FINAL FANTASY VII is a game that has a strong sentimental value with many players. Particularly those who enjoyed it when it came out in 1997, be it on the Playstation or the inferior port on PC that came out a year later.

Many hoped that this 2012 Steam PC re-release would be a long awaited remaster. But all we got was a barely improved port that was still locked to 15/30 fps gameplay and painfully low-res assets that did not age a day beyond 1998.

In this guide, I will help you Mod the game, in an effort to remaster your copy of FINAL FANTASY VII and bring it up to shape for the modern era where it will sit side-by-side with it's much more graphically demanding, yet incomplete cousin: FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE.

This modding guide intends you to perform a high-fidelity, purist remaster of the base vanilla game. To achieve this, you will only need the Essential mods I have listed. Any other mods that are listed seperately will be used for customization and flavour, and can be skipped.

• The 2012 Steam Release of FINAL FANTASY VII for PC
  
• 7thHeaven Mod Manager by Tsunamods
  
• Various Mods

Why Mod Manager
Modding usually involves messing with actual game files. This makes it easy to screw up and make your game broken until it's reinstalled. Not to mention the incredible hassle of removing said mods and restoring the vanilla experience if desired.

A Mod Manager aims to streamline this entire process by keeping mod files seperate from your game, load mods as required by virtualizing the game's file system and load modded files instead of the real ones. Restoring the vanilla experience is as easy as disabling or deleting mods from the manager. Mods can be arranged in priority order of dependencies so they do not clash with each other. 7thHeaven even lets you search and download mods directly from it's repos.

I am going to recommend downloading the Tsunamods maintained 7thHeaven mod manager. You can download it from here[7thheaven.rocks].

Download the Stable build Setup Executable and install it on your system as you would any other program.

Starting with 7thHeaven 4, a fresh install of the game is required. Steam users upgrading from 3.5.1 will also need to move their save games to Square Enix save location (see FAQ below). A Lot of players are facing unexpected issues with 7H 4. If you experience issues after upgrading, consider going back to 3.5.X until Tsunamods fixes them.

If you are using v4, you can skip to the 7th Heaven Mod Manager (v4) section below. Continue here if you are using an older version.


I am going to recommend some configuration options to enhance your FF7 experience. You will find these options in different sections under Settings.

Make sure the FF7 Exe points to your game executable. For a typical Steam install, this would be usually at:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII\FF7.exe

Also make sure the Library is set to the mods\7th Heaven folder at the same location. For a typical Steam install, this would be:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII\mods\7th Heaven

7thHeaven tries to auto detect FF7 install location from Windows registry every time it starts up. But if you would want to keep your Mod files away from Steam install location, you may do so by setting your custom path to the Library field.

For example: If I wanted my Mods to reside in D:\FF7Mods I would make sure such a folder exists and then set the Library path to D:\FF7Mods.

Note regarding Game install location

7thHeaven refuses to play FF7 directly if installed at a System location like C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII\... and will ask you to copy files to a predetermined location on your storage drive (C:\Games\FINAL FANTASY VII\...).

If you want to manually set your location, you may do so from the Steam > Settings > Storage section or install Steam in a more neutral location like C:\Steam.

Note regarding Game Driver options

Game Driver option under Settings > Game Driver may not be available until you start FF7 from 7thHeaven at least once. At this point, I recommend choosing Play (dropdown) > Play Without Mods to see if everything is working correctly and also to enable the Game Driver options which would let you do useful display tweaks.

