One of the most significant and important video games of all time has been officially immortalized from its own home nation. Japan has officially designated January 31 as Final Fantasy VII Day, which commemorates the title’s release way back in 1997. The title is described on the actual Japan Anniversary Organization website as “a huge hit in Japan and overseas.” Of course the game would become an international sensation before the year’s end, its historical impact is still felt to this day, so much so that the country is giving it a well-deserved recognition.
It’s important to note that this is not a national holiday by any means whatsoever. It’s merely a special commemoration and recognition of the game’s original release, which was January 31, 1997, in Japan. The game did not see an overseas launch until late Summer 1997 with North America getting it first, then the United Kingdom, and finally Europe. Square Enix put out a tweet celebrating the occasion with a statement from Yoshinori Kitase, who was the director of Final Fantasy VII and was also the producer of Final Fantasy VII Remake.
As we mentioned earlier, Final Fantasy VII was much more than just another entry in the long-running JRPG series. It was also a major leap of faith for Squaresoft, which is what the studio was called before it merged with Enix to become Square Enix in 2003. It was the first iteration of Final Fantasy to move away from the Nintendo line of consoles and jumped firmly into the still very new Sony PlayStation. The budget for the title was also astronomically high at the time, making it one of the most expensive games ever made. In short, the company had a lot riding on this one.
Thankfully the gambit paid off. Final Fantasy VII become one of the most successful titles of 1997. It spawned an entirely new legion of JRPG fans, and perhaps more importantly, made the PlayStation a must-have system. This also catapulted Squaresoft’s JRPG library for the PlayStation, most of which are considered some of the best in the entire genre and is considered the peak of the JRPG Boom in the 1990s. Final Fantasy VII is still heralded as one of the most influential video games of all time, and now it has its own national celebration day, an esteemed honor that only select games have ever experienced.