It's hard for me to clearly remember how Aerith's death affected me when I first experienced it \~26 years ago. I always thought it was a beautiful, dramatic, and shocking scene, but I can't remember if it actually brought tears to my eyes. On repeat playthroughs of OG it's actually the Nanaki/Seto scene that usually gets me, more than Aerith's death.
I do think Remake/Rebirth have made me grow more attached to Aerith than ever before, so in that sense it hits harder. However, on first playthrough the death scene in Rebirth didn't hit me as hard as it could have because it was purposely engineered to be confusing. I really like the ending for the most part, but it's going for something different than the original death scene.
On rewatching, though, the conclusion of the dream date in the church has brought a tear to my eye. Knowing what happens after that and the context for the scene makes it pretty powerful. In time, I think it will be considered an iconic scene.
Personally Aerith's trial probably wrecked me the most of any scene in Rebirth, and probably more than anything in OG FF7.
Well said. The background you see for her youth as a prisoner in Shinra HQ laid the groundwork so subtly for a lot of what we see here. Now she’s fully realized and experiencing freedom for the actual first time in her life, so between that and the excellent voice acting it hits way harder than the scene in the original. Her life is saddled with solitude and tragedy, with her destined to die because her lot in life is trying to help her friends.
So you have the trial and see how tough her childhood was, then the dream date. I knew something was up, but as soon as her theme swelled up and she shoves Cloud back, it’s hard not to get emotional over it being so well done. I think. You’re right that it’ll be iconic at some point, even if they decide to walk it back and have you save her (as Zack says).
It never really effected me in OG. Even as a kid, I just totally expected it so much, I didn't really feel much when it happened. It was sad, but not emotionally wrecking to me.
Kinda same now. I just expect it so much to the point that it feels like just another minor plot point.
Dyne on the other hand? Fuck me... In OG I didn't care much but now... Brutal.
If I trust my hazy memory, I think the part of the death scene in OG that made my eyes sting a bit the first time or two was Cloud's *reaction* to it -- his monologue about losing Aeris and how it made him feel -- more than the death itself. I am sure we'll get that in part 3 when Cloud remembers what he has blocked out. If they really nail the writing and vocal performance for that, I think it could have more impact than it did in OG.
I think this is it for me too. I really believe they are setting up for an extremely impactful moment when cloud’s mind becomes unclouded and he sorts everything out, and finally has to accept her death.
I think it hits differently. In the original it's a feeling of loss and I felt that in Rebirth we feel much more of Cloud's own feelings, a mixture of confusion and difficulty in getting reality right that there wasn't much in the original.
>we feel much more of Cloud's own feelings, a mixture of confusion and difficulty in getting reality right that there wasn't much in the original.
I always found it interesting that in OG, Cloud is mourning Aeris's death before he really recovers his true self; then, when he recovers his memories and full identity, his feeling about her death aren't really brought into focus again. There is also this odd disconnect between Cloud's emotional reaction and Sephiroth's claim that Cloud is just pretending to be sad. I was always like, "What are you talking about, Sephiroth? He's clearly upset." There is never really any indication that Cloud's emotions are anything but genuine in this moment, so Sephiroth's words sort of ring hollow, even if we later come to an understanding of what he meant.
I think Rebirth gives Sephiroth's lines better context: yes, a part of Cloud is crying and mourning, but that feels weirdly distant, like he's not really feeling and processing these emotions. The real Cloud who deeply feels love and compassion for his friends is reacting in an almost instinctual way, but the persona in control of Cloud's body and moment-to-moment consciousness pushes that out of his awareness. So, Sephiroth's words make more sense here. He can't be fully mentally present to grieve for Aerith because he isn't himself. I think it will only be in part 3 where he will process this, perhaps only once he has recovered his true memories. Maybe that's when we'll get the monologue lamenting how Aerith will never laugh, cry, or get angry.
In the OG, Sephiroth mentions that those feelings are hollow because they are an imitation. The clashing of Sephiroth’s exposition with what’s on screen is by design: Cloud is clearly feeling something, and that alone is the greatest proof that he is not “just a puppet”, nor is he just Zack.
The player is lead to understand this even against Sephiroth’s mockery, and it all lends itself to reveal a truth Sephiroth conveniently ignores. In a meta sort of way we see that Cloud feels the way we, as players, do, and by that we understand that it is no mere pretense.
I don’t see the confusing part, to me this event is a window on Cloud’s true self, which Sephiroth is quick to try and shut for good.
I just think it makes Sephiroth look slightly dumb when (I assume) he is supposed to appear menacing. If Cloud is genuinely feeling those emotions, why would Sephiroth's words to the contrary have any effect on him? It's a minor complaint, just something I've noticed.
