FFVII Version Guide

Since its initial Japanese release for the PlayStation, Final Fantasy VII has been released multiple times and even received PC ports. Some of these releases can be counted as their own “version”, with differences in content compared to the others. This guide will present these disparities and is ergo not a guide to all the different casings one and the same version has been released in. In other words there will be no delving into “Black Label” or “Greatest Hits” releases here, seeing as these releases only have different casings but the same game content.

If you are unfamiliar with the various versions of FFVII and the abbreviations generally used for each of them, we recommend you read the segment “History of the FFVII Versions” below the index. Further down you can find a to-do list for content yet To Be Compared and a Credits section devoted to all who have contributed to this guide.

History of the FFVII Versions

The first version of Final Fantasy VII was released on the PlayStation (‘PS‘ being the official abbreviation) in Japan on January 31, 1997. This “Japanese Original” is hereby referred to as “JORG” but can also fit under the technical title of being the “1.0” version. Any release after this one falls under the category of “Post-JORG” (version 1.1).

The localized edition, released in North America September 7 1997, included: New monsters, new scenes, an updated FMV, changed monster AI and in general fewer glitches. A little less than one month later, on October 2, the Japanese game was re-released under the name “FFVII International” and had all the features of the localized edition but also came packaged with a bonus disc titled “Perfect Guide”. This bonus disc acted as an encyclopedic guide to the FFVII world and its gameplay; the disc has never seen release outside of Japan. JORG saves can be loaded in FFVII International, here sometimes abbreviated as JINT, and saved to become permanent JINT save files. FFVII International saves will not be detected when loading the Japanese original.

Europe received their FFVII copies on November 17 the same year, released not only in English but also in German, French and Spanish.

The European PlayStation releases, all localizations, are referred to as “PAL“. PAL stands for ‘Phase Alternating Line‘ and is a television broadcast format used in Europe (and other places as well) where the employed utility frequency is 50Hz (50 frames per second). The format in North America and Japan is NTSC, which plays at 60Hz (60 frames per second). What this means in practice is that the PAL versions play 1,2 times slower than its NTSC counterparts! The North American PlayStation releases are usually referred to as “English NTSC” in this guide but “NTSC-US” is also a proper term.

In 1998 the first PC port of FFVII arrived to North America (May 31) and to Europe (June 25). Among the bigger changes were the use of the MIDI format to play the game’s music. Like the European PlayStation version, the European PC port was also released in German, French and Spanish. The PC port mostly fits the Post-JORG category, with a few exceptions where parts of JORG and even pre-release content (which might be dubbed ‘version 0.9‘) made its way to the final port due to Eidos initially receiving outdated source files. The commonly used name for this version is “PC98“. Currently, no distinction is made between the English American and English European releases because no differences have been spotted as of yet.

No PC port was released in Japan at the time. Common speculation is that this was due to PC gaming being deemed a too small market there in comparison to western countries. Contrary to this assessment, the sequel to FFVII, Final Fantasy VIII, did gets its own Japanese PC port.

The PlayStation versions, with the exception of JORG, would see physical re-releases and eventually even appeared on the PSN store. So far nothing indicates that these releases differ from their initial retail counterparts.

An updated, digital-only PC port was then released on August 14, 2012, for sale on Square Enix’s respective North American and European official online stores. Due to the year of release this PC port is commonly called PC2012. This version became available on Steam on July 4, 2013. Initially the PC2012 version used OGGs created from the PC98 MIDI music, but on September 27 2013 it was updated to use the PlayStation music instead.

The new digital port was worked into a Japanese version as well and so Japan got its first PC port of FFVII on May 16 2013. The chosen abbreviation here is JPC. It is still a fact though that Japan has never received its own physical PC port.

The roster of versions thus far is as follows, coupled with their abbreviations:

Any PlayStation Version PS Initial Japanese Release JORG Any version after JORG Post-JORG North American (PS) English NTSC or NTSC-US FFVII International JINT European (PS) PAL Any PC Version PC Eidos’s PC Port PC98 New PC Port from 2012 PC2012 Japanese PC Port JPC Any Japanese Version JP

A commonly used abbreviation for the original PlayStation is “PSX”. That abbreviation is not used for this guide so to not confuse it with the PSX console, which was a PlayStation 2 with a digital video recorder.

To Be Compared

This guide is sure to receive updates in the future. Here is a quickly put together list of versions and content that are yet to be analyzed. Maybe you, the reader, would like to contribute in any of these areas?

– The Japanese PC Port: This will eventually gets its own page and will analyze elements where it differs from the Japanese PS releases and the previous PC ports.

– Summon Animation Differences, PS versus PC : It has been spotted that some of the camera angle cues for the Phoenix and Knights of Round summon differ between PS and PC. Not only is this fact yet to be added to the guide, but not every summon and every version of their animation sequences have been compared as of yet. It is also true that summons have not been compared between PlayStation versions.

– Further Battle & Enemy Analysis : The full extent of changes in encounter rate between JORG and post-JORG are yet to be researched. Only a handful of monsters and bosses have had their battle AI compared, which leaves room open for many yet-to-be-reported discoveries.

– Equipment, Items & Materia Comparison : There is no reason to believe that stat boosts, effects, animations etc were changed between versions. But the fact remains that differences *CAN* exist and nobody has checked for them yet.

– More Script Comparisons : While the field scripts of each version have been compared to a huge extent, so far the text for menus, battles and the world map are yet to be extracted and compared across versions.

– Minigame Data :

— Full list of available prizes in Chocobo Racing when comparing PS and PC.

— Speed Square: What is the maximum theoretical and practical value that can be received from the zeppelin propeller in JORG and PC? It has also been spotted that at least one or two targets are not always available at the same time and place between versions, but this is yet to be catalogued in detail.

— The conditions for unlocking extra features in Snowboarding differ between the Playstation versions and the PC ports, but the exact difference is yet to be measured.

– German/Spanish/French Translation Quirks: This one may or may not receive its own page in the future. The non-English localizations are known for their poor translations, which trump even the original English translation in just how bad it is. A page devoted to these would list the most humorous and/or fascinating translation choices.

– Pre-logo credits and end-game credits: There are many subtle differences to be found here, mostly with spellings changing and credit sections being added or changed. Due to its mundane nature this may be placed in its own page, but some discoveries may still be added to already existing sections. The ending credits for NTSC-US and English PAL have already been compiled. What’s missing is…

— Full transcription of Japanese ending credits, both for JORG and JINT. Some differences have already been spotted here.

— PC port credits

— PC2012 additional credits (easily accessed via the FFVII Launcher, but yet to be written down and added to this guide)

Credits

Most of the FFVII Version Guide was written and compiled by its author, Shademp, but many others have contributed with data, media rips, translations, proofreading etc. Without them this guide wouldn’t be half of what it is now.

– Field Script rips comparing English games and Japanese games respectively: BrutalAl

– Translations from Japanese to English + Commentary for said translations: Hitoshura, Squall_of_SeeD, Pixel, Akai Hana and GlitterBerri.

– Proofreaders: PrinceLex, JBedford128

– Chocobo Racing observations: huhbum

– Additional PC98 & PC2012 info: JBedford128