Square Enix recently sat down with Toriyama-san and his co-director Naoki Hamaguchi to talk more about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Episode Intermission, Yuffie, the aforementioned moogle suit, and more.
PS2’s Vincent Valentine-focused Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII also featured Yuffie, and she made her grand entrance in a similar moogle outfit. According to Toriyama-san, this was brought forward to this new episode, and shows more of Yuffie’s personality.
“Actually, the moogle hood draws its reference from the time it was used in [Dirge of Cerberus] — and Yuffie wears it whenever she is on a covert mission.” Toriyama-san said. “She might think she’s perfectly disguised, but it actually makes her stand out even more in a metropolis like Midgar. I feel that’s just very ‘her’, and probably why I like it so much!”
Dirge of Cerberus is a notorious game among Final Fantasy 7 fans. It turned the original RPG into a third-person shooter, and while it improved many of the shortcomings of the original Japanese version, it still fell short. Our original Dirge of Cerberus review was more positive than most, though. “Is Dirge of Cerberus the best use of the Final Fantasy VII universe? Definitely not. Is it a decent game with a strong story and occasionally-engaging rifle blasting? Absolutely.”
In the meantime, Toriyama and Hamaguchi reassured fans that, although this is very much the Yuffie we know and love from Final Fantasy VII, they won’t have to worry about her stealing their materia like she did in the original.
“Yes, in the original [Final Fantasy 7], she caused quite the hassle because she stole her allies’ materia! Don’t worry — in the new episode Yuffie’s the protagonist, so rest assured you don’t have to worry about your valuable materia getting taken away.”Hamaguchi added that not only will your materia be safe, there will also be brand new materia that wasn’t included in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Episode Intergrade will be included with new copies of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade for PS5, and will also be available as a separate purchase for those who own Final Fantasy VII Remake on PS4. Those who purchased Final Fantasy 7 Remake on PS4 will be able to upgrade to the PS5 version for free.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
