Awesome video! Have you considered that maybe the reason Tifa is in her state by the end is because during her flash (possibly from her encounter with the lifestream) that she saw the version of Aeriths death where Cloud himself kills her? The different blood splatters on her arm and the fact she does not say a word to anyone. Curious on your thoughts on this!
I'm not necessarily invested one way or another myself. Don't care that much for Final Fantasy given the strong theme of death. I'm in it more for the hero's journey and saving the damsel. Although, I find myself enthralled with attempting to decode the ending.
I'm glad to see you give your honest opinion. There are a lot of creators that won't give much criticism at all because they are afraid to upset the devs into not giving them some attention on future releases (example being max). Rebirth is something where I enjoyed SO much of it. Really put a smile on my face. Other than the occasional broken sidequest, or terribly balanced mini game (like the stupid 3rd yuffie chocobo), and ending, it was quite the experience. I'm okay with story changes like the gi and the black materia (great addition), but using multiverse stuff feels so out of place in a game that had NOTHING to do with multiverse in the first place. Just think about ff10, nothing to do with multiverse, and then they decided to add a change to the ending where a new tidus shows up when the other tidus disappears. Would be so bad.
Trust me, I pretty much agree with you. I’d rather be honest about how I feel but also still give positives because the entire ending/game weren’t terrible messes like some would have you believe, but it’s also not this infallible piece of media that can’t be criticized
@@Soldier1stClass What's funny to me, is I feel that way about OG FFVII *far more* than the remake series. It feels like every year I play through that game, my opinion of it is worse than the last time I played. Especially after experiencing Remake and Rebirth, OG FFVII is just... Not great. It has its moments, and it was revolutionary (for the time) and a very important game, but there's so many flaws in the writing, scenarios, tonal shifts, and translation, not to mention gameplay glitches and broken mechanics, and sadly underdeveloped main characters (Cait Sith and Yuffie in particular), that it really makes me appreciate Remake and Rebirth SO MUCH MORE!
Maybe theyre saving the aerith burial scene for part 3 when cloud puts his mind back together. Thatll be the point he can accept her death and symbolically do so by letting her go in the forgotten city waters.
Right, but as I said in the video, the moment has passed and I’m not gonna really care at that point. I’m not gonna feel the same or have near the same headspace as I would’ve had they shown it in the moment.
It's interesting seeing all the different perspectives everyone has on the game and its very open to interpretation ending. Most of your interpretations were vastly different from mine, especially regarding the small details. I personally just want a scenario where Aerith was unharmed by Sephiroth, because: a) it would be an awesome moment for Cloud b) I think Cloud needing to accept the reality of Aerith's death later in part 3, and then learning he actually did protect her creates an awesome redemption arc c) Creating a scenario where Aerith and Zack can reunite in their physical forms, probably shortly before they are sent to the Lifestream and can say their proper goodbyes, will create a very emotional moment
Technically speaking in the completed overall story of the o. G final fantasy 7. You can bring aerith but in the American version you cannot and all you get is her ultimate weapon. So I feel that plays well in the completed story that we would never able to get. I also believe that airth is dead, but she came back as aerith shade. Or multi verse of the one that she's survived in. And the like Sephrioth all her versions of herself are connected and seemed to have the same memory of the original timeline. As for cloud, seeing The Rip, overlay in the timeline and.Aerith I believe since he deflected the blade he is able to see 2 worlds that are overlapping. Full the multiple timeline and saying this. Or like live in the 2 worlds at simulataniously overlapping each other at the same time. But since the others were vanished when that happened, I believe that that world only consists of the world areth and himself like a closed off world that overlaps the one that he's in.
I'm at the complete opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to Aerith dying. I hope she lives, and I will be pissed if she doesn't. In fact, Aerith dying was the reason I stopped playing the original back in the day, and I haven't gone back to finish it. She was my favourite character back then, and I lost all interest in playing the game after her death. Remake and Rebirth only further ingrained Aerith as my favourite character. In fact, I'd go as far to say with the exception of Cloud, I wouldn't care about any other character if they were to die. The only reason I bought Remake and Rebirth was in the hope she survives. With the whole "defying/changing fate" plot point, Aerith surviving is the obvious implication to that. The only reason I'm still interested in the third instalment is because of the ambiguous way they handled her "death" in Rebirth. That and the lyrics to Hollow and No Promises to Keep, point towards Cloud and Aerith being reunited. If Aerith still dies, then the entire trilogy would be pointless. Their narrative of "Defying/changing fate" would be redundant. The multiple worlds/timelines would be redundant. Zack surviving would be redundant. The empty white materia would be redundant. If it all ends the same way, there wouldn't be any pay off to any of it. They may as well have made a 1:1 remaster and called it a day.
I feel like whether she ends up being alive in the end of the game really doesn't matter. She was a huge part of the party in the last two games and in part 3 she's gonna be a force ghost at best. She won't have the banter or quest or anything shes gone. Just show up at key story moments like Zack but in the end, she's still gone.
Yeah I’m hoping that exact fact doesn’t escape people when I talk about this game LMAO I’m still playing. I was playing last night. I dropped Remake immediately if that tells you anything lmao
Cloud lives in the "white world" where aerith lives, too. The others (didn't pass the white portal) are living in the "black world". For them, aerith is dead. This will be psycho in part3
I’m certainly with you in that I feel like the ending was so convoluted it was hard to feel anything. I was also waiting and waiting for the scene of Cloud carrying Aerith into the lake so I was so disappointed when that didn’t happen. The ridiculously long battle at the end also just had me more annoyed than anything come the end so it was hard to give a shit about whatever dumb nonsense they were doing with the story. Also just annoyed that we even fought Sephiroth again. Like seriously, we are getting such an over exposure of Sephiroth that he has lost all meaning. There is nothing menacing or intimidating about him anymore. It was a horrible decision to have us fight him in Remake and again in Rebirth. Less is more as they say. But this dev team showed zero restraint which is why this game is honestly just a bloated mess in my mind.
I think it has to do with how the game is being done, every game has to end with a boss final battle, there is no point on just ending the game for example with a cutscene and thats all. the original didnt come in 3 times, it was all together but this one, every part is released every 3 years, so even when is a full history, every game is kind of an individual one and released with big gaps of time. lets say that they stick to the original, the party goes to the forgotten capital, aeris is killed, 10 minutes fight with Jenova, a small cutscene and thats it, insert disk 3. but there is no disk 3 so the player is going to end with an unwanted feeling of disappointment and emptiness. like this, the emptiness exists but somehow is filled with a lot of questions about what is really going on, what is happening, and what is going to happen in part 3, which was the intention of the devs. also they are playing all the time knowing that we know the history, but at the same time they are changing/adding things so you can have a mix between the nostalgia from the original game with the emotion of a "new game" where you dont know whats going to happen. they know what they are doing
Listen I absolutely adore this game, but I shouldn't need to have a full 30 min video, books and charts to understand what the heck was happening in the ending 😭
You don’t need a 30 min video. I understood it, along with appreciating a little mystery, without the 30 min video. That 30 min video is your choice to watch.
Bro I was a bit shocked we couldn’t see Cloud laying Aerith to rest and say proper good buy. I do believe they saved this for part 3 to let it hit even harder - if they do I hope they nail it. Cody recorded his words to Aerith. He talked about in an interview ;) One of the best games I played - OG still goat for me. Looking forward to part 3
got a ps5 just for this. agree with most of what you said, but you are 100% right with how they messed up the ending because of how needlessly convoluted it was. instead of having an extremely emotional impact, it instead it leaves the player thinking "huh? wtf just happened?" while fighting the final boss.
I also got a PS5 just for this I'm still playing 150 hours I did not think I would make it that long there are a lot of minigames but the game is still good I just wish they would have turned down the mini games a little bit
@@supersaiyanzero386 everyone hoping they'll be a super impactful scene in part 3 when cloud is put back together. I think it could be great. only thing is, you're waiting another 3 years for it (7 if you go back to remake part 1!)
@@maillardsbearcat oh i agree. it's the most iconic death i can think of. and my first time watching was like eh? a lot to take in and understand as you're casusally just playing. just gotta hope the payoff/flashbacks/what actually happened in part 3 is amazing and worth it
Is it possible the devs purposely wanted those exact feelings toward the ending, to build up the ending game. Have everybody guessing and unsatisfied. Which it has done successfully
the part i don't like about the ending is that it doesn't feel like an Aerith moment. Aerith freaking died, in this scene but they make it convoluted and confusing and it watered down how important this scene is. The battle is cool and fanservicy, but can you imagine they ended with Aerith's death and then silence. That would've made the scene soo powerful. What I'm asking now is hopefully the last game shows Cloud accepting her death and it shows vividly how he carried her to the lake, and him and the others mourning for her.
I hate the fact that they even listened to the fans asking to revive aerith. the reason they asked for it was because they were sad when the death happened, but getting sad was the WHOLE POINT. they chose aerith to be the one to die because they wanted the loss of life to be a major part of the game. films and stories wouldn't mean much today if they kept drastically changing the plot because fans were sad their favorite character was killed off. remove the time ghosts, keep the new perspective about clouds mental state, and rebirth still would've been a great game and most importantly have a story that makes sense to the player. instead square chose to confuse everybody for extra clicks.
My brother and I have a theory that once Tifa helps rebuild Cloud's mind in part 3, since we know materia is formed from memories, all of Cloud's true memories about himself and Zack and Aerith's death will fill the clear materia, which will allow Cloud to call Zack and/or Aerith from another world in as a summon lol.
What the hell was Vincent doing while everyone else was fighting? In Remake we cant use Nanaki but he at least shows up in the conflict. Vincent aside from the doorway part is just gone
Alright Soldier1stClass I've got a lot to unpack so buckle up. First off I 100% agree with your take on this ending and I think you did a really good job articulating it without totally shitting on it. For me, I feel very similar to how I did at the end of Remake, which was mostly frustrated. In both cases I played a game that was for the most part a faithful recreation of one of my favorite games with some enhancements, added lore, and a lot more depth into places and character (for better or worse in some cases. I didn't really need Chocobo bills full backstory) but then in both games the last chapter just goes full blown off the rails and get leaves you wondering what the fuck you just witnessed. From a narrative prospective it's so frustrating because FF7 original already had one of the most compelling stories that while not convoluted was fairly complex in its own right and tackled some pretty hard hitting issues. Mental illness, identity crises, loss, grief, sacrifice, love and many others all lead by a great ensemble cast and topped off with some iconic antagonist in Shinra and Sephiroth. All of this multi verse crap feels so contrive and unnecessary in a game that already had so much depth. The fact that they slap it all in the last chapter makes it feel like a complete afterthought. You could literally cut it all from the game and lose nothing. When Im sitting here watching new world being created by arbitrary decisions made by a character who should be dead I just check out. When you start introducing elements into a story with no pretext that completely exists outside of the established rules of your universe it makes everything feel super cheap and contrive. Like why do Sephiroth and Aerith have these powers? Where did they get them? Why are the decisions Zack is making so impactful? Why is he special? It feels shoehorned for fan service. I also agree wholeheartedly that as soon as I hear multiverse the stakes are automatically lowered and things like death and consequence become way less impactful. And the fact that Aerith and her death are basically robbed of all emotion when this was supposed to be the CRUX of this story just pisses me off. And quite possibly the most annoying part is that they had a perfectly fine and thematically accurate vehicle to make something like this work. If you told me Aerith and Sephiroth were using the life stream as a way to send their consciences across time and influencing events I could go with that. It makes sense with rules already established in the universe as Sephiroth and Aerith are ancients. Overall the whole ending ruined what was otherwise a very very good game. Im really hoping they find a way to make this all relevant in part 3 and for the love of God don't give into fan service and just stick to the damn plot. Sorry I know that was a lot. Rant over.
It’s ok, I made an entire 31 minute video, there’s a lot to unpack about the ending of the game, so I get it. And I find myself very much in agreement with you
Im 100% sure we will replay the Arieth death scene in part 3 when Clouds mind is fixed, but I agree the game spent so much efforts on building Arieth as a character gamers spend hundred of hours getting along with her, playing out her death scene in part 3 will never have the same impact as doing it in part 2
2nd this. Unless, & I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s when Tifa & Cloud fall into the Lifestream at Mideal & patch Cloud’s broken self together properly that we’ll get the raw monologue Cloud had at Aerith’s passing/her burial. 👀✨ Nor would it surprising if the OP Aerith that’s fights Seph with Cloud has a moment with either Cloud, & Tifa separately, or both together in Cloud’s broken psyche/the Lifestream to have her moment to shine on her own for at least a moment.
Aerith must die and be dead for any of this to matter. Otherwise, the themes of loss, grief, and acceptance are a complete wash. Sephiroth couldn't accept what had happened to him or who he was or the loss of agency in his life, so he decided to burn the world for its transgressions. Aerith accepted the loss of her mother. She accepted that she was the last of the cetra, and ultimately, she accepted her death for her friends, loved ones and the world because she wanted to save the world instead of burning it out of anger.
