As the march towards Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s arrival gets shorter, many people are taking the time to look at the various trailers that have dropped and analyze what is different between the first part of the remake and the second. One of the biggest differences will be the party size and how you can swap characters in and out more easily. In the 2020 game, you only had Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, and Aerith to use, but they weren’t always available to you because of the story. However, in the sequel, you’ll have all of them and other characters to help you along the way.
But, that doesn’t mean there won’t be “guest characters” like there was before. Red XIII somewhat infamously was a “guest character” in the first part due to how late you got him in the game. Then, based on statements from the team, it seemed like Cid and Vincent Valentine wouldn’t be able to join your party either. Thanks to an interview with IGN, that’s now been confirmed, as director Naoki Hamaguchi revealed:
“Both Cid and Vincent are accompanying the party on their journey, and they do help out, but they aren’t actually featuring in battle as guest characters. So they’re not really going to be involved in your fight.”
Given that we’ve seen Cid and Vincent prominently in cutscenes within the latest trailers and had special art of their characters recreated, we know they’ll play a role in the story. But it appears you’ll have to wait until the third and final part of the remake series to enjoy them in combat. So, like Red XIII in the past, you’ll likely use their “talents” to help get around the world of Gaia. With Cid, it’s likely that you’ll be using his plane to get around. Then, with Vincent, you might use his “unique abilities” to help trigger things.
Traversal is something that will be harped on more in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Each character will have special abilities that they can use to help change the environment and open up paths for everyone. Cloud can use his sword to get things done, Barrett can shoot things with his gun arm, Tifa has her grappling gun that she can use, Aerith can manipulate the Lifesteam, and so on. Given the many regions within the game, you’ll have plenty of time and opportunities to see how everything works and who you need in key situations.
The game will be released on PS5 on February 29th.
