While Final Fantasy 7 Remake remains mostly faithful to the original game, it still introduces a handful of new elements and characters along the way. Most of the new characters only play small roles but are able to stand out in big ways. The best example of this is Roche, an unhinged SOLDIER who performs ridiculous motorcycle acrobatics from the moment Cloud meets him. Roche fans are in luck as the character seems to make a comeback in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
Square Enix’s latest trailer for Rebirth is short, clocking in at just one minute. But at the 20-second mark, you can see Roche riding his bright red motorcycle for a split second. Until this point, we’ve had no way to know whether Roche would ever appear again.
Roche appears in Chapter 4 of Remake when Cloud and Avalanche break into a Shinra warehouse. However, we never see Roche again past that chapter aside from a small little cameo in the Episode Intermission DLC. Seeing confirmation that Roche will return is great, especially because it might help fix a flaw in the original Final Fantasy 7.
SOLDIER is constantly built up as Shinra’s elite forces, the best of the best. Despite that, the organization is remarkably absent from pretty much all of Final Fantasy 7’s events. The only SOLDIERS we know are major characters like Zack and Sephiroth, but otherwise, you just fight a few generic enemies from the group.
Roche gives us a glimpse at SOLDIER outside of the vital players, which adds some sorely needed details. Seeing him pop up again in Rebirth means we’ll likely see more of SOLDIER, which simply makes sense. Perhaps we could even get more new characters added alongside Roche, possibly adding some interesting context for Cloud. As fans know, Cloud himself isn’t a SOLDIER but merely thinks he is after taking on the persona of Zack Fair. Seeing Cloud grapple with actual members of the group could create some interesting drama, especially as the hero starts to unpack the fake memories he has.
It certainly seems like Square Enix wants Shinra to have more of a role in the Remake trilogy as the company takes a huge backseat in the second half of the original game. In September 2023, creative director Tetsuya Nomura told Inverse that Rebirth will feature an “expanded” story for Rufus Shinra. With that in mind, it’s easy to see how Rufus’ new story elements could feature SOLDIER, with the newly-minted president utilizing all of Shinra’s resources to achieve his goals.
Past all that, Roche's appearance in Junon during Rufus’ Welcoming Ceremony is particularly interesting. The character quickly became obsessed with Cloud after their battle in Remake, and he’ll undoubtedly have something to say when he discovers the party at Junon. Square Enix previously said the Welcoming Ceremony minigame will be enhanced and will feature Cloud recruiting Shinra soldiers, so it seems a safe bet we’ll see Roche figure into that in some way.
With Roche and the return of Kyrie now both confirmed, it’s heartening to see that Square Enix isn’t just dropping characters and plotlines from Remake. Moving out of Midgard could have easily made Rebirth feel entirely separate from its predecessor, but these details reinforce the idea that this is one massive experience split into a trilogy.
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