Redefining RPG Combat: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Battle Director Teruki Endo Talks About The Game's Combat

I still remember the day Final Fantasy VII Remake came out and we all had to figure out how to describe its combat system. It's not quite action, but not quite turn-based either. An evolution of the similar premise used in Lightning Returns, the game had you doing action combat to build up an ATB meter locked away in typical JRPG menus. 

With Final Fantasy VII Remake coming to Nintendo Switch 2, we looked back on what was really a pivotal moment in the Turn-Based vs Real Time discourse with Teruki Endo, battle director on Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade ahead of the game's Nintendo Switch 2 release. 

One of its biggest contributions was to the endless cycle of JRPG discourse. Some corners see the hybrid method as a way to keep JRPG combat fresh, while others want it to go further in either action or menu-based combat. According to Teruki, that wasn't originally the goal of the Final Fantasy VII remake series- the goal is and always was to just make the game fun. 

"Speaking just for myself, I don’t really see games through the lens of “turn-based” or “action.” ", he says. "For me, when a new game comes out, the system is simply a result of pursuing what makes that particular project fun or challenging.I personally love both turn-based and action battles, and even as a developer, I don’t feel tied down by genre. I’d like to keep creating fun experiences based on the ideas and direction that best suit each title".

"Up until now, most of my experience has been as a designer for action games, so that background was essential for the Final Fantasy VII Remake project, which involved transforming a command-based battle system into an action-focused one", Teruki says. "On top of that, having mostly worked on pure action games, being able to experiment with a slightly different form of action-based system in this project was both fortunate and exciting".

"I think the balance between implementing what I already knew from experience and tackling new challenges that could only be understood through experimentation was very well struck. I can’t talk about the final installment yet, but I hope to make it so that even players who have played the first two titles can enjoy the next one with a fresh sense of excitement".

The result was more action oriented players diving into Final Fantasy VII Remake to check it out. But Teruki explained that you weren't exactly going to defeat Sephiroth without ever breaking open a menu- that's just not the game this is. 

"We did receive some feedback that players who try to approach the game purely as an action experience can struggle, especially with bosses", he notes.
"Of course, we want players to enjoy the action as well, but we’ve also designed the balance to highlight the depth of the command strategy. Making that strategic enjoyment accessible to as many players as possible — through clarity and thoughtful adjustments — has been a key focus throughout the entire project, from Remake to Intergrade and now into the sequel."

This System Isn't Going Anywhere

Describing it at its core as "An action system that could naturally incorporate strategic command elements", he said that the goal for the remake trilogy was to not have to reinvent the wheel gameplay wise. INTERmission and Rebirth may have added new stuff to the system, but Remake represents that established framework for the hybrid action-RPG combat. 

"Thanks to that groundwork, we didn’t need to rethink or rebuild the core systems for the sequels. Instead, we could focus purely on improving quality—on how to expand the sense of fun from that base. Looking back, I feel confident that we were able to achieve that", he says.

You can see how part of that iterative process takes hold in Intergrade, too. In Episode INTERmission, players get to play as Yuffie, who sports quite a bit different from the rest of the main party. Teruki explained that Yuffie was an experiment in pushing different elements of the "Command Strategy" style gameplay- either by having her base attacks be flashier or having her skills feel more rewarding. 

"That said, we never intended to change the core principle of the battle system — action-based, but centered on command strategy. So when creating Yuffie, we kept that in mind while experimenting with various approaches",he says.

"As a result, Yuffie ended up being slightly stronger in terms of performance compared to the four main characters from Remake at that point. But since we were already planning to bring the other characters up to match her in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, we didn’t worry about that and instead focused on making Episode INTERmission a fun experience for players".

Given all that work in designing the combat system, we'd be remiss to not ask what Teruki's highlights from Final Fantasy VII remake are. The brief was simple: one major character and one non-major character. When asked, his answers highlighted the typical tastes of a Battle Director: appreciating dynamic fights with interesting rules. 

"Among the battles with major characters, my favorites are the fights against the Turks, Reno and Rude", he says.
 

"Reno is defined by his evasive moves, while Rude relies on guarding, and I really like how the battles allow for both solo encounters with each of them and a combined fight against both at the same time. They move a lot during battle, so the way the fight unfolds changes dynamically, almost like an action sequence. I enjoy the process of planning how to approach each short phase and adapting on the fly".

"Outside of the main characters, I particularly enjoyed the Air Buster fight", he says. 

"First, the party is split into one and two members, then the three come together in a slightly unconventional battle along a T-shaped corridor. In the final phase, the Air Buster takes flight, moving closer and farther away, which forces you to rethink your strategy on the spot. The dramatic shifts in the situation tie in well with the battle strategy, making it a really enjoyable encounter. I remember feeling a real sense of satisfaction during playtests while we were developing it".

Streamlined For Newer Players

If the thought of combos and grinding don't necessarily make your heart flutter, though, never fret. One of the features included in the Nintendo Switch 2 release is a Streamlined Progression mode. After all, without spoiling it, Final Fantasy VII Remake's story takes some big swings- and the team wanted to give players a way to still experience it even if they weren't the biggest fans of the combat. 

"Even if using this mode means that some of the tactical depth of combat is reduced, there are still plenty of elements that make battles exciting — the satisfaction of landing an attack, the fun of watching character skills in motion, and the overall sense of action", Teruki says. "So when you think of it as offering players a choice in how they want to enjoy those elements, I don’t see it as something that undermines the essence of the battle system".

He also gave more important details about the Nintendo Switch 2 version- first that the game would have a stable 30fps in either mode, and another, sillier rejection: that no amount of streamlining would let you do Limit Breaks on a single joycon. 

"It’s an interesting idea, but at the moment, the game isn’t intended to be played with only one Joy-Con", he says. 

Still, if you like the idea of playing Final Fantasy VII Remake on the go you'll want to pick up a copy of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade for the Nintendo Switch 2 when it launches January 22nd 2026.