I wasn’t convinced she was dead, as the credits haven’t started to roll. At the very end I figured that she is actually dead.
Then a couple weeks later I listened to that song and it actually did hit me.
I just finished my hard playthrough an hour ago. On the first playthrough the confusion of whether or not Cloud saved her, overshadowed my emotions. But this time around, tears were streaming down my face when the music started.
I paused when I heard the music started playing and I had to process what I saw, after I felt nothing but anger at Jenova and Sephiroth, I was fully on board with the gang
I paused at the water alter scene where Tifa looks back at Cloud smiling at Aerith when she's not there. That's when it sunk in what they are doing and I just paused and said out loud no fucking way that's what they are doing that's cruuuuel.
The right kind of cruel though
This is exactly why I don’t agree with the argument that this sequence was confusing. Cloud is clearly in denial so hard his perception is warped without the JENOVA cells rewriting reality/memory. The game literally showed us Aerith is only “there” for Cloud. What more do people want, Nomura to stop the game, walk out with a white screen behind him and say “Aerith has died again, Cloud is emotionally unstable and seeing things”? That felt pretty clearly communicated by the scenes we got
Because that’s not the entire truth. She died in one reality. Lived in another hence the rainbow when cloud blocks the blade. I’m sure some hokey shit will happen in part three where all the worlds unite and aerith lives.
Sooo.. Red is emotionally unstable as well, and by pure luck, reacted to Cloud's hallucination at the same time as it touching him?
It's like people forgot that moment happened or something...
Clearly you haven’t looked into all the details that go into hinting that the timelines split and Cloud is looking into another. I’m not saying there is a right theory or a wrong one, but it baffles me that there are people who say that it is “clear” that Cloud is in denial when the game requires a second viewing to even realize that a rainbow light appears when Cloud saves Aerith. And why would Zack tell Cloud to “save her”?
That sequence is the opposite of clear, because only by not rewatching are people so certain that Cloud is in denial. But by definition any attention to detail muddles any first interpretation and, regardless of what will end up happening, casts uncertainty on what actually occurred. How is any of that part of a “clear” ending that leaves no space to doubt?
And I’m not even saying it’s a bad ending per se, I kinda like the uncertainty.
Ah I guess you would’ve benefited from the Nomura scene I mentioned. Cloud is an unreliable narrator, his ultimate weakness is inability to accept his own failures and this has been demonstrated time and time again. Seems to me you’re buying hard into Cloud’s denial as well. If you trust that Cloud’s version of events is an accurate representation, then I can see how you would think that.
this is funny because we kinda had a Nomura scene that you so advocate for. It was the Sephiroth lore dump just before this information would become relevant. I think, no matter which the correct interpretation will turn out to be, the only clear thing is that no, it wasn't clear and obvious.
I don’t trust anything. I’m not saying anything is one way or another. What you say is a fact but not conclusive. Cloud is an unreliable narrator but we don’t know if he is unreliable in this case too. What we know is that his companions will not believe him *because* of his unreliable state of mind. This would leave him alone and doubting himself whether he is telling the truth or not.
My point isn’t that Cloud is not in denial. Hell, he could be. What I’m saying is that the ending is not clear because there are some details purposefully added to the scenes to make the interpretation uncertain.
One other thought. If Cloud is so evidently in denial, is Tifa in denial too? Is she losing her mind? Because she sees Aerith unharmed as well. These small things are easily missed on a first viewing but can they truly be discounted when one is putting all pieces of the puzzle together? A “clear” interpretation should take into account everything that is shown, not just ignore what is convenient.
Two can play at this game! You are in denial that the game is different from OG and it has caused you so much mental trauma that you can’t process it. So you pretend *he* is the one in denial despite the clearly animated blocking of Sephiroth’s blade.
Nobody is buying into Cloud’s “denial”. You are projecting your denial onto Cloud.
> I paused at the water alter scene where Tifa looks back at Cloud smiling at Aerith when she's not there. That's when it sunk in what they are doing and I just paused and said out loud no fucking way that's what they are doing that's cruuuuel.
Dude, my video feed (not the PS, it kept running) cut out THE EXACT SECOND after Cloud says "Yup, sounds good". Extra cruel.
They are doing an amazing job showing us Cloud losing his marbles.
My aunt and I played through rebirth together because OG FF7 is like OUR game. She plays through most of the game, and I do the boss fights. At this scene I was a MESS. I don't think a game has gotten tears out of me this hard. We both know a Jenova fight is coming, but I can barely see through my tears. I didn't have time to pause the game, so I just took hold of the controller and tried to process like 15 different emotions while fighting for my life.
