The original Final Fantasy 7 ran at a breakneck pace introducing players to the game's world, with several side characters coming and going as they introduce the main party to Cloud. Many of these tertiary characters were forgotten after around the six or seven hours it took to complete Midgar, leaving little room for emotional attachment or making any narrative impact. With Final Fantasy 7 Remake came a lot of positive changes, but none as impactful and unexpected as the character arcs of the Midgar Avalanche crew.
Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge have seen a rebirth not unlike the collective renaissance of Final Fantasy 7 Remake altogether. These characters, who in all honesty served as mere plot devices, now play pivotal and meaningful roles in Cloud's beginning adventure. Note: Spoilers for Final Fantasy 7 Remake ahead.
Gone, Forgotten
Both versions of Final Fantasy 7 introduce the Avalanche members to Cloud during the beginning Mako reactor raid. Along with Barret and later on Tifa, Cloud and the Avalanche crew carry out both of the Sector 1 and Sector 5 reactor raids together. The original game doesn't place much narrative importance on Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge, though to some extent does give them personality through optional dialogue. Avalanche's trio never took center stage, and for good reason.
Barret was their bombastic and driven leader, who was purposefully structured to steal all the attention of Cloud as he becomes a main party member. Players could learn little tidbits of information about the Avalanche trio through optional conversations with Cloud, but they're never truly integral to the game's story. It was determined early on by development that Final Fantasy 7 Remake would expand on these side character's backstories in compelling but relevant ways.
A Reimagined Avalanche Trio
Final Fantasy 7 Remake's beginning plays out almost exactly the same, save for some pivotal changes in the first reactor raid's finale. Many of the interactions between Cloud, Barret, and the Avalanche trio are very similar to the original game, except these interactions are part of cut scenes instead of optional dialogue. After the first reactor raid is where the fruits of the Remake's labor begin to show. Cloud and the Avalanche crew escape Midgar, players are interacting with Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge directly through the materia tutorial and the return to the Sector 7 Slums. As everyone returns to Sector 7 and Seventh Heaven, usually the point where the Avalanche crew goes their own separate ways and can only be optionally interacted with, Final Fantasy 7 Remake adds something entirely new.
An hour or two later, after the player takes on several mercenary jobs with Tifa, Jessie and Cl0ud speak about a completely new mission to Remake. Even more shocking is that both Barret and Tifa aren't clued into the mission at all. Cloud is interacting with Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge directly in a whole new section of the story that still narratively weaves into the second reactor raid. Jessie asks Cloud to tag along to a warehouse infiltration the night prior to the Sector 5 reactor bombing, as she needs to gather supplies from a Shinra storeroom to build the bomb. Cloud even has to sneak into Jessie's home to obtain her father's Shinra keycard to enter the facility, whilst also allowing players to explore her father's bedroom and learn more about Jessie's surprisingly interesting backstory.
While the Avalanche trio never officially joins Cloud's party, these characters see a heightened importance spliced into the Final Fantasy 7Â narrative that intelligently expands their place in the story without interfering with the original game's narrative.
Awkward Family Reunion
Biggs and Wedge see their importance extended beyond just filler characters in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. After the first reactor raid as players engage in some tutorial mercenary work, Tifa formally introduces Cloud to Biggs and Wedge. Biggs and Wedge are not only Avalanche crew members but are also part of the Sector 7 neighborhood watch. The two's personalities are reflective of the spirit of the original Final Fantasy 7, but they're humanized through in-depth and relevant conversations. Players learn Biggs is calculating and analytical almost to a fault, while Wedge is a capable but reckless companion who's kindness knows no bounds.
The two are even more important in the warehouse raid: Biggs takes out several defense turrets harassing Cloud during the beginning fight, and Wedge joins Cloud on the ground to assist in the skirmish. Wedge's kindness almost makes him and Cloud bros, but of course Cloud's attitude doesn't exactly make that last long.
Jessie specifically gets the most amount of screentime out of the Avalanche trio, and for good reason. Jessie has the most eclectic and endearing personality out of all of them, but Remake doesn't stop at just an added questline in service to the main story. Cloud and Jessie have this adorable, slightly one-sided romantic arc that expands Jessie's character arc in an affectionate way.
Players even have the option to make a promise to Jessie to go on a date after the second reactor raid, though fans of the original or those who have played through subsequent portions of Final Fantasy 7 Remake know that doesn't exactly come to fruition. Much like the original game, the trio of Avalanche meet their ends when the plate falls on Sector 7, though their deaths are much more emotionally impactful because player's actually get to know them relatively well compared to the original where they're killed off-screen.
Overall, it's a refreshing and welcome surprise getting to know and humanizing the Avalanche trio in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Rather than being just generic exterior characters used as minimal plot devices, they actually represent an important part of Final Fantasy 7's reimagined story worth exploring.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now on PS4.
