Final Fantasy VII

Disc 1: Eco-Rebellion to the Tragedy of the Ancients

Cloud Strife joins Barret Wallace's AVALANCHE cell bombing Shinra's Mako Reactor 1. After falling into the Sector 5 slums and meeting flower merchant Aerith, Shinra retaliates by dropping the upper Sector 7 plate. Rescuing Aerith from Shinra HQ reveals President Shinra murdered by Sephiroth's masamune.

AVALANCHE pursues Sephiroth across Gaia—from Kalm's Nibelheim flashback to the Gold Saucer, Cosmo Canyon, and the Temple of the Ancients. Sephiroth manipulates Cloud's fractured psyche to claim the Black Materia to summon Meteor. In the Forgotten City, Aerith prays to summon Holy before being slain by Sephiroth in one of gaming's most legendary moments.

Disc 2: Identity, Awakening of WEAPONs & The Highwind

The party journeys north across the Great Glacier and Whirlwind Maze. At the Northern Crater, Sephiroth shatters Cloud's mind, revealing he never made 1st Class SOLDIER and handing over the Black Materia to awaken the colossal planet-defending WEAPONs. Meteor is summoned, and Cloud vanishes into the Lifestream.

Escaping Shinra execution in Junon, AVALANCHE claims the Highwind airship. In the sunken resort of Mideel, Tifa plunges into the Lifestream to reconstruct Cloud's subconscious, uncovering the truth of Zack Fair's sacrifice. Reunited, the heroes gather Huge Materia, destroy Diamond WEAPON, and breach Midgar to stop Professor Hojo from empowering Sephiroth with the Sister Ray cannon.

Disc 3: The Descent into Northern Cave & Holy

With humanity's survival on the brink and Meteor burning through the atmosphere above Midgar, Cloud leads the party deep down into the mantle of Gaia within the Northern Cave. Defeating Jenova∙SYNTHESIS clears the path to Sephiroth's cocoon and his divine, seven-winged form: Safer∙Sephiroth.

Following a climatic spiritual showdown where Cloud unleashes Omnislash, the White Magic Holy is unleashed. Because Meteor has come too close to Midgar, Holy alone is insufficient—prompting Aerith's spirit to marshal the entire Lifestream from the planet's core, deflecting Meteor and purifying Gaia. Five centuries later, Red XIII looks down on Midgar overgrown with lush, green forest.

3-Person Party & Dynamic Limit Breaks

Final Fantasy VII condensed the traditional four-person party down to three active fighters, streamlining tactical combat. Taking damage gradually fills a specialized Limit Break bar (evolving from FFVI's Desperation Attacks). Once full, characters unleash devastating trademark maneuvers like Cloud's Cross-Slash and Braver, Barret's Big Shot, and Tifa's slot-machine martial strike combinations.

The Materia Customization Matrix

Materia are crystallized orbs of Mako energy slotted directly into weapons and armors. Equipment features single slots or linked socket pairs, enabling game-changing synergistic combinations:

• Magic Materia (Green): Spells including Fire, Bolt, Ice, Cure, Revive, Bio, and Ultima.
• Support Materia (Blue): Linked amplifiers such as All, Elemental, Added Effect, and MP Turbo.
• Command Materia (Yellow): New menu battle actions like Steal, Enemy Skill, Slash-All, and Double Cut.
• Independent Materia (Purple): Stat boosts like HP Plus, Counter Attack, and Cover.
• Summon Materia (Red): Deity calls including Ifrit, Shiva, Bahamut, and Knights of the Round.

Industrial Core of Shinra

The starting hemisphere dominated by the 8-reactor metropolis of Midgar and the 70-floor Shinra HQ. Also contains the tranquil European-style hamlet of Kalm, the breeding grounds of Chocobo Farm, the deep Mythril Mine, the fortress of Fort Condor, and the fortified naval bastion of Junon.

Resorts, Canyons & The Past

Reached via Shinra Cargo Ship into the sunny coastal town of Costa del Sol. Encompasses the sprawling desert amusement capital of Gold Saucer, Barret's ruined mining home of Corel, the planetary observatory of Cosmo Canyon, the burnt and reconstructed research town of Nibelheim, Cid's Rocket Town, and the island nation of Wutai.

Ancient Ruins & The Northern Crater

The frozen, desolate realm where Jenova initially collided with Gaia two millennia ago. Features the archaeological site of Bone Village, the maze-like Sleeping Forest, the ethereal crystalline spire of the Forgotten City, the snowy retreat of Icicle Inn, Gaea's Cliffs, and the final abyss: the Northern Crater.

From 2D Pixel Prototype to SGI 3D

Conception began in 1994 following Final Fantasy VI. Series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi initially penned an urban noir plot set in New York featuring "Detective Joe." Early experiments included an isometric 2D Super Famicom prototype starring Locke Cole before the team paused to complete Chrono Trigger.

Recognizing that pixel art risked falling behind the industry's 3D curve, director Yoshinori Kitase championed real-time 3D graphics. Square produced an SGI tech demo showcased at SIGGRAPH 1995, rendering FFVI characters battling a polygon golem—the technological foundation for FFVII.

The CD-ROM Breakaway & Midgar CGI

Square initially explored the Nintendo 64 and its planned 64DD peripheral. However, a test model of a 2,000-polygon Behemoth drastically bottlenecked hardware framerates, and the 64-megabyte N64 cartridge was vastly inadequate for the dozens of hours of audio, textures, and cinematic full-motion video (FMV) Square envisioned.

In early 1996, Square made the monumental decision to abandon Nintendo hardware and sign exclusively with Sony's CD-ROM based PlayStation. Square invested over $21 million in Silicon Graphics Onyx supercomputers, expanded to 150 developers across Tokyo and Los Angeles, and revolutionized pre-rendered backgrounds seamlessly transitioning into real-time gameplay.