The weird connection between all Final Fantasy 7 games? The sky

Remaining Fantasy 7 Rebirth poses a ton of questions, after which it doesn’t depart gamers with very many solutions.

Questions pertaining to the sudden look of the once-dead character Zack Honest, or the destiny of Aerith, have implications that would change the sport’s whole world and the story individuals have cherished for many years. Nevertheless, after letting these huge questions dangle in entrance of gamers, the ending of the sport nonetheless doesn’t give a clear-cut reply or decision for any of them.

As I depart the sport behind, I’ve resigned myself to not understanding every little thing; in any case, the third sport within the trilogy is but to come back. However even then, one small element has continued to gnaw away at me. It’s a query that doesn’t simply contain Rebirth, but in addition spans different media, like Remaining Fantasy 7 Remake and Disaster Core: Remaining Fantasy 7. It’s turn into the worm I can’t get out of my head.

My huge query? I wish to know what the hell is up with the sky within the Remaining Fantasy 7 video games.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for the endings of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, as well as discussion of plot points from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7.]

Graphic: Julia Lee/gamerjive | Supply photos: Sq. Enix

I’m speaking concerning the precise sky on the planet — or worlds — of every sport. Numerous the time, it’s simply your run-of-the-mill sky with, you recognize, a brilliant blue shade and clouds. However in case you begin to analyze the way in which the characters point out it within the story, it turns into clear that the sky performs a a lot bigger position within the symbolism of the sport and is likely one of the solely recurring motifs that branches throughout a number of Remaining Fantasy 7 compilation titles.

The very first time the story introduces Aerith Gainsborough in Disaster Core: Remaining Fantasy 7, she talks about dwelling within the slums in Midgar metropolis and the way she’s afraid of the sky. She tells Zack Honest, her past love and buddy of Cloud Strife, that she’s not regular. She says, “The sky… frightens me. It’s prefer it’s sucking me in.” Zack appears considerably confused but in addition doesn’t look like a man to evaluate, so he guarantees to point out her a sky that’s stunning. Later, Zack reveals that he’s a SOLDIER and has mako-infused eyes due to it. In these moments, he likens his eyes to the colour of the sky, and Aerith says, “Uh-huh… however not scary in any respect!”

The overall concept then comes again full circle with the massive ending of Disaster Core, when Zack dies after he rebels towards Shinra. In his final moments, he lays on his again and appears up on the clouds. As he begins to cross away, his voice narrates, “She stated that the sky frightened her. However it should really feel so good up there.” Then, as his physique lifts into golden, heavenly gentle, Zack says, “It does really feel good.”

Picture: Sq. Enix by way of gamerjive

The symbolism of the sky appears considerably extra simple in Disaster Core. The builders use it as a strategy to spotlight the contrasts between the assured Zack and, on the time, the extra timid Aerith. The sky additionally seems to characterize a way of freedom — Aerith doesn’t depart the slums till she meets Zack — in addition to the last word freedom from the shackles of life itself, when Zack passes away. Nevertheless, this idea solely will get an increasing number of difficult because the story chronologically progresses and we get into the principle occasions of Remaining Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth.

Remake has one of the vital clear — and to me, most compelling — makes use of of this motif. The overwhelming majority of the sport takes place within the slums beneath Midgar. The residents of the slums don’t get to see the sky, however as an alternative look as much as the huge metal infrastructure generally known as the higher plate. There’s a literal, bodily class division between the sectors, and an enormous manner the sport illustrates it’s by displaying that the slum-dwellers don’t even get to lookup on the sky. Nevertheless, after introducing this idea, the symbolism then will get muddied once more on the finish of the sport, which takes a semi-fantastical flip.

Within the remaining cutscenes of Remake, Aerith, Cloud, and the others stand on the dusty outskirts of Midgar after beating Sephiroth. The ultimate scene then cuts away to point out a special second, maybe in an alternate actuality, the place we see Zack carrying Cloud on his again, having survived in any case — and apparently, now in the same location simply exterior of Midgar. Zack wasn’t actually part of Remake, however that sport did have a scene with a quick glimpse of his remaining struggle scene towards the Shinra troopers in Disaster Core. Nevertheless, on the finish of Remake, on this alternate scene, Zack appeared to have survived that struggle. As Zack and Aerith seemingly cross by one another, every of them in several worlds, she says, “I miss it, the metal sky.”

