5/5, a masterpiece of a retrospective. You could tell that this was created with passion and genuine appreciation of the game and franchise. Wow! One of the best retrospectives of all time, not just for Digital Foundry IMHO. Thanks, DF!
@Dr. Fresh_2k and there's always a fanboy who will put their emotions before their objectivity. It's an alt-timeline sequel masquerading as a remake, which isn't what they advertised. Sorry, not sorry.
Me too, I played on 97 as well but in my country (Indonesia) there were only Japanese copy available, yet I finished that game despite didn't able to read anything 😂 I was 13 at that time, now 35.
Same here, 39 now. I got FF7 the first day it came out when I was 16 in 1997. I skipped school that day, locked myself in, and played the hell out of it. I was so blown away when I finally got to the overworld, when Midgar was just one of many places to explore. I was NOT expecting that.
I could not play it for those times because my dad bought the games from a fuy who pirated them and since they were multiple discs he never made them 😫🤣 Now I can cuz I'm 37 and I can afford it lol
35 years old here, and the PS version of FFVII was my introduction to JRPGS and anime at the time. I've played many other JRPGs and entries in the FF series, and I still go back to this one because the story, characters, and ATB/Materia system STILL stand out from the rest. Others might argue it's too simple, but I'll retort that's it's strength among the rest. I think the literal only other JRPG that has got me on the same plane of enjoyment has been Persona 5. Huge gap, I know.
I ended up playing FF7 PC edition in 98, as I was going to by a PS1 to play it after trying it out on the console at a friends house. After seeing the PC version running on a 3dfx card, I was sold, and saved my paychecks for a Monster Voodo 3dfx 4mb card, and was so happy I waited! Never thought I would be in a simalar situation in 2020...but here I am waiting for 2021 and the PC version of FF7Remake.
I was 16 when FF7 came out, I'm 38 now. Like a lot of people it was the first RPG I ever played. I actually didn't even know FF7 was an RPG when I got it, or that "turn-based" combat existed. All I remember from the commercial was a clip of the FMV just before the mini-game when they are escaping Midgar. At the time it was unlike anything else I had ever seen and I just had to have it. When I first started up the game and was presented with the combat I was a little taken back because I was used to faster paced games. Once I defeated the scorpion and the timer started counting down I was hooked. The rest is history, FF7 remains my favorite video game of all time even though RPGs still are not my favorite genre. I would like to thank DF for dedicating an hour to this masterpiece and its evolution. For those of you torn between your feelings of the remake I have come up with my own realization if it helps. I may hate what the game isn't, but I don't hate what it is.
I was hyped out of my mind reading Gamefan previews of FF7 and replaying the demo disc over and over. I remember my mom coming to my school at lunch and showing me the game in the car that she picked up. She let me leave school early lol. And I remember watching that E3 2015 back to back triple hitter with the FF7 reveal... goosebumps.
@Cyberdemon Mike In your opinion, which is fine! I know many love FF9 over FF7 (I think FF6 beats FF9 and is on par or better than FF7). But you can't deny the deep rooted impact/importance of FF7, its the "Thriller" of FF games, no, JRPG's. FF7 is amazing!
My favorite game of all time. I replay it every year or two, and it always reminds me what ludicrous, unparalleled potential video games have to be the greatest of all storytelling mediums. The extensive plot depth of a novel, the flashy visuals of an anime, that baller fucking soundtrack by Uematsu; but most of all, it's the interactivity. You _lived_ that grand adventure.
I’m only 17 and missed out on all the original ffvii hype. I completed the original and remake recently and watching this video gave me an excellent window into what this game really did for the genre and industry in general. I fell in love with ffvii when I played it and this video really did it justice. I’ve watched a lot of TH-cam but when I say this is by far my favorite video on this website, I mean it. Amazing work
Fun Trivia: They where originaly planing on using Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children's Characters and meshed for the remake but when they found the 15+ year backup and examined the files they where less than impressed... So the characters of FFVII was yet again remodeled, rigged, textured :D Apparently Advent Children wheren't given the same treatment as The Spirits Within who's hero character models is better than most productions even with todays standards. On character is around 150Gb with texturedetails most computers in 2020 can't even handle with the insane amounts of subparalax layers like veins, mucles, sweat and whatnot. The rigging Took several weeks divided into several persons. It's the defination of overkill and not working smart but then again Squaresoft back the had a CGI reputation to uphold. Final Fantasy XV characters is pretty much the same meshes/riggs taken from Kingsglaive movie, slight reduction of injection points (muscles) removal of realstrain hair ofc and non Quadro'esk textures and resolution.. belive they still brag about the ingame characters have the most polygons out there ^^ Can't wait for Ps5's pipeline of texture fidelity. I have a 1080ti but damnson even with 4k texture pack eating most of the 11gb of ram i must bow down in the dust as God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted 4 and Detroit: Become Human on a base Ps4 looka more 2020 than my "mustard rage "
Next gen is going to be crazy if PS5 and Series X are on the level of a 2070 and 2080Super with super fast memory and loading, plus that's not even counting all of the crazy secret sauce things that go behind those consoles.
The Spirits Within who's hero character models is better than most productions even with todays standards. thats not true tbh , modern CG characters are so much more lifelike and realistic than spirits within, despite the efforts that the character designers put into the spirits within, its now easier for a single person to make a more realistic character using lower resolution textures, lower poly meshes and simpler rigs. for the time it was done, spirits within was a world apart from anything else around but these days its not hard to render more realistic characters even in realtime.
Those ps4 exclusives are impressive considering the hardware they're running on, but every single time I play one I can't help but imagine how much better they would look and play at higher resolution and framerate. They have gotten really good at working to the system's strength though and making the most of the paltry hardware they're working with, but on a 4k panel they look less than great sometimes and 30 fps can be... hard to adjust to. You can tell that the games themselves look great, but the hardware can't run them optimally. They should run awesomely on the ps5, I hope.
