Final Fantasy VII Remake Episode INTERmission

 The Feisty Ninja receives in this new PS5 expansion!

Episode INTERgrade which is included in the PS5 version of Final Fantasy VII Remake, features Yuffie, the loveable ninja from Wutai. It is included as a download code for copies of the PS5 version, but people who bought the game on PS4 can pay £15.99 to access this new content. It includes two new side chapters which provide an alternative perspective of the events of the main game.

Yuffie was an optional character in the original Final Fantasy VII and her original presentation was hit and miss. Some fans love her, but her obsession for materia and an irritating side mission late in that game caused her to be a marmite character.

Thankfully, like every other main character in Final Fantasy VII Remake, a great deal of time and effort has gone into bringing the chunky PS1 character to life on PS5. Her voice acting is superb, her writing is witty and charming, and she is more fleshed out than it ever was on the original PlayStation release. She is energetic and her animations do a great job of expressing her clumsy mischievous personality.

Yuffie’s mission in this DLC is to steal the ultimate Materia from Shinra HQ and her playful and happy-go-lucky approach is a joy to behold and often made me laugh. Yuffie is a ninja first and foremost and so she is much more agile than Cloud. She can climb and jump around the overworld much faster than the protagonist of the main game ever could.

It is a shame that Yuffie walks around mostly similar locations to the main game as it would have been a perfect opportunity to flesh out another sector of Midgar.

On Yuffie’s quest she is joined by another ninja from Wutai, however, he is not playable which means switching characters in combat is not possible, unlike the main game. Yuffie’s move set is very versatile to offset this. She has both close-range melee attacks and can throw her Shuriken to do ranged damage.

Yuffie also has access to Ninjitsu magic, which allows her to use all elements of magic without taking up precious materia slots. She can use new synergy attacks with her party member, which allows them to do more powerful attacks together in exchange for one segment of both characters ATB gauges. These can cause a lot of damage and add an extra element of strategy. It is easy to imagine Square Enix developing this idea in the inevitable sequel and having characters being able to do special joint attacks depending on who you have in your party.

The combat also benefits from running on PlayStation 5. Players are given the choice between resolution or frame rate modes, and the frame rate mode really does wonders for the fluidity of combat.

Also returning in this expansion is the Fort Condor minigame from the PS1. This was clunky in the original and was used mainly to demonstrate the PlayStation’s use of 3D graphics. Here they have developed it into being a simple 3 minute real time strategy game. Your ATB gauge goes up over time which can be exchanged for units. There is a simple rock paper scissors element with the units you place, so you need to carefully select counters to your opponent’s units.

Once you have beaten the 2 new chapters there are plenty of things to keep hardcore fans entertained. A new superboss has been added to the Shinra Combat Simulator in the main game as well as a brand-new Combat Simulator only accessible by Yuffie. The new superboss is the biggest challenge Final Fantasy VII Remake has to offer and will require some new unique strategies to defeat. This has been a treat and there are already some impressive strategies on YouTube.

The ending of this expansion teases the remake’s follow up so fans of the series will be obliged to see it. Playing as Yuffie for a few hours is a lot of fun and her characterisation has been given lots of love. It is easy to imagine that some of the gameplay tweaks made here are experiments for future projects. This is a worthy follow up expansion for those desiring more Final Fantasy VII Remake and have a PS5 accessible.