Final Fantasy VII was the breakthrough
There can be no series of games as inaccurately named as Final Fantasy.
Now celebrating its twentieth anniversary the Japanese phenomenon has gone on to sell more than 70 million copies worldwide and spawned over twenty sequels and spin-off, not to mention movies, comics and cartoons.
Not bad for a game that got its name because it was developer Square Enix's last chance at a hit before going bankrupt.
Despite its overwhelming success in Japan and, to a degree, in America the series has been a slow starter in the UK, with no game in the series even being released here until 1997.
"Final Fantasy was developer Square Enix's last chance at a hit before going bankrupt."
However, Final Fantasy VII had such an enormous impact on gamers worldwide that it helped to redefine modern video games in terms of storytelling and graphics.
For the first time it also made Japanese style role-playing games major sellers in the West.
The game was so influential, with its CGI video sequences and cast of complex characters, that its success was seen as the seal to the original PlayStation's success - particularly in Japan - and thus Sony's continued console domination to this day.
In spite of the change in presentation from the older game, with a mix of pre-rendered backdrops and 3D graphics, Final Fantasy VII still plays very much like its 8- and 16-bit forebears.
Published 28th February 2007
