The characters in any Square Enix title like Final Fantasy 7 are one of the strongest aspects of the game, with bombastic designs and attitudes like Barret Wallace being as memorable as intense bosses. One infamous character from the original title is the Materia Thief Yuffie Kisaragi, who is an optional addition to the party that fans of the series have are somewhat divisive of.
Some players may have ignored Yuffie on their first playthrough of Final Fantasy 7, not realizing that the result of missing out on the character means missing out on two of the most interesting side quests in the original game. On the other hand, there are plenty of players who find her childish behavior and the fact that she steals the party's materia in her side quest to be annoying.
This one character puts Final Fantasy 7 Remake in a unique position for the next episode, as it is most likely going to be the point in time when Square Enix will reintroduce a newly remade Yuffie. She's going to need toe the line between maintaining her original character traits, while not coming off as obnoxious to the players that previously disliked her or new players of a similar disposition. The start of this might be to address that the character has become somewhat of a punchline and better temper Yuffie for the age she is supposed to be in the original Final Fantasy 7.
Yuffie as a Punchline
Yuffie's young attitude, sometimes making her act more like a twelve-year-old than a trained, sixteen-year-old ninja, is often what leads people to dislike the character. Many of her interactions generally focus on the fact that she's half the age of some of the cast and still four years younger than the next youngest member of the party in Final Fantasy 7, Tifa. As a result, the fan perception of Yuffie is keeps her stuck as being a little kid, a punchline that fan creators online tend to lean into whenever trying to make funny content out of the original game.
Even higher production fan content, like Team Fourstar's Final Fantasy 7 Machinabridged goes for the low hanging fruit of making Yuffie out to be as annoying as possible, due again to her age. This honestly was a bit of a misnomer on the development side, likely due in part to the character being optional and much of her dialogue needing to be non-impactful to the overall story as a result. Recalibrating her more obnoxious traits while keeping her in line with her age will be difficult, but not quite as difficult as getting through the stolen materia side quest with people still wanting Yuffie in their party for the rest of Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Stealing the Party's Materia in FF7
This may be a moment for the third episode in the series, but if Square Enix doesn't intend to stray far from Final Fantasy 7's story, then it's likely that players will eventually find themselves getting robbed as they head into Wutai for the first time. The whole sequence will probably take up a full chapter in whichever episode of the remake it appears in, around the same length as the original segment, and could determine how fans respond to Yuffie moving forward. With much of the side quest played for laughs, including some creepy moments with Don Corneo, the original game doesn't put a lot of effort into having Yuffie eventually apologize for stealing the materia and rejoining the group.
Taking the same approach might not work for the new tone that the Final Fantasy 7 Remake has set for it's more grounded world, where comedy is more lightly sprinkled over the epic story. While there are entirely comedic chapters in the remake, like Chapter 9's dress hunt, the side quest with Yuffie stealing the party's materia might feel out of place if it plays out exactly the way it had before. The most important change, however, might be to make Yuffie's eventual return more relatable and make it into one of the human moments that the remake excels at, like Barret's wall punching after Sector 7 falls.
Balance in FF7 Combat
The combat in Final Fantasy 7 Remake might be one of its strongest changes, with a more fast-paced style of combat that rewards players for diving deeper than just mashing square the whole time. This combat is a huge departure from the original title, and controlling each individual character now feels unique and fulfilling in their own way. As the remake introduces new characters like Yuffie, finding a balance for them within the party dynamic and within the new combat system will be one of the larger obstacles for Square Enix to overcome.
One thing that likely comes to mind for many players of the original is that Yuffie is a relatively weaker character, making up for a lower attack stat with higher speed to give her more chances to attack. With the new pacing of Final Fantasy 7 Remake's combat system, revamping those values might not necessarily be enough to the character viable in combat, especially considering that her increased speed had diminishing returns in the original game as well. Instead, it might be the ability to make Yuffie another ranged character like Barret and Aerith that can make her stand out, possibly even taking some inspiration from her fighting style in her guest appearances in outside titles like Kingdom Hearts.
Don't Make Yuffie Optional
Making Yuffie a mandatory character could be the most important change that Square Enix can make when Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 arrives. This could solve the above issue with the character's dialogue that isn't related to her side quests so non-impactful, with her character being written directly into the story instead of around it. It would also mean that the remake at one point or another will have to head to Wutai for both of her side quests, which is clearly being built to tie in more closely to the narrative of a new war igniting with Shinra.
Considering that Yuffie has appeared in almost every piece of related media to Final Fantasy 7, including Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, and Advent Children, she has already been established as part of the team in the previous canon. While the remake is already changing Final Fantasy 7, Square Enix might as well go the all the way with integrating Yuffie as a mandatory protagonist. The same can also be said for Vincent Valentine, with the next few episodes of the remake being given the chance to solidify some of the more ambiguous sections of the overarching series' continuity.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now for PS4.
