How to remove Cloud from the party in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

There are several fan-favorite characters that you can play as in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, so many players are wondering if they can remove Cloud from their party. Cloud is a required party member for most of the game, but thankfully, you can get rid of him later down the line.

While you can remove Cloud from your playable Rebirth party, there are a few important things to note. Firstly, you can’t get rid of Cloud for exploration. Even if you remove him from the party, you’ll still control him outside of combat and there’s no way to change characters for exploration. Secondly, you can’t remove Cloud from your party until you’ve beaten the main storyline of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

How to Swap Out Cloud in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Once you’ve finished Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and have unlocked the Chapter Select feature, just replay any chapter of the main game and you’ll be able to get rid of Cloud as if he were any other party member.

Just open the Combat Settings menu and edit your party. From there, you can remove Cloud and swap him out for Yuffie, Cait Sith, Red XIII, or any other character you want. Again, you’ll still control Cloud when exploring the overworld, but he’ll be sent to the backline and swapped out with whoever you have set in your main frontline party when a battle begins.

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While Cloud is one of the best characters in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (and rightfully so since you’re forced to use him for the entire game), there are some interesting team lineups that you can create without him on your main team. Since Rebirth’s postgame and your Hard mode playthrough require much more strategy and planning than your standard run, being able to ditch Cloud is a godsend.

Since Chapter Select allows you to retain quest completion data, it’s best to save most of Rebirth’s side content until after the credits roll if you want to ditch Cloud for open-world exploration. You’ll be able to tackle every side quest, gather all of Chadley’s world intel, and take on every optional boss with a fully custom party composition if you load an older chapter after beating the main game.