The Opening Still Hits So Hard Leave a comment

Final Fantasy VII has one of the best openings of a video game ever. The remake cranks that up even further thanks to the the mash-up of modern graphics and Nobuo Uematsu’s classic score. I’m pleased to report the magic is still there on Switch 2. Digital Foundry said it might be the best looking port on the handheld hybrid yet. Nothing in my time with it led me to think otherwise. And man, does that first mission still hit. 

For the uninitiated, the opening mission has a former corporate solider teaming up with an anarcho-terrorist cell to blow up a power plant that is helping to kill the planet. Combined with the slick hybrid turn-based combat, it’s a perfect tutorial that also sets the big picture stakes for the rest of the adventure.

I briefly tested Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade at PAX West this past weekend and was relieve to see it doesn’t seem to be suffering from some of the issues that appear to be hindering other Switch 2 ports. Square Enix recently promised the newest version of the RPG would run at a stable 30fps with “smooth performance and crisp visuals” and my roughly 20 minutes with the opening mission backs that up. Even in handheld mode it performed well with no obvious visual shortcomings. The game still controls great, and after dozens of hours with Rebirth last year, I’d forgotten just satisfying those early moments of the first game look and feel.

It’s worth noting that I didn’t have enough time to defeat the Scorpion Sentinel and make it out of the No. 1 reactor before it blows up. So I didn’t get to explore Remake Intergrade ‘s more open and NPC-filled slums. It’s possible these portions of the game will strain it more on Switch 2. Based on that early section though it seems like there’s a decent chance the new hardware’s features will help it come out of the most demanding sections relatively unscathed. Remake Intergrade  came out five years ago, but nothing about it looks “old” on Switch 2.

Will I go back and replay it once it’s out? Not without some sort of cross-save feature, which the Switch 2 version doesn’t support. But it’s neat that another excellent game will get a second lease on life with Nintendo’s new hardware, and it doesn’t appear to be cutting any performance corners in the process. There’s no exact release date yet but Remake Intergrade is expected to arrive sometime over the winter. The excellent Condor mini-game awaits.