Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade review for Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X

When it was announced that Final Fantasy VII was going to get a remake back in 2015, I was excited. The teaser was amazing, we were going to get a remake of one of the most beloved games in the storied history of Final Fantasy. When more details started to come out, I started to get worried about the game. This wasn’t going to be a standard turn-based RPG like the original — this is going to be an action RPG. Then it came out that this was going to be the first of a series of games to tell the full story of Final Fantasy VII, again, I was disappointed. The original release told a 100 plus hour story in one game, why doesn’t Square Enix do the same here?

Then the game launched in April of 2020 on the PS4 (see our review here) (and then on the PS5/PC as Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade), again I was skeptical that it would be a good game. I read plenty of reviews saying the game was great, but I’ve previously read reviews saying other Final Fantasy games (VIII, XIII) were great as well, and I didn’t like them.  So with Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade releasing on Switch 2 and Xbox Series X, I finally decided to jump in and give it a try.

The opening movie still has Aeris walking down the alley and a remix of the amazing sound track originally by Nobuo Uematsu. Just like the original game, we start on a bombing mission with Avalanche at mako reactor 1. Cloud who has been hired by Avalanche, an eco-terrorist group bent on shutting down the evil Shinra corporation, is there to help take out the reactor. In stylish fashion, our heroes are riding on top of a train pulling into the loading docks of Mako Reactor 1. The game wastes no time, your first battle starts about 10 seconds after the opening movie ends.

Battles in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade are a mix of real time action and the Active Time Battle (ATB). As characters fight, a bar fills up beneath their hit points. When it’s half full, they may use an item, ability, or spell. When characters aren’t being controlled by the player, or the player isn’t on the offensive, the bar fills very slowly. Battles are fast paced and flashy. A little bit into the mission, Barrett joins the party, giving players a taste of what happens when new characters join the fun. Barrett is a ranged character, so players will have to switch to him to go after enemies that are out of range of Cloud, or if they want to use his abilities and equipped spells.

Additional narrative elements were incorporated into Final Fantasy VII Remake that were not present in the original version of the game.  I’m not going to get into too many details here. One of the changes is the damage caused after the bombing mission was far greater in the remake, and more fleshed out. There are story threads in the remake that weren’t introduced until about halfway into the original release as well. I do like the changes made here, as it fills out the story nicely.

The DNA of the magic and ability system is built from the original game. Each weapon and armor has a number of materia slots. Equipping materia allows a character to use magic, abilities, or have passive skills. As materia is equipped in battle, they gain AP. Once they gain enough, they level up and give the equipped character access to more powerful versions of the spells or abilities.  Materia can be acquired in a number of different ways, purchasing, fulfilling quests, and just finding them.

The weapons system is different in the remake, each weapon has slots where points can be spent to upgrade it. This makes Cloud’s most iconic weapon, the buster sword, more useful throughout the entirety of the game. Each weapon has multiple upgrades ranging from boots to attack, extra materia slots, to passive abilities like faster mana regeneration. Don’t worry about spending all your points in one place, weapon upgrades can be reset and points refunded so you can play with your favorite builds.

With how impressive the game looks on PS5 I expected it to bog down or make some compromises on Switch 2. This game looks great on Nintendo’s hardware. Even in handheld mode. Animations are very smooth; I’ve seen no noticeable dips in the framerate. No crashes either. This is an impressive accomplishment.

I’m a huge fan of the original soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu, who did return to write some music for the remake. The soundtrack is stunning, building from Uematsu’s work and creating some great rearrangements. Anytime I have a chance to listen to Final Fantasy VII music, I take it.

I’m still skeptical of the remake and I am a purist when it comes to the original Final Fantasy games, and my favorites of the series are turn based. Would I have liked to see Final Fantasy VII Remake be a full turn-based game? Yes. I’m not going to allow that to Cloud my opinion on if this is a good game by itself. The answer to that question is a solid yes. This is a great game. The next chapter in the Final Fantasy VII remake saga, Rebirth is coming to Switch 2 and Xbox, hopefully later this year. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade has convinced me to give them all a shot, and I highly recommend that you do too.

Note: Square Enix provided us with a Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade code for review purposes.

Click Here to buy Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on Amazon.