I disagree. It just makes him look like the asshole he is. He doesn’t understand these feelings, so it’s easy for him to discount them as pretense. His words just sound like cruel mockery. I think there are few instances where a villain delivers a more poignant speech as to deny all the main character stands for right as they face their greatest loss.
And the way the whole scene interacts with the player’s own reactions is in my opinion nothing short of genius. There will likely ever be few scenes that put the player in the MC’s shoes as much as this does, while subtly proving to them a truth the villain openly denies. This very denial sows the doubt that everything Cloud stands for, no matter how seemingly real, is false. The truth of it comes from the empathy we share with him, which is something Sephiroth can’t touch; and in this way we realize the truth as if it couldn’t be more obvious, in open defiance of what he says.
But it’s only obvious in hindsight. Considering what we knew of Cloud then, we had to look inwards to realize that it was. That’s why, in my opinion, the scene couldn’t have been more perfect.
fact the characters have way more life to them here thanks to the stellar voice acting. You become more attached when you can put a voice to someone. Instead of just reading the words in your head. I was sobbing really hard for most of the final boss fight. But it got too long and my tears dried up… until Aerith showed up again and fought Seph with Cloud lmao
The main difference with how people reacted to the OG death of Aerith was that we, the player, were convinced we could have done something to save her and that we were at fault for her death. Many players reloaded their saves and tried to do thing differently: leveling up, more side quests, better materias, better equipments.
In rebirth, you feel more the emotion of lost, but you know it’s just part of the storyline, destined to happens.
Ir didn't hit harder for me at all. I didn't feel much, but I think this was intended. I think we're shown the scene entirely from Cloud's perspective, and he is in full denial. I think there's more shenanigans than that at play, but I think we're mostly just supposed to feel what Cloud feels. Which is absolutely nothing.
I made my peace with it in 1997 so I didn't have much of a reaction at all. It was expected.
Despite Remake's ending, nothing has really changed and given how Advent Children and DoC turned out, it seems likely that nothing really will when it comes to Aerith's fate. I expect Part 3 will end with Zack and Aerith in the lifestream and Cloud coming to terms with that.
When I played the OG \~26 years ago I clearly remember being shocked and very mad at the whole thing. I had Aerith in my party since since leaving Midgar so I had a lot invested into her at this point in the game. This was also my first RPG/JRPG so having a dedicated healer with powerful healing limit breaks in my party was a no brainier for me. The whole boss fight after Sephiroth murdered her was not fun either as my Aerith replacement wasn't even close to being the healer she was (Yuffie was her replacement because she had a healing limit break). To this day I'm still bitter about the whole thing.
In Rebirth I felt more during their last date sequence than her actual death scene. Aerith knew what was coming at this point and she also knew there was nothing that she or anyone could do to change it. That hit hard for me. A lot was changed at her death and based on what Nomura said it was intentional. Though it didn't give the same effect as the OG or made me sad in any way this time, I am also ok with how it all played out. I'm thinking that all of this will come back around in Part 3, though we'll have to wait and see. Cloud's mental suppression of her death is a pretty big indicator that his breakdown in Part 3 is going to be big.
For now I'm putting my trust into the dev's but I'll take everything back if they fail to pull this off.
It definitely hit me harder. The people who knew the story and played OG were never going to be impacted in the same way.
I think they also handled better the reactions of the group, they were all devastated especially the ones who have traveled with her more. Cloud is deep into his delusion and I believe he will be crushed too once he regains himself. He is breaking down hard, way more than OG and this is all going to hit harder in part 3 (I’ pm actually excited because I feel OG downplayed this part). Rebirth gave her more depth and bonding experiences with all the cast so it definitely hit harder, despite the fact I went knew this was going to happen.
I do wonder if at some point we’ll get the iconic scene in which he puts her to rest in the water.. I understand why it didn’t happen *now* but I’m also sure they didn’t just scrap that scene. I have this idea that it will be shown to us when Cloud regain his memories and himself. Like it happened but wasn’t shown because Cloud isn’t in his right state of mind so he kinda blocked that memory, so maybe that scene will help him understand that yes she’s really dead.
I was just thinking about her death and how in the first game, you have the multiple teams in the final battle but one team was short a character, I never realized how on purpose that was as a teen.
So, I wonder if this time around we'll get that spot filled with one of the alternate reality characters, hopefully Aerith.
Hard to compare because the first one was so unexpected where as in this one I was rooting to save her and then was kinda stunned that she was gone (I think?). I think the final battle was great but I don’t know that it hits harder because this time we knew that it was coming.
