Modder Recreates Original Final Fantasy VII Character Models in Rebirth

A currently ongoing modding project aims to bring back the original 1997 character designs in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, replacing the modern models with low-polygon versions based on the original game’s battle appearances. The project is led by modder Stepheroth, who has previously created plenty of mods for both Rebirth and Remake.

The scope of the project includes converting every character model in Rebirth to match their 1997 counterparts while keeping the game’s modern environments intact. Instead of using the exaggerated overworld models from the original release, Stepheroth decided to focus on the battle models to maintain a more consistent visual scale within the detailed environments.

The project is still in development, with no release version available yet. Stepheroth has been sharing work-in-progress footage, showing steady progress, with an eventual release on NexusMods.

Source:

gamesradar.com

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About FINAL FANTASY VII

First released in 1997 on the PlayStation® computer entertainment system, FINAL FANTASY VII celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2022. The game is universally regarded as a hallmark title of the RPG genre. The original title received high praise for its epic storyline, unique characters, and movie sequences that utilized the most cutting-edge technology of the time. Since then, the game revolving around iconic hero, Cloud Strife and his pursuit of the antagonist Sephiroth has sold over 15.3 million copies worldwide and continues to receive widespread acclaim from critics and fans around the world. The popular game has even expanded into spin-offs, films and merchandise.

Now, Square Enix’s FINAL FANTASY VII remake project created by a team of original and new developers, retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct, and standalone games. The first game of the trilogy, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE is now available on Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, PS5® and PS4® consoles and PC. FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, the second game in the trilogy, has been praised by both players and critics across the globe, earning more than 125 perfect scores from media and 40 Game of the Year awards, and is available now for PC and the PS5® console. It will launch on Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S and Xbox PC with Xbox Play Anywhere support on June 3, 2026.