Final Fantasy VII Remake is no mere revamp of a video game. The original narrative has been greatly reworked, allowing for characters such as Sepiroth to appear earlier in the game. However, there was one playable character in the original Final Fantasy VII that isn't yet playable in Remake -- and that's by the game's design.
Co-director Naoki Hamaguchi discussed why the lionesque Red XIII is not a playable character in the game. "We felt that many players familiar with the original would want to control the character, but as he appears towards the end of this game we were careful about disruptions to the overall tempo that may occur by treating him in the same manner as other main characters, who appear earlier," he told IGN. "We also felt for new players, it may seem odd to have control over a new character so late into this game and we couldn’t introduce him earlier."
However, Hamaguchi did not rule out the possibility for Red XIII to be playable in the future. "Final Fantasy VII Remake is a multi-game project; as such, I believe there will be opportunities to control Red XIII in the future, so it’d be great if Red XIII fans can look forward to this." The first part of Final Fantasy VII Remake takes place entirely in the original game's starting area of Midgar; given Hamaguchi's comments, players could potentially see Red XIII in the next installment.
Developed by Square Enix, Final Fantasy VII Remake is currently available for PlayStation 4.