Final Fantasy VII version differences

The following is a list of version differences between releases of the original Final Fantasy VII. The versions primarily covered are of the original PlayStation release, and the PC port which it is based on, as they are the two significant releases for the game. Re-releases are based on either of these two platforms. The original PlayStation version also details differences between the Japanese release and the International version, which includes the changes made for the rest of the world.
==PlayStation==
The first iteration of Final Fantasy VII released in Japan on January 31st, 1997.
==NTSC and PAL version==
Final Fantasy VII released in North America on September 7th, 1997 and Europe on November 17th, 1997. Its release marked the original numbering being used for a mainline game in the series; Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI were renamed Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III due to several games never releasing outside of Japan at the time.
Various visual and gameplay changes make the game less difficult to access and navigate around.
*Localization - Translation of the Japanese script in four languages: English, German, French, and Spanish, with the latter three translated from the English script.
**Vincent's Chaos Limit Break exclusive attack, Satan Slam, is called "Stan Slam" in the original NTSC release.
*Visuals - Several pre-rendered backgrounds have been altered to improve navigation: 
**In North Corel, a sign that points to the Gold Saucer is added.
**In Corel Prison, a darker path is added.
**In Mt. Nibel, the Cave Infrastructure has a pipe removed that obscures a path towards the bottom right.
**On the Junon Cannon, a metal bar is removed.
** Indicators are added for when the cursor is active. Red triangles show entrances and exits, while green triangles show places to climb. The Beginner's Hall in the Sector 7 Slums will now also mention them.
*Gameplay Changes - Numerous changes were made to the gameplay as well as in specific locations:
**A text window is added when pausing the game.
**The Item menu has a different UI, with one column next to the party's portraits instead of two, with the portraits popping up when selecting an item. This change also applies to the item menu in battle.
**An Exchange option is added to the Materia menu, enabling the player to freely switch Materia between party members.
**The Arrange option now correctly sorts newly-acquired Materia.
**Elemental and status information in the Status menu is split into two screens.
**Character HP and MP is no longer displayed on the save file screen.
**The lettering space when naming characters has increased from six to nine.
**The Chocobo breeding tutorial is now incomplete; Choco Billy will only mention the necessity of nuts if the player picks the "Mating Chocobos" option while not having any nuts in the inventory. He no longer explains how newborn Chocobos and Chocobos caught from the wild start on rank C, but can improve by racing. Talking to Chole and choosing "Let me jot this down" will give the dialogue that was originally spoken by Choco Billy in the Japanese version. This includes how to obtain all types of Chocobos and how to increase their rank.
**A scenario where the player party can battle Diamond Weapon is included. The Rising Sun weapon, previously dummied from the Japanese version, is made the stolen from Diamond Weapon.
**Ruby Weapon and Emerald Weapon are added as superbosses. The Desert Rose and Earth Harp are introduced as respective drops for these superbosses.
**The Guide Book item becomes the Morph item of the Ghost Ship.
**The Kalm traveler is introduced, and trades the above items for prizes.
***The Underwater Materia is introduced, given to the player in exchange for the Guide Book, which removes the timer during the battle against the Emerald Weapon.
**The enemies Fuseya Kazumasa-kun and Matsumura Yasushi-kun were removed (their IDs being used for two parts of Emerald Weapon). They were re-added to the data in the Japanese International version at different IDs.
**Various ability names used for animation that would never display were not translated and are instead blank.
**Encounter rates are lowered across the board. Every area has had its encounter rate reduced by varying amounts.
***Random encounters are removed from the square area of Sector 8 during the first visit, and outside of Holzoff's cabin at the base of Gaea's Cliff. 
** The êúô0(äñ) encounter is removed from the well in Corel Prison. 
***A battleground relating to some of the Test encounters was changed into a blank screen.
***Test enemies had their models changed to a Pyramid.
**Several enemy attacks use the correct elemental attribute instead of the Hidden element.
**Status effects are no longer displayed over a character's HP in battle.
**Pressing in battle will display a "Target" marker above each enemy.
**Tifa and Cait Sith's Limit Breaks will now be silenced before the Fanfare plays instead of before the Battle Results screen.
