Upgraded Final Fantasy 7 Release Gets Emergency Patch Following Influx of Negative Reviews on Steam

Final Fantasy 7 is one of the most popular games in the long-running JRPG series. That’s part of why it’s getting the remake treatment in the form of a new trilogy that started with Final Fantasy 7 Remake back in 2020. But some fans still want to experience the original game in all its pixelated glory. In honor of that, Square Enix announced a new, upgraded version of the original 1997 Final Fantasy 7. The new version fully replaced the 2013 edition on Steam when it was released on February 25th. However, things didn’t quite go as well as Square Enix might have hoped.

The PC port of Final Fantasy 7 never quite worked as well as the console versions of the game. Square Enix has been encouraging players to revisit the original game ahead of the final installment in its remake trilogy. So, upgrading the PC port was supposed to make it more accessible to PC gamers. Alas, the upgrades didn’t all work as intended, leading to an influx of negative Steam reviews shortly after the “enhanced” version dropped. Thankfully, a patch has already arrived to remedy the most glaring errors.

Final Fantasy 7 Gets New Patch on Steam to Address Speed Issues

The upgraded version of Final Fantasy 7 was intended to deliver a series of enhancements to the PC version of the 1997 classic. When it dropped, it replaced the previous edition as a free update for anyone who already owned the 2013 port. The new version should have been an improvement and promised the following extra features:

• 3× speed mode
  • Play through the game at up to three times the speed! This feature can only be used in battle, travel, and select events.

• Ability to turn battle encounters off
  • Activate this option to turn off random encounters. Story event battle still must be completed to advance the story.

• Battle enhancement mode
  • Activate this mode to recover HP/MP during battles and max out the Limit gauge.

• Autosave feature

In theory, these upgrades should have brought Final Fantasy 7‘s PC port up to par with console editions. In practice, however, it seems like the enhanced speed wound up being more of an issue than a solution. Shortly after the updated patch arrived, users on Steam expressed frustration as the 3x battle speed seemed “completely broken.” The game’s updated frame rate appears to have caused syncing issues with dialogue and animations, as well as serious issues with battle commands due to the enhanced speed.

While the review average still sits at Mostly Negative for the new version, that may soon change. Square Enix quickly released a patch that appears to address the biggest issues with FPS rates and combat. Just a few hours after those negative reviews began rolling in, a new Steam update confirmed a small patch. The notes are quite brief, but claim to have “fixed the speed of certain scenes, including battles.” Many users have already edited their reviews to note that the speedy patch has improved matters.

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From the sounds of it, the upgraded version of Final Fantasy 7 is now a slight improvement over the old PC port. It’s likely that the Steam review average will recover as more players check out the changes post-patch, but there may still be some bugs and issues that need to be resolved. At any rate, the quick response to player complaints is a good sign that the new version of Final Fantasy 7 will be at least comparable to the delisted 2013 port in the near future.

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