@@Edino_Chattino That is true. For me- PS2 with graphics improved on an emulator is where 3D starts to look good. Generaly- 2D aged the best, and games that use sprites aged ok, but early pure 3D is often too much to handle.
@@NeblogaiLT Its interesting to think that SNES and Genesis games look and play beautifully even today, while N64 and PS1 games seem MORE aged/dated/primitive by comparison (even though the tech was more advanced). The 16-bit machines were, in a way, the pinnacle of 2D and sprite based games (even by today's standards perhaps!) while the first 3D consoles were the infancy of 3D and polygonal based games. So the disparity of the two generations, viewed from a modern lens, makes total sense in a way. I'd love a DF retro discussing this topic!
This is incredible. I wrote my Bachelor Thesis on the concept of immersion seen through the evolution of the Final Fantasy Saga, and even tho im only halfway through we touch on many similar points. Makes me feel like a did a good job hehe thanks as always, great stuff.
I played my first share of FF7 on PC. Couldn't afford console at a time, my good buddy from school had FF7 on PSX from the start it was available in english. Because this was massive, never played on his system - to not spoil my fun. This was one of these games, that redefined gaming for me, with over 200h put into exploring, fighting, and living the story. This was better than any movie was. And much different from all the short games of that era. Now, playing on PS4 I was struck with awe, how much effort they put in recreating all that made my childhood memories great. Characters, scenes, details, all are there, and more. And after spending 60hrs in Remake, I am starved for more. And can't wait for it to happen.
Seeing ff13's graphic compared to ff7 remake's made me tear up a bit. Ff13 still looks phenomenal especially in cutscenes. But woah what a difference :) What a journey this franchise has been on. But feels like it's coming home and I could be happier about that.
I could have said that on many other videos but I'll say it here: Thank you John for your passion. I mean it when I say that you helped me a lot through a very difficult time in my life. Still going through a lot but my passion for video game and people like you are really adding some colours to my life. Thank you
Thank you for taking us old school gamers down memory lane and educating new comers to the impact FFVII had. This was obviously a labor of love, well done John Linneman.
My favorite game of all time. Still remember when I got my PS1 and FF7, the game that came to propel my passion for gaming and define me as a serious gamer. JRPG's is to this day my favorite genre thanks to FF7. I play FF7 once every year, that's how much this game still means to me. And with the Remake I get to relive and experience my favorite story once again in a modern take ❤ Thank you DF for this retro episode!
Just fantastic. I am currently replaying FF7Remake, after finishing Crisis Core FF7Reunion on PS5, and I plan on replaying OG FF7 all before getting my hands on Part 2 FF7 Rebirth in the holiday season. Man, is it the best time to be an FF7 fan. ❤
Even after finishing Remake and now doing 2nd playtrough, i have feel like i wanna go back to original and play it again. Its so timeless classic it never gets old.
It's so hard to explain to newer generations the impact of this game and why...."THAT Moment" was so impactful. It is the definition of "you had to be there" because no matter how many videos are made explaining the whole context of 1997, nothing comes close to actually being there and experiencing everything. To this day, everytime I play the game it makes me feel "something" that it is quite difficult to express. Thank you for this DF retro, it was great.
After playing FF7R it really makes me yearn for a Legend of Dragoon remake. Sad that we may never get to see one. That game could have been an amazing series.
@@MARTIN92ELCHUY They do, sony's internal team made the game, and they know there's demand for it. They could easily do a remake if they wanted to, its just a matter of if the sales of a remake would justify the cost of development
There’s very little I wouldn’t do to be able to re-create that magic feeling I felt when I first played this game in 1997. I was 23, and was only just dipping my toes into rpgs at that point having played my first real rpg, Wild Arms, earlier that year. ❤️
Not a fan of the game or even the series in general but I really enjoyed this deep dive into what FF7 was and what it's become over the years. Fantastic job as always John!
Who disliked this video? Why? Good job on this, thanks for the nostalgia. Break this game apart into explaining every pixel and yet still this game will seem "alive" to me. True magic.
This is the one I have been wait for, I Love Final Fantasy VII. What an epic remake, although I can't help but feel that having games cut into episodes takes away the grandeur. It runs perfectly on my pro, I couldn't have asked for a better remake, even better than I could have imagined! Thank you Square and thank you DF for this analysis
Yeah but the first episode is almost as long as the full original. Imagine how epic in scale it's going to be when/if all the parts releases. Possibly the biggest single player adventure game ever.
Goddamn, John. This is one of the best videos on this channel, period. Like he said, it was wild to actually live through those times, seeing the shift from 2D to 3D and seeing new games breaking new ground in a new dimension, new styles of play, seeing old franchises change their presentation, and just seeing gaming in general explode past just being for kids in popular culture. Stuff like FFVII's ambitions and success absolutely inspired the fuck out of countless developers to believe they could do damn near anything with the crazy hardware jump.
I wasn't even born when the game released, but it has a special place in my memories because I played it a lot when I was a kid. It´s amazing how they recreated almost exactly the original on the remake! 1 Hour watching and when I noticed was already over :( Digital Foundry is one of the best TH-cam channels, I can see so much work and love was put into this video! Thank you very much!
Wow, those midis bring back memories! Back when you had to buy the music cd or pirate to get access to mp3s of the music, I often found free midi files of these songs to listen to on Winamp.
Really well executed John. Enjoyed it immensely. Hope FF& remake part 2 isn't 5 years away. I do have a feeling all the open world streaming etc will be very doable on PS5 and hence maybe part 2 will be the last part and not that far off. Time will tell!