** Damage dealt by Chocobuckle is changed from being based on the number of battles the party has fled from multiplied by the user's level to just the number of battles fled, due to how strong the attack could become at an early point in the game.
** Choco/Mog and Typoon now have the Wind element assigned to their respective Materia, with the former's attack now Wind-elemental.
**Chocobo enemies are now immune to the Paralyzed status.
**Gi Nattak is now immune to Sleep and Poison.
**Dual Horn's bugged and blank named ability is removed from its Manipulate list.
**Brain Pod's Refuse attacks now inflict Sleep and Poison instead of Berserk and Confusion.
**Magic Pots are now immune to damage until they receive an Elixir.
**A visual glitch with the Mover enemies is fixed, where defeating all three at once only played the death animation for one.
**Ultimate Weapon's level is changed from 60 to 61 in all battles, and Dexterity is increased by varying amounts in three of its forms.
**When Bizarro∙Sephiroth uses Bizarro Enegy, the animation has him raise his wings and point them towards each other, instead of merely flapping them or performing no animation at all.
**Safer∙Sephiroth's abilities and AI are changed.
***He opens the battle with Wall instead of Slow.
***He uses Shadow Flare instead of Flare.
***Pale Horse no longer deals fractional damage, but can inflict Frog and Small.
***Super Nova has a new, much longer animation and now deals fractional damage equal to 15/16 of the party's HP, and now also inflicts Slow.
***Heartless Angel is used instead of Death Sentence when his HP is under 25%.
*** Safer Sephiroth's level is increased from 70 to 87.
**After the final post-credits FMV, an endless outer space animation will be displayed instead of a black screen, while "The Prelude" plays.
**The end credits no longer display "Square Product Development Dept. #1".
**In addition to removing the first item when cancelling the process, the W-Item duplication bug now duplicates the first item when cancelling the second item.
** A glitch that allows the player to obtain a level 1 Yuffie by abusing an in-game countdown is fixed.
**A glitch in the Train Graveyard allowing the player to move while picking up an item is fixed.
**Cait Sith's glitched Level 3 Limit Breaks are no longer accessible.
**A glitch causing Cait Sith to get stuck after jumping down the ladder shaft in Midgar in disc 2 is fixed.
==== Midgar ====
*After naming Barret, he will inform the player to hold down the Cancel () button to run when walking.
*During the train escape sequence, the sound effects and message boxes are altered.
*In the AVALANCHE hideout, the news reporter seen on the large TV is changed from an actual digitized photo of a person to an in-game model. This model is identical to the news reporter seen in the full motion video of Sector 7's destruction.
*Mayor Domino's password-guessing game in the Shinra Building has the player pick a four-letter word instead of a sentence made up of four kanji characters.
**The player can now pick an answer for the password immediately instead of having to leave the main screen on the 62nd floor twice.
**In Japanese and English versions, the correct password is randomized, although ORBS and HOJO (and the corresponding sentences in the Japanese version) are never the correct answer. In the French, German, and Spanish versions, MAKO is always the correct answer.
**New books are in the Shinra Building library, while others, such as one containing Gast's full name, is removed.
*Receiving Keycard 68 from the Shinra Building Employee now displays a message box, and the employee will run away.
==== Chocobo Farm ====
*An exit is added to the upper-right section of the Chocobo Farm.
==== Junon ====
*The Beginner's Hall in Junon now explains how to toggle between targets when an All Materia is equipped.
==== Corel Region ====
*At Mt. Corel, the game will now zoom over to the shack near the bridge when Cloud meets up with the other party members.
*The battle background at the Corel Reactor is altered, the battle now being situated on the ground by the reactor.
==== Gold Saucer ====
*The Battle Square rewards menu is split into two sections.
*The Speed Square minigame is modified.
**The player cannot target the Zeppelin propeller.
**The water wheel now has a point limit of 285.
**Due to running at 50Hz, The PAL version is 20% slower, making it somewhat easier.
*In the Chocobo races, rival Chocobo names are no longer randomly generated by connecting a list of prefixes and suffixes, instead using a single random list of potential names.
*The Submarine Game has various changes:
**The Undersea Mako Reactor Battle has 7 targets instead of 8.
**Level 1 and Level 3 no longer require sonar to be manually controlled with the Confirm button to reveal enemy submarines and mines.