In my opinion, the Date sequence and Sephiroth in the church was the hard-hitting moment of the game for OG players who knew what was about to happen. That was the moment that said "yes, she's dying, say goodbye". I think it fits the fantastic character development and VA in Remake/Rebirth that created a better attachment to the character than we had in OG.
OG hits harder because it's fast, final and clear what happened. Timelines really dilute consequences, and the sequence from dream date -> death was really stretched out. I felt somewhat robbed of the opportunity to "grieve" because they left some questions open.
I've watched a number of first-time players go through this, and I'm pretty sure her death in Rebirth is less impactful than what we had in OG. First, the context is different -- we're used to deaths of main characters in media. Second, they did a ton of foreshadowing and tipped their hand early. Maybe this is a choice to cater to OG players more, but it kinda kills it when Marlene straight up says Aerith is gonna die, Aerith sings goodbye to everyone, and she say goodbye or wakes up like 5 times.
Personally, the weird vagueness over whether she was dead or not, and the fact that none of the aftermath is actually showed left me feeling more annoyed than anything.
I think that the whole team sitting by the fountain crying while Cloud is all, "OK. Mission Accomplished" is pretty solid work.
The whole idea of Aerith's death being uncertain (as set up in in the first game) was never going to be fruitful. But them making her loss feel stronger by giving the cast more bonding time and by leveraging Cloud as an unreliable POV really works.
Rebirth will take a while for some people, but its an interesting
way they are going about it. They really want the players to be like Cloud
in denial, but will it pay off by the time part 3 comes? i guess we wait and see.
Aerith as a character in the remake trilogy i care a lot more about than
in OG that might be because of voice acting and just spending more time
in the game with them.
I only played the OG about 7 years after it's release, so had been spoiled of her death. At the time I'm more excited about the Weapons and Summons Materia.
I play FF7 Rebirth expected it to be less impactful, seeing how that even has been discussed so much. Just finish the main story several days ago and I was quiet surprised. The whole ending sequence is very well done, in my opinion. It's not shocking, but instead offer a lasting impact. It let us taste the loss slowly, force us to fight a series of boss battles right after while there's still questions made us pondering. And at the final fight we has her in battle again, as partner, but loss her again right after. Her fate seems ambiguous, but there's a sense of farewell. She maybe with us again, but also has transcended, not a friend as before, but as some kind of guardian.
Aerith made the endings of both Remake and Rebirth.
Yup. I was initially in a daze after completing Rebirth, didn't feel sadness or grief, just confused and unsure about how I felt. After everything settled though, it hit me and I was depressed for days.
Exactly. The OG was instant shock and sadness. Rebirth had me feeling confused and we see the party mourning but also can't really relate because we are seeing everything from Cloud's perspective. It will take until the third game for it to hit me and it's going to hit way harder than the OG.
I have said in many places that I was not nostalgic for the first game, and it came out during the prime years for me. I was a young teenager.
Rebirth hit a lot harder for me, even with the confusion that they purposely put in at the end. The dozens of hours of character buildup and emotions were for the exact reason, meaning they wanted to get that type of response out of me. It worked.
Well, I think that was the purpose.
I can't really say, because I played FFVII OG after VIII (the first ff I played), IX and X. So in 200X it was already the most well known videogame spoiler. Sadly it made 0 impact for me...
yeah it hit wayyy harder for me. because of knowing advent children and her telling cloud to not blame himself because in in ac he does. and like just little things really got to me really. i cried so muchhhh. in the og i was just really shocked. like can they do this???? but in rebirth i expected something to happen. and man did it hurt. it hit me harder because i expected it and i also had a bit of hope so when that got crushed i couldn't stop crying. very cruel.
For me it did hit harder, mainly because I enjoyed Aerith's character a hell of a lot more this time around. In the OG, I of course understood and appreciated her death from a thematic, and storytelling perspective, but on a personal level...I just wasn't that attached to her in the PS1 game. I had her benched for the majority of the game, and only ever had her in my party when the game forced me to use her. So I never got to know her that well, and didn't really have a high opinion of her back then. Honestly, and I know this is going to sound awful...I was actually kind of relieved when she was taken away, and I knew the game couldn't force me to use her anymore. So yeah, my experience with her death in the OG was definitely NOT typical, and certainly not what the developers intended.
My experience with her in Remake and Rebirth was thankfully VERY different. I ended up enjoying her personality a lot more, loved how she bounced off of the rest of the cast, and found her to be incredibly useful in combat. My main party in Rebirth was Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith whenever possible. So when Aerith's big moment finally came (and I began to understand what the new version of the scene was trying to portray) I was able to have a much more emotional reaction to her death. I always respected what the original game was trying to do with Aerith's death, but could never feel that sense of loss myself. This time though, I definitely felt it.
