Sephiroth is definitely one of the iconic villains of more than just the game series Final Fantasy but also the gaming industry in general. The image of that One-Winged Angel jumping down from above and then piercing Aerith’s chest with the signature Masamune has certainly been deeply embedded in the minds of countless 8x and 9x generation gamers. Therefore, it is not surprising that Square Enix took great care of this character when remaking the legendary game Final Fantasy VII.
Back in 1997, Sephiroth’s role in the original game was the main villain but only really appeared at the end of the game. From the beginning to the middle of the game, the legendary Soldier is often only mentioned through the stories of NPCs. With the 2020 Remake, that has changed as players have more opportunities to encounter Sephiroth, even having a quite intense boss battle with him at the end.
In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Sephiroth’s role is expected to be even more enhanced and give players the opportunity to learn more about the villain.
“The Remake is about your encounter with Sephiroth, and now in Rebirth, we wanted to make Sephiroth a very clear villain and a goal for the characters to pursue throughout their journey in the game.,” producer Yoshinori Kitase shares. “In the original game, Sephiroth was not seen much on the world map, but in Rebirth, we will prioritize this element.”
In the demo, we saw Cloud and Sephiroth working together, reminding us of the expedition to Mt.Nibel to find the Mako reactor in the original game. At this point, Sephiroth is still a heroic character in the eyes of the player, and Cloud is just a young and inexperienced Soldier. Tifa was then the guide, but was not in the party.
In the new version, Sephiroth in the party is still a strong character with the unique Masamune, but seems to be a bit weaker than in the original game. Although Sephiroth can only be controlled for a short period of time in the game, players will definitely not miss this opportunity. Square Enix also understands that, so it added the legendary Soldier the ability Synergy Ability with Cloud.
Fight director Teruki Endo said: “In developing Sephiroth as a character that players can control in a limited area, we still considered the possibilities for you to play as this iconic character. With that in mind, we invested resources and costs comparable to other playable characters to develop Sephiroth’s combat maneuvers..”
But the development team was cautious in how they handled Sephiroth. After all, the One-Way Angel remains one of gaming’s most iconic and influential villains, so of course, fans will always be on the lookout for any notable changes. tell me. Director Naoki Hamaguchi said: “We felt it was important to describe very clearly how he became who he is in Rebirth. Even as a developer creating this game, seeing Sephiroth discover the truth and falling more and more into darkness – like falling from grace – and portraying this through Sephiroth’s expressions , I can actually feel sorry for him. Over the course of Rebirth, I believe players will not only relate to and understand Cloud better, but will also understand Sephiroth better.”
Obviously, Sephiroth will play a huge role in Rebirth, and especially what Rebirth will lead to: the events at the Forgotten Capital. How will events at Forgotten Capital change? Will any characters have to leave? Or will the developers once again play with gamers’ emotions, when even though everything has changed a lot in Remake and Rebirth, Aerith still cannot avoid death? The answer will only appear when Final Fantasy VII Rebirth officially launches on PlayStation 5 on February 29 next year. For now, we can only wait patiently.
