Final Fantasy 7 Could be Getting a Cosmic Makeover
Written by Jonathan Lee. May 9th, 2020. 9:00 AM. Tweet to: @Writerscube
When Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake released earlier this April, it was a dream come true for pretty much every Final Fantasy 7 fan out there since the 90’s. Some might have had some trepidation with their opinions about the fact of it being remade, but the general sentiment across all feeds was hyped and positive. Then the game came out and what tension there was gave way to relief as player sentiment was that Square Enix had outdone themselves with the Midgar Arc.
Final Fantasy 7: An Old Classic Remade Fresh
For those that thought this was going to be just a step-by-step reenactment of the Midgar section of FF7, most were pleasantly surprised to see that Square Enix had put in the hours to fill out a previously-four-to-five-hour affair with a 40-50 hour experience. But with so much attention to detail and adding so much of that detail, new questions have arisen. Naturally, a lot of what characters said in the original game either differ or have been added to significantly. Along with that additional dialogue also comes some new faces and new… character paths.
My friends, this is where things get into spoiler territory and theory territory. You have been warned.
Final Fantasy 7’s Cloud and Sephiroth Dynamic
In the original game, we watched Cloud and company deal with Sephiroth in various forms. We watched Cloud in the past cast the original Sephiroth into a Mako reactor where he presumably got absorbed into the lifestream. We watched him return as an extension of Jenova within other host bodies. Then finally, we fight his true self in a giant crater where we finish him once and for all. (Or did we? Advent Children likes to bring up the question of whether his presence will ever truly be gone.)
In FF7 Remake, things take a whole different course. Rather than Sephiroth appearing only occasionally, and half of the time in memories, Cloud encounters his nemesis much more frequently, though still through his Jenova-infected proxies. This gives us more time to see how Cloud is wrestling with his memories and possible trauma from after fighting Sephiroth years ago. But this also provides us a deeper glimpse into the extent of Sephiroth’s reach and influence. But does Sephiroth’s power and influence go beyond what the original game initially established? Square Enix might be up to something.
Sephiroth Ascended
The game likes to remind players that Sephiroth is never too far away, haunting Cloud in his mind and as a physical presence at times. But at times, we’re given a glimpse of how Sephiroth has seen the future, grasped Destiny for himself. This is made clear by how the enigmatic Whispers of Destiny (they look like ghosts) seem to bend to his will. There’s even a moment where Sephiroth reveals the calamity of Meteor to the team while he tells Cloud that he has “seven seconds till the end” to make an important decision, alluding to either the final showdown, possibly his attempt to save Aerith, or something else entirely.
What is the point to all this? I believe it’s to tell that Sephiroth has been granted more than just visions of megalomaniacal grandeur like in the original version. In this version, Sephiroth has somehow achieved a kind of omniscience or a future sight of sorts. This significant change can create some shockwaves throughout the rest of the story. How will the Nibelheim revisitation encounter go between Sephiroth and Cloud? We will likely see this in the next installment.
Which brings us to Aerith…
The Aerith Variable
Aerith is an all-important and pivotal figure for the game and Cloud’s character development. We see how their relationship grows over the course of the game until her untimely end. But throughout the original game, we never see Aerith’s near-omniscience that she exhibits in the Remake. Several times, we see Aerith either communing with the Lifestream through her flowers, or communicating some sort of message through Marlene and Red XIII. During those two character interactions, both characters were losing their minds with panic or anger, but after Aerith touches them and communicates something into their minds, you immediately see them both exhibit calm and, well, revelatory understanding. That never happens in the original game. What does it mean?
Aerith is clearly meant to have an even greater role in the Remake edition. While she already plays a key role as the last Ancient with the Holy Materia, Square Enix is keen to give her even more. This isn’t a bad thing at all. She’s the descendant of a race that once had a powerful, symbiotic relationship with the planet. Why shouldn’t she have awesome powers? But this brings up more questions. After all, she does some pretty interesting things, from looking like she recognizes Cloud when they first meet to telling Cloud not to fall in love with her, even though they’d only known each other for a couple days by that conversation. Does Aerith now see the future?
More Questions Than Answers
The answer isn’t so clear cut. We see other things have changed that imply a possible, even greater change to the foundations of this beloved game. Why did Biggs and Wedge survive the fall of Plate 7? Why does it look like Zack actually survives the moment that he should’ve been gunned down? Did the presence of the Whispers have something to do with it? And why does the end of the Midgar arc end with Sephiroth pleading for Cloud to join him in taking over the planet, followed by a fight with a Lovecraftian horror that gives the team visions of the possible future? Red XIII states that the visions they see are only possibilities, which means… will Cloud strike down Sephiroth like it shows? Or are we looking at a possible change in the plot that’ll throw everything we know out the window?
On Square Enix’s part, it’s a smart move. It prompts the player to want to find those answers in the next installments. I just hope the answers will be satisfactory!
Final Thoughts on Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Final Fantasy 7 Remake was an absolute blast! It pushes all the right nostalgia buttons while giving lots of new questions for players to chew on. If there is some sort of alternate dimension, parallel timeline, or crazy multidimensional butterfly effect going on in this Remake, I’m all for it. We’ve all seen something similar in Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy XIII-2 (and Lightning Returns, sorta), and Final Fantasy Type-0. Why wouldn’t the Higher Powers in the world of Final Fantasy 7 have some sort of cosmic game of replaying history until a desired result is reached?
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