"Yes, the Super NES recieved numerous localizations of popular Japanese role playing games... but none of them made a splash equivalent to Japan" Chrono Trigger not getting a European release until 2009 maybe something to do with it? FF7 was the first time many people here had the opportunity to play a FF game/JRPG.
that statement was a bit of hyperbaly by him.. at least in my opinon back in NES and SNES days NO game was SUPER populare save mario sonic and such, and TONS of rpg were popular (i assume because they kept coming out with lots and lots ) on nes games like final fantasy faxsanadu, link, ultima, dragon quest, ect, and on super nintendo link aging, final fantasy 2(4) and 3(6), chrono trigger, secret of mana, earthbound, illusion of gaia, secret of evermore breath of fire i could go on an on and fukcing on... the thing is IF they were not popular in the west (i live in the usa) then why the fuck would they keep making that TYPE of game. all my friends who played games played rpgs....FF7 just got EVERYONE into them cuz it looked good at the time and was brand new besaides the top down 2d rpg......but trust me rpg were very popular
I think john was mainly trying to say that at the time, no other RPG had the grand Impact of FF7, not that they didnt make any money or have any fan base. They definately did, otherwise yeah they wouldn't have kept localizing RPGs here in the west
Good game, but I personally liked FFIX more. However when FFVII came out I was blown away by it, it was the first FF game I ever saw as far as I can remember! Sadly I couldn't ever play the full game until like 2004-2005 or something though but once I could I did and it was a good game.
10:40 "It's the little things like the shrugs and the temper tantrums....." YES! That's the reason I was disappointed that the Remake was going in the realistic direction. Barrett's temper tantrums gave him a personality that some sunglasses and a Cool Guy attitude can't replicate.
I remember my younger brother got this game when it first released and I thought it was so weird that a guy with a sword was fighting dudes with guns. I didn't play it til several years later. Man, was I missing out.
I remember getting Tobal #1 just for the demo of this game. Being such a giant fan of FFIV and FFVI it was my most anticipated game. I must have played that demo 100x. It was so mind blowing. Everything from the intro sequence to the cloud entrance to the battle system to the music. Was perfect. And then the demo ended with you being able to summon Leviathan which was just jaw dropping. Such an iconic piece of software.
You can say homage, or you can look at games like Metroid other M that was released in 2010 and realize that this has just been done for a long time now.
You can easily tell which are FMV because Cloud suddenly gets the BusterSword back on his back and equipping Materia that you definitely don't have equipped.
You’ve produced a masterpiece here, John. Simply fantastic, had a tear in my eye on a couple of occasions. This game holds wonderful memories for me. Leaving Midgar and realising it was just one place on a large map is the biggest wow moment I’ve experienced in gaming. It instantly changed my perception of what a game could be.
I still have my cd's for the game when it released originally on the PC, but was never close to finishing it. I'm playing the remake now, and i'm so invested in the characters now, that i'm going to play the original now despite the old old...old graphics because my investment in the characters now trumps all technical shortcomings and I want to finish the story, learn more about the characters. No way am I going to wait years for the remake to be finished.
FF7 was memed and spoiled to death since it first came out, so I never bothered to play it. Even popular PS1 games like Resident Evil, Xenogears or Metal Gear Solid weren't blown wide open like FF7, so I was able to enjoy them without having to buy them on launch day. A testament to how insanely successful FF7 was, I guess
almost 11 years on this website and its the first time i watch 10+ mins video from start to finish, and its freaking 1 hour long!!!....fucking brilliant work!!
Now that we are coming to the end of this generation, and with such impressive character models like Cloud in FF7 Remake; I would love to see DF do a breakdown comparison of the best character models of the last 7 years. Cloud, Kratos, Peter Parker/Spiderman, Nathan Drake, and Jesse Faden from Control all come to mind. It would be awesome to have the team weigh in on which they think is the peak of modern game modeling.
@@Great.Milenko sure, all of that comes into play for the full, complete effect of how we perceive the character detail. But semantics aside, what choices did different developers make and what seems like the most effective approach? Something about FF7 Remake's characters feels more polished and cinematic. They seem "rounder" or softer, and more lifelike than most others. I think Kratos is the other contender, but he does feel slightly more "digital" somehow, even if we see more detail.
I never played FFVII while growing up but this video so well made that it made me nostalgic for something I never experienced in the first place. Kudos.
this is the only channel that can keep me watching an one hour video without stand up. Amazing job, incredible hight quality content. Congratulations! Ps: the most impressive thing is that my favorite FF its not the 7, but 9, even thou, this video is a must.
I remember when I beat FF7 for the first time. I was only like 19 years old, I had stayed up all night playing and gotten almost to the end. I was about to drag my tired ass out of bed to go to work the next day when I looked at the Playstation and decided that I was gonna take a sick day even though I really needed to work. I didn't even go back to bed, I immediately started playing again and later that day I was finished. It wasn't my first Final Fantasy, but it was definitely the most visually striking RPG I had played up until that point. I loved and still love Chrono Trigger, FF3+4, ye olde Dragon Warrior, Ultima VII and others, but FF7 was different. The FMVs and cinematic approach let me connect to the characters in a way that I hadn't with other games. Not better than the 2d games, just in a different way. It helps that FF7 was a lot more approachable than any other RPG I had ever played. People that never would have played one before were all of a sudden checking this new one out. It was a cool time for games. Good video, thank you for making this kind of content.
Incredible effort, time, and dedication put into this video. Great job John. We appreciate the effort you and everyone else at DF puts into these kind of videos.
John, holy crap, you just outdid yourself somehow. You're DF Retro stuff in the past was already a high bar but, my god man, you just nailed it. That not only brought me back but allowed me to see the side I never really understood back then as I had FF7 on my PS1 and I tried getting it running on my PC but it was a nightmare. Now I know why! Really good stuff! Take care, dude!
Brought a tear to my eye really when you started summing up the technical achievements. it's so weird to think that back then we were so easily awed but it was just undisputed that games were so transformative back then because in that period of time we've just never witnessed anything like it.
First played FFVII on the PC and remember trying to get the audio correct, used to crash on Disc 3 so never got to the end. Would love to see the same but for FF VIII
Damn that music brings me back to my childhood. I miss those days. Sitting in front of the CRT. After school, mom is cooking on the kitchen, you can't wait to eat but you are in the middle of trying to grind to the next level so you can finally beat that boss. The weather always seemed nice, and school was nothing but a social gathering. The only real worries you had were how you can build the ultimate Materia setup. Man..
