Final Fantasy VII had such a huge influence on both of us when we were growing up, just as we're sure it did for many of you who watch our content. It makes this particular video was pretty special and we hope you guys enjoy it as much as we enjoyed pulling it together. ~Darryl/Lauren
Thank you so much for this video. I very much enjoyed it, as I first played the game about 20 years ago, it has held special place in my heart. I never knew how much history and trials square encountered during its development. It’s crazy , Nintendo said “never come back” , but their decision to use PlayStation over them blossomed the most beautiful collaboration of team members to create an unforgettable game and story.
Thank you for this video, I think this might sound hyperbolic but I think this is the best video I’ve seen on the production of a video game and I felt both yours and the creators passion behind it. This has made my day and I can’t wait to share this with my friends who enjoyed the game and are excited for the remake.
In 1997 i remember telling mom and step dad that all i wanted for christmas that year was a ps1 and FF7. Man i was so heartbroken when I didn't get one but when I took my stuff back to my room there it was on my bed wrapped up with some games from my dad to go along with FF7. Best Christmas EVER.
Similarly I wanted a Nintendo and Super Mario Bros when I was about 6 or 7 years old. My parents came back from the store and said they didn't get it. I felt so much disappointment, and they told me they actually did get it for me! Then I felt so ashamed because I had THE BEST parents who gave me anything I wanted. I was so spoiled ,that only looking back now do I realize how amazing they really are.
It's just amazing to see a game that pays tribute to one's mother (Sakaguchi's mother passed away while he was making FF3), become one of the greatest and most influential games of all time.
This game truly is a masterpiece. No matter how many times I play through this, the stories, their depth, and in combination with the music has always gotten to me. I think even if the music were to be off in any way, this game wouldn't have had the same impact as it did. Like, even if I so much as hear Aerith's theme, no matter the format, be it the PS soundchip, or full orchestra, I feel like I could break. And in her death scene, it's utter emotional destruction, as I'm then empathetic to Cloud's feelings. They wrote this so well, and I can't even find anything yet that holds a candle to this.
Might be because I'm drunk, might be my FF fan heart, but hearing about how well VII did made me cry. I love this game and I was only 3 when it came out, still my favorite FF along with VIII.
@5555Thecrow ps5 is going to have an ssd drive indtead of an hdd. And have about 3x more horsepower. That doesnt mean 50x better graphics, but not a single new gen system offered such a leap compared to its predecessor. The biggest effects will be larger worlds due to much, much faster loading times thanks to the ssd, and much better lighting. It may take a year before we truly feel the impact, but it will absolutely feel "next gen". Ps4 has been out for quite some time now, its not like they are milking you, developers just need more resources from the hardware to go beyond whats possible now.
@5555Thecrow PS5 will make games 4k 60 fps. Imagine playing FF7R and all the other parts on higher resolution and 60fps. PS6 may come in another 7-8 years.
5555Thecrow uhh well for the rest of us if we can afford it than we will buy it just because it’s the new thing 😂 not flexing, but actually flexing lmao.
Proud of you guys, I used to listen to your podcasts 10 years ago when I used to work the nightshift at a gas station. You guys helped the shift go by way faster. This is great content your making here. Keep up the amazing work!
I have a bad feeling I will not leave being very impressed. How can the developers justify stretching a 4-5 hour segment of an original game into a 40-50 hour experience? Will it be justified by making all of Midgar an open world? And I am not impressed by some of the voice over work.
I've heard about rejected concepts for FF7 turning into Parasite Eve and Xenogears, but didn't know that FF8 was the concept they were working with before switching to Playstation. It goes a long way to explain why so many characters designed for 7 ended up in 8 instead, like Edea, Fujin, and Raijin.
I did'nt even know about this, but from the history I do know that does explain their rapid releases of the games back then. They had concepts for at least 2 be born from 7 and Sakaguchi's own idea eventually became 9. I hope they get hit this kind of motherload again soon.
