"This was the crucial factor": How Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Arrived on Switch 2

After debuting on PlayStation 5 two years ago, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth arrives on Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S on 3rd June. A month ahead of release, we spoke with Square Enix's Final Fantasy Trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi to get some insight into the game's technical makeup and the porting process.

We were particularly interested in how the development team tackled the most demanding areas of the game, such as open-world zones and NPC-dense cities, and what optimisations were used to cut down the PS5 version into something that could fit comfortably within the Switch 2's processing capabilities. Hamaguchi also covered how the docked and portable versions differ, how DLSS is used and the game's dynamic resolution setup - plus the single feature that made the port technically viable.

Enjoy!

In what ways did developing Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade on Switch 2 help you make a Switch 2 version of the sequel, Rebirth? Did the experience of adapting that first game help in the optimisation here?

Our experience porting Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade to the Switch 2 served as a significant foundation for Rebirth. It wasn't simply a matter of becoming accustomed to the porting process; rather, the greatest achievement was that the entire team was able to share a common understanding, a set of criteria for judging where attention is most likely to concentrate based on the characteristics of the Switch 2 hardware.

Because the structure of Remake was relatively linear, we were able to approach understanding the hardware's characteristics and verifying adjustments in a straightforward, methodical way. It is precisely because of the insights gained through that process that I can confidently say we were able to take the step toward a design that incorporates even more advanced optimisation for a vast, open-world structure like Rebirth.

Of course, Rebirth is a more ambitious sequel made for the PS5/Xbox Series X generation of consoles. Did this cause any concern that a Switch 2 version could be feasible?

To be honest, it's not that I had no concerns. While the release of Remake went extremely well and we felt confident going into Rebirth, its world is larger in scale than Remake's and features an open-area structure. For that reason, whether we could successfully realise that experience on the Switch 2 was not something we could easily conclude without actually trying to do it.

However, I believed that just releasing Remake without making future instalments available was a non-starter. With that in mind, rather than drawing a line and saying, "It might be impossible," we moved forward with the stance of determining what would be possible through repeated testing and fine-tuning. In the end, what needed to be done became clear, and as a team, we were able to make our decisions with confidence. I'm looking forward to fans getting their hands on the Switch 2 version of Rebirth.

This time Rebirth includes open world areas like the Grasslands region. How did you overcome the challenge of making such complex regions run at 30fps, bearing in mind Switch 2's power limits?

In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the scale of the world is vastly different from that of Intergrade, so we couldn't approach it in the same way. While with Intergrade we were able to achieve 30fps through adjustments to post-processing effects and fog, in Rebirth, the open-world environment led to a significantly higher number of rendered meshes compared to Intergrade, making it impossible to apply that same method directly.

For the Switch 2 version, the background models themselves have been optimised specifically for the hardware. This wasn't just a simple reduction; it includes redesigning the LOD stages and reworking material expressions with high rendering costs from the ground up. Across entire scenes, we also adjusted the scale at which background LODs switch, ensuring that system load doesn't spike suddenly even as the draw distance increases. In addition, we focused on reducing conditions where rendering load tends to concentrate, such as implementing culling to suppress rendering outside the visible range and reorganising the overall rendering order of the environment.

After clearly defining in advance what needed to be preserved and to what extent, we conducted validation based on actual gameplay scenarios, identifying reproducible conditions where load tends to spike and addressing them one by one. Through this approach, we thoroughly ensured frame-rate stability.

Big cities like Kalm must have been a different sort of challenge for Switch 2, with many NPCs and complex geometry. What were the main solutions for getting city areas running at a stable frame-rate?

In scenes with a large number of NPCs, such as city areas, not only does the GPU rendering load increase, but the CPU load from animation processing also tends to rise. In large cities like Kalm in particular, we need to manage both of these factors simultaneously. For this reason, we implemented a system that allows us to control the number of NPCs based on the hardware specifications. In the Switch 2 version, we adjusted this system to match its performance characteristics, ensuring a stable frame-rate even in city areas.