Tbh I think this is a "too much cooks spoil the broth" scenario. Nomura coming to Nojima saying add Zack to the ending. Kitase wanting all to have a good ending... Add this, add that. Shipping wars, adding all characters from expanded ff7 universe...
...right your just describing why its a game dedicated to ff7 fans lol. Its not meant for the average gamer. It specifically caters to the fans of the original.
@@thapoppyman not really...the original ff7 is my favorite game EVER hell I even bought the damn ps1 classic just for that game as I have no ps1 memory card anymore. If they wanted to caters to the fan they wouldn't have messed up the feel of the game...in the original the world is dark and bleak and people struggle apart from the gold saucer where it's only fun and games...yet in this game every city feels as touristy as prague and feels like the gold saucer is everywhere. Another thing that the original did so well was the fact that we were only witnessing the aftermath of sephiroth, never seeing him, just the consequences of his passage, following the trail of blood in the shinra building ( blood not purple slime), seeing the midgar zolum empalled on a tree after that thing kicked my butt in 4 seconds made me wonder how I would ever be able to beat that guy, like nothing could stop him. Now he's constantly in our face, we beat him twice already...he doesen't even feel like a serious threat anymore. I did enjoy stuff from these games, they look great, soundtrack is fantastic, the combat system is fun...but especially in rebirth the so-called optional mini-games who aren't really that optional as many stuff is locked behind them, moogle shit, boring side quest, the kingdom heart crap...I could've deal with that if they hadn't messed up the feel of the game and that's where those games miss the mark in my opinion. Don't get me wrong they were ok games but once the nostalgia fades they are just that ok games while the original is a classic. But then every one have their own views on things so no hard feelings here :)
To keep it simple, all these timelines will somehow merge and you'll end up with Aerith and Zack reuniting as the saviors of the "other side" and unfortunately staying there as the protectors of the Livestream. This conclusion will serve both fans who wish to either keep them alive but also "dead" at the same time (fitting the events of Advent Children perfectly). I truly believe a lot of inspiration is taken from Kingdom Hearts, such as the concept of "birth by sleep" where you don't really die but rather change form or simply wake up in another reality. What hits me the most is not Aerith's supposed "death", it's actually her lamenting in tears that she won't be able to live a normal life or be happy like everyone else. First her mother falling ill and now her being targeted by Sephiroth. All our girl ever wanted was to be happy and go on adventure and fall in love, why can't she have her happy ending!
That last image of Aerith standing there in the field all by herself, then sweetly saying "Goodbye" to her friends that she can't go on the rest of the adventure with while the music swells hit me much harder than Aerith's death in the original game. It feels so unfair that she has to stay behind, and doesn't get to have any more fun with the gang...
With Aerith standing alone, I can relate. A traumatic event happened in my life and I lost contact with all the people I went to high school with. When I tried to catch up with Facebook, it felt like an empty victory. I don't believe I missed much in high school. But, that doesn't help that feeling of having something taken from me. That's why her saying goodbye probably affects me more than her "death".
I am 108 hrs in. I agree with every single point you made. I'm sure most of us found this video out of confusion over the ending. I didn't want Aerith to die this time around but if she was to die, I had hoped for a proper climatic ending with emotions surging through the roof.
They should have ended the game at the northern crater, that way they could have split this up so its more digestible. Have the Aerith scene be the Aerith scene with the added "Cloud seeing Aerith" stuff, then do all the timeline world stuff at the northern crater and end the game with the summoning of meteor, that way you also would have a banger opening of part 3. Would have been much more cohesive that way instead of trying to do two things at once.
100% agree. My biggest negative coming into Rebirth was where they decided to end it. My biggest negative after finishing the game… was where they decided to end it.
bizarro sephiroth was always named rebirth sephiroth in japanese. just bad localization. have to admit that cloud reciting soldier creed seems cringe intially but for me it made perfect sense since cloud literally inherited and stole zack's memories. great vid tho
14:27… Yeah, as much as the OG names/lines of dialogue may have stuck (ie: “This guy are sick.”), many others were properly changed in the Re- trilogy so far to reflect the original context/intention. This is why the Devs on the localization team had to correct & patch Aerith’s last line in Remake on the day Rebirth launched to a literal translation from the original Japanese, “The sky, I don’t like it.” (as she likely can see that crack in the sky Cloud sees at the end).
Man I just finished this game and I've now watched nearly a dozen RUclipsrs analyze this ending and only you have echoed my thoughts and opinions nearly perfectly. I enjoyed a lot of this ending but boy, was I so "emotionally exhausted" after that boss fight. The lack of explanations on the timelines, ghosts, mental breakdowns etc just had me going "huh?" when I should be sobbing over Aerith. They fumbled the ball hard here.
I understand why some ppl are upset with the ending, fair points about not giving us the closure of Aerith. Personally I really like the direction they took. I understand that they put all they're chips in part 3 to tie this all together. and so far, I trust that they will...I'm nervous, but i trust them. I remember not liking any Harry Potter movie. I watched the movies and did not enjoy any of it. ONLY until I saw the last movie. I did not only like the last movie, but it made me appreciate all of the movies, and now i truly enjoy the hole series. I understood the build up to the final movie. I feel that FF7RE-trilogie might have this effect on some fans. So far, they are doing a great job at making ppl re-experiencing FF7. When the developers said they want to dig deeper into the story of ff7, they meant it! The themes are more heavy in rebirth, it blows my mind. It not just playing me playing the game and being like: "Yep..that's how it happened, so glad to watch this in better graphic". It does soo much more than that. I was so not a huge fan of having Zack & Bigs around at the end of Remake. But Rebirth made me really excited about it. And because of that! I am optimistic. If Rebirth changed my mind about all the Zack stuff, then I'm more optimistic that they will execute the 3rd part well. They took the Aerith burial from us. I'm sure they are aware that , that was a huge gamble. They must have faith and believe in whatever it is that they're cooking. For that! I'm excited and nervous for!
I've already accepted the fact that this was never going to be a one to one after Remake but what the hell was the point of having the theme of defying Destiny/Fate if they were jusy going to keep things the same woth Aeirth's death. I felt absolutely nothing when this version of Aeirth died despite having so much more sceentime and an amazing performace by the English and Japanese voice actors. If they really wanted to keep the old theme of accepting loss and death then why give the illusion of defying it and going in a bold new direction? Why make us wait 4+ years to make an inferior version of an already amazing story? I've also already accepted the fact that this version of Sephiroth sucks due to his overuse throughout the story and side content, making me not fear his presence but more annoyed by it everytime he shows up. They also turned him and by proxy Jenova into idiots once you realize that them having the ability to multiverse travel means they can just execute there plan (what that is we still don't know.) at anytime but just choose not to. Only thing I'm looking forward to in part 3 is the playable Cid and Vincent, new Music and of course the gameplay. The story can do whatever it wants. I stopped caring a long time ago.
Sephiroth sneaking things in cloud's pocket like a boyfriend would, cloudiroth ship confirmed 😂 I'm holding back judgements until after I've played the last part. I have a feeling we'll see what happened in the finale! My takeaway from this part of the story is how important the time we have with those we love is so important, which falls in line with the OG themes.
Exactly my thoughts, I love this game but the ending was unnecessarily convoluted. I do believe Aerith is alive in another world but I guess we'll have to wait 3-4 years to know :(
In the OG and Advent CHildren she was alive in spiritual form in the lifestream and I think that's the case again. Cloud didn't save her, and him physically holding her hand to his face while dreaming that she moved it, is the clue. The tragedy is that she loved life and (controversially) Cloud, and that's been robbed from her.
The trials were emotional, and I thought the capitol would have a bigger moment. And it was big. A big moment of confusion. I am not liking the whispers and the multi-verse as a plot device. I would’ve preferred a shared timeline with Aerith and Sephiroth to see if they could out-play each other.
Thank you for this video ! I really enjoyed FF7 Rebirth. What an adventure. Regarding Cloud's monologue, it has been confirmed recently by developers it is actually the one that was said in the OG. In a recent interview, Cody Christian mentioned about the heartbreaking moment of recording Cloud's lines towards Aerith. So it was recorded, but it wasn't included in the game, so maybe they are saving it for when Cloud recovers his proper memory in part 3. I also think there is an Aerith alive in another timeline due to the rainbow effect since the deflecting did happen, but when the whole story ends, maybe they'll have to part ways still... anyway we can only speculate till part 3 comes out.
Thanks for sharing your point of you. I loved the direction of the Re-trilogy from Remake but I have always understood that some parts might be hard to digest. I have my biggest hopes for part3 because, even though I love this re-making of the FF7 story (sequel/requel/multiverse etc), I also would really like a satisfying closure and understanding of the whole depiction by the end. Regarding the burial and the end of Rebirth, my personal opinion is that we will have that shock value once Cloud will be almost totally broken and will have to regain his self again. But I understand where your "dissatisfaction" comes from. Anyway thanks for the awesome video and also thanks for putting so much efforts in all the latest content and answering most of the comments under your videos. Always thought you are and were one of the best content creators in the community and once again I want to say how happy I am that you decided to play Rebirth and bring your point of view into the discussion! Till the next one Soldier! :D
Whether you think the Aerith ghost is a hallucination from Cloud's mind, from Jenova, or Aerith from another timeline, it's clear that his relationship with her is creating a huge rift between him and the other characters. If Cloud "getting better" means he'll have to give up seeing Aerith, then it gives him a reason to reject learning about his true self. Whatever rendition of the lifestream scene they make for the next one, it will probably be much more intense, and may even be completely different in its conclusion.
I know what you mean, and normally I am not ok with the whole multiverse shit as if death means nothing, but in this case I am okay with it. I feel like square is cooking something big, and I want Aerith to live, I already grieved for her in OG I dont need to do it again, I need her to have a happy ending with Cloud.
To me the multiverse will be destroyed early next game since sephiroth said that he plans to make one reality but my theory on the black materia and it connects to Advent Children and the fact that materias and this whole multiverse is to keep people talking between game whether it was good or bad was irrelevant we are all talking about it so to them it fulfilled its purpose.His final line in Advent children was he wouldn't be a memory but now to me his willfully choosing to be a memory so when main sephiroth absorbs all timelines his main plan is retained in the black materia hence he is choosing to be a memory to prevent ending becoming one in the main timeline also think that having the main theme of death and acceptance played twice would have been redundant thematically speaking.I would have preferred it to be faithfull hell yeah but having this scene repeat 2 times since it's safe to assume that the reason why Tifa learned her origin before time is too not distract that scene and focus only on Cloud i bet they are going to also show there Zack Death and Aerith Death and a final farewell of them lifestream versions so im guessing Zack and Aerith are going to be there with Cloud and Tifa this time and that's where the main theme of pain,loss and acceptance kicks in and would put the entire trilogy meta dealing with the five stages of grief denial the arbiters of fate in early chapters of remake but still we were getting a untouched remake of the story.Anger being the changes at the end of story in part1 when promised of a new direction that was mostly the same anyway bargain being the Rebirth demo and goodwill we all felt when playing this game depression at how they handled the end this game and the depression cloud will feel at the lifestream and acceptance life goes on at the end of the day regardless of changes and faithfullness we all had fun playing this 3 lengthy fun experiences and will look with appreciation when we look back at them because at the end of the day this story ends on the same spot has the original 500 years later with Nanaki and children looking at Midgar ruins this was long sorry for grammar errors hope you enjoy this read had fun writing it.
Definitely felt robbed at the ending but really excited and hopeful that they will bring it all home in the next game. Rebirth is literally my favorite game of all time right now! 🔥
I agree with you on the ending, they destroyed it and Aerith's moment and the impact of her death just to keep their multiple worlds story going. I still cried, because Aerith died in the "playable" world, but only after seeing Aerith saying goodbye to the group, staying behind and no one but Cloud could see her. That hit a nerve and after my partner asked what I thought I couldn't hold it anymore.... The ending of rebirth just wasn't as emotional as that of OG and if I hadn't played OG at all, I think I wouldn't have cried in the first place.
I like the game being different from the OG to keep it interesting but did feel really empty with the ending. Hoping that the cloud and tifa memory scene culminates with forgotten capital. VA for cloud says it was really emotional to record the aerith scene so hoping it was so well done the devs decided to save it for later.
@@salmark9080 yeah I also think we maybe they felt like they delivered enough emotional moments for one game (dyne and the trials particularly aerith ) red thirteens father etc
@@mattsnacks23The date between Cloud and Aerith in the other timeline. That basically was their final goodbye. That had waaay more emotional impact than the actual death.
I have similar feelings to your's for this game. I loved pretty much all of it and I don't regret a single hour put into it. But the ending left me feeling empty and disappointed. When I was walking up to Aerith on the altar, I was ready to have my heart broken again and I was ready to cry in relief if she gets saved this time. And then I kinda got both and it feels like I got neither, because of this convoluted mess, that reads to me like they didn't want to commit to one outcome and so they cheapend the whole moment with "lol, it's a multiverse twist!" I still have hope part 3 might bring a satisfying conclusion, but it's not a given.
