Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a deceptively complex game. In some ways, it’s a whole lot more convenient than the original — you don’t have to manage a full inventory of items, and you can Save / Load anywhere you want. Then it will test you with challenging boss fights and a whole load of weird little issues. One of my biggest pet-peeves was having to re-open the menu to give Cloud and friends a whole ton of potions in the mid-game to get them fully healed. Why waste the good potions? But, as it turns out, there’s an incredibly handy solution to that problem.
In fact, I’ve found three simple key-mapping questions that the game straight-up doesn’t explain. These three buttons on your PS4 Controller can change your life, and it’s really important to know about these particular shortcuts. Whether you’re lost, want to heal a ton of times quickly, or just need to check and see what weaknesses your enemies have, these buttons are life-savers. When I learned about these tricks, they made my experience with FF7R even better. Here’s hoping they can help you too.
More Final Fantasy 7 Remake guides:
Tips & Tricks Beginner’s Guide | How To Unlock Level 2 Limit Breaks | All Weapon Locations & Proficiency Abilities | All Rare Materia Locations | How To Unlock All Summon Materia | All Jukebox Music Tracks Locations | ‘Heavenly Dart Player’ Trophy Guide | ‘Sultan of Squat’ Trophy Guide | How To Get 200% Or 300% Stagger Bonus | How To Beat Roche, Crab Warden & Air Buster | How To Beat Reno, Rude & Hell House | How To Beat Abzu, Ghoul & Eligor | All Side-Quests Guide & Rewards List
There are three button-related tips I’ve found so useful, I’m going to just share them with no context.
After pressing [Cross (X)] to open the menu out-of-battle, hold [L1] when using potions or Cure spells to keep the menu open. Then you can use lots of potions quickly without having to re-navigate.
Hold [L2] to bring up the mini-map. You can navigate without having to open up the full map. This makes getting around the complicated hub areas so much easier — especially when you’re trying to complete lots of side-quests.
In combat, press [Touchpad] to open Enemy Intel. If you use the Assess ability, you’ll permanently unlock an Enemy Intel card. Now you can check your enemy weaknesses or tactical tips at any time. You’ll fight certain enemies for the entire game, so it helps to get a refresher.
And that’s it! I didn’t discover some of these until I already played the game for 8+ hours, but when I did find these controls, it made my life playing FF7R so much easier.