VOICES: music from FINAL FANTASY

Final Fantasy VII Remake is a 2020 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4. It is the first in a trilogy of games remaking Final Fantasy VII (1997), originally released for the PlayStation. An enhanced version, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows in 2021, followed by ports for the Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S in 2026. Set in the dystopian cyberpunk metropolis of Midgar, players control the mercenary Cloud Strife. He joins AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist group trying to stop the megacorporation Shinra from using the planet's life essence as an energy source. The gameplay combines real-time action with role-playing elements, an overhaul from the original turn-based combat. Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced in 2015 following years of speculation. Several key staff members from the original game returned, including Tetsuya Nomura as the director, Yoshinori Kitase as the producer, Kazushige Nojima as the writer, Motomu Toriyama as a co-director, and the composer Nobuo Uematsu. The staff redesigned the characters to balance realism and stylization. Final Fantasy VII Remake received positive reviews, with praise for its graphics, gameplay, narrative, and music. Critics praised the expanded story and the updated battle system for its strategic elements and visual flourishes, but the linearity and repetitive side-quests received criticism. It was one of the fastest-selling PlayStation 4 games, selling more than 3.5 million copies in three days and more than 8.7 million by March 2025. The second game in the remake trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, was released in 2024. The third, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, is scheduled for 2027.