Yeah it’s tough to wanna criticize it because of just how good the rest of the game is, but my brain is wired to make those criticisms when I don’t agree with it. I did the same with Remake and all of the other games I’ve played over the years. There’s some people that will love everything no matter what, and I’m kinda jealous of people like that sometimes, cause that’s just not me.
Ending is a fucking mess,they should have kept it the same as og,plot ghosts,who the fuck is glen,there's a million versions of every characters,death means nothing., meaningless,and they didn't play the lost capital music in the lost capital
If Aerith dies there's nothing surprising, if she survives then people will say they see it coming. There's just no winning, but now ? we have no idea what the hell is going on. * in Zack's voice * The more I look into the ending, the more that I think this is the best route for the game to take to surprise both OG & non OG players. I'm going to be as optimistic as Zack and believe they will all be reunited once again and get their happy ending this time. Looking forward to the final part 3
I don't know why people keep insisting they could not recreate the same impact of the original as if that solved things. At the end of the day, what you're saying is: they decided to go with a convoluted way to portray the same event and I don't feel like it was worth it. If, and ONLY if, they had done something truly unique and emotional, you'd have probably accepted it just fine. Your apathy means they failed to make you emotionally invested and your video explains why.
I’m guessing there’s gonna be a massive payoff in the 3rd game for them removing the scenes everyone was expecting. I might just be high on copium though.
The Tifa perspective seems like it's rather showing what Cloud has infront of him and what the actual reality is the scene shows the same shocked face of the other members right after. At the lake though she's the only one there so it's pretty obvious that it is definitely her perspective alone. Otherwise pretty sound arguments though I am not sure which blessing we are talking about I initially though that it's Sephiroths blessing to help him briefly control few dark whispers that grants him passage in his supposed blessing was that ability just to get him to see Aerith die. The black materia is pretty unexplained but I suppose the blessing could also be that. Edit: I really like the criticism coming out though couldn't agree more with it.
I think Rebirth loaded the bases for part 3 to hit a grand slam. I don't think Aerith's moment was ruined here, but rather it was set up so Cloud is going to have to come to grips with what actually happened in order to be able to move on. Aerith might be his own personal force ghost to keep him momentarily sane, but he's going to be forced to say goodbye later, and made to relive actually seeing her be stabbed, and when he buried her at sea. Parts that have not yet registered in his mind. Similar to how he's going to come to grips with what really happened at Nibbelheim and how he wasn't in SOLDIER. Everything is perfectly set up for part 3 to be one of the most impactful gaming experiences since well, Aerith dying in 97'. I like to imagine that Aerith and Sepiroth sat down for a game of chess prior to the Remake series. From that perspective, it's no wonder that something different was going to happen here. I say here that if we want the OG events, we already have them in OG. Aerith had her iconic moment that has echoed through 25 years of gaming history. This is an opportunity to create a new moment to echo through another 25. And it gives us something to hold onto and chew on for the next three years as we all wait in anticipation. I guess what I'm saying is; are Remake and Rebirth not the two best games you've played in the 2020's? It's clear the devs love these games. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and trust that they're setting up something grandiose at the conclusion of the unknown journey.
I came here to say something similar. I think they left it ambiguous on purpose and that her death will be revisited in part III when cloud is forced to come to terms with it. Hopefully we get a more straightforward depiction of her death and the scene where cloud releases her body in the water. It would be such a miss to fully omit that scene from the game. I also read that Cody Christian spoke in an interview about voicing the inaudible line when Aerith is killed. It sounds like it might be in part III. I hope so. Overall I love the game and can’t wait for the final episode.
I’m gonna be frank with you. I love your take and thoughts, but at moments in general it does feel a little like you’re out to get ‘em 😂 all love bro! I’ve stated this a lot of times, but the death of Aerith in the original will always be meaningful, but we’re all grown up now and to hope that we feel something that we felt in our teens is just hopeful thinking. We’ve endured a lot and at this age we tend to think things more rationally how big the trauma. The feeling of not feeling anything, I think most of us had it. Including me. At times it even felt a little creepy and peculiar. But I guess that’s the way I’m supposed to feel and it’s something they wanted us to feel.
Nice sharing ! 300 hrs ?! I give up for the platinum challenge due to the mini games and VR challenges is hell. Can't wait for part 3 for a conclusion .....
I got burnt out after 100 hours beat the game but have no desire to do the summon challenges and hard mode. I think next time I play I’m gonna do just missions no exploring side quests or useless mini games! I give dude prior cuz 300 hours is Fuxking insane
I wanted to cry in the ending of the game. Instead, I was left feeling hollow, just like the song and remake. But that’s just how life is and death for that matter.
I think most people agree with what you said here, but it is what it is and at the end of the day that’s what the writers wanted to do. The games have been some of the most fun I’ve had playing games since I was a kid so I’m cool with whatever they end up doing.
Great work. Enjoyed your perspective. Not a fan of the story changes. Some great work went into this game, but ultimately in my opinion, they fumbled the football. We will have to see what happens next. Speculating will be fun. Glad you’re enjoying the game! Amazing analysis
I'm not convinced that the Aerith from the main rebirth timeline is dead. And here's why. Aerith basically spends the entirety of chapter 13 learning how to use the lifestream. Her connection to it is further shown when she is talking to Sephiroth at the end of this chapter and she talks with several voices. Also at the end of that chapter, Aerith reminds everyone that even if fate has been decided, the future is still something they can change. This is a theme that was established in remake and has been carried over to rebirth. I think this was all to set the stage for chapter 14, where I believe we get to see Aerith's abilities on full display. After Cloud and Aerith fall. Cloud appears to wake up in his unconscious body in one the doomed timelines. I believe it was Aerith who brought this about. As she later opens a portal and pushes Cloud through after giving him her materia. At the same time, we hear Sephiroth enter and say, "So, this is where you were hiding." I had the feeling that this was not our Aerith but another Aerith. And it seems that I was right. The reason for this is that our Aerith is perfectly fine after their fall, and becomes the leader of the group while Cloud remains unfunctional while he seemingly is pulled from one timeline to the next. He is only able to fully wake up after he gives the white materia to our current Aerith after she is separated from the group in the forest. Later, We clearly see flashes from from the OG timeline where Aerith dies via Tifa, but the current version of Aerith shows no signs of blood. Meaning Sephiroth's blade was in fact blocked. If anything, our Aerith looks to be in the same state of the unconscious Aerith in the doomed timeline/s. But we also see that there is a version of Aerith that only Cloud sees, which is surrounded by lifestream wisps. We also do not get to see the iconic scene where Cloud lowers Aerith's lifeless body into the lifestream... we don't see what happens to her body at all. My theory is that our Aerith's soul left her body right after Cloud blocked Sephiroth's blade and went into the lifestream. I think this was the planet's way of answering her prayer to "show her how to protect everyone". I don't believe Aerith is nessacerly dead. But that her body has been left an empty soulless husk. And that her soul has united with the other versions of her soul that were already in the lifestream. And it is here we get to see just how much of a royal pain she can be for Sephiroth. It is hinted throughout chapter 14 that she is the one pulling Zack and Cloud from one timeline to the next and protecting them between timelines before making an appearance in the final battle of the game. I think she decides not to return to her body because it is in this state that she can do the most good for everyone and be the biggest hindrance to Sephiroth. I think that the reason that Cloud is the only one who can see her spiritual form is because of his time spent between timelines in the lifestream. Now whether or not Aerith will end up reuniting with her body at the end of everything is a different question. But I think that the writers have set it up so she very well could. Of course, I could be completely wrong. Regardless, I think it's too early to say that Aerith is for sure, 100% dead.
I’ve read that there is no multiverse in 7. But why would Biggs and Wedge keep dying if they’re dead already in the LS? Unless this is coming from another characters perspective… I too, felt nothing at the alter scene, but I want Aerith to survive this time. The early fan base petitioned Nomura to save her. Why not? If you want to see her die, play OG. I want a different outcome of shock- call it fanservice- it pays their bills. Still something unexpected has to happen. I’m thinking that Cloud died at the end of CC. This could be his story in the LS. Maybe finding himself is him accepting his death in the finale? Who the hell knows? The Devs have been killing the protagonists in other FFs.
Beat the game the other day and been watching videos on the ending. Final Fantasy Rebirth has such highs and such lows for me. I don't know how to feel about this game. Overall all, I've enjoyed my time but the ending didn't hit any emotions because I was trying to understand what was going on and keep up with the switches of time/reality. I don't think we really know what happen and won't until we play the next game. I think that's a mistake. No emotion from the ending with such an iconic gaming moment, feels like it cheapens the moment... Still trying to understand my thought and feelings towards the game. I'm I the only one that expected Cloud to say My precious when he had the Black Materia? Side note. In Final Fantasy 7 abridged by team four star. Aerith death hits hard and I had way more emotion to that then Rebirth. How does that make sense?
Thanks for your great video. I feared Aerith fate the whole way up the stair, my heart was pounding. Will she die or not ? But after that it gets way too much, too all over the place. I get that multiverses are the thing now but they’re such a cop out. Someone dying doesn’t mean anything because they still exist somewhere. But I still felt it at the end when Aerith said goodbye 😢
I am **completely** 100% fine with them taking away from the moment of Aerith’s death in favor of Cloud’s pending breakthrough moment. If they Jack that up I’ll be pissed. Aerith’s death did nothing for me as a 13 year old. But what Tifa did for Cloud in his mind/Lifestream was everything. That moment can only be more epic in the next game at this point.
In the end, it was exploitative of the original to call it Remake. FF7 Remake, Rebirth and part 3 (you could even say the whole ff7 compilation except the original) are like official fan fiction overflowing with fan service. Something like the Dragon Ball AF of Final Fantasy VII.
They fucked ip not showing them lowering Aerith body into the water like the original. Also. The original plot is confusing enough. The 6 different timelines or worlds or whatever just makes this shit IMPOSSIBLR to understand. Regardless best game ever lol
I don’t like it either. Square could’ve showed original scene as another dimension/version of Cloud burying Aerith into the lake where the party sees, and visual effect could be bland, so to please original fans. Kinda wasted the party’s each trial into tragic flashback. Risky story scripts.
In the same vain as Remake, I have the same feelings for Rebirth. I like.. no, love 90 percent (maybe even 95) it's the remainder of the game in its entirety that have me negative emotions towards it. I agree with everything mentioned in this video.. Let's be honest and not Toxic with each other.
We didn't the event we were looking but i think when they revisit it, it will hit even harder.. I'm gonna give the devs the benefit of the doubt. They've made an excellent two thirds of a trilogy so far in my eyes.
I love the remake being different to the original because to me it feels exciting and refreshing, but I also do not want Zack and Aerith to live for the sake of fan service. The whole reason why Aerith died had to do with making people experience the feeling of grief that one of the producers wanted to communicate after the death of his own mother (I forgot which?) but imagine changing all of that for fan service alone? Nah. I am genuinely hoping they both die in part 3 no matter how big of a Zack fan I am, or that at least Aerith does so that we experience the grief of losing her through Zack who never did, and Cloud who is in denial so far
I completely agree with your disappointment I had the same thing it's been a couple of weeks at least I can't get over it I can't get over the disappointment
Random point about "Reborn Sephiroth" that I wanted to make. The name change wasn't done for no reason, it was another mistranslation of sorts from the original game same as the Midgar Zolom was. The name was "Ribasu" Sephiroth which was interpreted as "Reverse Sephiroth" when it SHOULD have been Rebirth Sephiroth. Because "Reverse" characters had been done before in comic books (Bizzaro Superman was the inverse version of Superman), I guess the translator decided to go with that same comic book naming scheme for "Reverse" Sephiroth and named him Bizzaro Sephiroth. On the topic of the actual ending: It was definitely confusing, and I think it's done because there are multiple factors at play here. I don't really think it needed to be this confusing though like... I dunno. Regardless, I do think there's an Aerith that is out there trying to save Cloud still. I also think that Cloud is in denial and is seeing things that he shouldn't be or is possibly inbetween worlds somehow. I also think Sephiroth might be having a hand in fucking with him. So I'm kinda in the camp that thinks we're seeing all three possibilities happening simultaneously which makes the situation even more confusing than it needed to be. The scenes where Cloud is talking but we don't hear words has been confirmed to be the speech he gives in the original game. Whether or not that is real is... I dunno. Like was the entire situation a fabrication of his mind? I could see a situation where he's frozen but thinks about blocking the blade, isn't able to, but his broken mind just decides that it totally did happen that way. ALTERNATIVELY- The Ultimania refers to the green flashes as "flashbacks" which... I'm hoping is a mistranslation.. but... if it isn't a mistranslation, then I think we might have another explanation here for what we're seeing and also to a few moments in Remake that weren't really explained. If some of the green flashes ARE "flashbacks" as in... Cloud has seen this all happen before, then that would kinda explain why he has a green flash in Remake where he sees Aerith's death and later sheds a tear when meeting back up with Aerith again. I was always kinda curious as to why this happened since it shouldn't be related. He shouldn't know about these events, so why would it matter? If we are somehow reliving the events of the game through Cloud's mind, then that would explain some of the green flashes that don't make sense. When he gets to a particularly traumatic moment in his life, his brain starts giving him headaches and green flashes the same way his broken mind tries to cover up events he currently shouldn't know about either. So, in the same way that his brain won't let him remember Zack's name or where he was for the last 5 years when Tifa asks him, his mind is leaking future events that he's experienced but shouldn't know about yet whenever he encounters a particularly tragic circumstance. What does this mean? Well, I don't think we're necessarily like... reliving the events from the mind of a future Cloud like he's in a coma or something. This game sets up how the lifestream exists and flows basically outside of time. We see in Remake how Zack's final stand is happening simultaneously as Remake's version of AVALANCHE is fleeing Midgar and facing Sephiroth. It kinda seems like the lifestream is cyclical and encompasses all that ever was and will be all within itself, so it makes sense that characters could possibly have weird flashes to moments that they shouldn't be able to see. Nothing in the lifestream has changed from the moment it was created, so, theoretically, the planet should have already known all of this was going to happen. Cloud's entire being always was and always will be inside of the lifestream. It's possible that he's having flashes to a different version of himself that exists outside of time like... he's somehow tapping into the lifestream which has already experienced these events and it's giving him strange flashes of events. I DUNNO, I hope they explain this shit in part 3 and it's satisfying.
