I came into the original FF7R as someone who had never played the OG FF7 (I still have not). I did, however, absolutely love FF7R. Actually, I did not like a single FF until I played FF7R. The combat is fantastic, the story is, in my opinion, brilliant, I enjoyed the gameplay, and I loved the characters and the music. The visuals were not shabby too, bar the texture issues. All this to say that I had high expectations for this DLC. Don’t get me wrong, it matched those expectations, surpassed them in some ways even, but it’s just far too short and nothing done in it could not have been pulled off on the PS4, which makes the fact this is a PS5-only DLC scummy. With that out of the way, let’s talk about this great DLC.
Story
From the get-go, you know exactly what type of character Yuffie is going to be. The loveably playful, boisterous, childish goofball is a great FF7 Character and a solid addition to the playable roster. She’s not your typical chibi annoying anime stereotype, in my opinion. She’s a loveable oaf and everything she does has an endearing charm, even when she’s being a completely over-the-top goofball.
Her partner, Sonon, is the serious type, but not overly so, and he’s not in the game just to be her partner, and he’s not on the hero’s side simply because he’s Wutai. His backstory is quite sad and has a strong emotional underpinning. He wants revenge for something that happened to him, in fact, his motivation for doing what he does is far stronger than Yuffie’s. This is fundamentally great character-building even if it’s been done a million times before. You become invested in him from the beginning, and that’s exactly what you want from a game, especially a short DLC.
The story culminates in an ending that has far more impact if you are a huge FF fan, and maybe even a bit disappointing some in ways. However, it cannot be denied that the ending is undeniably dark and emotional. It really took me by surprise, the sudden tonal shift is pulled off successfully and that’s what makes it have such an impact. I never expected it to end this way and Square Enix has really done a great job.
Visuals
There is not much to say here. Just like FF7R on PS5, the visuals are great, obviously nowhere near Rift Apart-level, but it’s the PS4 version on steroids; all the texture loading issues are resolved. There are, however, still many low-res textures present which is disappointing. The new lighting steals the show in the upgrades. It adds so much that artistically, scenes are categorically different from those on the PS4. The artist’s vision has finally been realized.
Gameplay
The combat has the same fundamentals as FF7R for the most part, however, Yuffie’s mix of magic and melee is very refreshing; she plays entirely different from anyone in FF7R. She is hyper mobility-focused; blazingly fast and beautiful in action. She has her shuriken, which is used for basic attacks to dart in and out of the action, and she does some seriously flashy attacks by mashing the X button. What makes her interesting, however, is when you press triangle, and she throws her shuriken at the enemy, it changes all her basic attacks to ninjutsu which is basically magic, but without using her MP supply.
Yuffie can be equipped with all sorts of materia that allow her to cast spells, execute special techniques, or boost her stats. Sonon fights alongside her but you cannot directly control him. You give him commands and equip him with materia to fill the role you want. They can, however, use a synchronization system, which when Yuffie and Sonon have 1 ATB meter, allows the use of synergized special attacks. The downside is while synergized, Sonon’s ATB gain is significantly reduced.
Outside of the combat, the other new addition is Fort Condos. It is fun to play, but it’s not really deep and I didn’t end up spending that much time with it. This was the biggest disappointment from the DLC for me. The side quests are actually decent and add more lore-building to the world of Midgar, which is great. Make no mistake, this is not some cynical DLC cash grab. It is, however, cynical in one sense – this is a PS5-only DLC, but as I previously said nothing done in it could not be done on PS4, they could have taken the PS4 build and added this onto it with no real issue.
Sound
Not much to say here, it’s top tier just like FF7R. The music choices and quality cannot be faulted, the combat music is great, all the sound effects and VO and so on, are all top-notch. I did not know how much I needed Yuffie making the victory sound in my life and I love how many characters do this in FF7R. If you loved the sound package in FF7R, you will love it here.
Conclusion
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intermission DLC is fantastic. It is not a cynical cash grab and there was real effort and time put into it. However, the main story will likely take you about 4 hours, if that, and it is noticeably short. Disappointingly so I’d say, because of how fundamentally great Intermission’s combat and story is. It feels like it ends too early and I don’t think it’s simply because of how good the DLC is. At £17, it feels slightly steep given its short length. However, as the Next-Gen upgrade was free, it was worth it. The DLC surpassed my expectations; I just wish it was a longer ride, if only to tide us over from waiting for FF7R Part 2.