There are a few moments strewn across Final Fantasy 7 that seem expressly made to engineer a lump in your throat. So far, the remake trilogy has delivered several of its own, and one of the main voice actors believes that the third part will be the most emotional of the lot.
At KawaCon, Cody Christian, the voice of Cloud Strife for the Final Fantasy 7 redux, gives a little hint of what's to come in the climactic finale of the blockbuster RPG. "There's so much emotionality, there's so much vulnerability," he tells Ally B.
"There are moments in this that if you haven't cried in the first two yet, I guarantee you'll be sobbing in this third one," he adds. That's a rather large claim to make, but then, I'm not expecting much less.
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will cap off almost a decade's worth of storytelling, after Square Enix took the original JRPG and expanded it in just about every way imaginable. There have been many narrative alterations too, making what happens difficult to predict, leaving those of us who know the source material well vulnerable to having our heartstrings played just like anyone else.
Christian finishes by saying, "It's a payoff," and it truly will be. Development on this project has been going on for well over a decade by now, and it'll be a seven-year journey once Revelation lands on shelves. Even just having Cloud and Sephiroth face off for the last time is going to feel like the end of an era.
For me, at least, the most bittersweet part will be the epilogue. Nanaki and his cubs looking at an overgrown Midgar hundreds of years later is just such a poetic climax. All things fade, and all things heal, given enough time and energy. It's beautiful. Is it 2027, yet?