Talking about image quality, what resolution is the Switch 2 version using while docked and portable? Is it dynamic or fixed?

Regarding resolution, Rebirth follows the same design approach used in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade for the Switch 2. Neither mode uses a fixed resolution; instead, both are designed with dynamic resolution in mind. In handheld mode, to prioritise performance, the internal resolution is capped at 1344x756 and set to a minimum of 672x380. In Docked mode, however, just like in Intergrade, the resolution operates within a range of 1920x1080 at the upper end and 960x540 at the lower side. The approach was to carry over the design established in Remake directly to Rebirth and make adjustments based on that foundation.

Is the team using Nvidia's DLSS upscaling features of the Switch 2, and if so, how was the experience of working with DLSS?

Yes, we are using DLSS. The Switch 2 has strict power consumption constraints when used in handheld mode and is designed to operate at reduced performance levels; therefore, we adopted a configuration that lowers the internal resolution and relies on DLSS for upscaling. This approach is the same as in Remake, and for the Switch 2 version of Rebirth, we designed the rendering resolution and load distribution with DLSS in mind from the very beginning.

One point that often becomes a topic of discussion among gaming fans is the quality of hair rendering on the Switch 2. In fact, for Rebirth, we've taken a new approach that differs from the one used in Remake. We haven't completely overhauled the hair rendering method itself, but we've incorporated techniques such as applying a very slight blur depending on the direction and density of the hair. While we're not using an identical approach as the PS5 or high-end PC version, we're aiming for a balance that looks as natural as possible within the parameters of the Switch 2. We'd be delighted if you could experience this for yourself.

Does Switch 2's docked play add any extra visual features, over playing it as a portable?

For the Switch 2 version, our top priority was ensuring that there is no difference in the gameplay experience between docked and handheld modes. For this reason, we haven't included any additional visual elements in either mode; the only design difference is in how resolution is handled.


Our aim is to create a situation where players can choose whichever mode they like based purely on preference, as the content, controls, and gameplay mechanics remain unchanged regardless of the mode. Ensuring that the experience remains seamless across modes is a policy we have consistently upheld throughout the development of the Switch 2 versions.

A very specific question from my colleague Alex Battaglia: does the game support mesh shading on Switch 2 like it does on PC?

Yes, the Switch 2 version also supports mesh shading. To be honest, this was a crucial factor in determining whether we could successfully port Rebirth to the Switch 2. By adapting the rendering pipeline - which utilises meshlet LODs and was originally designed for the PS5 and high-end PCs - for the Switch 2, we were able to complete the port without notably compromising the visual quality.

I notice dynamic shadows still work here - meaning windmills still cast shadows at a great distance across terrain. It also looks like screen space reflections (SSR) are included on water bodies. Both of these are impressive given the CPU/GPU limits of Switch 2, especially while running in portable mode.

Finally, is there any specific part of the Switch 2 version that you're especially proud of? Perhaps an area or a visual effect that made the cut for the Switch 2 release, that at first seemed ambitious?

First of all, I'm genuinely glad to hear you felt that way. When it comes to porting, I've always felt that there's no magic formula, and no single set of steps that guarantees success.

As I mentioned in another question, a major factor in our ability to port an open-world game like Rebirth to the Switch 2 with consistent quality was our success in implementing mesh shading on the Switch 2. However, that alone didn't solve everything. Precisely because this is a title prone to a high number of meshes, we thoroughly reviewed everything for the Switch 2, from background model reduction and LOD settings to material rendering. We tackled each task one by one, ensuring each was completed thoroughly. I believe it all comes down to that cumulative effort.

On top of that, if I had to highlight something I'm particularly proud of, it would be having engineers on the team who approached these tasks with a high level of motivation and a strong sense of responsibility, and whom I could trust completely through to the very end. I feel that this was ultimately the single biggest factor in achieving this level of quality.