**The player's starting position is slightly higher.
**The player's submarine is roughly 35% faster and turns roughly 325% faster.
**The submarine's vertical rotation axis is halved from 180 degrees to 90.
**Hitting the ceiling of the stage is no longer registered as a "CONFLICT" and the player will not be stuck there without changing the angle of the submarine, now automatically adjusting itself to a zero degree angle when accelerating.
**When colliding with the ocean floor, the player's submarine automatically adjusts itself to be at zero degrees when accelerating.
**Enemy submarines take half as many hits to destroy.
**Mines deal half as much damage.
**The timer stops counting down after the end of a match.
*The Snow Game has various changes: 
**If Tifa or Cid are in the current party, there is a 37.5% chance that they will ask to ride the snowboard. If both are in the party, Cid will not ask.
**An option is added to change the terrain into a checkered variant.
**A ghost Cactuar is added to the Time Attack mode.
**When toggling the cursor between the Mog on a snowboard and the Mog on a sleigh (without picking one), the figure on the screen changes in real-time rather than waiting for the player to pick one.
**When completing Course B with 100 points, the standard "Cool" ranking will now display properly instead of the symbol for the top "Freak" ranking in Time Attack.
**A new emblem is added for getting 100 points on Course C.
**The "GODLY" ranking is removed.
**In the PAL version, the timer and speed number both stop when the player snowboards off the edge.
**Rankings are adjusted in the PAL version, due to the game running at 50Hz.
*The gondola in the Round Square is inaccessible after the dating events, until the player reaches the bottom of the North Crater.
==== Nibelheim ====
* Pressing the two broken keys on the piano inside the Mansion will show a white flash in addition to the improper sound.
**In the English version, the broken keys are changed to and /+, instead of /+ and /+.
**In the European language versions, none of the piano keys are broken or accompanied by a white flash.
*A new scene is added upon returning to the Nibelheim basement after Cloud rejoins the party in "Clash in the Deep Sea", depicting the fate of Zack Fair.
==== Temple of the Ancients ====
*The complex version of the clock puzzle is removed, always giving the player the simple version, which would only otherwise be accessible in the Japanese version after failing three times.
*Upon falling from the clock room and triggering a fight with two Ancient Dragons, "Let The Battles Begin!" plays instead of "Fight On!".
==== Forgotten Capital ====
* Jumping up the shell structure in the Forgotten Capital is now automatic.
==== Gaea's Cliff ====
*When climbing in Gaea's Cliff, the player's temperature is easier to maintain.
==== Whirlwind Maze ====
*The FMV upon the party's escape from the collapsing crater is extended, depicting the Weapons emerging from it.
*During this FMV, "Those Chosen by the Planet" now fades out.
*A new scene is added after the FMV, featuring Tifa finding Cloud at the Train Graveyard before the events of the story.
==International==
An International version of the game released in Japan on October 2nd, 1997. This version incorporates all the gameplay revisions and changes made for the worldwide release of Final Fantasy VII at the time, while retaining several features listed below that were in the original Japanese release:
*In Chocobo Racing, the rival Chocobos have considerably higher stats, making several races against them considerably more challenging. 
*Various ability names used for animations that would never display text and were instead blank have their original text restored with their original name and the added word .
*Safer∙Sephiroth's level is reduced from 87 to 70.
==PC (1998 version)==
The first PC version of Final Fantasy VII released in non-Japanese territories on June 25th, 1998. Eidos Interactive were originally given an early build of the PlayStation version of the game, and as such it contains numerous bugs and glitches that were not originally found in the initial release. 
The PC version has gained attention over the years due to modding communities. A user named "Aali" developed a rendering engine for the game known as Aali's Driver, fixing a number of glitches and allowed for more modding of the game. This rendering engine would later be re-used by Square Enix for the 2012 re-release.
