Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII is an RPG, developed by Square (now Square Enix), and released in 1997.  It was the first FF title to be released to the Playstation platform.  The game is the first in the series to use 3D graphics, featuring fully rendered characters on pre-rendered backgrounds, and was the first game in the main series to be released in Europe.  It was originally intended for the SNES system, but the cartridges lacked sufficient storage.  It is considered the game that popularized the Sony Playstation.

 Gameplay in this version is similar to other titles in the series.  There are three main modes of play:  Overworld Map, field maps, and battle screens.  The Overworld map contains a simplified version of the games world, which the player uses to navigate from location to location.  The world map can be navigated by various means of transportation, including the series stalwart method:  riding Chocobos.

On field maps, characters are directed across realistically scaled environments, consisting of 2D pre-rendered backgrounds which represent locations such as towns or forests.  The battle screen is a 3D representation of an area, such as a building's interior or an open grassland, in which the player commands the characters in battles against CPU-controlled enemies.  Final Fantasy VII is the first game in the series to have character models with fully-rendered polygons, rather than 2D sprites.

The music was scored by Final Fantasy veteran Nobuo Uematsu. Instead of recorded music and sound effects for the game, Uematsu opted for MIDIs, using the PlayStation's internal sound chip.  Final Fantasy VII was the first game in the series to include a track with digitized vocals, "One-Winged Angel", which has been described as Uematsu's "most recognizable contribution" to the music of the Final Fantasy series.  Uematsu has said that the soundtrack has a feel of "realism", which prevented him from using "exorbitant, crazy music".

The game's soundtrack was released on four Compact Discs.  One of the most notable pieces from the soundtrack is "Aeris's Theme", which is most noticeably played after Aeris is killed by Sephiroth. It has become popular among fans, and has inspired several arrangements.  

A single-disc album of selected tracks from the Original Soundtrack and three arranged tracks, entitled Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks, was released separately.   Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII, a piano arrangement of selected tracks, was released in 2003.   Several tracks from the game have been remixed in subsequent Square productions, including Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts.

The game was a massive hit, selling 10 million copies to date, and continues to rank highly on many 'Greatest Games Ever' lists.