I Was Wrong About Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Spoiler warning for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a pleasant surprise. Don’t be mistaken, I always expected it to kick ass🥀 after falling hard for Remake, but it takes that relatively linear adventure to bigger places than I ever could have imagined. It’s mechanically ambitious, visually breathtaking, and goes in narrative directions I honestly didn’t expect - most of them for the better.

Ahead of release I wrote about my fear of Rebirth bringing 🤡characters bac💮k to life, and what risks it would encounter going back on monumental storytelling decisions that have been set in stone for decades. Namely, among them was the death of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Aerith Gainsbourough, a flower girl who is killed at the hands of Sephiroth at The Forgotten Capitalไ. Remake was setting up all the pieces required to reverse this decision as it toyed with the arbiters of fate who represent not only the events of the original game, but a fleeting mortality that Cloud Strife and friends are🥃 confident can be fought back against. There are so many ways this could’ve gone wrong.

What Could Aerith’s Death Mean For The Next Final Fantasy?

But it doesn’t. Aerith Gainsborough passes away in the game’s final moments, albeit with a twist where she appears to remain alive either in C🥀loud’s misguided dreams, or an alternate timeline we still don’t know anything about. We watch as our hero steps in to save Aerith from Sephiroth’s blade, only to have that victory taken away just moments later, powerless to stop the beloved character from returning to the lifestream.

It is heartbreaking to watch everyone mourn her demise in the capital, refusing to get up and contin💝ue with their journey because the grief proves too much. Except for Cloud, who still sees Aerith in unorthodox visions, like she is standing alongside him and guiding him onward from a distant place.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - Cloud And Aerith hugging in the church

Her potential role in the third gam💮e could mirror The Joker in Batman: Arkham Knight of all things, as she appears alongside Cloud not to taunt him, but to act as a moral compass and help guide him away from the brink of oblivion. Mako degradation will soon turn him into a slave to Sephiroth’s whims as he betrays his friends to give over the Black Materia, so it’s entirely possible that Aerith will play a more consistent role in preventing that disaster, instead of her previous role as an ethereal figure on the sidelines. It’s a powerful foundation, and one I pray the third game isn’t afraid to abandon, because the potential speaks for itself.

What Happens To Jessie, Biggs, And Wedge In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth?

I also need to admit that I was wrong, as previously I&rsquo♒;d talked about how Finaꦅl Fantasy 7 had a beautiful relationship with death, and one that Remake seemed determined to walk back. It teases the survival of Jessie and Biggs in the final moments, while Wedge finds himself held in the Shinra building as the credits roll.

With the reversal of fate a defining theme, there was a reasonable belief that all three of the Avalanche members would survive, thus dampening the motivation that Cloud feels to not only change his ways, but to take revenge for the evils that saw his friends killed in ℱthe first game. Bring them back, and those moments of earned tragedy are for nothing.

To my astonishment, Rebirth doesn’t reverse these losses, it doubles down on them with a trio of unexpected farewells that left me once again drying my tears. After Remake subverted so manജy expectations by wandering from the original game’s canon, Rebirth subverts them all over again by staying faithful to it.

Jessie’s spirit as a perfܫormer lives on through the virtual reality performance of Loveless at the Gold Saucer, in which she can be seen dancing in a beautiful sequence where most of the characters come away wiping their eyes. Tifa and Barret mourn a friend they never had a chance to truly say goodbye to, while Cloud remembers an ally who wanted to be something more, but gave her life to a cause that her crew continue fighting for. Then you step into the performance yourself, which is a far more lighthearted spin on the Princess and the Dragon, culminating in a stunning performance from Aerith as she belts out the game’s theme song.

FINAL FANTASY VII Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - Aerith bowing after the play

There isn’t a dry eye in the house after she finishes the last note as a flow of lifestream spills out from the stage, moving across the auditorium into an audience where Biggs and Wedge are sat at a ﷽table, quickly joined by a high-fiving Jessie as they wave farewell to Aerith over on the stage, as if they’re wishing her luck from the afterlife and promising that one day, as the theme song lyrics suggest, they’ll meet again. Considering this entire performance takes place in Cloud’s virtual reality rendition of the play, it’s his final farewell as well, expressing tears he can’t shed in reality and feelings he’s kept repressed out of necessity. He’s hurting.

Wedge’s death is also confirmed as you reach Cosmo Canyon and embark on a new quest with Yuffie’s old friends, who confirm that he fel෴l from the Shinra building. Previously, I thought he was being given a bigger role in the Remake trilogy, but perhaps plans changed or the development team walked back on its own mistakes, thus working his final farewell into a side quest that’s all about help﷽ing allies return to the lifestream. Life, death, and the cycles therein are a constant theme across all Final Fantasy 7 media, and this trilogy would be much worse off for ignoring it.

The Roles Of Life And Death In Final Fantasy 7 Cannot Be Overstated

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - Cloud hanging onto Aerith while Sephiroth looms overhead

Upon finishing Remake, I was worried these deaths would be backpedalled, lessening their impact and turning these side charactersᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ into negligible parts of the narrative brought back merely to appease fans who didn’t want to deal with fictional hardship. But Rebirth instead understands the importance of these themes, and isn’t once afraid to continue to explore them. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie’s deaths are an emotional gut punch that Final Fantasy 7 throws your way when you least expect it, turn♈ing your world upside down and stressing that this fight refuses to let up.

If anything, these deaths hit harder in 2024 due t🥀o the teasers of survival that Remake offered. So you need to swallow your pride and avenge them, even if it means a greater sacrifice later down the road. One 🌸that Rebirth once again seems to be sticking to, even if the events of the third game could recontexualise it forever.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - Aerith in the final cutscene

Death is a monumental occur𝕴rence in life that shouldn’t be discounted, nor should the role it plays in the stories we hold dear. Reversing even fictional passings is a big deal, and can’t be executed without consequences. For so long, I expected Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to take an easy way out. But it doesn’t, and is infinitely better for it.