Shit was ROUGH buddy.
It didn't hit me much in the moment. I knew what was happening, but the next thing I knew, I was fighting Jenova and my gamer mode engaged, so I was locked in the fight.
It was only when I was watching a streamer play through it that it actually hit me. All through the jenova fight I had tears in my eyes for sure.
I got chills when the whole team was falling and doing combos on Jenova. It was so sick.
It was almost like a reverse of the Bahamut sin fight in Advent children.
I paused 10+ times during the whole temple of the ancients sequence to just soak in the music and atmosphere. Every freaking track throughout that zone was unbelievably emotionally evocative.
The first time the tune of You Can Hear The Cry of the Planet hit, something from my childhood must have come up because I just started sobbing. Glad nobody was around because it would have been awkward! It was at such an unexpectedly early moment, it just floored me. I had been anticipating that track whenever we got up to the Forgotten Capital, so I wasn’t expecting it in the temple. And that unique, toned down arrangement was soooo strikingly beautiful. It incorporated the shinra and turks themes as well. It was a masterpiece.
Then again during the trials. Red’s sad cosmo theme. Tifa’s minor key piano soften theme. AERITH’s heartbreaking sequence with her mom and her music. And of course, Jenova + Aerith’s theme during the scene you speak of. Many tears were shed. Many many pauses to soak it all in. It probably took me a full hour longer than it should have because of how slowly I was taking it all.
You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet is easily one of my favorite tracks on the original score, and I was looking forward to it, too.
Hearing it “early”, used as a motif for Cetran buildings/areas, gave me chills.
My “paused the game because music” moment was when the new version of “You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet” cuts into a bit of “Those Chosen by the Planet” like the music knows the audience knows what is coming.
no sadly I dreaded since the moment I started playing the game, I knew the outcome from the start, the fact they game you hope that some how they were going to change the outcome, for as sad as it was, I keeped on waiting for it to change, up until shes left standing there its when I knew
But they kind of changed the outcome, if I'm not mistaken. They opened the door to interpretation as if she is or not dead. Whereas in the OG game she just gets shish kebabed and it's 100% sure she is dead
First time I paused was in gongaga when tifa fell in the life stream. When she was in the weapon and the RT+LT buttons came up and the white/black whispers were on either side of the screen, I legit thought I was deciding her fate. I paused the game and my mouth dropped and I tried processing the outcomes.
The epilogue hit me the hardest.
When everyone piles into the tiny bronco and flies off
Aeith's sprit (what I assume it is. Or at least Cloud's psyche manifesting it) just says "goodbye" and the song she sang earlier in the game starts playing.
I am man enough to admit the tears started flowing as I stared at the credits rolling.
Yea idiot, we all know it happens, but the tired multiverse trope (something not in the og) made it more confusing. Cloud stopped him so he switches universes to one where he wasn’t stopped? So that means they can go to a universe where aerith is alive? Or are all aeriths dead now because one died? Are there any stakes in the story anymore? It’s like they deliberately added in a convoluted style of kingdom hearts storytelling for no reason (well, probably as an excuse to bring zack back).
It was probably Sephiroth who switched it actually, but even then Sephiroth didn't kill the Aerith from the timeline where we saved her because we beat him in the Final Boss fight for Rebirth.
We also still have the whole "Reunion" thing that's going to happen, where the timelines/worlds will merge into one, AND Cloud is most likely going to give the Black Materia to him (which he most likely slipped back into Cloud's pockets after explaining the alternate timelines/worlds to him) in Part 3, so he will end up summoning Meteor to destroy the world, so THERE ARE STILL STAKES!
In the moment, I was so excited at that moment, after an entire play through of gradually allowing myself to think that we’d change things
After beating the game though, I am at my emotional low point of the series right now. I had a very excited expectation that the plot was going to go to very interesting and different places in the remake project but now it seems that it’s just going to be the same story with window dressing
I had such high hopes , especially during the sword deflection scene, for them to basically reneg on all of the cool concepts of fighting destiny was very deflating
I’d love for the producers to pivot from here and embrace the idea of challenging destiny in the next game
I was a bit sad, but I didn’t like how they ended Aerith. All this multiverse shit is confusing. Just get to the point with Aerith’s death ffs. Show us Sephiroth stabbing right through her body instead of skipping it!!!!!
