Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII arrived on PC in 1998, opening the door for European and American computer owners to a Japanese RPG that until then had mostly been known to console owners. The story begins in the industrial city of Midgar, where a group of rebels fights against a corporation draining the planet's life energy, and gradually expands into a journey across the whole world after an enemy who ranks among the most famous villains in the history of games. Combat runs on a turn-based system with a gauge that measures when a character can act, and the main depth lies in the Materia system, spheres of spells and abilities that are slotted into weapons and equipment and can be freely combined.

The PC version used the same structure as the original: pre-rendered backgrounds over which three-dimensional characters move, and cinematic sequences that were extraordinarily impressive for their time. On Windows 95 and 98 it was a demanding title due to its data volume, and the game supported the 3D accelerators of the era, though compatibility varied greatly between cards and later required community fixes. Nobuo Uematsu's music ranks among the most famous game soundtracks ever, and even in the PC version, which played the original tracks in a different format, it holds the entire atmosphere together and carries the story's strongest moments.

At the time it was a major event, since the game significantly boosted the popularity of Japanese RPGs outside Japan and showed that storytelling in games could work with grand emotions. Reviews of the PC version praised the content but pointed out the technical shortcomings of the conversion. Its influence on the genre is undeniable, from structured storytelling through character work to an emphasis on cinematic sequences. Today the game shows its age visually, especially the character models in the field, which look rough, yet the story, music, and Materia system still work, and new releases and mods make the experience accessible on modern systems.