The original Final Fantasy 7 is home to one of gaming's most infamous death scenes, and along with thousands of other likeminded fans who hunted down imaginary clues in bulky guides and spread hopeful myths in school playgrounds, the director of the ongoing FF7 Remake trilogy "seriously searched" for a way to revive You Know Who as a kid.
Spoilers ahead for Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
Whether you're a fan of the game or not – heck, whether you've even played the game or not – there's a good chance you can still recall the scene where Sephiroth theatrically descends from the sky with his wig freshly straightened and cuts down Aerith for good.
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Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi remembers it well, and it's part of the reason he feels so much pressure about reimagining the classic.
"When it comes to Final Fantasy 7, I honestly can't sum it up in a single sentence," he says in an interview with ntower. "It's certainly an honor, but what I have to face first and foremost is not the scale of the expectations, but the weight of the responsibility. I originally came from the player's side, and back when I was in school, I seriously searched with friends for 'a way to bring Aerith back.' To now be involved with such a title as a creator feels surreal, and at the same time, I feel a responsibility I simply can't escape."
Throughout the decades, players have tried everything to save the party's bestie and Tifa's girlfriend, from mods to a recent glitch that's also handy for speedrunners. Despite all those theories circulating on the internet, though, Hamaguchi is seemingly the only fan to have come up with a legitimate way to keep Aerith alive: work your way up the Square Enix food chain until you're in charge of remaking the entire game.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth still kills Aerith in the Temple of the Ancients, but there's a little more ambiguity involved since she still shows herself to main man Cloud at the end of the game. Is she being projected to Cloud by the lifestream? Is she another symptom of Cloud's increasingly unstable brain? Or is she perhaps alive and well in another timeline, just as the also should-be-dead Zack is?
"In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the climax of the story centers on Aerith's fate," Hamaguchi adds. "We felt that simply creating a powerful scene wouldn't be enough to fully convey the emotions of that moment. That's why, throughout the game, we've taken great care to depict the relationships between the party members and the evolution of their emotions... We've placed this at the core of every aspect of game design – not just the narrative, but also battle mechanics, character growth, and the leveling system."
Not only has Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director played Remake part 3 before you, he's beaten it "over 40 times."
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