Final Fantasy VII

The Western release of Final Fantasy VII (released as Final Fantasy VII International in Japan) included additional elements and alterations, such as streamlining of the menu and Materia system, reducing the…

85 7 September 1997

Adventure Role-playing (RPG) Fantasy Science fiction

Final Fantasy VII is an adventure developed by Square Product Development Division 1, released 7 September 1997 on PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation. The main story takes about 48.4 hrs to finish.

Verified 21 Aug 2026 Sources: IGDB , Wikipedia

What Final Fantasy VII is

Final Fantasy VII is an adventure game developed by Square Product Development Division 1 and released in 1997. It was published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is available on PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation. It runs on Proprietry in house engine.

The premise, in the publisher's words

Final Fantasy VII follows the story of mercenary Cloud Strife, who is hired by the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE led by Barret Wallace to help fight the mega-corporation Shinra Electric Power Company, who attempts to drain the planet's lifeblood as an energy source to further their profits. Apathetic to the cause, Cloud initially fights for personal gain, and for the promise he made to childhood friend Tifa Lockhart. Cloud eventually joins forces with many others to save the planet, which is threatened by Shinra and Cloud's nemesis Sephiroth, and discovers a reason to fight for a cause other than his own.

Description from the publisher · source

How it plays

It is played from a bird view / isometric perspective. Its themes are fantasy and science fiction. It is a single-player game with no multiplayer component.

Where it sits in the Final Fantasy series

Final Fantasy VII is the 19th of 349 entries we hold in the Final Fantasy series. The next entry was Final Fantasy VII International in 1997. Its critic score of 85 is 8 points above the series average of 77. The highest-rated entry is Final Fantasy III at 100.

See all 349 Final Fantasy games in release order →

How it was received

Final Fantasy VII holds a critic score of 85 out of 100. That places it above 82% of the 7,525 rated adventure games in our database, which average 72. Games released in 1997 averaged 65, so it scored 20 points above the year average. Player ratings track closely with critics at 88, across 1,626 votes.

How long it takes, and what that costs

The main story runs about 48.4 hrs. Completing everything takes closer to 75.4 hrs, roughly 1.6 times the length of the critical path.

What it launched against

Final Fantasy VII launched on 7 September 1997, within three weeks of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, GoldenEye 007, Resident Evil: Director's Cut and Ultima Online. It reviewed better than 2 of the 4.

Released around the same time: Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, GoldenEye 007, Resident Evil: Director's Cut, Ultima Online.

Cheats and codes

We have not confirmed any working cheat codes for Final Fantasy VII yet. Rather than reprint a list we have not tested, this section stays empty until one is verified.

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