How to install Final Fantasy VII Remake upscaled environment textures mod and give the game a much-needed graphical facelift?

Only a week after the release of the texture pack for the Sector 7 Slums, the Final Fantasy VII Remake has now received a massive mod that enhances over 6000 environmental textures, making them 4K.

In late March, Altezein, the modder behind this huge project, released the AI-upscaled textures for the Sector 7 Slums, which is one of the locations in the game. And just like that mod, Altezein’s newest mod features AI-upscaled versions of all 6150 environmental textures in the game that are currently under 4K resolution.

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How to install Final Fantasy VII Remake upscaled environment textures mod

As anyone familiar with high-definition textures for modern games, they tend to take up a lot of storage space. This particular texture mod, being a compilation of 4k ones, is certainly no exception. The mod's description states:

“This is the complete Environment upscale mod. It takes all the textures below 4K (4096x4096) and replaces them with AI upscaled versions of both C textures (color maps) and N textures (detail maps).”

The mod stands at a hefty 24GB download, which expands to roughly 45GB when uncompressed. To install the mod, extract the downloaded archives in the following directory: “Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade\End\Content\Paks\~mods.” The installation process is rather simple. However, as is true for any modding in general, make sure to read the mod description page carefully.

A sample of an upscaled texture (on the right) with its original (on the left) (Image via Nexusmods/Altezein)

As this texture mod is quite heavy, it may have a minor impact on the game's framerates. The mod author has reported that the mod runs perfectly on their GTX 1070. Notably, the game stutters, regardless of mods in a few areas like Sector 7.

The PC port of FF VII Remake received flak for not having the usual graphical customization options. The game also somewhat lacked the flair of a modern title due to some poor environmental textures that stuck out like a sore thumb.

However, with this mod now being available on Nexusmods, PC players of the Final Fantasy VII Remake can elevate the visuals of their game to the next level.

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Is the Final Fantasy VII Remake upscaled environmental textures mod the definitive way to play the game?

It should be kept in mind that AI upscaled textures can only do so much. Its limitations are especially visible when the base texture it has upscaled is already in a poor state. These scenarios require manual texture edits, which involves creating a new texture from scratch and is a huge timesink. To further emphasize this, the Moguri and Satsuki mods for other FF games required years to be made.

However, for most environmental textures, in this case, this mod succeeds in giving the game a substantial facelift in terms of graphics.