Despite being released in 1997, the original Final Fantasy VII remains one of the most influential and popular JRPGs to this day, with a dedicated fan-following and various multimedia spin-offs such as Crisis Core. While the original game still holds up, thanks to mods, there’s no denying that it shows its age in multiple ways, not only in terms of graphics but gameplay systems as well. Consequently, the announcement of a remake at E3 2015, was met with an overwhelmingly positive reception.

Jumping forward a few years, after the game called Final Fantasy VII Remake first released on PlayStation 4 in 2020, it also made its way to Steam in 2021, although only as the DLC-complete version called Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. However, although both game titles imply that Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade includes the entire 1997 game brought up to modern standards, the truth is that this “remake” only covers the first 7-8h of the original Final Fantasy VII game. Thankfully, this fact continues to be highlighted by multiple Steam reviews, but it can’t be emphasised enough: After all, there’s no other game is misleadingly titled “remake” while only featuring the first portion of the original game.

Adding to this “remake” confusion, some of the new story elements introduced in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade only serve to expand upon the original plot, while others deliberately deviate from the 1997 game. I’ll refrain from spoilers here, but it’s fair to say that these deviations are clearly intended for players who are familiar with the original Final Fantasy VII and turn Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade into something other than just a modernised version of the cult classic JRPG. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is unplayable without having experienced the 1997 game first, but being familiar with the original plot does elevate the experience by a significant margin in my opinion.

With these warnings out of the way, having played the game twice – once during its release on PlayStation 4 in 2020, now on PC - let’s talk about what the game does right and where’s still room left for improvement.

Right away, from the minute the game starts, the most obvious highlight would be its improved presentation. With modern graphics, a beautiful soundtrack reminiscent of the original and great voice acting, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is joy to look at and listen to. It’s amazing to think that even Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the CGI-rendered movie from 2005, isn’t even close to looking as good as this PC version does.

On the other hand, it has to be noted that Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is only able to achieve its graphical fidelity by being a semi-linear game that’s mostly corridors or small, interconnected areas. In that sense, it feels very similar to the divisive Final Fantasy XIII, which also managed to look great for its time but paid the price by being mostly linear.

Then again, the revamped combat system that Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade offers is very fun to play around with: While also offering a “classic” mode for those who prefer a turn-based experience, the intended style features real-time combat, with the option to issue commands to your party members if they’re ready. To take things up a notch, you can also take control of your other active party members at any time during combat, meaning you can seamlessly switch from Tifa launching enemies into the air with her firsts to Barret shooting them with his gun arm from afar. While I did love how different each character plays like, it’s noticeable how the game constantly makes up excuses to restrict the party size to a maximum number of three, which is a shame considering the combinations possible otherwise. For fans of customisation, a Materia system is in place, which allows you to equip all party members with different abilities, spells and stat boosts. However, while the weapon selection is fine and even offers specific weapon skill trees, I feel like the remaining equipment and overall Materia options are lacking in variety and more interesting combinations.

Although Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is mostly main story focused, a few minigames and side quests serve as optional content to offer more variety. While the original 1997 game also featured both later on, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade offers entirely new optional content to enjoy – or not, as the side quests in particular can be pretty barebones experiences such as “please walk here and kill these enemies, thanks!”. It also doesn’t help that even if you’re just focusing on playing through the story missions, the game can feel really padded, with lots of chapters included that are basically filler content: On occasion, you spend hours just slowly traversing an area and fighting monsters for no real reason except the game likely needing to extend its runtime.

In terms of story, leaving behind the aforementioned question of whether Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade was only made for players familiar with the original or not, the game does a great job at introducing both its characters and setting. While the pacing can suffer at times as noted above, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade manages to expand upon both the city of Midgar and previously minor characters in particular, offering new insights into the non-main cast members of Avalanche for example. Especially long-term fans of the Final Fantasy VII-universe are going to be delighted by the amount of new information present here.

To sum it up, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is going to be a delight for those who already fell in love with the original, offering an expanded look at Midgar and its citizens, an overall gorgeous presentation and a fun combat system with the potential of being even better in the sequels. While some of the optional content as well as the pacing are in need of improvement, there’s a great basis for the remake sequels to build on here.

Apart from the main game, this DLC-complete version of the game includes episode Intergrade, an additional two-chapter story centred on Yuffie, who only appeared much later in the original game. However, just as the name implies, this is essentially a side-story built on slight variations of the gameplay from the main game, even partially recycling locations. If you loved the main game and don’t mind a more immature protagonist due to her age, you’re likely to have an about equally good time, although the story might feel more anime-like overall, especially in regard to the antagonists. However, if you hoped for a more of a departure from the previous offerings, you’re unfortunately out of luck, even if a ninja is the protagonist here.

It has everything i was hoping for and surprised me with a expanded twist to the story that make it way better than just a graphical remake.

The change of gameplay from a typical JRPG to Action RPG make the game feel more alive and responsive but keep some of the aspect of the classic FFVII. Which was done to perfection in my opinion.

Absolute must for any fan of FFVII or a great entry for newcomer to discover the great universe of this series with a deep story and the most charismatic group of characters!

The padding in this game is crazy, such a strong start that gets stretched out to the point of tedium. unskippable like 3 second cutscenes of tifa/barret just saying the most inane garbage that should just be played while you walk around, cutscenes for opening doors, cutscenes to pickup keycards. This is everything i've hated about final fantasy for years but ir really feels at its worst in the modern titles like ff16, ff13 series and this game. the combat system is fantastic, the music and visuals are gorgeous and the voice acting itself is great but i still cant recommend this game as it likes to get in its own way all the time.