Final Fantasy VII was originally intended for the Super Nintendo, then moved to the Nintendo 64. Ultimately, Square shifted development to the PlayStation, as its CD-ROM capabilities perfectly matched their needs.

Sony published Final Fantasy VII outside of Japan, rather than SquareSoft.

SquareSoft intentionally prioritized gameplay over story in Final Fantasy VII, a departure from their previous titles, and the first time this had occurred since the original game.

The character Aerith was initially named “Aeris” in the American release. This was due to a flawed translation of her Japanese phonetic name, “Earisu.”

A hidden green pumpkin in the game emits a laugh, which is actually a slowed-down audio clip of Kefka’s laugh from Final Fantasy VI.

During the Gold Saucer scene, Cloud can go on a date with several characters, including Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, and, surprisingly, Barret.”

Final Fantasy VII was developed by a 120-person team, split between Japanese and American offices, and had a $45 million budget.

The original plan for Aerith’s death was to have her decapitated by Sephiroth. However, they opted for a stomach wound to make her loss more emotionally impactful.
Sephiroth was initially conceived as the main character but was later repurposed as the villain.

Sony and Square were very aggressive in promoting the game in America, running numerous 30-second television ads, one-minute movie trailers, and advertisements in publications like Rolling Stone magazine, Marvel Comics, and DC Comics. They also had a holiday promotion with Pepsi.

Final Fantasy VII sold 9.8 million copies, making it the second best-selling game on the Sony PlayStation 1, behind Gran Turismo.

Cloud Strife was originally designed with slick black hair before the developers changed it to blonde.