Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade | REVIEW | Nintendo Switch 2

''ITS BEEN A LONG DAY, WITHOUT YOU MY FRIEND''

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Developed: Square-Enix

Published: Square-Enix

Genre: RPG

Release Date: Jan 22nd, 2026

Platforms: PS5/PS4/Xbox Family/NSW2/STEAM

*Review copy provided to me by Square-Enix

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is back once again, but this time returning on Nintendo Switch 2. Having previously been released during the height of the COVID pandemic and since then also making its way over to PS5 and then PC and now even XBOX, Square-Enix decided its time to get back in cozy with Nintendo and bring Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade to Nintendo's hit console. But, was it worth the effort and does it stay on par with previous releases? or does it fall short in the performance department?. Only one way to find out, so lets go!

''FLOWER POWER''

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GAMEPLAY:

I've had the privilege of reviewing Final Fantasy 7 Remake several times over the last 6 years, with the first time being on PS4 back in 2020, in which I gave a very long winded glowing review, then again when the title released as Intergrade/Intermission versions for Playstation 5, except this time, besides a bump in fidelity and graphics, it also introduced you to a DLC campaign featuring our young, loud and immature bad ass ninja from Wutai, Yuffie. But that was then and this is now and so far nearly every gaming platform has gotten to play the game from console to PC, so the only one's really waiting in the wind have been the average Nintendo fan who either by choice only buy and play on Nintendo consoles, or if that's all they can really afford, since historically, Nintendo consoles always seller for a lower price than their competition. Well except for this generation, the heck Nintendo, $500?!. Meh whatever, it's not ''FIVE HUNDRED NINETY NINETY U.S. DOLLARS'' meme worthy price point or the waste of $700 PS5 Pro which at this time hasn't earned or warranted its pricing thus far due to lack of significant updates to games it promised it would have.. but that's a story for another day. Disclaimer out of the way to clear up some obvious bias here and there, yes, Final Fantasy 7 OG, is one of my favorite games of all time and has been since my first time playing it as a little snot nosed kid who thought going into AOL chatrooms with my huge strategy guide, creating my own ''HELP'' room specifically for the game and then waiting for people to come in the room when they got stuck in the game and I'd flip through my guide and find them the answer they were looking for - yes I thought I was cool as hell, but in essence I was just the Temu version of Nintendo Power or similar laid out magazines. But hey, would you rather come into my chat and deal with an annoying as hell kid with missing teeth, unkept morning hair and wearing a Donkey Kong t-shirt... or have to get your parents to take you to the store to buy a $5-$6 magazine. Yeah.. you'd prob go with asking parents to take you to the store huh? I figured so, jerks. I mentioned this stuff that you probably don't care about or want to know simply because I admit there is some slight bias when I start talking about Final Fantasy 7, but I'm also aware of that enough to where I am still able to remain critical and insightful when it comes to warranted criticisms towards things related to the franchise, such as my dislikes I had for the original version of Remake, as well as my personal dislikes for a few things in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth as well, regardless if I liked each game overall, there's always something that holds a game or games back from being perfect, because I don't believe a perfect game exists, ever has existed or will ever exist in general, its not possible to be flawless... unless you're Sephiroth's hair that is, like damn bro, what shampoo do you use? I'd love to know so I can get my hair to look as L'OREAL as yours... but were off topic, I gotta reign it in and focus more, oh by the way, Chadley is a freaking turd. Focus Amy, focus.

For awhile now, before its reveal and even after its release, people have being significantly downplaying the power of Nintendo Switch 2, with the biggest Anti-Nintendo agenda I've ever seen in the history of this industry. From clickbait titles, purposeful misinformation, trolls, gaming journalists twisting narratives in favorite of their favorite brand(Xbox or PS), its been out of hand. But the one criticism that actually had merit and that you can see as something that actually did make you scratch your head and wonder was the notion of ''how powerful is this console exactly?''. The reason for this thought process is because Nintendo throughout it's long history, isn't exactly known for making powerhouse consoles and focused on more of a gameplay experience, fun factor or specific gimmick over the race to who has the better graphics, at least in the modern era after Nintendo 64. Their opinion was graphics are going to hit a wall, so to negate that, you need innovation or new ways to play, and that theory was proven correct, with very little innovation overall coming out of the Sony and Microsoft camps other than better looking games overall. That's not a knock outright, as they still produce fun games, but its still a fact that graphics have kind of hit their peak. Now with Nintendo Switch 2, we've heard over and over from ''insiders'' that t was on part with PS5, no no, it's weaker than Steam Deck, well no it's more around PS4 Pro's level, etc etc, lots of talking but no real confirmation of how beast worth the console is, especially for it being a hybrid mobile, nor did we know how ''weak'' it was and if it could even handle anything the freaking Series S could handle, let alone PS5. Thankfully we've gotten our answer and it's somewhere in the range of feeling like its stronger than Series S, but not meeting the power of PS5. While people still debate on and on about it, the proof is in the pudding so to speak as fantastic ports like Star Wars Outlaws sacrificing very little to be on the console, Cyberpunk 2077 preforming very well even though it struggled on other systems like XBOX-One and PS4, upcoming higher demanding games like Indiana Jones and the great circle, Resident Evil 9, 007 First Light being on the way that for sure will showcase what the system can do and that's fully capable, unlike what naysayers make out. However that's future ''what ifs'' and not a factual based argument, at least not yet, but the one game that DOES prove my point and many other's point about Switch 2 being way more capable than people give it credit for, is the one covered here now, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. ''Oh but its a 6 year old game, of course it will run'', very true, however its textures and fidelity, especially on the Yuffie Intermission DLC campaign, is much more on par with the PS5 version of both Remake and Intermission itself, with very little noticeable drawbacks, other than framerate being locked at 30fps and not being able to achieve 60fps and some blurry spots here and there, but overall, a big large W goes to the folks at Square-Enix for giving a damn and putting so much effort into this port, making it one of the best ways to play Remake and the best way handheld wise to play Intermission, again, besides its shortcomings here and there. My only gripe really is that the legendary door from the PS4 with its god awful textures still remains fixed in this version of the game. I'll forever miss you and all the memories we had, badly pixelated textured door, we hardly knew ye.

