Using Playstation 5 gives me half pleasure. It is a great opportunity for my personal game development. Final Fantasy 7 Remake, released last year and highly praised by me, is back with the Playstation 5 update, DLC pack containing brand new characters and new additions to the game. In our review, I will try to answer questions such as how good is the new adventure we went out with Yuffie, what will those who have played the Playstation 4 version before, find in the new version, will our hunger for materia end?
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is actually a package with two different content. The package includes the visually and content updated version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, released for Playstation 4, and the DLC package named INTERmission with its completely original story. I have written extensively about the story and content of the main game, so we will only talk about the INTERmission package in the story part.
Pluses
+ Improved graphics
+ 60 FPS Performance mode
+ Quality DLC story
+ New systems coming with INTERmission
+ The new DLC soundtracks are beautiful
+ Load times are almost gone
+ Extended FF7 story
Cons
- DLC story short
- Some skins are still bad
- The minuses in the original game remain the same
INTERmission includes our team member Yuffie Kisaragi, who will normally appear in the later parts of the game, into the story. Yuffie is an elite ninja from Wutai who works with the Avalanche team to save Midgar from the Shinra company. As Yuffie, our goal is to capture a very powerful material that Shinra produces at the facilities. At Midgar, we meet Sonon from Wutai like us and begin the quest to infiltrate the Shinra facilities with the help of Avalanche members.
Wutai's White Rose Yuffie
There is an average of 5 hours of story in INTERmission consisting of two parts. In the story that develops in parallel with the time we blow up the second reactor in the main game, we get the chance to see what happens in the background during what we do. Well done for a completely new story. We see the side characters in the main game, we get more involved with the Deepground team involved in the main story with FF7 Remake.
When INTERmission was first introduced, I didn't like the Sonon character that came to us. My opinion changed when we met in the game and fought against Shinra. Sonon, who is older than Yuffie, sees him as his superior and presents an ideal big brother figure. Although the DLC pack is short, I really liked that it was such a well written character.
Some players may not like the overly cheerful and energetic mood of Yuffie's character. INTERmission takes place in a slightly more energetic, non-serious atmosphere compared to the main story. I don't think this is a minus, but there will definitely be people who get stuck. There are also names that players who play Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core will recognize in the story. You're sure to have some questions about the story once the DLC is over.
Finally, the new music is just as great as the original game. I was afraid they would remix and use old music, luckily they didn't make such a mistake.
Let's Involve Ninja Techniques into Battle
Each character of Final Fantasy 7 Remake had a different fighting style, and INTERmission has successfully preserved this feature. We only have two characters and we can't control one of them in any way. So how much are the fights affected by this situation?
Our main character, Yuffie, is a ninja with both melee and ranged combat abilities. Considering we couldn't directly control our teammate Sonon, this was a very logical choice. We can throw our giant ninja star (shuriken) at the enemy and make elemental attacks, or we can jump on him and finish him off with melee. Also, just like in the Remake version, we can fill the ATB bar and use our abilities, where there are many options from adding elemental attacks to the weapon to stealing the enemy's items. There are also “synergy” attacks, which I will explain later.
I said we can't control Sonon, but we still have the options to develop characters, edit equipment and use special abilities, as in Remake. During the fight, we can enable Sonon to continue the attack or cast various spells with the commands we can give when the ATB bar is full. Sonon rushes to his aid when Yuffie is damaged in the fight, just as a big brother would. It pulls in front of high-damage attacks, throws itself forward when the enemy catches us, and even sacrifices itself if our health drops to zero, allowing us to respawn. This last feature is nice, but the fact that Sonon, who has both an ATB bar and a "Revive" materia, sacrificed himself and put both of my characters in a critical state, annoyed me in some fights. Still, the combat system is nicely set. He plays with pleasure.
Let's talk about the synergy system. Yuffie and Sonon normally fight on their own and can choose different targets. "Synergized", activated with the L2 key, allows the duo to attack a single target in a coordinated manner. All of our attacks are synchronized with Sonon, we do the skills we can use together with Sonon, not alone. There is even an attack where we can be thrown at the enemy with Sonon's stick if we have the right materia. We might think, "If it's that effective, let's keep it open all the time", but Sonon can take a lot of damage during these attacks, so it's useful to use it tactically.
