July 7th, 2024

Final Fantasy 7: An Oral History (2017)

The article explores the creation and impact of Final Fantasy 7, highlighting Square's evolution, key figures like Sakaguchi, Uematsu, and Nomura, and the game's influence on the gaming industry.

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Final Fantasy 7: An Oral History (2017)

The article provides an oral history of the creation and impact of Final Fantasy 7, a groundbreaking role-playing game by Square. It delves into the origins of Square as a small development studio in the 1980s, highlighting the transition to a larger company with the success of the Final Fantasy series. The game's release in 1997 marked a turning point for Square, with its innovative 3D graphics and commercial success reshaping the industry. The article features insights from key figures involved in the game's development, such as Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematsu, and Tetsuya Nomura. Sakaguchi, known as the creator of Final Fantasy, played a pivotal role in steering Square through financial challenges and pushing the boundaries of game development. The narrative also touches on Sakaguchi's leadership style, the evolution of the Final Fantasy series, and the creative decisions that shaped Final Fantasy 7. Overall, the article provides a detailed account of the game's significance in the context of Square's history and the broader gaming landscape.

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Link Icon 5 comments
By @bigstrat2003 - 8 months
For me, Final Fantasy VII is still unmatched. No other game that I've played since has been able to top the mix of story, gameplay and music that it has. The only way it really doesn't hold up is graphically. It's a shame that they fucked up the remake so badly, it would have been something special to have FF7 quality with modern production values. Instead we got bad FF7 fanfic, with terrible pacing due to them trying to split one game into three.
By @favorited - 8 months
They've printed a 2nd edition of the hardcover book by the author of this article, if any other Final Fantasy nerds are interested:

https://www.polygon.com/deals/2024/2/16/24074420/500-years-l...

https://www.amazon.com/500-Years-Later-History-Fantasy/dp/05...

By @pcdoodle - 8 months
I love this series. IMO, 4,6,7,8 and 9 all bleed immense character through graphics, audio and story.

It's so good people will argue which is best and there's no wrong answer.

By @jader201 - 8 months
Some discussion (69 comments) from 2022:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30396134

By @danbolt - 8 months
It’s a bit nutty to think this game was developed over the course of a year given your average big-budget title takes 3-5.