Final Fantasy VII (1997) is one of the densest video games on the original PlayStation, and while the RPG classic isn’t as long as its modern modern day successors, FFVII uses its time wisely and packs itself with content. At the end of the day, Final Fantasy VII is the rare game that lives up to the hype, but concept art shows that the legendary RPG almost went in a different direction. 

RELATED: Final Fantasy 7: All Of Cloud’s Gold Saucer Dates, Ranked

Final Fantasy VII has more than its fair share of cut content– from Vincent’s entire arc to a fairly expanded Honey Bee Inn– and the game’s concept art helps shine a light on the developmental process while allowing us an audience to infer what Square deemed essential and important when working on FFVII all those years ago. 

10 Early Cloud And Buster Sword

Cloud Strife has one of the most iconic character designs in Final Fantasy VII. Between his Super Saiyan-esque locks and Buster Sword straight out of Kentaro Miura's Berserk, Cloud is recognizable just by his silhouette. Which makes it interesting to note that his most iconic features were not part of his original design.

To be fair, most of this early Cloud concept art is in-line with his final design. Cloud's face is more or less right, and the SOLDIER uniform is basically unchanged. Heading into the final game, however, Cloud's hair would be given more volume (making him look older,) while the Buster Sword would be made larger (making him look stronger.) Concept art Cloud looks a bit too young for FFVII's story.

9 Character Model Concept Art

It's not uncommon to hear that Final Fantasy VII's visuals have aged poorly, but that frankly misses the forest for the trees and ignores blatant stylization. While blocky, Final Fantasy VII's character models feature quite a lot of charm. They aren't facially expressive, but they're physically expressive and look like a logical next step coming off from 16-bit sprites.

Worth noting in particular is concept art depicting the characters in their overworld models. Cloud's notably the only one with a full body (complete with his revised hair style and Buster Sword,) but Aerith, Barret, Red XIII, and a Chocobo are all included for good measure. It would be interesting to see overworld concept art for the rest of the main cast.

8 Midgar Ground Level

Believe it or not, Final Fantasy VII was envisioned as a mystery story with a New York-esque setting very early on in development. This might not only help explain Midgar's aesthetic, but also this piece of early concept art depicting Midgar on ground level. While a bit more contemporary than the Midgar FFVII settles on, the inclusion of a dual headed dragon coming from under the bridge is an interesting touch.

RELATED: Final Fantasy 7: 10 Most Iconic Weapons From The PS1 Classic To The Remake

To put into perspective how early this piece of concept art must have been designed one only needs to look at Cloud dead center. Not only are his hair and sword not finalized, Cloud appears to be wearing two shoulder guards instead of one.

7 Barret Concept Art

Unlike Cloud's piece of concept art which evidently showed him fairly early on in development, this piece of concept art depicting Barret is fairly close to his final design– if not his final design outright, simply in black & white. Interestingly, this only applies to Barret's full body model. To the left is what appears to be an earlier version of Barret, albeit one fairly close to the final design.

The one key difference seems to be the fact that Barret was intended to wield another gun alongside the Gatling Gun attached to his arm. Considering Barret's prosthetic has plenty of in-game significance, it would make sense not to allow players to unequip it, but making it Barret's only (and changeable) weapon was ultimately a better move.

6 SOLDIER 3rd And 2nd Class Concept Art

Of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII's many changes, one of the more minor (albeit still noticeable) is the retconning of SOLDIER colors. Cloud now wears black as a part of his SOLDIER 3rd Class uniform, but originally the outfit was purple. Along with that, 2nd Class SOLDIERs would wear read– while also appearing as frequent enemies throughout the game.

Unlike other pieces of concept art features, the SOLDIERs depicted here look more or less done on a design level. There are also very little changes between these designs and the final in-game designs. The only key difference between a SOLDIER 3rd Class and Cloud ultimately comes down to the shoulder guards.

5 Sephiroth Concept Art

As is the case with Barret's concept art, this piece depicting Sephiroth is more or less finished. There are no meaningful differences between concept art Sephiroth and final game Sephiroth, his portrait for when he's briefly a party member even included as is in the final game. That doesn't mean this piece of concept art isn't telling, however.

RELATED: Final Fantasy 7: All The Original Turks From Weakest To Strongest, Ranked

Notably, there's the Masamune– a sword that's as long as Sephiroth is tall in canon. That isn't quite the case here, however, where the katana is very aggressively longer than Sephiroth. One has to wonder if the Buster Sword was redesigned to pair off the Masamune.

4 Cloud Confronts Sephiroth Concept Art

There's so much more to concept art than character and setting design. Final Fantasy VII in particular has a few pieces of concept art depicting scenarios in-game. This one notably features Cloud's confrontation with Sephiroth– or so he thinks– at Nibelheim. Sephiroth is nowhere in sight, with Cloud standing before the now iconic staircase.

Perhaps it's insignificant, but it's worth noting how the angle of the scenario design differs from the angle in-game. Final Fantasy VII uses specific angles for each screen, creating dynamic presentation even with the limitation of the PS1. It's unlikely, but maybe Cloud was simply meant to ascend the staircase with the rest of the event primarily taking place in the next room.

3 Shinra Executives Concept Art

Final Fantasy VII ends up using Midgar as a means to play with some very memorable misdirection. Before Sephiroth enters the picture and hijacks the story, the Shinra Executives are all set up as the central villains. President Shinra is the positioned as the main antagonist with Scarlet, Heidegger, Palmer, & Reeve serving as his Elite Four, and Hojo Shinra's resident mad scientist.

In practice, the Shinra Execs end up fulfilling wildly unique roles. President Shinra is killed by Sephiroth as an antagonistic passing of the torch; Scarlet and Heidegger swap back & forth serving Rufus' orders; Hojo ends up being the real threat at Shinra; Palmer is pure comic relief; and Reeve joins the party via Cait Sith.

2 Adult Red XIII With Cubs

Final Fantasy VII notably ends with Meteor making impact with Earth, a flash of white washing over the main cast, and the scene cutting to Aerith before fading to black. Following the credits, one last scene depicts a now fully adult Red XIII with his cubs racing through the Midgar wastelands. They stop on a cliff overlooking Midgar, overwhelmed by nature, and howl into the night.

This piece of concept art depicts Red XIII as seen 500 years in the future, along with one of his cubs. He very much resembles the statue of his father, Seto, but it's just as possible Red XIII's adult form was designed first with Seto's statue instead based on his son. This is pure speculation, though.

1 Cloud’s Hardy Daytona Sketch

Escaping Midgar on motorcycle would have been a cool cutscene, but it became one of Final Fantasy VII's most memorable setpieces by allowing players to control the action outright. Riding a Hardy Daytona and wielding his trust Buster Sword, Cloud races down Midgar Highway attacking every SOLDIER in his path, protecting the party in the process.

Worth noting, this sketch actually appears to be concept art for a CG render of Cloud on the Hardy Daytona, not Final Fantasy VII proper. Instead of the Buster Sword, Cloud is equipped with Hardedge (a detail which carries over to the final render itself.)

NEXT: Final Fantasy 7: Every Party Member’s Reaction To Aerith’s Death In The PS1 Classic