The 1997 turn-based JRPG took the world by the storm. Final Fantasy VII (FFVII) marked the new era, not just for the RPG genre. Its unique approach to storytelling and technology introduced new possibilities for videogames. Today, many things in the original game don’t hold water. But, the 7th installment in the Final Fantasy franchise redefined what games can be and heralded the coming of content for a more mature and broader audience.

With the release of the original’s remake just around the corner, it’s good to remember what the 1997 masterpiece meant for the future of RPG. Here are ten things that the Final Fantasy franchise brought to the role-playing genre.

10 Introduction Of Multilayered RPG Plot

It wouldn’t be correct to assume that until FFVII, role-playing games didn’t have a story. The 1981 Ultima, Wizardry, 1986 JRPG Dragon Quest and CRPG Might and Magic still reign supreme. However, the plots were quite straight forward, slay the ultimate evil. FFVII threw that out of the window.

Square created a storyline riddled with flashbacks, twists, and turns. And even though Ultima was the first series to introduce the player party system, FFVII proceeded to give the party characters set backstories that directly influence the main protagonist.

9 A Protagonist With Strong Personality

It was a bold move to do away with the traditional character building system. On top of that, Squaresoft gave Cloud Strife a brooding, nihilistic personality. The majority of videogames still today use amnesia to avoid constraining player with a too distinctive hero. Instead of trying to align Cloud with the player, Squaresoft used this plot device to define Strife’s personality further. Deconstructing the trope, they embedded Cloud with a false identity. Which both he and the player are unaware of until later in the game.

To top it off, Cloud’s amnesia is caused by himself, where his mind solves the sustained trauma by adopting memories of another character. The film approach to the character paid off as Cloud remains one of the most recognized videogame anti-heroes.

8 Full Motion CGI In The Gameplay

Back in the day, games, in general, made a do with an intro and outro. Final Fantasy changed that by fusing scripted events directly into the game. Suddenly cinematics became an essential part of the way videogames told their story. With the coming of the fifth-generation consoles, new possibilities appeared for the console games.

FFVII released on the Playstation and Squaresoft utilized its power by embedding the full-motion cutscenes directly into the gameplay. It was the first videogame that ever did so. And the mechanic remained in RPGs and more broadly videogames ever since.

7 Humor

As heavy as Final Fantasy can be at times, it is also unbelievably corny. From inappropriate jokes to laughable monsters, Final Fantasy delivers a piece of that special anime humor. The fact that games treat some of those moments with a straight face makes it even more hilarious. For instance, the player faces the Behemoth with the same seriousness they do a Kaktuar.

The tongue-in-cheek attitude from the developers wasn’t a thing in RPGs of the past. The success of Final Fantasy changed that. And nowadays, the world has gems like the judgment of the Avaar Chief in Dragon Age Inquisition.

6 Complex Romance

Before 1997, the romance didn’t have much representation in RPGs and games in general. Two significant love stories before FFVII hit the shelves were Link and Zelda and Mario with Princess Peach. Needless to say that neither of the games was an RPG. Also, the whole spiel was about saving a princess.

In FFVII, Tifa and Aerith are more than just plot devices for Cloud. The two women are a vital part of the story on their own. And the love triangle shows much more complexity. A testament to how well-made the FFVII romance was at the time is the fact that it remains a favorite videogame love story.

5 Combining Fantasy And Sci-Fi

Final Fantasy became a trope codifier for science fantasy in videogames. It combines steampunk aesthetic with high fantasy aspects. The main evil in Final Fantasy is a mad corporate organization. Their weapons of choice are genetically enhanced super-soldiers who carry swords.

The futuristic templar order not so different from the red lyrium templars in Dragon Age Inquisition works well even in the world where guns are a thing. Thus, Final Fantasy didn’t abandon the principles of Dungeons & Dragons tabletop. Instead, it implanted the concept into a world resembling that of 1988 Akira. The outcome is a unique adventure that seamlessly fuses magic with technology.

4 A Charismatic Villain

The majority of RPG villains even today are far from charismatic, which makes sense. After all, the arch enemy is part of the story, mainly to contrast the protagonist. They create a mirror for the protagonist to bounce off from. But, as Alfred Hitchcock said: “A movie is only as good as its villain.” And a game as cinematic as Final Fantasy needed a compelling nemesis.

Sephiroth’s tragic origins and face-heel turn created one of the first tragic monsters in the genre. And the audience loved it. The silver-haired SOLDIER became as adored as Cloud.

3 Transition From 2D To 3D

The late 1990s saw the time that games slowly approached the age of 3D. Up to that point, the majority of RPGs either ran in typical side view 2D. Or RPGs like Diablo, Fallout, and Baldur’s Gate utilized an isometric top-view perspective, which gave the illusion of 3D. Squaresoft decided to take a different route. The Final Fantasy creators 3D rendered the characters on painted backgrounds.

This was the first time an RPG attempted something like this. And as clunky as the original FFVII appears now, it’s worth remembering that it pioneered 3D for the RPG genre.

2 Multi-Angle Battle

As mentioned above, Diablo and other RPGs ran in isometric, which became a favorite interface for the early RPGs. Since they were still 2D, isometric games had to make a do with one camera angle.

It meant that the player had no way to come close to a battle and get in thick of it. Because Squaresoft decided to go with actual 3D and their fights were turn-based, it meant they could set up the match in a visually appealing way. One of the new mechanisms was viewing the battle from multiple angles.

1 Stepping Up The Localization

Before Final Fantasy VII, pretty much all games in need of localization faced the “Jill sandwich” destiny. Since Squaresoft didn’t expect the massive international success of FFVII, its original localization also leaves a lot to be desired for. The issue was that localization at that point was a one-man job, which meant a neck-breaking deadline and limited resources.

After FFVII Squaresoft tasked its programmer Richard Honeywood with creating an in-house localization department in Tokyo, things changed. Honeywood assembled the team by 1998. Since then, the quality of both linguistic and cultural translation skyrocketed. And localization became a game industry work branch of its own.

NEXT: 10 Quotes From Final Fantasy 7 That Will Stay With Us Forever