Square-Enix announces shiny new PS5 "Intergrade" for Final Fantasy VII Remake

Quick: How many games are there that are set in the world of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII universe? If you answered “Way more than VII,” well, congratulations: You’re getting right-er by the minute.

The “strap some belt buckles to it and make that sword four times bigger, stat” video game company had a hefty role at Sony’s State Of Play press conference today, which makes sense, given that Final Fantasy VII Remake was one of the PlayStation brand’s biggest games last year. And is apparently set to, uh, maintain that role in 2021, as the company announced that it’s set to release Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, the PlayStation 5 re-release of the re-make of the extremely old video game, on June 10. Besides all the usual PS5 bells, whistles, and photo modes, the “new” game will also come with a new chapter, focused on Yuffie Kisaragi, the popular thief character who was an optional party member in the original Final Fantasy VII. The new chapter will only run on PS5 consoles, presumably because the PlayStation 4 suffers from key hardware nostalgia limits.

Not that you necessarily need all the newest hardware in order to subject yourself to this content barrage; Square-Enix also announced two new Final Fantasy VII-based mobile games today, including a new battle royale title, The First Soldier. Have you ever wanted to enjoy cutthroat, only-one-will-survive combat in the futuristic world of Midgar from the comfort of your not especially comfortable phone interface? Then you’re in luck, bizarre, cramp-handed masochist! And if this whole thing just sounds inordinately confusing, you can check out Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, another mobile game that promises to walk you through the whole confusingly named “Compilation Of Final Fantasy VII”—we promise, we’re not making these names up—story, allowing players to experience events from Final Fantasy VII, Dirge Of Cerberus, Before Crisis, Crisis Core, Cookie Crisper, and more. (Okay, actually, we did make one of those up. But only one!)

Anyway, good news for anyone permanently trapped in the past of 1997, when Final Fantasy VII originally came out: Square-Enix and Sony appear to be happily trapped back there, too.