Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade PS5 Review – The first part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake launched just over a year ago, and it already has an enhanced version. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade does come with extra DLC content, Intermission, focused on Yuffie, but that has its own review. In this short review, we focus on the enhancements made from the PS4 version. While some shortcomings still linger in Intergrade, the enhancements make the PS5 version a worthy package.
For further insights into the game proper, such as narrative, gameplay, and more, jump over to our official Final Fantasy VII: Remake PS4 review.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade PS5 Review
Gorgeous And Smooth
Presentation got a significant boost with Intergrade. Visuals are cleaner with more effects, but the frame rate presents the biggest enhancement. Seeing the movement, both in and out of combat, being so silky smooth makes the game feel brand new again. You may have played the game before, but you haven’t seen it so crisp and vivid, able to see vistas in the background.
The differences between Graphics Mode and Performance Mode depend solely on your preferences. Graphics Mode, which runs at a locked 30 frames per second, adds some extra graphic fidelity to make textures a bit more vivid. Performance Mode, which runs at a locked 60 frames per second, sacrifices that bit of image enhancement for a beautifully smooth frame rate, as I just mentioned.
The human eye acclimates well to whichever you prefer, but you see the differences immediately after switching between modes. I can’t help but be impressed by Graphics Mode when no movement takes place, and I get a similar response for Performance Mode when everything is moving. Either way you play, Intergrade impresses, but Performance Mode is a better fit for those high-intensity combat moments.
I have owned my PlayStation 5 since November, and I still get surprised by how quickly games load. With that in mind, Intergrade sets a new bar. From pressing Cross at the main PS5 menu, the game menu loads in two seconds. Then two Cross presses loads the game, and you only have to wait two seconds after that to start playing.
The long PS4 loading times have been obliterated in the PS5 version. This carries over to fast-traveling to different parts of the map. Everything is so quick. I never thought I’d see the day when I no longer faced loading screens all the time in a Final Fantasy game.
Oh, Intergrade also allows you to upload your PS4 save file and continue where you left off. That also means your unlocked Trophies will come with it, unlocking any on the PS5 version that you earned on the PS4 automatically. Which is a lovely addition and as a trophy hunter, I never tire of hearing that Trophy popping sound.
Missed Opportunities
This might be personal qualm, but the delay time that comes from jumping between menus feels more substantial in this fast-loading version. A light animation takes place when selecting a menu, and that animation goes into a submenu. However, you can’t interact with that menu until the animation finishes.
This is pure nit-picking, but the increased loading speeds have me looking for more efficiency all around and with the game originally built for PS4 this issue is a bit of an annoyance when it arises.
DualSense support is amiss for much of the game. Some small amount of feedback comes from different events, but few events generate complicated vibrations and there is almost no resistance in the triggers. Even combat is moot of feedback, losing a fair deal of potential.
Honestly, I got so lost in the visuals playing this game again that I needed to concentrate on the DualSense functions, so these exclusions depend on your preferences with controller feedback. But, it would have been nice to see.
Activity Card support does not exist for Intergrade either which is somewhat disappointing and Sony’s touted PlayStation Plus Game Help service doesn’t come with Intergrade either, which feels like a missed opportunity.
A Solid Improvement On Excellence
Any way you slice it, the initial release of Final Fantasy VII Remake excelled. Now, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade takes that success and compounds it, taking prior excellence and polishing it to a mirror sheen.
Issues with the PS5 version come solely from limited additional features, like complex DualSense support or Activity Cards. Both version of the Final Fantasy VII Remake are worth your while, but the PS5 version is by far the definitive version, even without taking advantage of everything on the PS5.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is available now on PS5.
Review code kindly provided by publisher.
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