The latest version of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade brings a 2021 PlayStation 5 upgrade of a 2020 PS4 game to a 2025 gaming handheld hybrid in 2026. It’s a good port of a great game and suggests a bright future for third-party blockbusters on Switch 2 from publishers willing to invest the time and resources into doing it right.
I played the new version, out January 22, for around four hours, racing back through the early section of the game in time to meet back up with Aerith and stroll through some of the more taxing areas in the early game. I was struck by two things during my brief return to the slums of Midgar. The first was just how linear, focused, and cinematic the Final Fantasy VII Remake is compared to its sprawling successor, Rebirth. It was fun, refreshing, and nostalgic—all the things that made the 2020 game worth its long wait.
The second was how rarely it felt like I was playing a nerfed version Final Fantasy VII Remake, one compromised for a portable device (I played almost exclusively in handheld mode). It’s locked at 30fps instead of something higher but that never felt like a drag. The textures, lighting, and particle effects never drew attention for the wrong reasons. I never sat there in a boss fight or cutscene thinking, “This is fine but I wished it looked better.”
It’s a vibe check backed up by technical analyses from the experts. A very thorough review of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade‘s performance on Switch 2 by Digital Foundry finds that it’s weaker than the PS5 version in some areas but generally better than the PS4 one across the board. There is no infamously low-res texture eternally waiting to load on Cloud’s 7th Heaven apartment door. Pop-in is mostly a non-issue. The lighting in many scenes is more detailed than in the PS4 version as well.
The only real place the Switch 2 port falters is when it comes to hair in handheld mode. It’s a small issue but a noticeable one for a game whose hero’s most defining feature is a Chocobo’s nest of spikey blond hair. From Tifa’s long ponytail to Aerith’s brunette braids, there’s often dithering and fuzziness. Some of the UI elements occasionally feel especially small or hard to read in handheld mode as well. It didn’t shatter my immersion but the game isn’t completely free of small downgrades here or there that remind you you aren’t playing on one of the high-end home consoles (the Switch 2 version arrived alongside the Xbox Series X/S ports).
If you’re someone who never owned a PS4, PS5, or PC that could play Final Fantasy VII Remake, I’d recommend the Switch 2 version without hesitation. If the Switch 2 is the only console you’ve ever owned, I might even call it a “must buy” relative to the rest of the console’s library right now. PlayStation owners take access to games like this for granted. For Nintendo fans, it’s still a special treat, and hopefully the first of many.
