I still remember the hush that fell over the audience when Sony revealed the first trailer for Final Fantasy VII Remake — and the cheers. Fans couldn’t wait to see these characters again in HD. But there may now be an even more immersive way to thrust yourself into the world of Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and Aerith: a virtual reality mod by Luke Ross for the PC version of the game.
Ross is the modder we profiled last month whose day job is unofficially bringing games to VR; you pay $10 a month to support his work and get access to his mods. The last time we left him, he’d just been slapped with a DMCA takedown notice seemingly over his popular mods for Red Dead Redemption 2, Grand Theft Auto V, and Mafia: Definitive Edition. While neither game publisher Take-Two nor Patreon told him what exactly was infringing, he decided to strip out every single reference to those games out of a credible fear that Patreon would shut down his entire account and kill his source of income.
After that, it wasn’t entirely clear what Ross would do next. But he typically adds support for one game a month, and today’s release for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade means he’s still right on schedule.
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Above, see a video captured by Brian Tate that’ll give you a rough idea of what the mod looks like with full head motion; now just imagine that all around you.
I haven’t tried FFVII Remake Intergrade in VR myself yet for two very good reasons: first, Ross warns that today’s mod is “the ultimate VR legs tester” and “is going to hit you with the force of a speeding steel train.” Some of the game’s camera movements leave even him breathless, he says… and as I established in my previous story, I don’t have anywhere near Ross’ fortitude in VR.
Second, FFVII Remake Intergrade costs 70 freaking dollars on PC, and I already have a perfectly good copy for PS5 that I beat months ago, Yuffie DLC and all. Maybe I’ll be ready to play it again next winter when the next installment, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, rolls around.
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In other VR modding news, the Half-Life 2: VR project is planning to go into public beta this September. And Luke Ross is hinting strongly that his next VR project will be Spider-Man Remastered, which hits PC this Friday.