Final Fantasy VII Remake INTERmission PlayStation 5 Review

Yuffie's debut in the original Final Fantasy VII served as an optional bonus. Despite the character playing a major role within the universe her voluntary requirement left the young ninja on the sideline. With Final Fantasy VII Remake Yuffie gets to star in her own adventure. With the young material hunter as she seeks justice against her native home of Wutai against Shinra. It's a short and sweet adventure that gives Yuffie her much-needed time in the spotlight.

The DLC takes place after Cloud meets Aerith, with Yuffie from Wutai seeking the Ultimate Material from Shinra. She'll team up with other rebels from both Wutai and AVALANCE for this near impossible take. With newcomer Sonan from Wutai serving under Yuffie in this 3-hour campaign.

The DLC does bridge Part 1 with the now in development Part 2 but only towards the end. The DLC essentially focuses on Yuffie and her campaign for the Ultimate Material and establishing Sonan. The narrative does a sound job of highlighting the loyalty between Wutai natives through a native bean that only they can crew due to its hard shell.

Don't expect Yuffie to connect to any of the playable cast from the main campaign. The Whispers still play a role in ensuring that events play out as intended. But astute players will notice cracks in the timeline in sudden details littered around.

Yuffie is brash, confident, and always looking to prove herself. This coupled with her charismatic attitude and general positivity makes her a joy to play. This is complemented in her animation as she moves with such precision that despite her being a young naive kid feels powerful and in control. 

Yuffie is widely different from the other characters in Part 1. She's fast and very strong, to the point of being pretty overpowered. This is likely due to the player having access to only 1 ally. And due to the short nature of the DLC players are given most of the weapons, armor, and most powerful accessories easily. This is not to say the DLC is without difficulty but only in the optional combat missions that provide rewards such as summoning and an exclusive boss fight. This was something introduced in Final Fantasy XV's DLCs and I hope they continue this.

The core concepts are still present here. Yuffie and Sonan can collect weapons that each have their own leveling system and upgrade trees. Since the campaign is short you'll need to play it about 2 times to fully level everything if you do the side missions. The biggest being an optional mini-game called Fort Condor.

Based on the Final Fantasy VII mini-game where players defended a Phoenix from Shinra players command a series of troops in an RTS battle. It's a lot of fun but takes time to master, especially against harder opponents. The DLC tends to over-rely on this game and with the exception of the combat challenges you're just collecting stuff. While you can explore the Sector 7 Slums much of it is just have you finding more opponents for Fort Condor.

INTERmission's goal is to establish Yuffie and bridge Part 1 to Part 2, and it succeeds. It adds more context of what players can expect from the next game, a new threat, and establishes Yuffie fully. The combat is fun and the boss fights are exciting as Yuffie is a joy to play as. If you loved Final Fantasy VII Remake this is without a doubt a must-buy, especially if you plan to continue the journey. Most importantly INTERmission gives Yuffie a chance to really shine as an essential character. 
 

Adam Siddiqui,
Managing Editor, NoobFeed
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