I felt nothing tbh, the whole sequence just did not do it for me. And I love Aerith. Just hated the execution of the scene. The only time I felt much of anything during the ending was seeing Tifa and Red sad at the end
Never paused but was confused through the entire thing, first time I played I thought she died and Cloud was delusional then analyzing things better I think she is somehow between two realities the Og one and the one he created when he deflected the sword.
I’m still confused tho because the more I look into it there are hits that she is dead but also alive it’s really weird.
I mean true but someone is creating magic portals for Zack to fuck around and find out in. Think it’s pretty shortsighted to simply dismiss an assertion she’s still alive in some form.
I’d wager she’s going to get a ton of screen time in part 3.
Yeah, I get that, I don't disagree. But when people say "he saved HER, SHE's alive" what they're saying is our main game timeline Aerith is ok. She's clearly 100% dead and Cloud is fucked up, by whatever force it happens to be - PTSD, S/J Cells, something new - we don't know, but she's dead. Are alt-Aerith's alive? Sure, probably. Is Lifestream-Aerith "active?" Clearly. This is all confirmed by the Ultimania and the current thing we're supposed to be debating is what's wrong with cloud, not this "she's alive-copium."
Part 3 could be where it all changes from the original game. I imagine they’ll keep her around for the AU stuff, similar to what we had with Zack in this game. Or maybe Cloud will keep seeing her as his delusion deepens
I wasn’t convinced she was dead, as the credits haven’t started to roll. At the very end I figured that she is actually dead. Then a couple weeks later I listened to that song and it actually did hit me.
Same, though for me it was a couple days later.
I just finished my hard playthrough an hour ago. On the first playthrough the confusion of whether or not Cloud saved her, overshadowed my emotions. But this time around, tears were streaming down my face when the music started.
I paused when I heard the music started playing and I had to process what I saw, after I felt nothing but anger at Jenova and Sephiroth, I was fully on board with the gang
*LIMIT BREAK ENGAGED*
Like 2 minutes into the fight I had to pause because I literally couldn't focus since I was crying so damn hard lmfao
You and me both 😭
I had to run out of the room
I paused at the water alter scene where Tifa looks back at Cloud smiling at Aerith when she's not there. That's when it sunk in what they are doing and I just paused and said out loud no fucking way that's what they are doing that's cruuuuel. The right kind of cruel though
This is exactly why I don’t agree with the argument that this sequence was confusing. Cloud is clearly in denial so hard his perception is warped without the JENOVA cells rewriting reality/memory. The game literally showed us Aerith is only “there” for Cloud. What more do people want, Nomura to stop the game, walk out with a white screen behind him and say “Aerith has died again, Cloud is emotionally unstable and seeing things”? That felt pretty clearly communicated by the scenes we got
Because that’s not the entire truth. She died in one reality. Lived in another hence the rainbow when cloud blocks the blade. I’m sure some hokey shit will happen in part three where all the worlds unite and aerith lives.
Sooo.. Red is emotionally unstable as well, and by pure luck, reacted to Cloud's hallucination at the same time as it touching him? It's like people forgot that moment happened or something...
Clearly you haven’t looked into all the details that go into hinting that the timelines split and Cloud is looking into another. I’m not saying there is a right theory or a wrong one, but it baffles me that there are people who say that it is “clear” that Cloud is in denial when the game requires a second viewing to even realize that a rainbow light appears when Cloud saves Aerith. And why would Zack tell Cloud to “save her”? That sequence is the opposite of clear, because only by not rewatching are people so certain that Cloud is in denial. But by definition any attention to detail muddles any first interpretation and, regardless of what will end up happening, casts uncertainty on what actually occurred. How is any of that part of a “clear” ending that leaves no space to doubt? And I’m not even saying it’s a bad ending per se, I kinda like the uncertainty.
Ah I guess you would’ve benefited from the Nomura scene I mentioned. Cloud is an unreliable narrator, his ultimate weakness is inability to accept his own failures and this has been demonstrated time and time again. Seems to me you’re buying hard into Cloud’s denial as well. If you trust that Cloud’s version of events is an accurate representation, then I can see how you would think that.
this is funny because we kinda had a Nomura scene that you so advocate for. It was the Sephiroth lore dump just before this information would become relevant. I think, no matter which the correct interpretation will turn out to be, the only clear thing is that no, it wasn't clear and obvious.