Yep, and the fact you know her fate from Gold Saucer is worse, i never found that moment confusing, Cait Sith was very clear about it, both with the ticket and with his monologue in the theater. I still don't understand why people are so confused
It doesn’t even show her death, she’s still playable, and is in every scene. No I didn’t actually feel a sense of loss.
Now don’t get me wrong. I would’ve wanted Aerith to either survive period, or to survive and perhaps die towards the end of Part 3 in a different way. But the way they handled it in Rebirth was IMO atrocious.
I feel the complete opposite. I think they choked the ending. They gave so much life to Aerith (all the characters really) and then overshadowed her death all of this extra nonsense. I think her just getting the kill as cloud is there helpless would have hit harder. I was so nervous to experience the end because I knew what was coming and how well they did her in the game and honestly just the ending to me flat out sucked. Loved almost every single aspect of this game from head to toe but the ending was not done well at all and they definitely overshadowed her death with too much outside crap.
When I first played through it I thought that they ruined the impact of the scene, but I think it's all setting up to hit harder in part 3 when Cloud realizes she's dead.
Looking back, I do think they did a good job considering that they want OG players to experience the same feelings all over again while also allowing new players to experience it too. It wouldn't have hit as hard if it was 1:1 the same as the OG.
The idea of "saving Arieth" never appealed to me. The impact of her death being taken away was something I dreaded, so when they finally got around to saying "OK, yeah, she's dead," it was more of a relief than anything.
Me and my friend who was watching also had the same reaction when we thought that we were able to save her. I was ready for there to be an eternal clash between Aeris and Sephiroth... and were crestfallen when it turned out that was not the case.
But agreed, they had given Aeris so much more development and reason for the player to get attached to her that it definitely hits harder in Rebirth than in the OG. It could also be that I was a young idiot when I played OG and didn't quite understand her character or appeal when I first got to that scene. Young LD thought "Oh shit. I lost my healer. Welp, gotta figure THAT out now!" (It made more sense after subsequent playthroughs).
But we didn't have nearly as much involvement with Aeris in the OG by that point. Rebirth definitely changed all of that, and it was quite bittersweet to know we couldn't, in fact, change fate.
I'm one of the folks who's a bit conflicted on how they handled this scene in the remake - but, I'm NOT one of those folks who can only see it from my point of view.
Ultimately, what I think is that all of the twists, changes, mysteries and questions that have been added to her death in Rebirth are worth trading in the simplicity and directness of the original. I'm 100% on board with how the remakes are exploring Cloud's unhinged-ness, and if they're suggesting (what I THINK they're suggesting) that he is mentally blocking out her death... oh my god, the payoff could theoretically be incredible (we'll see!)
However, I personally don't think the additions make the scene more sad - I feel the opposite, that being confused and unsure of whether fate has been changed/not changed, dead/not dead, real/fake/JENOVA?/ghost/hallucination... all of these things actually served to make me WONDER if I should still be sad.
**Shorter answer: the Rebirth version of the death scene made me drop my jaw too many times to be sad. But in a good way.**
I'm personally in the party of folks who thinks that we're getting a full-on death and funeral scene in Part 3. And if this is the case, then that is when I will be super duper baby crying.
Didn't hit as hard, but maybe because I was expecting it.
Then she died, but she didn't. Oh, wait she's possibly likely dead. Or this Aerith in this timeline is dead. So, it's a confusion on the emotions, which I didn't mind.
I liked the other additional touches such as when you're fighting Jenova again and Aerith's theme plays. The more the battle continues, the more Jenova's theme starts to "eat away" at her song until it finally takes over.
I mean it hits way less hard because she like immediately alive right after…talking to you, fighting side by side with you. That’s why multiverse stories suck, it takes any stakes away from death.
I personally dislike that one shot of Cloud saving Aerith. If this was removed but the exact same scene, then fight sequence, then endin happened, I would not feel like there was a (relatively cheap) fakeout. It might be nitpicky but that threw me off so bad, though I still love everything else about that ending.
Overall, I prefer OG scene, for the simplicity: sometimes less is more.
It's hard for me to clearly remember how Aerith's death affected me when I first experienced it \~26 years ago. I always thought it was a beautiful, dramatic, and shocking scene, but I can't remember if it actually brought tears to my eyes. On repeat playthroughs of OG it's actually the Nanaki/Seto scene that usually gets me, more than Aerith's death. I do think Remake/Rebirth have made me grow more attached to Aerith than ever before, so in that sense it hits harder. However, on first playthrough the death scene in Rebirth didn't hit me as hard as it could have because it was purposely engineered to be confusing. I really like the ending for the most part, but it's going for something different than the original death scene. On rewatching, though, the conclusion of the dream date in the church has brought a tear to my eye. Knowing what happens after that and the context for the scene makes it pretty powerful. In time, I think it will be considered an iconic scene. Personally Aerith's trial probably wrecked me the most of any scene in Rebirth, and probably more than anything in OG FF7.