@@shaokhan4421 I just started playing 9 a couple days ago. The juvenile elements were kind of a deterent at first but a few hours in and I'm into the story. The ability and battle system is good too. I was really into 8, I loved being in an advanced special forces detachment and I was into the characters and battle system. Then I got to the part where you randomly become 3 other people and I was immediately turned off. Haven't tried it since. I still believe the materia system from 7 is one of the best build customizers around, rivaling the job system from FFTactics. I was really glad they maintained it in the 7Remake.
After hearing the story nintendo being mad for FF7 going to ps is kind of their own doing, after saying they are going to use cd and not delivering. While i have heard some of the dev. story still thank you, FF7 is really my first jrpg and really appreciate hearing this story
Nintendo screwed over Square not once, but twice! Square spent a lot of time and money developing for Nintendo's platforms that failed to come to fruition, so it should have been expected they would go elsewhere. Ever since Nintendo overtook Atari as the most popular console, Nintendo has been an authoritarian bully in the game industry, and it's a wonder how they're still in business with their reputation, and superior platforms competing against them.
Nintendo are as arrogant of a development as can be. They believe their creations are God's gifts to the world and they owe nothing to no one. Square dumping them because of their arrogance and refusing to adapt to CDs is exactly what they deserved. It was Squaresoft that helped Sony destroy Nintendo during that era. A sort of poetic justice.
That decision was one of the biggest blunders Nintendo ever made and they damn well knew it too. Square proved to be right and Nintendo should've listened to them about using discs at the time. Nowadys their relationship is on much better terms and thank god for that.
I can't believe no one has mentioned the original planned storyline. EDIT: I meant that I've never heard anyone ever mention it, lol They still haven't made that game yet, where decisions made by the father affect things in the son's storyline. That would be brilliant! Maybe they can revisit that for FF XVI.... 2ND EDIT: I FORGOT ABOUT LAGUNA/SQUALL DYNAMIC IN FF VIII, SO JUST IGNORE ME, LOL
Square at the time were so innovative and always pushing forward. Final Fanatsy The Spirits Within changed everything. You should do a video about that if you haven't already. After that movie flopped Square became a different company altogether. They became less willing to risk. They were a company that looked forward. Now they keep looking back trying to re-capture what they once were. My hope is that FFVIIR (which looks amazing) will help them recapture that again. It will help them remember what they once were and why FFVII existed in the first place. Maybe they will finally be brave enough to tackle the Chrono series again. Now that they are doing FFVIIR the skies the limit.
I don't know if the music was the reason, but this video almost brought a tear to my eye. Like many others, this game was a defining moment in my childhood. Although FF VI was the first Final Fantasy I played, and honestly one of the first big games I've played, FF VII really lasted with me. I loved the characters and their development, the story, the challenges, and just about every little aspect. Wonderful job on putting this story together!
@@hathaway.1166 Nomura's ideas would be laughed off at any film or book publisher. He is a great character designer, though it's all really one note. But his writing is teenage angst nonsense more akin to cringe juvenile fanfiction than to a product of an even mildly competent writer. The Last of Us, Part I and especially Part II, are better written in all aspects than anything Nomura has written, or will ever write.
Considering the history between Square and Nintendo, seeing them work so well together now is kind of amazing. Not only do we have 2 Square-Enix characters in Smash Bros, we also have Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 all on the Nintendo Switch.
well.. the availability across multiple platform benefits both nintendo and SE they were not in good terms for quite a while after square’s pivot to playstation
But expexct next mainline ff titles (and ff vii remake) will not available on nintendo console anytime soon, because nintendo usual underpowered console
I've been blasting the remake soundtrack (as well as crisis core) and several people including my mom have asked me what that beautiful shit is. Positively inspirational
@@malakai_adam Nooooo!!! *cries in Lifestream* Joke aside, too bad. Least we'll be able to get it later this year. :)Hopefully at least. Too many songs from this franchise that are so darn good.
As someone who grew up with Final Fantasy 7, the PlayStation 1 having been my first console, I never thought it would be possible that I would still be able to learn new information about this game's history. Thanks for the very in-depth history of one of the greatest games ever.
Mate what an excellent summary of one of my favourite games of all time. That was thoroughly informative and well presented. Covered everything in intricate detail. Well done.