BoostCTRL Right?! My memories of the 90s seem to always involve warm weather and brilliant blue skies. Others have told me the same. Very symbolic of what life was like growing up in that era.
It is the same for everyone, we were kida back then and our brains naturally selects only the best memories and blends them in a way that makes us think it was real...like infinite blue skies, 24/7 summer and all around fun...our brain is a damned trickster!!!
Just a heads up for anyone playing the remake that has never played the original. He shows the end boss and other spoilers. Doesn't affect me but might be worth noting :)
John this df retro was just...wow i mean i have no words to describe how i feel right now all i can say is thank you for making me shed tears of happiness
Incredibly detailed overview of the tech that powered the original game. GREAT work folks. I had no idea of all the hoops you had to go through to play it on pc. Can't wait for what the next chapter will look like on PS5, and for the inevitable DF analysis of course. keep up the great work folks.
Eko Permana so people who don’t like the video are “haters”? What refreshing take in 2020. People have the right to like and dislike what they want. Just like there are people who don’t like the new ffvii remake. I swear man people need to stop thinking like robots.
@@AveMcree maybe you should think about the context first, read carefully what the TS mean, and read my comment again, so you are not look like a stupid child on internet
Bravo! There’s a few videos that when they pop into my feed I have to carve out a time to sit and watch uninterrupted and df retro is definitely one of them.
Lol, I'll put it at about 5 years. Keep in mind you are waiting for part 2 + the pc port of part 2 + the complete collection + the PC port of the complete collection.
FF7 and FF9 are my favorite. What's sad is looking at a lot of the textures and static backgrounds of final fantasy 7 the remakes textures look the same. 🤔🤦♂️
The timing of the FF7 Reveal in your documentary brought tears to my eyes yet again. Such a fantastic delivery of your presentation, thank you so much.
An hour long DF Retro on FFVII? Thank you, thank you very much!
Holy Crap. It was an hour? I never realised.
5/5, a masterpiece of a retrospective. You could tell that this was created with passion and genuine appreciation of the game and franchise. Wow! One of the best retrospectives of all time, not just for Digital Foundry IMHO. Thanks, DF!
one of the best retrospectives ever for one of the best games of all time ♥️
Until you actually play the whole thing. 🤮
@Dr. Fresh_2k and there's always a fanboy who will put their emotions before their objectivity. It's an alt-timeline sequel masquerading as a remake, which isn't what they advertised. Sorry, not sorry.
@@shenglongx jm
..
Absolutely fantastic effort John, you should be extremely proud of this.
Linneman is a gifted videogames analyst and historian.
@@tyo101Vastly underrated, he’s one of my top 3 favorite TH-camrs.
@@74Vidgamer Linneman is a great asset to the gaming community because of his in-depth knowledge and honesty.
I still remember playing FF7 for the PlayStation in 1997 and now I'm 42 yrs old and playing the FF7 Remake have always love Final Fantasy 7.
Me too, I played on 97 as well but in my country (Indonesia) there were only Japanese copy available, yet I finished that game despite didn't able to read anything 😂 I was 13 at that time, now 35.
Same here, 39 now. I got FF7 the first day it came out when I was 16 in 1997. I skipped school that day, locked myself in, and played the hell out of it. I was so blown away when I finally got to the overworld, when Midgar was just one of many places to explore. I was NOT expecting that.
I could not play it for those times because my dad bought the games from a fuy who pirated them and since they were multiple discs he never made them 😫🤣
Now I can cuz I'm 37 and I can afford it lol
35 years old here, and the PS version of FFVII was my introduction to JRPGS and anime at the time. I've played many other JRPGs and entries in the FF series, and I still go back to this one because the story, characters, and ATB/Materia system STILL stand out from the rest. Others might argue it's too simple, but I'll retort that's it's strength among the rest. I think the literal only other JRPG that has got me on the same plane of enjoyment has been Persona 5. Huge gap, I know.
I ended up playing FF7 PC edition in 98, as I was going to by a PS1 to play it after trying it out on the console at a friends house. After seeing the PC version running on a 3dfx card, I was sold, and saved my paychecks for a Monster Voodo 3dfx 4mb card, and was so happy I waited! Never thought I would be in a simalar situation in 2020...but here I am waiting for 2021 and the PC version of FF7Remake.
The effort put into this is absolutely amazing. You guys never fail to deliver!
Outstanding job. My first time watching DF Retro. If they're even half of the quality of this, I'll watch them all. Thank you!
Oh man, you are in store for some damn good video game media.
All roads led to This video...
They are and even better in many cases. You have been missing out.
Only John could make a series with this much passion and attention to detail.
I was 16 when FF7 came out, I'm 38 now. Like a lot of people it was the first RPG I ever played. I actually didn't even know FF7 was an RPG when I got it, or that "turn-based" combat existed. All I remember from the commercial was a clip of the FMV just before the mini-game when they are escaping Midgar. At the time it was unlike anything else I had ever seen and I just had to have it. When I first started up the game and was presented with the combat I was a little taken back because I was used to faster paced games. Once I defeated the scorpion and the timer started counting down I was hooked. The rest is history, FF7 remains my favorite video game of all time even though RPGs still are not my favorite genre. I would like to thank DF for dedicating an hour to this masterpiece and its evolution.
For those of you torn between your feelings of the remake I have come up with my own realization if it helps. I may hate what the game isn't, but I don't hate what it is.
I was 9. I didn't beat it until i was 11 or 12 but it was always one of my favorites. I grinded so much in that game
I was hyped out of my mind reading Gamefan previews of FF7 and replaying the demo disc over and over. I remember my mom coming to my school at lunch and showing me the game in the car that she picked up. She let me leave school early lol. And I remember watching that E3 2015 back to back triple hitter with the FF7 reveal... goosebumps.
SotNist your mom is epic!
@Cyberdemon Mike In your opinion, which is fine! I know many love FF9 over FF7 (I think FF6 beats FF9 and is on par or better than FF7).