Aerith’s line clearly connects to her first dialog with Zack, and probably speaks to her bigger discomfort round lastly leaving Midgar. It additionally might hook up with her embracing her destiny — to die so as to save the world — with the blue sky she now sees being symbolic of her future dying in FF7 Rebirth. That is all superb and is sensible, however then the builders went and adjusted the road a number of years after launch. Roughly 4 years after Sq. Enix launched Remaining Fantasy 7 Remake, the crew edited the road in a patch. Within the new, present model, Aerith says, “This sky… I don’t prefer it.”

Picture: Sq. Enix by way of gamerjive

The change seemingly got here out of nowhere, substituting a extra generic assertion in lieu of 1 that extra instantly related to Aerith’s story in Disaster Core. The change might virtually be interpreted as some form of meta-developer commentary about how the sport has a number of worlds — possibly there was a world in Remake the place Aerith stated her unique line as an alternative. Nevertheless, the developer additionally launched different adjustments to Remake in that replace that had nothing to do with strains of dialogue, resembling redesigning Tifa’s cowgirl outfit. So it’s potential that they simply wished to alter the road of dialogue for stylistic causes.

However issues then solely get weirder with Rebirth, because the sky performs into a bigger, complicated story that ties into the sport’s whole multiverse idea. In Rebirth, there are (not less than) two worlds: one the place Zack Honest dies identical to he did in Disaster Core, and one the place he lives on to avoid wasting Cloud and Aerith, who’re each in comatose states. We primarily play on the planet the place Zack is useless, however we do get snippets of the world the place he lives. As we play by means of these sections of the sport, one of many first issues we see is that the sky on this world has glittering golden rifts throughout it, and in keeping with Elmyra, individuals say its look means the world is ending.

We don’t know what this sky means, but it surely clearly appears dangerous. Towards the top of the sport, Aerith and Cloud go on a clumsy date collectively on this alternate world the place Zack lives. They don’t stumble upon him, however Aerith calls the world her “dream,” the place she apparently is occurring one final date earlier than her inevitable dying. Nevertheless, earlier than the 2 of them depart the home, Aerith makes Cloud promise to not lookup on the sky, as a result of she’s “fairly certain” he gained’t like what he’ll see. The scene leaves the point out of the sky at that, however then the subject of the sky comes up once more on the finish of the sport.

Picture: Sq. Enix by way of gamerjive

After Aerith seemingly dies in the principle world of the sport, the gang heads out to their subsequent vacation spot. Previous to their leaving, we’re handled to a melancholy scene throughout which Cait Sith, Cid, and Barret put together the aircraft for takeoff as Tifa, Yuffie, and Nanaki grieve the lack of Aerith. Cloud can nonetheless see Aerith, for some motive, however that’s not all he sees in a different way. Simply earlier than leaving, he tells the group to not lookup on the sky. From his vantage level, he can see glittering rifts within the sky that resemble these in Zack’s world, however when Barret appears, he simply sees an everyday blue sky.

We don’t get any express affirmation of something at play right here, actually. The gold rifts might signify the upcoming doom of the world. Nevertheless, the modified sky might even have one thing to do with the lifestream or Cloud’s multiverse journey. I personally assume it’s fully potential that it has some form of connection to Sephiroth summoning Meteor, which he does on the finish of the unique Remaining Fantasy 7 to wipe out all life on the planet. These gold rifts might simply herald the start of his plot to totally destroy every little thing. Nonetheless, although, it’s not clear what the sky means now by way of the larger story.

With the fixed repeated mentions of the sky, and notably with the edited line about it, the event crew is unquestionably going for one thing right here, but it surely’s not clear what. The whole lot else on this sequence tends to be extra direct, and different factors of symbolism within the sport are likely to lack any form of subtlety. Whereas earlier than, the sky might have been interpreted as a common image of freedom (and dying), it now has some bigger half to play into the general logic of the story and the multiverse/multiworld confusion. For sure, the very first thing I’ll be doing when the following sport comes out is taking a great lookup on the sky.