Graphics API: Auto (FYI: Some players have experienced crashing and freezing when using Auto or DX12, but DX11 worked for them)
Resolution: Your preference
Window Mode: Your preference
Aspect Ratio: Use Native for more faithful experience. Go Widescreen if you want some areas to fill your screen at the cost of some vertical cropping.
Antialiasing: 16x
Anisotropic Filtering: On
Vertical Sync: Off (Turn on, if you notice significant screen tearing)
Advanced Lighting: On (This adds realtime lighting and shadowing which makes the 3D characters look really good, both in exploration and battles)


Music Option: VGMStream
Movie Options: Autodetect
Analogue Controls: On (Adds free camera to battles)
Steam Compatibility: On (Adds support for Steam overlay, Controllers and Achievements)
Internal Resolution Scaler: 4x


To install mods, you can search for the mod by name under Browse Catalog tab, select the mod you want and double click to start downloading. 7H will take care of installing the mod in it's place after it has finished downloading, at which point it will appear under My Mods tab. You can configure mods by clicking on the Configure Mod button.

The other way is to manually put your mod files (usually a .IRO file) into the Library folder mods\7th Heaven (see above). Once you've put them in the Library folder, refresh 7H and the mod should show itself as installed.


Removing mods can also be accomplished in many ways. You can either:

• Disable the mod by turning the mod "Off" (Keeps the mod but it will have no effect on your game)
  
• Delete the mod by selecting an installed mod and then clicking the "Uninstall Mod" from the right side of the window.
  
• Or even simpler: locate the IRO file / folder in the Library and delete the file/folder.

All of these actions will have no effect on your actual game files.


Once you have enabled mods, click the Play button on the top-left corner of 7H to start the mounting / game startup process. You can also choose to play without mods from the dropdown option over there.

All of these actions will have no effect on your actual game files.

v4 of 7thHeaven was released on September 2024. Anyone updating from v3 directly may run into a few issues doing so. For them, I recommend that they back up their mods, remember their mod settings and then do a fresh install of FF7 and 7Hv4. It can be downloaded from the Tsunamods website. Installation is pretty straightforward. If your game was already installed, 7Hv4 may not work properly. In this case, back-up your saved games (see FAQ) uninstall and reinstall FF7 and then try opening 7thHeaven. It will then try to auto-detect and patch FFNx correctly.

Just don't forget to make similar changes to the v4 options as you did with v3.


I'm going to quote Tsunamods on their official release announcement taken from here.

STEAM USERS

If you are upgrading from 3.5.1, make sure you have a CLEAN Steam installation of the game before doing so. Additionally, you WILL also need to move your existing save files ( save folder ) to your own Square Enix folder ( Documents\Square Enix\FINAL FANTASY VII Steam\user_XXXXYYYY ). Feel free to reach us out on ⁠ff7-mod-support if you need help!

1998 USERS
If you are using the original 1998 copy of the game ( not the one converted by 7th ), you can upgrade safely and keep using 7th as usual. No further action required.

STEAMDECK USERS
You should be able to upgrade 7th as well just fine. No further action required. If you need support please remember to use ⁠steamdeck-proton"

Changes were made to the launcher to allow it run completely natively with the Steam version of the game for legality reasons with Square Enix. This is how it will run from now and for the foreseeable future so no new issues should ever arise again.

If more assistance is required, please feel free to join our server and we will support you as fast as we can:
https://discord.gg/PdBVbAw5rB

Make sure the FF7 Exe points to the ff7_en.exe. For a typical Steam install, this would be usually at:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII\ff7_en.exe

Don't panic if this file doesn't exist afer a fresh install of FF7. If 7thHeaven detects your game correctly upon launching, and you choose the configuration it offers, it should create the file for you.

Also make sure the Library is set to the mods\7th Heaven folder at the same location. For a typical Steam install, this would be:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII\mods\7th Heaven

7thHeaven tries to auto detect FF7 install location from Windows registry every time it starts up. But if you would want to keep your Mod files away from Steam install location, you may do so by setting your custom path to the Library field.

For example: If I wanted my Mods to reside in D:\FF7Mods I would make sure such a folder exists and then set the Library path to D:\FF7Mods.

Note regarding Game install location

7thHeaven refuses to play FF7 directly if installed at a System location like C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII\... and will ask you to copy files to a predetermined location on your storage drive (C:\Games\FINAL FANTASY VII\...).

If you want to manually set your location, you may do so from the Steam > Settings > Storage section or install Steam in a more neutral location like C:\Steam.