Yeah I hope so too. It’s not that I don’t like some mystery, but I need the mystery to be “holy shit this is good, I can’t wait to see what happens,” not , “how are they gonna fuck it up this next time?” Lmao
@@Soldier1stClassyeah… It’s like… I get the story isnt over, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be met with some finality. Like how Harry Potter books are self contained pieces of one larger story, yet they don’t really leave to many questions unanswered. The questions are pretty much resolved at the end of the book, and we’re simply waiting for the next book to come out which asks more weird questions that we get answers to. Repeat until the book series is finished. What Rebirth has done with the weird confusing ending is the equivalent to if The Goblet of Fire was broken into two parts and ended on a cliffhanger when Harry gets transported to the graveyard. Like boom hope you enjoyed it. What the significance of that graveyard? Dunno. Guess you gotta wait till the next part!
I finally finished FFVII Rebirth today. Glad I'm not the only one trying to decipher all of the last hour of the chapter. I am surprised how annoyed I was by the game compared to Remake lol
I really like your explanation of the white/black Whispers, that actually makes a lot of sense to me. I agree I don't like this ending much, I feel like the impact of Aerith's death was lost as it was confusing in what happened. My take on the glitching when Tifa was looking at Aerith/Cloud, Tifa sees the blood, Cloud doesn't. I'm hoping we will get to see the true event in part 3 when Cloud comes to terms with the fact she died. Cloud's monologue, the burial scene etc.
Yeah unfortunately like I said in the video, even though it’s more than likely in Part 3, I’m not gonna be in the same headspace I was when I was watching this ending for the first time. Like even if it were shown to me right now, I wouldn’t really be that invested because I’m nowhere near the mental state I was in as the ending was playing.
Ever since I finished Remake, I've felt that the only way they can really conclude a trilogy about 'defying fate' is with multiple possible endings. After all, if you just have one ending then you are basically just trading one fate for another predetermined one. This is the kind of theme that player agency would be super important for.
The 10 round boss round is just tonally wack.. to be honest a good deal of the 2 remakes are tonally off. From the barret stab, the post dyne segment and the ending. I want to feel moved not drained.
@Soldier1stClass I really like that idea. Agree with you 100% on the ending, I can't really even think of anything I disagree with lol. Thanks for making an explained ending video, it was good.
I have a hard time putting it into words properly, but I feel like the uneasy confused ending almost certainly was intentional. A reflection of sorts of what's going on in Cloudy boi's mind. I have seen talk of Cloud's monolog having been recorded (I don't recall what video it was, but apparently came from translations of ultimania), and if so I expect a highly emotional scene about that as he gets sorted out in part 3. If true, of course.
Dude honestly I have respected you for a LONG time and I’m Happy with how you feel … I’m personally here to see how this plays out and how they can pull this off by part 3 .. honestly im here for the ride and here for peoples theory’s there likes dislikes. This helped me to understand what happened a lot more. Your right not getting the water burial was a shame I kind of got a grasp on the cloud monologue happening but not hearing it. A lot to take in but overall my experience with this game was fantastic. Thank you for this video dude.
When I first reached the ending I was confused, underwhelmed, and mostly shocked. After 100 hours and so much good characterization I loved the game but wasn’t that crazy about the ending. Now having gotten the platinum and seeing the ending plenty more times along with seeing others reactions and discussions I’ve actually grown to appreciate the ending. The Cloud denial in hindsight seems so much more clear and each time I see it more painful to watch knowing what is coming. That being said, I still don’t love the ending and agree that Aerith (and us the players) were robbed of a big moment. I’m so excited for part 3 and I look forward to more FF7 discussion in the meantime as this is definitely one of the best games I’ve ever played and if they did any one thing right is they left me wanting more.
The Begal world is the only one that matters. We'll see the burial scene in Part 3, it doesn't matter if Aerith is alive in some other worthless world, Begal is the only real world. IMO this ending hit harder and was more real, she's dead. If there's a moment that robbed us of feeling more it's missing the burial scene, I'm going to trust they're saving that for part 3.
I was expecting to be crying twice as hard as I did when I first played the game in 1997 (lol yes I'm that old) and I feel emotionally incomplete because I didn't have that moment and the ending in Rebirth feels watered down. I honestly delayed playing that final part just because I thought it was going to be an epic tear jerker moment.
Yeah I was severely let down by the entire ending sequence. Wish I would’ve felt anything. It would’ve made me more confident about the future, but now I could care less what happens one way or the other.
Just finished the game tonight after around 60 hours total. I haven’t ever really been a big fan of the direction they took this trilogy with it incorporating parallel worlds and this ending honestly cemented that for me. No ending should require you find supplementary material just to understand it slightly. I’m sure they’re going to fully flesh it out in the third part but at least for me, it left me with a pretty sour taste in my mouth; especially with the way Aerith’s death is handled. It’s not as impactful since you get your brain exploded by convoluted storytelling. Rebirth is an amazing game but it’s ending is just not it…
Its crazy. I finished Remake thinking, "man, this ending is weird. Lets see what they do with this. But i hope whatever they do isnt awful, because that may negatively affect my opinion of Remake even though I loved my time with this game." And now i finished Rebirth with the EXACT same feeling. I love the OG, ive loved Remake and Rebirth, but i was hoping my anxiety for the future of the franchise that ive had since beating Remake would finall come to an end with Rebirth. Whether it turned out to be for better or worse, i would have my answer. Yet, here we are again, where ill now have to wait another 3-4 years to decide if i like the direction they went in or not
I loved Remake, was fine with Intermission, and honestly loved about 90% of Rebirth. (The mini games really started getting repetitive and I played them all on my first play through.) But the ending of Rebirth was very poorly executed in my opinion. I agree that multiverses are not the right way to go as now we have what, three different Zacks, at least two Clouds, and two or more Aeriths. I remember being so hyped back when I finished Remake and was so excited for the next installment. I was also excited when I played Intermission a few years later as we were getting just a little bit more since it was unclear as to what to expect in the part 2 of this series. Sure Stamp was a different dog breed now, but that could have just meant that other things have changed in the present, "Beagle" timeline. Like having Zack back, maybe Wutai is rearming for conflict with ShinRa, Maybe Sephiroth has a different end game in mind, But this entire multiverse thing really let me down and frankly I'm really not looking forward to part three anymore. The multiverse stuff really damages a narrative since any action can be undone by pulling from another multiverse to correct the main "Beagle" universe. Having Zack appear at the end of Remake at first looked like Sephiroths plan to control fate and absorb the whispers had unforeseen consequences such as undoing the fate of specific characters that the planet had preordained to, "not make it," and that was so exciting to me. Now it looks like either Sephiroth is looking to absorb infinite timelines to gain infinite power, or it could be argued that Sephiroth is trying to create his own bastardized universe by splintering the current "Beagle" universe multiple times to create his own perfect dream world, and that's a big issue. It's so out of character for Sephiroth to do and frankly, we all know how this is going to play out. we know this is going to play out with everyone happy and smiling and okay even if that means that half the cast is from an alternate universe now. It really makes me and most of the rest of us just facepalm. I suppose it's possible for them to stick this landing but I really am not holding out hope that they can. The Avengers did it only because it was a concept introduced at the end of the series in their final installment, and they used it as a way to celebrate peaks earlier in the story of the series as well to give a great deal of needed closure to some of our heroes with their lost loved one and even then it only barely managed to pull that off for me. Where the multiverse stuff failed for me, was when characters from one universe crossed over into the "main universe." Such as with Thanos and his armies fighting against the Avengers but Thanos has no concept or clue as to who these characters are, because the Thanos of Endgame, is a totally different character from the Thanos in Infinity war just with the same name and powers. I would much rather we have the heroes deal with some part of their past that was left unresolved much like a "Trial" and we just skipped the final battle in End Game and the same is true for Final Fantasy 7 moving forward.
Yeah I honestly feel ya. Multiverses to me are just not a good basis for a story that originally never had them, let alone a story that does. There are some that make it work really well like XIV, but even then I wouldn’t call that a multiverse, more like fractured worlds. Idk how this will all unfold but I’ve been disappointed in both endings and I’m assuming the third game will be the same for me, but I am hoping that’s not the case
1,000 % agree with the multiverse feeling of weight. I love a lot they are doing but when you brought up how other comics and media use the multiverse for; it really takes away the weight of death or a loss of a character. Spiderman dead? That’s cool we will just pull a new one from another world or like issue 700, some crazy mind indoctrination doc oc did to try to make Peter smarter thinking he body swapped with him but reality he never did. Sorry lol I can rant about these poor attempts to please both sides. It can be done but one minor trip up can lower a score like in gymnastics. It’s all about the form and the landing to get the most out of it and if they can’t land, the form won’t matter.
These are all separate games that to me, get judged on their own. And the ending was unsatisfactory, lacked impact of emotion, and nothing they do in Part 3, which is years away, is gonna change that. They might show Aerith's death in a fuller way then that makes that separate game better, but it won't retrospectively make this ending better, just like nothing in this game made Part 1 of Remake's convoluted ending better.
Thanks for watching everyone! I just wanna reiterate that this video was made with love for this IP, and I hope that comes through in this video.
Thank God you made an in depth look at this ridiculous ending lol I was too exhausted to even attempt to try and piece it all together.
Awesome video! Have you considered that maybe the reason Tifa is in her state by the end is because during her flash (possibly from her encounter with the lifestream) that she saw the version of Aeriths death where Cloud himself kills her? The different blood splatters on her arm and the fact she does not say a word to anyone. Curious on your thoughts on this!
Glad you’re back on board, didn’t like your boycott phase 🤣 jk
@@seank7227That would be interesting considering Tifa is known to hold back
This is an interesting idea, but I think if Tifa knew Cloud killed her best friend, she would absolutely flip out on him. @@seank7227
In the times it should have made you feel, it made you think. I want catharsis, not calculus.
I am completely neutral on the ending at the moment lol. I will patiently await the full ending to see if they can stick it.
I'm not necessarily invested one way or another myself. Don't care that much for Final Fantasy given the strong theme of death. I'm in it more for the hero's journey and saving the damsel. Although, I find myself enthralled with attempting to decode the ending.
I'm glad to see you give your honest opinion. There are a lot of creators that won't give much criticism at all because they are afraid to upset the devs into not giving them some attention on future releases (example being max).
Rebirth is something where I enjoyed SO much of it. Really put a smile on my face. Other than the occasional broken sidequest, or terribly balanced mini game (like the stupid 3rd yuffie chocobo), and ending, it was quite the experience. I'm okay with story changes like the gi and the black materia (great addition), but using multiverse stuff feels so out of place in a game that had NOTHING to do with multiverse in the first place.
Just think about ff10, nothing to do with multiverse, and then they decided to add a change to the ending where a new tidus shows up when the other tidus disappears. Would be so bad.
Trust me, I pretty much agree with you. I’d rather be honest about how I feel but also still give positives because the entire ending/game weren’t terrible messes like some would have you believe, but it’s also not this infallible piece of media that can’t be criticized
@@Soldier1stClass What's funny to me, is I feel that way about OG FFVII *far more* than the remake series. It feels like every year I play through that game, my opinion of it is worse than the last time I played. Especially after experiencing Remake and Rebirth, OG FFVII is just... Not great. It has its moments, and it was revolutionary (for the time) and a very important game, but there's so many flaws in the writing, scenarios, tonal shifts, and translation, not to mention gameplay glitches and broken mechanics, and sadly underdeveloped main characters (Cait Sith and Yuffie in particular), that it really makes me appreciate Remake and Rebirth SO MUCH MORE!
@@chillpenguin7679Wow. More power to you bud. I personally love the remakes more than the OG from a gameplay standpoint.
Great video.
The subtle orb pondering meme got me real good. 😂
LMFAO I was hoping at least someone caught that
4:38 Thanks for that. I'm not saying she lived or died in this world myself. However, no point in speculating when we don't have all the information.
