One of the biggest hurdles Square had with an FF7 remake is that they lost the original background images. These images were incredibly detailed even by today's standards, and would be quite expensive to reproduce - which is the main reason we never saw a proper FF7 remaster, and instead, they've begun their terrifying 15-year journey to remake the game in full 3D with many unknowable changes that might ruin the game for purists.
It is a tremendous amount of work, and fans have set out to update the graphics in the past, but the immensity of the project always led them to failure.
In 2019, we have stunning updates in AI technology, and now an AI exists that is capable of examining images and upscaling without the need for much human labour. Fans are now using this to update all of the FF7 background images. So players who are interested in a much more authentic experience might be interested in this (because what we're going to get with the remake is still mostly unknowable at this point, we only know its likely price range will be about $180-250).
Here's a video outlining it.
It is a tremendous amount of work, and fans have set out to update the graphics in the past, but the immensity of the project always led them to failure.
In 2019, we have stunning updates in AI technology, and now an AI exists that is capable of examining images and upscaling without the need for much human labour. Fans are now using this to update all of the FF7 background images. So players who are interested in a much more authentic experience might be interested in this (because what we're going to get with the remake is still mostly unknowable at this point, we only know its likely price range will be about $180-250).
Here's a video outlining it.