What happened with the re-release?
Square Enix quietly pushed an updated build of the original Final Fantasy VII to Steam on February 24, advertising modern niceties like a 3x speed toggle, turning off random encounters, battle assists that boost Limit and restore HP/MP, and an autosave feature. Sounds great on paper — until players boot it up.
Within hours users noticed the new speed options didn’t play nicely with the game’s animations and menus, combat felt oddly sped up even without 3x enabled, and several cutscenes and textures looked soft or blurry. Square Enix released a small hotfix the same day saying it fixed some scene speeds and a few minor bugs, but it didn’t restore the ability to choose widescreen resolutions; the new build forces the old-school 4:3 display.
Worse, this version replaces the 2013 Steam edition on the storefront. That means anyone buying FFVII for the first time will only see the new release — only existing 2013 owners can toggle back. That change has many players asking why a modern re-release would remove options the PC version previously provided.
Why gamers are annoyed (and what’s next)
Community reactions ran from frustrated to downright snarky: folks complained the combat timing felt off, the locked 4:3 ratio wasn’t optional, and some joked they’d rather replay the older edition than squint through fuzzier visuals. The backlash was strong enough to push the game’s Steam user score down to Mostly Negative, with just 36% of reviews rating it positively.
Square Enix’s quick patch shows they’re paying attention, but the resolution stance and the storefront swap left players feeling like quality control took a coffee break. For now the practical impact is clear: players who care about visuals, display options, or faithful pacing should be cautious before buying, and long-time owners may prefer keeping the 2013 build if possible.
On the remake front, FFVII Remake Part 3 director Naoki Hamaguchi has emphasized that expanding platform availability won’t compromise the upcoming installment’s quality. He’s said the core experience is largely finished and the team is focused on polishing — which is reassuring, but it doesn’t help folks annoyed by this re-release hiccup.
The bottom line: this re-release had promising features but a messy rollout. Gamers care about playable, polished ports — and replacing an older, better-behaved PC version with a buggy debut is exactly the kind of move that gets the community shouting into the Steam review box. Keep an eye on further patches, and if you haven’t bought it yet, you might want to hold off until Square adds back display options and smooths out the combat timing.