Maybe theyre saving the aerith burial scene for part 3 when cloud puts his mind back together. Thatll be the point he can accept her death and symbolically do so by letting her go in the forgotten city waters.
Right, but as I said in the video, the moment has passed and I’m not gonna really care at that point. I’m not gonna feel the same or have near the same headspace as I would’ve had they shown it in the moment.
It's interesting seeing all the different perspectives everyone has on the game and its very open to interpretation ending. Most of your interpretations were vastly different from mine, especially regarding the small details.
I personally just want a scenario where Aerith was unharmed by Sephiroth, because:
a) it would be an awesome moment for Cloud
b) I think Cloud needing to accept the reality of Aerith's death later in part 3, and then learning he actually did protect her creates an awesome redemption arc
c) Creating a scenario where Aerith and Zack can reunite in their physical forms, probably shortly before they are sent to the Lifestream and can say their proper goodbyes, will create a very emotional moment
Technically speaking in the completed overall story of the o. G final fantasy 7. You can bring aerith but in the American version you cannot and all you get is her ultimate weapon. So I feel that plays well in the completed story that we would never able to get. I also believe that airth is dead, but she came back as aerith shade. Or multi verse of the one that she's survived in. And the like Sephrioth all her versions of herself are connected and seemed to have the same memory of the original timeline. As for cloud, seeing The Rip, overlay in the timeline and.Aerith I believe since he deflected the blade he is able to see 2 worlds that are overlapping. Full the multiple timeline and saying this. Or like live in the 2 worlds at simulataniously overlapping each other at the same time. But since the others were vanished when that happened, I believe that that world only consists of the world areth and himself like a closed off world that overlaps the one that he's in.
I'm at the complete opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to Aerith dying. I hope she lives, and I will be pissed if she doesn't. In fact, Aerith dying was the reason I stopped playing the original back in the day, and I haven't gone back to finish it. She was my favourite character back then, and I lost all interest in playing the game after her death. Remake and Rebirth only further ingrained Aerith as my favourite character. In fact, I'd go as far to say with the exception of Cloud, I wouldn't care about any other character if they were to die.
The only reason I bought Remake and Rebirth was in the hope she survives. With the whole "defying/changing fate" plot point, Aerith surviving is the obvious implication to that. The only reason I'm still interested in the third instalment is because of the ambiguous way they handled her "death" in Rebirth. That and the lyrics to Hollow and No Promises to Keep, point towards Cloud and Aerith being reunited. If Aerith still dies, then the entire trilogy would be pointless. Their narrative of "Defying/changing fate" would be redundant. The multiple worlds/timelines would be redundant. Zack surviving would be redundant. The empty white materia would be redundant. If it all ends the same way, there wouldn't be any pay off to any of it. They may as well have made a 1:1 remaster and called it a day.
I feel like whether she ends up being alive in the end of the game really doesn't matter. She was a huge part of the party in the last two games and in part 3 she's gonna be a force ghost at best. She won't have the banter or quest or anything shes gone. Just show up at key story moments like Zack but in the end, she's still gone.
300 hours.... saying you liked the game would be an understatement. The VR challenges are no joke.
Yeah I’m hoping that exact fact doesn’t escape people when I talk about this game LMAO I’m still playing. I was playing last night. I dropped Remake immediately if that tells you anything lmao
The Odin VR challenge can die in h*ll
Just wait til you have to do The Rulers of the Outer Worlds LMAO
Cloud lives in the "white world" where aerith lives, too. The others (didn't pass the white portal) are living in the "black world". For them, aerith is dead. This will be psycho in part3
@@coreymckee4844Odin's easy, just depends on the build lol
I’m certainly with you in that I feel like the ending was so convoluted it was hard to feel anything. I was also waiting and waiting for the scene of Cloud carrying Aerith into the lake so I was so disappointed when that didn’t happen. The ridiculously long battle at the end also just had me more annoyed than anything come the end so it was hard to give a shit about whatever dumb nonsense they were doing with the story. Also just annoyed that we even fought Sephiroth again. Like seriously, we are getting such an over exposure of Sephiroth that he has lost all meaning. There is nothing menacing or intimidating about him anymore. It was a horrible decision to have us fight him in Remake and again in Rebirth. Less is more as they say. But this dev team showed zero restraint which is why this game is honestly just a bloated mess in my mind.
I think it has to do with how the game is being done, every game has to end with a boss final battle, there is no point on just ending the game for example with a cutscene and thats all. the original didnt come in 3 times, it was all together but this one, every part is released every 3 years, so even when is a full history, every game is kind of an individual one and released with big gaps of time. lets say that they stick to the original, the party goes to the forgotten capital, aeris is killed, 10 minutes fight with Jenova, a small cutscene and thats it, insert disk 3. but there is no disk 3 so the player is going to end with an unwanted feeling of disappointment and emptiness. like this, the emptiness exists but somehow is filled with a lot of questions about what is really going on, what is happening, and what is going to happen in part 3, which was the intention of the devs.
also they are playing all the time knowing that we know the history, but at the same time they are changing/adding things so you can have a mix between the nostalgia from the original game with the emotion of a "new game" where you dont know whats going to happen. they know what they are doing
Listen I absolutely adore this game, but I shouldn't need to have a full 30 min video, books and charts to understand what the heck was happening in the ending 😭
And I totally agree with you lmao
nah that's part of the game next 3 years 😅
All great storytelling requires explanation.
EDIT: No, sorry. Can't say that with a straight face.
All will be explained in the third part. Anything else is just a supposition at this point
You don’t need a 30 min video. I understood it, along with appreciating a little mystery, without the 30 min video. That 30 min video is your choice to watch.
Bro I was a bit shocked we couldn’t see Cloud laying Aerith to rest and say proper good buy.
I do believe they saved this for part 3 to let it hit even harder - if they do I hope they nail it.
Cody recorded his words to Aerith. He talked about in an interview ;)
One of the best games I played - OG still goat for me.
Looking forward to part 3
Def gona show the water burial when cloud accepts what happened and his speech
What interview?
@@thedrasticwolf4186 Dunno. Read Cloud’s va has recorded the lines in an interview.
I felt more emotionally invested in that Aerith’s song scene at the Gold Saucer than in her “death”.
got a ps5 just for this. agree with most of what you said, but you are 100% right with how they messed up the ending because of how needlessly convoluted it was. instead of having an extremely emotional impact, it instead it leaves the player thinking "huh? wtf just happened?" while fighting the final boss.
I also got a PS5 just for this I'm still playing 150 hours I did not think I would make it that long there are a lot of minigames but the game is still good I just wish they would have turned down the mini games a little bit
@@supersaiyanzero386 everyone hoping they'll be a super impactful scene in part 3 when cloud is put back together. I think it could be great. only thing is, you're waiting another 3 years for it (7 if you go back to remake part 1!)
@@Elzmack91 I"m all for a good cliffhanger but this was just borderline incoherent at first watch. They ruined such an important moment.
@@maillardsbearcat oh i agree. it's the most iconic death i can think of. and my first time watching was like eh? a lot to take in and understand as you're casusally just playing. just gotta hope the payoff/flashbacks/what actually happened in part 3 is amazing and worth it
Is it possible the devs purposely wanted those exact feelings toward the ending, to build up the ending game. Have everybody guessing and unsatisfied. Which it has done successfully
the part i don't like about the ending is that it doesn't feel like an Aerith moment. Aerith freaking died, in this scene but they make it convoluted and confusing and it watered down how important this scene is. The battle is cool and fanservicy, but can you imagine they ended with Aerith's death and then silence. That would've made the scene soo powerful. What I'm asking now is hopefully the last game shows Cloud accepting her death and it shows vividly how he carried her to the lake, and him and the others mourning for her.
They were showing it bc they want is to feel What Cloud feels
I hate the fact that they even listened to the fans asking to revive aerith. the reason they asked for it was because they were sad when the death happened, but getting sad was the WHOLE POINT. they chose aerith to be the one to die because they wanted the loss of life to be a major part of the game. films and stories wouldn't mean much today if they kept drastically changing the plot because fans were sad their favorite character was killed off. remove the time ghosts, keep the new perspective about clouds mental state, and rebirth still would've been a great game and most importantly have a story that makes sense to the player. instead square chose to confuse everybody for extra clicks.
well, you are confused indeed, cause aeris is clearly death
My brother and I have a theory that once Tifa helps rebuild Cloud's mind in part 3, since we know materia is formed from memories, all of Cloud's true memories about himself and Zack and Aerith's death will fill the clear materia, which will allow Cloud to call Zack and/or Aerith from another world in as a summon lol.
What the hell was Vincent doing while everyone else was fighting? In Remake we cant use Nanaki but he at least shows up in the conflict. Vincent aside from the doorway part is just gone
Yeah I don’t think Cid or Vincent were utilized very well
Alright Soldier1stClass I've got a lot to unpack so buckle up.
First off I 100% agree with your take on this ending and I think you did a really good job articulating it without totally shitting on it.
For me, I feel very similar to how I did at the end of Remake, which was mostly frustrated.
In both cases I played a game that was for the most part a faithful recreation of one of my favorite games with some enhancements, added lore, and a lot more depth into places and character (for better or worse in some cases. I didn't really need Chocobo bills full backstory) but then in both games the last chapter just goes full blown off the rails and get leaves you wondering what the fuck you just witnessed.
From a narrative prospective it's so frustrating because FF7 original already had one of the most compelling stories that while not convoluted was fairly complex in its own right and tackled some pretty hard hitting issues. Mental illness, identity crises, loss, grief, sacrifice, love and many others all lead by a great ensemble cast and topped off with some iconic antagonist in Shinra and Sephiroth. All of this multi verse crap feels so contrive and unnecessary in a game that already had so much depth. The fact that they slap it all in the last chapter makes it feel like a complete afterthought. You could literally cut it all from the game and lose nothing. When Im sitting here watching new world being created by arbitrary decisions made by a character who should be dead I just check out. When you start introducing elements into a story with no pretext that completely exists outside of the established rules of your universe it makes everything feel super cheap and contrive. Like why do Sephiroth and Aerith have these powers? Where did they get them? Why are the decisions Zack is making so impactful? Why is he special? It feels shoehorned for fan service. I also agree wholeheartedly that as soon as I hear multiverse the stakes are automatically lowered and things like death and consequence become way less impactful.
And the fact that Aerith and her death are basically robbed of all emotion when this was supposed to be the CRUX of this story just pisses me off. And quite possibly the most annoying part is that they had a perfectly fine and thematically accurate vehicle to make something like this work. If you told me Aerith and Sephiroth were using the life stream as a way to send their consciences across time and influencing events I could go with that. It makes sense with rules already established in the universe as Sephiroth and Aerith are ancients.
Overall the whole ending ruined what was otherwise a very very good game. Im really hoping they find a way to make this all relevant in part 3 and for the love of God don't give into fan service and just stick to the damn plot.
Sorry I know that was a lot. Rant over.
It’s ok, I made an entire 31 minute video, there’s a lot to unpack about the ending of the game, so I get it. And I find myself very much in agreement with you
Im 100% sure we will replay the Arieth death scene in part 3 when Clouds mind is fixed, but I agree the game spent so much efforts on building Arieth as a character gamers spend hundred of hours getting along with her, playing out her death scene in part 3 will never have the same impact as doing it in part 2
2nd this. Unless, & I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s when Tifa & Cloud fall into the Lifestream at Mideal & patch Cloud’s broken self together properly that we’ll get the raw monologue Cloud had at Aerith’s passing/her burial. 👀✨
Nor would it surprising if the OP Aerith that’s fights Seph with Cloud has a moment with either Cloud, & Tifa separately, or both together in Cloud’s broken psyche/the Lifestream to have her moment to shine on her own for at least a moment.
Aerith must die and be dead for any of this to matter. Otherwise, the themes of loss, grief, and acceptance are a complete wash.
Sephiroth couldn't accept what had happened to him or who he was or the loss of agency in his life, so he decided to burn the world for its transgressions.
Aerith accepted the loss of her mother. She accepted that she was the last of the cetra, and ultimately, she accepted her death for her friends, loved ones and the world because she wanted to save the world instead of burning it out of anger.
Tbh I think this is a "too much cooks spoil the broth" scenario. Nomura coming to Nojima saying add Zack to the ending. Kitase wanting all to have a good ending... Add this, add that. Shipping wars, adding all characters from expanded ff7 universe...
That was the Great Part imo
...right your just describing why its a game dedicated to ff7 fans lol. Its not meant for the average gamer. It specifically caters to the fans of the original.
Yup. Terrible writing.
@@thapoppymanThis non canon reimagining is not for fans. Real FF7 fans don’t support this Nomura trash.
