Vincent And Cid Won't Take Part In Battles In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

thegamer.com:

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is almost upon us, and after countless trailers and one dedicated State of Play, we've finally seen the whole gang in action. Vincent Valentine and Cid Highwind were the final two characters to join the party, and we've been given a decent look at both heading into the release of the game. Unfortunately, if you were hoping to include either in your main party, you'll unfortunately need to wait until the third installment.

Last year, it was revealed that Vincent Valentine in particular would have a similar role to Red XIII in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, having him join the party as an AI controlled character rather than playable. Given that both characters are introduced in Rebirth, it was assumed that Cid would be the same, but it appears that both Vincent and Cid will have even lesser roles than previously thought, as neither will join you in combat encounters throughout Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's entire runtime.

This is according to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi, who recently explained to IGN that while Vincent and Cid will play roles in the story and help out Cloud and the gang, they won't actually be "fighting as guest characters" like Red XIII did in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Hamaguchi goes on to say that leaving both Vincent and Cid out of combat encounters was deliberately done to save them for Part 3.

“If we used up all of the playable characters in the second part, then we would lose out on quite a lot of new surprises and new experiences for the player in the third game.” - Naoki Hamaguchi

Even though they won't appear in combat encounters, it seems as though Hamaguchi and the team at Square Enix made an effort to flesh out Vincent and Cid's characters and have them play a big role in the story. Hamaguchi swiftly reassures any disappointed fans out there that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will still focus on Vincent and Cid quite a bit, and will have their own individual side quests players can tackle to "learn a lot more