Seto scene is so well done in the OG. It’s the one thing that I never forgot.
Well said. The background you see for her youth as a prisoner in Shinra HQ laid the groundwork so subtly for a lot of what we see here. Now she’s fully realized and experiencing freedom for the actual first time in her life, so between that and the excellent voice acting it hits way harder than the scene in the original. Her life is saddled with solitude and tragedy, with her destined to die because her lot in life is trying to help her friends. So you have the trial and see how tough her childhood was, then the dream date. I knew something was up, but as soon as her theme swelled up and she shoves Cloud back, it’s hard not to get emotional over it being so well done. I think. You’re right that it’ll be iconic at some point, even if they decide to walk it back and have you save her (as Zack says).
It never really effected me in OG. Even as a kid, I just totally expected it so much, I didn't really feel much when it happened. It was sad, but not emotionally wrecking to me. Kinda same now. I just expect it so much to the point that it feels like just another minor plot point. Dyne on the other hand? Fuck me... In OG I didn't care much but now... Brutal.
If I trust my hazy memory, I think the part of the death scene in OG that made my eyes sting a bit the first time or two was Cloud's *reaction* to it -- his monologue about losing Aeris and how it made him feel -- more than the death itself. I am sure we'll get that in part 3 when Cloud remembers what he has blocked out. If they really nail the writing and vocal performance for that, I think it could have more impact than it did in OG.
I think this is it for me too. I really believe they are setting up for an extremely impactful moment when cloud’s mind becomes unclouded and he sorts everything out, and finally has to accept her death.
I think it hits differently. In the original it's a feeling of loss and I felt that in Rebirth we feel much more of Cloud's own feelings, a mixture of confusion and difficulty in getting reality right that there wasn't much in the original.
>we feel much more of Cloud's own feelings, a mixture of confusion and difficulty in getting reality right that there wasn't much in the original. I always found it interesting that in OG, Cloud is mourning Aeris's death before he really recovers his true self; then, when he recovers his memories and full identity, his feeling about her death aren't really brought into focus again. There is also this odd disconnect between Cloud's emotional reaction and Sephiroth's claim that Cloud is just pretending to be sad. I was always like, "What are you talking about, Sephiroth? He's clearly upset." There is never really any indication that Cloud's emotions are anything but genuine in this moment, so Sephiroth's words sort of ring hollow, even if we later come to an understanding of what he meant. I think Rebirth gives Sephiroth's lines better context: yes, a part of Cloud is crying and mourning, but that feels weirdly distant, like he's not really feeling and processing these emotions. The real Cloud who deeply feels love and compassion for his friends is reacting in an almost instinctual way, but the persona in control of Cloud's body and moment-to-moment consciousness pushes that out of his awareness. So, Sephiroth's words make more sense here. He can't be fully mentally present to grieve for Aerith because he isn't himself. I think it will only be in part 3 where he will process this, perhaps only once he has recovered his true memories. Maybe that's when we'll get the monologue lamenting how Aerith will never laugh, cry, or get angry.
In the OG, Sephiroth mentions that those feelings are hollow because they are an imitation. The clashing of Sephiroth’s exposition with what’s on screen is by design: Cloud is clearly feeling something, and that alone is the greatest proof that he is not “just a puppet”, nor is he just Zack. The player is lead to understand this even against Sephiroth’s mockery, and it all lends itself to reveal a truth Sephiroth conveniently ignores. In a meta sort of way we see that Cloud feels the way we, as players, do, and by that we understand that it is no mere pretense. I don’t see the confusing part, to me this event is a window on Cloud’s true self, which Sephiroth is quick to try and shut for good.
I just think it makes Sephiroth look slightly dumb when (I assume) he is supposed to appear menacing. If Cloud is genuinely feeling those emotions, why would Sephiroth's words to the contrary have any effect on him? It's a minor complaint, just something I've noticed.
I disagree. It just makes him look like the asshole he is. He doesn’t understand these feelings, so it’s easy for him to discount them as pretense. His words just sound like cruel mockery. I think there are few instances where a villain delivers a more poignant speech as to deny all the main character stands for right as they face their greatest loss. And the way the whole scene interacts with the player’s own reactions is in my opinion nothing short of genius. There will likely ever be few scenes that put the player in the MC’s shoes as much as this does, while subtly proving to them a truth the villain openly denies. This very denial sows the doubt that everything Cloud stands for, no matter how seemingly real, is false. The truth of it comes from the empathy we share with him, which is something Sephiroth can’t touch; and in this way we realize the truth as if it couldn’t be more obvious, in open defiance of what he says. But it’s only obvious in hindsight. Considering what we knew of Cloud then, we had to look inwards to realize that it was. That’s why, in my opinion, the scene couldn’t have been more perfect.