Together with INTERmission, we also get the chance to play a new mini-game. In the mini-game called Fort Condor, we try to place tiny Shinra units on the playing field and destroy the opposing side's base. It is possible to collect different units and professions and develop different tactics. And if you beat the best of Midgar, you've got materia on the edge. A nice minigame that allows us to interact a little more with the side characters from the main story.
Another side activity in the game is collecting Happy Turtle postings. You enter various regions and try to find the advertisements that have been distributed. These ads are on the signs, in the abandoned factory and next to the dog with the annoying sleeping pattern. There is not much in terms of side content, but considering the duration of the package, it is quite enough.
Cloud Finally Got The Door
So far we've talked about what comes with the INTERmission DLC pack. Let's talk a little bit about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade update. The game has visual improvements, new things to access and a photo mode! It's finally here!
With Intergrade, the next generation update of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, various improvements have been made on the already impressive visuals of the game. Playstation 5 comes with two different mode selections. Those who want to witness the best of visuals have the option to play at 30 FPS in 4K resolution. In the performance mode that supports 60 FPS, it is possible to play at 1600p resolution without sacrificing visuality.
The coating quality in the game has also increased noticeably. The game, which did a good job compared to Playstation 4, was the subject of various jokes with its bad coatings in some areas. The internet jokes about Cloud's low resolution door have been put to an end. Problems such as signs and characters that appeared suddenly due to the inadequacy of Playstation systems and appeared unrendered for a short time were also eliminated. Even the sky looks better. (Or let's say the signs that replace the sky) It is still possible to come across some bad skins from time to time, but there is a big improvement in the game in general.
As someone who has played the Playstation 4 version, the thing that caught my attention the most was the loading times. Thanks to the possibilities of the new system, playing the game becomes much more enjoyable. Better fog-light effects, faster loading times (in seconds), and gorgeous visuals. It was a pretty good reason to start the game over on the Playstation 5 console. (I had no other choice, since the game was stubbornly not carrying my save files)
While playing Final Fantasy 7 Remake, I was constantly thinking, “how good would it be if there was a photo mode over there”. My request for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade has been accepted and there is a photo mode that we can easily access within the game. We are able to take very beautiful pictures in 4K resolution. Although, it bothered me a little that we couldn't move the camera around the area as we wanted. It is permanently locked in one spot and allows us to take pictures around that area. I don't understand why they didn't make it a little more free.
A new challenge has been added to the game with Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. The new boss fight, which we can reach at Hard difficulty level by completing the INTERmission package, allows us to fight Weiss, one of the members of Deepground, where we first met with FF/: Dirge of Cerberus. I haven't been able to challenge Weiss, who can only be accessed on Hard difficulty (yet) due to the shortage of saves, but it's not hard to guess that he is much stronger than another member, Nero. It's sure to be a fight where you have to use all your skills.
My Result
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade may seem like an unnecessary update for the game that was released on the PlayStation 4 console a year ago, but it is a good example of how effective the generation gap is. Both the improvements added to the main game and a short but satisfying adventure that we can play with Yuffie are waiting for us.
You have two different options for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. If you have purchased the Playstation 4 version, you can have the enhanced Playstation 5 version for free. When you buy it this way, you need to buy Yuffie's DLC pack, INTERmission, separately. If you have not purchased Final Fantasy 7 Remake before or if you have the free version included with PS Plus, you will need to purchase the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade version separately. You can buy the version that includes both the main game and the INTERmission DLC package at once and start playing.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, which includes the main game and the add-on package, is more than enough for its original price. Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is a full package with improved images and performance for Playstation 5, the main story that you can play for 40+ hours on average, INTERmission that offers about 6 hours of content. If we look at the local pricing, it is high, but if you say "I'll buy a game, let me sit for a long time", I can recommend it.
