Link: https://www.gog.com/en/game/final_fantasy_vii

This was alluded to in the GOG AMA on reddit recently, but here it is. It might explain why FF7 on Steam only recently got its atrocious DRM removed. There was a set of four Final Fantasy games about a month ago, and this one seems to be releasing on GOG by itself. And yes, before anyone mentions it in the comments, this company uses AI in some capacity, if that matters to you. I tested this release of FF7 for about 15 minutes via Heroic/Proton, and it seems to work great, though it does have a config launcher that we may want to disable via launch params.

I have the PS1 version but this does look enticing for convenience's sake. How does the modern PC release compare to the original one (besides the quality of life additions mentioned on the store page)?

I emulated the game a few years ago, because the alternative was dealing with the lousy DRM on the Steam version, and it's weird (in a good way) to now play this game and see the battle transition animation run at higher frame rates. You can also use the analog stick. 3x speed is nice, but I can already do that on emulators. I know my brother got very into the modding tools for the Steam version of the game, so I wouldn't be surprised if those tools work on the GOG version already or in the near future.

There are so many great mods for pc ff7.

Hmm, seems like sticking with emulating my copy might be good enough for now. I might jump into the other entries instead since I neither have nor played them. Thanks for the reply!

3x speed is nice, but I can already do that on emulators.

If this is the same port that was sold on consoles, you can speed the game up while maintaining the music at the correct pace, which you cannot do on an emulator. It makes the game 100% more bearable.

Are there any projects you could suggest as worth checking out? I love mods but I never really thought about using them with FF7 - it's just not a game that comes to mind when I think about doing a modded playthrough. Anything transformative enough to make it more than just FF7 but with QoL or nicer graphics?

7th Heaven mod manager has traditionally been the way to go. I think Reunion is the most important as a retranslation that improves the writing a lot. There are a number of graphical improvements, bug fixes and such too. Also framerate.

Instant purchase. I have been waiting for this.

Now do the remake(s).

Hm, sounds good but not necessarily like a must-have for someone who enjoys the series more casually/from the sidelines rather than being an active part of the fandom. I'll keep that in mind for the future, thanks.

Trails in the Sky became bearable because of this. It was so well enjoyed that the full remake of the game kept the feature around.

FF7 has mods for better characters models, better backgrounds and FULLY VOICED CHARACTERS. Yeah all caps because it’s that insane modders voiced the entire game from main characters to random fillers in town and are now working on FF9.

The voice mod is called Echo S but they’re all available through the 7th heaven launcher and work great on steam deck.

Darn, I just bought it on Steam. Well I can probably de-Steam it.

Yup, they did the same with the FFX/X-2 port a while ago, and the PC version is now considered the definitive version because the QoL stuff is so nice.

check out New Threat which remixes the game, or the Archeology Mod which restores cut content and the original intent of the translators - including lines that were wrong in the original and then fixed in remake (it has a setting specifically keep "This guy are sick" if you were worried).

I had no idea that they did voice acting mods! Thanks for sharing this!

I played FF7 OG right before the remake came out so I could really see the differences, and obviously used mods to make it more enjoyable for me. This would've been a must have at that point, but I am VERY interested in the FF9 voice mod. Is there one for FF8, and do they sound pretty good? :)

Not sure about FF8 but there is a preview of the Ff9 voice mod on YouTube. Sounds pretty good so far.

I was pretty impressed by the FF7 voice work. The quality varies, but I really liked Cid and Sephiroth. Would rank it up there with the better Skyrim follower mods, except it’s soooooo many more lines.

and 60% discount? on gog? may have to check that out. 😁

Excellent, thanks again! I'm going to take a look at them when I feel like going through them.

Right now, I'm in the middle of FF12 Zodiac and FF16. I'll eventually get to the older ones, just too many good games out right now!

As for Skyrim mods, Inigo/Recorder/Lucien were my absolute favorites, and they were my companions throughout one of my playthroughs. :)