@@thapoppyman not really...the original ff7 is my favorite game EVER hell I even bought the damn ps1 classic just for that game as I have no ps1 memory card anymore. If they wanted to caters to the fan they wouldn't have messed up the feel of the game...in the original the world is dark and bleak and people struggle apart from the gold saucer where it's only fun and games...yet in this game every city feels as touristy as prague and feels like the gold saucer is everywhere. Another thing that the original did so well was the fact that we were only witnessing the aftermath of sephiroth, never seeing him, just the consequences of his passage, following the trail of blood in the shinra building ( blood not purple slime), seeing the midgar zolum empalled on a tree after that thing kicked my butt in 4 seconds made me wonder how I would ever be able to beat that guy, like nothing could stop him. Now he's constantly in our face, we beat him twice already...he doesen't even feel like a serious threat anymore. I did enjoy stuff from these games, they look great, soundtrack is fantastic, the combat system is fun...but especially in rebirth the so-called optional mini-games who aren't really that optional as many stuff is locked behind them, moogle shit, boring side quest, the kingdom heart crap...I could've deal with that if they hadn't messed up the feel of the game and that's where those games miss the mark in my opinion. Don't get me wrong they were ok games but once the nostalgia fades they are just that ok games while the original is a classic. But then every one have their own views on things so no hard feelings here :)
To keep it simple, all these timelines will somehow merge and you'll end up with Aerith and Zack reuniting as the saviors of the "other side" and unfortunately staying there as the protectors of the Livestream.
This conclusion will serve both fans who wish to either keep them alive but also "dead" at the same time (fitting the events of Advent Children perfectly).
I truly believe a lot of inspiration is taken from Kingdom Hearts, such as the concept of "birth by sleep" where you don't really die but rather change form or simply wake up in another reality.
What hits me the most is not Aerith's supposed "death", it's actually her lamenting in tears that she won't be able to live a normal life or be happy like everyone else.
First her mother falling ill and now her being targeted by Sephiroth. All our girl ever wanted was to be happy and go on adventure and fall in love, why can't she have her happy ending!
That last image of Aerith standing there in the field all by herself, then sweetly saying "Goodbye" to her friends that she can't go on the rest of the adventure with while the music swells hit me much harder than Aerith's death in the original game. It feels so unfair that she has to stay behind, and doesn't get to have any more fun with the gang...
Yeah makes sense. Aerith and Zack get to 'live happily ever after' together but apart from the rest of the crew.
With Aerith standing alone, I can relate. A traumatic event happened in my life and I lost contact with all the people I went to high school with. When I tried to catch up with Facebook, it felt like an empty victory. I don't believe I missed much in high school. But, that doesn't help that feeling of having something taken from me. That's why her saying goodbye probably affects me more than her "death".
I am 108 hrs in. I agree with every single point you made. I'm sure most of us found this video out of confusion over the ending. I didn't want Aerith to die this time around but if she was to die, I had hoped for a proper climatic ending with emotions surging through the roof.
Yeah I feel as though this ending is way more divisive than the first games for sure.
They should have ended the game at the northern crater, that way they could have split this up so its more digestible. Have the Aerith scene be the Aerith scene with the added "Cloud seeing Aerith" stuff, then do all the timeline world stuff at the northern crater and end the game with the summoning of meteor, that way you also would have a banger opening of part 3. Would have been much more cohesive that way instead of trying to do two things at once.
100% agree. My biggest negative coming into Rebirth was where they decided to end it. My biggest negative after finishing the game… was where they decided to end it.
Man... I actually agree with this. It never even crossed my mind to have them end the game somewhere else.
they will come with one surprise, guess what. yeah, part 3 wont be the last one
bizarro sephiroth was always named rebirth sephiroth in japanese. just bad localization. have to admit that cloud reciting soldier creed seems cringe intially but for me it made perfect sense since cloud literally inherited and stole zack's memories. great vid tho
Kinda funny to me when he appeared because the situation actually added meaning to the name Bizarro
14:27… Yeah, as much as the OG names/lines of dialogue may have stuck (ie: “This guy are sick.”), many others were properly changed in the Re- trilogy so far to reflect the original context/intention.
This is why the Devs on the localization team had to correct & patch Aerith’s last line in Remake on the day Rebirth launched to a literal translation from the original Japanese, “The sky, I don’t like it.” (as she likely can see that crack in the sky Cloud sees at the end).
Man I just finished this game and I've now watched nearly a dozen RUclipsrs analyze this ending and only you have echoed my thoughts and opinions nearly perfectly.
I enjoyed a lot of this ending but boy, was I so "emotionally exhausted" after that boss fight. The lack of explanations on the timelines, ghosts, mental breakdowns etc just had me going "huh?" when I should be sobbing over Aerith.
They fumbled the ball hard here.
I understand why some ppl are upset with the ending, fair points about not giving us the closure of Aerith. Personally I really like the direction they took. I understand that they put all they're chips in part 3 to tie this all together. and so far, I trust that they will...I'm nervous, but i trust them.
I remember not liking any Harry Potter movie. I watched the movies and did not enjoy any of it. ONLY until I saw the last movie. I did not only like the last movie, but it made me appreciate all of the movies, and now i truly enjoy the hole series. I understood the build up to the final movie. I feel that FF7RE-trilogie might have this effect on some fans.
So far, they are doing a great job at making ppl re-experiencing FF7. When the developers said they want to dig deeper into the story of ff7, they meant it! The themes are more heavy in rebirth, it blows my mind. It not just playing me playing the game and being like: "Yep..that's how it happened, so glad to watch this in better graphic". It does soo much more than that. I was so not a huge fan of having Zack & Bigs around at the end of Remake. But Rebirth made me really excited about it. And because of that! I am optimistic. If Rebirth changed my mind about all the Zack stuff, then I'm more optimistic that they will execute the 3rd part well. They took the Aerith burial from us. I'm sure they are aware that , that was a huge gamble. They must have faith and believe in whatever it is that they're cooking. For that! I'm excited and nervous for!
totally agree with you
I've already accepted the fact that this was never going to be a one to one after Remake but what the hell was the point of having the theme of defying Destiny/Fate if they were jusy going to keep things the same woth Aeirth's death. I felt absolutely nothing when this version of Aeirth died despite having so much more sceentime and an amazing performace by the English and Japanese voice actors. If they really wanted to keep the old theme of accepting loss and death then why give the illusion of defying it and going in a bold new direction? Why make us wait 4+ years to make an inferior version of an already amazing story?
I've also already accepted the fact that this version of Sephiroth sucks due to his overuse throughout the story and side content, making me not fear his presence but more annoyed by it everytime he shows up. They also turned him and by proxy Jenova into idiots once you realize that them having the ability to multiverse travel means they can just execute there plan (what that is we still don't know.) at anytime but just choose not to.
Only thing I'm looking forward to in part 3 is the playable Cid and Vincent, new Music and of course the gameplay. The story can do whatever it wants. I stopped caring a long time ago.
Sephiroth sneaking things in cloud's pocket like a boyfriend would, cloudiroth ship confirmed 😂
I'm holding back judgements until after I've played the last part. I have a feeling we'll see what happened in the finale! My takeaway from this part of the story is how important the time we have with those we love is so important, which falls in line with the OG themes.
Exactly my thoughts, I love this game but the ending was unnecessarily convoluted.
I do believe Aerith is alive in another world but I guess we'll have to wait 3-4 years to know :(
In the OG and Advent CHildren she was alive in spiritual form in the lifestream and I think that's the case again. Cloud didn't save her, and him physically holding her hand to his face while dreaming that she moved it, is the clue. The tragedy is that she loved life and (controversially) Cloud, and that's been robbed from her.
The trials were emotional, and I thought the capitol would have a bigger moment. And it was big. A big moment of confusion. I am not liking the whispers and the multi-verse as a plot device. I would’ve preferred a shared timeline with Aerith and Sephiroth to see if they could out-play each other.
Thank you for this video ! I really enjoyed FF7 Rebirth. What an adventure. Regarding Cloud's monologue, it has been confirmed recently by developers it is actually the one that was said in the OG. In a recent interview, Cody Christian mentioned about the heartbreaking moment of recording Cloud's lines towards Aerith. So it was recorded, but it wasn't included in the game, so maybe they are saving it for when Cloud recovers his proper memory in part 3. I also think there is an Aerith alive in another timeline due to the rainbow effect since the deflecting did happen, but when the whole story ends, maybe they'll have to part ways still... anyway we can only speculate till part 3 comes out.
Thanks for sharing your point of you. I loved the direction of the Re-trilogy from Remake but I have always understood that some parts might be hard to digest. I have my biggest hopes for part3 because, even though I love this re-making of the FF7 story (sequel/requel/multiverse etc), I also would really like a satisfying closure and understanding of the whole depiction by the end.
Regarding the burial and the end of Rebirth, my personal opinion is that we will have that shock value once Cloud will be almost totally broken and will have to regain his self again. But I understand where your "dissatisfaction" comes from.
Anyway thanks for the awesome video and also thanks for putting so much efforts in all the latest content and answering most of the comments under your videos. Always thought you are and were one of the best content creators in the community and once again I want to say how happy I am that you decided to play Rebirth and bring your point of view into the discussion! Till the next one Soldier! :D
Thank you so much!! Really appreciate you saying that 🙏
Whether you think the Aerith ghost is a hallucination from Cloud's mind, from Jenova, or Aerith from another timeline, it's clear that his relationship with her is creating a huge rift between him and the other characters.
If Cloud "getting better" means he'll have to give up seeing Aerith, then it gives him a reason to reject learning about his true self.
Whatever rendition of the lifestream scene they make for the next one, it will probably be much more intense, and may even be completely different in its conclusion.
I know what you mean, and normally I am not ok with the whole multiverse shit as if death means nothing, but in this case I am okay with it. I feel like square is cooking something big, and I want Aerith to live, I already grieved for her in OG I dont need to do it again, I need her to have a happy ending with Cloud.
To me the multiverse will be destroyed early next game since sephiroth said that he plans to make one reality but my theory on the black materia and it connects to Advent Children and the fact that materias and this whole multiverse is to keep people talking between game whether it was good or bad was irrelevant we are all talking about it so to them it fulfilled its purpose.His final line in Advent children was he wouldn't be a memory but now to me his willfully choosing to be a memory so when main sephiroth absorbs all timelines his main plan is retained in the black materia hence he is choosing to be a memory to prevent ending becoming one in the main timeline also think that having the main theme of death and acceptance played twice would have been redundant thematically speaking.I would have preferred it to be faithfull hell yeah but having this scene repeat 2 times since it's safe to assume that the reason why Tifa learned her origin before time is too not distract that scene and focus only on Cloud i bet they are going to also show there Zack Death and Aerith Death and a final farewell of them lifestream versions so im guessing Zack and Aerith are going to be there with Cloud and Tifa this time and that's where the main theme of pain,loss and acceptance kicks in and would put the entire trilogy meta dealing with the five stages of grief denial the arbiters of fate in early chapters of remake but still we were getting a untouched remake of the story.Anger being the changes at the end of story in part1 when promised of a new direction that was mostly the same anyway bargain being the Rebirth demo and goodwill we all felt when playing this game depression at how they handled the end this game and the depression cloud will feel at the lifestream and acceptance life goes on at the end of the day regardless of changes and faithfullness we all had fun playing this 3 lengthy fun experiences and will look with appreciation when we look back at them because at the end of the day this story ends on the same spot has the original 500 years later with Nanaki and children looking at Midgar ruins this was long sorry for grammar errors hope you enjoy this read had fun writing it.
Definitely felt robbed at the ending but really excited and hopeful that they will bring it all home in the next game. Rebirth is literally my favorite game of all time right now! 🔥
I agree with you on the ending, they destroyed it and Aerith's moment and the impact of her death just to keep their multiple worlds story going. I still cried, because Aerith died in the "playable" world, but only after seeing Aerith saying goodbye to the group, staying behind and no one but Cloud could see her. That hit a nerve and after my partner asked what I thought I couldn't hold it anymore....
The ending of rebirth just wasn't as emotional as that of OG and if I hadn't played OG at all, I think I wouldn't have cried in the first place.
I like the game being different from the OG to keep it interesting but did feel really empty with the ending. Hoping that the cloud and tifa memory scene culminates with forgotten capital. VA for cloud says it was really emotional to record the aerith scene so hoping it was so well done the devs decided to save it for later.
just like when she died in the og the game remained somber. They want to save it for part 3 to start it heavy I assume.
@@salmark9080 yeah I also think we maybe they felt like they delivered enough emotional moments for one game (dyne and the trials particularly aerith ) red thirteens father etc
@@mattsnacks23The date between Cloud and Aerith in the other timeline. That basically was their final goodbye. That had waaay more emotional impact than the actual death.
I have similar feelings to your's for this game. I loved pretty much all of it and I don't regret a single hour put into it. But the ending left me feeling empty and disappointed.
When I was walking up to Aerith on the altar, I was ready to have my heart broken again and I was ready to cry in relief if she gets saved this time. And then I kinda got both and it feels like I got neither, because of this convoluted mess, that reads to me like they didn't want to commit to one outcome and so they cheapend the whole moment with "lol, it's a multiverse twist!"
I still have hope part 3 might bring a satisfying conclusion, but it's not a given.
Yeah it’s tough to wanna criticize it because of just how good the rest of the game is, but my brain is wired to make those criticisms when I don’t agree with it. I did the same with Remake and all of the other games I’ve played over the years. There’s some people that will love everything no matter what, and I’m kinda jealous of people like that sometimes, cause that’s just not me.
