What if Final Fantasy 7 was an N64 game? - Alternate History Explored
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Date: 2023-12-10
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Comments and reviews: 30
-AdamCHowell
There were screenshots of the n64 final fantasy 7 in old gaming mags of the time. I remember being hyped from them and looking forward to getting an ultra 64.
The n64 can handle much more polygons than the ps1, It was 2d graphics and the limited cart size that would have caused issues.
It would likely have been a very different game with more 3d in game cimamtics. On the other hand tricks they employed to hide loading screens on the ps1, like having the character walk slowly across the screens, would have been unnecessary with carts. It could have been a much faster paced game.
We can look at n64 games to see what they might have achieved.
Later n64 gamer like Zelda oot would have for complex 3d environments. I don't think they could have matched that in an early n64 game, and I seem to remember an expectation of pre rendered backgrounds buzzing about when hyped as a n64/ultra 64 release but no early n64 game had that so we don't know what they could achieve, and I expect the cart size would have been very limiting.
The N64 didn't get many rpgs to use as reference, and none like Final fantasy 7. What might be a reasonable game to look at would be mystical ninja 64, Square could easily have done or surpassed the complexity of 3d environments, towns, characters and cut scenes found in that game. The n64 could hardware could handle an epic jrpg. It just didn't get one.
Ultimately, Final Fantasy N64 would have been a different game to what we got on ps1, build around the different strengths and weaknesses of the system. But, with that team at that time, I feel sure they would still have pulled something spectacular off.
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There were screenshots of the n64 final fantasy 7 in old gaming mags of the time. I remember being hyped from them and looking forward to getting an ultra 64.
The n64 can handle much more polygons than the ps1, It was 2d graphics and the limited cart size that would have caused issues.
It would likely have been a very different game with more 3d in game cimamtics. On the other hand tricks they employed to hide loading screens on the ps1, like having the character walk slowly across the screens, would have been unnecessary with carts. It could have been a much faster paced game.
We can look at n64 games to see what they might have achieved.
Later n64 gamer like Zelda oot would have for complex 3d environments. I don't think they could have matched that in an early n64 game, and I seem to remember an expectation of pre rendered backgrounds buzzing about when hyped as a n64/ultra 64 release but no early n64 game had that so we don't know what they could achieve, and I expect the cart size would have been very limiting.
The N64 didn't get many rpgs to use as reference, and none like Final fantasy 7. What might be a reasonable game to look at would be mystical ninja 64, Square could easily have done or surpassed the complexity of 3d environments, towns, characters and cut scenes found in that game. The n64 could hardware could handle an epic jrpg. It just didn't get one.
Ultimately, Final Fantasy N64 would have been a different game to what we got on ps1, build around the different strengths and weaknesses of the system. But, with that team at that time, I feel sure they would still have pulled something spectacular off.
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-vico7727
Probably not the first to say this but the N64 was more powerful than the PS1. So an N64 version of FF7 would have most likely maintained the 3d character models and might have even implemented 3D environments, as they would occupy less space on the cartridge than the highly detailed pre-rendered cutscenes and environments of the PS1. The reason the Paper Mario aesthetic was chosen for Paper Mario, was not console limitations, but because the developers were looking for a unique visual style that would replicate the charm of the original Mario RPG.
Aside from that point, the video was great. I especially appreciate the decision of keeping Sega in the console race and having Sony lose. Even if I don't think moving FF7 to the N64 would have had such a drastic impact.
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Probably not the first to say this but the N64 was more powerful than the PS1. So an N64 version of FF7 would have most likely maintained the 3d character models and might have even implemented 3D environments, as they would occupy less space on the cartridge than the highly detailed pre-rendered cutscenes and environments of the PS1. The reason the Paper Mario aesthetic was chosen for Paper Mario, was not console limitations, but because the developers were looking for a unique visual style that would replicate the charm of the original Mario RPG.
