How to Change Characters in Your FFVII Rebirth Party

You can have three characters in your party in FFVII Rebirth, but you can’t immediately change them around. You need to wait until a certain point in Chapter 2 before the game really gets into rearranging everyone. If you’re playing the demo, you need to wait until the Junon portion where you have Aerith, Barret, Cloud, Red XIII, and Tifa available.

How do I change the characters in my party in FFVII Rebirth?

Okay, so I’m going to be honest with you. I didn’t start even exploring and looking to do this until the tutorial introducing the concept kicked in after leaving Kalm and starting Chapter 2. However, this option is found in the Combat Settings section, which you can see in the main menu right away, so it might be able to be accessed even earlier.

What you need to do is go to the main menu. Select Combat Settings. There, you see you have three possible parties. Each one can have three people in the group. The other two are on the Backline. This means you won’t control them and they won’t fight alongside you. However, you will see them in the background when you are fighting sometimes, if you pay attention.

To change your party, press the square button on the Combat Settings page. You’ll then be taken to a view of the three people in your party. You can then swap people in and out as needed. Make sure you keep in mind the Synergy Skills they learned in their Folios when you do! Like early on, you could have a Barret and Red XIII one or Tifa and Aerith one!

You can also set your party leader on these pages. This is done by moving to highlight a character, then pressing the triangle button. That person will then be the one you are controlling initially whenever a battle starts.

Don’t forget to set shortcuts for FFVII Rebirth characters in Combat Settings!

There’s a shortcut feature that makes it easier to pull off certain attacks without going through menus. You can set shortcuts for “while on the ground,” “while in the air,” and “synergy skills” in this menu. All of these use either L1 and an action button for the skills or R1 and an action button for Synergy Skills. This ends up being really handy when you’re in the midst of fights, so don’t forget to update it as characters gain new skills!

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is available on the PS5 on February 29, 2024, with the exclusivity arrangement ending on May 29, 2024.