Vincent's role in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is exactly what Red XIII's was in Remake

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth won't let you directly control Vincent or Cid.

In a new interview with Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi, IGN asked whether fan-favorite Vincent will be fully playable in the new game. Hamaguchi revealed that the beloved vampire won't actually be a fully playable character, but will instead be an AI-controlled character, similar to Red XIII in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

"In terms of whether or not Vincent will be a playable character, he will be more of an accompanying character to the party in terms of Rebirth. So this will be similar to how Red XIII was in Remake," Hamaguchi said. Unfortunately Vincent won't quite be integrated into our party in the way a lot of players were surely hoping for.

Elsewhere, Dengeki Online quizzed creative director Tetsuya Nomura as how Cid would factor into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. It's never actually been confirmed that the mechanic would feature in the second remake instalment, but Nomura reveals that Cid will have the exact same treatment as Vincent, factoring in as a companion, but not a playable character. 

So far at least, Vincent has appeared in pre-release footage of Rebirth for all of about two seconds. We've never actually seen Cid in any trailer footage, so this is a pretty casual way of confirming that one of the core characters of the original Final Fantasy 7 will be popping up in the new game.

We've played Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for ourselves, and it's reaffirmed itself as one of our most anticipated JRPGs. Head over to our full Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth preview for more on how the sequel is shaping up ahead of launching next year on February 29, 2024.

You can also check out our upcoming PS5 games guide for a look ahead at all the other console exclusives slated for Sony's new-gen machine.