Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is the best Nintendo Switch 2 port yet - here's why

It might well be approaching its sixth birthday but the release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade on Nintendo Switch 2 is the console's best port yet, surpassing Cyberpunk 2077. And that's mightily impressive.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is the first in the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy and focuses on the first portion of the game set in Midgar, opening with one of the most iconic missions in gaming history with the destruction of Mako Reactor 1.

It released to critical acclaim in 2020 and although it's approaching six-years-old, is still one of the best looking games on the market today.

It first released in April 2020 on PS4 with a native PS5 release and the Intergrade expansion arriving in June 2021. The game then released on PC later that year in December 2021. Xbox and Nintendo gamers have had to wait a long time to get their hands on it and will finally be able to on 22 January as the game releases on Series X/S and Switch 2.

And for Switch 2 players, this is the best ported game for the console yet.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is very impressive on Nintendo Switch 2 / Square Enix

To be clear, this is not a full review of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade but focuses on what it's like for Nintendo Switch 2. For context, I first played this game when it released on PS4 and absolutely loved it.

In docked mode for Switch 2, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade targets 1080p at 30fps (frames per second) and handheld runs at 720p upscaled to 1080p at 30fps too.

While Cyberpunk 2077 runs at a higher frame rate in handheld mode, when playing through Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade I did not experience the frame rate dropping as much in either docked or handheld and did not experience any instances of tearing or any other noticeable graphical mishaps.

That's pretty remarkable for a game of this size and scope, especially when there are dense town areas and lots of action going on in certain scenes.

Another thing Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade on Switch 2 should be commended for is how it looks, which is absolutely stunning.

The lighting is superb and it looks closer to the PS5 release than the PS4. Shadows are not quite as strong as the PS5 version but are still great. Character details are sharp too with hair being the only notable exception.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade on Switch 2 has all the latest updates too, like streamlined progression options, a photo mode, a fast forward option to speed up cutscenes and a head start mode which basically acts like a God mode, allowing players to start with levelled up characters and gear.

There are a number of streamlined progression options in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade / Square Enix

If you couldn't tell already, I'm mightily impressed with Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade on Switch 2 and it's given me the perfect excuse to jump back into such a gem of a game, now with the added ability to play it on the go.

Some games that are much smaller in scope are nowhere this level of polished for Switch 2 - Square Enix has obviously taken a lot of due care and attention to make this as good as it can be instead of rushing something out that's not been optimised properly.

It's incredibly close between Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade and Cyberpunk 2077 for the crown of best Switch 2 port right now.

But having experienced more hiccups here and there in Cyberpunk 2077 on the platform means Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade takes the top spot for me as the new standard of Switch 2 ports.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• How does Assassin's Creed Shadows really run on Nintendo Switch 2?
• How does Cyberpunk 2077 really run on Nintendo Switch 2?

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