Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis introduced it’s first Seasonal Event, and with it a handful of new costumes for characters like Tifa, Zack, and Red XIII. While Zack’s outfit is more or less what you would expect, given that he has a defined look from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, the team working on Ever Crisis more or less had free reign for Tifa and Red XIII. While what they managed to come up with for Red XIII encapsulates the same feeling of seeing a cat or a dog in a funny outfit their owner may have put them in, the FFVII Ever Crisis Lifeguard Gear for Tifa misses the mark.
I’m not entirely sure what Square Enix was aiming for with the Lifeguard Tifa outfit. Generally, when you think of a Lifeguard, you think of the color red. However, in FFVII Ever Crisis, she’s instead wearing a black bikini hidden under a semi-transparent white t-shirt, a black jean skirt with utility buckles hanging from the front, driving gloves, an elbow pad, and a trucker hat with Seventh Heaven stitched into it. The outfit feels more or less like it belongs in Final Fantasy XV, which isn’t a bad thing, per se. But this isn’t a Final Fantasy XV crossover event or a collaboration with the character designer Roberto Ferrari. If you told me he worked on this costume, however, I would believe you. Because this outfit definitely has shades of Cidney Aurum. That isn’t to say that I don’t like that outfit. However, much like Cidney, Tifa’s outfit doesn’t feel appropriate themed for the job associated with this costume.
This could have been a really great opportunity for Square Enix to make something fun out of Tifa’s Lifeguard outfit in FFVII Ever Crisis. Instead, it just looks relatively cheap and out of place. By comparison, Red XIII’s outfit, as silly as it is, does feel like it belong as the beach with its tacky print shirt and beige color. It feels like Square Enix was more bold with his outfit, because they didn’t have to work within the confines of selling something based on hit-and-miss sex appeal. The design itself seems like a mixed bag as a result, as it doesn’t belong at the beach, despite Tifa’s bikini peeking out from under her too-short skirt, or her bikini top being somewhat visible through what is clearly support to be a wet, white shirt.
Regardless, if Square Enix had committed to something more singular, the outfit probably would have looked better as a result. Yes, it could have gone with Tifa actually wearing a lifeguard uniform or just putting her in more fitting casual beach wear. It might have been more cohesive and on-point.
Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is immediately available for Android and iOS. The Beach Fun Festival event is available in FFVII Ever Crisis until September 28, 2023.
