Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - All Romance Options And Other Relationships
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A clash against an otherworldly foe hell-bent on destroying the planet awaits you in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Still, the party members who travel alongside Cloud can eventually become his best mates. In a couple of cases, there are some noticeable sparks of romance, too. Here's our guide on friendly relationships and all romance options in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Likewise, please be reminded that this article contains minor spoilers.
All romance options and other relationships in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
The main goal of the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth romance and relationships feature is to create a sense of togetherness among Cloud and other characters. This culminates in a sequence in Gold Saucer during Chapter 12, which we'll get to later in our guide.
Though not all relationships in the game are romantic in nature, the following characters each have a relationship system in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth:
- Tifa Lockhart
- Aerith Gainsborough
- Barret Wallace
- Yuffie Kisaragi
- Red XIII
How to see character relationship meters
The current relationship level with another character is denoted by a smiley face icon above the heads. This can be seen if you press the L1 button while the party is out exploring.
Depending on certain actions or decisions, the relationship will increase, changing in color from the following: grey -> purple -> yellow -> green -> dark blue -> light blue. Lastly, note that Cait Sith does have a cat icon above his head, but this isn't part of the relationship system at all.
As an aside, those who played the original Final Fantasy 7 might recall how the relationship values were completely hidden. Thankfully, the current system is very player-friendly. In any case, we detail the different ways you can increase your relationship values with your companions in the next sections.
Synergy Skills and Synergy Abilities
Synergy Skills and Synergy Abilities are unlocked by spending skill points (SP) in the Folio menu. Cloud and another character have to be in battle together, which then allows you to trigger these actions:
- Synergy Skills - Hold the R1 button and choose a particular Synergy Skill.
- Synergy Abilities - Fill up the ATB meter by attacking foes, then choose a character ability that adds a synergy pip. When two characters have at least two pips, they can unleash their Synergy Ability.
As far as increasing relationships in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth goes, you gain a boost with that character the first time Cloud performs a Synergy Skill or Synergy Ability with them. That's why it's important to look for Folio perks that grant Synergy actions with Cloud, if only to gain a relationship boost. You can still reset or respec allocated points later on.
Personal conversations
There are certain moments when characters wander around villages or towns. If you talk to them, you're presented with three possible responses:
- At least one is a negative or dismissive reply, which you should avoid.
- Two tend to be slightly more positive, if straightforward.
- There are cases when one particular reply grants an even bigger boost. This is usually followed by the character responding in a more favorable or delighted manner.
Side quests
Every settlement or town has a bulletin board where you can pick up "Odd Jobs" (i.e. side quests). When you approach the quest giver, a party member will also appear alongside you. You may also check this via the Quests menu. Basically, completing this side quest grants a relationship boost with that particular companion.
Note that you don't need to complete all side quests from the get-go. You can still tackle them much later in the campaign whenever you feel like taking a break from the main story. Just remember two things:
- There are instances when fast travel from one region to another won't be possible for storyline purposes. Advancing the campaign at certain segments does make fast travel available once more.
- If ever you want to max out Cloud's relationship with a certain character, be sure to do so before heading to the Gold Saucer in Chapter 12.
Missable contextual prompts and events
There are also relationship boosts that are completely missable depending on your actions. Here are some examples:
- Chapter 4: Tifa and Aerith - Gain double the relationship bonuses by reaching a score of 100,000 or higher in the Junon Parade.
- Chapter 5: Red XIII - Win the Queen's Blood Tournament aboard the Shinra-8.
- Chapter 6: Tifa and/or Aerith - Make sure that Tifa and/or Aerith have the same beachwear as Cloud. You can learn more in our swimsuits and alternate outfits guide.
- Chapter 6: Tifa and Red XIII or Aerith and Barret - Choose which duo to assist at the beach.
- Chapter 6: Yuffie - Before Yuffie joins your party, you can compliment her beachwear upon seeing her in Costa del Sol. Later, you can agree to let her join your party.
- Chapter 7: Yuffie and Barret - Switch the tracks along the rails, and try to shoot as many crates as you can.
- Chapter 8: Barret - We did get a relationship boost with Barret upon completing the buggy escape segment. However, we've yet to confirm if this was because we destroyed a lot of vehicles or if the relationship boost was automatically granted regardless of how we fared.
Your Gold Saucer companion: Standard and intimate sequences
You'll head to Costa del Sol at the start of Chapter 12: A Golden Key. Your main goal, if you want to continue the campaign, is to go to the Gold Saucer. Since all fast travel options are available at this stage, we suggest tackling any side quests that you may have forgotten.
Once you're ready, head to the Gold Saucer and follow the objectives. Eventually, you're told to rest at the Haunted Hotel. If you do this, the party member with the highest relationship level will knock on Cloud's door and ask him to accompany them. This leads to a couple of notable sequences.
- Event Square: Opera - There's a play with a lot of QTE sequences. Cloud is the hero of this story, and the maiden/princess accompanying him can either be Tifa or Aerith, whomever has the higher affinity value.
- Skywheel - The companion who asked you to go out with them will also join you in the Skywheel, which leads to a unique conversation. There are friendly chats where a character might open up (i.e. Red XIII or Barret), and the potential for a more romantic outcome (i.e. Tifa and Aerith).
Note that there are also "standard/normal" and "intimate" outcomes for the Skywheel sequence. The intimate outcome depends on whether or not you reached the highest affinity/relationship tier with that companion (i.e. light blue smiley face icon):
- In a "standard/normal" outcome with a certain female character, she might simply lean her head on Cloud's shoulder.
- However, in an "intimate" outcome, she and Cloud will also hold hands.
Lastly, once you've completed the campaign, you can make changes in the Extra Settings menu to have different companions. Choose Chapter 12 in the Chapter Select panel to see how Cloud's interactions go with other party members.
In any case, this is what you need to know about romance and relationships in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. If you're interested in boosting friendship/affinity levels with certain characters, you can take a look at our Tifa date guide and Aerith date guide.
A grand adventure awaits you in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. We've got all the tips and strategies for you in our FF7 Rebirth guides hub.