But you can't deny the deep rooted impact/importance of FF7, its the "Thriller" of FF games, no, JRPG's. FF7 is amazing!
My favorite game of all time. I replay it every year or two, and it always reminds me what ludicrous, unparalleled potential video games have to be the greatest of all storytelling mediums. The extensive plot depth of a novel, the flashy visuals of an anime, that baller fucking soundtrack by Uematsu; but most of all, it's the interactivity. You _lived_ that grand adventure.
well said
I’m only 17 and missed out on all the original ffvii hype. I completed the original and remake recently and watching this video gave me an excellent window into what this game really did for the genre and industry in general. I fell in love with ffvii when I played it and this video really did it justice. I’ve watched a lot of TH-cam but when I say this is by far my favorite video on this website, I mean it. Amazing work
This was dope af. Having dabbled in the original as a kid, it’s cool to see how similar and different the remake is
Not similar at all you mean?
Fun Trivia: They where originaly planing on using Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children's Characters and meshed for the remake but when they found the 15+ year backup and examined the files they where less than impressed... So the characters of FFVII was yet again remodeled, rigged, textured :D
Apparently Advent Children wheren't given the same treatment as The Spirits Within who's hero character models is better than most productions even with todays standards.
On character is around 150Gb with texturedetails most computers in 2020 can't even handle with the insane amounts of subparalax layers like veins, mucles, sweat and whatnot. The rigging Took several weeks divided into several persons.
It's the defination of overkill and not working smart but then again Squaresoft back the had a CGI reputation to uphold.
Final Fantasy XV characters is pretty much the same meshes/riggs taken from Kingsglaive movie, slight reduction of injection points (muscles) removal of realstrain hair ofc and non Quadro'esk textures and resolution.. belive they still brag about the ingame characters have the most polygons out there ^^
Can't wait for Ps5's pipeline of texture fidelity. I have a 1080ti but damnson even with 4k texture pack eating most of the 11gb of ram i must bow down in the dust as God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted 4 and Detroit: Become Human on a base Ps4 looka more 2020 than my "mustard rage "
Next gen is going to be crazy if PS5 and Series X are on the level of a 2070 and 2080Super with super fast memory and loading, plus that's not even counting all of the crazy secret sauce things that go behind those consoles.
The Spirits Within who's hero character models is better than most productions even with todays standards.
thats not true tbh , modern CG characters are so much more lifelike and realistic than spirits within, despite the efforts that the character designers put into the spirits within, its now easier for a single person to make a more realistic character using lower resolution textures, lower poly meshes and simpler rigs. for the time it was done, spirits within was a world apart from anything else around but these days its not hard to render more realistic characters even in realtime.
Sure why do double work , but if papa sony is footing the consulting fee , why not remodel ?
Cool info. Thanks!
Those ps4 exclusives are impressive considering the hardware they're running on, but every single time I play one I can't help but imagine how much better they would look and play at higher resolution and framerate. They have gotten really good at working to the system's strength though and making the most of the paltry hardware they're working with, but on a 4k panel they look less than great sometimes and 30 fps can be... hard to adjust to. You can tell that the games themselves look great, but the hardware can't run them optimally. They should run awesomely on the ps5, I hope.
You guys have helped me get through these hard times and I really appreciate it. Thank you John and co. 🙏
@Drakomus being toxic for upvotes, go back to reddit
Yeah the lies about sars-cov2 have hurt us all.
Boss?
@@Nazyairsengikar cope
Wow, how far we've come in terms of graphics. Mind-blowing.
Yes- 3D started bad.
@@NeblogaiLT As much as I loved FF7, it´s much easier to play the original FF6 than FF7 today. 3D aged so badly.
@@Edino_Chattino That is true. For me- PS2 with graphics improved on an emulator is where 3D starts to look good. Generaly- 2D aged the best, and games that use sprites aged ok, but early pure 3D is often too much to handle.
@@NeblogaiLT Its interesting to think that SNES and Genesis games look and play beautifully even today, while N64 and PS1 games seem MORE aged/dated/primitive by comparison (even though the tech was more advanced).
The 16-bit machines were, in a way, the pinnacle of 2D and sprite based games (even by today's standards perhaps!) while the first 3D consoles were the infancy of 3D and polygonal based games. So the disparity of the two generations, viewed from a modern lens, makes total sense in a way.
I'd love a DF retro discussing this topic!
Wow this is so enlightening. It shows how far we've all progressed, not just square enix.
Thank you!
This is incredible.
I wrote my Bachelor Thesis on the concept of immersion seen through the evolution of the Final Fantasy Saga, and even tho im only halfway through we touch on many similar points.
Makes me feel like a did a good job hehe
thanks as always, great stuff.
I played my first share of FF7 on PC. Couldn't afford console at a time, my good buddy from school had FF7 on PSX from the start it was available in english. Because this was massive, never played on his system - to not spoil my fun. This was one of these games, that redefined gaming for me, with over 200h put into exploring, fighting, and living the story. This was better than any movie was. And much different from all the short games of that era. Now, playing on PS4 I was struck with awe, how much effort they put in recreating all that made my childhood memories great. Characters, scenes, details, all are there, and more. And after spending 60hrs in Remake, I am starved for more. And can't wait for it to happen.
Seeing ff13's graphic compared to ff7 remake's made me tear up a bit. Ff13 still looks phenomenal especially in cutscenes. But woah what a difference :)
What a journey this franchise has been on. But feels like it's coming home and I could be happier about that.
FF13 trilogy needs a remaster like X and and XII.
I really love the 13 trilogies visuals. Especially with the X enhancement.
FF13 sucks
I agree, i have the pc version of 13 and it looks great these days. I just wish the battle system was different.
I could have said that on many other videos but I'll say it here:
Thank you John for your passion. I mean it when I say that you helped me a lot through a very difficult time in my life. Still going through a lot but my passion for video game and people like you are really adding some colours to my life. Thank you
Welp, I'm gonna save this one for later, and prepare snacks and a drink when I watch it. This gon' be good is an understatement.
i can say, having done so myself: it's a good time. john is a treasure
Thank you for taking us old school gamers down memory lane and educating new comers to the impact FFVII had. This was obviously a labor of love, well done John Linneman.
