Like previous installments of the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy VII consists of three modes: an overworld map, field maps, and a battle screen. The overworld map is a 3D model, featuring a scaled-down version of the game's fictional world which the player navigates to travel between the game's locations.[1] As with preceding games in the series, the world map can be traversed by foot, on emu-like chocobos, airship, or submarine.[1] On field maps, characters are directed across realistically scaled environments, consisting of 2D pre-rendered backgrounds which represent locations such as towns or forests.[2] The battle screen is a 3D representation of an area, such as a building's interior or an open grassland, in which the player commands the characters in battles against CPU-controlled enemies.[3] While characters are super deformed on maps, the character models are more realistic and normal-scaled in combat.[4] Final Fantasy VII is the first game in the series to have character models with fully-rendered polygons, rather than 2D sprites.

Initially, the player is restricted to exploring the city of Midgar, but as the game progresses, the entire world becomes accessible to the player.[1] Progression through the game's storyline is largely developed by way of scripted sequences, although pre-rendered cinematic cut scenes sometimes also advance the story.[4]the same Active Time Battle (ATB) system designed by Hiroyuki Itō and first featured in Final Fantasy IV. Unlike previous games in the series, which allow 4-5 playable characters to participate in battle, Final Fantasy VII allows only three characters to be in the party at any time.[5]

Final Fantasy VII's skill system is built around the use of materia, magical orbs that are placed in special slots on weapons and armor, allowing players to customize their characters' access to magic spells, summons, and special abilities. Magic and summon materia also make the characters physically weaker. In addition to their individual attributes, materia can be used together in a fixed number of ways to enhance their effects or produce other abilities.[6]

A modified form of Final Fantasy VI's "Desperation Attacks" appears in Final Fantasy VII as the "Limit Break". Every playable character has a bar that gradually fills up when they suffer damage in battle. When the bar is completely filled, the character is able to unleash his or her Limit Break, a special attack which generally inflicts significantly more damage on enemies than normal attacks, or otherwise aids the party in battle.[4] Unlike materia, which any character could use, each character has their own unique Limit Breaks.[7] In addition, elaborately animated summon spells were incorporated in the game, and are also present in future games in the series.

[edit] Plot