Final Fantasy 7 is over twenty years old. One would think it would have years of mods under its belt, given that the modding community is so large. There are some choice supporters out there, but there aren’t as many as one would think.

Updated July 23, 2021 by Ritwik Mitra: Most people are well aware of the legacy of Final Fantasy 7. It’s a game that’s so beloved that most fans still believe that the excellent Final Fantasy 7 Remake can’t hold a candle to its predecessor. So, it’s understandable for players to want to experience the brilliance of this classic title for themselves; however, it can be somewhat hard for people to get into due to the dated nature of this title. However, with the following Final Fantasy 7 mods, players can certainly find it easier to get into this absolute gem of a title.

13 FFVII - Classic Icons Upres

One sticking point from the vanilla version of Final Fantasy 7 is the fact that the face packs of the characters are extremely low resolution, leading to them being somewhat jarring to look at. However, a modder has made an easy fix for this.

This mod performs the rather simple function of increasing the resolution of these face icons of all the characters in the main menu. It’s a rather simple addition.. but a welcome one regardless.

12 Hard Difficulty (Not Hardcore)

This Final Fantasy 7 mod, simply titled Hard Difficulty (Not Hardcore), was uploaded to Nexus Mods by bigbang6. It is just as the name implies, adding a second difficulty mode to the original game.

This is nice because the original title never had more than one. For those that want to experience an extra challenge for their hundredth playthrough, this mod might be worth installing.

11 ReMusic

This mod, simply titled ReMusic, was uploaded to Nexus Mods by The Spirit of FF7. It replaces the original game’s music with the remake’s.

This creates sort of a weird juxtaposition in the game though, what with the cheap polygonal graphics next to the master class recorded new score. That said, having the option is nice for players that want to experience something new.

10 Original BGM

The PC version of Final Fantasy 7 was full to the brim with glitches and annoyances, which is why so many fans still consider the console version to be superior to this day. One of the biggest oversights of Final Fantasy 7’s PC port was the fact that the soundtrack got converted into a MIDI format for some reason!

To avoid listening to this inferior soundtrack, players need only download the Original BGM mod. Its function is simple enough — the mod replaces the MIDI soundtrack of the PC port with the original music of the game. It’s this fact itself that makes it one of the best FF7 mods!

9 Final Fantasy 7 The Shinra Character Overhaul Mod

This FF7 mod, titled Final Fantasy 7 The Shinra Character Overhaul Mod, was uploaded to Nexus Mods by Mr_Nygren.

It replaces the main party with Shinra people. Rufus is used in place of Cloud, for example, and other members of his board are in there too like Scarlet. It’s still a work in progress and is not done yet. The last update was last July.

8 AVALANCHE ARISEN Battle Textures

The battle backdrops that Final Fantasy 7 transitions into are certainly quite nostalgia-inducing. However, even the most ardent Final Fantasy 7 fans will have to admit that the textures of these battle areas have aged quite poorly.

Players who want these battle textures to be as high quality as possible need only download the AVALANCHE ARISEN Battle Textures mod. It’s a great Final Fantasy 7 mod for players who want each and every aspect of their game to be as polished and modern as possible.

7 Final Fantasy 7 Remake Mod

This mod, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Mod, was uploaded by CaptRobau to their own site. This mod auto-scales the graphics on the PC version of the game and attempts to smooth them over.

This is mostly good for helping out those pre-rendered backgrounds which were blurry in the remaster, as they weren’t touched up.

6 Modern Spell Names

The spell names present in Final Fantasy games are quite notable in their own right. The natural evolution of spells such as Fire evolving into Fira and then Firaga is quite a treat to witness, but Final Fantasy 7 lacks this approach.

Instead, most upgraded spells are referred to as Fire2 or Fire3 instead, which can be quite jarring to read for Final Fantasy veterans. The Modern Spell Names mod makes this small yet extremely noticeable change that certainly increases the authenticity of this title to quite an extent.

5 OGFIELDS - Complete Field Replacement

The pre-rendered backgrounds of Final Fantasy 7 that players roam around in looked good… for its time. In the modern age, these backgrounds look incredibly blurry and downright ugly for some people too.

To ensure that these backgrounds don’t end up feeling too dated, you can download this mod to increase their quality. The upscaling used in this mod is smart and ensures that no details are lost while improving the visual fidelity of these backgrounds.

4 Satsuki Yatoshi Mod

The Satsuki Yatoshi mod was uploaded to Qhimm Forums by Satsuki Yatoshi. It also is an attempt to make the original game look better.

This FF7 mod was actually announced this year as of February and the user even put out a roadmap trailer to show where they want this project to go. It highlights better graphics, a smoother frame rate, fixed menus, and more.

3 Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children Complete Mod

This Final Fantasy 7 mod, simply titled Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children Complete Mod, was uploaded to Mod DB by Kula Wende. It changes the character models in the original game to look more like their movie counterparts.

This actually makes the models look like they came from the PS2, which might mean the modder used assets from the Kingdom Hearts series or was at least inspired by it. Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Cid, and Yuffie do appear in those games, after all.

2 Opera Omnia Models

Uploaded to Nexus Mods by NiNoStyle is this great graphical mod called Opera Omnia Models. This changes the character models in the game to look like they do in the mobile spinoff, Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia.

This only applies to models that appeared in that game though. Those that haven’t look like normal polygons even with this mod applied, but it’s still a fun little upgrade.

1 New Character Models

This mod, simply titled New Character Models, was uploaded to Nexus Mods by NiNoStyle. Unlike most mods out there that change models or upscale graphics, this actually adds a new shader to the mix.

It turns the characters and enemies into cel-shaded versions. It actually makes the game look like a hybrid between the art in the manual and the spinoff wrestling game, Ehrgeiz.

NEXT: Final Fantasy 7 Remake (PS4): Things We Want To See In Part 2 (And Other Things We Don’t Want To See)