I first saw this game at the end of my freshmen year of high school when one of my classmates recorded the final fight and brought it to school. I was blown away by how amazing it looked. I got my first job that summer so I could by a ps1 and this game and have loved it ever since
FF7 was one of those games that I was too young to appreciate when it came out (we bought when I was in 1st grade). Years later I went back to play it just because I was bored of Halo at the time or something. This game single-handedly turned me from a predominantly FPS player into an RPG player. I'm 30 years old and I still tear up just by hearing Aerith's theme.
I’m currently playing this on the Switch and I can definitely see why it’s so beloved. The difficulty is just right, the story is engaging, and the characters are some of the most memorable I have ever seen in a game. I’m grateful that this game exists, especially in these times.
Yeah, the game's pitch-perfect difficulty curve is a real unsung hero in the story of how it ended up creating millions of RPG players in America. Even if you're not very good at optimizing your materia loadout, Cloud's limit breaks will generally bail you out during tough battles.
What a great video! Thank you so much for posting! This brought back so many memories from when I was a young kid :) I am really excited to play the remake next month! Final Fantasy VII is still my favorite game of all time. Nothing has even come close in story telling, suspense, character depth, and just pure enjoyment. I look forward to seeing more of your videos in the future.
@@FinalFantasyUnion good going. I love a well edited video. Especially if it's cut to music/beat etc. Could sit for hours just making sure each clip fits perfectly.
Very informative video. I have been going on a Final Fantasy VII binge since completing the Remake and falling in love with the game all over again. Thank you!
Great video 👍 Final Fantasy VII is still my favourite video game of all time, the story, characters, events and tragedies have stayed with me for nearly 25 years, that's testament to how brilliant and influential the game was.
My first encounter with FFVII was when my uncle left it at my house, I had played all my other games to death so it was the only fresh game. At first I was unimpressed, just having a limited amount of attacks to choose from which were essentially a choice between damage or less damage. Despite this, i found the dark and dysphoric setting strangely intriguing so I continued to play, eventually when it started to introduce the customisation systems, world, characters and story I began to understand the direction it was headed and I quickly became hooked verging on obsessed. Unbeknownst to at the time FFVII would be my gateway into what would be many years of infatuation with a franchise.
This made me cry from sheer joy at the success of these incredible creative geniuses where so many have failed and so many more stand in the way of anyone that puts the consumer and the product before the bottom line.
Final Fantasy VII was the reason I bought a PSX. Final Fantasy VII Remake is the reason I bought a PS4. This just shows how powerful this series is and how it resonated with me and many other players around the world.
Cheers from one of the million europeans that bought the game back in 1998 (not sure whem it was available in europe, late 1997 maybe?) I remembering me spending the whole summer holidays with the game. And how devastating it was to witness Aeriths death. I really felt it within my heart. Feelings that nobody can understand but fellow gamers. I still want to marry Tifa btw ^^ Great Video, great Channel, thank you for your work. Subbed
I already finished the remake and realized just how much they added to the game. It truly is a remake and the game will likely be much larger than anticipated. Now how long do we wait for the second installment?
Hearing how some original concepts for FFVII were reworked into future games as economical kind of reminds me of the Verum Rex related stuff in KH3 that pretty blatantly has its origins in Nomura’s vision of Versus XIII. While the fandom talks abt Nomura being salty for doing that, in light of just how forward thinking some of the original concepts were for games, it just makes me think it’s Square saving old concept for later use again. :3
@@ExistentHope Sure it does. Sometimes you have to look back to understand how to go forward. To me, maybe Square Enix needed to take a look back at one of their greats to understand what makes the series great. While they could've just actually looked back at their old games to do that, I'm hoping actually working on the Remake and seeing why that story resonated with so many people back in the day informs their decisions of Final Fantasy storytelling in the future. Maybe then we won't be getting any more of the "L'cie/Falcie/Focus" nonsense of FFXIII or the "There's actually a really decent story here, but the development time and the way we had to really butcher this game up to get it out in time... after ten years" of FFXV will hopefully be a thing of the past.
