Summary
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthmay not be the faithful remake many fans are expecting, especially afterFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeestablished that this remake trilogy would offer a different version of events from the original game. While it’s likely thatFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthwill still hit most of the major story beats found in the original PlayStation title, there is a lot of room for the game to throw some surprise twists at the player. With this possibility in mind, the game could follow in the footsteps ofThe Last of Us Part 2and completely flip player expectations on their head.
From what has been shown in the trailers forFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it appears that Zack will play a more prominent role in this game’s story than in the original game. Rather than simply appearing in flashbacks, Zack could end up working alongside the rest of the main party in the present thanks to the game’s deviation from the original’s timeline. If this ends up being the case,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthcould pull a major twist and have its iconic protagonist Cloud go the same way asJoel inThe Last of Us Part 2.
RELATED:How Aerith’s Story Could Change in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Cloud Could Suffer the Same Fate as The Last of Us Part 2’s Joel
In the original continuity ofFinal Fantasy 7, Zack dies at the hands of Shinra soldiers prior to the events of the original game as depicted inCrisis Core: Final Fantasy 7. Cloud, who had become close friends with Zack, witnessed this death and the trauma of experiencing it causes his mind to warp some of Zack’s memories and personality traits into his own persona. This chain of events sets up the Cloud players are familiar with and the one present inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, butFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthcould alter how these events unfold.
It’s possible that Zack will have somehow survived this attack and return in the new continuity ofFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth. If this happens, the game could pull a huge bait-and-switch making Zack the new protagonist and having Cloud be the one who dies instead. Given that Cloud can be seen taking part in combat and other major story beats in the trailers forFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the most likely way this death would play out is to haveAerith swapped out for Cloudin the iconic scene from the original game where she is killed by Sephiroth.
This twist would likely be very controversial among fans of the original game, much like how Joel’s death early on inThe Last of Us Part 2was controversialas well. However, if players get to play most ofFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthas Cloud before he is killed off in the end, it could still give longtime fans a similar enough experience to the original title to mitigate some of the controversy. EndingFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthwith this twist could also set up an interesting scenario for the third part of the remake trilogy where Zack becomes the main protagonist and gets a rematch with Sephiroth in the game’s finale.
Going this route withFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthwould be a very risky move, butFinal Fantasy 7 Remakehas shown that this trilogy isn’t afraid to deviate from the original script. If this ends up being the game’s twist, the trailers have done a great job at hiding it, similar to how the trailers forThe Last of Us Part 2made it seem like Joel would have a much bigger role in that game. Most of Joel’s scenes in that game ended up coming from flashbacks, and the presence of theWhispers inFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthmeans the scenes with Cloud could be coming from an alternate timeline.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthwill be released on July 19, 2025, for PS5.
MORE:Final Fantasy Is Lining Up Games Like It’s The ’90s Again
