Final Fantasy 7 mod adds something the RPG's been missing for decades

techradar.com:

When I first got my sticky teenage mitts on Final Fantasy 7, I wanted nothing more than to hear what these characters sounded like, I could see their words on screen but my ears felt left out. Thanks to an incredible new release from fan developers Tsunamods, which adds voice acting to the entire game, my ears can finally join the party.

Though Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake has offered a high-budget retelling of the first act of the RPG classic, the Echo-S 7 mod provides voice acting for the entire game. Echo-S 7 is available for free download on Tsnuamods’ website(opens in new tab). The voice acting is provided by the talented people over at Studio Still(opens in new tab), whose YouTube channel is full of impressive fandubs and voice actor showcases.  

Even the snippets of dialogue in the Echo-S 7 trailer are an absolute treat. I love hearing grumpy rocket pilot Cid’s say “quit mumblin! Sit yer ass in the chair and drink your goddamn tea”. It’s one thing to read a text box where Final Fantasy 7’s awkward hero Cloud tells me to “mosey”, it’s another to hear it out loud.

Be warned, though: the mod has already proven sufficiently popular that the Tsunamods servers have hit their weekly download quotas. In a Twitter post(opens in new tab), one of the creators of Echo-S 7 celebrated the mod’s popularity but urged fans to “wait a couple days” for when the “weekly [download] cap resets”.     

Final Fantasy 7 remains iconic in part because of its excellent dialogue. The game is full of delicate emotional journeys and nuanced character development, with memorable setpieces, such as Aerith’s death and Cloud’s horrifying revelations at the Temple of the Ancients. 

The real strength of Final Fantasy 7. however, is in how it