The first game to ever make me cry! Seeing how this game is important (remake) to others now bring back those feelings again! 🥺🤧😇😁
I'm loving remake!
My favorite game of all time. Still remember when I got my PS1 and FF7, the game that came to propel my passion for gaming and define me as a serious gamer. JRPG's is to this day my favorite genre thanks to FF7. I play FF7 once every year, that's how much this game still means to me. And with the Remake I get to relive and experience my favorite story once again in a modern take ❤
Thank you DF for this retro episode!
"Let's mosey"
There. You have my like.
This is the best looking implementation of the DF Retro Audio Player, love it
Around 56:52, I still can't wrap my head around how that glass breaks apart when its about as thick as the truck is wide
😂 True that
Just fantastic. I am currently replaying FF7Remake, after finishing Crisis Core FF7Reunion on PS5, and I plan on replaying OG FF7 all before getting my hands on Part 2 FF7 Rebirth in the holiday season. Man, is it the best time to be an FF7 fan. ❤
Even after finishing Remake and now doing 2nd playtrough, i have feel like i wanna go back to original and play it again. Its so timeless classic it never gets old.
It's so hard to explain to newer generations the impact of this game and why...."THAT Moment" was so impactful. It is the definition of "you had to be there" because no matter how many videos are made explaining the whole context of 1997, nothing comes close to actually being there and experiencing everything. To this day, everytime I play the game it makes me feel "something" that it is quite difficult to express. Thank you for this DF retro, it was great.
i watched this entire video. FFVII is such a huge game for me. This was a trip down memory lane. Thank you DF =)
This is the best DF Retro yet, and I don't say that lightly.
Amazing work!
After playing FF7R it really makes me yearn for a Legend of Dragoon remake. Sad that we may never get to see one. That game could have been an amazing series.
I thought sony own the right to legend of dragoon not square
@@MARTIN92ELCHUY They do, sony's internal team made the game, and they know there's demand for it. They could easily do a remake if they wanted to, its just a matter of if the sales of a remake would justify the cost of development
There’s very little I wouldn’t do to be able to re-create that magic feeling I felt when I first played this game in 1997. I was 23, and was only just dipping my toes into rpgs at that point having played my first real rpg, Wild Arms, earlier that year. ❤️
Not a fan of the game or even the series in general but I really enjoyed this deep dive into what FF7 was and what it's become over the years. Fantastic job as always John!
Blizniak if you watched this, should give the Remake a go
Thank you for continuing to make DF Retro videos. I can tell you put a lot of time and love into them. :)
Square stayed true to its roots !! In 1996 they were the best at cutscene movies and are still the best.
YOUNG KHALID 1996?
@@enyaliosares4301 please excuse my friend here, he's a time traveler.
Patrick Lofstrom I think it’s more that FF7 didn’t come out till January 1997 sooo
Who disliked this video? Why?
Good job on this, thanks for the nostalgia. Break this game apart into explaining every pixel and yet still this game will seem "alive" to me. True magic.
This is the one I have been wait for, I Love Final Fantasy VII. What an epic remake, although I can't help but feel that having games cut into episodes takes away the grandeur.
It runs perfectly on my pro, I couldn't have asked for a better remake, even better than I could have imagined!
Thank you Square and thank you DF for this analysis
Yeah but the first episode is almost as long as the full original. Imagine how epic in scale it's going to be when/if all the parts releases. Possibly the biggest single player adventure game ever.
The effort you put into those DF Retro videos is absolutely amazing. That was a fantastic watch. Keep up the good work, John.
The promise land theme always bring chills down my spine.
My favorite has always been Anxiety / Anxious Heart
I love the Forgotten City theme. Sounds so ethereal
yeah it's soooo good!
It’s crazy good
Goddamn, John. This is one of the best videos on this channel, period. Like he said, it was wild to actually live through those times, seeing the shift from 2D to 3D and seeing new games breaking new ground in a new dimension, new styles of play, seeing old franchises change their presentation, and just seeing gaming in general explode past just being for kids in popular culture. Stuff like FFVII's ambitions and success absolutely inspired the fuck out of countless developers to believe they could do damn near anything with the crazy hardware jump.
34:32 The Sound Canvas sounds great in regards to the drums. The toms / timpani are noticeably more powerful. 👍🏻
Scott Wozniak I’d say the midi versions were surprisingly close to the psx in terms of instruments, far better than I anticipated
I wasn't even born when the game released, but it has a special place in my memories because I played it a lot when I was a kid. It´s amazing how they recreated almost exactly the original on the remake! 1 Hour watching and when I noticed was already over :( Digital Foundry is one of the best TH-cam channels, I can see so much work and love was put into this video! Thank you very much!
Wow, those midis bring back memories! Back when you had to buy the music cd or pirate to get access to mp3s of the music, I often found free midi files of these songs to listen to on Winamp.
Final Fantasy 7 is my favorite game of all time. Great video.
Really well executed John. Enjoyed it immensely.
Hope FF& remake part 2 isn't 5 years away. I do have a feeling all the open world streaming etc will be very doable on PS5 and hence maybe part 2 will be the last part and not that far off. Time will tell!
One of the best DF game-series overview videos I’ve seen, brilliant stuff!
