At New York Comic-Con, Matthew Mercer revealed to a happy crowd that he would be the voice of Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
The fan-favorite character was confirmed to be in the game via a previous story trailer, but until the recent announcement, not much had been confirmed about his actual role in the game or who his voice actor would be. Mercer is most famous for his position as “Dungeon Master” in Critical Role, but he is an accomplished voice actor in many respects — so much so that many fans wondered from the brief voice clip of Vincent from the trailer in question whether Mercer was playing the character.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Gets a Valentine
Despite the character’s looks and location in a coffin when players find him, Vincent is not a vampire. However, he has deep ties to the main cast, including Sephiroth, due to his former life with the Shinra Electric Company. In the original Final Fantasy VII, he was an optional character that characters could pick up for their party, not unlike Yuffie. Much like the equally fan-favorite ninja, Vincent Valentine will be someone players get naturally through the story, although a past interview confirmed he will be an “accompanying character” versus an active party member.
That doesn’t mean he won’t be playable in the final part, as he could fill the role of Red XIII from the original remake, where he helps in key situations but isn’t controllable until another entry. Even without Vincent in the party, gamers will have more options to choose from in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth than they did previously; they’ll have Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, and Aerith all at the start instead of them falling in and out. Red XIII, Yuffie and Cait Sith will also all be playable by the end, ensuring a robust party full of options.
Vincent Valentine was the lead role in a not-so-popular spinoff of the original game, and many will wonder how much of that storyline will be incorporated into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Material from other spinoffs and prequels have already been included in the game, and Tetsuya Nomura himself confirmed that Advent Children will be addressed by the time the remake saga is complete. It’s therefore entirely possible that the events of Dirge of Cerberus could be put into the upcoming title.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will arrive on PS5 on Feb. 29.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
