Non-E3 left us with some surprises at subsequent events, almost unexpectedly. Summer Game Fest and Xbox Showcase were over, we had no glimpse of Direct and out of the blue, in ten minutes, Square Enix lifted the spirits with all their plans for Final Fantasy. A first look at Rebirth, the Crisis Core review, and Ever Crisis dominated the stage. And of course, as usual, one feels like returning to those games linked to the news you just saw. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade arrived on Steam these days after its temporary exclusive on the Epic Store, so it was the ideal combo. Return to the new Midgar to satisfy the cravings and by the way, try it on Steam Deck. It looks like black magic.
Because we already saw the arrival of the Final Fantasy VII Remake on PC and the new Next Gen version on PS5 already seemed like a good leap forward on a technical level (and content, with Yuffie’s DLC). But now we had the opportunity to test it on a laptop, something unthinkable until now. And the sensations cannot be better at the controls of Steam Deck . The Square Enix game is an example of what the Valve platform gives you in a differential way: being able to play games wherever you want that seemed, until today, impossible.
The sensations are unbeatable in the first bars. That introduction with Aeris and the footsteps of Cloud with Avalanche leaving the train are surprising for the quality and fidelity with which everything is seen on the Steam Deck ‘s 7-inch screen . The title is adapted and optimized for said platform, and that allows us to feel from the first moment that the game is perfectly enabled to be enjoyed in this way.
The controls adapt well – and even more so if we place the action of running in one of the rear buttons of the portable platform – and we are quickly hitting enemies, navigating through menus and enjoying what the Square Enix Remake offers. All with a good level of detail both in modeling and in textures and drawing distance. Naturally we don’t have the quality of a desktop PC, but for the size of the screen and the resolution of 1280 x 800 it is more than enough to impress us and repeat how good a game like this looks on a laptop.
The initial configuration is set for 30 frames per second , solid at all times except in certain more open spaces, such as when we are visiting with Tifa the barricades and locations that surround the Avalanche operations center. Something minor, which is especially noticeable with certain sudden camera turns, but that does not tarnish the experience. By tinkering with some of the -scarce- graphic options we can enjoy 60 frames per second in combat and most of the time, although it drops to 50 when the screen is loaded with elements and with a somewhat more abrupt drop in specific moments like the mentioned above.
Despite this, the general feeling is highly positive . First, because the title was very powerful on a visual level and it looks very well represented in a portable format. And second, because except for those moments mentioned, the game flows in movement correctly (and if you block it at 30, even more). So going back to Midgar, enjoying memorable characters like Barrett and Tifa, or surprising ourselves with the personality and weight of other characters like Jessie is very appealing.
We already talked at length in our original analysis about the virtues of the game, with a real-time combat system that shines with its own light due to its options, character control capacity and dynamism, as well as the great audiovisual section in every way . Final Fantasy VII Remake, moreover, is surely an almost flawless game until its 12th chapter, adding new elements rich in nuances and faithfully recreating places, situations and characters that we remembered from 1997 . It is true that from that moment until the end it is somewhat more irregular, unnecessarily lengthening certain sections, diverting the original story to inhospitable places – we’ll see in Rebirth– and with some questionable design decisions. But in the global calculation, it is one of the most relevant games of recent times, there is no doubt.
A limited portent on PC
If we remember our analysis in its debut on PC , we said that the game had, in addition to some performance problems, a brief graphic customization capacity that was far from the standards of the users of this platform. On Steam the limited options remain as a negative point, go ahead. That means that we are not going to find great options beyond resolution (up to 4K), FPS to choose from (30, 60, 90, 120, nothing unlimited) and elements such as texture resolution and shadow definition, in addition to the HDR . Basic options ranging from vertical sync to FOV are clearly missing , but none of this has changed in the months between the release on the Epic store and the one on Steam.
The game, yes, looks especially good at 4K and with everything – the ineligible – on high. Naturally, the technical leap compared to Steam Deck is evident and the fluidity at which everything moves is much better and more solid. At 60 fps we haven’t noticed any dips like on the Deck and they remain stable. Playing with a 2080ti and 32 gigs of RAM, we only noticed oscillations when at 120 frames per second there were drops to 100, or even less in some moments of combat. So the game looks and performs well in general, but it is not the most optimized of all nor the one that offers us the most options on PC compared to others of the same kind.
A possible remake on a laptop
So Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is not only the most complete version of all ( Yuffie ‘s expansion , in addition to being agile and with new mechanics, provides elements of the plot that will be key in the future), but in its arrival a Steam has become one of those games that were impossible to enjoy on a portable console. Until Deck. A most comforting experience, not without some problems, and that makes you enjoy this new Midgar presented in the game almost like the first time.