We’ve got good news and some bad news for Cid Highwind fans out there.
The good news is Square Enix has confirmed that Cid Highwind will appear in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Unfortunately, we won’t join Cloud’s party as a playable character.
Similar to Vincent Valentine, Cid’s involvement in the upcoing sequel will be that of an AI-controller character.
This isn’t the first time Square Enix introduced a future party member in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy as another AI-controlled character. The former research experiment, Red XIII, only appeared at the tail end of the FF7 Remake as a “companion character” – he could join the battles but you couldn’t control him. It’s a shame, really. Fans would’ve liked to play as the former Turk after seeing him style on the gang in the latest Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth trailer.
The sub-series’ creative director, Tetsuya Nomura, was the one to break the unfortunate news to fans during a recent sit-in with Dengeki Online.
When asked about how Cid would join Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the mechanic will receive a similar treatment to Vincent – joining as a “companion character” and not as a playable member of the party.
Neither Nomura or the game’s director, Naoki Hamaguchi, have revealed how Cid will appear in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but this is the closest confirmation that we have that he’s part of the sequel. If nothing else, this is Square Enix’s very casual but disappointing way of saying that, “yes, Cid will be there but you won’t be able to play him.”
Unlike Vincent, Cid has yet to appear in any trailer footage for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth so far.
If it’s any consolation, it’s all but confirmed that Cid and Vincent will play larger (and presumably, playable) roles in the next Final Fantasy 7 Remake entry. The only problem is that the game probably isn’t due until 2027 to coincide with the OG game’s 30th anniversary.
For now, Final Fantasy fans can look forward to playing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for themselves on February 29, 2024.
In the meantime, PlayStation 5 owners might want to save up to expand their console’s measly storage space so that it will have room for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which can take up to 150GB. If you add in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which is bundled together with a certain copy of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, you’re looking at an easy 250GB taken up on your PS5.
By the looks of it, Square Enix will likely cost PS5 owners close to 500GB of storage space when the entire FF7 Remake Trilogy hits the market later this decade.
Speaking of Cid, FF7’s Cid Highwind isn’t the only legacy character making waves. Cidolfus Telamon has a fan in Naoki Yoshida, who believes that a DLC should revolve around the Ramuh Dominant. FF16 is set to get a PC port and two post-launch DLCs at some point in the future.
