Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a bold reimagining of one of the most classic video games in the industry. Not only did Final Fantasy 7 Remake completely evolve the game to a new combat style, but it also completely overhauled the visuals, showing fans the world of Midgar and its colorful cast of characters in an entirely new way. One of the game's more controversial changes, however, was breaking up its release and making the game episodic. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was only the first part of the release, and fans have thus far been left in the dark on just how many episodes there will be or how long it will be before they can play the remake in its entirety.
Now, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade has released to bring the title to the PlayStation 5 with a variety of upgrades and an entirely new DLC to boot, as a buffer of sorts between the first and second parts. The upgrade to Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is free for most players who own the original on PlayStation 4. Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade brings a lot of changes to the original Final Fantasy 7 Remake; however, which makes it the definitive new way to experience part one of the remake and adding story elements that very well may be necessary for the game going forward.
What Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade Actually Is
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is the PlayStation 5 enhancement of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. It brings a number of visual enhancements, an entirely new DLC, updated story beats for the main game, and a number of quality of life improvements. Some of the changes are smaller, like Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade's new photo mode, but many of them are much larger additions. The largest, and most notable, is the new Episode INTERmission DLC that is included for players who newly purchase the game and follows Yuffie across two entirely new chapters. Any players who get Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade via the free upgrade will have to purchase the DLC separately for $20.
The DLC has some important narrative beats, so it is a necessary addition for players who want to experience all of Final Fantasy 7 Remake's story. Its inclusion of Yuffie as a playable character also introduces an entirely new combat style and gives the DLC a unique playstyle to the rest of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. However, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is exclusive to the PlayStation 5, which could also indicate the direction that Final Fantasy 7 Remake will take in the future.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade's Visual Improvements
The most far-reaching and noticeable changes of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade are the visual improvements present throughout the entire experience. The game allows players to pick between Performance Mode and Quality Mode. Quality Mode plays at 4k resolution at 30 fps while the Performance Mode plays at 1620p at 60fps. For comparison, the PlayStation 4 Pro ran the game at 1620p but with only 30 frames per second. The visual enhancements also include a rather sizable increase in global illumination that allows more lights to cast shadows on characters and increase the visual fidelity of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade's Midgar.
Another large visual improvement in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade comes in the form of the game's textures. Textures have been improved across the board, with an increase in visual fidelity and detail. Some textures that had slightly off placements or clipping present have also been fixed to be more seamlessly implemented. Shadows have also been reworked slightly in conjunction with the global illumination improvements to allow for them to have more detail as well as being more accurately cast. Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade also has greatly increased memory usage thanks to the PlayStation 5's solid-state hard drive. This translates to vastly decreased pop-in as well as substantially improved load times. The PlayStation 4 version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake frequently features 40 second load times, but those have been cut down to only 2 seconds with Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade's Story Additions
In the original Final Fantasy 7 Remake, players run into Yuffie randomly in a brief encounter that many players found a bit disorienting and inconsequential. Thankfully, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade explains this encounter further and helps contextualize it while also providing players the backstory of Yuffie while fleshing out the character. Yuffie was an optional character in Final Fantasy 7 and had very little in the way of backstory or explanation. The story of the two chapters in the DLC follows Yuffie on a mission to steal an extremely powerful Materia from Avalanche and fleshes the character of Yuffie out much more than she ever has been before.
Fans playing through the DLC have also found that it adds to the original ending of Final Fantasy 7 Remake in a big way as well. The new ending scene is at the end of the DLC, however, so players who are just interested in two new chapters will still get a chance to see it without replaying the entire game. The new scene sees the party after the end of Final Fantasy 7 Remake walking on the road from Midgar on their way to Kalm. The biggest story addition, however, is at the end of the cutscene when it cuts to Zack arriving in Midgar as he looks for Aerith. This is a big deviation from the original Final Fantasy 7 that saw Zack dying off-screen so that Cloud could take over his identity when it was later needed. Zack being alive and appearing more in Final Fantasy 7 Remake will an expansive impact and will likely play a big role in the second part of the game.
All in all, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is a sizable update to the PlayStation 4 version of the game. With all of its enhancements and story additions, it has definitely become the de facto way to experience the first part of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. And with Yuffie's all-new combat in the INTERmission DLC, it is a great place for fans of the first game to get more of the game as they wait for news on a complete sequel. Hopefully, fans will not have to wait too long to see where Final Fantasy 7 Remake goes next, as it has set up some truly fascinating possibilities.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now for PS4 and PS5.