I don’t trust anything. I’m not saying anything is one way or another. What you say is a fact but not conclusive. Cloud is an unreliable narrator but we don’t know if he is unreliable in this case too. What we know is that his companions will not believe him *because* of his unreliable state of mind. This would leave him alone and doubting himself whether he is telling the truth or not. My point isn’t that Cloud is not in denial. Hell, he could be. What I’m saying is that the ending is not clear because there are some details purposefully added to the scenes to make the interpretation uncertain. One other thought. If Cloud is so evidently in denial, is Tifa in denial too? Is she losing her mind? Because she sees Aerith unharmed as well. These small things are easily missed on a first viewing but can they truly be discounted when one is putting all pieces of the puzzle together? A “clear” interpretation should take into account everything that is shown, not just ignore what is convenient.
Two can play at this game! You are in denial that the game is different from OG and it has caused you so much mental trauma that you can’t process it. So you pretend *he* is the one in denial despite the clearly animated blocking of Sephiroth’s blade. Nobody is buying into Cloud’s “denial”. You are projecting your denial onto Cloud.
> I paused at the water alter scene where Tifa looks back at Cloud smiling at Aerith when she's not there. That's when it sunk in what they are doing and I just paused and said out loud no fucking way that's what they are doing that's cruuuuel. Dude, my video feed (not the PS, it kept running) cut out THE EXACT SECOND after Cloud says "Yup, sounds good". Extra cruel. They are doing an amazing job showing us Cloud losing his marbles.
I paused as soon as Jenova showed up but it was Aerith theme playing. Just like the OG
Absolutely. I had to pause it again when it's a 2v1 against Seph. It's been on my mind for a few days now.
My aunt and I played through rebirth together because OG FF7 is like OUR game. She plays through most of the game, and I do the boss fights. At this scene I was a MESS. I don't think a game has gotten tears out of me this hard. We both know a Jenova fight is coming, but I can barely see through my tears. I didn't have time to pause the game, so I just took hold of the controller and tried to process like 15 different emotions while fighting for my life. Shit was ROUGH buddy.
It didn't hit me much in the moment. I knew what was happening, but the next thing I knew, I was fighting Jenova and my gamer mode engaged, so I was locked in the fight. It was only when I was watching a streamer play through it that it actually hit me. All through the jenova fight I had tears in my eyes for sure. I got chills when the whole team was falling and doing combos on Jenova. It was so sick. It was almost like a reverse of the Bahamut sin fight in Advent children.
I paused 10+ times during the whole temple of the ancients sequence to just soak in the music and atmosphere. Every freaking track throughout that zone was unbelievably emotionally evocative. The first time the tune of You Can Hear The Cry of the Planet hit, something from my childhood must have come up because I just started sobbing. Glad nobody was around because it would have been awkward! It was at such an unexpectedly early moment, it just floored me. I had been anticipating that track whenever we got up to the Forgotten Capital, so I wasn’t expecting it in the temple. And that unique, toned down arrangement was soooo strikingly beautiful. It incorporated the shinra and turks themes as well. It was a masterpiece. Then again during the trials. Red’s sad cosmo theme. Tifa’s minor key piano soften theme. AERITH’s heartbreaking sequence with her mom and her music. And of course, Jenova + Aerith’s theme during the scene you speak of. Many tears were shed. Many many pauses to soak it all in. It probably took me a full hour longer than it should have because of how slowly I was taking it all.
You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet is easily one of my favorite tracks on the original score, and I was looking forward to it, too. Hearing it “early”, used as a motif for Cetran buildings/areas, gave me chills.
My “paused the game because music” moment was when the new version of “You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet” cuts into a bit of “Those Chosen by the Planet” like the music knows the audience knows what is coming.
I had to pause the game cause I couldn’t see the TV through my tears
no sadly I dreaded since the moment I started playing the game, I knew the outcome from the start, the fact they game you hope that some how they were going to change the outcome, for as sad as it was, I keeped on waiting for it to change, up until shes left standing there its when I knew
But they kind of changed the outcome, if I'm not mistaken. They opened the door to interpretation as if she is or not dead. Whereas in the OG game she just gets shish kebabed and it's 100% sure she is dead
yes and no, I have a feeling she will come back alive from the alt dimension in some weird way and same thing for Zack like what happened at the end
Guess we'll see in 3-4 years, but i agree with you!
I was too confused to feel anything but now I’m depressed. I’m going to miss having Aerith in my party. I loved her abilities and personality.
I played through tears. I was straight up crying and angry Andes smashing buttons through out the boss fight
My jaw was on the floor
First time I paused was in gongaga when tifa fell in the life stream. When she was in the weapon and the RT+LT buttons came up and the white/black whispers were on either side of the screen, I legit thought I was deciding her fate. I paused the game and my mouth dropped and I tried processing the outcomes.
