Square Enix has just released a new version of the original Final Fantasy 7 on Steam, and it’s currently being review bombed by fans. This re-release of Final Fantasy 7 aims to provide a new array of quality-of-life upgrades, but it’s receiving overwhelming criticism for some overt day-one technical issues.
In 2013, the classic 1997 JRPG Final Fantasy 7 came to Steam. Earlier this month, Square Enix announced that this 2013 Steam version of Final Fantasy 7 was being replaced with a new version of the game, one that would deliver helpful new features such as a 3x Speed mode, the ability to turn off random encounters, and an autosave system. This most recent Final Fantasy 7 PC port arrived on Steam on February 24, retailing for $11.99, but being given for free to those who already owned the 2013 version.
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New Version of Final Fantasy 7 Is Broken at Launch
Unfortunately, the launch of this new Final Fantasy 7 PC port hasn’t gone quite as intended. Final Fantasy 7 currently holds a ‘Mostly Negative’ user review score on Steam, with 37% of the 321 reviews being negative in nature. The most common thread linking many of these reviews is FF7‘s battle speed not working as it should. This re-release seems to have removed the FPS cap for combat, meaning that all of the game’s attack animations are unnaturally sped up, and that sound effects aren’t synced with the on-screen actions. Within hours of Final Fantasy 7‘s new port going live, Square Enix had publicly addressed this issue and had already distributed a patch. While this patch fixed this battle speed issue for most players, that’s just scratching the surface of the re-release’s launch day problems.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Even the Steam user reviews that acknowledge the combat speed fix and praise the timeliness of Square Enix’s reaction highlight a variety of issues that are still present in this new Final Fantasy 7 release. For example, another common complaint is that many UI elements and environmental textures appear strangely blurry, with some theorizing that there may be a filter affecting the game’s visuals. Audio issues also remain outside of battles, with some reviews claiming that certain noises like the XP gain sound effect frequently stutter. In-game cinematics reportedly suffer from stuttering as well.
There have also been reports of the new 3x Speed feature not working as intended, with it ceasing awkwardly whenever the player moves into an area with a dynamic background. Screen-tearing has also been mentioned in one review, though the user says that the issue was fixed by swapping from fullscreen to a windowed display.
What’s undoubtedly exacerbating these issues is that this new iteration of Final Fantasy 7 has completely replaced the 2013 Steam port. Only those who already owned the game on Steam can swap back to the 2013 version, and Square Enix has stated that save data does not transfer between the different ports. Those looking to pick up Final Fantasy 7 on Steam from this point on will only be able to purchase this new, currently far from perfect version. While it’s very possible that Square Enix will fix these issues in the coming days, it might take a bit longer for the game’s user review score to recover from the launch day onslaught.
- Released
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January 31, 1997
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Blood, Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes
