Final Fantasy 7 Remake has established a daunting task in the subsequent chapters that will follow the first game. It was already a massive undertaking to recreate one of the most beloved games of all time, but the game's critical and commercial success speak for itself. Final Fantasy 7 Remake not only retold the first game's story, but has changed it in some some major ways. A revelation that came at the end of the first game, and expanded on in the Intergrade re-release, has specifically important implications for the game's main protagonist Cloud.
Cloud Strife is easily one of the most recognizable characters in gaming, and many longtime fans of Final Fantasy 7 are familiar with his story. Newer players who met Cloud and the other members of AVALANCHE in FF7 Remake are less knowledgeable about his story. Cloud's character arc throughout the original game hinges around a very pivotal point moment: After surviving Sephiroth's attack on his hometown of Nibelheim, and brutal experimentation by Shinra, Cloud was brought back to Midgar by his comrade Zack Fair. Zack ended up sacrificing his life to save Cloud, and that moment is a cornerstone of Final Fantasy 7's narrative.
Cloud's Ties to Zack are Pivotal to Final Fantasy 7
Zack's sacrifice outside of Midgar becomes the final shock to Cloud's psyche before it finally breaks. After watching his comrade die at the hands of Shinra soldiers, the would-be super soldier suffers a mental breakdown partly fueled by trauma and partly by the experiments that tied him to Sephiroth. Cloud takes up the iconic Buster Sword, and with it takes Zack's memories and story as his own. Final Fantasy 7 Remake has brought in many elements from outside the main game, but it has also shaken up this key event in a huge way.
The ending of the original release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake included a moment where Zack Fair is seen having survived that pivotal moment, carrying Cloud into Midgar. This originally led to a lot of speculation that this version of Zack existed in a separate timeline created by the defeat of the Whispers. However, the extended ending from Intergrade seem to point towards Zack being alive and present in the same timeline. It seems that the temporal shockwave of the Whispers' defeat has not only opened up the future, but changed the past as well. It's also notable that while this event has changed, Cloud himself remains unchanged by that shift in events.
This major change in the backstory of Cloud, and the game as a whole, creates a narrative tightrope in regards to Cloud. So much of the love the original game received was due to the very raw depiction of Cloud's mental illness. Even before having his own memories pieced together much later in the story, it's still clear that Cloud is dealing with a lot of guilt over Zack's death.
Aerith has many big moments in FF7, and an important part of her arc is the relationship she forms with Cloud after having been involved with Zack prior. Cloud doesn't divulge his knowledge of Zack directly until visiting Zack's hometown of Gongaga, but the moments Aerith brings up her former love interest are marked with Cloud falling even more silent than usual.
FF7 Remake Part 2 Needs to Handle Zack Fair with Care
A world where Zack and Cloud are likely to interact has some very interesting possibilities to consider for Final Fantasy 7 Remake. While it's totally possible that Zack remains in Midgar to theoretically deal with some of the new plot threads coming from Dirge of Cerberus, like Deepground and the Tsviets, its unlikely he won't cross paths with Cloud at some point.
Some of the immediate problems with that which could arise include another layer of the already tumultuous love triangle between Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa, or Cloud suffering some other form of mental breakdown. Dealing with the less obvious issues that Zack's survival creates will be critical to how veteran fans react to the next chapter of Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
If (and likely when) Cloud discovers Zack is still alive, the cornerstone of his character arc becomes somewhat broken. The guilt over Zack's death and his fractured personality form the more nuanced elements of Final Fantasy 7's story, beyond the more generic quest to defeat Sephiroth. That isn't to say Sephiroth isn't already a compelling villain, but a huge chunk of what made him feel truly villainous was the slow way he suggested to Cloud that his memories weren't his own and used those moments of weakness against him. FF7 Remake already has an enormous amount of questions to answer, and not providing satisfying answers to what a reunion between Zack and Cloud would be like could spurn some fans.
It isn't to say that the possibilities aren't interesting. Now that Final Fantasy 7 Remake will open up the world beyond just Midgar, there are a lot of ways Zack being alive could impact the plot. If the iconic Nibelheim flashback sequence still occurs in the village of Kalm, Cloud will recount his version of events the day that Sephiroth went insane. It will be interesting to see, if in the new version of events, Tifa pushes back against the story more than she did in the original, or if Zack himself will set the story straight. If either occurs, then the segment later in FF7 where Tifa travels through Cloud's subconscious would either not happen, or be drastically changed.
It's important to note that a big reason the two might not meet until much later in the story comes from a gameplay perspective. Final Fantasy 7 Remake's combat system did a good job of making the characters feel very distinct from each other, but Zack and Cloud would have very similar fighting styles. That could be a little boring for players outside of some pivotal story moments where the two can team up.
That points toward Zack's new story being handled either as separate gameplay segments, or purely cinematic. While the concept of having Zack and Cloud teaming up to take out Sephiroth is enticing, Zack's survival means that some very important plot threads will need to be organized carefully to not lose some of the heart of the original Final Fantasy 7.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 is currently in development.
