Voice actor and Critical Role star Matt Mercer will play Vincent Valentine in Square Enix’s upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
As reported by Kotaku, Mercer revealed at New York Comic Con that he’d play the gun slinging pseudo-vampire in the highly anticipated sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake. This was followed up with a tweet from the official Final Fantasy Twitter account (below).
Mercer, who’s played plenty of prolific video game characters, including Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, said he was pranked by the Square Enix team ahead of being offered the role.
It’s official!
Matt Mercer (@matthewmercer) is the voice of Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. #FF7R pic.twitter.com/8dKq3E6EXj
— FINAL FANTASY VII (@finalfantasyvii) October 14, 2023
The voice actor was called in to record lines for an unimportant NPC in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth before the script screen appeared to glitch and eventually faded to black. What emerged afterwards was the script for another character, Vincent, revealing to Mercer that Square Enix wanted him to play the iconic character.
A year of dreams culminates with this one. No game has had the impact on me quite like FF7 did, and to be a part of it, let alone one of my favorite characters, is an honor beyond words.
Thank you all for the energy: https://t.co/MraC4WQZ6Z https://t.co/XlQd6S6arA
— Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer) October 14, 2023
Vincent won’t be playable in the sequel but will instead just be an “accompanying character” to the party similar to Red XIII’s role in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The spook was playable in the original game, where he’d wield handguns in battle and transform into a giant monster with his Limit Break.
Square Enix got a little philosophical recently when it explained the wild logic behind Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s box art. It does get a bit weird when it comes to the series though, with Square Enix explaining what was long considered a plot hole in Final Fantasy 7 Remake as Aerith having vague memories of future events.
After going quiet on the long-awaited sequel for around a year, the developer also took to Twitter in June to share some insightful and bizarre updates.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s February 29 release date is getting closer though, and fans are finally learning more and more about the game. Square Enix confirmed it will feature new story content centred around Zack, and perhaps even incorporate backstory for Sephiroth included in mobile game Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.