Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII
A man with blond hair wearing black clothing and armor stands with a giant sword on his back, with his back to the camera. In the foreground is a futuristic building shown in monochrome. A logo illustration, showing the game's title and a blue-green stylized depiction of a falling meteorite, is displayed in the top right-hand corner.
North American cover art, featuring the game's protagonist, Cloud Strife
Developer(s)Square
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Yoshinori Kitase
Producer(s)Hironobu Sakaguchi
Programmer(s)Ken Narita
Artist(s)
Writer(s)Yoshinori Kitase
Kazushige Nojima
Composer(s)Nobuo Uematsu
SeriesFinal Fantasy
Platform(s)
Release
January 31, 1997
  • PlayStation
    • JP: January 31, 1997
    • NA: September 7, 1997
    • PAL: November 17, 1997
    International
    • JP: October 2, 1997
    Windows
    Remaster
    • NA/PAL: August 14, 2012
    • JP: May 16, 2013
    • WW: July 4, 2013 (Steam)
    • WW: August 13, 2020 (Microsoft Store)
    iOS
    • WW: August 19, 2015
    PlayStation 4
    • WW: December 5, 2015
    Android
    • WW: July 7, 2016
    Switch, Xbox One
    • WW: March 26, 2019
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Final Fantasy VII[a] is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation console and the seventh main installment in the Final Fantasy series. Square published the game in Japan, and it was released in other regions by Sony Computer Entertainment, becoming the first game in the main series to have a PAL release. The game's story follows Cloud Strife, a mercenary who joins an eco-terrorist organization to stop a world-controlling megacorporation from using the planet's life essence as an energy source. Ensuing events send Cloud and his allies in pursuit of Sephiroth, a superhuman who seeks to wound the planet and harness its healing power in order to be reborn as a god. Throughout their journey, Cloud bonds with his party members, including Aerith Gainsborough, who holds the secret to saving their world.

Development began in 1994, originally for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. After delays and technical difficulties from experimenting with several platforms, most notably the Nintendo 64, Square moved production to the PlayStation, largely due to the advantages of the CD-ROM format. Veteran Final Fantasy staff returned, including series creator and producer Hironobu Sakaguchi, director Yoshinori Kitase, and composer Nobuo Uematsu. The title was the first in the series to use full motion video and 3D computer graphics, featuring 3D character models superimposed over 2D pre-rendered backgrounds. Although the gameplay remained mostly unchanged from previous entries, Final Fantasy VII introduced more widespread science fiction elements and a more realistic presentation. The combined development and marketing budget amounted to approximately US$80 million.

Final Fantasy VII received widespread commercial and critical success and remains widely regarded as a landmark title, and it is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential video games ever made. The title won numerous Game of the Year awards and was acknowledged for boosting the sales of the PlayStation and popularizing Japanese role-playing games worldwide. Critics praised its graphics, gameplay, music, and story, although some criticism was directed towards the original English localization. Its success has led to enhanced ports on various platforms, a multimedia subseries called the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, and a high definition remake trilogy currently comprising Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020), and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024).
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