Final Fantasy VII
Description official descriptions
The seventh installment of the Final Fantasy series takes place in a post-modern, steampunk, sci-fi world where high technology reigns and where robots and bio-engineered mutants co-exist with humans and dragons.
The story focuses on Shinra Inc., an evil mega-corporation responsible for all the world's high technology. Shinra supports this technology with Mako Energy, Shinra's patented source of power. Unfortunately, Mako is the lifeblood of the living planet and by using it up Shinra is slowly upsetting the balance of nature.
In comes AVALANCHE, a rebel group of disenfranchised citizens who have taken it upon themselves to oppose Shinra's ambitions. The main character is an ex-Shinra soldier named Cloud Strife, an angst-ridden fellow with a complex history that is explained as the game goes on. Cloud joins up with AVALANCHE as a mercenary for hire, and together they take on Shinra's maniacal executives and their army of shock-troops, robots, and mutants. However, after a while, it becomes apparent that there are other forces at work, and ultimately Cloud must not only fight against Shinra but also stop a powerful man from his past from destroying the world.
Like its predecessors, Final Fantasy VII is a role-playing game in Japanese style, featuring turn-based combat with a real-time (ATB, "active time battle") element against randomly appearing enemies. Customization in the game revolves around a so-called "Materia" system. Instead of magic spells, abilities, and bonus stats being saved to a single character, they are saved to Materia orbs, allowing the player to change a character's spells and abilities from the equipment menu at any time. Materia orbs can be bought in stores or found during exploration. The series' trademark summoned monsters are also contained within specific Materia. Besides experience points, characters also receive ability points that gradually upgrade the abilities of the currently equipped Materia.
Each character also possesses a set of unique attacks called "Limit Breaks". By sustaining enough damage without dying a character will build up their Limit Gauge, which can be expended to do a highly damaging attack when filled. More powerful Limit Breaks are unlocked as previous ones are used, and acquiring the most powerful Limit Break of each character will require the completion of sub-quests.
The game utilizes 3D character models and pre-rendered backgrounds with varying camera angles for the exploration of towns and hostile areas. World map navigation and battle screens are done completely in 3D. CG movies are frequently used as cutscenes that advance the game's story. The game features a large number of mini-games (most of which are optional) and many ways to explore the game world, as the player gradually acquires various vehicles that can venture into previously inaccessible locations.
Spellings
- Финальная Фантазия 7 - Russian spelling
- ファイナルファンタジーＶＩＩ - Japanese spelling
- 太空戰士 7 - Chinese spelling (traditional)
- 最終幻想VII - Chinese spelling (traditional)
- 最终幻想7 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
Groups +
- Animals: Cats
- Console Generation Exclusives: PlayStation
- Fantasy creatures: Dragons
- Fantasy creatures: Goblins
- Final Fantasy games
- Final Fantasy series
- Final Fantasy VII games
- Gameplay feature: Creature breeding / fusion
- Gameplay feature: Gambling
- Gameplay feature: House ownership
- Games made into movies
- PlayStation Greatest Hits releases
- PlayStation Platinum Range releases
- Setting: Church / Monastery
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Credits (PlayStation version)
407 People (355 developers, 52 thanks) · View all
| Product Development Coordinator | |
| QA Manager | |
| Customer Service Manager | |
| Executive VP, Strategic Planning | |
| Vice President of Marketing | |
| Assistant Marketing Associates | |
| Testers | |
| Producer | |
| Director | |
| Music Composer | |
| Main Programmer | |
| Character Director & Battle Visual Director | |
| Art Director | |
| Image Illustrator | |
| CG Supervisor | |
| [ full credits ] | |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 92% (based on 112 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 677 ratings with 32 reviews)
The seventh era of Square's rule
The Good
The world of gaming industry would surely not be the same without this game. Almost everything about this game is more than good. At the time of its release few games could rival its graphics. The backgrounds and characters were beautifully designed and the FMVs added a cinematic experience that no other game had at that time. The materia system was also pretty good and easy to use with many combinations that you could try in battle. The developers really succeeded in mixing a sci-fi world, full of technology, with magic and with the concept that the planet was alive. I believe that the eccentric, anime-like style characters fitted there pretty well too.
