Game Informer spent two days at Square Enix headquarters getting exclusive access to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and its team of developers. Today, they shared insight on one of the game’s newest party members, Cait Sith, providing a very basic overview of the character’s combat style and mechanics.
According to the article, Game Informer’s reporting of Cait Sith gameplay is based on discussions with the game’s battle director, Teruki Endo, and lead director, Naoki Hamaguchi; as well as observations from a hands-off demo of the character being played by Hamaguchi himself.
In a nutshell, Cait Sith's gameplay is described to be just as nutty as the character itself is.
"Given its very cute appearance, it's going to have a more quirky and extravagant fighting style as opposed to the more orthodox battle style of Cloud," Hamaguchi told Game Informer about their approach to Cait Sith’s combat.
Cait Sith initially enters combat alone until it summons its giant Moogle companion into the fray, thereby also changing the character’s available moveset. But that doesn’t mean players are committed to riding the companion the entire time; Cait has the option of jumping off the Moogle and fighting alone, which then turns the companion into an AI combatant.
Teruki Endo also elaborated on how they looked to embrace the uniqueness of Cait Sith’s gameplay established in the original Final Fantasy VII.
"For Cait Sith, there are these luck-based abilities; we really wanted to express these in Rebirth. Starting from there, we would then build upon it with commands and actions we felt were suitable for this character.”
As such, Cait Sith features regular abilities like one they showcased called “Kitty Wallop,” in addition to dice, luck-based commands like “Lucky Roll.”
The crowned tuxedo cat also gets to participate in Synergy Abilities. These are powerful combination attacks involving two party members. Game Informer described one between Cait Sith and Cloud that was executed by Hamaguchi during the off-hand demo. They don’t provide a name for the Synergy Ability, but in this outrageous combination Cloud rides on the back of Cait’s summoned Moogle as it wields the ex-SOLDIER’s sword.
Needless to say, Cait Sith’s gameplay sounds like it’ll provide plenty of quirkiness and color in a combat system that’s already so dynamic and action-oriented. We’ll find out how the “zaniest” character in the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth cast meshes with the rest when the game launches in 69 days on February 29, 2024.
For more, check out the full article featured in Game Informer’s hub for their exclusive Final Fantasy VII Rebirth coverage.