"Yes, the Super NES recieved numerous localizations of popular Japanese role playing games... but none of them made a splash equivalent to Japan"
Chrono Trigger not getting a European release until 2009 maybe something to do with it? FF7 was the first time many people here had the opportunity to play a FF game/JRPG.
that statement was a bit of hyperbaly by him.. at least in my opinon back in NES and SNES days NO game was SUPER populare save mario sonic and such, and TONS of rpg were popular (i assume because they kept coming out with lots and lots ) on nes games like final fantasy faxsanadu, link, ultima, dragon quest, ect, and on super nintendo link aging, final fantasy 2(4) and 3(6), chrono trigger, secret of mana, earthbound, illusion of gaia, secret of evermore breath of fire i could go on an on and fukcing on...
the thing is IF they were not popular in the west (i live in the usa) then why the fuck would they keep making that TYPE of game. all my friends who played games played rpgs....FF7 just got EVERYONE into them cuz it looked good at the time and was brand new besaides the top down 2d rpg......but trust me rpg were very popular
aaron clay Earthbound definitely wasn’t popular in the West, mainly because of how terrible the marketing was
I think john was mainly trying to say that at the time, no other RPG had the grand Impact of FF7, not that they didnt make any money or have any fan base. They definately did, otherwise yeah they wouldn't have kept localizing RPGs here in the west
FANTASTIC video, wow, DF Retro is the best. Keep up the great work John and team!
I loved this game so much! Thanks for the in-depth analysis, I'll be sure to watch it all when I can!
John, this was one of the best contents ever created for the game and for videogames in general. what an amazing job! 👏🏻👏🏻
FFVII on PS1 in my Top 10 all time.
top 3 here
still top 1 for me
Good game, but I personally liked FFIX more. However when FFVII came out I was blown away by it, it was the first FF game I ever saw as far as I can remember! Sadly I couldn't ever play the full game until like 2004-2005 or something though but once I could I did and it was a good game.
the amount of quality, true high quality content that comes through this channel completely astounds me every time. Great work folks.
10:40 "It's the little things like the shrugs and the temper tantrums....."
YES! That's the reason I was disappointed that the Remake was going in the realistic direction. Barrett's temper tantrums gave him a personality that some sunglasses and a Cool Guy attitude can't replicate.
John you are the best. I'm always so happy when I see a new DF retro pop up, thank you!
I remember my younger brother got this game when it first released and I thought it was so weird that a guy with a sword was fighting dudes with guns. I didn't play it til several years later. Man, was I missing out.
I remember getting Tobal #1 just for the demo of this game. Being such a giant fan of FFIV and FFVI it was my most anticipated game.
I must have played that demo 100x. It was so mind blowing. Everything from the intro sequence to the cloud entrance to the battle system to the music. Was perfect.
And then the demo ended with you being able to summon Leviathan which was just jaw dropping. Such an iconic piece of software.
I thought the FMV transitions in the remake were a great and subtle homage to the original.
I have to be honest, I´m still not sure which scenes were FMV. The real time rendering is that good.
Eduardo Portas The FMV scenes in the remake honestly looked worse than real time, it was a lower resolution than the actual gameplay was
You can say homage, or you can look at games like Metroid other M that was released in 2010 and realize that this has just been done for a long time now.
You can easily tell which are FMV because Cloud suddenly gets the BusterSword back on his back and equipping Materia that you definitely don't have equipped.
@@neat3468 good point
You’ve produced a masterpiece here, John. Simply fantastic, had a tear in my eye on a couple of occasions. This game holds wonderful memories for me. Leaving Midgar and realising it was just one place on a large map is the biggest wow moment I’ve experienced in gaming. It instantly changed my perception of what a game could be.
I still have my cd's for the game when it released originally on the PC, but was never close to finishing it. I'm playing the remake now, and i'm so invested in the characters now, that i'm going to play the original now despite the old old...old graphics because my investment in the characters now trumps all technical shortcomings and I want to finish the story, learn more about the characters. No way am I going to wait years for the remake to be finished.
I'm doing the same!! :D
Can't wait for Remake Part 2!!
Same. Remake is blow my mind and i eventualy instal OG version with mods and now already leave Midgar after 5 hours :D
I recommend the masterful Remako mod for better visuals!
Utterly flawless video. Thank you so much for making this!
FF7 was memed and spoiled to death since it first came out, so I never bothered to play it. Even popular PS1 games like Resident Evil, Xenogears or Metal Gear Solid weren't blown wide open like FF7, so I was able to enjoy them without having to buy them on launch day. A testament to how insanely successful FF7 was, I guess
almost 11 years on this website and its the first time i watch 10+ mins video from start to finish, and its freaking 1 hour long!!!....fucking brilliant work!!
Now that we are coming to the end of this generation, and with such impressive character models like Cloud in FF7 Remake; I would love to see DF do a breakdown comparison of the best character models of the last 7 years. Cloud, Kratos, Peter Parker/Spiderman, Nathan Drake, and Jesse Faden from Control all come to mind. It would be awesome to have the team weigh in on which they think is the peak of modern game modeling.
Quantum Break has amazing models
realism in character rendering comes from amazing lighting, shaders and animation rather than just great character models.
@@Great.Milenko sure, all of that comes into play for the full, complete effect of how we perceive the character detail. But semantics aside, what choices did different developers make and what seems like the most effective approach? Something about FF7 Remake's characters feels more polished and cinematic. They seem "rounder" or softer, and more lifelike than most others. I think Kratos is the other contender, but he does feel slightly more "digital" somehow, even if we see more detail.
I never played FFVII while growing up but this video so well made that it made me nostalgic for something I never experienced in the first place. Kudos.
This rivals Gametrailers outstanding Retrospective series. Great job here!
Rich M Who?
this is the only channel that can keep me watching an one hour video without stand up. Amazing job, incredible hight quality content. Congratulations! Ps: the most impressive thing is that my favorite FF its not the 7, but 9, even thou, this video is a must.
I remember when I beat FF7 for the first time. I was only like 19 years old, I had stayed up all night playing and gotten almost to the end. I was about to drag my tired ass out of bed to go to work the next day when I looked at the Playstation and decided that I was gonna take a sick day even though I really needed to work. I didn't even go back to bed, I immediately started playing again and later that day I was finished. It wasn't my first Final Fantasy, but it was definitely the most visually striking RPG I had played up until that point. I loved and still love Chrono Trigger, FF3+4, ye olde Dragon Warrior, Ultima VII and others, but FF7 was different. The FMVs and cinematic approach let me connect to the characters in a way that I hadn't with other games. Not better than the 2d games, just in a different way. It helps that FF7 was a lot more approachable than any other RPG I had ever played. People that never would have played one before were all of a sudden checking this new one out. It was a cool time for games.