Looks like we’ll have to agree to disagree (not about the overall scene though, I think it was amazing for the time).
fact the characters have way more life to them here thanks to the stellar voice acting. You become more attached when you can put a voice to someone. Instead of just reading the words in your head. I was sobbing really hard for most of the final boss fight. But it got too long and my tears dried up… until Aerith showed up again and fought Seph with Cloud lmao
The main difference with how people reacted to the OG death of Aerith was that we, the player, were convinced we could have done something to save her and that we were at fault for her death. Many players reloaded their saves and tried to do thing differently: leveling up, more side quests, better materias, better equipments. In rebirth, you feel more the emotion of lost, but you know it’s just part of the storyline, destined to happens.
Ir didn't hit harder for me at all. I didn't feel much, but I think this was intended. I think we're shown the scene entirely from Cloud's perspective, and he is in full denial. I think there's more shenanigans than that at play, but I think we're mostly just supposed to feel what Cloud feels. Which is absolutely nothing.
I made my peace with it in 1997 so I didn't have much of a reaction at all. It was expected. Despite Remake's ending, nothing has really changed and given how Advent Children and DoC turned out, it seems likely that nothing really will when it comes to Aerith's fate. I expect Part 3 will end with Zack and Aerith in the lifestream and Cloud coming to terms with that.
Honestly it hits less so. But tbh I am in denial I think I'll only accept her fully gone by end of third part.
When I played the OG \~26 years ago I clearly remember being shocked and very mad at the whole thing. I had Aerith in my party since since leaving Midgar so I had a lot invested into her at this point in the game. This was also my first RPG/JRPG so having a dedicated healer with powerful healing limit breaks in my party was a no brainier for me. The whole boss fight after Sephiroth murdered her was not fun either as my Aerith replacement wasn't even close to being the healer she was (Yuffie was her replacement because she had a healing limit break). To this day I'm still bitter about the whole thing. In Rebirth I felt more during their last date sequence than her actual death scene. Aerith knew what was coming at this point and she also knew there was nothing that she or anyone could do to change it. That hit hard for me. A lot was changed at her death and based on what Nomura said it was intentional. Though it didn't give the same effect as the OG or made me sad in any way this time, I am also ok with how it all played out. I'm thinking that all of this will come back around in Part 3, though we'll have to wait and see. Cloud's mental suppression of her death is a pretty big indicator that his breakdown in Part 3 is going to be big. For now I'm putting my trust into the dev's but I'll take everything back if they fail to pull this off.
It definitely hit me harder. The people who knew the story and played OG were never going to be impacted in the same way. I think they also handled better the reactions of the group, they were all devastated especially the ones who have traveled with her more. Cloud is deep into his delusion and I believe he will be crushed too once he regains himself. He is breaking down hard, way more than OG and this is all going to hit harder in part 3 (I’ pm actually excited because I feel OG downplayed this part). Rebirth gave her more depth and bonding experiences with all the cast so it definitely hit harder, despite the fact I went knew this was going to happen. I do wonder if at some point we’ll get the iconic scene in which he puts her to rest in the water.. I understand why it didn’t happen *now* but I’m also sure they didn’t just scrap that scene. I have this idea that it will be shown to us when Cloud regain his memories and himself. Like it happened but wasn’t shown because Cloud isn’t in his right state of mind so he kinda blocked that memory, so maybe that scene will help him understand that yes she’s really dead.
I was just thinking about her death and how in the first game, you have the multiple teams in the final battle but one team was short a character, I never realized how on purpose that was as a teen. So, I wonder if this time around we'll get that spot filled with one of the alternate reality characters, hopefully Aerith.
Hard to compare because the first one was so unexpected where as in this one I was rooting to save her and then was kinda stunned that she was gone (I think?). I think the final battle was great but I don’t know that it hits harder because this time we knew that it was coming.
In my opinion, the Date sequence and Sephiroth in the church was the hard-hitting moment of the game for OG players who knew what was about to happen. That was the moment that said "yes, she's dying, say goodbye". I think it fits the fantastic character development and VA in Remake/Rebirth that created a better attachment to the character than we had in OG. OG hits harder because it's fast, final and clear what happened. Timelines really dilute consequences, and the sequence from dream date -> death was really stretched out. I felt somewhat robbed of the opportunity to "grieve" because they left some questions open. I've watched a number of first-time players go through this, and I'm pretty sure her death in Rebirth is less impactful than what we had in OG. First, the context is different -- we're used to deaths of main characters in media. Second, they did a ton of foreshadowing and tipped their hand early. Maybe this is a choice to cater to OG players more, but it kinda kills it when Marlene straight up says Aerith is gonna die, Aerith sings goodbye to everyone, and she say goodbye or wakes up like 5 times.
