The PS4 version has a speed boost, the ability to turn off random encounters, and the ability to have all characters heal and use limit break infinite times. I'm not sure if I'd use all of those all the time, but I want to play the original before playing the remaster. Yes, I've never finished FF7, only ever getting several hours into the PS1 version. My brother, being a huge JRPG fan has the PS1 and PS4 versions as well as the remaster, which means I also have access to all of them, but I'd jump into the PS4 version of the original and use those cheats liberally so I can see each environment and story as quickly as possible.

I know some may see that as sacrilege and robbing oneself of the true experience, but my main goal is just to know what the story and setting of the original are to be able to compare it to the remake. And to be clear, there is no way that I am playing the remake before playing the original. The only unfortunate thing is that my brother is very slow to make his way through the multitude of games he gets because he starts one, buys another, starts that, and then plays a bunch of them on and off. Generally, I don't want to play through a game he bought and wants to finish before I do (that's why I still have never finished Final Fantasy 12!) That means I cannot get far into the remaster once I finish the original.

A final point about me potentially playing through the original FF7, I want to do as much side content as I can, so I'm not merely going through the story. I would just be using the cheats to get through it all. Okay, hopefully, someone has some insight into how long it could take to get through it in such a manner. Thanks.

Without having done it myself or played the game proper in years, I'd wager it could be done in 15-ish hours. I remember my save files typically wrapping up around 50 hours back in my college days, and a lot of the game is wandering around looking for the side quests and getting in random encounters along the way.

FF7s not a terribly long game played normally, so you could probably shave to down to like ~20? Depends on if you intend to use any guides for some of the dumber side content/chocobo bullshit.

Bah I thought I had a reason to reference Tim Rogers and his ridiculous ff7 remake review, but I should have read this thread more clearly. Please proceed.

*edit* nah you know what here you go. There may be some dark calculus you can benefit from.

Probably 15-20 hrs. The most time consuming thing in the game is chocobo breeding. It's a totally fine way of experiencing the game in 2020, and I think it's kind of necessary to have some point of reference when you do play FF7R.

I did my first playthrough of ff7 for the same reasons as you on the same platform.

- I never used the instant heal/limit break, seemed excessive.

- I used deactivated random encounters rarely, when I just wanted to see the next story bit.

- I used the speed boost semi-often, maybe a quarter of the time, during tedious bits or to backtrack.

All in all, I'd say my playthrough was probably 28-32 hours, doing a moderate amount of side content like chocobo breeding and stuff. If I was in a bigger hurry, it probably would've taken 25.

When i did my play through in January it took me 18 for the main story, around 35 for platting it, and i followed this guide for all the psx FFs and it shows everything.

A word of warning though, the healing cheat wont protect you from 1hit KOs so you'll need to "grind" to level up a little a few spots in the game. I just left encounters on and when ever I got tired of too many battles and needed to get somewhere i turned them off.

I played yesterday and got just outside of Aerith's house. I used all of the cheats; the only one I turned off from time to time was the speed boost, and the infinite limit break as Aerith since her initial limit break only heals her. I think it took two hours. Also, I forgot that they call her Aeris. It threw me off and I said to myself 'wait... that's not her name is it?' I changed her name to Aerith.

If the clock doesn't stop at 99.99 hours you're playing it wrong!

I did it in about 18.

15's probably about right. I played through it on an emulator and sped through it but didn't pay much attention to the clock.