Great graphics and great gameplay. But Final Fantasy VII is more than just that.
You take control of a cold-blooded Ex-SOLDIER named Cloud who joins a resistance faction called Avalanche in their struggle to get rid of the Shinra Inc. – a corporation that made the lives of people easier by creating reactors to drain Mako energy but ignoring or not caring that this Mako energy is the same life force of the planet and so the planet will eventually perish if that goes on. Still that’s only a prologue to the game. Many events that will change your true goal will follow.
All the characters of the story are tragic. They will all have to face their past, sooner or later and meet their destiny. The player will have an emotional impact with the events on the game that will make his/her hair stand on end. The magnificent music will help on that feeling too. I mean who needs voice-overs when the music was written by Nobuo Uematsu? Another thing that made this game what it is – is the villain, Sephiroth. Sephiroth was probably the most tragic character off all. Square took him to a far greater level than any other villain in the series by giving him deeper reasons that justify his later actions. Just name a villain from another game that has a reason for what he/she is or does and not just because they didn’t wake up nicely in the morning. Well? That’s right. That’s why Final Fantasy VII is unique.
The Bad
The only bad thing I can say about this game is the difference between the graphics of the characters when on field and the ones when inside a battle. The gameplay on the action mini games is a minus too. Also the gameplay of the rest of the game is linear but if you think about it Cloud, the leading man, doesn’t do what he does because he was ordered or because he was caught up in a major scene where the facts controlled his choices. It was his choice to follow Avalanche and then it became like his quest to defeat Sephiroth. I believe that feeling of freedom of choice makes you not notice the linear gameplay. Well maybe not.
The Bottom Line
FFVII is one of the best games that were ever created. Not only it brought japanese RPGs to the west but it also expanded the definition of what the title ‘’Final Fantasy’’ meant – something that didn’t please many of the fans of the series though. It also made Playstation, along with the Gran Turismo, the console it was. And after all these years if you think the graphics and the gameplay are outdated so that you shouldn’t bother checking it keep in mind that it’s an RPG. Graphics matter not. The true core of RPGs, especially the ones that are turn based, is the plot. The plot and the depth of the characters. This game has both. That’s why it has last and will last even more.
I also want to say something that was bugging me for quite a long time. Characters in video games can jump higher than normal people, keep their breathe for 10 whole minutes underwater and lift swords yes lift swords bigger than them like they were feathers. And they look cool.Why? Because it’s a game. A GAME! And in a game ANYTHING APPLIES. WAKE UP!
PlayStation · by DreinIX (10448) · 2007
The Good
This is probably my favorite RPG game. It inspired me to get a Playstation and not just be at the mercy of borrowing my brother's from time to time.
I liked that it was turned-based battles. And the music of the different characters really stayed with me. I have purchased the soundtrack for this game as well.
The Bad
I did not like some of the hokey relationship stuff between the childhood friends. This doesn't impact the gameplay though.
The Bottom Line
This was my start into the realm of Final Fantasy. I have bought many of the others - but this one will always be my favorite of the group.
PlayStation · by Frozen Codebase (121) · 2009
Mystery beyond mystery. Why is this game fun?
The Good
There's great graphics (well, apart of the very non-detailed 3D characters in the actual game...), good animations (some rather cool combat animations that aren't easy to grow tired about), Not at all bad music, a decent playability, a plot that doesn't have too many apparent dead ends.
It's hard to describe, but this game is just simply fun.
The Bad
As a big fan of "western" CRPGs, there's a whole lot to grumble about. I don't think I'll even bother much - let's just say that the game system and mechanics are antiquated to the extreme. Combat system is pre-stone age. Dialogue trees have been invented too, but the Japanese obviously haven't heard about them yet. Random encounters are completely infuriating. I sort of did like the magic system though.
