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: Arena fighting
- Gameplay feature: Creature breeding / fusion
- Gameplay feature: Gambling
- Gameplay feature: House ownership
- Gameplay feature: Interactive piano
- Games made into movies
- PlayStation Greatest Hits releases
- PlayStation Platinum Range releases
- Setting: Church / Monastery
Screenshots
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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 114 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 690 ratings with 32 reviews)
It can keep its beliefs to itself!
The Good
The play engine is much improved over Final Fantasy III on the SNES, and I had a great time getting into it quickly. The graphics in DirectX hardware rendering mode are something to awe at, especially in the beginning and at the end of the game. The music is terrific, but not in the same vein as Final Fantasy III on the SNES. What's really nice is how I can slam this copy into a laptop, using Virtual Drive 8 to not carry the discs around, and play it anywhere.
The Bad
Since 70 million Windows 98 users are supposed to be ignored, I'm going to give my experience on Windows XP in installation. Note, though, that my XP is SP2. Now, thank you Square for using Sega CD looking .AVI video for the cinema scenes. Would it have been too much to ask for using a different codec (.AVI can do Cinepak, MPEG-4's early version, and some other really swell codecs) or use the STANDARD called MPEG!! (I always found it weird that both Apple and Microsoft ran away from the royality-free MPEG formats till they both got into consumer hardware like the iPod and Xbox). That would've cleaned up the terrible video that is intercut throughout the entire game! The music is good, so no complaints. Now, this is all after installation, which I had to find an XP patch for the game and sit through a long installation. Anyways, sorry for the bad writing structure, but I did configure the game to use a GravisPad Pro USB, so that's a real lifesaver, since I played this game to death and back on PlayStation.
But as far game goes, and I did notice this with its first release on PlayStation, but this is so typical for adventure games from Japan:
Teenage boy meets teenage girl and they save the world with an airship and a team, with a few cute characters, from a megalomaniac.
If I want story, I'll read a book, watch a movie. I want action, and after seeing the same graphics and moves again and again, that swell rendering gets real old, real quick.
And I can go on again about the Sega CD looking video clips.
What I don't like is the cyberpunk look. Final Fantasy is supposed to just thank, and I also don't care for the homosexual chic is clothesing fashion (not a rude term, it's what the fashion mags use as the actual term for what Cloud is wearing, I'm sorry that it's called that). I also found Tifa (which is actually a boy's name in all of Oceania, Asia and Africa) too butch for me (I like my women to look like Terra from the prequel). Also, that whole Negative Utopia thing brings me down. It's like Orwell's 1984, except a corporation would never become like it has in the game (name one corporation that's even close to these cyberpunk corporations in power and not in a RoboCop movie). Also, I hate subplots, flashbacks and stuff like that. I want to in the "moment" when I'm playing the game.
Lastly, I hate "anime". I used to like Japanimation (it's real term before a bunch of . . . never mind, anyways . . .) and I don't find the characters at all designed well because of it. The movie really does the characters well, but not here, being more Matrix than Japanimated so, nope, no "anime" for me.
Lastly, no dragons, demons, moggles, chocobos or anything. What's up with that? And the Marxo-Environmentalist message? Sorry, that's not my belief or religion, and I feel that a game would do best to just be a game and not "enlighten" me, because I want to get away from the world and battle, not take on the problems of another world and their beliefs.
I guess you can tell I don't use myspace.com or Second Life, either.
The Bottom Line
You want to play this game on a computer? I suggest finding either bleem! with it's update patch and a nice Windows 98 SE computer with LOTS of power or an IBM clone or Macintosh with System 8.x using the Virtual Game Station. These are the best ways to play this game. However, somebody, today, would look at this game and wonder what's the big deal.
My suggestion?
Watch the movie.
Windows · by Fake Spam (85) · 2007
The Greatest game of all time!
The Good
From start to finish Final Fantasy's intricate plot pulls you in and never lets you go. It will make you angry it will make you cry and laugh. It will grab you like no gaming world ever has before. With Gorgeous graphics and a soundtrack you will never forget, Final Fantasy is an adventure everyone should go on. 70 hours plus of pure heart.
The Bad
erm... maybe speech instead of text may have helped
The Bottom Line
The Shinra Corporation is draining the world of life. Enter Avalanche a group of rebels intent on stopping their plans. Enter Cloud Strife a rogue Vigilante. What starts as a mission to stop the plans of the Government soon turns into a quest to save the world from the dark forces of Meteo and the evil knight Sephiroth.
Windows · by Matthew Bailey (1257) · 2000
The console RPG that rules its genre... epic, funny, tragic, imaginative, unforgettable.
The Good
In all my gaming and role-playing years I've rarely been so deeply and profoundly shocked as when Sephiroth dropped upon Aeris, like a silent black hawk on an unsuspecting white dove. Storytelling and imaginative, over-the-top battles at their best. Lovable characters, a truly memorable villain, bizarre monsters, a cartoony-anime look that often mocks itself and a frequent change of pace with mini-games and plot twists made this game what it is: the masterpiece of a quirky, but unique and intriguing genre. It somehow manages to combine childlike innocence with countless battles and an epic, world-breaking tale. Powerful warriors who look like kids with over-sized heads and weapons. And that is magic...
The Bad
You either love it or hate it. But one should definitely give it some time if one is not familiar with the odd, cutesy look of most japanese role-playing games. FFVII was grossly underrated by die-hard PC gamers who really didn't give it the attention it deserved. Unfortunately, the usual problems with console ports didn't help much. Don't expect complex character development or any real choices concerning the plot, since this is not the way Japanese developers approach the genre. Being a hardcore RPG gamer, I believe that these two factors are key to games of this kind. However it cannot be denied that this different approach has its merits. Whether one likes it or not is another matter entirely.
The Bottom Line
Final Fantasy does not have the depth, strategy and freedom of great role-playing games such as Baldur's Gate but its strengths lie elsewhere. It is a true masterpiece of its kind and it offers a truly unique experience. And whenever I listen to its music it still gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling.
Windows · by Silverblade (1382) · 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
- 1999 Buyer's Guide - Ranked 7 (Top 10 PlayStation Games)
- 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 +
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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. iPhone, iPad, PlayStation 4, Android 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 August 27, 2024.