By Dale Bashir

Amazingly, Final Fantasy 7 remains just as relevant today as it was when it first launched on PlayStation back in 1997. The Final Fantasy 7 Remake has been widely released across platforms, and the remake trilogy continues to come to PlayStation consoles and PC, so Final Fantasy 7 is not going away anytime soon.

What made Final Fantasy 7 a landmark title was how sharply it departed from the established tropes of the franchise. Instead of fantasy kingdoms and heroes, the story followed eco-terrorists fighting a corrupt corporation within a semi-modern world.

The shift to 3D graphics also gave the game a distinct look and feel compared to the prior pixel-based entries. Squaresoft was right to position the title as a cinematic leap for gaming, and that approach carries on into the new remake trilogy.

At the centre of this cultural phenomenon is series producer Yoshinori Kitase. He recently spoke in depth about the development of Final Fantasy 7 in an extensive interview with gaming news site VG247.

Besides discussing his favourite character (the brooding gunslinger Vincent Valentine) and how Final Fantasy VI shaped its successor, one of the biggest takeaways from the interview is the list of early 3D games that influenced the creation of Final Fantasy VII.

The most obvious example is the landmark Super Mario 64, one of the earliest titles to demonstrate the potential of 3D visuals. Kitase also specifically named games such as 4D Sports Boxing, Alone in the Dark, Wing Commander, Ultima Underworld and Dark Heart.

Released for DOS in 1991, 4D Sports Boxing featured polygonal characters brought to life using motion capture. 1992’s Alone in the Dark was the first 3D survival horror game to fully leverage atmospheric horror environments.

Kitase did not specify which of the three Wing Commander games played a major role during Final Fantasy 7’s development, but these space combat titles were hugely popular at the time, and the third entry included live-action video segments starring Mark Hamill.

Ultima Underworld was the first 3D entry in its RPG franchise, and its similarities to Final Fantasy are readily apparent. Lastly, Dark Heart was a 3D cinematic platformer showcased at early trade shows in 1995. Ironically, it launched after Final Fantasy 7 in 1998.

No work of art is created in a vacuum, and it is fascinating to see the wide range of games that influenced Final Fantasy 7’s leap into 3D gaming. Read the full in-depth interview over at VG247.