Final Fantasy VII Remake is under a month away from launchingon PS4, kicking off an episodic approach to retelling the classic from the original PlayStation. In order to segment the story some changes have been made, one of which will prevent you from playing as Red XIII.
Red XIII has already been revealed as a part of this initial release for Final Fantasy VII Remake, featuring in previous trailers and even the upcoming PS4 theme available for everyone who downloads the demo off PSN. Although he appears right at the end of the Midgar chapter--the point where this first episode wraps up--you won’t be able to directly control him in battle, according to an interview with VG24/7.
Instead you'll fight alongside him, with all his actions controlled by the game's AI. Final Fantasy VII Remake co-director Naoki Hamaguchi, who explained that Red XIII's first appearance is so late into the game that it didn't make sense to introduce his mechanics to players at that point.
"We felt the point at which Red XIII joins the party in the story is very late on so we thought okay, if we're gonna [sic] have him as a full character and try and get the player to enjoy his character development arc and growth as a character through that, it's not really enough time to do that," explained Hamaguchi.
Red XIII will fight alongside you in the closing chapters of the game, showing off his familiar attacks and special abilities as a taste of what's to come in the next episode. Square Enix, however, haven't mentioned how long it might be until Final Fantasy VII Remake's next instalment.
