FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE

Cloud Strife joins Avalanche's campaign against Shinra in Midgar, where the corporation's mako reactors drain the planet's life force. This edition pairs the main game's Midgar story with Episode INTERmission, a separate adventure following Wutai ninja Yuffie Kisaragi and her partner Sonon.

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE retells the opening Midgar portion of the 1997 role-playing game as the first installment in a larger project. Cloud Strife, a former SOLDIER now working as a mercenary, joins the anti-Shinra group Avalanche on a mission to destroy a mako reactor. The corporation extracts the planet's life energy to power its industrial city and military reach; Avalanche believes stopping the reactors is necessary to protect the world. What begins as a paid job draws Cloud into the conflict between the company's security forces and the people resisting its control, while unsettling visions and the reappearance of the legendary SOLDIER Sephiroth complicate his understanding of events. The campaign develops this Midgar story and concludes with the party leaving the city; it is distinct from the later FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, rather than a retelling of the full original game's journey.

Sector 7's slums bring Avalanche's reactor mission back to the members' homes and the residents living nearby. Cloud's allies include Barret Wallace, the group's determined leader and father of Marlene; Tifa Lockhart, Cloud's childhood friend and an Avalanche fighter; and Aerith Gainsborough, a flower seller whose connection to Midgar brings her into Cloud's path. These characters have different ties to the city and reasons for confronting Shinra, whose security forces guard the company's industrial facilities. As Cloud takes mercenary work, the story moves between those residential districts, dangerous reactor sites and other company-controlled spaces. That movement keeps the cost of the reactor conflict close to the people affected by Shinra's extraction of mako, while the party's relationships develop alongside the larger resistance effort.

The route through Midgar combines story missions with smaller jobs and encounters that let Cloud assist local residents. In the Sector 7 slums, a community hub connects the main plot to requests from people dealing with monsters, missing belongings or local problems. Completing available side jobs can bring rewards and also affect which optional scenes occur later in that chapter. Movement through each area alternates between combat, conversations, environmental obstacles and short activities, including familiar arcade-style diversions. The city is not presented as one continuous open map: the campaign advances through authored chapters and connected spaces, with detours opening within particular neighborhoods. This pacing lets the group return to familiar places and characters as the reactor conflict grows, while each mission brings the party closer to Shinra's facilities and the history surrounding Cloud.

Combat runs in real time, but commands and character abilities are governed by Active Time Battle gauges. Ordinary attacks, guarding and movement keep a character active while the ATB gauge fills; spending a segment opens a command such as a special ability, spell or item. Tactical Mode slows the action while the player chooses those commands, so managing the party involves both positioning and deciding when to spend each character's gauge. Cloud can change between sword-fighting stances, Barret can attack targets at range with his gun-arm, Tifa builds fast close-range pressure, and Aerith relies more on magic. Switching the active character matters because teammates otherwise act under computer control and accumulate their own ATB. Limit Breaks become available as a separate combat resource, while summons can join certain battles when their conditions are met.

Enemies respond differently to damage types and attack patterns, making observation part of the combat loop. Assess Materia reveals information about a target, including weaknesses and useful ways to put it under pressure. Once pressured, an enemy's stagger gauge can be filled by appropriate attacks and abilities; a staggered foe is temporarily vulnerable, creating a window to spend stronger commands. Materia orbs placed in weapon and armor slots grant spells, support effects and other commands, while linked slots allow certain combinations to work together. The player can adjust these loadouts between encounters as new Materia is found or developed. Learning weapon abilities also changes progression: each weapon has a signature ability, and using it builds proficiency until the character can retain that ability after changing equipment. Weapon upgrades then offer another way to shape stats, slots and combat traits.

Exploration and side systems give the party tasks between major confrontations. Cloud's mercenary role leads him to requests from residents, while Chadley, a young Shinra researcher who is working outside the company, asks for combat data through Battle Reports. Meeting those requests gives the player a reason to test Assess, exploit weaknesses and try different Materia combinations. The main story also uses switches, lifts and traversal routes to move through industrial machinery and layered districts, often separating a party member temporarily or changing who can reach a target. Minigames provide another break from combat: darts, pull-up contests and other local challenges use different controls and reward the player for engaging with Midgar's everyday spaces. These activities are contained within the city chapters and sit alongside the main campaign rather than replacing its mission structure.

INTERGRADE includes FF7R EPISODE INTERmission, a separate story arc starring Wutai ninja Yuffie Kisaragi as she infiltrates Midgar with Sonon Kusakabe to pursue powerful materia. It follows events at the same broad time as Cloud's campaign but uses a different pair and combat rhythm. Yuffie throws her shuriken to attack at range, can retrieve it to change how she fights, and uses Elemental Ninjutsu to align her attacks with fire, ice, lightning or wind. Sonon fights beside her and can be directed through commands; their Synergy actions coordinate attacks and help the pair build stagger. The episode also includes Fort Condor, a tactical board game in which Yuffie chooses from unit types and boards to challenge other players in its ranked quest line. INTERmission is included alongside, but remains separate from, the main Midgar campaign.