*Localization - Re-translated localization that corrects grammatical and typographical errors. Examples below include:
**The Battle Square's "Off course!" and "No, way!" being corrected to "Of course!" and "No way!". 
**The "Last Elixir" treasure from Gaea's Cliff is corrected to a Megalixir. 
**The Corral Valley that leads into the Forgotten Capital is renamed Corel Valley. 
**The main character's use of profanity, such as 'shit' and'wench' are censored into symbols.
*Visuals - Numerous visual changes differ from the original PlayStation version;
**3D Start-up logos for Eidos Interactive and Squaresoft, with a unique chocobo animation for the latter.
**The black border on the top of the screen is moved to the bottom.
**FMVs are downscaled.
**Shading effects are more pronounced.
**Characters now have mouths. This was in the original PlayStation models, but were disabled. The use of the original assets made the mouths visible.
***Many NPCs mouths appear open, and erroneously blink one eye instead of both eyes. 
***Additional characters are programmed to correctly blink.
**Several models are resized, such as the Chocobo mascot in the Wonder Square, and the in Nibelheim.
**2D UI elements are upscaled to 640x480. The red and green cursors retain the same resolution and thus appear smaller.
**The battle UI now operates at 15 FPS instead of 60FPS, making Tifa and Cait Sith's Limit Breaks more difficult to pull off correctly.
**The motorcycle minigame now has a blue biker to go along with the red and yellow variants.
**An older version of the Seto FMV is used, with more exaggerated camera motions and a lens flare effect.
*Gameplay Changes - Numerous changes were incorporated accommodate for PC users:
**Character naming screens use the keyboard to input names, regardless of the customised controls.
**A "Quit" option is added to the menu.
**Sound options for mono and stereo in the Config menu are replaced with volume sliders for music and sound effects.
**The Condor War is altered slightly.
***A glitch is fixed, where entering the "Start the game?" menu while moving the cursor across the map while preparing for battle caused the game to display strings of Japanese from the minigame data files.
***Enemy units are stronger, and Battle Levels 2-7 feature more enemies.
***Successfully halting an enemy attack now plays the "Jackpot!" theme, rather than a modified version of the victory fanfare.
**The Speed Square minigame is much faster and the crosshair moves faster, making precision more difficult.
***The player can target the Zeppelin's propeller again. The score counter now properly exceeds 9999.
**The Submarine Game is modified again, retaining several changes from the International version, whilst reverting others to the original Japanese release:
***The Undersea Mako Reactor Battle has 8 targets again instead of 7.
***The player's submarine turns slower again.
***The player's submarine can turn up or down 90 degrees instead of 45.
***The timer once again continues counting down after a victory or loss.
***The environmental grid is no longer visible.
***The default camera is closer to the sub.
***Starting coordinates for Level 2 and Level 3 start near the southwest corner of the map instead of the center.
***The player's missiles move faster, while enemy missiles have shorter range, and both are worse at homing.
**The "FREAK" ranking in the Snow Game is slightly easier to obtain.
**"Bad" and "Awful" scores in the Snow Game are swapped.
**If running Windows XP or newer, the Chocobo racing minigame freezes the game. A patch was developed by the user jedwin, eventually linked to by Square Enix to patch out.
** Rewards for finishing Chocobo races are organized differently. Hi-Potions are now rewarded properly.
**The credits are uncropped.
**After the credits, the window automatically closes and the player is returned to the desktop.
**A number of graphical glitches occur, most notably Vincent's glitched animation at the Water Altar in the Forgotten City after a scene.
**Using the menu to skip events on the world map is also possible on field maps.
**Saving, loading, and screen transitions are quicker.
***The number of save slots is increased from 2 to 10, with the slots now being called "saves", allowing up to 150 save files. Each save file is also called "GAME".
*Soundtrack - The music is generated by the PC's MIDI playback system, separating from the original PlayStation version's music. Depending on the PC configuration, it can still sound very faithful to the PlayStation's BGM. (Some, or possibly all editions of the PC version come with a Yamaha XG softsynth on the setup disc. If this is installed, the BGM will sound far better than with the standard Microsoft Wavetable Synthesizer built into Windows.)
**When not in an active window, the music will continue playing even when the game is paused.
== PlayStation Network==
Final Fantasy VII International released on the PlayStation Network on April 10th, 2009 in Japan and June 2nd, 2009 for the rest of the world. As a digital release, disc changes simply require to pause the console menu and select "Change Discs" when prompted. One minor change to gameplay is the Gremlin enemy having its AI altered to prevent it from using Bad mouth.
