The final trailer for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade just released, far ahead of its release on June 10th. The trailer showed off more elements of the PS5 upgrade including the new summon Ramuh and more spin-off content coming to Yuffie's DLC mission. One element that had been confirmed in interviews with some of the game's developers was also showcased, and that's the fact Fort Condor has been adapted into an in-game virtual board game that players will be able to play.
In the original Final Fantasy 7, Fort Condor was a location players stumbled across fairly early in the game. The fort was home to a group of ec0-warriors similar to Avalanche that had dedicated themselves to protecting an enormous bird creature that was nesting its egg at the top of the fort. Players could choose to dedicate time and resources to help fight off Shinra troops in a fun tower defense-style game, but along with all of the other things changing in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Fort Condor looks to have been adapted to a different style of mini game that exists in-world. This makes the possibility of it appearing in the next full release a bit dubious.
How Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade Might Change Fort Condor
Choosing where to expand and where to contract elements of the original FF7 is a crucial part of FF7 Remake's current and future success. While fleshing out environments to match the technological progress after nearly thirty years and giving side characters more life has worked out well so far, deciding what elements to change is likely the top of the list for Square Enix. FF7 Remake Intergrade is changing a lot and incorporating elements from Compilation of FF7 content, so condensing Fort Condor into an in-world game was likely a decision made to help streamline the future installments.
However for some long-time fans of the original, Fort Condor was one of the most satisfying side missions available. Not only was the reward the incredibly powerful Phoenix summon, its tower defense-style mini game was an interesting departure from the regular gameplay. Helping the group fight off Shinra was also thematically in line with much of the mission of Avalanche, with Barret being one of the party members that pushed to help. While it's hard to predict a lot of things about FF7 Remake Part 2, how the game will handle Fort Condor from a narrative perspective has some clues that are easier to follow.
From what was first discussed in interviews about Intergrade and what's been shown in the newest trailer, it seems that the bulk of individuals that play the new Fort Condor game are either Avalanche members or otherwise Shinra-opposed people. Yuffie's compatriots are seen to play the game as well, meaning that the game will have likely been inspired by actual events in the game's world. Final Fantasy 7 Remake has a lot elements to be careful with and adapting Fort Condor into a sort of folk tale for those who rebel against Shinra would be an interesting way to balance a new vision of the game without losing some of the spirit of the side mission.
The new gameplay seems interesting, although only a scant few seconds were shown off in the trailer. It seems to be adapting elements reminiscent of Auto Chess which also recently came to PS5 while still bringing back the different units that players could buy and align in the original. The brief gameplay makes the Fort Condor mini game seem like a fun new diversion in FF7 Remake, but fans are likely still wondering if the actual location will be a reality in the next part of the series.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade releases for the PlayStation 5 on June 10th.
