Yesterday, after 22 years of waiting, a Nintendo console finally received its very own version of Final Fantasy VII. Perhaps the most famous and adored entry in the series, the game will no doubt be attracting the attention of brand new players and those who have already played it 15 times on other platforms, too.
Unfortunately, those familiar with the game have noticed that the Switch port has arrived with an annoying music bug which has actually plagued previous versions, too. When the game found its way to PS4 in 2015, and on PC before that, a bug was present which caused the overworld music to restart every time you fought through a random encounter; unless you wanted to just stand still on the map, there was no way you'd be able to listen to the pieces in full.
With music being a significant part of the Final Fantasy experience, the bug caused a great deal of upset amongst fans. Square Enix eventually fixed the issue for PC, but this Switch port has seemingly gone backwards, reintroducing the issue once again.
https://twitter.com/CreamyElephant/status/1110503224275075072
Amazingly, it appears that a new bug has also found its way into the Switch version, causing issues with transitions between cutscenes and gameplay.
https://twitter.com/APZonerunner/status/1110827875345801216
We'll be sure to post a full review of Final Fantasy VII's Nintendo debut on the site once we've had enough time to thoroughly test it out, so make sure to keep an eye out for that if you're on the fence about picking it up.
Hopefully these bugs will be patched out (again) soon. Weird.
Update: Previously, this article stated that the PS4 version's bug was fixed. This was incorrect - only the PC version has had the issue fixed. The article has now been updated accordingly.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 67
Oh Square Enix. Always half-assing their ports. Well, we keep buying them, so why wouldn’t they?
I noticed this yesterday, playing with my son. Not a deal breaker for me, bit it was odd. They'll probably patch it out.
Obviously it's just a straight port of the original build of the PS4 remaster... Which also had some slowdown in some parts of the game as I recall. Yay
Why port the old version? Port the latest version surely?!
Square Enix are involved and wonder why EVERYTHING to do with these ports and how they have been done sucks.
If they're going to sell these games for as much as they're charging, surely they could show their fans some respect by putting in at least a bit of effort. If you're going to re-release a 20+ year old game, it should play as well as the original at bare minimum.
This is why I don't buy from square lol
Oh SE, so much of your value is in your back catalogue from employees who are gone. Thank goodness we got Octopath.
They must have been aware of this, and they still did it. From a consumer point of view thats just sad.
So, $15 for an older port version? Smh, c'mon SE...
When was the PS4 version patched? I stopped playing the uprez on the PS4 because of the music bug...
@LunarFlame17 Well, it did stop me from buying the PC port of Chrono Trigger, even though I love that game.
@NintyNate you’re missing out on some amazing games then.
I most likely encountered this glitch on the PS4 version, but never payed it any mind lol. That is very odd.
Then, PS1 version is still the Best choice, eh ? 😁
Just like Fallout 76 and Anthem. Welcome to the club!
@Bass_X0 like?
Oh dear, was hoping this port would be good, but it still won’t stop me playing it. Not surprised either though, it’s SquareEnix out for as much money they can grab with the least amount of effort.
@SmaggTheSmug Oh yeah, I don’t blame you. I heard that game was an absolute dumpster fire.
@Bunkerneath Aside from these two bugs, I actually think this version is better than the PS1. The graphics are better, and it just feels smoother than the original as well. I wouldn’t let these bugs put you off from buying this version.
@LunarFlame17 has it on pre-order from first available, but on holiday until next week, so can’t play it til then. Before anyone asks the Reason I didn’t take my switch with me is because knowing me I would of broken it
The best version is the modded PC version where they fixed the sloppy translation and made it so the battle models are used for all characters out if battle too. They even made more proportionate models for all the NPCs too.
Of course the bug has been reintroduced. Square's legacy ports are universally hack jobs (with the key exception of FFXII Zodiac Age). FFIX on Switch had significant issues too which weren't present inthe original release or its PS Store re-releases. I wish folks would stop buying these ports until the company starts allotting a modicum of care to its legacy content.