==PC (2012 version)==
A downloadable re-release of the 1998 PC release was released on August 14th, 2012 in North America and Europe, exclusive to the Square Enix online store. This version uses an edited version of Aali's Driver to improve on the files of the original PC release, thus fixing all previous bugs & glitches presesnt. A number of new features were implemented:
*Optimization - Several new features that enhance the gameplay experience on PC:
**Support on Windows XP and above.
**A cloud saving feature allows files to be saved to the internet and synced to the web. This does not replace local saves.
**A launcher where settings can be changed and data not stored in save files can be viewed.
**Screen resolutions up to 1920x1080p are supported.
**Windowed mode is available.
**Linear filtering can be enabled.
**Fixed aspect ratio can be enabled.
**Original Graphic Mode can be enabled.
**The Square Enix logo appears before the Eidos Interactive and Squaresoft logos, with the control scheme displayed afterwards.
*Gameplay Changes - Additional features to gameplay were implemented in lieu of modern games: 
**36 achievements are added to the game.
**Controls can be set from the launcher as well as in-game. The ability to change controls from the launcher means minigames and menus that use different control setups will still function with the user's chosen controls.
**A Character Booster is available from the game's website that allows the player to "boost" their save files.
**The Chocobo minigame works without needing a patch.
**The Magic Defense bug is fixed.
**The Secret Cow Level easter egg is added.
*Localization - Several grammatical errors are corrected from the original PC release, including the chocobo greens to match the item names.
**Cid's use of the word "shit" in the final FMV is once again uncensored.
*Music - The music is now runs on an OGG format, sounding almost identical to the PlayStation version as of patch v1.0.9, with minor looping issues.
*A number of musical glitches can occur, particularly when entering fields that are unrevisitable:
**Exiting from Mythril Mine into the Marshes scene will have the overworld theme play.
**In the field where the player can recruit Yuffie, the last field music the player exited from will play instead "Descendant of Shinobi".
**When Cloud confronts Sephiroth in the Nibel Reactor, the main theme is erroneously replaced with "Mako Reactor".
*Full Motion Videos - FMVs are upscaled to be of higher quality than the PlayStation.
**The normal Seto FMV is used again.
*Visuals - An option for additional shaders, increasing the quality and appearance of in-game models.
**Disc change screens are removed, instead saying "End of Part X".
**Minor timing and background scripts are added and changed.
**Vincent's Water Altar bug is fixed by changing his animations.
Patches - Numerous patches have been implemented to improve and fix issues:
* Versions 1.0.1 to 1.0.8 - Cloud Saving can be disabled from the launcher.
* Version 1.0.9 - On the 25th September, 2013, the OGG music format is replaced with the original PlayStation version.
The Japanese PC version released on May 16th, 2013. It is only available through Square Enix's online store in Japan, but includes numerous "boosters", including the option to increase in-game speed by three times and turning off random encounters.
== Mobile==
Mobile ports Final Fantasy VII released on August 19th, 2015 for iOS platforms, and July 7th, 2016 for Android platforms. Both are based on the 2012 re-release on the PC. These ports featured several changes:
*Gameplay Changes - Changes made to accommodate the portable experience on mobile devices:
**An option to max characters' stats is added to the Config menu.
**An option to turn on auto-saving is added to Config menu.
**Encounters can be disabled.
**The player runs by default.
**Dialogue changes for control tutorials are applied to match the new controls.
**Square Enix's "E" icon (for viewing other Square Enix titles), a question mark icon (for viewing additional information), and the Staff icon (for viewing the credits of the mobile port) are shown on the title screen.
**The "Quit" option is removed from the menu.
**After the final FMV, the player is returned to the title screen.
**Mouths are removed from NPCs, although they still blink improperly.
**The Eidos Interactive logo is removed.
**Exclusive to iOS platforms, an "iCloud" option is added to the title screen.
**Numerous issues include gameplay crashing, lagging, unable to use vehicles and not being able to unlock the safe in Shinra Manor due to the control scheme.
