Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Switch 2 Review

You can’t imagine an RPG landscape without Final Fantasy at the centre of it. From its formative years on the NES and SNES through to Final Fantasy 7’s iconic transition to the original PlayStation, this is a series that hasn’t just characterised generations of consoles and RPGs, it has extended its reach through music, movies, and myriad different gaming genres.

It’s impossible to understate just how crucial the success of Final Fantasy VII Remake was. Thankfully, it thoroughly exceeded expectations, and after a period of PlayStation exclusivity (with a PC port lagging behind), it’s now arriving on Xbox Series X|S consoles and Nintendo’s Switch 2 with its improved and expanded Intergrade form.  Looking at the version for Nintendo’s incredible hybrid, this is a truly excellent way to experience this iconic game.

The sense of scale in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is incredible. From the opening cutscene that captures the city of Midgar, the lived-in streets and children’s playgrounds loomed over by mako reactors, it’s clear that the original game’s vision has been fully realised here. The art direction stays true to the polygonal originals, while bringing the cast, and the world, to life like never before. Perhaps most surprisingly, the Switch 2 port manages to retain some of the visual enhancements from the full-fat PS5 version of Intergrade, rather than simply targeting the original PS4 outing.

Straight away, it’s clear that this is the upgraded lighting and texture package, and it serves to enhance what was already a fantastic-looking game. Light diffuses through smoke and fog, armour and clothing textures look more realistic, while shadows and reflections are of higher quality.

Rejoining Cloud, Barret, Jessie, Biggs and Wedge for that initial infiltration mission sets you on course for one of the most iconic journeys in gaming. We can argue all we like about whether the second game in this remade journey lives up to the first, and we can argue all we like about whether the original should have been broken up in the way that it has, but indisputably, Final Fantasy Remake Intergrade remains one of the best RPG games of recent years. That doesn’t change here in this Switch 2 version.

There’s also no change to the frame rate, at least compared to the original PlayStation 4 release. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade runs at a locked 30fps on Switch 2. There’s no apparent dips, no fluctuations, and it’s a rock-solid experience, one that feels excellent whether playing docked or handheld.

That said, if you’ve played the PS5 edition, you can feel the slower response time in combat from playing at 30fps, and during exploration. Still, you cannot expect a game with this degree of visual fidelity to hit 60fps on the Switch 2, and given how well it does run, and the fact it has some of the next-gen visual upgrades, it feels like Square Enix have made another high water mark for what we should expect from Switch 2 ports going forward.

There’s a suite of difficulty levels available, and you need to be careful about which of these you opt for, because they really do make a key difference to how Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade feels. While there’s the expected Easy and Normal options, you can also opt for ‘Classic’, which sees your character automatically attack, leaving you free to select abilities, items and special attacks.

Here, though, there’s also a head start option that sees you begin from a higher level, equipped with swords that hold a huge chunk of SP, and pockets packed with an insane number of potions, Phoenix Down and the like. If you’re a returning player, it does serve to speed you through the earlier hours, but if you’re a newcomer, it removes so much of the experience that I’d advise against this mode. It’s nice to have all these options, but just take a moment to think about how you want to experience this incredible title.

There’s so many reasons that I absolutely love this game, but replaying it on Switch 2, it’s the sense of place, the sense of community and the boring, mundane, vital sense of humanity that strikes hardest. It’s the rats in the street, the snippets of overheard conversation, the crowds who grumble as you steam right through them in Sector 7. It’s a world that feels lived in, a trick that George Lucas got right the first time in Star Wars, and which Final Fantasy 7 Intergrade uses to ground the world, and its story, while giving you the kind of setting to create a cavalcade of ideas, daydreams and half-truths.

Of course, the exquisite visual design gives you rather more than the PlayStation original. The added fidelity allowed the team at Square Enix to capture interactions that feel realistic, Cloud’s awkward-but-sweet pauses and attempts at aloofness are countered by Barret’s gruff persona, rubbing up against his true tender nature. Aerith, Tifa and Jessie all feel like real, rounded characters, and as you dig into each of their individual back stories, you come to understand what’s led them to this place. For all that the 1997 original managed to achieve plenty of that same character building with far less at its disposal, Remake Intergrade brings everything into stark relief, fulfilling the true vision of its creators.

On top of the original Final Fantasy VII Remake, Nintendo and Xbox players are getting the Intergrade DLC as well, available from the off at the title screen, should you want to leap straight into the extra content. This puts the delightful Yuffie front and centre, and adds a chunk of extra story, context and new mechanics in the form of Fort Condor. It completes the opening chapter in Square Enix’s immense three-part reimagining of this story, and it’s well worth playing through, especially for the interactions with many of the characters you’ve met in the main game.

It’s worth noting that Square Enix has made this a thoroughly approachable port by pricing it at £39.99 at launch. While the initial release of Final Fantasy VII Remake was nearly six years ago, this is the first opportunity that Xbox and Nintendo fans have had to get their hands on it, and plenty of companies would have popped this out for £60. Square Enix definitely deserves kudos for a more consumer-friendly approach.