Possibly the best RPG of all time, Final Fantasy VII is the best selling Final Fantasy game of all time, and revolutionized the series and the genre. FF7 was the first game in the series to feature 3D modelled characters and environments, and blew gamers away with breathtaking full motion video sequences. Battles are fully 3D, and the camera may zoom or change locations during combat. The combat system uses a system called Active Time Battle, meaning that the game is not entirely turn-based. Characters can attack when their time bar is full, and enemies will not wait for the player to choose an action. When a player has taken enough damage, he or she gets a special kind of attack called a Limit Break. The Limit Bar carries over from one battle to the next. FF7 is remembered for having an amazing soundtrack and a huge cast of memorable characters, such as Red XIII – a talking lion – and the evil Sephiroth, perhaps the most popular villain in video game history. There are nine main playable characters in the game, of whom only three may battle at a time.

There is a "Battle" demo that only shows off the battle system, allowing Cloud Strife to cast several magic spells, summon Shiva and Hades, and use a number of items. After every battle, a slot machine determines some way to damage Cloud, such as taking away his Magic Points or cutting his Hit Points in half. A much larger demo was published in the June 1998 edition of PC Gamer. It begins the game at Mt. Corel with a fairly strong party consisting of Cloud, Aeris and Barret, with Tifa and Red XIII waiting for them. This version required 3Dfx Voodoo drivers and may be impossible to play without a real Voodoo card. An updated version of the demo that no longer requires a Voodoo card was released later. It may be necessary to run Final Fantasy VII in Windows 95 compatibility mode on Windows XP and newer.

Graphics

Downloads

Final Fantasy VII "World" Demo (73,706,966 bytes)	4 November 1998	Win9x
Final Fantasy VII "World" 3Dfx Demo from June 1998 PC Gamer (53,204,180 bytes)	20 March 1998	Win9x
Final Fantasy VII "Battle" Demo (9,380,112 bytes)	23 June 1998	Win9x

Help running Win9x games

Availability

Square Enix no longer sells this game.

It can be purchased from Amazon:

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Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII (EA Classics)
Final Fantasy VII, Platinum Edition
Final Fantasy VII German