One of the most memorable moments from the original Final Fantasy 7 is the date scene at the Gold Saucer. There was no way that Square Enix would leave that part out of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. In the original, it was almost an Easter egg of sorts to learn that you could end up going on a date with almost every member of the cast, not just Aerith. That’s because the relationship system was hidden and almost impossible to manipulate without a guide. Thankfully, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth makes things much clearer with the new bonds system that shows you just how strong your relationship with each character is. That plays directly into who you end up sharing a touching moment with near the end of the game.
How to date each character
Who you end up going on a date with at the Gold Saucer is dictated by whomever you have built up the strongest bond with. If you don’t go out of your way to tilt the scales one way or another, odds are you will end up going with Aerith, but you can date Tifa, Barret, Yuffie, and Red XIII if you want to see a different series of events.
Bonds are built in a few ways, and represented by a little emoji above characters, heads in hub towns as they’re wandering around on their own. The earlier you decide who you want to date, the easier it will be to make it happen. Once you make your choice, make sure you always speak to them when given the option and try to say things they will agree with to deepen your relationship. You should also bring them into battle and unlock and use all the synergy attacks that combine Cloud and them to get a boost that way.
The biggest bond boost is to do sidequests associated with that character. Whenever you begin a sidequest, one of your cast will be heavily involved right at the start to make it clear who you will be bonding with. If it is the character you want to date, make sure to do that quest. If not, skip it to not risk raising another character’s bond.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth does give you a warning before the big night so you have one more chance to grind out some more quests to make sure you date who you want before committing to the date. Once you’re confident you will get who you want, go to sleep and wait for your partner to show up and whisk you away for a night on the town.
It may not feel as “real,” but you can replay this chapter once you finish the game and, so long as you have a character’s bond above a certain threshold, you can actually pick who you want to go on the date with so you can see all the scenes.