The dialogue is rather perplexing. Either it's decent, or it's annoying, or just pathetic. There are more JRPG plot or character cliches in this thing than you can count - and sometimes they turn out to be quite boring. (Luckily, not always!) And as many Cloud fans there are, I just have to say that I just couldn't identify with him. I found most of the other party members quite interesting though.
And save points suck. I want to save games immediately, not after getting hit by million little monsters.
I'm not a terribly big fan of the minigames in FF7 either - for some reason, I've never found them very inspiring in any game.
The Bottom Line
(For what it's worth: I've played through the first CD and quite a chunk of the second too.)
Final Fantasy VII has some great fun. I have played quite a many addicting RPGs, but I think this is one has that sinister, evil kind of pull that gently tugs me deeper to the madness, madness that is the heart of this game. For other RPGs I can explain it - for example, I couldn't stop playing Ultima VII because I simply loved the world and loved the dialogues. But FF7 is different - I'm unable to stop playing, and the only reason I can say is "I'm having fun".
It's certainly not the story. Plot has been seen before. I like games with subtle messages, and this game just shouts at me "mega-corporations are evil and nature is cool" and all that. I found myself Yawning Terribly at the plot things. It's not the characters either. I found Cloud mostly uninteresting, though other characters were rather fascinating in their own ways. It's not the game system. Idiotically simple controls that thankfully still offer quite complex playability.
I don't know why I liked all this stuff. Maybe it's just the look of the game. Maybe it's just the right kind of environments, overall pleasantness of the game and the people in it, some rather interesting surprises in spite of the awful load of cliches there are. (Or maybe I just found the cliches themselves funny. Yes, that's got to be a factor).
I might be even recommending this game as one of the essential RPGs anyone needs to play to understand the genre, but I might be overstating. I would recommend it to people who have never seen a RPG and would like to start the hobby in a fun and fashionable way without getting thwacked by too many people. Just play it, it rules - and even if you don't like it, there are probably still a plenty of RPGs you probably do like.
Windows · by WWWWolf (444) · 2004
Discussion
| Subject | By | Date |
|---|---|---|
| overrated? | Andy Social (16) | Apr 4, 2023 |
| FF7.sf2 content description | MerlynKing | Feb 7, 2018 |
| You know, I just realized something... | Lance Boyle (1532) | Aug 26, 2010 |
| Amazing. Simply amazing. The price I mean. | GAMEBOY COLOR! (1990) | Jun 3, 2009 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
The PS1 version of Final Fantasy VII appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Dating
Around 1/3 of the way into the game (relatively), you reach the Golden Saucer and have a date with one of the characters, usually Tifa or Aeris, depending on a lot of choices you've made through the game. However, it's actually possible to go on a date with any character in your party, even Barrett. (the game has a number of amusing asides and jokes that come up if you favor an all-male party and ignore the girls).
Death scene
Producer Hironobu Sakaguchi allowed one of the characters to die as an expression of grief after his mother died during the production of Final Fantasy VI. There were almost hundreds of rumours circulating around the net that this character could be brought back to life by doing this or that (usually very complex procedures). Unfortunately none of these are true.
Discs
The original PlayStation version of the game was released on 3 CDs, where each CD contained a part of the story. In reality, all 3 CDs are almost identical, they all contain approximately 250MB of game data and 400MB of videos, only the latter differs between CDs. As a proof, the game only prompts you to insert the correct CD when you load a saved game. But if, after loading your game, you swap it for another CD, this won't have any effect, except when a video should play, where the game will either crash or play a wrong video.
Fangame sequel
In June 2008 Rich Whitehouse released the fangame sequel Avalanche, continuing the story, but with brawling beat-em-up gameplay.
Film sequel
Due to the popularity of Final Fantasy VII, Square-Enix released a full-length CG animated feature film called Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005). The film is set several years after the events of the game.
Missing items
A few items were not cut out of the final product. There are certain programs that allow you to view game files such as background images and text, and by doing so you can see some that weren't used. If you were to search through all the text, you can find an Elixir in the pipe of the sick man in Midgar, an item called "Letter to Wife in Kalm", "Letter to Daughter in Kalm", "Homemade Potion!" that you were supposed to get from Cloud's mother, and maybe the most interesting of all: the item "High Blow ST", which sounds a lot like a weapon which is supposed to be found in the basement of Shinra mansion, but is nowhere to be found in the game.