I didnt even know this was a big on ffix til someone told me. Never bothered me
@MeloMan
Imagine paying $25 for it!!!! Because that's what it'll cost me if I buy it on the eshop right now. Which is insane.
It always amazes me to see how little effort Square Enix put into these ports (on all platforms), how much they charge for them, and how many people still buy them. If these games would have re-rendered backgrounds, updated 3d models and textures. true widescreen support, I guess that would justify the price. But a bare-bone, no frills, port with bugs that weren't even present in the original game more than 20 years ago? How can they charge this much for this and get away with it? That baffles me.
Hard to believe this is the company behind such classics as FF6, Mario RPG, and Chrono Trigger.... They are a shell of their former company... Monolith is the only legit RPG company these days. Square can't even keep track of source code for mutimillion selling games or properly port a 20 year old game to modern hardware.
..... Should I be worried about buying FFX? It's the only final fantasy port I am wanting to get. but I guys I'll have to wait and see before buying
@Realnoize Agreed. I'm not actually opposed to paying $20 for one of these - they're still as good as they ever were (well, some of them anyway). What I am opposed to is supporting the production of versions that are demonstrably worse than the originals. Heck, FFIX had new performance issues and stripped out analog controls. Very frustrating to people who care about these games.
Wow is that even a bug? Isn't that just the way games were?
@PixelTavern my guess as to why they port the old version:
They have a source control branch for each console but the core base game is the PC game. Each console has unique enough stuff going on that you are more likely to start a new port from the last PC version, and common console intricacies may mean this bug gets reproduced yet again ok the new console.
I’m curious if the Xbox version has the same thing going on, being a directx machine it may be easier to port from PC.
@Anti-Matter I’d much prefer if they just ported the original PSOne game, true to form. The upgrade to the character models in this version, make it seem like they’re floating atop of the game world.
Here we go again...
@FarkyValentine Old, former Squaresoft is no more. It died slowly in the transition to Square-Enix, most of its talented people left the company long ago.
@Ttimer5 FF X and XII ports were fine.
Honestly, all the fuss around FF IX and FF VII ports are pure, nasty internet drama. The ports are not perfect of course, fixing would be nice for those small issues, but none of them are making those games an inferior experience. In some aspects, they're far better than basic emulation.
Well, Nintendo has been very generous with patches and updates this past year, I have no doubt they will fix it....unless square enix is greedy again
I wonder if the infinite item bug is still there. That got me lots of elixirs for those cauldron monsters in the crater.
Someone somewhere, I can't remember when or where, feared this would happen, and it did. It turns out that Square doesn't always use the best versions when it has to re-release a game. Too bad.
@rushiosan
Alright. It just seems like they should of put a little bit more time to fix this bug, but whatever (I'm not a developer so I don't know how easy or hard it would be fixing decade old code). I'll still be getting FFX
@Tharsman Good point One punch man, goodpoint. I suppose updates are platform specific, so as you said start with ""the base" version, then update accordingly to each system. However, Square should of expected these bugs since they knew the base version had these problems when first released. So still shame on them
I don't feel that it's a huge issue as it isn't game-breaking, but the fact remains that this makes FF VII on Switch come off as a lazy port.
now for them to port over luigi'es mansion and luigie's mansion dark moon. (hopefully with a few updates)
@Realnoize I'm pretty forgiving in the fact that since I never played it, I am willing to overlook the aged graphics, and actually was considering the $15. But it just shows that I need to wait until this is patched for an "optimal" play experience. Perhaps also by then, it'll be on sale. Backlog it goes for now.
maybe they'll fix it by the time I get around to playing it. I have FFIX already and haven't gotten into it much yet though it sounds like this is a issue with that game as well.
FFIX had the same problem. Has that been patched yet? It seems like a minor bug but that along with many other things just proves to me why I was right to not buy any of these FF ports.