Looking to the steel sky at the upper plates of Midgar has never looked better, lively NPC's each with their distinct set of dialogue, quests to do in each sector of the slums in order to gain reputation as a merch for more rewards and notoriety, gorgeous looking garden surrounding Aerith's housing that holds up just as great on Switch 2 as it did on both PS4 and PS5 with superb lighting, taking a gander at the chaotic nightlife of the the rugged Wall Market and all its sleeze it has to offer, which reminds me of Las Vegas quite a lot due to the atmosphere and lighting... only WAY more clean than Las Vegas to be real.. I KID I KID Las Vegas, its a joke, chill. If there's one thing as a Final Fantasy 7 fan we've learned over the last 6 years is that Mr. Hamaguchi when it comes to the series that is Final Fantasy 7, he just ''gets it'' through and through and never wants to compromise or forsake it as his respect and love for it is as high as myself and millions of other fans feeling for it are and like it was shown in droves with 2024's release of Rebirth, he further proves it by making sure this version of Remake Intergrade was as close to the quality of PS5 performance mode as possible For myself in my playthrough, I was trying my darndest to actually try to break the game by spamming limit breaks and other fast combination attacks to see just how optimized the game actually was, and again, surprisingly, it stayed locked at a stable 30fps and never dropped, ever, not when raiding Shinra HQ to take on Jenova, not when fighting Reno and Rude, gun play of Barret with aiming of his gun and ATB attacks are as smooth as ever, punching and kicking with my waifu Tifa feels impactful and smooth, Aerith's mastery of magic with her rods being bright and sleep, it looks great, runs great, performs great and it just FEELS great.. although if you look hard enough in your journey around the slums, sure, you'll find some piles of scraps, flowers and some NPC's looking a bit funky if you sit and stare hard enough, but they are issues you have to TRY to seek out yourself because at first glance when you ARENT looking purpose at every minor detail, you can't even tell that maybe some lower res textures happen to pop in every now and then. Although handheld mode does dip slightly to around 27-28fps at times but nothing game breaking of hugely substantial to be worried or warned about. Like wise your fast paced action with Yuffie with her elemental ninjutsu, air combos, parkour running all remain stable and visuals while not FULLY on par with PS5, obvious, still strike a marvelous visual output that if it was your first time playing the game in any capacity, you really wouldn't care at all, and this experience holds up to a strong degree as you push through both Remake and Intermission as you learn about synergy with Yuffie and Sonon, how to stagger foes to gain the advantage for higher percentage damage, learning the ATB system to slow down time, amazing performances by all voice actresses and voice actors, all being uniquely useful in their own way via skillsets, its all done to a level of care that makes you wonder just how the heck Square did it, in the same vein as when we saw Breath Of The Wild for the first time and were confused like ''WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?'', Intergrade is that, but on Square's end. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE. Yes that's right, a straight port isn't the only thing in this edition of the game because now you have a fast forward button for those who don't like long winded cutscenes and just want to get straight back to the action, then just like the PC version of the original Final Fantasy 7 game, you know basically have a built in Gameshark that allows you to turn on options like always have a Limit Break, infinite ATB meter, max gil, max mp, max hp and more that will allow people who either have beaten the game before, just want to breeze through it or people who just want to destroy crap, are able to just do so by overpowering foes with all their Game Genie ways. Its all up to you, play traditionally and enjoy the ride or reek havoc on all mortal souls... I chose reeking havoc though as I've previously beaten this title like 4 times already, because it will allow you to see that evil will always triumph, because good, is dumb.

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''A CENTIPEDE...BUT NOT HUMAN''

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OVERALL:

At the end of the day, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade ends up being a fantastic way to play this title and even one of the best ways in general. Sure some textures are a bit iffy here and there and some slight stuttering during handheld in action heavy scenes, but even still, with docked locked at 30fps, smooth gameplay, gorgeous visuals, 30 hours of gameplay plus for Remake's campaign, another 3 to 4 for Yuffie DLC, amazing mix of turn based ATB battles alongside action RPG combat, fun skill grid system to improve your character and weapons, materia management for HP, MP, dodging, multi-spell use with magnify, engaging and great story, it all just ends up a fantastic time and I for one cant wait to see how Square-Enix pulls off a seamless traversal world in Rebirth when they get that up and going for Nintendo Switch 2, hopefully this year. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW

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