Final Fantasy VII Remake changed a lot about the original's story and characters, but one of the most subtly altered was one of the main female characters, Tifa Lockheart. While her core personality is maintained, as with the rest of the main cast, the story twists and turns in such a way that demands parts of her character be altered as well. While these changes are fairly minor, they're definitely enough to be noticeable by longtime fans of the Final Fantasy 7 universe.
Final Fantasy 7 is one of the most well-known games in the venerated RPG series, and Tifa Lockheart is one of its most iconic elements. While her role in the story is as a love interest to the hero, Cloud Strife, Tifa's starring Final Fantasy 7 role owes to more than her looks. Her sweet but spunky personality, combined with her inhuman strength, makes for a fun dynamic with the adventurous and sassy Aerith and the kind but haunted Cloud.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake mainly kept her personality intact. She's kindhearted, sweet, but no-nonsense, quickly cutting through the chaff of any conversation to find the heart of the matter, while her aforementioned inhuman strength makes sure anyone who has a problem with this attitude thinks twice before raising their voice. The remake, however, made some key changes in how she interacts with both the story and the characters around her.
Tifa & Cloud's Relationship Is Explored More During The Midgar Arc
Final Fantasy 7 Remake changes a lot about the original's story, to the point of possibly foreshadowing Tifa's death in coming FF7 Remake episodes. But the central relationship at the heart of the narrative - the one between Cloud and Tifa - not only remains as it did in the original, it's expanded upon. The game goes to great lengths to show that, though having spent years apart from one another, the pair act when reunited as though Cloud never left.
The game dedicates entire lengths of its story to just exploring their dynamic in a way the original just didn't have time for. Final Fantasy 7 had four discs of content to get to, so it needed to get everything important out as fast as possible. Final Fantasy 7 Remake on the other hand, doesn't have to worry about the rest of that content for a while. With this first episode being all about the Midgard arc, it can get knee deep into Final Fantasy 7 Remake's world of Midgar and the characters within it.
Tifa's Friendship With Aerith Is Deepened
One of the novel things about the original Final Fantasy 7 was the fact that Tifa and Aerith, despite being propped up as different romantic options for Cloud, were never portrayed as rivals for his affections. Instead the two are shown to have a deep and genuine friendship that, sadly, just wasn't as explored as it could have been due to the original's breakneck pace and Aerith's sudden death midway through the game. Like with everything else in the game, Final Fantasy 7 Remake expands upon what was already there, but unlike Ever Crisis and other FF7 spinoff material, getting more into Tifa and Aerith's relationship is more than welcome.
A friendly dynamic in the original Final Fantasy 7 is expanded into outright playful banter inn FF7 Remake, most famously shown when the two playfully work their way through a room full of Don Corneo's armed guards. But scenes following that, where Tifa joins in on Aerith's threats to Don Corneo when they have him cornered, as well as the scene near the end when Tifa teaches Aerith how to hitchhike, were also highlights of the game. The two just have an undeniable chemistry to them that makes every scene where they're together fun to watch.
Tifa's Character Design Underwent A Near Complete Overhaul
Fans have always loved Tifa's short-haired FF7 design, both then and now. But since the game's release, there's always been an undercurrent of criticism of both the largeness of Tifa's chest - which sticks out cartoonishly far on her original polygonal body - and of her outfit not really meshing well with the rest of the game's grimy cyberpunk aesthetic. When designing Tifa for FF7 Remake, Square Enix seems to have gone with a compromise.
Tifa's upper body was made more proportional with the rest of her, and her entire outfit was rethought so that it would fit better with the game's aesthetic - all while staying true to the original Final Fantasy 7 design. Her miniskirt is changed to workout spats with a skirt over it for style, and overall her design is changed to embody a fighter and a survivor instead of being made purely for the male gaze. Changing Tifa's FF7 Remake design was the right move on Square Enix's part, not only for mitigating the more exploitative elements of her original design, but also for making controlling Tifa in Final Fantasy 7 Remake's more active play style reminiscent of Final Fantasy 15 more satisfying. Changing the skirt frees up Tifa's legs, for instance, allowing for more fluid, acrobatic movements when she's fighting.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake changed a lot more about its original story, and changed different characters far more severely than Tifa. But the subtleties with her alterations show just how much effort and ingenuity went into every inch of this remake. The original Final Fantasy 7 is still worth playing and will always be fun to return to, but the quality-of-life improvements made to characters like Tifa alone show Final Fantasy 7 Remake as almost a second draft of the original story. By expanding upon her relationships with other characters, better exploring her friendships and backstory, and altering her design to be more in line with what the rest of the game is going for aesthetically, if nothing else, Final Fantasy VII Remake proves that there is always improvement to be made - even if it's just around how a single character plays into the larger whole.