Final Fantasy VII Remake Intermission Review

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intermission delivers Yuffie's story in eccentric and entertaining fashion, but does it hold up as an intermission to the next game?

Final Fantasy VII Remake's add-on DLC episode, Intermission, brings a new perspective on a bit of the main game's story. Taking place in the middle of the game, it returns you to the Sector 7 Slums as Yuffie, a confident but slightly goofy ninja secret agent from the nation of Wutai. Yuffie's on a mission to infiltrate the Shinra Corporation and steal a new weapon they're working on--the "ultimate materia"--and that provides a chance to revisit FF7 Remake and flesh out some of what's going on in its wider world.

Despite returning to some well-trod locations from the main game, though, Intermission's main issue is that it feels generally pretty thin. It includes two new chapters of story, but they don't really interact with the main plot of FF7 Remake very much. In fact, the story doesn't add a lot to the overall picture of Remake at all, which makes it feel like ancillary material that doesn't have a strong reason for existing, apart from teasing things that are coming to Remake's later installments.

Those teases include some deep-cut FF7 characters from spin-off games such as Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus, and for players who aren't experienced fans of the franchise, they'll likely add more confusion than clarity to what's going on. But that's tempered by Yuffie herself, another fun, eccentric character who's a blast to play. Yuffie adds a lot of comedy to the proceedings, and her unique combat style allows you to really excel at beating down enemies at a fun, fast clip--especially once you figure out the rhythm of matching her close-range attacks with long-range moves.

Intermission adds some other side material, like the new Fort Condor mini-game, but overall everything about it feels somewhat shallow. It's a nice diversion with some fun characters, but not enough to hold you over for a real new installment of Final Fantasy VII Remake.