Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing game from Square, released for the PlayStation. Its story follows Cloud Strife, a mercenary who joins an eco-terrorist group trying to stop a megacorporation from draining the planet's life energy, and who pursues the superhuman Sephiroth. Development began in 1994 for the Super Nintendo, but after trying several platforms, including the Nintendo 64, Square moved to the PlayStation largely because the CD-ROM format could hold much more data. The game was the first in the series to use full motion video and 3D graphics.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.