The long-awaited Final Fantasy VII Remake reintroduced many fan-favorite main characters from the PS1 classic. Characters like Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, and Sephiroth are some of the most recognizable characters in gaming, let alone the Final Fantasy franchise specifically.
After fully refining the real-time combat that XV started, much of this cast proved to seamlessly transition themselves into this action format. While not all of the game’s main cast is playable in combat, most of them offer something useful that matches their in-universe lore whether it’s Cloud’s versatility, Aerith’s healing, or Sephiroth simply living up to his status as the main antagonist.
Jessie, Biggs & Wedge
One of the many strengths of Final Fantasy VII Remake is how some of the main cast’s more supporting characters got a welcome dose of the spotlight compared to the original. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge of Barrett’s sect of the environmental insurgent group Avalanche are included in this, but that didn’t translate into battling abilities. They aren’t any of the characters that are playable or feature in FFVIIR‘s active party, so there isn’t much to judge them on.
The trio is useful in-universe, of course, as they’re instrumental along with the rest of the group in combatting Shinra Corp.’s efforts to siphon the world’s life force for the sake of corporate greed. That being said, it’s safe to say gameplay- or story-wise, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge wouldn’t stand toe-to-toe against Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, etc.
Aerith
Both Aerith Gainsborough and Tifa Lockhart are some of the Final Fantasy franchise’s best female characters, but between the two of them, the latter is the most competent when it comes to raw strength. Aerith simply isn’t a physical combatant and doesn’t have the defenses to last long if players throw her in a fight demanding that, but that’s fine considering where her strengths lie.
Aerith is an exceptional healer at the party, which includes some incredibly useful Limit Breaks that can heal her companions as well as grant them immunity from physical damage. It’s fitting considering her backstory as the last in the ancient line of Cetra, a race of beings bestowed with incredible magical abilities.
Barrett
Avalanche’s leader and muscle with a heart of gold, Barrett Wallace is a solid member of the Final Fantasy VII Remake party in the heat of battle. Despite his physique, though, Barrett typically excels as a ranged fighter. His bionic turret arm makes sure that, as his ranged damage output is reliable for constantly keeping enemies under pressure and chipping away at their health.
Barrett could be fashioned into more of a melee fighter, but it’s probably best to play to his strengths to make use of his Limit Breaks. He’s one of the most likable characters when it comes to story, between his touching relationship with his adopted daughter Marlene and his tragic origin story that put him on the path against Shinra.
Yuffie
In the original PS1 game, Yuffie was an optional party member players could recruit partway through the story. In Final Fantasy VII Remake – Intergrade (the PS5 port), Yuffie is the headliner of the INTERmission DLC expansion. It’s another original story within Remakefashioning her story to fit in this new interpretation.
In terms of gameplay, she is an impressive fighter thanks to her close-quarters, aerial, and ranged capabilities. On top of one-on-one combat, her shuriken can hit enemies at range and apply an Elemental damage booster thanks to Yuffie’s Ninjutsu. Story-wise, Yuffie was born in Wutai – the western nation that went to war against Shinra for the latter’s lust for Mako energy. It’s a tragic origin story that adds to the worldbuilding of one of the greater Final Fantasy stories overall.
Tifa
Tifa is another one of the most consistent party members in Final Fantasy VII Remake in addition to one of the franchise’s most beloved heroines. It’s also to the player’s mechanical benefit for her to be so present in the game, as Tifa is the best out-and-out melee combatant in FFVIIR.
Unsurprisingly, she has some of the best offensive Limit Breaks in the game, making her more than worthy of a character to invest in the best equipment. Fans will undoubtedly be eager to see where Tifa’s story goes in the sequel since she’s an equal parts likable character in her own right and integral to Cloud’s character arc as well as his childhood best friend.
Cloud
As many would expect from Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s protagonist and franchise icon, Cloud Strife is an excellent fighter all around. The arsenal he has available in terms of abilities is adaptable to just about any generic mob or boss encounter. It’s a bit of a given, of course, since Cloud is the only character that stays in the party throughout the game.
His combat prowess may have canonically come about as a result of his trauma and Mako poisoning impressing Zack’s abilities over his own, but it makes Cloud a force to be reckoned with regardless. Cloud’s special abilities and the ability to switch between Operator Mode (for agility) and Punisher Mode (heavy-hitter) is a big boon to his versatility. Not to mention that Cloud has one of the best Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Sephiroth
Arguably just as expected as Cloud’s strength, one of gaming’s most iconic villains in Sephiroth is a near-insurmountable foe in Remake just as he was in the acclaimed classic Final Fantasy VII on the PS1. While he’s not a playable character, Sephiroth’s raw strength is made abundantly clear in the wildly cinematic boss fight against him in Remake‘s final act.
Cloud and co. temporarily defeat this version of Sephiroth by the end, but it had to be a team effort through and through to get that far. His reputation precedes him, as even before Sephiroth’s descent into madness upon discovering his origins, he was a legendary member of SOLDIER to the point that both Cloud and Zack Fair looked up to him at a time.
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