Final Fantasy 7 remake Episode pause takes away Cloud Strife’s Buster sword and replaces it with Yuffie Kisaragi’s massive shuriken. The new DLC campaign, exclusively for PlayStation 5, only lasts a few precious hours. It’s a pleasure to return to Midgar and hurl Yuffie’s boomerang-like weapon at villains, but more importantly, the young heroine brings with her a whole new positive attitude that serves as a refreshing counterpoint to Cloud.
Yuffie’s enthusiastic personality has been emphasized even more since her first appearance in the original Final Fantasy 7 in 1997. The widely used English translation of this game portrayed Yuffie as a thieving treasure hunter, just for herself. In FF7 spinoffs as well as the Advent children Film and the Kingdom Hearts series, fans could see a lot more of the teenage ninja princess who turned out to be a high-energy goofball personality with a lust for fighting anyone who dared disregard her.
This is how Yuffie should always be, according to director Tetsuya Nomura, who wrote the PlayStation blog“In the time of the original and still now, my perspective on her hasn’t changed much. Yuffie is an energetic and easy going character. However, since this episode revolves around her, I believe that we were also able to portray her sensitive side. “
Yuffie’s dark mirror is Cloud, a man who is haunted by barely suppressed trauma and reluctant to connect with Avalanche or forge emotional bonds with other people. In contrast, it makes sense that a cocky but naive teen girl like Yuffie would be deeply and openly interested in what other people think of her. She longs for recognition and respect when she recites rehearsed heroic monologues and poses like Sailor Moon. She dives (or stumbles) headlong into danger with no fear of death, unlike Cloud, who has seen a lot of it and is still suffering from the aftershocks.
Thanks to Yuffie’s antics, the first few hours are off Break are much funnier and lighter in tone than New edition. The short DLC offers lots of slapstick moments for Yuffie, some of which are well received because she has a straight man by her side: Sonon Kusakabe, a new character in this game. While Yuffie tries to impress her allies (and enemies), Sonon rolls his eyes and smiles apologetically. When Sonon suggests combat tactics that would put him in the line of fire, Yuffie interrupts him and reminds him that she is the “leading lady” and should be given the chance to shine … even if it means falling on her face because she doesn’t. She doesn’t really know what she’s doing.
Break‘s music matches his comedic tone and the heroine’s lighthearted energy, with bombastic jazz accompanying Yuffie and Sonon on some of their adventures. This track from the soundtrack called “The Runaround” accompanies our heroine on her way through Shinra’s headquarters and makes a dangerous break-in seem like an episode of Looney Tunes.
Yuffie’s energetic demeanor in the face of overwhelming adversity makes her a far more pleasant protagonist than Cloud, whose dire prospects are luckily offset by Tifa, Barret, and Aerith’s empowering determination and belief in a better future. Of course, Cloud has to be detached, because the reintegration into the rest of the world is its whole arc. His journey is about learning to love, and facing your true self, no matter how much it hurts.
Yuffie’s bow is the opposite of Clouds. Although she starts off with a more lighthearted demeanor, it actually reflects her naivety and lack of experience. Like Cloud, Yuffie has to face an uncomfortable truth – but in her case she realizes that Shinra and his various horrific experiments cannot cope with her.
Yuffie is more pleasant to hang out with than Cloud because, unlike Cloud, she hasn’t seen any shit. But until the end Break, She has. When we see her again in FF7 remake part 2, she’ll be the thieving cheater she was in the original game, but this time we’ll understand more about why. We will also know that while that feeling of angry self-preservation is part of her, that joyful hope remains – and she will be back at some point.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade was released on PlayStation 5 on June 10th. The game was played on PlayStation 5 with a pre-release download code from Square Enix. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect the editorial content, although Vox Media can earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. you find more information on Polygon’s ethics policy here.