Music
The instrumental music playing during the scene when Midgar collapses around President Shinra is Die Schöpfung ("The Creation") by Joseph Haydn, a Austrian composer of the 18th century. The lyrics to One-Winged Angel, the song that plays during the final confrontation, are taken from Carmina Burana an opera written by Carl Orff in the 1930s.
In the PlayStation version of this game, there's a live chorus singing during the final battle. In the PC conversion, the music is in midi format so only certain soundcards and drivers can support this. Without the proper soundcard/driver combination, you get no chorus and just the background midi. The wonky thing is that you have to play all the way to the end of the game just to see if your soundcard is supported.
The game's PC install disc includes the Yamaha YXG-100 MIDI synthesizer software. For a year or two after this game was released, the install disc was the only place where you could find YXG-100. Yamaha's download page featured only the YXG-50 and YXG-70 versions of the software. The website can be found in related links.
The Final Fantasy VII soundtrack by
My Bloody Valentine reference
In the beginning of the game, right after Cloud leaves the building on fire, there's a big outdoor view of a dark-haired girl and the writings "OVELESS - Y LOODY ALENTINE". This is a reference to British dreampop band My Bloody Valentine, which released its most famous album Loveless back in 1991. The dark-haired girl from the poster looks quite like band member Belinda Butcher (later in the game, the name "Loveless" pops up once again, referred to as a play)
Norse mythology references
There are some references to Norse mythology in this game, e.g. Midgar = Midgård = Middle-Earth, which is the world humans live on; Nibelheim = Nifelheim, the ice land that existed before the world was created of the giant Ymir's body.
Numbering
Final Fantasy VII was the first game in the series since the original to keep its Japanese title (more specifically, the number) for the English-language release. Since the second, third and fifth instalments were yet to be officially translated, the fourth and sixth instalments had been retitled as the second and third games, respectively, for their original releases in North America. When Sony acquired the international publishing rights to Final Fantasy VII, the title was not changed, much to the confusion of American players of the earlier games, and more so in Europe where none of the previous main games had seen a release up to that point.
Remake teaser
At E3 2005 Square-Enix showed a remake of the original Final Fantasy VII intro with new up-to-date graphics, including a fully detailed Midgar and high-resolution characters. The video was said to be a tech demo, meant to show off the capabilities of the new Sony console, and even though there were much more astounding videos made in that sense, this one literally caused a sensation, because many people all over the world thought that if Square had put much effort for such a demo, there really was going to be a remake.
Sales
No less than 2 million copies were sold in just two days when the game was released in Japan.
Sephiroth
The name of the main adversary in the game is Sephiroth. This is a Greek-influenced spelling of the Hebrew word "sfirot" (ספירות), a plural form of "sfira" (ספירה), which literally means "counting". According to Kabbala, the Jewish mystical philosophy, sfirot are the primary powers using which God had created the world.
Sephiroth wields the legendary sword, Masamune. Named after a famous Japanese swordsmith, a variant of the Masamune has appeared in countless Square games including other Final Fantasys, Chrono Trigger, and later Vagrant Story.
Version differences
- For the US PlayStation release Square made some improvements over the original. These included the elimination of several bugs and, most importantly, the addition of some cutscenes (game engine-based, not rendered). This caused a big scandal in Japan, which was left with an "inferior" version. To correct this, Square released an "international version", which is simply the American version with a fourth "Making Of" CD added.
- The 2012 Windows re-release adds achievements, cloud saving and a cheat button which instantly gives maximum HP, MP and Gil.
Xenogears reference
In the PlayStation version, the second time you go to Mideel, talk to Cloud three times and you'll get a reference to Xenogears:
"A billion mirror fragments......small......light......taken......angel's......singing voices......xeno......gias......"
At the time, it was not yet known if Xenogears would be localized for Western audiences. In the later Windows version "xeno gias" was changed to "xeno gears", making the reference much more obvious.
