Co-director of Final Fantasy 7.
The FF7R Episode INTERmission chapters involve Yuffie infiltrating Midgar during the events of FF7 Remake. She teams up with Avalanche HQ in search of powerful Materia that is being kept by the Shinra Corporation. It has been confirmed that she will fight Scarlet, as well as Nero the Sable from Dirge of Cerberus. Yuffie's storyline runs alongside FF7 Remake's, but it's still recommended that players finish the main storyline first, as Yuffie's content contains spoilers about the main game's plot.
It's been widely speculated as to why Yuffie was chosen to star in the INTERmission DLC chapters. FF7 Remake only follows the Midgar portion of the game, so most of the original Final Fantasy 7 party aren't playable in the base campaign. Now, Tetsuya Nomura has revealed why Yuffie was chosen in an interview with PlayStation Blog. According to Nomura, the reason Yuffie was selected to be INTERmission's protagonist is because of the original game's timeline. When asked about what specifically drove the decision, he shared:
"The overarching story follows the original, so considering where this lies in the storyline, Vincent is still in his slumber and Cid is on Shinra’s side, so Yuffie was the only one who would be able to move freely."
It makes a lot of sense to pick Yuffie over Cid or Vincent, as the latter two characters are canonically far away during the events of the Midgar section of Final Fantasy 7. Cid is still in Rocket Town, while Vincent is sleeping in his coffin in the Shinra Mansion. Red XIII is also still imprisoned within the Shinra Headquarters throughout most of FF7 Remake, but - theoretically - he could have starred in a prequel DLC explaining how he was captured, which was originally seen in the Japan-exclusive Before Crisis spin-off. Cait Sith could also have starred in the DLC, as he does have a brief cameo in FF7 Remake, but he's not exactly the most popular character in the franchise.
The gaps in Yuffie's backstory also make her the perfect candidate to star in FF7 Remake DLC, especially as the story seems to be leading up to a conflict between the Shinra and Wutai. Yuffie was an optional character in Final Fantasy 7, but she was subsequently given a role in almost every Final Fantasy 7 spin-off. She is long overdue for some time in the spotlight, and the events of INTERmission will hopefully lead to Yuffie ing Cloud's party in future entries in the FF7 Remake series (as well as Vincent).
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and FF7R Episode INTERmission will be available for PS5 on June 10, 2021.
Source: PlayStation Blog