Aside from that point, the video was great. I especially appreciate the decision of keeping Sega in the console race and having Sony lose. Even if I don't think moving FF7 to the N64 would have had such a drastic impact.
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-branovices
Fun thought experiment, but the idea that they would switch to sprites on pre-rendered backgrounds for N64 is laughably wrong. The 64 was a much, much more powerful machine for 3D polygons, but it struggled with textures compared to Playstation. It actually would have struggled with the pre-rendered backgrounds and sprites compared to Playstation. They would have needed to create a much simpler world, losing the detail from the PlayStation game, because it would need to be fully 3D, something that looked more like Ocarina of Time.
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Fun thought experiment, but the idea that they would switch to sprites on pre-rendered backgrounds for N64 is laughably wrong. The 64 was a much, much more powerful machine for 3D polygons, but it struggled with textures compared to Playstation. It actually would have struggled with the pre-rendered backgrounds and sprites compared to Playstation. They would have needed to create a much simpler world, losing the detail from the PlayStation game, because it would need to be fully 3D, something that looked more like Ocarina of Time.
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-mastematt
Dont know if yall still do this series, but this video reminds me of the events that led sony to create the playstation in the first place. Nintendo and Sony originally did have a plan to made a disc console together, but the partnership broke up, leading Nintendo to partner up and make the failed CDI console, souring them on disc based consoles to this day. What would gaming look like if nintendo hadnt broke with sony, and they had collaborated on a console in the md 90s?
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Dont know if yall still do this series, but this video reminds me of the events that led sony to create the playstation in the first place. Nintendo and Sony originally did have a plan to made a disc console together, but the partnership broke up, leading Nintendo to partner up and make the failed CDI console, souring them on disc based consoles to this day. What would gaming look like if nintendo hadnt broke with sony, and they had collaborated on a console in the md 90s?
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-ethanduffy9720
Keep referring to the ps1 being more powerful than n64. The ps1 had better sound and obviously more storage than the n64, it was less capable hardware though in really every other aspect. But there are any number of reasons why it was better hardware for final fantasy 7. Who cares how many polygons you can push when you have nowhere to store the textures? Do juddering textures and pixellation fit the look better than the n64's blurry filtering?
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Keep referring to the ps1 being more powerful than n64. The ps1 had better sound and obviously more storage than the n64, it was less capable hardware though in really every other aspect. But there are any number of reasons why it was better hardware for final fantasy 7. Who cares how many polygons you can push when you have nowhere to store the textures? Do juddering textures and pixellation fit the look better than the n64's blurry filtering?
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-ChampionRevilo
The PS1 was far from being more powerful than the N64 though. This is a misconception people have because Nintendo stopped pushed power over originality during the Wii era onward. But the N64 was actually the most powerful console of it's generation, like every of their consoles before (aside from the rich guy's Neo Geo during the 4th gen. Even the GameCube was pretty much on par with the XBOX with the PS2 lagging far behind in terms of power.
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The PS1 was far from being more powerful than the N64 though. This is a misconception people have because Nintendo stopped pushed power over originality during the Wii era onward. But the N64 was actually the most powerful console of it's generation, like every of their consoles before (aside from the rich guy's Neo Geo during the 4th gen. Even the GameCube was pretty much on par with the XBOX with the PS2 lagging far behind in terms of power.
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-jonmvail
I like this, but I feel like assuming that Square would take the risk on the Spirits within if they stay with Nintendo would have been unlikely. Like he said, FF7 on PlayStation did 2 main things. 1) Gave Final Fantasy the international brand 2) taught Square a lot about building 3D worlds. I just feel like if they did make a movie the scope of it would have probably been drastically reduced if it happened at all.
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I like this, but I feel like assuming that Square would take the risk on the Spirits within if they stay with Nintendo would have been unlikely. Like he said, FF7 on PlayStation did 2 main things. 1) Gave Final Fantasy the international brand 2) taught Square a lot about building 3D worlds. I just feel like if they did make a movie the scope of it would have probably been drastically reduced if it happened at all.