Note regarding Game Driver options

Game Driver option under Settings > Game Driver may not be available until you start FF7 from 7thHeaven at least once. At this point, I recommend choosing Play (dropdown) > Play Without Mods to see if everything is working correctly and also to enable the Game Driver options which would let you do useful display tweaks.

Graphics API: Auto (FYI: Some players have experienced crashing and freezing when using Auto or DX12, but DX11 worked for them)
Resolution: Your preference
Window Mode: Your preference
Aspect Ratio: Use Native for more faithful experience. Go Widescreen if you want some areas to fill your screen at the cost of some vertical cropping.
Antialiasing: 4x
Anisotropic Filtering: On
Vertical Sync: Off (Turn on, if you notice significant screen tearing)
Advanced Lighting: On (This adds realtime lighting and shadowing which makes the 3D characters look really good, both in exploration and battles)
NTSC-J Gamut Mode: Depends on what mods you are using. On, if you want to have a more authentic colour reproduction as it was in the original Japanese television screen. The resulting colors are more faithful to the original artistic intent, and generally brighter and more vivid. More details can be found here[forums.qhimm.com].

Analogue Controls: On
Auto run: On (You can keep this Off if you have any mod that enables always run)
Invert Horizontal Controls: Your preference
Invert Vertical Controls: Your preference

Analogue Controls: On
Steam Compatibility: On (You need this for achivements, time tracking and overlay)
Show Debug Info: Your preference
Show Driver Version: Your preference
Show FPS: Your preference
Show Graphis API: Your preference
Internal Resolution Scaler: 4x or 6x if your hardware can handle it. Otherwise Auto.


To install mods, you can search for the mod by name under Browse Catalog tab, select the mod you want and double click to start downloading. 7H will take care of installing the mod in it's place after it has finished downloading, at which point it will appear under My Mods tab. You can configure mods by clicking on the Configure Mod button.

The other way is to manually put your mod files (usually a .IRO file) into the Library folder mods\7th Heaven (see above). Once you've put them in the Library folder, refresh 7H and the mod should show itself as installed.

Sometimes enabling a mod may issue a warning that it is trying to inject code into an EXE. This is because DEP (Data Execution Prevention) protection is on in Windows. If you are using a mod that comes from the Tsumamods repo, one can assume it is safe. So you can go head and choose Yes, activate this mod to enable them.


Third-party mods that you do not install from the launcher are your responsiblity and you must verify if the mod is genuine in such cases.

Details can be found here[forum.tsunamods.com].


Removing mods can also be accomplished in many ways. You can either:

• Disable the mod by turning the mod "Off" (Keeps the mod but it will have no effect on your game)
  
• Delete the mod by selecting an installed mod and then clicking the "Uninstall Mod" from the right side of the window.
  
• Or even simpler: locate the IRO file / folder in the Library and delete the file/folder.

All of these actions will have no effect on your actual game files.


Once you have enabled mods, click the Play button on the top-left corner of 7H to start the mounting / game startup process. You can also choose to play without mods from the dropdown option over there.

All of these actions will have no effect on your actual game files.

By Vertex2995, Obesebear, Kaldarasha


Out of the box, FF7PC comes with a abysmal 15 FPS cap for FMVs and Battles. 30 FPS cap for everything else. Installing this mod will make a world of difference right away, by increasing the FPS for battle and exploration modes up to 60 FPS.

FPS Mode: Full 60 FPS
Advanced Field Animations: (Your preference)
Field mode 60 FPS fix: On (Off, if your are using ECHO S)

By Ninostyle, L@zar0, Tsunamix, Shiniboy (Chibi)
By Ninostyle, Tsunamix, Shiniboy (HD)


To say the default character models for exploration did not age well would be a massive understatement. Ninostyle mods breathes new life into these polygons by giving players higher poly count models that resembles Tetsuya Nomura's artwork, and blends right in with the rest of the game.

