The iOS port of Final Fantasy VII is available as of yesterday. We’ve been hearing about it since E3, but it’s official now. This is just the latest Final Fantasy port for iOS, since the first six games are already available—and theoretically, we could also see the more recent games, starting from FFVIII.
It’s a big year for Final Fantasy VII, despite it being almost 20 years old. In addition to this iOS port, we’ll be seeing a PlayStation 4 port at some point this year. Plus, Square Enix announced at E3 that there will be a full Final Fantasy VII remake—entirely new graphics, fully voice-acted, etc. The remake will probably more closely resemble newer Final Fantasy games than the old version, and it is also taking design cues from Final Fantasy: Advent Children, the official CG movie that takes place after the end of the game. (Advent Children came out in 2005.)
As for the iOS port, it’s pretty much exactly the original Final Fantasy VII game, just tweaked to work with touchscreens. No changes were made to the story or gameplay, with a couple of notable exceptions: you’ll be able to disable random encounters, and you’ll be able to set your stats at full in order to make up for the experience you’ll lose out on if you’ve disabled random encounters. While some have called it cheating, it basically amounts to a story mode for the game, which I see no problem with. Those options are…well, optional, so if you’re not interested you can ignore the changes. And those who get bored with turn-based fighting—because let’s be real, it can get a little monotonous after a while—can still enjoy the story.
The game is available in the App Store and will run on both iPhone and iPad (provided you’re playing on iPhone 5S or later, an iPad 3 or later, or an iPad Mini 2 or later). It is on sale for $19.99.