Ending is a fucking mess,they should have kept it the same as og,plot ghosts,who the fuck is glen,there's a million versions of every characters,death means nothing., meaningless,and they didn't play the lost capital music in the lost capital
Agreed
If Aerith dies there's nothing surprising, if she survives then people will say they see it coming. There's just no winning, but now ? we have no idea what the hell is going on. * in Zack's voice *
The more I look into the ending, the more that I think this is the best route for the game to take to surprise both OG & non OG players.
I'm going to be as optimistic as Zack and believe they will all be reunited once again and get their happy ending this time.
Looking forward to the final part 3
I don't know why people keep insisting they could not recreate the same impact of the original as if that solved things. At the end of the day, what you're saying is: they decided to go with a convoluted way to portray the same event and I don't feel like it was worth it. If, and ONLY if, they had done something truly unique and emotional, you'd have probably accepted it just fine. Your apathy means they failed to make you emotionally invested and your video explains why.
I’m guessing there’s gonna be a massive payoff in the 3rd game for them removing the scenes everyone was expecting. I might just be high on copium though.
The Tifa perspective seems like it's rather showing what Cloud has infront of him and what the actual reality is the scene shows the same shocked face of the other members right after. At the lake though she's the only one there so it's pretty obvious that it is definitely her perspective alone. Otherwise pretty sound arguments though I am not sure which blessing we are talking about I initially though that it's Sephiroths blessing to help him briefly control few dark whispers that grants him passage in his supposed blessing was that ability just to get him to see Aerith die. The black materia is pretty unexplained but I suppose the blessing could also be that.
Edit: I really like the criticism coming out though couldn't agree more with it.
I think Rebirth loaded the bases for part 3 to hit a grand slam. I don't think Aerith's moment was ruined here, but rather it was set up so Cloud is going to have to come to grips with what actually happened in order to be able to move on. Aerith might be his own personal force ghost to keep him momentarily sane, but he's going to be forced to say goodbye later, and made to relive actually seeing her be stabbed, and when he buried her at sea. Parts that have not yet registered in his mind. Similar to how he's going to come to grips with what really happened at Nibbelheim and how he wasn't in SOLDIER. Everything is perfectly set up for part 3 to be one of the most impactful gaming experiences since well, Aerith dying in 97'.
I like to imagine that Aerith and Sepiroth sat down for a game of chess prior to the Remake series. From that perspective, it's no wonder that something different was going to happen here. I say here that if we want the OG events, we already have them in OG. Aerith had her iconic moment that has echoed through 25 years of gaming history. This is an opportunity to create a new moment to echo through another 25.
And it gives us something to hold onto and chew on for the next three years as we all wait in anticipation. I guess what I'm saying is; are Remake and Rebirth not the two best games you've played in the 2020's? It's clear the devs love these games. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and trust that they're setting up something grandiose at the conclusion of the unknown journey.
I came here to say something similar. I think they left it ambiguous on purpose and that her death will be revisited in part III when cloud is forced to come to terms with it. Hopefully we get a more straightforward depiction of her death and the scene where cloud releases her body in the water. It would be such a miss to fully omit that scene from the game. I also read that Cody Christian spoke in an interview about voicing the inaudible line when Aerith is killed. It sounds like it might be in part III. I hope so. Overall I love the game and can’t wait for the final episode.
Aerith is definitely not helping by confusing the shit out of cloud. Which would imply an evil aerith, I would hate that, or bad writing
Not recreating one of the most iconic moments in gaming is just confusing
I’m gonna be frank with you. I love your take and thoughts, but at moments in general it does feel a little like you’re out to get ‘em 😂 all love bro! I’ve stated this a lot of times, but the death of Aerith in the original will always be meaningful, but we’re all grown up now and to hope that we feel something that we felt in our teens is just hopeful thinking. We’ve endured a lot and at this age we tend to think things more rationally how big the trauma. The feeling of not feeling anything, I think most of us had it. Including me. At times it even felt a little creepy and peculiar. But I guess that’s the way I’m supposed to feel and it’s something they wanted us to feel.
Nice sharing !
300 hrs ?! I give up for the platinum challenge due to the mini games and VR challenges is hell.
Can't wait for part 3 for a conclusion .....
I got burnt out after 100 hours beat the game but have no desire to do the summon challenges and hard mode. I think next time I play I’m gonna do just missions no exploring side quests or useless mini games! I give dude prior cuz 300 hours is Fuxking insane
@@angelnieto316
Same .. i burn out around 112 hrs .... now play other games first
will back IF i want xD
I wanted to cry in the ending of the game. Instead, I was left feeling hollow, just like the song and remake. But that’s just how life is and death for that matter.
I think rebirth Cloud is beyond being delusional. Sephiroth has shown him so much, and he has seen so much. I believe he knows something that we dont.
I think most people agree with what you said here, but it is what it is and at the end of the day that’s what the writers wanted to do. The games have been some of the most fun I’ve had playing games since I was a kid so I’m cool with whatever they end up doing.
Great work. Enjoyed your perspective.
Not a fan of the story changes. Some great work went into this game, but ultimately in my opinion, they fumbled the football.
We will have to see what happens next. Speculating will be fun. Glad you’re enjoying the game! Amazing analysis
Thank you 🙏 yeah I feel ya. The ending really fumbled the execution for me
I'm not convinced that the Aerith from the main rebirth timeline is dead. And here's why.
Aerith basically spends the entirety of chapter 13 learning how to use the lifestream. Her connection to it is further shown when she is talking to Sephiroth at the end of this chapter and she talks with several voices. Also at the end of that chapter, Aerith reminds everyone that even if fate has been decided, the future is still something they can change. This is a theme that was established in remake and has been carried over to rebirth.
I think this was all to set the stage for chapter 14, where I believe we get to see Aerith's abilities on full display.
After Cloud and Aerith fall. Cloud appears to wake up in his unconscious body in one the doomed timelines.
I believe it was Aerith who brought this about. As she later opens a portal and pushes Cloud through after giving him her materia. At the same time, we hear Sephiroth enter and say, "So, this is where you were hiding."
I had the feeling that this was not our Aerith but another Aerith. And it seems that I was right.
The reason for this is that our Aerith is perfectly fine after their fall, and becomes the leader of the group while Cloud remains unfunctional while he seemingly is pulled from one timeline to the next. He is only able to fully wake up after he gives the white materia to our current Aerith after she is separated from the group in the forest.
Later, We clearly see flashes from from the OG timeline where Aerith dies via Tifa, but the current version of Aerith shows no signs of blood. Meaning Sephiroth's blade was in fact blocked. If anything, our Aerith looks to be in the same state of the unconscious Aerith in the doomed timeline/s. But we also see that there is a version of Aerith that only Cloud sees, which is surrounded by lifestream wisps.
We also do not get to see the iconic scene where Cloud lowers Aerith's lifeless body into the lifestream... we don't see what happens to her body at all.
My theory is that our Aerith's soul left her body right after Cloud blocked Sephiroth's blade and went into the lifestream. I think this was the planet's way of answering her prayer to "show her how to protect everyone".
I don't believe Aerith is nessacerly dead. But that her body has been left an empty soulless husk. And that her soul has united with the other versions of her soul that were already in the lifestream.
And it is here we get to see just how much of a royal pain she can be for Sephiroth.
It is hinted throughout chapter 14 that she is the one pulling Zack and Cloud from one timeline to the next and protecting them between timelines before making an appearance in the final battle of the game.
I think she decides not to return to her body because it is in this state that she can do the most good for everyone and be the biggest hindrance to Sephiroth.
I think that the reason that Cloud is the only one who can see her spiritual form is because of his time spent between timelines in the lifestream.
Now whether or not Aerith will end up reuniting with her body at the end of everything is a different question. But I think that the writers have set it up so she very well could.
Of course, I could be completely wrong. Regardless, I think it's too early to say that Aerith is for sure, 100% dead.
I’ve read that there is no multiverse in 7.
But why would Biggs and Wedge keep dying if they’re dead already in the LS? Unless this is coming from another characters perspective…
I too, felt nothing at the alter scene, but I want Aerith to survive this time. The early fan base petitioned Nomura to save her. Why not? If you want to see her die, play OG. I want a different outcome of shock- call it fanservice- it pays their bills.
Still something unexpected has to happen. I’m thinking that Cloud died at the end of CC. This could be his story in the LS. Maybe finding himself is him accepting his death in the finale?
Who the hell knows? The Devs have been killing the protagonists in other FFs.
Beat the game the other day and been watching videos on the ending. Final Fantasy Rebirth has such highs and such lows for me. I don't know how to feel about this game. Overall all, I've enjoyed my time but the ending didn't hit any emotions because I was trying to understand what was going on and keep up with the switches of time/reality. I don't think we really know what happen and won't until we play the next game. I think that's a mistake. No emotion from the ending with such an iconic gaming moment, feels like it cheapens the moment...
Still trying to understand my thought and feelings towards the game. I'm I the only one that expected Cloud to say My precious when he had the Black Materia?
Side note. In Final Fantasy 7 abridged by team four star. Aerith death hits hard and I had way more emotion to that then Rebirth. How does that make sense?
Thanks for your great video.
I feared Aerith fate the whole way up the stair, my heart was pounding. Will she die or not ?
But after that it gets way too much, too all over the place.
I get that multiverses are the thing now but they’re such a cop out. Someone dying doesn’t mean anything because they still exist somewhere.
But I still felt it at the end when Aerith said goodbye 😢
I am **completely** 100% fine with them taking away from the moment of Aerith’s death in favor of Cloud’s pending breakthrough moment. If they Jack that up I’ll be pissed. Aerith’s death did nothing for me as a 13 year old. But what Tifa did for Cloud in his mind/Lifestream was everything. That moment can only be more epic in the next game at this point.
In the end, it was exploitative of the original to call it Remake.
FF7 Remake, Rebirth and part 3 (you could even say the whole ff7 compilation except the original) are like official fan fiction overflowing with fan service.
Something like the Dragon Ball AF of Final Fantasy VII.
No. It was not good
Agreed
They fucked ip not showing them lowering Aerith body into the water like the original. Also. The original plot is confusing enough. The 6 different timelines or worlds or whatever just makes this shit IMPOSSIBLR to understand. Regardless best game ever lol
I don’t like it either. Square could’ve showed original scene as another dimension/version of Cloud burying Aerith into the lake where the party sees, and visual effect could be bland, so to please original fans. Kinda wasted the party’s each trial into tragic flashback. Risky story scripts.
In the same vain as Remake, I have the same feelings for Rebirth. I like.. no, love 90 percent (maybe even 95) it's the remainder of the game in its entirety that have me negative emotions towards it. I agree with everything mentioned in this video.. Let's be honest and not Toxic with each other.
We didn't the event we were looking but i think when they revisit it, it will hit even harder.. I'm gonna give the devs the benefit of the doubt. They've made an excellent two thirds of a trilogy so far in my eyes.
I love the remake being different to the original because to me it feels exciting and refreshing, but I also do not want Zack and Aerith to live for the sake of fan service. The whole reason why Aerith died had to do with making people experience the feeling of grief that one of the producers wanted to communicate after the death of his own mother (I forgot which?) but imagine changing all of that for fan service alone? Nah. I am genuinely hoping they both die in part 3 no matter how big of a Zack fan I am, or that at least Aerith does so that we experience the grief of losing her through Zack who never did, and Cloud who is in denial so far
Jeez finally, thank you !
I totally agree
I enjoyed the combat, graphics, sound design, & that’s really it. Hated the mini games. Hated the Zach parts. Hated the multiverse crap
It was not good. FF7 has been ruined by mutiverse marvel crap.
Anyone supporting this game going forward is actively ruining FF7.
Aye u mentioning dexter just got u another subscriber.
I love that fucking show and hated how dexter new blood ended.
Just had to jump on the fucking marvel time/demention bullshit trend that everyones doing. I like final fantasy because its not KHs mess. Oh well.
I completely agree with your disappointment I had the same thing it's been a couple of weeks at least I can't get over it I can't get over the disappointment
Random point about "Reborn Sephiroth" that I wanted to make.
The name change wasn't done for no reason, it was another mistranslation of sorts from the original game same as the Midgar Zolom was.
The name was "Ribasu" Sephiroth which was interpreted as "Reverse Sephiroth" when it SHOULD have been Rebirth Sephiroth. Because "Reverse" characters had been done before in comic books (Bizzaro Superman was the inverse version of Superman), I guess the translator decided to go with that same comic book naming scheme for "Reverse" Sephiroth and named him Bizzaro Sephiroth.
On the topic of the actual ending: It was definitely confusing, and I think it's done because there are multiple factors at play here. I don't really think it needed to be this confusing though like... I dunno. Regardless, I do think there's an Aerith that is out there trying to save Cloud still. I also think that Cloud is in denial and is seeing things that he shouldn't be or is possibly inbetween worlds somehow. I also think Sephiroth might be having a hand in fucking with him. So I'm kinda in the camp that thinks we're seeing all three possibilities happening simultaneously which makes the situation even more confusing than it needed to be.