There are two variations here, the Chibi and the HD. What you pick here is your personal preference but I recommend going with Chibi as the original game was designed around Chibi models for exploration.

Once you have decided you want either Chibi or HD, configuring this mod is yet another matter of preference. Out of the box, this mod works great with no tweaks necessary.

By Ninostyle, Tsunamix, Shiniboy


Ninostyle Battle replaces battle models for all player characters. This is pretty much the HD models from above, based on the artwork of Tetsuya Nomura. It blends in really well with the battle stages and the types of enemies that are found in the game.

This is yet another matter of preference. Like other Ninostyle mods above, this mod works great with no tweaks necessary, out of the box.

By Bonez


This mod is not essential in the strictest sense, but enhances the game experience several times over, by adding to the game's soundscape. This mod adds voiced attacks, ambiences for field and battle and footsteps giving the gameplay a proper form of audio definition and depth.

Keep everything as it is. You may want to use Updated Vanilla for Menu Sounds for a more faithful enhancement.

Note regarding restoring original SFX
Due to the way FFNx (the framework that enables advanced modding of FF7 in the first place) works, you may find that once you install CosmoMemory and disable/remove it afterwards, the game will be missing its SFX because FFNx will have been configured to use external SFX instead of the default ones. Reasons why we cannot cherry pick individual SFX to toggle on or off is explained here:

https://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=20475.0

To restore the original SFX after you've installed and then disabled / removed Cosmo Memory, open your FINAL FANTASY VII install folder (Open Steam > Right Click FINAL FANTASY VII > Manage > Browse Local Files) and look for a file named FFNx.toml. Open this file in Notepad or any text editor and find the line:


Then all you have to do is change


to


As of this writing, 7thHeaven does not provide an UI option to handle this. But going to Game Driver Settings and then hitting "Reset Defaults" might help.

Alternatively, you can uninstall FINAL FANTASY VII and delete the aforementioned folder completely (which will remove all traces of FFNx and this file). Doing so will revert the game to the vanilla experience next time you install. Doing this means you are removing all mods however, until you start and configure 7thHeaven again.

By Satsuki Yatoshi and others


This consists of 6 mods which will be your main remaster assets. Satsuki has used Deep Learning to produce AI Upscaled HD textures and backgrounds for every element in the game. The mods are:

• SYW Unified Field Textures (Don't use if using Cosmos Limit Break)
  
• SYW Unified BattleTextures
  
• SYW Unified Spell Textures
  
• SYW Unified Worldmap Textures (Don't use if using Cosmos Gaia)
  
• SYW Unified Minigame Textures
  
• SYW Unified UI
  
• SYW Unified FMV (Don't use if using Cosmos FMV)

Keep everything at their defaults. This mod works great out the box. For Unified Field Textures, keep Advanced Texture Animations to Recommended. Go full if your PC has no issues with it.

By Cosmos, Satsuki Yatoshi, NiNoStyle, Kaldarasha


Satsuki has their own 30 fps FMV mod for FF7, but the only reason I am recommending this over SYW Unified FMV is because this mod takes SYW's 30 fps FMVs and somehow replaces the baked-in character models from select FMVs with updated models from ChaOS or Ninostyle, bringing a much needed consitency between the game's seamless transitions between gameplay and FMVs.

character type (chibi cutscenes): NinoStyle Chibi (use Original Battle Models + ChaOS if you don't want to see chibis in FMVs)
character type (non-chibi cutscenes): Original (For consistency because, NinoStyle support is only for the opening FMV at this point, but this mod will be updated to replace every non-chibi cutscene with NinoStyle eventually)

By Cosmos, Satsuki Yatoshi, Manakaiser, Aavock, L@ZaR0


Since the original game was not designed for widescreen, the static background assets would leave back bars on both sides when vieweing on modern displays. This mod fills the areas where the black bars would have been with AI assisted outpainting on an upscaled 4:3 copy of the original background. You cannot use Satsuki's Unified Field Textures mod if this is on, as it already comes with those enhancements.