Good video, thank you for making this kind of content.
Incredible effort, time, and dedication put into this video. Great job John. We appreciate the effort you and everyone else at DF puts into these kind of videos.
I was only expecting a retrospective on the original game, so I lost it when John started talking about Gackt.
The video is superb, Thank You, I didnt mind the hour long in depth history behind my most favorite jrpg. Thank you sir and keep up the great work!
1:39 "Let's mosey"
John, holy crap, you just outdid yourself somehow. You're DF Retro stuff in the past was already a high bar but, my god man, you just nailed it. That not only brought me back but allowed me to see the side I never really understood back then as I had FF7 on my PS1 and I tried getting it running on my PC but it was a nightmare. Now I know why! Really good stuff! Take care, dude!
My uncle actually worked on this game back in the 90s! So cool.
Wow!
Was he responsible for western conversion or for original release?
Brought a tear to my eye really when you started summing up the technical achievements.
it's so weird to think that back then we were so easily awed but it was just undisputed that games were so transformative back then because in that period of time we've just never witnessed anything like it.
First played FFVII on the PC and remember trying to get the audio correct, used to crash on Disc 3 so never got to the end. Would love to see the same but for FF VIII
I had it crash on the final battle and could never complete it. I just watched the ending on TH-cam later.
Damn that music brings me back to my childhood. I miss those days. Sitting in front of the CRT. After school, mom is cooking on the kitchen, you can't wait to eat but you are in the middle of trying to grind to the next level so you can finally beat that boss. The weather always seemed nice, and school was nothing but a social gathering. The only real worries you had were how you can build the ultimate Materia setup. Man..
BoostCTRL Right?! My memories of the 90s seem to always involve warm weather and brilliant blue skies. Others have told me the same. Very symbolic of what life was like growing up in that era.
It is the same for everyone, we were kida back then and our brains naturally selects only the best memories and blends them in a way that makes us think it was real...like infinite blue skies, 24/7 summer and all around fun...our brain is a damned trickster!!!
This is the best videogame that I've played in my whole life!
I had goosebumps throughout the majority of this video, kudos John - masterful work.
Just a heads up for anyone playing the remake that has never played the original. He shows the end boss and other spoilers. Doesn't affect me but might be worth noting :)
John this df retro was just...wow i mean i have no words to describe how i feel right now all i can say is thank you for making me shed tears of happiness
Are you gonna do a DF Retro for Resident Evil 3 like of what you did for Resident Evil 2?
Why...? It's the same engine with very few innovations. A cash-grab at the sunset of PS1.
@@Aggrofool the ports are different and I would like to see a video about them
@@Aggrofool yep, just look at RE 2, and we get the same thing, no need for DF retro IMO
Incredibly detailed overview of the tech that powered the original game. GREAT work folks. I had no idea of all the hoops you had to go through to play it on pc.
Can't wait for what the next chapter will look like on PS5, and for the inevitable DF analysis of course. keep up the great work folks.
42:27 When the acid kicks in.
👲🎇🐱🐉🦄🐉✨
Very well made video. This was a great time revisiting the 90s tech and what we have now.
Ha-ha, just read opening credits as Digital Proudly presents:) and...it's true!
Loved the choice to showcase that E3 2015 trailer! The moment the piano drops is incredible every time.
These 32 dislikes at the moment... I would like to hear their point. This video is absolutely amazing.
yeah seriously, I literally can't criticize anything. The quality is superb
Well, there is a bunch of haters, childish peoples, and who want to be edgy on internet, so........
Eko Permana so people who don’t like the video are “haters”? What refreshing take in 2020. People have the right to like and dislike what they want. Just like there are people who don’t like the new ffvii remake. I swear man people need to stop thinking like robots.
@@AveMcree maybe you should think about the context first, read carefully what the TS mean, and read my comment again, so you are not look like a stupid child on internet
What a video. Outstanding work, DF!
Even if Nomura ruins the remake, the original will always be one of the greatest JRPGs of all time.
Isn't it already out?
He didn't ruin it though, also it's not even done; there's more parts to come.
@@soliduswasright678 because is not finished is exactly why he still can ruin it
The remake is fucking great lol
Jace B I’m watching this video to help deal with my grief at how much they shat the bed with the remake’s ending
Bravo! There’s a few videos that when they pop into my feed I have to carve out a time to sit and watch uninterrupted and df retro is definitely one of them.
Did you guys analyse the "DOOR" and other low res stuff in the remake?? 😂😂😂
It's kinda funny that you don't even need to say more than the "DOOR" for me to know exactly which doors you mean lmao.
@TechnicalTortuga they had used low res stuff in the city to cut corners which were missed out
Thanks for this, John. This was one of your best episodes to date. Up there with the Shenmue episodes. Your passion is palpable in every segment.
I’ll wait for the complete edition on PC, will probably take a few years but I know it will be one of the best gaming experiences of all time 😊
Seems like they are milking the f out of this when the next part of the game comes out are they going to make another collector's edition probably
@@mcnugget9497 if you had played the remake you'd know they're NOT milking it
@@Kougeru I played the original and I have the remake and yes they are milking it
Maybe the game will be complete in time for the 2030 zombie apocalypse.
Lol, I'll put it at about 5 years. Keep in mind you are waiting for part 2 + the pc port of part 2 + the complete collection + the PC port of the complete collection.
Thank you Digital Foundry for this amazing retro video compilation awesome job for the fans!
FF7 and FF9 are my favorite. What's sad is looking at a lot of the textures and static backgrounds of final fantasy 7 the remakes textures look the same. 🤔🤦♂️
The timing of the FF7 Reveal in your documentary brought tears to my eyes yet again. Such a fantastic delivery of your presentation, thank you so much.
"Let's mosey" XD
My new favourite DF Retro. Amazing video and so many pieces of information I didn't know before watching. Thanks John!