Overall, players have been ecstatic about Final Fantasy 7 Remake finally coming out in April, with most early impressions being very positive. Fans have been patiently waiting to see the reimagining of the classic Final Fantasy 7 characters with a modern makeover. With Red XIII will be joining the party towards the end of the first episode of Remake, he’s also not going to be a playable character unlike the rest of the main party members gained in Midgar. Players should expect a less-involved version of Red XIII to tide them over until he becomes fully playable, likely in the next chapter.
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The Original Red XIII
In the original Final Fantasy 7 plot, Red XIII was introduced relatively late into disc one as a new party member. During the Shinra tower raid, as Cloud and the gang are ascending to rescue Aerith, Cloud discovers Red XIII in Professor Hojo’s research chamber. Other than being a temporary containment room for Jenova, Red XIII is being held in this research area with Aerith. Described as Hojo’s “precious specimen,” he attempts to experiment on both Red XIII and Aerith together in the same chamber. Cloud and the party intervenes and breaks Aerith and Red XIII out of the experiment chamber, all joining together to escape Shinra Tower and Midgar altogether.
During this time, unlike in Remake, Red XIII is a fully-matriculated member of Cloud’s party available for use. Even though this is towards the end of Final Fantasy 7’s first disc, there are still plenty of standard and boss battles for Red XIII to participate in throughout Shinra tower and the escape from Midgar. However, in the Remake, Red XIII’s role is going to be much more limited due to the nature of the story and when he will be introduced.
Red XIII’s Role in Remake
It’s been confirmed that Red XII will not be a playable party member in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, at least for now. Red XIII’s purpose in Final Fantasy 7 Remake is likely going to be as a guest/support character, compared to the fully playable characters in the rest of the party. Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s Co-Director Naoki Hamaguchi clarifies that, due to the expanded nature of the Midgar story, Red XIII’s introduction in the re-imagining comes much later in the game. Since players will become well-acquainted with their current party by the time Red XIII joins the party, Hamaguchi and the development team believed fully introducing a new playable character so late in the game would not do justice for the character himself.
Red XIII will still be part of the party in Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s first episode, but he will act autonomously with the rest of the playable cast. Along with Hamaguchi’s explanation, Red XIII’s limited inclusion is likely due to development time as well. Every character (Tifa, Barrett, Aerith, Cloud) has a unique fighting style for combat, which means each is designed uniquely and meticulously on their own. Red XIII’s full fighting style could significantly impact the development time and cost of the game, due to him being the only bipedal party member in the game, likely commanding a higher attention to detail and a unique design approach. While many believe Red XIII’s role in Final Fantasy 7 Remake should be expanded, it does make sense when considering the logistics.
Red XIII will probably function similarly to a Kingdom Hearts-styled cameo party member, mostly independent with little player agency to what their battle behavior is. Rather than being fully autonomous, an interesting twist would be if Red XIII could create team-up opportunities during boss battles like the Reaction Commands used in Kingdom Hearts 2. Considering Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s battle system was initially inspired by Kingdom Hearts combat mechanics, it’s very likely these types of team-based attacks will be implemented with Red XIII. Making the decision to not add him as a party member will likely pave the way for some interesting situational mechanics instead.
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Nanaki’s Official Return
Fans will almost certainly be able to fight as Red XIII when he becomes a fully-fledged party member in Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s next chapter. As mentioned previously, the Remake development team will likely use the extra development time to narrow down Red XIII’s unique fighting style and how it’s incorporated into the battle system. There’s not much to go on in terms of theorizing how Red XIII will function in battle with a fully playable fighting style, but the closest thing to it would be Sora’s Lion King transformation in Kingdom Hearts 2. Other than that, a lion-like fighting style is much harder to properly animate and simulate compared to characters like Cloud or Tifa, where humanity is the only frame of reference for their design.
Red XIII’s introduction as a fully playable character will likely get all the love he deserves in the next iteration of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. For now, players can at least appreciate the tease of Red XIII now and get excited to play as him later on.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake releases on April 10, 2020, on PS4.
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