Table of Contents
- The Wutai Matter Hunter
- Intermission: Wutai contra a Shinra
- Relaxing with Fort Condor
- A parte upgrade do Intergrade
Just over a year after the long-awaited release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, in April 2020, the title received an update for the PlayStation 5 on the 10th of June. In addition to the visual and performance improvements, there was the addition of the photo mode, as well as a new battle for the team of Cloud and company.
The main content of the version integrate, however, comes from the Intermission episode. Starring the already well-known fan, Yuffie Kisaragi, the expansion follows a parallel story to the events of the main campaign and, mainly, brings new mechanics for the use of the Wutai ninja.
Players who purchased the title for PlayStation 4 have the option to upgrade at no additional cost. However, the Intermission episode must be purchased separately. It is worth remembering that this expansion is exclusive to the PS5.
The Wutai Matter Hunter
In addition to the surprising combination of the old ATB (Active Time Battle) system with an action-oriented battle system in Final Fantasy VII Remake, the title also brought different mechanics for each of the controllable heroes; Cloud, Barrett, Tifa and Aerith. Considering the original 1997 game, we still have five new characters to control extensively in the next parts of the remake. In fact, now there are four left.
The fifth playable character in the remake is Yuffie Kisaragi. Even though she was one of the optional heroes in the context of the PlayStation title's journey, the ninja appeared constantly both in the games of the expanded universe of Final Fantasy VII, as in other games, such as the Kingdom Hearts franchise. From a gameplay point of view, I confess that I was apprehensive about the possibility that Yuffie and Red XII's mechanics were too similar to Tifa's; most agile character of the starting group.
It's not the case. Yuffie is, yes, fast, but the basis of her mechanics is the use of her Shuriken. In Final Fantasy VII Remake, each character has a unique action mapped to the triangle button; Cloud shifts into an aggressive form, Barret unleashes a barrage of shots, Tifa applies martial moves that can be changed from another skill, Aerith charges and launches a magical blow capable of holding the enemy in place for a bit. Yuffie arrives with the Throw ability - throw her weapon at the selected enemy.
There are some consequences of this. First of all, after throwing the shuriken at an enemy, the weapon gets stuck on him dealing damage. Whoever plays can either press triangle again to go towards the shuriken and from there continue a combo, or strike from afar with the normal attack. Such a move can be changed from the Ninjutsu skill when there is an ATB bar available - for those who don't remember, common moves don't do much damage in Final Fantasy VII Remake, but when attacking, defending and dodging, the character fills the gap. ATB bar, giving the player the opportunity to “pause” action and choose to use moves, spells, or items.
The chosen Ninjutsu can be fire, water, wind or lightning. In this way, the character ends up being much less dependent on elemental materials than other heroes, as it covers the entire elemental variety of weaknesses from one skill of its own, being able to leave the (limited) space of material for other skills, spells and buffs. . In addition, Yuffie also has a dedicated button to move away from the enemy. In the middle of a combo, for example, it is possible to hold the attack button making the warrior jump back.
In this way, the proposed gameplay for Ninja is to manage between moving away and approaching in an agile way. In the best style of hero games - think of League of Legends or Overwatch, for example, it is also possible to dodge blows and move around the scenario using attack mechanics. This is a trend that I really like throughout the Remake and that has been built around the playable individuality of each hero.
And Yuffie still has help on her quest. Another ninja warrior from Wutai, Sonon Kusakabe, appears alongside the well-known heroine. This, unprecedented figure in the universe of Final Fantasy VII, is not directly controllable, but can be targeted from ATB attacks, in addition to the synergy mechanics between the two. When we press L2, Sonon will perform the same move as Yuffie; physically attacking together, or even using elemental ninjutsu.
This is another gameplay factor that works from the “back and forth”. It's important to know when to use it, as Sonon acting individually is essential to pull the aggression of opponents, giving more chance for Yuffie to be able to stop in a space and apply strong elemental blows. On the other hand, when the enemy is pressed or even in a stagger state, the window opens for both to attack synergistically.
Who liked the battle system and mechanics of Final Fantasy VII Remake will be very well served with the gameplay brought from the debut of Yuffie and his partner Sonon.
Intermission: Wutai contra a Shinra
As pointed out above, the episode starring the ninja Yuffie takes place parallel to the events of the main campaign. More precisely in the interval between the mission in Reactor 5 and the Sector 7 incident, to give reference to those in the know. Yuffie arrives in Midgar as an envoy from Wutai to steal a powerful material supposedly held by Shinra at its headquarters. To do so, the warrior contacts a different cell of the Avalanche rebel group.
That way, we meet some new faces and see a little more of the differences between trends within the organization. The expansion works in a familiar way: there is a more open part to carry out some side missions, in addition to two more extensive parts of the game pushing the plot forward.
The plot develops Yuffie a little more, positioning the character in a more comic field, with surprisingly fun scenes. We remember that she was an experienced warrior, but still in her teenage years and with a jovial and playful personality. She also touches more on Shinra's impact around the world and the imperialist war against Wutai, as well as telling us about our partner Sonon. Some members of Shinra return from the main campaign as the antagonists of the episode, in addition to having the presentation of some enemies from the expanded universe within the context of the Remake.
In addition to these opponents, there are also new bosses and monsters to defeat. Finishing the expansion's campaign, by the way, enables an extra challenge for the characters of the main campaign in chapter 17. The ending of the plot serves to position Yuffie on the journey, also creating new rivals and antagonists for the ninja, in addition to bringing an extra ending to Cloud's gang, pointing out the paths for the next part.
Relaxing with Fort Condor
Reaffirming a series tradition, Final Fantasy VII Remake integrate brings a new minigame. It is, in fact, a new guise of one already present in the original 1997 title. Forte Condor, here, is an addictive and popular board game. I really liked the new minigame, although I'm reasonably concerned that it signals the non-existence of the excerpt in the second part of the title.
See, one of the main and most interesting features of FF VII is to discover how Shinra affects every corner of the world. Among these, the original Fort Condor has a very interesting story of oppression and resistance. Having said that and after considering it, I got addicted to the game in Intermission and I even felt like there were more opponents.
It is necessary to defend your main tower, and consequently the two auxiliaries, as the objective is to destroy the opponent's base. To do so, we spend ATB points (yes, here too) to place soldiers, vehicles and machines on the board. Our units then act automatically, more or less following the route they were placed on and engaging enemy units along the way.
Like a good board game, we can find new units through the expansion, as well as new boards that serve as the basis for our team selection — each board has a given number of spaces for units, in addition to its own replacement speed and even important spells to dictate the pace of the match.
Yuffie can challenge a wave of known NPCs from the main campaign, in order to reach the rank of champion. The Hard mode, in addition to working similarly to the new game + of the original campaign, also generates extra challenges for Fort Condor.
A parte upgrade do Intergrade
As pointed out before, the main campaign is virtually the same in terms of content, with only the addition of an extra enemy to be challenged in Chapter 17 after we finish the additional episode content. The update brings the possibility to choose between a visual mode — at 4K and 30fps — and a performance mode — at 1440p and 60 fps. I suggest leaving performance mode as the main one, switching to visual mode only when you want to enjoy some scenery and take good pictures.
By the way, Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade's photo mode is quite nice. It is, quite true, less robust than others seen around, but it has some filtering and framing options. The most interesting thing is being able to pause and see different movements in the midst of so many fast actions of the characters, and the multiple skills, spells and moves that exist.
