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Final Fantasy VII was released exactly 25 years ago, as of the posting of this video. Legendary for bringing players around the world into RPG experiences for their first time, this marvelous production bridged gaps between players of many different genres. Now a quarter of a century later we are close to reproducing its original platform faithfully on a single chip!
Later ports on various platforms like the Windows version that came out in the late 90’s, never quite lived up to the original PS1 release because of various issues. The visual presentation in these ports always left something to be desired, as they severely disconnected the characters from the world with the combination of original low-res backgrounds and high-res polygons. To me this just looks dreadful, especially the over-world map and its heavily smeared textures. AI upscaling can help this a bit with mods, but there are numerous issues with that method also, resulting in sub-optimal results often times unless touched up by an artist afterwards, and even then you’re getting an altered interpretation of the environments. I feel to experience this world fully that sticking with the original resolution for all assets is the best option. The translation is the only weak point IMO.
I recorded this video yesterday with hopes to release it early on the 25th anniversary of FF7, but out of the blue this morning FPGAzumspass surprised us with a new PSX core that implements CD-XA audio, so I re-recorded this first section with the updated build and decided to release it later in the evening instead. This makes a minor difference in FF7 since it uses the PS1’s SPU for music mainly, but I do want to represent the core in its current form to share the progress here.
I hadn’t played FF7 in over a decade before recording this, and am not going to use guides or anything like that for this playthrough. In this easier western release of the game it’s unnecessary to max everything out and grind, but I do plan on hunting down the summons and some top-tier weapons if I can find them! It’s pure delight playing this again after so many years, and to see it on MiSTer along with the rest of the PS1 library. It’s crazy that we are seeing 5th generation 32-bit consoles on the platform already in 2022, much earlier than anyone had anticipated originally for these complex systems. Thanks to the hard work of our dedicated and talented developers, that’s where we’re headed this year.
The PlayStation core was created by FPGAzumSpass, whom previously brought us the GBA, Lynx and WonderSwan cores, along with enhancements to the Game Boy and NES cores, and significantly improved performance in the AO486 core.
You can support his Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/FPGAzumSpass
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PSX BETA core 1-31-2022 build – Final Fantasy VII
A.K.A: ファイナルファンタジーVII
Filter Hori: Gaussian Sharp 070 // Filter Vert: Scan_BR_105_90 // Gamma: Off
Played using a Sony DS4 controller with 1ms USB polling.
Video: Integer scaled to 1080p // HDMI to Datapath e1s capture card
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|:=-Timestamps-=:|
00:00:00 – Settings
00:00:52 – Title / Credits
00:04:01 – Intro / Sector 1 Reactor
00:22:27 – Sector 8
00:32:29 – Sector 7 Slums
00:58:55 – Sector 5 Reactor
01:29:22 – Sector 5 Slums
01:57:04 – Sector 6 / Wall Market
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Occasional livestreams on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/WalrusFPGA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WalrusFPGA
=—————CONTRIBUTE—————=
None of this would be possible without the constant hard work of Sorgelig. It cannot be overstated how much he has done and continues to do for this project, since its beginning. You can support him either at his Patreon in the link below, or on Paypal, depending on your preference. MiSTer is a paradigm shift in how we can experience these classic games. This is a long-term preservation project that will continue to grow so that gamers today and in the future can experience these excellent systems as accurately and lag-free as possible. Donating what you can will help keep the updates coming. Thank you.
Patreon: https://patreon.com/FPGAMiSTer
PayPal: https://paypal.me/FPGAMiSTer
=——————INFORM——————=
Github link for this core: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/PSX_MiSTer
MiSTer Forum: http://MiSTerFPGA.org
MiSTer Documentation: https://mister-devel.github.io/MkDocs_MiSTer
Official MiSTer Discord (live chat/help): https://discord.gg/misterfpga
(Be respectful; this server is moderated. New users must be verified.)
=——————BUILD——————-=
Worldwide list of sellers for MiSTer expansion boards: https://misterfpga.org/viewforum.php?f=34&sid=74e1c5e7dae1b99284789d93194cfa0b
I have personally ordered all my parts from https://www.MiSTerAddons.com and have been 100% satisfied with the quality and service there.
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