Screenshot of Final Fantasy VII early in development. The screenshot depicts Locke Cole as the party leader.

Final Fantasy VII began development in 1994 soon after the release of Final Fantasy VI, and was planned to be a 2D game for the Super NES utilizing isometric sprites and set in New York City. Development slowed due to Chrono Trigger being developed at the same time, and some development staff working on VII left the team to aid with Chrono Trigger. By late 1995 plans shifted to make the game 3D, as Yoshinori Kitase wished for the series to keep up with the rise of 3D gaming, and the next generation Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation would be able to use 3D graphics more prominently. In the same year, Squaresoft made a technical demo using 3D versions of Final Fantasy VI characters as an experiment in making the 3D models that would be used for Final Fantasy VII.