Midgar, rebuilt from a few hours of the 1997 original into a full game. Image: Square Enix
Final Fantasy VII Remake covers only the Midgar section of the 1997 original — roughly six hours of the classic, expanded into a 35-hour game. Intergrade is the enhanced PS5 and PC edition, adding the Yuffie episode INTERmission. Its action-RPG combat is excellent. Whether the added material improves the story is the most divisive question in the series.
Intergrade at a glance
| Developer | Square Enix |
| Released | Remake April 2020 · Intergrade June 2021 (PS5) · PC December 2021 |
| Platforms | PC, PS4 (Remake), PS5 (Intergrade) |
| Covers | The Midgar chapter only |
| Length | ~35 hours main story · ~50 hours with side content and INTERmission |
Important: this is not the whole of Final Fantasy VII
The single most common misunderstanding, so it belongs up front.
The 1997 original opens in the industrial city of Midgar for roughly six hours, then the party leaves and the world map opens up for another forty. Remake ends when you leave Midgar.
Everything after — Costa del Sol, the Gold Saucer, the Temple of the Ancients, the moment most people remember from FF7 — is not in this game. It is covered by the sequels:
- Final Fantasy VII Remake / Intergrade (2020) — Midgar
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024) — the world beyond, up to a major story point
- A third entry, in development, to conclude the trilogy
Buying this expecting the complete FF7 story is the fastest route to disappointment. Buying it as part one of three is the right frame.
What does Intergrade add over the base Remake?
- INTERmission — a separate episode starring Yuffie, roughly 4–5 hours, with its own combat style and a self-contained Midgar infiltration story
- Improved lighting, textures and fog rendering
- A 60fps performance mode on PS5
- Photo mode and additional difficulty options
On PC, Intergrade is the only version available. On PlayStation, INTERmission is exclusive to Intergrade and does not run on PS4.
INTERmission is worth playing — Yuffie's combat is one of the most enjoyable in the game, and it sets up characters who become important in Rebirth.
How does the combat work?
This is where Remake is at its strongest, and it is a genuine hybrid rather than a compromise.
You control one party member directly in real time, attacking and dodging freely. Doing so fills ATB gauges, and spending those gauges — on spells, abilities or items — slows time to a crawl while you choose from a menu.
The result is that positioning and timing matter moment to moment, while the tactical layer of classic Final Fantasy survives intact. You switch between characters constantly, since each fills their own gauge.
The Stagger system underpins boss fights: exploiting weaknesses builds a stagger bar, and staggered enemies take dramatically increased damage. On Hard mode, where items are disabled and MP does not regenerate between encounters, it becomes a genuine puzzle.
Materia returns largely unchanged — slot orbs into weapons and armour to grant magic and passive effects, and link them for combination effects.
Real-time action feeding a menu-driven ATB layer — the system works.
How faithful is it to the original?
Mostly faithful, then deliberately not — and this is the part people argue about.
For the great majority of its runtime, Remake expands the original rather than changing it. Characters who appeared briefly in 1997 get real arcs. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge become people. Aerith, Tifa and Barret all benefit enormously from the additional room.
Then the final chapters introduce new supernatural elements that explicitly comment on the idea of remaking the story. Without spoiling it: the ending signals that this trilogy is not bound to repeat 1997 beat for beat.
Reactions split sharply. Some players find it a bold reinvention; others feel it undermines the faithful adaptation they wanted. Both readings are reasonable — go in aware that it happens.
What are the weaknesses?
Padding. Turning six hours into thirty-five means added content, and not all of it earns its place. Several chapters include corridor sections, box-moving and slow walk-and-talk segments that exist to extend runtime.
Side quests are ordinary. The optional work is largely fetch-and-fight, well below the standard of the main campaign.
Linear structure. Midgar is detailed but tightly bounded. If you expect exploration, that arrives in Rebirth, not here.
Is the PC version good?
Adequate rather than excellent. The Epic release in 2021 launched with frame-pacing issues and limited settings; the later Steam release improved matters, adding proper options and upscaling support.
Tuning advice: lock the frame rate rather than leaving it uncapped — this engine behaves better with a stable target than a fluctuating one. Enable upscaling on Quality, and note the game is more GPU-bound than CPU-bound. Some low-resolution background textures are inherent to the game and cannot be fixed with settings.
Where can you buy it?
- PC — Steam and the Epic Games Store
- PlayStation — PlayStation Store (Remake on PS4, Intergrade on PS5)
Buying advice
Choose Intergrade, which includes INTERmission. On PS5, owners of the PS4 Remake could upgrade to the Intergrade visual improvements free, but INTERmission itself is a separate paid purchase for those upgrading — check what a listing actually includes. Square Enix discounts the Final Fantasy catalogue heavily and often, and Remake has appeared in PlayStation Plus catalogues.
A note on cracked builds: they are illegal, a known malware vector, and frozen at whichever version was cracked — which for this game often means the poorly optimised original PC release, before the patches that fixed frame pacing. IGGG Guides does not link to pirated software.
Final Fantasy VII Remake FAQ
Does Remake cover the whole of Final Fantasy VII?
No. It covers only the Midgar section — roughly the first six hours of the 1997 game — expanded to about 35 hours.
What is the difference between Remake and Intergrade?
Intergrade is the enhanced edition with improved visuals, a 60fps mode and the Yuffie episode INTERmission. It is the PS5 and PC version.
Do I need to have played the 1997 original?
No. Remake is written to work as a first encounter, and it explains its world. Knowing the original changes how the ending reads.
How long is INTERmission?
Around 4–5 hours, with distinct combat and a self-contained story.
Should I play Remake before Rebirth?
Yes. Rebirth continues directly and assumes full knowledge of this game.
Is the combat turn-based?
It is a hybrid. Real-time action builds ATB gauges, and spending them opens a slow-motion command menu.
The verdict
Final Fantasy VII Remake turns six hours of a 1997 classic into a beautifully produced 35-hour game with one of the best combat systems Square Enix has built. Midgar has never looked or felt this real, and the expanded characterisation is a genuine improvement.
It is padded in places, its side content is forgettable, and its ending will divide you. But as the opening chapter of a trilogy, it is a confident and largely successful reinvention.
Best for: anyone starting the Remake trilogy, and fans of hybrid action-RPG combat.
Skip if: you want the complete FF7 story in one game — that does not exist yet.
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Last updated: 6 September 2026