Summary
- Tifa was meant to have a special mission before Don Corneo's, involving lore and team dynamics.
- Red XIII was supposed to be a playable character, but was likely cut to manage the game's scale.
- Minor cuts include a test map, an unfinished Tseng model, and a swapped Shinra theme music track.
When it comes to a game as extensive in its developmental scope as Final Fantasy 7 Remake, there are bound to be some cuts made here and there involving concepts that were originally conceived but, for one reason or another, were unable to be brought to fruition. During a game's development, almost no idea is guaranteed a free ride to the end, and that is especially true of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which saw several of its elements cut before its final release.
Not every cut made to Final Fantasy 7 Remake is as substantial as the next, but there were nonetheless certain features that, had they made it into the final game, might have changed the overall experience for better or worse. Included in the cuts made to Final Fantasy 7 Remake are a once-playable character, an entire sequence involving Tifa, and other, perhaps more expendable cuts.
One Genre Could Be Oddly Perfect for a Final Fantasy Spin-Off
The Final Fantasy franchise has yet to fully explore one genre that would be perfect for a spin-off, considering the series' affinity for dark themes.
Everything Cut From Final Fantasy 7 Remake
A Special Mission Seeing Tifa Take the Lead Was Removed Before Launch
One of Final Fantasy 7 Remake's more significant cuts involved a special mission where Tifa was meant to take the lead for a bit. The mission would have occurred shortly after she was separated from Cloud at the Sector 5 reactor, somewhere around Chapter 7 or 8 in Final Fantasy 7 Remake's story, and it would have more thoroughly explained why she eventually traveled to Don Corneo's. The whole sequence would have started with a rainy scene where Tifa and Jessie meet up, and the level design would have effectively set the tone for the tragedy that was to unfold with the Sector 7 plate.
The mission also would have been a great opportunity for Final Fantasy 7 Remake to show off more of Tifa's charm, since she would have been in the lead role for it.
During Tifa's rendezvous with Jessie, she would have learned about the plans surrounding the Sector 7 plate, and there would have been some suspicious activity taking place in the slums at the time to foreshadow the impending tragedy. As the mission progressed, more of Tifa's unique characteristics would have been put on full display, including her ability to take charge, her kindness, her style, and her love for Cloud and the rest of her friends. Barrett, Marlene, Biggs, Wedge, and Marle would have also made appearances during the mission.
The mission's final moments would have highlighted Tifa's doubt and discomfort about being separated from Cloud, and it was also planned to disclose more lore about Avalanche's ties with Wutai. Finally, players would have been able to access the Avalanche hideout during the mission, and it would have revealed more about how Tifa managed to acquire one of the three dresses available in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Red XIII Was Apparently Intended to Be a True Playable Character
Another very interesting piece of Final Fantasy 7 Remake involves Red XIII, who appears late in the game as a party member but is never fully controllable by players. However, Red XIII is technically coded as a playable character, although the only current way to make that happen is through save editing. When used as a playable character in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Red XIII has no unique abilities, unlike other characters in the game, and it's also impossible to change his equipment. This all suggests that Red XIII was originally intended to be a fully playable character in Final Fantasy 7 Remake but was likely demoted to make the game's scale more manageable.
A Few Other Minor Pieces of Content Were Cut From Final Fantasy 7 Remake as Well
While the Tifa-led mission and Red XIII's demotion from playable character to AI party member are the most substantial cuts made to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, the game also saw a few other minor cuts made to it as well. Firstly, there is a test map that can be found within the game's files and even played if players can access it, which appears to depict a playground with several other seemingly random items thrown about.
Red XIII is technically coded as a playable character, although the only current way to make that happen is through save editing.
Apart from the test map, there is also an unfinished model of a younger-looking Tseng in Final Fantasy 7 Remake's files, which was originally supposed to be the way he was portrayed in a flashback sequence involving a younger Aerith. Finally, a music track that was intended to be used as the Shinra theme at the beginning of Chapter 10 was ultimately replaced by the standard Shinra theme in the final version of the game.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 88 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- April 10, 2020
- ESRB
- T for Teen due to Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix Business Division 1
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Franchise
- Final Fantasy
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- How Long To Beat
- 35 Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
