Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PS5
Tested on: PS5
Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade – Review
It has been slightly over a year since the world was basically wowed by the release of the first part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake. The story was not finished yet, but we loved the experience nonetheless. We did conclude that, outside of the phenomenal graphical prowess of the game and its great voice acting, the game proved to be very linear, which would not please certain fans of the original. Those sentiments aside, with the release of the next-gen consoles only a few months away from its initial release, it came as no surprise that we would get an updated PS5 version of FFVII Remake. This new version has the subtitle Intergrade and gives us an enhanced version of the original 2020 release, but also a new DLC chapter that revolves around Yuffie. We will not dive into a full review of the base game anymore; and thus will mainly cover the enhancements and the quality of the added storyline. Those wanting to read up on the original PS4 review can do so by clicking here.
From the cutscenes to the actual gameplay, you notice you are playing a quality next-gen title. Of course, you can’t go in expecting this game will be on the same level as, for example, Ratchet & Clank, Returnal, or even Demon’s Souls, which were specifically built from the ground up for a PS5 experience. Nonetheless, this new version of the remake comes with updated graphics, fairly short loading times, and an overall bigger appeal than the original release. This increase in quality is mainly visible when it comes to the main characters in the story, as some minor characters still look a bit dodgy. You’ll notice a clear difference between the textures of both, and even the lip-syncing is a lot worse for NPCs with tiny roles. The environments mostly look very nice, but some details are not on par with the aforementioned releases, and the game does still suffer from a lot of static items and invisible walls. The static items are somewhat of a shame, as you often find yourself in environments with a lot of wooden chests and crates, only to be able to destroy a few dedicated ones. As you are swinging around a massive sword, as well as cast explosive spells, it would have been nice to have a slightly bigger impact on your environment. That being said, we are nitpicking because it’s a next-gen release. The Intergrade edition of the FFVII Remake looks quite amazing. When combining this with the famous soundtrack the game is known for, you are in for quite the spectacle.
Then, what truly sets apart this edition from the original PS4 edition, is the extra INTERmission storyline. This extra bit of content will revolve around Yuffie, a character many have come to love, but also a character that does not have that much background information. Yuffie has the proper cute-but-deadly factor to carry an entire storyline, albeit a short one in this case. The INTERmission chapter will take you around four hours to finish if you don’t dive too deep into the side content. If you do, you might add a few more hours to that counter, but that’s about it.
This new addition to the story might not flesh out Cloud’s adventure too much, it does give you more information about the world and other story-related aspects. The overall appeal also lies in the fact that Yuffie is a fairly cheerful character, compared to Cloud’s gloomy demeanor. Other than that, the gameplay hugely remains the same. It is advised, however, to first play the base game before diving into this extra bit of content. While INTERmission’s story won’t spoil that much in terms of the story of the main campaign, it does expect you to be familiar with the mechanics of the base game, and it does flesh out certain parts of the world. The latter is then mainly handled in the original storyline.
Conclusion
For those who have not had the chance to play through this game on PS4, we can immediately advise going for the PS5 version if possible. The game is a cinematic marvel to play through, albeit with its PlayStation 4 base still clearly visible. We loved the additional content with Yuffie, and hope to see more chapters such as this one being added in the future. While there may be some quality dips when comparing this one to games that have actually been developed solely for the PlayStation 5, this is still an amazing remake of an almost antiquated classic. You cannot really go wrong with this one.
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