Final Fantasy VII

There is a handful of games that not only entertained but literally redrew the map of an entire industry. Final Fantasy VII is one of them - a title that landed on the Sony PlayStation in 1997 like a meteorite and forever changed how the West perceives Japanese RPGs.

Squaresoft made a bold leap here: the series, until then tied to Nintendo and 2D worlds, moved into three dimensions with pre-rendered backgrounds and lavish CG cutscenes. Development and marketing cost tens of millions of dollars, unheard of at the time, and this gamble paid off in spades. The game introduced the world of Midgar, the Shinra corporation, the ecological theme of the „lifestream“ and a band of heroes led by the mercenary Cloud, whose fates gripped millions of players. The combat system built on Materia - orbs of magic that you freely combine and move between your equipment - offered depth and freedom at once.

And then there is that moment. The death of one key character etched itself into the collective memory of players as one of the most discussed and most emotional moments in the history of the medium. Without exaggeration, it was the moment when a great many people first understood that a video game can hit just as hard as a film or a book. Years later players still return to it, and it still sparks debate.

The success was staggering - over 14 million copies were sold and Final Fantasy VII became one of the most important games ever made. It fundamentally helped make 3D graphics and the CD format the standard, and it helped the PlayStation win the console war of that generation. For many Western players it was their very first contact with the JRPG genre.

Today FF VII is an institution. It received an expansive remake that retold its story for a new generation, and its characters - especially the antagonist Sephiroth - rank among the most iconic in the entire medium. The original, however, remains the thing that started the legend.

Why play it: Because this is the game that popularized JRPGs in the West and to this day defines what grand game storytelling means - a cultural phenomenon you have to experience.