Cosmos Limit Break Field Textures: 16:9 (Adjust this according to your display resolution)
Advanced Texture Animations: Recommended (Full, on a powerful PC)

Note regarding folders
You will need to set 7thHeaven to monitor the "widescreen" folder if it is not set already. In 7thHeaven, go to Settings > General Settings and here under "Additional Folders to Monitor" check if "widescreen" has been added. If not, click the "+" under the same section and navigate to "...\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII\widescreen" or the "widescreen" folder under where your FINAL FANTASY VII installation is and select that folder to add. Newer versions of 7thHeaven should already have this configured for you and you will not need to do this.

By Cosmos, L@ZaR0, Satsuki Yatoshi


This mod adds a much needed analog movement, real-time lighting, camera controls and extended view distance for the overworld. You cannot use Satsuki's Unified Worldmap Textures mod if this is on, as it already comes with those enhancements.

Default is fine.

In this section I will go through Mods that are not essential, but are great to have. Most of this mods here are based on my personal preference and I will only be listing my own configuration down below.

By Chrysalis


UI Mod


Main Options
Enhanced Stock: On
ESUI Start Screen: Off

Menu Options
Item + Materia Icons: Colored Items + Standard Materia
Expanded Icons: On - Icon Set 1
Cursor style: Finger
UI Border Thickness: Thinner Borders
Font Brightness: Gradient
ESUI Avatar Set: Off
Transparency Strength: Default
Exp Bar Toggle: Enabled
Main Menu Width: Off

Field Options
Field Icons: On
Field Dialog Avatars: On
Field Dialog Box Style: Stock (ESUI has text overflow issues sometimes with my configuration)
Field Dialog Box Transparency: Stock
Field Finger Cursor Visibility: Default

World Screen
World Map Position: Top Right

Battle Menu Options
Battle View: Minimal UI v2 Single Column Menu
Battle Avatars: Show Names
Transparent Battle Boxes: Off
No Battle Boxes: On
Help Box Text Only Toggle: No Box, Text Only
Battle Menu Artifacting Fix: On
Aspect Ratio Override: Off

Controller Options
Icons: Xbox
Icons Order: 2 - A:B/X:O - OK:Cancel - Swap
Button Mapping: Off

ECHOS Option
Echos Menu: Off (ECHOS Right Side Menu, if using ECHO S)

Steam Deck
Steam Deck Mod: Not using Steam Deck (adjust accordingly if using Steam Deck)

By KWRRK

UI Mod


Interface Compatibility: Stock
Menu Tweaks: No Change
Battle Interface: No Change
Bottom Battle UI: Off
Avatar: OG Enhanced Alternative (my main reason to use this mod)
Avatar Resolution: 1080p and below
Dialog Transparency: 70%
Intro Logos: Skip Logos

By AxlRose

Graphics Tweak


Everything at default

By unab0mb, Symphinic Remasters


Soundtrack Mod


Everything at default

By Qhimm Modding Community

QoL / Cheats Mod


Always Run: On
Clock Fix: Off
Disable Mouse: Off
Increase Sense Limit: On
Invincible: Off
Lock Inventory: Off
Lucky Cait Sith: Off
Lucky Tifa: Off
No Random Battles: Off
Save/PHS Anywhere: On (While I keep this on for convenience, be careful using this as saving outside of ways the game intended may lead to issues and even soft-locking)
Skip Cutscenes: Off (7H already does this natively)
Sync Barret Opening: Off

By Tsunamods Team


Voice Acting / Immersion Mod
While this mod is easily a marvel of an accomplishment, I would only recommend this for a second playthrough or later. The Main characters are voiced by semi-pro VAs but a lot of random nameless NPCs are voiced by amateurs, which can be a deal-breaker to some. The dialog lines are changed to fit the original Japanese scripts as well as changes required for voice acting performance. This mod also has Tifa perform uncensored cursing. Some events in the game are clearly altered (First mission bomb timer reduced to 5 minutes from 10) and the mod creator makes a fourth-wall-breaking appearance in-game as a NPC. You can no longer name your characters (which is a good thing for this mod). Spoken dialog texts can now be made automatic. They have also added a day-night system, which they plan to expand upon eventually. They have made edits to the opening movie. Overall, this mod feels pretty much like an aternate experience of the main game rather than a full-blown replacement.


