Role-Playing Games · 1990s
Final Fantasy VII
The role-playing game that carried the genre into the mainstream, with pre-rendered cinematic staging, a setting of eco-terrorism against a corporate city, and the Materia system's endlessly combinable magic. Its mid-game twist became one of gaming's defining moments.
| First released | 1997 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Square |
| Original platform | PlayStation |
Why it matters
It demonstrated games as blockbuster drama and sold the PlayStation to millions of RPG players. Its presentation raised the ambition bar for the entire industry's storytelling.
Play it today
The original is available on digital stores, and the modern Final Fantasy VII Remake project retells its opening chapter at full scale.
Start here
The original remains the sharpest way to experience the story; the Remake trilogy is a reinterpretation, not a replacement. Materia experimentation — pairing magic with support orbs — is where the original's depth lives.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VII — release date, developer, cultural impact
Sources for this page were checked 2026-09-21.