In its conversion to an action RPG, it became more important than ever for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to up the ante on its playable characters. Every party member brought back in the Remake trilogy must see a full conversion into the new battle system. Whereas the original relied on the Materia system to help you pick each character’s niche, an action game requires more at the baseline. Each playable character feels special and stands out, giving you reasons to switch around and make choices. Let’s talk about every character you can play in the game, although you must be warned of spoilers ahead for the game’s ending and bonus content.
A Fascinating Prologue
Zack
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth chose to open with a bang. Having seen him somehow survive his ordeal from the end of Crisis Core, a seemingly alternate version of Zack Fair races to rescue his girlfriend Aerith. The game’s first moments of combat are shown in tutorial by letting you play as Zack, wielding the iconic Buster Sword. He has unique mechanics, able to spend time charging to increase the damage of his abilities. By comboing successfully, he can access the Quick Charge ability to avoid wasting time. By focusing on his combos and ATB abilities, Zack is a typical brawler with a unique feel. Players also get to enjoy a dramatic moment fighting as him alongside Cloud during the final boss sequence.
Sephiroth
After a brief stint with Zack, the game begins properly by visiting the Nibelheim flashback. This is a story that Cloud tells to the party, of a time when he and Sephiroth returned to Cloud’s hometown to solve a problem with the Mako Reactor. Throughout this segment, the player mostly controls Cloud, although eventually they are allowed to switch and play as the legendary Sephiroth in combat as well. Sephiroth is rather overpowered as one might expect, able to use multiple stances, powerful finishers, and a warp-based dodging ability. Switching to the silver-haired antagonist will let you make short work of enemies.
Cloud
As a returning character from Remake, Cloud is only a bit different in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. He maintains his mode switching, going between Punisher and Operator. He has a wide variety of builds, focusing either on physical attacks or magical ones. He has a powerful block to set up parries, and can combo enemies repeatedly in the air. By dodging and blocking, Cloud can stagger enemies and then deal massive damage. For a more offensive approach, continuous combos can also keep enemies overwhelmed and prevent them from attacking. Cloud can even charge up his sword and fire lasers with it to stay at range. If you want to go all in, sticking with Cloud is not a bad choice.
Avalanche Returns
Barret
Cloud’s additional party members from Remake return in Final Fantays 7 Rebirth without substantial changes. Barret focuses on range with his arm-mounted gun, able to deal rapid-fire damage that helps build up the stagger gauge. He can spend time charging up for a more powerful overcharge burst, which will deal several high-powered blows at once. Barret can also be built effectively as a tank, dodging and blocking as needed. As a big guy, he can naturally be built with high HP and defense. Given his use of a ranged weapon, he also can benefit from ranged magic or elemental infusions on his weapon, giving him access to the enemy’s weaknesses.
Tifa
Tifa is Cloud’s childhood friend and often love interest. She is a fist-fighter, having some of the fastest moves in a melee of anyone in the game. Tifa can use her uppercut to set up aerial combos or build up chi to utilize various unique martial arts abilities. Like Cloud, she can become quite proficient in dodging and weaving in between her melee combos, avoiding damage and keeping enemies off-guard. She remains best suited for these close-ranged encounters, needing others to back her up from afar. By building up her chi, Tifa’s combos will devastate enemies and stop them from getting to her allies.
Aerith
Aerith is the final returning playable character from the base game of Remake. In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, she continues her role as the game’s main caster. She is the most natural user of magic, staying away from enemies and casting spells both offensive and defensive. She can use her staff to fire off ranged attacks to build up ATB, though her combos are slow and flashy. She can charge up and unleash close-ranged AoE if she finds herself surrounded by enemies, and can set up wards around the battlefield to help catch enemies off-guard. She can even teleport to one of the wards she’s placed down if she needs to get out of a tight spot. Aerith is by far the best support character in the game.
Newcomers
Yuffie
After being showcased as the main playable character in Remake’s DLC, Yuffie joins the rest of the party partway through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. She is a pinch-hitter, able to switch between melee and ranged at a moment’s notice. She can stick her pinwheel into the enemy and then channel magical attacks, with options for all the elements to target weaknesses. When she’s ready, she can dash back to the enemy’s location to retrieve her weapon and continue fighting in melee. Yuffie is widely considered to be one of the better characters in the game, being the most effective at melee and ranged out of the whole cast.
Red XIII
As an AI companion in Remake, fans still managed to love Red XIII. He is available to play here in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, with a unique four-legged movement and combat style. Red XIII is agile, moving about the arena and slashing at enemies. He can perform a spin attack when surrounded, and switch into Vengeance mode to move faster and deal more damage. While in this mode, he can perform a powerful attack to restore HP. This makes Red XIII shockingly durable and a great choice for a tank. With both speed and ferociousness, he makes short work of enemies and is a force to be reckoned with.
Cait Sith
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s last playable party member is Cait Sith. Known for his oddness in the original game, which continues here, his style focuses on switching between his cat form and riding on his Moogle. While a cat, Cait Sith is quite agile and can attack quickly, though he lacks substantial strength. Using ATB, he can summon his Moogle mount and begin riding. This slows his movement notably, but his mount deals heavy attacks that dole out damage. He can stand still to deal AoE damage to nearby enemies as well. To get around his slowness, Cait Sith can abandon the Moogle and dodge out of the way of attacks. While he takes a while to get used to, he has his place amongst the cast.
Conclusion
The variety and power behind all of the characters in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth add a lot to the game’s combat. While Zack and Sephiroth are mostly just playable in short story sequences, you can return to them in the Battle Simulator after beating the game. This allows you to experiment with their fighting styles and figure out how they function best. Outside of the simulator, you have the rest of the cast to switch between as you please. You may find your ideal team early on, or switch things up depending on what enemies are in front of you. Whether you make choices for story or gameplay, the cast of the game is diverse in every way that matters.
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