Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Character Models Compared to FFVII

Square Enix Lead Character Artist Dai Suzuki took to the PlayStation Blog to offer insight into the character models in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Remake when compared to the original FFVII. In the cases of characters like Cloud, Cait Sith, and Red XIII, their original models only had about 900 polygons, but the remake versions involved over 100,000 for each one.

The most insight was offered into the character models for Cloud in Final Fantasy VII, FFVII Remake, and FFVII Rebirth. It noted his battle model, which you’d see only during turn-based fights, had about 900 polygons. To compare, the FFVII Remake one had around 110,000, and FFVII Rebirth’s had about 220,000. Because the latest entry is on the PS5, it accounted for the doubled count. Suzuki also noted, “The hair was an extremely high-priority element and in fact accounted for half of the total polygon count for the whole model.” Also, his Buster Sword consisted of between 50-100 polygons in battle originally, but needed about 8,000 polygons to render in FFVII Rebirth.

When it came to Cait Sith and Red XIII, Suzuki noted how their fur meant their polygon counts were higher in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth compared to FFVII. He said, “Since their fur is one of their unique characteristics, it was necessary to not only just let their hair cards grow, but also to pay attention to the flow of the fur.”  For Red XIII, he was at 900 in the original and 120,000 in Rebirth. With Cait Sith, the cat riding the Moogle together was 900 in the PlayStation game. However, in FFVII Rebirth the count is different for the two parts since you can summon the Moogle separately or only have Cait Sith. Cait Sith alone, despite being the smallest cast member, comes in at around 100,000 polygons, while his Moogle mount is around 230,000. 

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is available on the PS5, with the exclusivity arrangement ending on May 29, 2024. FFVII Remake is available on the PS4, PS5, and PC. FFVII debuted on the PlayStation, but is also on the Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and mobile devices.