Final Fantasy 7 Remake was not the game fans expected it to be. It was not a straight remake of the PS1 classic RPG, it was a reimagining of the story, and it was only part one in what is now believed to be a trilogy. Will this turn out to be a trilogy, or will things drag on longer? It is hard to say for now, but fans do have a new trailer to discuss for its sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
It's a rather meaty trailer that shows a lot of characters and locations from the first game. Here are all of the key characters shown in the trailer and some predictions for their possible roles in the upcoming game.
This list contains spoilers for the original Final Fantasy 7
9 Aerith
Aerith is shown several times in the trailer, but she doesn’t have a large role in it. Her best lines are delivered when she enters the overworld for the first time. She is awestruck by the fact that the planet still has so much green in it. To her, everything is supposed to look dead like how it was within Midgar except her little garden area. The big question for Aerith in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is whether or not she survives.
8 Barret
Barret also doesn’t have a huge role in the trailer, although he does have some lines. The coolest part in the trailer shows Barret squaring off with some sort of golem within The Mythril Mines with Red 13 by his side. It looks like the two heroes get separated from the others, as they are the only two health bars on the screen. This boss looks like a new creation for the remake universe, as there was no boss within The Mythril Mines originally.
7 Bugenhagen
Bugenhagen is Red 13’s grandpa in the original game; something that is never really explained since Red 13 belongs to a dog-like species, which is also never elaborated on.
This adopted grandfather does take care of Red 13 until he is captured by Shinra to be experimented on. Bugenhagen’s role in the original is minimal, but his presence in the trailer shows that players will reach Cosmo Canyon at the very least within Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s timeframe.
6 Cloud
Cloud is the main protagonist in the Final Fantasy 7 series, so, of course, he is in this trailer. Most of his voiceover is him explaining to the group how he met Sephiroth. That’s indeed the whole theme of the trailer as both Cloud and Tifa go into this backstory.
What will Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth change about this backstory, if anything? Final Fantasy 7 Remake put a huge spin on the original with the inclusion of the ghostly phantoms trying to keep the timeline in place. Will they return to right some plot holes in Cloud’s story in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth too?
5 Elena And Rude
Elena of The Turks is one of the two new characters shown in the trailer; the first being the aforementioned Bugenhagen. She appears alongside Rude to fight Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa in the trailer. This, again, is how The Mythril Mines section is supposed to end in the original game, and there is never a separation of the pack. Also, there is never a boss fight. The party talks to Tseng, Rude, and Elena, and that is it.
4 Red 13
Red 13 appeared at the end of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, as he was supposed to, within Shinra HQ. Because he is a late-party member, the developers didn’t think it was a good investment to make him a playable character.
Instead, he assisted the party as an AI companion. In the trailer, it shows he is finally playable and looks to be quite speedy too.
3 Sephiroth
Sephiroth appears in two big scenes within the Summer Game Fest trailer. First, he appears in the scene within the Shinra Cargo Ship, wherein he unleashes a clone of Jenova to fight the party. He also appears in the finale of the trailer, striking down Tifa inside the Nibel Reactor. This scene flashback that Cloud will presumably explain within the Kalm Inn as he did in the original game.
2 Tifa
Most of Tifa’s involvement in this trailer has already been shared. The one part that has not been discussed yet is the opening. It shows Midgar in ruins after a tornado apparently tore through some sectors. In the news feed, Tifa is shown on a stretcher along with Aerith, Barret, and Red 13.
Is the party going to go back to Midgar in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, or does this quick scene showcase another universe? Let’s remember Final Fantasy 7 Remake ended with Zack looking at Midgar, which is about to be swallowed up by a tornado in seemingly a different dimension.
1 Yuffie
Yuffie didn’t play a big role in the original PS4 release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, as in she wasn’t in the game at all. However, when the game was re-released on PS5, she got her one interquel DLC. The finale of that DLC has Yuffie escape Midgar to parts unknown. In this trailer, she unites with Cloud and the others as she is supposed to do in the original game. She doesn’t have a huge part in the trailer, but there is a fun scene with her in a battle wherein she teams up with Red 13 for some sort of new combo attack.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is set to release on PlayStation 5 in early 2024.
