The original Final Fantasy 7 is getting full voice acting soon, thanks to the ambitious Echo-S7 project from Tsunamods. The mod sets out to add audio for every single line in the game. So, every party member, antagonist, secondary character, and NPC you meet will be voiced.
The Final Fantasy 7 Echo-S7 mod will be available for download soon
Tsunamods announced the Echo-S7 release date in a new trailer. You’ll be able to download the mod starting on January 13 from the team’s official website.
Some changes come with the mod that fans of the original may be skeptical about. From the trailer, it seems like the script has been tweaked to flow more naturally when spoken. Additionally, many curse words in the original were rendered as garbage text (Ex. “It’s ‘cuz of that &^#$# ‘pizza’, that people underneath are sufferin’!”). For obvious reasons, in Echo-S7, they’re spoken aloud, which means Cloud and party are a bit more foulmouthed than you might remember them.
I loved Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but since playing it, I’ve wondered what a faithful remaster of the original would be like. From what I’ve heard of the Echo-S7 mod so far, Tsunamods has done an excellent job voicing the game (and I even prefer their Sephiroth).
There’s a mix of professional voice actors, semi-pros, and amateurs, so it’s got a great ’90s anime dub vibe to it that fits perfectly. The original script itself is kind of campy, and I’m glad the team kept that feeling intact instead of doing major rewrites.
Luckily, Final Fantasy 8 and 9 fans don’t have to feel left out. Tsunamods is setting its sights on voicing those games as well. However, the release dates for those mods haven’t been locked down yet.