Square Enix is aiming to make Cloud a better team member in Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, and as part of that initiative, he'll come equipped with a crucial sword right from the start.
If you played the original Final Fantasy Tactics, you might not have the fondest memory of Final Fantasy 7 OG Cloud, who isn't available until about halfway through Chapter 4. The process of adding Cloud to your team is long and convoluted, and once you do have him by your side, he needs the Materia Blade, which also isn't easy to find, to perform his Limit abilities, essentially chaining him to a specific weapon that otherwise might not be the most viable choice.
There are other complaints about Cloud in Final Fantasy Tactics, but Square Enix is specifically addressing the Materia Blade situation in the upcoming remake. Talking to Inverse, The Ivalice Chronicles director Kazutoyo Maehiro admitted Cloud isn't the easiest team member in Final Fantasy Tactics and touched on some vague and specific plans to remedy that.
"Truth be told, with the original version, he came to your party very late," he says. "He started at level one. You didn't have the Materia Blade to use, so he was pretty difficult to utilize as a character at that point.
"So with The Ivalice Chronicles, we've made it so that his stats are adjusted a little bit. On top of that, he will come equipped with the Materia Blade when he joins your party initially. So, in terms of usability of him as a character, it will be much more approachable than it was in the original."
Maehiro also shares that the timing of Cloud joining your party is more akin to The Final Fantasy Tactics' PSP port, War of the Lions.
Perhaps more interestingly, though, is what's now waiting for us at the spot Cloud's Materia Blade used to be. "I would like everyone to go and explore the place where that sword used to be and find out what was there," Maehiro tells GameReactor, without elaborating. Challenge accepted.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is set to release on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch on September 30.
25 years later, Final Fantasy 9's stylized visuals have ensured it's aged brilliantly without a remake.
