Everything You Need to Know Before Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade Releases
As the wait lengthens for the continuation in part two, Final Fantasy 7 Remake fans will have another opportunity to re-experience the critically acclaimed reimagining. Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be headed to the PS5 this June in the form of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, a mouthful that basically lays out the purpose of its re-release: This PS5 port is an upgrade of the original Final Fantasy 7 Remake, whilst also serving as an "intermission" of sorts for the next episode of Remake, bolstered by a new story expansion.
Fans of Yuffie Kisaragi are excited to know that her character development is seemingly receiving an extensive overhaul with Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. With an entirely new expansion dedicated to the Wutai-Avalanche ninja, and her new counterpart Sonon Kusakabe, this PS5-exclusive DLC will hopefully bridge the narrative gap between Remake and its second part. Considering Final Fantasy 7 Remake's "Part 2" is presumably still in very early development, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade on PS5 will hopefully serve as a good way to bide time until the ambitious remake receives its next entry.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is a PS5 upgrade of the original Final Fantasy 7 Remake, featuring a ton of new enhancements, as well as additional story content. Retailing at $69.99, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade includes the full first game alongside the PS5-exclusive "Episode INTERmission" Yuffie DLC. The Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade PS5 upgrade will be available on June 10, 2021, and like the PS4 previously, will retain its Sony/PlayStation exclusivity for "at least six months earlier than any other format."
According to the game's "final trailer," that means Final Fantasy 7 Remake, at the earliest, can be released on additional platforms by December 10, 2021. However, Square Enix has not announced any plans for Xbox Series X/S or PC versions of Final Fantasy 7 Remake releasing on or after that date.
Firstly, as with most PS5 upgrades for any titles initially released on PS4, Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Intergrade version is receiving several graphical and performance upgrades exclusive to Sony's new console. There are some obvious improvements, like the familiar dual-graphics modes seen on numerous other PS5 optimizations and upgrades: Players can set the game to render on "Performance Optimization Mode" to prioritize a stable 60 FPS framerate, or opt for "Graphics Optimization Mode" for much higher visual fidelity at 4K resolution.
On a more granular level, the trailer showcased some pretty significant updates compared to the original PS4 release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Improvements have been made to the game's overall lighting, more realistic reflections and ray tracing, updates to controversial lower res textures in the original Final Fantasy 7 Remake, among other bells and whistles like volumetric fog. Loading times are significantly reduced, similar to many other PS4-PS5 upgrades. Additionally, the game will feature a photo mode for those who want to celebrate such improvements with their artistic screenshots.
One aspect of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade that might be disappointing for players is that, outside of visual and performance upgrades, the game doesn't take advantage of other PS5 upgrades. In particular, the DualSense controller's impressive haptic feedback is only partially supported, while 3D audio is not supported, according to former game director Tetsuya Nomura.
The cherry on top for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is "Episode INTERmission," a new expansion on Remake focused on Yuffie Kisaragi. Taking place in another portion of Midgar during Remake's Chapter 8, players take control of this iconic Final Fantasy 7 ninja in a place she'd never visited in the original game. Fans are particularly excited for this Yuffie-centric episode; not only because this is an unprecedented story new to the Final Fantasy 7 canon, but it's also seemingly looping in Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 content as well. Yuffie's infiltration into Shinra, as an Avalanche operative, could open up a whole new can of worms for Remake.
Other than strictly new story content, there will be an additional optional boss fight featuring Weiss from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy 7. Yuffie will also have access to a new team attack mechanic with her partner Sonon Kusakabe, as well as a new battle summon in the form of Ramuh, who wasn't present in the original Final Fantasy 7. There also appears to be a "Fort Condor" minigame available in Episode INTERmission, in the form of a board game instead of the actual event from Final Fantasy 7.
Like many other PS4 to PS5 upgrades, existing owners of Final Fantasy 7 Remake on PS4 will be able to upgrade to the PS5's Intergrade version for free. Save data and progress will sync to the PS5 upon installation as well, so players don't have to restart the game just to check out the game's enhancements. However, there's a catch with the PS4-to-PS5 upgrade related specifically to Episode INTERmission: PS4 owners who upgrade to the PS5 version of Intergrade for free will have to purchase Yuffie's episode expansion separately as DLC. Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade as a brand new copy is $69.99, but a standalone purchase of the Yuffie DLC is $19.99.
At least until any news breaks on the next full release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, hopefully fans will get enough of an inkling before then with Intergrade. Episode INTERmission and Yuffie's new story seems to be teasing a whole lot of convergence in Final Fantasy 7's canon, perhaps hinting at what to expect in future entries.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade releases on June 10, 2021, for PS5.
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May 17, 2021
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