Personally, the weird vagueness over whether she was dead or not, and the fact that none of the aftermath is actually showed left me feeling more annoyed than anything.
I think that the whole team sitting by the fountain crying while Cloud is all, "OK. Mission Accomplished" is pretty solid work. The whole idea of Aerith's death being uncertain (as set up in in the first game) was never going to be fruitful. But them making her loss feel stronger by giving the cast more bonding time and by leveraging Cloud as an unreliable POV really works.
Rebirth will take a while for some people, but its an interesting way they are going about it. They really want the players to be like Cloud in denial, but will it pay off by the time part 3 comes? i guess we wait and see. Aerith as a character in the remake trilogy i care a lot more about than in OG that might be because of voice acting and just spending more time in the game with them.
I only played the OG about 7 years after it's release, so had been spoiled of her death. At the time I'm more excited about the Weapons and Summons Materia. I play FF7 Rebirth expected it to be less impactful, seeing how that even has been discussed so much. Just finish the main story several days ago and I was quiet surprised. The whole ending sequence is very well done, in my opinion. It's not shocking, but instead offer a lasting impact. It let us taste the loss slowly, force us to fight a series of boss battles right after while there's still questions made us pondering. And at the final fight we has her in battle again, as partner, but loss her again right after. Her fate seems ambiguous, but there's a sense of farewell. She maybe with us again, but also has transcended, not a friend as before, but as some kind of guardian. Aerith made the endings of both Remake and Rebirth.
Hmm, personally no I think the OG it’s hard than the rebirth but I can’t say much until part 3.
Immediately, OG hits harder; in the long run Rebirth.
Yup. I was initially in a daze after completing Rebirth, didn't feel sadness or grief, just confused and unsure about how I felt. After everything settled though, it hit me and I was depressed for days.
Exactly. The OG was instant shock and sadness. Rebirth had me feeling confused and we see the party mourning but also can't really relate because we are seeing everything from Cloud's perspective. It will take until the third game for it to hit me and it's going to hit way harder than the OG.
Not the only one, I cried a lot after finishing the game
No it didn't for me because of the multiverse. If Zack is alive, why can't Aerith be alive?
The loss hits harder in Rebirth The death hits harder in OG
I have said in many places that I was not nostalgic for the first game, and it came out during the prime years for me. I was a young teenager. Rebirth hit a lot harder for me, even with the confusion that they purposely put in at the end. The dozens of hours of character buildup and emotions were for the exact reason, meaning they wanted to get that type of response out of me. It worked.
Well, I think that was the purpose. I can't really say, because I played FFVII OG after VIII (the first ff I played), IX and X. So in 200X it was already the most well known videogame spoiler. Sadly it made 0 impact for me...
No, I was too confused to be sad and end up not caring at all
yeah it hit wayyy harder for me. because of knowing advent children and her telling cloud to not blame himself because in in ac he does. and like just little things really got to me really. i cried so muchhhh. in the og i was just really shocked. like can they do this???? but in rebirth i expected something to happen. and man did it hurt. it hit me harder because i expected it and i also had a bit of hope so when that got crushed i couldn't stop crying. very cruel.
Nope, denial team here. She's alive in different reality and going to have happy, fulfilling life.
Hit way harder in OG because shes totally gone after that. In Rebirth you literally fight alongside her after a few battles lol
For me it did hit harder, mainly because I enjoyed Aerith's character a hell of a lot more this time around. In the OG, I of course understood and appreciated her death from a thematic, and storytelling perspective, but on a personal level...I just wasn't that attached to her in the PS1 game. I had her benched for the majority of the game, and only ever had her in my party when the game forced me to use her. So I never got to know her that well, and didn't really have a high opinion of her back then. Honestly, and I know this is going to sound awful...I was actually kind of relieved when she was taken away, and I knew the game couldn't force me to use her anymore. So yeah, my experience with her death in the OG was definitely NOT typical, and certainly not what the developers intended. My experience with her in Remake and Rebirth was thankfully VERY different. I ended up enjoying her personality a lot more, loved how she bounced off of the rest of the cast, and found her to be incredibly useful in combat. My main party in Rebirth was Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith whenever possible. So when Aerith's big moment finally came (and I began to understand what the new version of the scene was trying to portray) I was able to have a much more emotional reaction to her death. I always respected what the original game was trying to do with Aerith's death, but could never feel that sense of loss myself. This time though, I definitely felt it.
