Final Fantasy 7 Demake for Famicom requires imagination, familiarity, and patience
destructoid.comFinal Fantasy VII was released in 1997 on PlayStation. In those days, the NES, despite Nintendo only discontinuing it in 1995, was considered practically ancient. Things aged faster in the ‘90s.
By the time the PlayStation had passed into antiquity in the aughts, the denizens of Web 2.0 became aware of a Famicom/NESdemake of Final Fantasy VII. Since Final Fantasy VII was still fondly remembered and the retro gamer identity was reaching its maturity, this was a fascinating topic of conversation. Just hearing about it took your imagination to interesting places.
It was certainly fascinating to me. I didn’t know enough about the backend of video games to really have an idea for how this was possible; a 3-disc epic on a diminutive cartridge. What radical magic!
I never took the time to play it, however. At the time, I hadn’t spent much time with OG Final Fantasy VII, so I didn’t have any attachment to it. In the spirit of the coming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I felt it was time to finally try it. And try it, I did.
I tried what I could before it crashed.
The Final Fantasy VII Demake wasn’t strictly some fan endeavor; it’s a Chinese bootleg. While the breadth and quality (compared to common Chinese bootlegs) suggest that its creator(s) had some affection for the PS1 title, they either didn’t have the time or didn’t care enough to really make a convincing 8-bit facsimile.
Final Fantasy VII Demake, like so many other knock-offs, is made from the parts of other games. Music, sprites, the battle system; they’ve all been taken from other games. Typically these come from other games in the NES Final Fantasy trilogy, but some are pulled from a variety of other sources. One thing I haven’t been able to identify is an actually unique asset.
The game itself supposedly covers much of the PS1 game’s story but is filled full of notable omissions. I wouldn’t know for sure because it won’t let me precede past the part when you arrive in the Sector 7 slums. I can make it to 7th Heaven,
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