WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Final Fantasy VII Remake, available now.

Final Fantasy VII Remake expands on the original game's first location, giving the Midgar portion a full 40 hours worth of content. By doing so, the game fleshes out previously existing minor characters like Biggs, Wedge and Jessie while also creating new characters to help with the worldbuilding of the Sector 7 Slums. All of this extra work helps bring the story to life and makes the stakes that much greater.

In the original game, Biggs, Wedge and Jessie were little more than footnotes. Cloud ran a couple of missions with them, but there was no real substance to their characters aside from being fellow Avalanche members. Here, they have distinct lives, voices and personalities.

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Wedge

Originally, Wedge presumably died shortly after falling from the plate, while Biggs' death occurred entirely off-screen. Jessie's death was also a quick encounter, which occurs while Cloud is running up the stairs as the pillar is falling. After Barret, Tifa and Cloud face off against Reno atop the pillar, Barret laments that everyone in the Sector 7 Slums -- most notably Jessie, Biggs and Wedge -- have died.

The remake takes this a few steps further. Wedge's desire to befriend Cloud is repeatedly shown throughout multiple missions. He's shown to be caring, goofy and loyal, defending his friends until the last minute. He's also shown to own cats, whom he cares greatly for. Wedge's fate isn't totally clear at the end of the game.

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Biggs

Avalanche Biggs Sector 7 Plate Collapse

Biggs also didn't have much of a character in the original. Here, however, he is shown to be a man with a mission, and someone who cares deeply for others and wants to make the world a better place. Like Wedge, he's given a role that makes others dependent on him.

Instead of cats, Biggs works with orphans and, in what he assumes to be his last moments, he asks Cloud to take care of them. He's actually given a near-death experience on the pillar, but there's a real sense of relief once he's revealed to be safe.

Jessie

One of the first Avalanche missions revolves around Jessie bringing the gang home with her, immediately cementing that Jessie has a larger place in this world than just Avalanche. The player is not only made fully aware that she has a family and a past, but also that she has goals and aspirations aside from Avalanche. She's even given a last name, further cementing the idea that she's now a fully realized character.

Jessie's dream is to work for the Golden Saucer, playing the role of the Princess. Any seasoned Final Fantasy VII player knows that, during the date segment later in the game, Cloud and his date have their own encounter with the Golden Saucer's Princess play. There's no doubt that, when that scene eventually occurs, the player will be reminded of Jessie Rasberry and her unrealized dreams.

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Her death scene is tragic, and it's unmissable as it takes up a few long minutes. Cloud actually holds her hand through it, saying he'll get her to safety. The remake pulls no punches with these three: they are important characters and you will feel their loss (or almost loss in Wedge and Biggs' case).

The Slums

One of the most brilliant aspects of the game was giving Aerith's mission to save Marlene actual screen time. In FFVII Remake, the player actually gets to control Aerith as she runs through the falling slums, saving random citizens and eventually, Marlene. Players get to watch parents frantically search for their children while others are fearfully scurrying to safety.

Characters like Marle, an old woman who looks out for Tifa like family, or Johnny, a man with quite the crush on Tifa, are introduced earlier in the game. By giving them names, stories and personalities, the characters in the slums aren't just random people killed by Shinra. They become people the player knows and is attached to. Of course, in this game, the slums are evacuated in time, but there's a moment of fear when the player wonders if these lovable characters got out in time.

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The side-quests earlier in the game were another great way to make this place feel like a home to so many. Cloud sees firsthand the suffering that occurs in their daily lives and gets to feel like a part of the community. The player too becomes familiar with several characters by name. The slums become more than just a mere setting.

There's something heartbreaking about Barret and Tifa clawing through the wreckage of the slums, running into familiar faces and feeling relief that they're fine. The game makes the smart choice of having some of these portions be silent, forcing the player to listen only to Cloud and company's shoes hitting the pavement. In this game, the feeling isn't just that slums were destroyed -- there's an acknowledgment that people's homes were.

The minor characters of Final Fantasy VII Remake don't feel like minor characters. Instead, they feel like beloved members of a team and valued members of the community. Fleshing them out not only helped with the worldbuilding of Midgar, but it helped craft an emotionally charged narrative by proving how monstrous Shinra can be.

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