After Episode Intermission, Yuffie and Sonon have helped pave the way for the next chapter of Cloud and the gang’s upcoming story. Of course, it’s going to be a long time until the second episode ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeeventually releases. Many are wondering if the game will even release on PS4 at all, or be entirely exclusive to PS5 likeFinal Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. Intermission provided a hint as to what could be coming in the next title, including some hints at potential story changes or adjustments, but also some significant gameplay changes. Other than fleshing out Yuffie’s playstyle early, Intermission also hinted at some big improvements for battles.
Expectations are understandably high for the next episode ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, and while many are expecting an ambitious open world or new narrative changes, the most impactful change may come to combat. Episode Intermission, while introducing two new party members and new character playstyles, also introduced combo moves and team attacks. Yuffie and Sonon could enter a synchronization mode where the two attack in tandem, but several of Yuffie’s abilities also transfer into team attacks that compound Yuffie and Sonon’s damage. According to game director Naoki Hamaguchi, combo attacks will persist inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake’s future.
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Episode Intermission’s Team Attacks Have Potential
As part of the sparse new and experimental features in Episode Intermission,Final Fantasy 7 Remakemay be including these combination attacksand tactics in future entries. New characters Yuffie and Sonon could activate synchronized attacks at any point during battle, building more ATB meter together to activate synchronized ninjutsu and Art of War attacks. The two also have dual standard attacks that deal massive damage and stagger as well, helping turn the tide of battle as the player’s momentum builds. While the usual ATB elements ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeare present in Episode Intermission, the base game had nothing like team attacks.
Despite havingdouble the party members,Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s partyrarely has any cooperative combat moments outside of heavily scripted events and battle cutscenes. Different elements, skills, abilities, and attacks do complement one another, which is part of the beauty ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake’s impressive action-based battle system. However, all of these complementary skills that stagger and capitalize on high damager are all isolated to Materia builds and myriad actions from the player, optimizing all party members' activities during battle. This isn’t necessarily a fault ofRemake’s combat, but Episode Intermission shines a light on the feature’s potential.
Combo Moves Would Fit Right Into Final Fantasy 7 Remake
If there’s one aspect ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake’s combatthat could improve the battle experience, it’s the ability to learn and implement team attacks with your party. Cloud and Tifa banding together for a massive physical attack, or a dual-magic burst from Cloud and Aerith, there’s certainly plenty of potential in the variety of playable party members having unique combo attacks. Yuffie and Sonon had a unique dynamic as a team, which lent itself well to the developing of synchronized attacks, compared to the relatively isolated combat prowess of the base roster inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake. Plus, thematically, it makes sense for Cloud’s party to learn new co-op attacks.
Examples fromother JRPGs likePersona 5 Royalend up doing this really well with the Showtime attacks that party members learn over time. As the story progresses, the whole party learns unique co-op attacks with one another, each becoming available organically throughout the story.Final Fantasy 7 RemakePart Twocould implement a similar feature over time as the party members get to know each other better over the course of the journey. Given that players are going to be exploring and fighting alongside each other for theoretically far longer than the first part ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, combo attacks could be the added flair that combat needs over time.
Arguably one ofthe best parts ofFinal Fantasy 15’s action-based combat system were the team attacks that Noctis and crew could perform to initiate enemy stagger. Similarly,Final Fantasy 7 Remakecould implement team attacks as a way to expedite stagger on enemies, something that was usually reserved for magic and certain abilities in the base game. Either that, or team attacks could serve as a high damage option to capitalize on stagger as well. Both versions of a combo attack would find a home inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake’s battle system, especially in the wake of Episode Intermission’s example of combo moves integrated into combat.
