Though players are still waiting for the third installment of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, there’s now a new version of the original game they can sink their teeth into. This definitive edition of Final Fantasy 7 has replaced the 2013 release of the game on the Steam store, and so far fans are not very pleased with its quality, citing performance issues and strange visuals.
The original version of Final Fantasy 7 was released in 1997, claiming a place in history as one of the most influential RPGs of all time. The game has seen several iterations since. Outside of Remake and Rebirth, arguably the most notable one is an enhanced version of the game that arrived on Steam in 2013, which included modernizations like high-resolution support and achievements. A Japan-exclusive version was also released that same year with special features, like the ability to turn off random encounters and a faster speed mode.
The updated version of the 2013 release hit Steam this week, and it’s free for players who owned the original. The 2013 edition can continue to be played, but it is no longer available for purchase, and saves are not compatible between the two games. The new Final Fantasy 7 doesn’t make any changes to the story, but adds a 3x speed mode for battle, travel, and select events, the ability to turn off non-story battles, an autosave feature, and a battle enhancement mode, which, when activated, will recover HP/MP in battles and max out the Limit gauge.
Unfortunately, fans are currently not enjoying the updated version of the game. At the time of writing, the new Final Fantasy 7 has 281 reviews total on Steam, and sits at a consensus of Mostly Negative. Reviews point out a myriad of issues, like the increased FPS messing with the speed of fights, blurry graphics, or the game not even launching to begin with. Multiple patches have already been released for the game, and a few reviews have been updated to reflect some of the speed issues being addressed, but so far, the new version of Final Fantasy 7 is off to an incredibly rocky start.
If you still want to get your hands on this iconic game but are unsure about the value of the remastered, however, it’s also available on GOG for a limited time for a whooping 60% discount.