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polygon
I love this video series, but I kind of feel like Final Fantasy III did so well on the SNES and was getting such steam behind it that FF VII was always going to be a hit no matter what system it ended on. It probably wouldn't have been an earthquake like it was on the PSX, but it definitely would have sold well even in the states.
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I love this video series, but I kind of feel like Final Fantasy III did so well on the SNES and was getting such steam behind it that FF VII was always going to be a hit no matter what system it ended on. It probably wouldn't have been an earthquake like it was on the PSX, but it definitely would have sold well even in the states.
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-Afrobomination
This makes no sense. FF7 would look way better on the N64. 64 bit vs 32 bit. simple math, but the cart wouldn't have space for the FMVs. The FMVs would have to be replaced with real time rendering would wouldn't look as good as the FMVs but will look better than the playable parts.
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This makes no sense. FF7 would look way better on the N64. 64 bit vs 32 bit. simple math, but the cart wouldn't have space for the FMVs. The FMVs would have to be replaced with real time rendering would wouldn't look as good as the FMVs but will look better than the playable parts.
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-Dr_Andracca
17: 45 Oh God. how badly, as a Sega Genesis simp, I want the Dreamcast 4 to be real. Sure, it is cool that Sonic became platform agnostic, and we probably wouldn't have Halo or the Xbox without the fall of Sega, but. damn. Sega consoles just hit different.
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17: 45 Oh God. how badly, as a Sega Genesis simp, I want the Dreamcast 4 to be real. Sure, it is cool that Sonic became platform agnostic, and we probably wouldn't have Halo or the Xbox without the fall of Sega, but. damn. Sega consoles just hit different.
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-raihan200
I-m sorry if people don-t like to hear this, but if it means squaresoft must sink in order for sega to still hold a candle in the gaming industry than I am pretty sure that I won-t be the only one whom want to have this situation as a reality.
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I-m sorry if people don-t like to hear this, but if it means squaresoft must sink in order for sega to still hold a candle in the gaming industry than I am pretty sure that I won-t be the only one whom want to have this situation as a reality.
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-patrickreilly478
I know I'm late to the game, and one shouldn't pick apart a counter factual history too deeply.
But I feel like Mass Effect was a direct evolution of the work Bioware did on KotOR, so the differences wouldn't be too stark there
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I know I'm late to the game, and one shouldn't pick apart a counter factual history too deeply.
But I feel like Mass Effect was a direct evolution of the work Bioware did on KotOR, so the differences wouldn't be too stark there
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-uberfuzzy
This was amazing. Both FF and DQ1 shaped my childhood and my love of all RPGs, J or otherwise. When you said -DQ11 most recent since 2017- I was confused, but then I realized they announced DQ12 a week after you posted this lol.
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This was amazing. Both FF and DQ1 shaped my childhood and my love of all RPGs, J or otherwise. When you said -DQ11 most recent since 2017- I was confused, but then I realized they announced DQ12 a week after you posted this lol.
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-adderjack4604
Wait. Do you actually think the playstation was more powerful than the n64? Do you think anyone has ever been this wrong, before? The only thing the playstation had on the n64 was that discs could hold more memory.
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Wait. Do you actually think the playstation was more powerful than the n64? Do you think anyone has ever been this wrong, before? The only thing the playstation had on the n64 was that discs could hold more memory.
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-jjsquidbeard4831
I love how the playstations power is talked up so much in this video, and then Dragon Quest on the Playstation looks exactly like the hypothetical Final Fantasy N64 game in question.
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I love how the playstations power is talked up so much in this video, and then Dragon Quest on the Playstation looks exactly like the hypothetical Final Fantasy N64 game in question.
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-romefox
I wonder if it could be porter to the n64 now with the everdrive. Its very difficult to develop for n64 so I dont know if the homebrew commuity can pull it off. It would be awesome though.
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I wonder if it could be porter to the n64 now with the everdrive. Its very difficult to develop for n64 so I dont know if the homebrew commuity can pull it off. It would be awesome though.
