LogFAQs > #980013856

Yeah I liked what they did with Tifa in this game but I want her to be a stronger / more forthright presence, even if she's careful about picking her moments (I can live with her deciding random hippies just aren't worth the bother). It is at least implied there's a fair bit going on off screen between her and Aerith on how to handle Cloud's increasingly loose grip on reality, but showing more of that would go a long way to making her come off less passive.

I also found it plain weird that Cloud nearly killed her in Chapter 9 and it was almost ignored in their conversation afterward. That was a shocking act that was written in to this version of the story and it should have had more of a direct impact on their relationship IMO (even if Tifa just acknowledged he was out of control and forgave him for it).

It's up in the air whether Tifa gets more of a leading role in part 3 with Aerith essentially out of the picture (setting aside lifestream / weird alternate reality pop ups) or she gets further sidelined because her best relationship isn't there. I very much hope she has a prominent role throughout the story. The worst thing they could do is shoehorn Zack into being a surrogate lead for some reason while Cloud is out of action, essentially finding an excuse for a minor male character to have a leading role which pushes the natural female lead (in FFVII's back half) to the side.

It is somewhat odd that FF games had more agentic and prominent female characters 25 years ago than they do now (see FFXV and XVI).

Also you can do some crazy stuff with Tifa if you really understand her kit, e.g. these videos explain some cool techniques (going a bit further than spamming Divekick cancels).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMl3rfHQ2ng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88T6R99vhnI