18 years later, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles explains what Cloud Strife is actually doing there thanks to newly discovered secret dialogue

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There's a good reason Cloud is in Ivalice after all

Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
(Image credit: Square Enix)

The release of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles has players new and old digging into one of the finest entries in the long-running JRPG franchise. As people make their way to the eponymous Ivalice for the spirited adventure, they're discovering myriad changes and Easter eggs in the remaster.

A particular curiosity was uncovered involving none other than Cloud Strife, protagonist of Final Fantasy 7 and perhaps the most recognizable hero in the whole series. Recruiting him is a sidequest in Tactics, but once you do so, he’ll fight alongside your team as valiantly as anyone else.

FFT - Secret Cloud dialogue with Folmarv - English Dub from r/FinalFantasy

As captured by Reddit user 47D, if you go a certain length of time with Folmarv in the Mullonde Cathedral Nave, the aggressor will strike up a conversation. He starts questioning Cloud about him not being of that dimension, leading to the reveal of some backstory.

This version of Cloud is actually a clone (yes, a clone of a clone, hilariously Final Fantasy) made by the auracite. The stone copied his soul and put it into another body. Ergo, Ivalice now has its own particular Cloud Strife.

It's a little confusing, but a fun conversation if you know your Final Fantasy mythology. Comments below are full of people who didn't manage to get this back and forth, and for many of them, it's because they went through Folmarv too quickly. You need to last a couple of turns for talking to start.

Go easy on the lead knight of Glabados if you want to see this firsthand. Or you can whoop him and just watch it here, either way is good, honestly.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles director open to revisiting the series' Game Boy Advance sequels if the remaster does well, but thinks the strategy RPG playerbase is currently a "bit small."

Anthony McGlynn
Anthony McGlynn
Contributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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