If you’ve played the original Final Fantasy VII, you know the game ends on a bittersweet note. Sure, the day is saved by the remnants of the revolutionary group Avalanche, but as illustrated in the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the gang is left to deal with a lot of residual trauma from their journey. Meanwhile, 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, the first entry in Square Enix’s three-game re-telling (or sequel?) of the landmark 1997 RPG, teased that this time around, the story may play out quite differently. Now, a new interview suggests that some folks at Square Enix would like the story of protagonist Cloud Strife and his friends to end on a happier note this time around, but that’s not for him solely to decide.
In an interview with Spanish outlet Vandal (translated by Final Fantasy translation fan account Shinra Archaeology Department), Final Fantasy VII Rebirth director Yoshinori Kitase said that after spending 30 years with the cast of the original PlayStation RPG, he would like to give them a happy ending. However, Rebirth and the third (and likely final) game in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series are being made by a large team with many different viewpoints, so it won’t be without some tragedy and drama along the way.
One of the big changes between the original game and Final Fantasy VII Remake is that the 2020 action RPG has a supernatural phenomenon called “Whispers” following the party around. These are ghostly figures attempting to hold the story of the original game in place. The penultimate boss is a massive Whisper Harbinger, and defeating it seemingly takes the story off its predetermined path. In theory, this could mean a happier ending is in store this time around, perhaps even for the flower girl with a heart of gold, Aerith, who famously dies in the original, but Square Enix has also given mixed messages on this front. Shortly after Remake launched in 2020, Kitase said the trilogy would stay on script moving forward. Obviously, that could just be marketing speak meant to mask the truth, but we likely won’t get a sense of how much or little these games will diverge from the original outline until Rebirth launches on February 29.
While the full game is still two weeks away, you can play a little bit of Rebirth now through a demo on PlayStation 5. However, be sure to mess with the graphics setting to see if graphics mode or performance mode is more to your liking.
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