Top 10 Most Useful Final Fantasy VII Party Members

My personal thoughts on all of the party members of Final Fantasy VII! All of the characters have their strengths and weaknesses, but some stand tall above the rest.

1. Cloud Strife

   

   Cloud Strife is a fictional video game character and the main protagonist of Final Fantasy VII, a role-playing game developed by Square and released in 1997. He also plays a central role in the game's remakes, sequels, and various spin-offs.... read more

   Of course, number one has to be Cloud himself, the main protagonist of the game. Both his health and magic stats are very good, all of his weapons are unique and reliable, and he has a triple growth AP weapon, which is an item only shared with Cid. He can fit into whatever mold you want him to, and do it with ease. Tank? Sure. Healer? You bet. He can do it all. His limit breaks and all powerful, and Omnislash is rediculously strong and so iconic. He simply has to be number one.

2. Cid Highwind

   

   Our runner-up is Cid Highwind, the badmouthed, rough-around-the-edges pilot of the self-named airship. Cid boasts overall incredible power, versatile limit breaks, a decent magic stat, and overall amazing versatility. He also has one of only two triple AP growth weapons in the game, and his final limit, Highwind, both looks awesome and ranks as one of the best limit breaks, period. Cid is an amazing character all-around.

3. Barret Wallace

   

   Barret Wallace is a playable character in Square Enix's role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII. He is the leader of the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE and fights against the Shinra Electric Power Company. Barret is known for his mechanical gun arm and his commitment to protecting the planet.

   Our first to make it into the top 3, we have Barret Wallace! Barret is such a lovable character, and his stats are just as lovable. He has an incredibly high HP stat, being the only character that can naturally reach 9999 HP, and his limits are nothing short of incredible. Catastrophe is rediculously powerful, and Angermax (or Ungarmax if you have the PS1 version) is, statistically, the most powerful limit in the game if you are able to make its damage 9999. Barret is an amazing character who shouldn't be slept on.

4. Red XIII

   

   Red XIII displays overwhelming strength and MP, being the only real contender for the latter behind Aerith. He can be argued to serve as this game's "Black Mage," with his magical prowess. He is my personal favorite character to use, as his limits are amazing and look beautiful, he has a unique design, and, I mean, come on. It's a Tribal Dog with a fire tail that can use magic. How cool is that?

5. Yuffie Kisaragi

   

   At number five is the materia thief herself, Yuffie! Yuffie is an all-around amazing character. Her stats, while not top-tier, are still nothing to laugh at, and her limits are amazing. Her ultimate weapon is also one of the best in the game. Overall, she is just a very strong, reliable character.

6. Tifa Lockhart

   

   In 6th place, we have Tifa, Cloud's hometown friend and amazing bartender. Tifa is an all-around incredible party member, with high damage output, high health, and plenty of style. Really, the largest to her, for me, is her luck-based chain of limit breaks While you can play it safe and go for "Hits," a risky play for a "Yeah!" will likely result in a miss if you're not careful. Also, once you get into level 3 and 4 limits, it can take a long time to activate, which may hinder you in a tight situation.

7. Vincent Valentine

   

   Vincent Valentine is a player character in Square's 1997 role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII. Designed by Tetsuya Nomura, he also appears in various titles from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, including Dirge of Cerberus and Advent Children. He is portrayed as a former Turk with a dark past... read more

   Vincent Valentine, although incredibly cool, is marred by his very situational limit breaks. He has a very high magic stat and a powerful set of weapons. He fights with strong magic attacks, ranged weaponry, and enough mysteriousness to go around. However, as stated earlier, his limit breaks are very situational, and can sometimes aid the enemy. He will randomly use one of two moves depending on your limit level, but if you're not careful, he will use an attack that heals enemies, such as if he uses Beast Flare on the Materia Collector. You always have to be very mindful of who you're fighting. As a side note, because of this, I always like to equip Vincent with the Sniper CR and DeathBlow Materia to counteract this.

8. Aerith/Aeris Gainsborough

   

   Aerith is a very good character in many aspects, but she definitely has some very big flaws. For one, while her MP is very high, her attack power is very weak. She works purely as a support member, and in a game where you can make even an offensive character like Barret a support member with enough materia, she simply falls short. However, her limit breaks are amazing, with Great Gospel easily being one of the best in the entire game. The problem is, however, that due to certain events, all the grinding you do to level her up and unlock her limit breaks is completely negated.

9. Cait Sith

   

   Cait Sith is a character in the Final Fantasy series, first appearing in Final Fantasy VII. It is a robotic cat that rides a large Moogle doll and is known for its playful personality and fortune-telling abilities. Cait Sith serves as both comic relief and an important story figure, with ties to the... read more

   Coming in last of all the party members is Cait Sith. While I love this character's design, character, and overall concept, the fact that his power is based on gambling makes him an incredibly unreliable member. Can he one-shot Ruby Weapon, the hardest enemy in the game? Technically, yes, but it's much more likely that he'll get a set of slots that kill YOUR entire party. He's a fun concept, but he's just way too unreliable, and it really pains me to say that.

10. Sephiroth

    

    Since I needed ten options, and there are only 9 party members, I thought I'd add Sephiroth to the list. He Technically joins your party for a very short amount of time in the Nibilheim flashback, so I guess it counts. However, while he's incredibly powerful, he is AI-controlled, so I probably would have put him at the bottom anyway.