It's just not the same without Sakaguchi TBH after all he was the one that believe in pushing boundaries and getting out of the comfort zone but people just can't stop faulting him for making spirit within and flopped.
Through you guys I have come to know the greatness of Square as a company and has made me motivated to pursue my goals in game development! Thank you Final Fantasy Union!
I appreciate how you put it in a way that square utilized all the talents they have. The creativity of the staff were put to good use and not just one voice was heard in every decision making they do. When I heard you talk about a father leaving behind books for his son to read, I remembered Jecht leaving video orbs for his son to collect. When you talked about the father hailed as a coward, I remembered Seto. I began to have a deeper appreciation to all the FF series. Thank you for your hard work!
I had one of my best Christmases the year I got my Playstation. All gifts had been given and my cousins were gearing up to leave (25 of us crammed into a little living room). Someone saw one last gift 'hiding' in the hall closet. Playstation with Crash Bandicoot and the beloved FF7. My best bud and I would just sit and watch each other play for hours. Amazing that a single-player game could captivate two people so completely, for hours. Such a great memory. In the last couple decades I've downloaded the game on various platforms and grinded it all, including all the optional content. No other game has ever stayed with me so meaningfully.
It’s crazy to realize the impact that a video game can have on the medium of storytelling and art. Playing ff7 back then you don’t think about that for sure, but now as an adult you understand just how significant it really was. Great video guys 👍
Damnit, even you just talking about Aerith brought me to tears... My 14 year old self was already a huge fan of Square. The day FF7 released my uncle took me to GameStop (hell it may have still been E B Games) I have never looked back. Final Fantasy made me who I am.
This game means SO much to me. It was the first PlayStation title I ever tried. It was the first game I played "with" my husband - in that he sat with me and helped me figure out what to do, because he'd already played it and I was a total newbie. I remember being intimidated by the controller, even. This was the first game I screamed at, cried at, obsessed over. And I still love it. Thank you for this video
Well done fellas, I thoroughly enjoyed the video despite already being obsessively familiar with the game, and to a very slightly lesser extent, the entire franchise up until & including XIII (barring XI as I am generally not a fan of MMORPGs). Regardless, I very much enjoyed the detail you put into it, especially regarding the development prior and leading up to VII itself. There were a few details you touched on that I was either only vaguely familiar with or else had flat out forgotten about a long time ago, so it was genuinely entertaining and enjoyable to relive them through your narative. I can tell you are both sincere and avid fans of the game as well as it's history which, for someone who has been a massive fan of the franchise since it's inception, is always a welcome sentiment to *randomly encounter.* (Yeah, I am pretty old... 😂 I was 13 when FFVII originally released, so I'll let you do the math)
Just finished the remake and decided to see if FFUnion had any content on ff7 so good to get a great background on the original game , and how it came to be.
Nintendo always gave them up. They always let them down. They always ran and deserted them. They made them cry, and always said goodbye, yet they still said a lie, to hurt them.
Imagine how history would've been different if Nintendo hadn't though. If the SNES CD had happened: -Chrono Trigger wouldn't exist - Secret of Mana would've been bigger. If the n64 had been given a CD drive - Final Fantasy 7 would almost certainly have been an n64 exclusive. If the 64 DD had actually released on time worldwide - Much harder to know the outcome of this, but Square may just have stuck with Nintendo. (plus 64 megabyte games would have been possible in 1997, or perhaps even multi-disk games, depending on how much the disks cost to manufacture. If they're cheap enough, using 3-4 disks is not a huge deal... And if you've ever played the kind of games that fit on a 64 megabyte cartridge, you'd know that would've made a huge difference if even just that much space had been available early in the system's life) Alas, we will never know, what might have been...
