Square Enix is aiming to make Cloud a better team member in Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, and as part of that initiative, he'll come equipped with a crucial sword right from the start.
If you played the original Final Fantasy Tactics, you might not have the fondest memory of Final Fantasy 7 OG Cloud, who isn't available until about halfway through Chapter 4. The process of adding Cloud to your team is long and convoluted, and once you do have him by your side, he needs the Materia Blade, which also isn't easy to find, to perform his Limit abilities, essentially chaining him to a specific weapon that otherwise might not be the most viable choice.