Considering it's not the best Final Fantasy I play, it's no big deal to me. I got soundtrack of every FF from 1-10 so if music is what I care about I'll just stick to that.
I hope they patch it but, honestly this isnt even something worth mentioning to me.
You go at least 3 min between encounters all the time in the game. Plus if I wanted to "hear the full tracks" I'd have bought the soundtrack.
In the time this came out i laughed at the graphics and only played it once.
everything was blurry and moving 😂
So i wont bother to buy it.
Meh, don't care
@NintendoFan4Lyf
It could be that the port is simply trying to emulate something akin to a virtual disk version. That may be why this bug is popping up again.
This isn't as big an issue as it's being made out to be. I wouldn't let this stop you from experiencing a true classic. I would certainly welcome a patch that fixed it though. Hopefully SE will do the right thing.
My thoughts: Big whoop.
The black transition was definitely something I noticed in the first cutscene after the train rolled in. It was a little jarring but I shrugged it off since I figured the port wouldn't be super great anyway.
The music bug, while a shame, I can live with. Both of these aren't that very big. As long as there are no actual game-breaking bugs, then it's not a deal breaker for me.
@Sinton They're not even really updated models. They just upgraded the rendering resolution.
UEMATSU SMITE YOU!!!
I really want them to fix this. music is SO integral to the Final Fantasy experience.
it's absolutely insane it's already been addressed and patched on another console then they go and release it with the same issue. lol.
Good job Square.
People, please stop funding their incompetence.
Probably shows how much effort went into this port. Or how much effort Square Enix commited to when including Final Fantasy music in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (two tracks).
What? Was patchet years ago? No it wasn't. It hasn't been patched in any platform ever.
Can’t believe how many people just moan about everything to do with the games on switch. This game looks excellent and plays just how I remember it from back in the ps one days. Nintendo owners moaned that it wasn’t on their consoles since and now it is they moan about how it sounds. Makes me laugh. Really, it’s comical.
@Woosh193 This game looks excellent and plays just how I remember it from back in the ps one days.
No it doesn't. It plays better than it did BUT this music bug was not in the PS1 version.
The overworld music bug should certainly be fixed asap, the overworld music is amazing, and it plays a lot to the feel and atmosphere of the game and story.
Having it always restart at the beginning after battles ruins that
@Crono1973
I agree that it does play better but I didn’t recognise it had a bug and I can’t say I’ve noticed now. I’m teally just enjoying this classic game all over again
@Woosh193 Me too.
The odds of them fixing it are slim, since as far as I know the issue still persists on PS4. It's the main reason I haven't bought these ports yet. That and the fact I own the originals.
The thing that I find most disappointing about this port is that the backgrounds look TERRIBLE. Even in handheld mode, they look blurry and ugly. But in docked mode, it's inexcusable how bad it actually looks. I regret buying it now because it's not even close to the Steam version in quality, even with the quality of life features added in. Hell, my Vita PS one Classic PSN store game running on Adrenaline looks MUCH better. And not just the textures for the background. The colors are better too. It's just all around a disappointing port. Which I guess shouldn't be surprising given how bad Square Enix ports have been in the last few years. :/
@rushiosan But they're NOT better than playing on PC, at least not in the case of FF7 on Steam with mods. Though I DO wish the cheats like speed x3 and turning off random encounter was on Steam natively as well. I bought this game on Switch, and I pretty much instantly regreted the nearly 25 dollars I spent to get it. It just looks bad... And not just because the game is ugly in general. No, it's worse looking than the original PS1 game when it comes to backgrounds. I compared it side by side to the PS1 PSN game through Adrenaline on PS Vita and it looked WAY better overall even though the character models and UI and text was less sharp, modern and clean looking. The colors are better on the PS Vita, the FMV's look MUCH nicer and the backgrounds aren't a blurry mess. It's probably the best looking I've seen the game without using mods for the background, honestly.
As someone who's never played it, can't say I've noticed the restarting music. Now you've told me I won't be able to not notice it
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