Final Fantasy VII, the first video game in the Final Fantasy franchise to use 3-D computer graphics, was released.

Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation. The seventh main installment in the Final Fantasy series, it was released in Japan by Square and internationally by Sony Computer Entertainment, becoming the first game in the main series to have a PAL release. The game's story follows Cloud Strife, a mercenary who joins an eco-terrorist organization to stop a world-controlling megacorporation from using the planet's life essence as an energy source. Ensuing events send Cloud and his allies in pursuit of Sephiroth, a superhuman who seeks to wound the planet and harness its healing power in order to be reborn as a god. Throughout their journey, Cloud bonds with his party members, including Aerith Gainsborough, who holds the secret to saving their world.

Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix. The franchise centers on a series of fantasy role-playing video games. The first game in the series was released in 1987, with 16 numbered main entries having been released to date.