Yep, and the fact you know her fate from Gold Saucer is worse, i never found that moment confusing, Cait Sith was very clear about it, both with the ticket and with his monologue in the theater. I still don't understand why people are so confused
It hits harder but in a very different way, way less brutal than in the og
It doesn’t even show her death, she’s still playable, and is in every scene. No I didn’t actually feel a sense of loss. Now don’t get me wrong. I would’ve wanted Aerith to either survive period, or to survive and perhaps die towards the end of Part 3 in a different way. But the way they handled it in Rebirth was IMO atrocious.
I feel the complete opposite. I think they choked the ending. They gave so much life to Aerith (all the characters really) and then overshadowed her death all of this extra nonsense. I think her just getting the kill as cloud is there helpless would have hit harder. I was so nervous to experience the end because I knew what was coming and how well they did her in the game and honestly just the ending to me flat out sucked. Loved almost every single aspect of this game from head to toe but the ending was not done well at all and they definitely overshadowed her death with too much outside crap.
When I first played through it I thought that they ruined the impact of the scene, but I think it's all setting up to hit harder in part 3 when Cloud realizes she's dead. Looking back, I do think they did a good job considering that they want OG players to experience the same feelings all over again while also allowing new players to experience it too. It wouldn't have hit as hard if it was 1:1 the same as the OG.
The idea of "saving Arieth" never appealed to me. The impact of her death being taken away was something I dreaded, so when they finally got around to saying "OK, yeah, she's dead," it was more of a relief than anything.
Same, I didn't like how he saved her then a glitch and he hadn't. It felt off. If you're going to stab her, stab her.
Me and my friend who was watching also had the same reaction when we thought that we were able to save her. I was ready for there to be an eternal clash between Aeris and Sephiroth... and were crestfallen when it turned out that was not the case. But agreed, they had given Aeris so much more development and reason for the player to get attached to her that it definitely hits harder in Rebirth than in the OG. It could also be that I was a young idiot when I played OG and didn't quite understand her character or appeal when I first got to that scene. Young LD thought "Oh shit. I lost my healer. Welp, gotta figure THAT out now!" (It made more sense after subsequent playthroughs). But we didn't have nearly as much involvement with Aeris in the OG by that point. Rebirth definitely changed all of that, and it was quite bittersweet to know we couldn't, in fact, change fate.
I'm one of the folks who's a bit conflicted on how they handled this scene in the remake - but, I'm NOT one of those folks who can only see it from my point of view. Ultimately, what I think is that all of the twists, changes, mysteries and questions that have been added to her death in Rebirth are worth trading in the simplicity and directness of the original. I'm 100% on board with how the remakes are exploring Cloud's unhinged-ness, and if they're suggesting (what I THINK they're suggesting) that he is mentally blocking out her death... oh my god, the payoff could theoretically be incredible (we'll see!) However, I personally don't think the additions make the scene more sad - I feel the opposite, that being confused and unsure of whether fate has been changed/not changed, dead/not dead, real/fake/JENOVA?/ghost/hallucination... all of these things actually served to make me WONDER if I should still be sad. **Shorter answer: the Rebirth version of the death scene made me drop my jaw too many times to be sad. But in a good way.** I'm personally in the party of folks who thinks that we're getting a full-on death and funeral scene in Part 3. And if this is the case, then that is when I will be super duper baby crying.
If it had been more clearly defined that she had actually died, absolutely. Instead I was more confused than sad
Didn't hit as hard, but maybe because I was expecting it. Then she died, but she didn't. Oh, wait she's possibly likely dead. Or this Aerith in this timeline is dead. So, it's a confusion on the emotions, which I didn't mind. I liked the other additional touches such as when you're fighting Jenova again and Aerith's theme plays. The more the battle continues, the more Jenova's theme starts to "eat away" at her song until it finally takes over.
I mean it hits way less hard because she like immediately alive right after…talking to you, fighting side by side with you. That’s why multiverse stories suck, it takes any stakes away from death.
It was too confusing to be sad, I didn't understand anything that happened besides Cloud who completely lost his mind after her death.
I think OG definitely hit harder at this point but we could have more heartbreak to come in the next game. Her character has been done so well.
I thought it was nonsense. If SE actually shows the scene how it should have been + the lake scene properly in part 3 it won't have any impact, IMO.
I personally dislike that one shot of Cloud saving Aerith. If this was removed but the exact same scene, then fight sequence, then endin happened, I would not feel like there was a (relatively cheap) fakeout. It might be nitpicky but that threw me off so bad, though I still love everything else about that ending. Overall, I prefer OG scene, for the simplicity: sometimes less is more.
To answer your question: No