Lighting Was Key to Final Fantasy VII Remake Switch 2 Port
- ⚡Xe⚡
- Oct 2
- 3 min read
In an interview with AUTOMATON Japan, Naoki Hamaguchi explained the challenges his team faced bringing Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade to the Switch 2.
The core challenge for the team was ensuring stability in handheld mode while preserving the game’s striking visual fidelity.
“The Nintendo Switch 2 has great hardware specs. However, due to power consumption constraints, it’s designed to dial back performance a bit in handheld mode. So, since a straightforward port wouldn’t be enough to make the game run stably in handheld mode, we had our talented rendering programmers put in extra work on optimization.”
The development team heavily prioritized lighting during optimization. Hamaguchi explained that they purposely avoided using approximations for lighting (a common optimization shortcut) because it would have “noticeably altered the appearance of characters’ expressions – making the game feel cheap overall.” Instead, the developers ensured that lighting was rendered in essentially the same way as the original version.
“I believe lighting is the crucial factor in terms of graphics quality and expression in this day and age.”
Instead of compromising lighting, the team reduced processing loads in other graphical areas, specifically post-effects and fog. This approach allowed them to keep the game’s visual quality intact while achieving a stable performance of 30fps on the Switch 2, without compromising on quality.
Hamaguchi also highlighted that the console packs a lot of memory, making the porting process “very straightforward” in docked mode, although “things do get a bit trickier in handheld mode.”
“I’m extremely happy that we kind of managed to become a model case of a high-end game being ported for the Nintendo Switch 2.”
He concluded by sharing his extremely positive final assessment of Nintendo's new hardware:
“In our experience, if you just use the hardware properly, you’ll be able to deliver games at the quality players expect. All in all, my honest opinion is that Nintendo Switch 2 is a truly amazing piece of hardware.”
Source:
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-⚡Xe⚡
About FINAL FANTASY VII
First released in 1997 on the PlayStation® computer entertainment system, FINAL FANTASY VII celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2022. The game is universally regarded as a hallmark title of the RPG genre. The original title received high praise for its epic storyline, unique characters, and movie sequences that utilized the most cutting-edge technology of the time. Since then, the game revolving around iconic hero, Cloud Strife and his pursuit of the antagonist Sephiroth has sold over 15.3 million copies worldwide and continues to receive widespread acclaim from critics and fans around the world. The popular game has even expanded into spin-offs, films and merchandise.
Now, Square Enix’s FINAL FANTASY VII remake project created by a team of original and new developers, retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct, and standalone games. The first game of the trilogy, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE is now available on the PC and the PS5® and PS4® consoles, will be available on Jan. 22, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, and Nintendo Switch™ 2 platforms. FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, the second game in the trilogy, has been praised by both players and critics across the globe, earning more than 125 perfect scores from media and 40 Game of the Year awards, and is available now for PC and the PS5® console.
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