Final Fantasy VII Remake now has a game save converter, but it looks like a headache

In context: As you probably already know, Square Enix decided to remaster the PlayStation 4 remake of Final Fantasy VII and call it “Final Fantasy VII Remake.” It features better graphics and performance with the ability to toggle between the two.

As has been the trend moving into this new console generation, customers who have already bought the PlayStation 4 version of Final Fantasy VII Remake can get the PS5 upgrade for free when it releases next week. But what about all the progress you have made so far? Saves are not cross-compatible. I learned this when upgrading to the PS5 version of No Man’s Sky.

Fortunately, Square Enix addressed this issue in the most recent FFVII PS4 update, which rolled out Wednesday. RPG Site noticed there is now a menu option to upload and convert saves, presumably so you can download them to your PS5. Unfortunately, it also looks like the process is going to be a hot mess.

First of all, you have to upload each file separately, which can be a pain if you like to have multiple saves as fall-backs. Okay, fine. So once you do that, you are good to go, right? Well, maybe not. Logically the process to get them transferred to the PS5 will be similar—open the game and find the transfer option in the start menu.

However, Kotaku notes both games must be installed for the data transfer to work. For those migrating to a new PS5, this is not an issue. However, it could present a potential pain in the rump for those playing on the PS5 in compatibility mode, which is likely a substantial number of users.

The crux of the problem is the PS5’s notorious lack of drive space—well, that and the ballooning size of games. The PS4 version of FFVIIR is 86GB. It’s unclear how large an install the PS5 version is, but assuming it’s comparable, players are looking at another 86GB or more eating up their SSD.

Anyone who has had their PS5 for more than a couple of months is likely to have minimal space left. I can attest to this. I have only had mine for less than two months, and I have already bumped into the lack of drive space warning. I do not have room for another 80GB+ game. So despite the process being somewhat labor-intensive, which I can deal with, the space issue only compounds the headache.

Save transferring (using my use case as an example) will require:

• Deleting one or more games,
• Downloading and installing the PS5 version of FFVIIR,
• Going through the cumbersome data transfer process multiple times,
• Deleting the PS4 version,
• Downloading and reinstalling the previously deleted games.

And that’s assuming there is enough space for said games. I’m sorry, but for me, that’s game over. I’d rather just quit playing, wait for the rest of the episodes to land, and start over from scratch.

Here’s looking forward to the day that developers starting saying, “You know what? I think this time we’ll only make a next-gen version of our game.” Just like the old days.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade launches June 10.

Image credit: RPG Site