Final Fantasy VII Revelation has released new clips that offer a lighter look at the third game in Square Enix's Remake trilogy. Rather than dwelling on high-stakes plot revelations, vast exploration, or the long-running questions surrounding this reimagined Final Fantasy VII story, the footage heads for the hot springs. It is there that the party gets to relax, wear newly revealed bathing suits, and indulge in the kind of character comedy that has become a major part of the modern trilogy's identity.
The footage has also sparked a very specific reaction to Cid Highwind's appearance. While Barret's swimwear look leaves little doubt about his rugged build and chest hair, Cid appears notably smooth. For a character presented as grizzled, weathered, and older in spirit than his listed age suggests, the lack of visible chest hair has become an unexpectedly prominent talking point around the clips.
It may sound like a tiny detail, but character-model choices are often where a remake's interpretation of a beloved cast becomes clearest. Revelation is not simply reproducing the original Final Fantasy VII designs in higher fidelity. It is continuing a project that has expanded party banter, redesigned costumes, and spent considerable time letting its characters exist outside of the central crisis. The hot springs scenes appear to be another example of that approach--one that is funny, affectionate, and just a little strange.
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Swimwear is coming to the party
The newly shown bathing suits are more than costumes reserved for a single joke scene. Director Naoki Hamaguchi has said players will be able to unlock the outfits and use them throughout the game. That gives the costumes a potentially larger role than a brief hot-springs detour, letting players carry these alternate looks into the broader adventure after earning them.
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The decision also gives the male members of the team a parallel moment after Final Fantasy VII Rebirth featured beachwear for its female cast during the Costa del Sol sequence. Revelation's footage puts the spotlight on Cloud, Barret, Cid, Red XIII, and Vincent in a setting built around relaxation and comedy rather than combat readiness.
For a series whose heroes often spend their time confronting world-ending danger, bathing-suit customization might seem like a small addition. But it fits the Remake trilogy's willingness to combine emotional spectacle with playful character interactions. These games have repeatedly paused their dramatic momentum for minigames, performances, date-like outings, costumes, and optional activities designed to show another side of the central cast.
That tonal flexibility will likely matter even more in Revelation, which is positioned as the conclusion to the trilogy. The clips suggest the final chapter will still make room for silliness amid its major narrative responsibilities.
Rubber chocobos and armored bathing
Two hot-springs scenes stand out in the newly released material. In one, Cloud, Red XIII, and Barret attempt to balance rubber chocobos on their heads. The premise is exactly as absurd as it sounds, and it turns a quiet bath into a competition among party members who are otherwise known for carrying enormous emotional burdens.
The other scene finds Barret and Cid encountering Vincent while he is bathing in full combat armor. Vincent's enduring commitment to his gothic, heavily armed image has always made him one of Final Fantasy VII's most visually distinct party members, so seeing him refuse even a hot spring's invitation to dress down makes for an easy comedic contrast with the others.
Neither moment needs to advance the main plot to justify its presence. The value is in the cast chemistry. Cloud's increasingly deadpan participation in ridiculous activities, Barret's big reactions, Red XIII's unusual place in human social rituals, Cid's blunt energy, and Vincent's brooding formality all create opportunities that the original game's more limited presentation could only imply.
The Japanese dialogue in these clips will naturally leave some international viewers waiting to hear how the scenes are performed in English. Still, the visual comedy already comes through: rubber chocobos perched precariously overhead, an armored vampire-like ally in the bath, and a group of heroes temporarily behaving like people on holiday instead of warriors preparing for disaster.
Why Cid's design is drawing attention
Barret's bathing-suit model makes it clear that Revelation is capable of depicting body hair. His chest is visibly hairy, reinforcing the physical presence that has always been central to his redesigned appearance in the Remake project. That makes Cid's smooth chest harder to dismiss as a universal technical or stylistic limitation.
Cid is officially 32, but he has long carried himself like a much older man: impatient, cynical, worn down by setbacks, and defined by years of frustration around his abandoned space ambitions. His weathered face, rougher demeanor, and general aura make him an easy candidate for a more rugged look. The smooth model shown in the hot-springs footage therefore creates a visual mismatch for some viewers, particularly when placed next to Barret.
There is, of course, no single rule for what a 32-year-old character should look like. Not every man has chest hair, and a hairless chest is not inherently at odds with adulthood or toughness. The debate is less about realism than it is about character interpretation. Cid's original identity has often been associated with a scrappy, abrasive, blue-collar edge. A bit more visible body hair would be one straightforward way to reinforce that image in a high-detail remake.
It is also a reminder that fans pay close attention to the details that separate party members from one another. High-fidelity remakes invite that scrutiny. Once developers create highly detailed skin, clothing, faces, hair, and physique differences, omissions that would have been invisible in the 1997 original become noticeable design statements--or at least noticeable absences.
Body hair remains an uneven detail in games
Modern games can render elaborate fabrics, pores, scars, tattoos, and individual strands of head hair, yet body hair is still inconsistently represented. Some titles avoid it almost entirely, even when they offer extensive character creators or depict a wide range of bodies. Others use it selectively, applying it to certain archetypes while leaving similarly rugged characters unusually polished.
That inconsistency can make a cast feel less varied than its clothing and facial design would otherwise suggest. Body hair is a small feature, but it can contribute to age, personality, profession, and perceived lifestyle. A battle-scarred mercenary, a burly revolutionary, and an exhausted mechanic do not need identical bodies to look like they occupy the same fantasy world.
Revelation's own clips underline the issue because Barret demonstrates that the development team is not opposed to the detail. His appearance has been praised as a confident use of swimwear to show off a powerful, muscular character model. By comparison, Cid's presentation looks considerably cleaner and more youthful than his attitude and history might imply.
The conversation is ultimately playful, but it points toward a broader desire for character designs that embrace texture and individuality rather than making every hero look similarly immaculate once armor and jackets come off.
A warm glimpse of Revelation's character focus
The most important takeaway from the hot-springs footage may not be Cid's chest at all. The clips suggest that Final Fantasy VII Revelation will continue investing in the interpersonal charm that helped define Remake and Rebirth. Even players who have reservations about the trilogy's larger storytelling direction can often agree that it has given the party more room to be funny, awkward, affectionate, and unexpectedly ordinary.
That is especially valuable for a cast as iconic as Final Fantasy VII's. Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith, Red XIII, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Vincent, and Cid arrive with decades of expectations attached to them. Expanding their conversations and letting them bounce off one another in low-stakes environments helps transform familiar archetypes into a more lived-in group.
The hot springs are well suited to that purpose. They offer a space outside of combat where costumes can change, defenses can lower, and personalities can collide. The scenes shown so far seem designed to let Revelation's cast breathe before the game asks them--and players--to confront its larger finale.
There is still time for a model adjustment
Final Fantasy VII Revelation is scheduled to launch on April 8 for PC, PlayStation 5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S. With time remaining before release, the debate over Cid's chest hair is unlikely to become a defining issue for the game. It is, however, the kind of spirited, hyper-specific fan feedback that follows a franchise whose characters remain intensely recognizable.
Whether Square Enix changes anything or leaves Cid exactly as shown, the clips have accomplished their immediate goal: they have made people talk about Revelation's party. The rubber chocobos, Vincent's armor in the bath, Barret's confident design, and Cid's unexpectedly smooth look all reinforce the sense that the final Remake chapter will not be all tragedy and apocalypse.
For now, the hot-springs material is a promising sign for anyone eager to see more of the group's comic dynamics. And for those who believe Cid should look a little more rugged when he steps into the water, there is still one very particular detail to watch when Revelation arrives.
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