Final Fantasy VII Remake: INTERmission serves as a strong bridge to the next part of the remake. The new ending concerns me a bit, but the overall story and the characters it introduces are excellent all-around. Yuffie’s journey adds a great deal to the world of Remake, and I look forward to seeing more of her in the future.
Final Fantasy VII Remake: INTERmission
Developer: Square Enix
Price: $70 with Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade, $20 for those who upgrade from the PS4 version of the base game.
Platforms: PS5 (reviewed)
Every time I play Final Fantasy VII, I use Cloud, Cid, and Yuffie as my party. As soon as I find a forest after leaving Midgar, I recruit Yuffie and get to learning her Limit Breaks. What I’m trying to say is that Yuffie has always been one of my favorite characters from Final Fantasy VII. I was thrilled when they announced that she would have her own DLC story in Remake, as it meant that a once optional character would get her own essential story content. Upon playing INTERmission, I’m quite pleased to say that it made me love Yuffie even more, and got me extra excited for the next part of the Remake.
The story of INTERmission takes place after the bombing of Reactor 5. Yuffie Kisaragi, a young ninja from the land of Wutai, comes to Midgar to steal a reportedly powerful materia from the Shinra corporation. To do this, she teams up with a branch of Avalanche– the eco-terrorist group from the main game– that is separate from Cloud, Barret, and Tifa’s. Alongside fellow Wutaian Sonon Kusakabe, Yuffie must face off against Shinra and the mysterious Deepground in her quest for Materia.
I found the story to be an excellent side-trip overall, and I was hooked for the entirety of the five or so hours it took to go through it. Yuffie and Sonon have a funny boss-subordinate relationship that shows off both of their personalities well, and Sonon’s backstory, while a bit tropey, has some strong payoff in the end. The ending of Yuffie’s story in INTERmission is fantastic and sets up the next part of the Remake nicely, but the other ending involving the revelations at the end of Remake have me a bit concerned. I won’t spoil it, but it hints at future parts messing with the timeline of the game in potentially weird ways, and I’m a bit worried about how it’ll be pulled off.
“Combat is a blast though, as Remake continues to nail cinematic but strategic battles all-around.“
One thing I didn’t expect was the frequent referencing of Dirge of Cerberus, the third-person shooter sequel to Final Fantasy VII. It’s not a great game, but its story was worth experiencing. Seeing INTERmission reference Deepground while featuring Weiss and Nero was almost surreal, but I’m happy to see it. There’s a lot of potential in these characters and concepts, and I can’t wait to see how they tie into future parts of the Remake.
Combat is a little bit different in INTERmission, as Yuffie’s fighting style is all about mobility. It’s really fun to throw Yuffie’s shuriken around while using ninjutsu, and it feels completely different from Cloud’s playstyle. You still have lots of freedom to mess around with Materia in INTERmission, though its short playtime means you likely won’t see any crazy results from your experimentation. Combat is a blast though, as Remake continues to nail cinematic but strategic battles all-around.
A couple of new boss fights come with INTERmission, namely a VR fight with Ramuh and one with Weiss. The Ramuh one is done with Yuffie, and isn’t too difficult. Playing strategically and doing a bit of levelling leads to a victory and the Ramuh materia, which is handy. The Weiss fight, on the other hand, is done with Cloud and co. in the main game, and is hard as hell. Both are great additions that add replayability to Remake,
The other type of gameplay in INTERmission comes in the form of the Fort Condor minigame. Based on a later part of the original game, you can challenge NPCs to the Fort Condor board game, which is a real-time strategy minigame. You can unlock and buy extra pieces after winning matches, and though you only have six people to battle, the game is quite addictive. I found it to be a fun little diversion from the main story, and it lets you meet some classic characters again but in a different context.
INTERmission looks and sounds exceptional on the PS5. Midgar looks dirtier than ever, while the characters are practically pristine. Every character is expressive and battles are full of flashy effects that make each hit feel significant. The main battle theme has been stuck in my head for two days, but all of the music is catchy and memorable. Suzie Yeung perfectly encapsulates what’s so charming about Yuffie through her performance, and portrays the character brilliantly.
The Final Word
INTERmission is an excellent addition to Final Fantasy VII Remake. Yuffie is as perfect as ever, and is played tremendously by Suzie Yeung. The story continues to lead to interesting outcomes, though they’re occasionally concerning. There’s lots of new content and a fun story in INTERmission, so any Final Fantasy VII fan needs to play it as soon as possible.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
