Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthis shaping up to break a lot of expected norms from the original PlayStation title. While story-wise, the game appears to be picking up right whereFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeleft off, the ending of that game leaves a lot of room for this next entry in the trilogy to deviate by introducing elements like Whispers who demonstrate the in-universe acknowledgment that the timelines between the original and remake trilogy are different. SinceFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthis already embracing a deviation from the original’s timeline, it should take this opportunity to expand the roles within Cloud’s party and allow characters to change classes.
Classes and class archetypes have been a huge part ofFinal Fantasygamessince the original NES title introduced 6 playable classes for players to choose from. While the rigid definition of classes has changed over the series' life, most games still maintain some form of class archetype for each playable character. The introduction of the job system in which players could change their party’s classes inFinal Fantasy 3became a popular recurring aspect of the franchise, and it could be just whatFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthneeds to evolve its gameplay.
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Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is the Perfect Opportunity to Give Classic Characters New Classes
Rebirthis set to pick up at the point in the original game where the player gets their first opportunity to explore the world outside ofFinal Fantasy 7’s Midgar, and while the story may take some different turns, it will likely still feature a more open world thanFinal Fantasy 7 Remake. A big part of this section of the originalFinal Fantasy 7was the new options for party members like Yuffie, Cid, Cait Sith, and Vincent that could be recruited from different parts of the map. As such, this is the ideal time to switch up gameplay by allowing party members to change classes.
Combat inFinal Fantasy 7 Remaketook the classic Active Time Battle mechanics from the original game and meshed them with a modern real-time action-oriented system. However, players were largely limited with their party throughout sections of the game, with access to Cloud, Barrett, Tifa, Aerith, and Red XIII near the end. Although combat could be switched up depending on weapons and Materia the player had equipped, the potential for double the party size inFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthwarrants a much larger gameplay evolution, and the ability to change a character’s class would help the game feel like a fresh experience while still being nostalgic.
While the main party members have some elements of the more traditionalFinal Fantasyclasses found in their skill set, such as Cloud’s Red Mage-like jack-of-all-trades archetype, Barrett’s offense-oriented Warrior archetype, and Tifa’s high-dexterity Monk archetype. It would be an interesting change of pace to see these roles swapped around, like having the typically magic-orientedAerith inFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthflex her skills in a physically offensive role like the Warrior. The game could introduce this mechanic in a way that gives players access to new classes as they recruit new characters along their journey.
There could even be an in-universe justification for this mechanic that revolves around the wayFinal Fantasy 7 Remake’s Whisperstry to correct those who stray from fate, giving the system a sort of risk and reward associated with changing one’s class. Changing a character’s class too often could cause an incursion of Whispers to attack the party, so players end up having to be strategic about how they manage their party builds. The divergent nature of the remake trilogy’s storyline helps build the foundation for new gameplay mechanics like a job system to pushFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthabove and beyond the heights of the original game.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthis set to release in Winter 2023 for PS5.
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