Square Enix undeniably hit a home run with its Final Fantasy VII Remake, with the Japanese publisher managing to please both the majority of fans of the original game and newcomers to the series. That said, numerous folks on either side of the fence haven’t taken kindly to some of the new character additions, with many lambasting Square Enix for implementing the likes of Roche and Chadley with no discernible reason.

Let the record show that I am not here to defend Roche: he’s kind of a wildcard lunatic, and appears to simply act as filler for Chapter 4. Chadley, on the other hand, is quite deserving of your love and admiration, as the Shinra R&D intern offers players a way to engage in some inventive and enjoyable content whilst keeping the heart and soul of Final Fantasy VII intact.

When we first meet Chadley, we learn that he is a fledgling Shinra R&D intern that just so happens to despise the company, expressing his desire to aid Cloud in his bid to defeat the keepers of Midgar. To that end, Chadley enlists Cloud in a series of ongoing ‘Battle Report’ quests that help incentivize players to learn the nuances and intricacies of Final Fantasy VII Remake’s combat system. As a reward for quest completion, Chadley offers an impressive selection of exclusive materia at a cost (creating materia ain’t cheap, y’know).

Later on, Chadley allows Cloud & friends to engage in VR battles against summons with the intent of taking the combat data and turning it into actual, genuine summon materia. This is where things get impressive on Square Enix’s end. Most of you folks out there that have played the original Final Fantasy VII know that you don’t acquire most of the game’s summon materia until after you’ve left Midgar. Square Enix recognized that there would need to be at least some summon presence in the first part of the remake. So, instead of sticking some Shiva materia in Seventh Heaven’s freezer or Leviathan materia in the sewer under Don Corneo’s mansion, this replicated materia not normally found until later in the game (Under Junon, in Shiva’s case) is instead offered as a reward through Chadley.

The existence of Chadley’s character also has some potential future implications in regards to materia. Cosmo Canyon’s Bugenhagen may have a lessened role this time around, and as such it could fall on Chadley’s future Remake appearances to assist Cloud and friends with obtaining materia. Given that he is responsible for doling out the Bahamut summon materia, it is also possible that future entries in the Remake series could see him offering VR missions wherein the party fights Neo Bahamut and perhaps even Bahamut ZERO.

So far we’ve heard a lot about what Chadley has to offer, but what about the actual character? Ignoring the fact that he looks a bit too much like FFXIII’s Hope, the kid’s the third snappiest dresser in Midgar (behind Andrea and Rude), and, without getting too deeply into spoiler territory, even the very existence of both the character and his defined motives are, to say the least, impressive. Chadley’s character arc also plays into the Final Fantasy VII Remake’s theme of changing one’s destiny, with his last words within his arc alluding to how nice it is “Not knowing something for a change.” The lad has a good point.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is now available exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

So, thoughts on Chadley? What do you think of FF7R as a whole? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!