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polygon
11: 17
Why a Sonic RPG rather than let him head a new Phantasy Star game in a new timeline, one that draws heavily from the first 2 games with parts of IV in there for good measure?
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11: 17
Why a Sonic RPG rather than let him head a new Phantasy Star game in a new timeline, one that draws heavily from the first 2 games with parts of IV in there for good measure?
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-tankkirb9466
So basically if FF7 was on the N64 Nintendo and Sega would still be competitors? And all sonic games would turn into a good version of (sonic chronicles: the dark brotherhood)
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So basically if FF7 was on the N64 Nintendo and Sega would still be competitors? And all sonic games would turn into a good version of (sonic chronicles: the dark brotherhood)
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polygon
This is cool as hell. I love the combination of learning about the history of Final Fantasy and how it shaped gaming alongside alternate universe memes and bonkers Sonic content.
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This is cool as hell. I love the combination of learning about the history of Final Fantasy and how it shaped gaming alongside alternate universe memes and bonkers Sonic content.
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-andrewhenke3353
They would not have used sprite-based pixels if the game had been on the N64. There was a tech demo showing full 3d character models (they used ff6 characters.
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They would not have used sprite-based pixels if the game had been on the N64. There was a tech demo showing full 3d character models (they used ff6 characters.
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polygon
What's the point of spoiling this game for new players in the thumbnail? You didn't have to do that. You could have been, like, minimally mindful about this.
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What's the point of spoiling this game for new players in the thumbnail? You didn't have to do that. You could have been, like, minimally mindful about this.
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-edwardgamerx9061
If so would've happened I'm somewhat confident that Cloud (and probably Sephiroth) would've been the first 3rd party character(s) in Smash Bros.
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If so would've happened I'm somewhat confident that Cloud (and probably Sephiroth) would've been the first 3rd party character(s) in Smash Bros.
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-Mn0ty
It was CD having higher storage capacity rather than power wivh made Square turn FFVII from N64 to PS1. N64 was actually more powerful by quite a margin.
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It was CD having higher storage capacity rather than power wivh made Square turn FFVII from N64 to PS1. N64 was actually more powerful by quite a margin.
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-jerrymartin1233
Cool, but I think final fantasy 7 remake would been the one on Nintendo 64 and the original would of come out 2 years ago.
Think about it.
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Cool, but I think final fantasy 7 remake would been the one on Nintendo 64 and the original would of come out 2 years ago.
Think about it.
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-Shannovian
The Super Famicom didn't come out until 1990. Also, I don't believe Final Fantasy was ever released on it.
Oh wait, alternate time lines?
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The Super Famicom didn't come out until 1990. Also, I don't believe Final Fantasy was ever released on it.
Oh wait, alternate time lines?
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-ajlxiii1312
I like the implication that in this universe, BDG would have lost his mind over another video game franchise's lore instead of Sonic
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I like the implication that in this universe, BDG would have lost his mind over another video game franchise's lore instead of Sonic
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-Roflmaolinde
Is the joke with -getting Booboo-d- actually referencing to a real expression that have come from the games? It seemed so specific!
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Is the joke with -getting Booboo-d- actually referencing to a real expression that have come from the games? It seemed so specific!
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-Cheerwine091
17: 00 -It finds moderate success as a free-to-play gacha loot shooter-
This kills me. Because I know I would play that game.
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17: 00 -It finds moderate success as a free-to-play gacha loot shooter-
This kills me. Because I know I would play that game.
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-GaubHefta
so excited that this is a series! I simultaneously learn real video game history and get an alternate history sci fic story!
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so excited that this is a series! I simultaneously learn real video game history and get an alternate history sci fic story!
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-sammattice8169
Why did anyone take the time to think this much about this? Lmao it almost seems like someones a Final Fantasy hater.
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Why did anyone take the time to think this much about this? Lmao it almost seems like someones a Final Fantasy hater.
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