The trailers for Final Fantasy VII Revelation have been conspicuously light on Cloud Strife. Fans of the original game know exactly why, but for everyone else it raised a fair question: is the spiky-haired mercenary getting sidelined in the trilogy's finale? Series director Naoki Hamaguchi has a clear answer.
"Cloud is still the main character," Hamaguchi confirmed in a recent interview, putting any concerns to rest. The marketing choices are deliberate, not a sign that Square Enix is pivoting away from the character who has anchored this remake trilogy from day one.
Why Cloud's absence from trailers actually makes sense
Here's the thing: anyone who has played through the original Final Fantasy VII knows Cloud's story takes some sharp turns in the back half. Keeping him out of the marketing isn't a creative demotion, it's a spoiler shield. Hamaguchi leaning into that space to highlight the rest of the cast is a smart move, not a compromise.
The director acknowledged directly that fans "want to see more of the other characters too," and the team built the game around that feedback. Players can freely swap between party members on the fly and bring different compositions into side quests, which means the game actively rewards exploring each character's playstyle rather than defaulting to Cloud every time.
What each party member actually gets
The character-specific content goes well beyond cosmetic touches. Red XIII has a full narrative arc tied to the Queen's Blood card game, which was one of the more addictive diversions in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Hamaguchi also confirmed that Tifa's storyline has layers tied to the game's piano mini-game, rewarding players who take the time to engage with it rather than skip past.
Yuffie returning to Wutai opens up obvious potential for lore that the original game only gestured at. With Revelation positioned as the trilogy's conclusion, the developers have clear motivation to pay off character threads that have been building across two prior entries.
The roster, for reference, includes Barret, Tifa, Aerith, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Yuffie, Vincent Valentine, and Cid alongside Cloud. That is a lot of characters to service in a single game, and Hamaguchi's comments suggest the team is aware of the challenge.
The balance the trilogy has always needed
Final Fantasy VII Remake leaned hard on Cloud and Tifa and Aerith as the emotional core. Rebirth expanded that considerably, giving characters like Barret and Yuffie more room to breathe. Revelation, by Hamaguchi's description, is pushing that expansion further, with dedicated arcs for characters who have historically been supporting players.
The key here is that none of this comes at Cloud's expense. Hamaguchi is not rewriting the game's protagonist hierarchy, he's filling in the gaps around it. Cloud's story in the third act of this saga carries enormous weight for anyone who knows what's coming, and the developers are clearly not walking away from that.
Given that Revelation is reportedly sitting at around 200GB in size, there is clearly enough game here to give everyone their due. For players who have been waiting three entries to see Vincent Valentine and Cid get a proper spotlight, the wait looks like it is almost over. Check out the Final Fantasy VII Revelation guides collection to get ahead on everything the game has to offer when it arrives.