**Background music resets after battles.
*Version 1.0.29 - Optimization and fixes for Android versions 7.0+
==Eighth generation of video game consoles ==
Final Fantasy VII released on the eighth generation of video game consoles, first releasing for the PlayStation 4 on December 5th, 2015 and simultaneously releasing on both Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on March 26th, 2019. All versions are based of the 2012 PC re-release, and each version has features unique to that particular port. 
* Gameplay Changes - The following changes are universal to all versions:
** Field screens are centered again, producing black bars above and below rather than just below.
** Controls on the console versions cannot be changed and are now displayed upon starting a new game.
** Trophy and achievement support is added for the PS4 and Xbox One/Windows 10 versions respectively.
** Dialogue changes for control tutorials are applied to match the new controls.
** The Eidos Interactive and Squaresoft logos are removed.
** Using the left stick allows movement in eight directions. Tilting the stick enables walking, whilst fully moving the stick enables running.
** The Boosters for increasing movement speed, full Limit gauges and disabling random encounters can be toggled by pushing the left stick, right stick or both, respectively.
*** When a booster is active, it will appear on the black borders on the side of the screen.
** Credits for personnel involved in the port can be viewed in the "Additional Credits" option on the title screen. "One-Winged Angel" plays during this sequence.
** Pressing the Confirm button almost immediately after moving the cursor in a menu will move two spaces before selection.
* Visuals - Numerous changes are made to the visuals, with the changes varying on different ports:
**Pre-rendered backgrounds have been blurred to reduce pixilation on screen resolutions running on either 720p or 1080p.
**The typeface is upscaled and filtered.
**As with the mobile versions, mouths are removed from NPCs, but they still do not blink properly.
**The updated PC shaders used for in-game models are set to maximum and cannot be adjusted.
=== PlayStation 4 ===
* In non-Japanese versions, the button is set to [OK] and the button is set to [CANCEL], reflecting the controls in modern Final Fantasy titles.
* The E3 2015 trailer for Final Fantasy VII Remake is accessible from the title screen under the "Special Movie" option.
=== Xbox One & Windows 10 ===
* Similarly to the PlayStation 4, the button is set to [OK] and the button is set to [CANCEL]. 
* Booster icons overlay onto the game screen in the Windows 10 version when in 4:3.
* In the Windows 10 version, pressing F9 or & the Right Stick on the title screen will display the control mapping. Also, pressing the Esc key will open the System Menu.
* On Xbox One and Windows 10, a title screen appears after the Square Enix and Dotemu logos. Pressing any button or key will go straight into the Loop Demo.
* "Press any button." is changed to "Press any button" in the Windows 10 version.
* A "Select Profile" option is added to the title screen in the Xbox One version. It also shows the current signed-in profile on the top right of the title screen. This option was removed in the Windows 10 version, but the current signed-in profile is still shown.
*A "Quit" option is added to the title screen on Windows 10. Hitting the Esc key and selecting "Exit" will close the game as well.
*Save files in the Xbox One version do not carry over to the Windows 10 version.
*Selecting "Quit" in the menu in the console versions will return to the title screen.
=== Nintendo Switch ===
* On Nintendo Switch, A is set to [OK] and B is set to [CANCEL], reflecting the original PlayStation release.
* Booster icons are larger, likely to accommodate the Nintendo Switch's hybrid playstyle of either playing on TV mode or Handheld mode.
* The visuals have been blurred further, including in-game models. 
*Certain in-game areas have performance issues, such as the Chocobo Square.
==== Patches ====
*Background music no longer resets after battles. This patch was added for the Xbox One and Switch versions on May 2019, and later for the PlayStation 4 version on December 2019. 
*In all versions, the incorrect field music when recruiting Yuffie is fixed.
*For patch 1.0.3, The date mechanics exploit for Barret at Cosmo Canyon has been fixed for the PlayStation 4.
*A patch for the Xbox One and Switch versions resolved the issue of the correct length of the "Main Theme" during the sequence when Cloud's memories are restored.
==PlayStation Classic==
Released on December 3, 2018, Final Fantasy VII is included among the 20 games for the PlayStation Classic. It is based on the International version, running on the PCSX ReARMed emulator. A save state feature is available, and the Open button on the PlayStation Classic mini console is used to virtually change discs.
==Citations==
==External links==
*Differences between the original and PC port as catalogued by The Lifestream.net
Version Differences