Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII (Japanese: ファイナルファンタジーVII, Hepburn: Fainaru Fantajī Sebun) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation platform. Released in 1997, it is the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series and the first in the series to use 3D computer graphics, featuring fully rendered characters on pre-rendered backgrounds. It was also the first game in the main series to be released in Europe. The story follows Cloud Strife, a mercenary who joins the eco-terrorist rebel organization AVALANCHE to stop the world-controlling megacorporation Shinra from draining the life of the planet to use as an energy source. Cloud and his allies become involved in a larger world-threatening conflict and face off against Sephiroth, the main antagonist.

Development of Final Fantasy VII began in 1994. It was originally developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but was moved to the Nintendo 64; since the Nintendo 64's cartridges lacked the required storage capacity for substantial prerendered movie footage, Square moved the game to the CD-ROM based PlayStation. It was directed by Yoshinori Kitase, written by Kazushige Nojima and Kitase, and produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi. The music was composed by Final Fantasy veteran Nobuo Uematsu, while the series' long-time character designer, Yoshitaka Amano, was replaced by Tetsuya Nomura.

Final Fantasy VII (NES video game)

Final Fantasy VII (simplified Chinese: 最终幻想7; traditional Chinese: 最終幻想7; pinyin: Zuì Zhōng Huànxiǎng 7), also called Core Crisis (Chinese: 核心危机; pinyin: Héxīn Wēijī), is a Chinese unofficial, unlicensed "Shanzhai" demake of the 1997 role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII, originally developed by Square for the PlayStation. The two-dimensional "port" was developed and published by the Chinese company ShenZhen Nanjing Technology for the SUBOR entertainment system, a clone of Nintendo's Family Computer console (known internationally as the Nintendo Entertainment System). The cartridge itself is unique, as it is structurally different from licensed Famicom cartridges in terms of hardware and programming.

The game features many gameplay elements of the original Final Fantasy VII, including a three-member party structure and adaptations of the game's subsystems. The items, spells and equipment available to the player are based upon those in the original game, and although a large number have been omitted along with optional characters and some side quests, the original story was reproduced in very minute detail. The game was received with mixed reception, cited as an impressive achievement but at the same time criticized for its difficulty and choice of a target console.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Final Fantasy VII Remake (ファイナルファンタジーVII リメイク, Fainaru Fantajī Sebun Rimeiku) is an upcoming video game remake, developed and published by Square Enix, of the original 1997 PlayStation role-playing video game by Square. Rumored and speculated about for many years after the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII project and the Final Fantasy VII PlayStation 3 tech demo, the remake was officially announced by Square Enix at E3 2015 for the PlayStation 4.

Overview

Final Fantasy VII Remake, which retells the story of the original game, follows Cloud Strife, an ex-mercenary who joins the AVALANCHE eco-terrorist group to fight against the Shinra corporation, who have been draining the planet's life energy, only to become involved in something much bigger. Unlike ports of the original game released for computers and other high definition platforms, the game is a full remake built from the ground-up, featuring full polygonal graphics as opposed to the pre-rendered environments of the original. Footage shown at PlayStation Experience 2015 demonstrated both exploration and battle mechanics, which both take place in real-time like Final Fantasy XV. Unlike the 'Active Time Battle' system of the original, the remake appears to use a real-time battle system similar to the Kingdom Hearts series, which allows players to freely control Cloud or one of his allies as they use their respective weapons to attack enemies. Players will also be able to use magic and summons, and a Limit Break gauge allows characters to perform more powerful attacks once charged. Producer Yoshinori Kitase stated that while the game has more real-time elements, there would still be strategic elements, such as selecting weapons and magic for each character to wield. A press release in December 2015 stated that the game "will be told across a multi-part series, with each entry providing its own unique experience".

Final Fantasy (video game)

Final Fantasy (ファイナルファンタジー, Fainaru Fantajī) is a fantasy role-playing video game created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, developed and first published in Japan by Square (now Square Enix) in 1987. It is the first game in Square's Final Fantasy series. Originally released for the NES, Final Fantasy was remade for several video game consoles and is frequently packaged with Final Fantasy II in video game collections. The story follows four youths called the Light Warriors, who each carry one of their world's four elemental orbs which have been darkened by the four Elemental Fiends. Together, they quest to defeat these evil forces, restore light to the orbs, and save their world.

The game was originally going to be called Fighting Fantasy, but the name was changed to Final Fantasy when the development team discovered Fighting Fantasy was the title of a series of single-player roleplay gamebooks.

Square believed the game would be the last title they ever released, as the company faced bankruptcy. Instead, the game was a great commercial success, received generally positive reviews, and spawned many successful sequels and supplementary titles in the form of the Final Fantasy series. The original is now regarded as one of the most influential and successful role-playing games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, playing a major role in popularizing the genre. Critical praise focused on the game's graphics, while criticism targeted the time spent wandering in search of random battle encounters to raise the player's experience level. By March 2003, all versions of Final Fantasy have sold a combined total of two million copies worldwide.

Owen Pallett

Michael James Owen Pallett (born September 7, 1979) is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist, who performs solo as Owen Pallett or, before 2010, under the name Final Fantasy. As Final Fantasy, he won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds.

From the age of 3, Pallett studied classical violin, and composed his first piece at age 13. A notable early composition includes some of the music for the game Traffic Department 2192; he moved on to scoring films, to composing two operas while in university. Apart from the indie music scene, he has had commissions from the Barbican, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Ballet of Canada, Bang on a Can, Ecstatic Music Festival, the Vancouver CBC Orchestra, and Fine Young Classicals.

On his Final Fantasy releases, Pallett has collaborated with Leon Taheny, who is credited as drummer and engineer. Following the release of Heartland, Pallett has toured with guitarist/percussionist Thomas Gill and more recently with his former collaborators in Les Mouches, Rob Gordon and Matt Smith.

Final Fantasy IV

Final Fantasy IV (ファイナルファンタジーIV, Fainaru Fantajī Fō, also known as Final Fantasy II for its initial North American release) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System platform. Released in 1991, it is the fourth main installment of the Final Fantasy series. The game's story follows Cecil, a dark knight, as he tries to prevent the sorcerer Golbez from seizing powerful crystals and destroying the world. He is joined on this quest by a frequently changing group of allies. Final Fantasy IV introduced innovations that became staples of the Final Fantasy series and role-playing games in general. Its "Active Time Battle" system was used in five subsequent Final Fantasy games, and unlike prior games in the series, IV gave each character their own unchangeable character class.

Final Fantasy IV has been ported to several other platforms with varying differences. An enhanced remake, also called Final Fantasy IV, with 3D graphics was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007 and 2008. The game was re-titled Final Fantasy II during its initial release outside Japan as the original Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III had not been released outside Japan at the time. However, later localizations used the original title.