This could not have come out at a better time. I just started my umpteenth playthrough of FFVII yesterday!! and to my brother and I, this game was so very special to us when we played it for the first time. Although we didn't have a memory card for a while, we would literally just play as long as we could and see how far we could get without saving (and sometimes just plain leaving the PS running at night). We would all the way to Junon :P
I remember I got a PlayStation for Christmas and went to the game store Boxingday morning with my Christmas money, saw Final Fantasy VII on the shelf, it looked amazing on the cover so I bought it. Because of this I got imports of the previous games and I’ve been in love with the Final Fantasy Series
Had to hold back tears this entire video. I takes me back to when I first discovered Japanese media, and it's weird to think that those years not only opened up a whole new world for JRPG's, it also opened up a whole new world for us as well. I remember first experiencing japanese media, through bad quality kazaa downloads or other non-mainstream sources, I remember seeing part of Akira on a tv screen in a local lasertag hall, I was more entranced by the movie than I was by the game. All of it felt like seeing something from another world, japan at that point barely felt like a real place, so many barriers still lay in between us and them. Even the poor quality made it feel like I was watching some kind of broadcast that was only barely coming in from some other dimension. The art style was so foreign to everything I'd seen a thousand times, the language so alien, the visuals were so gory and unrestrained. Then when I was 12 my brother downloaded FFVII, VIII, and IX. And for the next few months I did nothing but play them, those are the formative moments that ended up defining me as a person, I even ended up studying game design because of it. FFX was the last final fantasy I really, truly loved, and I've been waiting for almost 20 years now to experience that feeling again. IX was always my favorite, and over the years, I've slowly lost a bit of love for VIII, but VII especially seemed to just get better and better the more I grew up and the more I dissected the story and analysed the methods they used to tell it. I think right now I am a bigger fan of VII than I've ever been, just in time for the remake, I can't wait.
First played this game when I was 13 and it came out. I last played it when I was 35 and I'm still not bored of it. I'm getting those childlike feelings again waiting for the remake.
Dude I bought this on PC when I was 14. Played it frontways and sideways! I still have the whole game memorized...lol. No wonder I got the remake on pre-order.....FF3/6 popped my cherry tho
I remember seeing in a magazine the photos of the CGI demo of FF6 leading up to 7, and I was definitely excited to play FF7 on the Ultra 64. When I heard that Square was going with the new PlayStation console, I was actually offended and thought about how potentially few people might then get to play it, maybe even me. As it turned out, I was wrong, and FF7 is still one of my favorite video games ever and, I believe, significantly responsible in how the future of video games played out from influencing RPG design and popularity in the West to helping ensure the success of Sony's initial venture with video game consoles and all that has resulted from that! Edit: I also wanted to comment that the video was nicely produced and -- perhaps more importantly -- remained professional throughout, so thank you.
This game and 11 changed my life. They say life imitates art. No truer statement was true for me when I played 7 when I was 14 yrs old. I’ll never forget it.
Rich in symbolism and meaning. Think of Cloud falling in a flower bed in a peaceful church surrounded by the filth of Midgar. Here in that place of solace we're reminded that despite the gloom around us, there are always places if beautu, carefully tended to by those who know it and value it, like Aeris. The story is full of examples like that.
FF7 came out when I first got internet access. I remember finding some Japanese website that had all the currently release information about the game, and being a huge FF fan I visited it everyday. FF7 and Gran Turismo convinced me to give up on my N64 and get a PSX. It was weird to see this niche little game for nerds (I never knew anyone else who played it until I got online) become a rather mainstream success. Seeing FF commercials on TV blew my mind.
I still remember the ff7 commercial and I was instantly hyped for it at that moment. Yep!!! I need to play this game. I got it for Christmas the year it came out and I fell in love with that game. If I fail at saving the world "I can always hit the reset button!!" This iconic game made me fall in love with JRPGs. Nothing will ever top the original ff7 in my opinion. No gaming publisher wants to take risks in their creativity and video games anymore just go with what is safe and digestible to the masses for sales numbers and to get by in the worldly public eye. I wish video games could go back to being a niche market where you do have your big names sellers but small time titles can be just as fun as the mainstream selling titles.
I was 8 when I saw that scene. My first grasp of death honestly. I can still remember the stupid look my brother gave me when I asked him why cloud dropped her in this bottomless pit of water instead of keeping her or something like that.
Orcania of time on N64 and ff7 on ps will stay with me forever,the effect they had on me back then was huge and even to this day they are never far from my thoughts
