| Game of The Day | Final Fantasy VII | Playstation | | 12.13.2016 |

Final Fantasy VII is a Japanese role-playing game and the seventh main installment in theFinal Fantasy series, developed and published by Squaresoft. It was released in January 1997 for the PlayStation, and was later re-released for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3,PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, iOS and Android platforms. It was the first title in the series to feature three-dimensional graphics, pre-rendered backgrounds and numerous full motion videos and the first to be released in Europe.

Final Fantasy VII follows the story of mercenary Cloud Strife, who is hired by the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE—led by Barret Wallace—to help fight the mega-corporation Shinra Electric Power Company, who attempts to drain the planet's lifeblood as an energy source to further their profits. Apathetic to the cause, Cloud initially fights for personal gain, and for the promise he made to childhood friend Tifa Lockhart. Cloud eventually joins forces with many others to save the planet, which is threatened by Shinra and Cloud's nemesis Sephiroth, and discovers a reason to fight for a cause other than his own.

The gameplay is a departure from previous entries in the series in many ways. Though it retains the Active Time Battle pseudo-turn based menu command system, Final Fantasy VII features three party members rather than four. The Materia system allows the player to customize each party member's abilities to their liking, and the Limit system grants them unique combat skills. Though minigames had been a recurring feature, Final Fantasy VII introduces numerous new ones, many of them playable in the theme park Gold Saucer varying from racing with Chocobosto snowboarding.

Final Fantasy VII is the best-selling game in the series with over 11 million units sold.[2] It is widely renowned as one of the most influential RPGs to date.[3][4][5] Its memorable soundtrack, characters and story make it one of the most popular games in the series, a prominent feature in popular culture, and a frequent candidate for lists of the greatest games of all time.[6][7][8] The popularity of the title has spawned a remake, titled simply Final Fantasy VII Remake, and a series of prequels, sequels and spinoffs titled the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VII uses the Active Time Battle system, in which the party member's action is input with a command in a menu once their ATB gauge fills, with up to three playable characters in a party, who can have various weapons, armor, accessories and—unique to the game—Materia equipped. Party members stand in a row (though their position can be altered in the Menu) facing rows of enemies, which come arranged in one of many attack formations: facing them, surrounded by them, or surrounding them. The character commands include Attack, Magic, a command provided by Command Materia, Summon or Itemcommand to use an item in their inventory, with the additional ability to Defend or change row.

Abilities the character can use depend on their equipped Materia, which can provide additional Magic, Summon and command abilities, or in other cases swap out commands for more powerful equivalents (such as W-Item replacing Item), and allows them to use any combination of abilities. Materia can also provide enhancements when combined with other Materia, or simply provide support abilities on their own.