Echo-S: On
Day Night: Off (It works by tinting the colour of scenes which I found undesirable in areas like Midgar)
Music: On
Battle Lines: 50%
Battle Grunts: On
Auto Text Advance: On (You might consider keeping this Off, if you need a handy way to pause the game)

Note regarding compatibility with IFRIT - FF7 Interface Tweaks
You may experience font rendering issues when trying to enable both IFRIT - FF7 Interface Tweaks and ECHO-S. I recommend disabling IFRIT - FF7 Interface Tweaks when ECHO-S is on and vice versa. I am yet to find a configuration to make these two work correctly. So if anybody could make these work, do share in the comments so I can update it here.

By dotAXiS

Configuration Mod

There is nothing to configure for this mod. If you are planning to play FF7 on Steam Deck, I recommend having this mod to auto-tweak settings to fit the system.

If you have downloaded the mods as they were mentioned in this guide, they may be out of Order. You can click the AutoSort button on the right side of the 7H Window to sort them automatically. But in the event it still leads to unexpected issues, I am sharing my own personal load order, that has worked for me.

Top to Bottom in the order of descending precedence

• 60/30 FPS Gameplay
  
• Ninostyle Chibi
  
• Ninostyle Battle
  
• Ninostyle HD
  
• IFRIT - FF7 Interface Tweaks
  
• [Tsunamods] Enhanced Stock UI
  
• [Tsunamods] Cosmo Memory
  
• [Tsunamods] Echo-S 7
  
• Cosmos Gaia
  
• Cosmos Limit Break
  
• Cosmos FMV (30 fps)
  
• [Tsunamods] SYW Unified Field Textures (Off with Cosmos Limit Break)
  
• [Tsunamods] SYW Unified Battle Textures
  
• [Tsunamods] SYW Unified Spell Textures
  
• [Tsunamods] SYW Unified Worldmap Textures (Off with Cosmos Gaia)
  
• [Tsunamods] SYW Unified Minigames Textures
  
• [Tsunamods] SYW Unified UI
  
• [Tsunamods] SYW Unified FMV (Off with Cosmos FMV)
  
• AxlRose's Blender v1
  
• Symphinic Remasters: Redux
  
• Steam Deck Auto-Config
  
• Gameplay Tweaks and Cheats 2.2

This guide cherrypicks mods that do not alter the gameplay or experience significantly from the vanilla. Only audio-visual enhancements and QoL changes are suggested under the essentials section.

Your saved games should not be affected if you remove all your essential mods afterwards. However, there are some mods that lets you save anywhere. Pairing these mods with mods that alter gameplay (Echo S) may lead to unintended effects. Always keep your saved games backed up in such cases.

Try either of these two locations:

• ...\Documents\Square Enix\FINAL FANTASY VII Steam\user_<your square-enix user ID>
  
• ...\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII\save

The save files should be named like saveXX.ff7 where XX is the save group number.

Note: For steam users, 7thHeaven 4 will require all users upgrading from 3.5.1 to have moved save games to the Square Enix folder mentioned above.

No. 7thHeaven bypasses the launcher requirement and loads the game directly. You can also do this with Steam in offline mode. But you will need to keep Steam online if you want to finish your achievements. To sync your save games using the SquareEnix's cloud save feature, you will need to start the game using the launcher however.

Haven't tested it myself but with a few tweaks it should work just fine. Just make sure 7thHeaven is configured to locate the FF7 exe. For more details on the 1998 Disc version, see the instructions at https://7thheaven.rocks/help/getstarted.html#install_1998

This guide may be updated in the future to inform of any breaking compatibility changes or any new progress in the FF7 Mod Scene.