The scenes where Cloud is talking but we don't hear words has been confirmed to be the speech he gives in the original game. Whether or not that is real is... I dunno. Like was the entire situation a fabrication of his mind? I could see a situation where he's frozen but thinks about blocking the blade, isn't able to, but his broken mind just decides that it totally did happen that way.
ALTERNATIVELY- The Ultimania refers to the green flashes as "flashbacks" which... I'm hoping is a mistranslation.. but... if it isn't a mistranslation, then I think we might have another explanation here for what we're seeing and also to a few moments in Remake that weren't really explained.
If some of the green flashes ARE "flashbacks" as in... Cloud has seen this all happen before, then that would kinda explain why he has a green flash in Remake where he sees Aerith's death and later sheds a tear when meeting back up with Aerith again. I was always kinda curious as to why this happened since it shouldn't be related. He shouldn't know about these events, so why would it matter?
If we are somehow reliving the events of the game through Cloud's mind, then that would explain some of the green flashes that don't make sense. When he gets to a particularly traumatic moment in his life, his brain starts giving him headaches and green flashes the same way his broken mind tries to cover up events he currently shouldn't know about either. So, in the same way that his brain won't let him remember Zack's name or where he was for the last 5 years when Tifa asks him, his mind is leaking future events that he's experienced but shouldn't know about yet whenever he encounters a particularly tragic circumstance.
What does this mean? Well, I don't think we're necessarily like... reliving the events from the mind of a future Cloud like he's in a coma or something. This game sets up how the lifestream exists and flows basically outside of time. We see in Remake how Zack's final stand is happening simultaneously as Remake's version of AVALANCHE is fleeing Midgar and facing Sephiroth. It kinda seems like the lifestream is cyclical and encompasses all that ever was and will be all within itself, so it makes sense that characters could possibly have weird flashes to moments that they shouldn't be able to see. Nothing in the lifestream has changed from the moment it was created, so, theoretically, the planet should have already known all of this was going to happen. Cloud's entire being always was and always will be inside of the lifestream.
It's possible that he's having flashes to a different version of himself that exists outside of time like... he's somehow tapping into the lifestream which has already experienced these events and it's giving him strange flashes of events.
I DUNNO, I hope they explain this shit in part 3 and it's satisfying.
Yeah I hope so too. It’s not that I don’t like some mystery, but I need the mystery to be “holy shit this is good, I can’t wait to see what happens,” not , “how are they gonna fuck it up this next time?” Lmao
@@Soldier1stClassyeah…
It’s like… I get the story isnt over, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be met with some finality.
Like how Harry Potter books are self contained pieces of one larger story, yet they don’t really leave to many questions unanswered. The questions are pretty much resolved at the end of the book, and we’re simply waiting for the next book to come out which asks more weird questions that we get answers to.
Repeat until the book series is finished.
What Rebirth has done with the weird confusing ending is the equivalent to if The Goblet of Fire was broken into two parts and ended on a cliffhanger when Harry gets transported to the graveyard.
Like boom hope you enjoyed it. What the significance of that graveyard? Dunno. Guess you gotta wait till the next part!
As on OG 97 fan, I totally agree with your statement regarding Arieth ending. If a death is not permanent, it takes away the emotion 🤔
I finally finished FFVII Rebirth today. Glad I'm not the only one trying to decipher all of the last hour of the chapter. I am surprised how annoyed I was by the game compared to Remake lol
I really like your explanation of the white/black Whispers, that actually makes a lot of sense to me.
I agree I don't like this ending much, I feel like the impact of Aerith's death was lost as it was confusing in what happened.
My take on the glitching when Tifa was looking at Aerith/Cloud, Tifa sees the blood, Cloud doesn't.
I'm hoping we will get to see the true event in part 3 when Cloud comes to terms with the fact she died. Cloud's monologue, the burial scene etc.
Yeah unfortunately like I said in the video, even though it’s more than likely in Part 3, I’m not gonna be in the same headspace I was when I was watching this ending for the first time. Like even if it were shown to me right now, I wouldn’t really be that invested because I’m nowhere near the mental state I was in as the ending was playing.
Super insightful. I liked this video a lot. I luckily felt all the emotions during aerith's death.
Ever since I finished Remake, I've felt that the only way they can really conclude a trilogy about 'defying fate' is with multiple possible endings. After all, if you just have one ending then you are basically just trading one fate for another predetermined one. This is the kind of theme that player agency would be super important for.
The 10 round boss round is just tonally wack.. to be honest a good deal of the 2 remakes are tonally off. From the barret stab, the post dyne segment and the ending. I want to feel moved not drained.
You and me both
Dont like multiverse in general ugh. I spent a thousand...more hours with aerith than i know
Fingers crossed for the slow walk in part 3. “L2 + R2: Accept the Truth.”
Let’s hope!
@Soldier1stClass I really like that idea. Agree with you 100% on the ending, I can't really even think of anything I disagree with lol. Thanks for making an explained ending video, it was good.
Thank you for watching!! 🙏
I have a hard time putting it into words properly, but I feel like the uneasy confused ending almost certainly was intentional. A reflection of sorts of what's going on in Cloudy boi's mind.
I have seen talk of Cloud's monolog having been recorded (I don't recall what video it was, but apparently came from translations of ultimania), and if so I expect a highly emotional scene about that as he gets sorted out in part 3. If true, of course.
Dude honestly I have respected you for a LONG time and I’m
Happy with how you feel … I’m personally here to see how this plays out and how they can pull this off by part 3 .. honestly im here for the ride and here for peoples theory’s there likes dislikes. This helped me to understand what happened a lot more. Your right not getting the water burial was a shame I kind of got a grasp on the cloud monologue happening but not hearing it. A lot to take in but overall my experience with this game was fantastic. Thank you for this video dude.
Thanks for all your support!! It means a lot! Glad you enjoyed the video!! 🙏
When I first reached the ending I was confused, underwhelmed, and mostly shocked. After 100 hours and so much good characterization I loved the game but wasn’t that crazy about the ending. Now having gotten the platinum and seeing the ending plenty more times along with seeing others reactions and discussions I’ve actually grown to appreciate the ending. The Cloud denial in hindsight seems so much more clear and each time I see it more painful to watch knowing what is coming.
That being said, I still don’t love the ending and agree that Aerith (and us the players) were robbed of a big moment. I’m so excited for part 3 and I look forward to more FF7 discussion in the meantime as this is definitely one of the best games I’ve ever played and if they did any one thing right is they left me wanting more.
The Begal world is the only one that matters. We'll see the burial scene in Part 3, it doesn't matter if Aerith is alive in some other worthless world, Begal is the only real world.
IMO this ending hit harder and was more real, she's dead. If there's a moment that robbed us of feeling more it's missing the burial scene, I'm going to trust they're saving that for part 3.
I'm just glad that all the naysayers "oh we're gonna be able to save Aerith just watch!" can finally stfu lol.
@@thapoppyman Lol true, even though they're still here in denial 🤣
Aerith is gonna omni-die, as Sephiroth will too, on part III.
Zach is asking just like the player "What the heck is going on!"
Haha, Brilliant jab bro!
Aliens breaking into heaven hahaha!
Zack is right though, I also thought the same thing as him at the start of the game when he said "This is so messed up..." 😔
This implies that the devs know how we would feel. That's why I'm optimistic. This shows they already have the conclusion planned out.
Agree with everything you said, it really just took away the emotional impact it was meant to have
This sounds like infinity war meets Final Fantasy VII.... Its best if i leave my opinions off of the Internet.
Lmao I feel ya
I like the game, but I agree. They tried to do way too much at the end.
I was expecting to be crying twice as hard as I did when I first played the game in 1997 (lol yes I'm that old) and I feel emotionally incomplete because I didn't have that moment and the ending in Rebirth feels watered down. I honestly delayed playing that final part just because I thought it was going to be an epic tear jerker moment.
Yeah I was severely let down by the entire ending sequence. Wish I would’ve felt anything. It would’ve made me more confident about the future, but now I could care less what happens one way or the other.
Just finished the game tonight after around 60 hours total. I haven’t ever really been a big fan of the direction they took this trilogy with it incorporating parallel worlds and this ending honestly cemented that for me. No ending should require you find supplementary material just to understand it slightly. I’m sure they’re going to fully flesh it out in the third part but at least for me, it left me with a pretty sour taste in my mouth; especially with the way Aerith’s death is handled. It’s not as impactful since you get your brain exploded by convoluted storytelling. Rebirth is an amazing game but it’s ending is just not it…
Totally agree with everything you just said tbh.
Its crazy. I finished Remake thinking, "man, this ending is weird. Lets see what they do with this. But i hope whatever they do isnt awful, because that may negatively affect my opinion of Remake even though I loved my time with this game." And now i finished Rebirth with the EXACT same feeling. I love the OG, ive loved Remake and Rebirth, but i was hoping my anxiety for the future of the franchise that ive had since beating Remake would finall come to an end with Rebirth. Whether it turned out to be for better or worse, i would have my answer. Yet, here we are again, where ill now have to wait another 3-4 years to decide if i like the direction they went in or not
Trust me, I know the feeling. Unfortunately they pulled the same stunt twice and now I just honestly don’t care anymore.
At the moment of my viewing, this video has 7.7k views. Nice
I loved Remake, was fine with Intermission, and honestly loved about 90% of Rebirth. (The mini games really started getting repetitive and I played them all on my first play through.) But the ending of Rebirth was very poorly executed in my opinion. I agree that multiverses are not the right way to go as now we have what, three different Zacks, at least two Clouds, and two or more Aeriths. I remember being so hyped back when I finished Remake and was so excited for the next installment. I was also excited when I played Intermission a few years later as we were getting just a little bit more since it was unclear as to what to expect in the part 2 of this series. Sure Stamp was a different dog breed now, but that could have just meant that other things have changed in the present, "Beagle" timeline. Like having Zack back, maybe Wutai is rearming for conflict with ShinRa, Maybe Sephiroth has a different end game in mind, But this entire multiverse thing really let me down and frankly I'm really not looking forward to part three anymore. The multiverse stuff really damages a narrative since any action can be undone by pulling from another multiverse to correct the main "Beagle" universe.
Having Zack appear at the end of Remake at first looked like Sephiroths plan to control fate and absorb the whispers had unforeseen consequences such as undoing the fate of specific characters that the planet had preordained to, "not make it," and that was so exciting to me. Now it looks like either Sephiroth is looking to absorb infinite timelines to gain infinite power, or it could be argued that Sephiroth is trying to create his own bastardized universe by splintering the current "Beagle" universe multiple times to create his own perfect dream world, and that's a big issue. It's so out of character for Sephiroth to do and frankly, we all know how this is going to play out. we know this is going to play out with everyone happy and smiling and okay even if that means that half the cast is from an alternate universe now. It really makes me and most of the rest of us just facepalm.
I suppose it's possible for them to stick this landing but I really am not holding out hope that they can. The Avengers did it only because it was a concept introduced at the end of the series in their final installment, and they used it as a way to celebrate peaks earlier in the story of the series as well to give a great deal of needed closure to some of our heroes with their lost loved one and even then it only barely managed to pull that off for me. Where the multiverse stuff failed for me, was when characters from one universe crossed over into the "main universe." Such as with Thanos and his armies fighting against the Avengers but Thanos has no concept or clue as to who these characters are, because the Thanos of Endgame, is a totally different character from the Thanos in Infinity war just with the same name and powers. I would much rather we have the heroes deal with some part of their past that was left unresolved much like a "Trial" and we just skipped the final battle in End Game and the same is true for Final Fantasy 7 moving forward.
Yeah I honestly feel ya. Multiverses to me are just not a good basis for a story that originally never had them, let alone a story that does. There are some that make it work really well like XIV, but even then I wouldn’t call that a multiverse, more like fractured worlds. Idk how this will all unfold but I’ve been disappointed in both endings and I’m assuming the third game will be the same for me, but I am hoping that’s not the case
Going to like it now and save for later when I complete the game but enjoying your content and want to support!
Thank you!! 🙏
1,000 % agree with the multiverse feeling of weight. I love a lot they are doing but when you brought up how other comics and media use the multiverse for; it really takes away the weight of death or a loss of a character. Spiderman dead? That’s cool we will just pull a new one from another world or like issue 700, some crazy mind indoctrination doc oc did to try to make Peter smarter thinking he body swapped with him but reality he never did. Sorry lol I can rant about these poor attempts to please both sides. It can be done but one minor trip up can lower a score like in gymnastics. It’s all about the form and the landing to get the most out of it and if they can’t land, the form won’t matter.
Trust me, I totally get it lmao
These are all separate games that to me, get judged on their own. And the ending was unsatisfactory, lacked impact of emotion, and nothing they do in Part 3, which is years away, is gonna change that. They might show Aerith's death in a fuller way then that makes that separate game better, but it won't retrospectively make this ending better, just like nothing in this game made Part 1 of Remake's convoluted ending better.
Yeah I’m right there with you. I don’t really like it either lmao