and September 30, 2012. The video games in the exhibition were decided by public vote.

In a Famitsu character popularity poll, Final Fantasy VII had six characters (Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, Aerith, Zack, and Yuffie) place. This is the most amount of characters from any one game listed. Final Fantasy VII was the winner of the 2004 GameFAQs user poll contest "Best. Game. Ever.", beating the fellow Square RPG, Chrono Trigger. However, in GameFAQs second "Best. Game. Ever." poll, the game finished runner-up to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It came second in Empire magazine's 2010 feature "100 Greatest Videogames Ever", beaten only by Super Mario World.[78] In 2012, Final Fantasy VII got #33 in G4's "Top 100 Games of All Time".

In a poll by Sony, Final Fantasy VII was ranked as the second favourite PlayStation game, behind Metal Gear Solid, and ahead of Crash Bandicoot.[79] After a poll done in Japan in December 2014, both Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X were voted as the best PlayStation games by fans.[80]

After the new millennium Yoshinori Kitase and Tetsuya Nomura were approached and asked for a game that could be expanded across multiple platforms and mediums. Final Fantasy VII was chosen, which led to the creation of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. To date, the compilation includes two mobile phone games, one sequel game, one prequel game, one full-length CGI film, an OVA, and several short novellas.

The games within the collection have expanded on the story of Final Fantasy VII both before and after the original game, but have been met with mixed reactions for a number of reasons, including various retcons and liberties taken with the original storyline and characters.

In 2005 at the Sony E3 annual press conference, Square Enix showed a technical demo for the PlayStation 3 depicting the opening sequence to the original Final Fantasy VII remade with the PlayStation 3's enhanced graphics, sparking rumours of a remake. These rumors were sparked a second time with Square Enix's exhibition of new FMV artworks during the Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary event in Japan. The artworks[81] later sparked more rumors.

Square Enix denied rumors of the remake, despite liking the idea. In 2010, CEO Yoichi Wada stated he would "explore the possibilities" of the platform. He followed up by stating it would take longer than he was prepared to invest.[83] Tetsuya Nomura stated in 2012 that other projects take precedence,[84] which Yoshinori Kitase reaffirmed in 2014, stating he would love to do a remake but it would take too much for the project to be a reality.[85]

On June 15, 2015, in E3, the hotly anticipated remake was announced as Final Fantasy VII Remake. The first entry was released on April 10, 2020. The game is intended as a timed PlayStation 4 exclusive until 2021.

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Final Fantasy VII was the first Final Fantasy game whose Japanese game cover was just the logo on white background, a tradition that continued until Final Fantasy XV. At first, Square were talking about removing the lettering of the logo and just having the image of Meteor Yoshitaka Amano had drawn, but it didn't materialize. The background was chosen to be white because Hironobu Sakaguchi said that the image of Final Fantasy was white.[86]

Final Fantasy VII makes references to the number 7, the rest of the Final Fantasy series, as well as mythology, folklore and religion, and popular culture—the Loveless album by My Bloody Valentine as a known example—among others.