Thank goodness, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth gives Yuffie the main character treatment

polygon.com:

Yuffie Kisaragi is the fiery engine behind the main cast in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Whether it’s sprinting off alone to search for her beloved materia or attempting high-profile assassination in front of the entire world, she simply cannot be deterred. The warrior from Wutai previously appeared as an optional character in the original version of the game. Now, she’s included as part of the main story from pretty early on, and her addition is one of my favorite ways that Rebirth alters the story from the original game.

Yuffie first appeared as an optional playable character in the original Final Fantasy 7. To go get her, players had to adventure to her homeland of Wutai and complete her related quest. In that game, unlocking her was a completely elective part of the game, but now she plays a large role in the new trilogy of games reimagining the original story. She has now starred as the protagonist in her own story in Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s DLC, Intergrade. There, she helped Avalanche infiltrate a Shinra facility and steal a special materia. Now, in Rebirth, we get to see her link up with Cloud Strife and the main party of characters as the group ventures out to save the world from Sephiroth.

As one of the youngest members of Avalanche and resident goofball, it could be easy to disregard Yuffie. At several points, she seems to have a one-track mind set on collecting her shiny, precious materia. Still, the young warrior harbors lofty ambitions to help her homeland and defeat Shinra. There’s a lot more to her than meets the eye, and the developers have found ways to let her personality shine in every instance. The way they do this is by, well, letting Yuffie be Yuffie.

Everything is over the top with Yuffie. It’s not just about what she looks like or says, but how we see her move throughout the world. In cutscenes, Yuffie often expresses herself with exaggerated movements where she’ll pump her arms as she runs or make a face by pulling her lips wide and sticking