Awards
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
- October 1997 (Issue 99) - Game of the Month
- November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #21 (Best 100 Games of All Time)
- November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #9 (Readers' Top 10 Games of All Time)
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - Game of the Year Runner-Up
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - PlayStation Game of the Year Runner-Up
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - RPG Game of the Year
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - Best Graphics
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - PlayStation Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - RPG Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - Most Original Game of the Year Top Write-In (Readers' Choice)
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - Best Graphics (Readers' Choice)
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - Best Music (Readers' Choice)
- March 1998 (Issue 104) - Best Sound Top Write-In (Readers' Choice)
- 1998 Buyer's Guide - Hottest Game Babe (Tifa Lockheart)
- 1998 Buyer's Guide - Most Hype for a Game
- 1998 Buyer's Guide - Best Sequel Runner-Up
- 1998 Buyer's Guide - Best Ending
- 1998 Buyer's Guide - Best Print Ad
- GameStar (Germany)
- Issue 12/1999 - #47 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
- PSExtreme
- 1997 Extreme Awards (Vol. 3, Iss. 3) - Best Role-Playing Game of the Year
- 1997 Extreme Awards (Vol. 3, Iss. 3) - Best Game Graphics of the Year
- PC Gamer
- Apr. 2000 - voted #36 overall in Readers All-Time Top 50 Games Poll
- PC Player (Germany)
- 1998 (Iss. 01/1999) - Best RPG in 1998
- Game Informer
- Aug. 2001 (Iss. 100) - named among the Top 100 Games of All Time
- Oct. 2004 (Iss. 138) - named among the Top 25 Most Influential Games of All Time
- Retro Gamer
- October 2004 (Issue #9) – #4 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)
- The Strong National Museum of Play
- 2018 – Introduced into the World Video Game Hall of Fame
Information was also contributed by Andreas Vilén, Apogee IV, Big John WV, Drein IX, Fafnir, Final GMR, Guy Chapman, Jiguryo, Koroner, MAT, Patrick Bregger, PCGamer77, Rey Mysterio, Sciere, Tiago Jacques, WildKard, WizardX and Zovni.
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Related Sites +
-
FF-Fan
A fansite that offers all kinds of information on the entire Final Fantasy franchise, including walkthroughs, game media, discussion boards and fan art. -
Final Fantasy Extreme
Site that contains movies, wallpaper, codes, guides, walkthroughs, and general information on the Final Fantasy series. -
Final Fantasy Online
A Final Fantasy related site containing images, wallpapers, music, guides, etc. -
Final Fantasy Online Strategy Guides
Tips, tricks, and just really useful information for Final Fantasy VII. -
Final Fantasy VII: A Huge Leap for RPGs
Alex discusses his thoughts on Final Fantasy VII in a retrospective -
GameFaqs Files
Comprehensive links to numerous Final Fantasy VII files on GameFaqs -
Hints for FF7
Universal Hint System's hints will help you finish Final Fantasy VII -
OC ReMix Game Profile
Fan ReMixes of music from Final Fantasy VII, including the album "Voices of the Lifestream" -
Square's Official Final Fantasy VII site
Square's official North American website for info on Final Fantasy VII and related games. -
Yamaha's XG Website
Yamaha's website for their XG series of software MIDI synthesizers. The YXG-100 version comes on Final Fantasy VII's PC install disc.
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Alan Chan.
PS Vita added by GTramp. Nintendo Switch, Xbox One added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. PlayStation 4, Android, iPad, iPhone added by Sciere. PlayStation 3, PSP added by Foxhack. PlayStation added by Grant McLellan. Windows Apps added by Koterminus.
Additional contributors: PCGamer77, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Shoddyan, SAGA_, Alaka, Silverblade, monkeyislandgirl, Bregalad, DarkDante, David Lloyd, DreinIX, —-, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, CrankyStorming, FatherJack, A.J. Maciejewski, 64er, SoMuchChaotix.
Game added February 14, 2000. Last modified April 6, 2024.