Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Will Reduce Character's Role Following Actor's Death

When Final Fantasy VII Rebirth releases on PlayStation 5 next year, the game will see a reduced role for the character Reno. While Reno played a major role in Final Fantasy VII Remake and nearly every other piece of Final Fantasy VII media, players won't be seeing much of him in the new game. In an interview with Dengeki Online (translated by Siliconera), Final Fantasy VII Rebirth director Tetsuya Nomura discussed the death of Reno's Japanese voice actor, Keiji Fujiwara. Fujiwara died of cancer shortly before recording sessions began for the new game, and existing recordings will be used in Rebirth.

"Fujiwara-san will remain as the voice of Reno for this game. The news of his death came shortly before the recording sessions for FFVII Rebirth commenced, so we were not able to replace him immediately. Because of this, I asked the scenario team to let me use past recordings of Fujiwara-san's voice for Reno in Rebirth, and they made the necessary adjustments."

Since things were too far along to recast, Reno's screen time has been reduced in Rebirth. Reno will have a new Japanese voice actor for the third game in the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy, where his role will be elevated again.

Final Fantasy VII: Who is Reno?

For those unfamiliar with Reno, the character is a member of the Turks, who are working for Shinra. Throughout Final Fantasy VII, Reno is a recurring pest, frequently fighting Cloud and the rest of the game's heroes. In addition to his role in Final Fantasy VII, Reno has gone on to appear in related games, including Crisis Core and Ever Crisis.

In a recent interview with the official PlayStation Blog, Nomura noted that the location Wutai will be appearing in the third game in the remake trilogy. Going by the events that take place in the original Final Fantasy VII, Wutai is a location that players should have reached in Rebirth. That location is where Reno had an encounter with Cloud and the rest of the game's cast. While Nomura did not say it before, based on what we now know, it's possible the scenario in Wutai was moved to the third game to account for Keiji Fujiwara's death.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Release Date

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will be releasing as a timed PS5 exclusive on February 29, 2024. The game is highly-anticipated among series fans, as many are curious to see what changes the game offers from the 1997 classic. While Final Fantasy VII Remake started out faithfully adapting the original game, by the end, it was clear that the timeline had been changed. Those changes are a big part of the mystery surrounding Final Fantasy VII Rebirth; everything Square Enix has revealed suggests that there could be a lot of big ones to see in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth!

Are you disappointed about Reno's reduced role? Do you plan on checking out Final Fantasy VII Rebirth next year? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!