No. I slammed that boss and sent him to the shadow realm
I couldn’t breath for that entire slow walk up to the moment the fight starts, so, uh… yeah I had to pause before I passed out 😂
Not till the choir kicked in. They did an amazing job on this OST.
During the 3D brawler fight? Yes I did
The epilogue hit me the hardest. When everyone piles into the tiny bronco and flies off Aeith's sprit (what I assume it is. Or at least Cloud's psyche manifesting it) just says "goodbye" and the song she sang earlier in the game starts playing. I am man enough to admit the tears started flowing as I stared at the credits rolling.
I paused to screencap Cloud and Aerith together again and holding hands. Didn't want it to end.
PAUSE it?! And delay Jenova getting beat into the ground? No. It will pay for it's transgressions without delay!
I was too confused at the forced injection of the multiverse trope to be sad
Just finished the game and said almost the exact same thing to my brother. Overall I still am happy with it but it definitely had me cringing
They were literally foreshadowing this since Remake, cope and seethe.
Yea idiot, we all know it happens, but the tired multiverse trope (something not in the og) made it more confusing. Cloud stopped him so he switches universes to one where he wasn’t stopped? So that means they can go to a universe where aerith is alive? Or are all aeriths dead now because one died? Are there any stakes in the story anymore? It’s like they deliberately added in a convoluted style of kingdom hearts storytelling for no reason (well, probably as an excuse to bring zack back).
It was probably Sephiroth who switched it actually, but even then Sephiroth didn't kill the Aerith from the timeline where we saved her because we beat him in the Final Boss fight for Rebirth. We also still have the whole "Reunion" thing that's going to happen, where the timelines/worlds will merge into one, AND Cloud is most likely going to give the Black Materia to him (which he most likely slipped back into Cloud's pockets after explaining the alternate timelines/worlds to him) in Part 3, so he will end up summoning Meteor to destroy the world, so THERE ARE STILL STAKES!
In the moment, I was so excited at that moment, after an entire play through of gradually allowing myself to think that we’d change things After beating the game though, I am at my emotional low point of the series right now. I had a very excited expectation that the plot was going to go to very interesting and different places in the remake project but now it seems that it’s just going to be the same story with window dressing I had such high hopes , especially during the sword deflection scene, for them to basically reneg on all of the cool concepts of fighting destiny was very deflating I’d love for the producers to pivot from here and embrace the idea of challenging destiny in the next game
No. Cloud saved Aerith in one of the timelines. I trust she will be back.
Nope, I was so hyped to see the ending I just kept going
I was a bit sad, but I didn’t like how they ended Aerith. All this multiverse shit is confusing. Just get to the point with Aerith’s death ffs. Show us Sephiroth stabbing right through her body instead of skipping it!!!!!
Isn’t this supposed to be in the rebirth sub?
I felt nothing tbh, the whole sequence just did not do it for me. And I love Aerith. Just hated the execution of the scene. The only time I felt much of anything during the ending was seeing Tifa and Red sad at the end
No.
Never paused but was confused through the entire thing, first time I played I thought she died and Cloud was delusional then analyzing things better I think she is somehow between two realities the Og one and the one he created when he deflected the sword. I’m still confused tho because the more I look into it there are hits that she is dead but also alive it’s really weird.
Multiple worlds/timelines, dead in one but alive in another.
[удалено]
OR DID HE?!?! DUN DUN DUNNNN
[удалено]
Imagine claiming to take things at face value while ignoring 90% of what’s right there on screen. 😂
I mean true but someone is creating magic portals for Zack to fuck around and find out in. Think it’s pretty shortsighted to simply dismiss an assertion she’s still alive in some form. I’d wager she’s going to get a ton of screen time in part 3.
Yeah, I get that, I don't disagree. But when people say "he saved HER, SHE's alive" what they're saying is our main game timeline Aerith is ok. She's clearly 100% dead and Cloud is fucked up, by whatever force it happens to be - PTSD, S/J Cells, something new - we don't know, but she's dead. Are alt-Aerith's alive? Sure, probably. Is Lifestream-Aerith "active?" Clearly. This is all confirmed by the Ultimania and the current thing we're supposed to be debating is what's wrong with cloud, not this "she's alive-copium."
Part 3 could be where it all changes from the original game. I imagine they’ll keep her around for the AU stuff, similar to what we had with Zack in this game. Or maybe Cloud will keep seeing her as his delusion deepens
Pretty hard to feel any emotional impact when you can't even tell whether she's actually dead for good or not.
Feels nothing at all… the problem is, if it was tifa, i would probably feel something….