Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is an expanded version of Final Fantasy VII Remake, released for PlayStation 5 on June 10, 2021. The underlying game first appeared on PlayStation 4 in April 2020. Rather than retelling all of Square’s 1997 Final Fantasy VII, Remake focuses on its opening Midgar section and substantially enlarges that part of the story. Intergrade adds PlayStation 5 visual and performance options, faster loading, a photo mode, and a new story episode called FF7R EPISODE INTERmission.

The main story follows Cloud Strife, a former SOLDIER operative working as a mercenary. He joins the anti-Shinra group Avalanche on a mission to sabotage a mako reactor. Shinra Electric Power Company extracts mako to power Midgar, while Avalanche argues that the process is draining the planet’s life. Cloud’s work draws him back into the lives of childhood friend Tifa Lockhart and Avalanche leader Barret Wallace. He also meets Aerith Gainsborough, a flower seller pursued by Shinra because of her ancestry. As the group moves through Midgar’s sectors, Cloud encounters visions of Sephiroth, a figure tied to his past. The mysterious Whispers, which intervene at key moments, make Remake’s relationship to the 1997 story part of the plot itself.

INTERmission shifts the playable perspective to Yuffie Kisaragi, a young ninja from Wutai. She enters Midgar to steal powerful materia from Shinra and works with fellow Wutaian agent Sonon Kusakabe. Unlike Cloud’s party, Yuffie can throw her weapon and attack it at a distance using ninjutsu. Sonon fights alongside her under computer control, and the pair can synchronize attacks. Their mission brings them into conflict with Shinra executive Scarlet and, later, Nero of Deepground. The episode also includes Fort Condor, reimagined as a tabletop strategy minigame, and a search for Happy Turtle promotional flyers.

Both parts use combat that mixes direct movement and attacks with an Active Time Battle gauge. Filling that gauge lets characters use abilities, spells, or items; opening the command menu slows the action while the player chooses. On PlayStation 5, Intergrade offers a graphics mode targeting 4K resolution and a performance mode targeting 60 frames per second. These additions do not turn the Midgar story into a remake of the entire original game. Instead, Intergrade pairs that first installment with Yuffie’s parallel mission, giving her a substantial role before she meets Cloud’s party.