Both relationships between Cloud and his party . A lot more time is dedicated to building their dynamics, with new scenes and missions that better explore these relationships.
I hadn’t originally played Final Fantasy 7 when I got into the remakes. Without any nostalgia coloring my view of the original, I was slightly disappointed when I sat down to play it. I had reasonable expectations for the visuals and scope of the world, and I was pleasantly surprised by how exciting the turn-based action was. However, I was a little disappointed by the story aspects of the original game, which is something I thought would hold up the best over time. In particular, I was largely disappointed with the different Golden Saucer scenes, given how great Rebirth’s are.
FF7 Rebirth Showed Off Each Character’s Personality Better Than FF7
FF7 Didn’t Give Every Companion The Focus They Deserved
FF7 Rebirth meaningfully extended each character’s Skywheel scene, better showcasing their personality and relationship with Cloud. The most obvious example is probably Cloud’s date with Tifa. In the original, Tifa barely talks, and the two part ways awkwardly after the largely silent ride. In Rebirth, Tifa’s inherent shyness still comes through, but there is more of a back-and-forth between her and Cloud where players start to understand more of the barriers that have always kept them from taking the next step in their relationship.
Yuffie’s Skywheel scene is also greatly improved in Rebirth. In the original FF7, she spends most of the time facing the entire opposite direction from Cloud before kissing him on the cheek, which is met by silence and then a snarky one-liner from the grumpy merc. Again, Rebirth retains the spirit of the original scene while adding some much-needed depth.
Although Aerith’s Skywheel scene in Rebirth hits many of the same beats as in FF7, its small nuances add a lot to the original.
Yuffie describes how Zack used to let her win fights and that she had grown to appreciate that about him. Later, when Yuffie mimes shooting an energy blast at Cloud, he plays along, pretending to get hit. The play fight continues, showing off a more lighthearted side of Cloud that we rarely get to see.
Although Aerith’s Skywheel scene in Rebirth hits many of the same beats as in FF7, its small nuances add a lot to the original. While in both versions Aerith its that she was originally attracted to Cloud because he reminded her of Zack, Rebirth adds a line where she specifies that this doesn’t matter because she now realizes the two are different and she wants to be with Cloud. This is a very mature moment for Aerith because she is reckoning with how the past influences her feelings, but also making a conscious effort to move on from it.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Is Heading To PC In January 2025
Square Enix revealed during TGA 2024 that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is making its way to PC via Steam and Epic Games in January 2025.
The updated versions of these scenes may add more obvious trappings of romance - Cloud and Tifa kissing, or Cloud and Aerith holding hands - but their true strength is in the new emotional beats they’ve added. Any story can make two characters kiss, but for an audience to truly get invested in that happening, it helps to know the characters and why they work well together. That’s the best part of Rebirth’s new romantic scenes.
FF7 Rebirth Proves Scenes Can Be Intimate Without Being Romantic
Cloud’s Scenes With Barret And Red XIII Are Also Emotionally Satisfying
Although I’ve classified these Skywheel scenes as “romantic,” the game actually uses the term “intimate” to describe them, and for good reason. Not all the Skywheel scenes are inherently romantic. Cloud’s scenes with Barret, Red XIII, and Cait Sith don’t involve any romance. However, both Barret and Red XIII’s scenes are still emotionally impactful and give the characters more intimate moments with Cloud.
Red XIII takes his alone time with Cloud as a moment to show his vulnerability and share things he is worried about. After pretending to be a grizzled old veteran for the first half of the game, it’s nice to see Red XIII is now close enough with Cloud to let his guard down. For his part, Cloud also lets his guard down a bit, even going so far as affectionately petting Nanaki at the end of the ride. This scene is wholly original to Rebirth, yet another way the game adds more depth to the characters than the original.
Although Barret’s scene is similar to his FF7 original, like Aerith’s, it is improved by Rebirth’s additions. Barret tells Cloud a story about how he met his wife, leading to his question about who Cloud has romantic feelings for. Cloud chooses not to answer, but seems to take Barret’s message about telling people how he feels to heart. This takes a scene that was largely played for laughs in the original and turns it into one of the rare sweet moments between the pair.
FF7 Rebirth’s Romance Scenes Are A Welcome Departure From RPG Trends
Some RPG Romances Over Emphasize Physicality But Aren’t Emotionally Satisfying
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth isn’t just an improvement on the original, but also on other RPGs. One issue that a lot of RPGs with romanceable companions have is that there aren’t usually great capstone scenes for characters with whom the player has a platonic relationship. Relationships with romanceable characters in games like Mass Effect or Dragon Age seem to have two options: stagnate, or end in a sex scene. In contrast, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Skywheel scenes offer greater emotional resolutions, even between characters who aren’t romantically involved.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth May Have Exceeded Your Expectations, But It Didn't Exceed Square Enix's
Despite being one of 2024's most hyped releases, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has reportedly failed to meet the expectations of developer Square Enix.
Even Baldur’s Gate 3, a game with some of my favorite NPC companions, stumbles a bit with its romantic subplots. It falls into the same trappings of overemphasizing characters’ physical connections while occasionally underselling their emotional ones. While Shadowheart has a strong emotional connection with her romantic partner by the end, Karlach’s romance plot largely revolves around making it possible for her to become physically intimate with the player. That isn’t to say Karlach doesn’t have an interesting personality outside of this, but her romantic subplot feels largely focused on physical touch and little else.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Skywheel scenes stand as shining examples of how I’d like to see video games handle relationships, whether romantic or otherwise. I like the idea of a big payoff scene at the end of a long game where I can choose to spend a special moment with a chosen companion. However, I prefer those scenes to be emotionally rewarding, as opposed to one that just lets me pick which character model I want to see without clothes on.
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