Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Part two (The spoiler version)
To Talk about Rebirth and FF7 as a whole, we have to look at the narrative, it’s so entwined into its DNA you cannot have one with the other. So this post is for people who have finished the game/do not care about spoilers to talk about things. So, for those of you who still don’t get it from this point on we are going talk about the plot, story, and characters of Rebirth. READ BEYOND THIS POINT AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Here is the link to part one, if you missed it or just wanna see my thoughts on the gameplay
Alright, so welcome in folks, kick back and get your favorite drink, and let’s go into a talk about some of the points of the game that I found interesting. These are just some things I saw through the game that I wanted to share thoughts on. If you finished the game and wanna share your opinions. Follow this handy little link and leave a comment after the beep…
Alright, let’s start with the opening which when you play it the first time is very disjointing but also raises a lot of questions. Everyone from the first game along with Yuffie and some new ones crashed in a helicopter. Meanwhile, Zack Fair of all people is seen bringing Cloud into Midgar looking like Cloud had just seen some shit and is in a catatonic state. It is implied quickly that whatever happened to our merry band did not go well. Later on, it’s revealed everyone but Cloud and Aerith have died.
Cut to a scene supposedly days earlier and everyone is alive and well, as the story unfolds we learn what is happening, we jump back and forth and find Biggs is somehow still alive even though he died at the end of the first game, and the sky in this area is not looking good. Everyone is also coming to terms with one thing: the world is ending. It is later revealed that what is happening is happening in two different timelines, one where the majority of the game is happening and this tangent one where everyone is dead and, the citizens are sitting back waiting for the world to end. All the while Aerith is somehow able to jump between both?
The curious case of Dr. Aerith…
So, let us get one thing out of the way now; AREITH STILL DIES! But, I am sure she’s gonna be more of a thing in the next game than the original cause of her seemingly Son-Goku ability of just being in the game despite doing nothing until plot is needed to advance. The weird thing in this whole game however is the just sheer random times Aerith seems to have a grasp of what is happening only to snap back to her playful innocent ways.
So why am I calling her Dr. Aerith? The obvious answer is it is a reference to “Doctor Who” in which the main character The Doctor is one to play with knowledge, as a time traveler who knows events going on. Or even an idea of how things should flow, the second incarnation was very devious in this way as they would often play dumb and wait for their adversary to reveal their plan only to crush it at the last moment and move on to the next episode or serial.
That is at points what seems to be going on with Aerith, I remember a moment in the first game Remake, where she looks at Cloud and says “Do not fall in love with me, you are only going to get hurt.” (Not an exact quote but paraphrasing here) Implying she knew what was happening, in this game she even kind of starts that way only to then shift back to playful naivety. Some scenes also don’t add up with this shift in persona as at one point she pretty much tells Tifa to go for, so depending on how you play the gold saucer date declare her feelings for Cloud. This bouncing back and forth is rather abrupt but also it seems at times she is not herself. While I think the game wants you to look forward and assume the worst case is what you are building to. I think instead it is not so much a future we see, but an alternate reality, this kind of hit me more after I finished the game as we have at-point tunnels which hell even give off that “Doctor Who” time travel vibe. The more I thought about it thought the tunnels could also been a reference to another show and concept: “Sliders” and alternate universes
I’ll save you the details but the plot of the show was guy makes a thing that can cross an Eisenstein-Rosen Bridge to other dimensions where things could be anything from only slightly different to radically different. The key selling point was “Same planet, different dimensions.” So applying that to the game now it is starting to make more sense that we are running in tandem with our game universe. So for the rest of this to make sense let’s set some ground rules:
Gaia 1 (game world)
Gaia 2 (tandem world)
As it reveals that there are seemingly two worlds going, the idea of Aerith shifting personality makes some more sense, she can perhaps unknowingly slide between them and this comes across more obvious at the end of the game when she takes Cloud through this world. Marlene also comments that she somehow knows that if Cloud doesn’t wake up Aerith dies to Zack which makes him bewildered. The little date they have reaches its apex in the church in the slums they met in, and Cloud and Aerith share a heart-to-heart and a plot MacGuffin, Aerith also drops her hair and pushes Cloud into a bridge as the big bad Sephiroth walks in behind her. We’re left to wonder what happened if anything did, as we return to Gaia 1 with Aerith looking down at Cloud as he is in a fog and the plot, happens around him as Barrett drags his ass literally across a forest, only to come to when they reach the lost capital.
Cloud and the unreliable Narrator tool
Something that is constant with the original FF7 and this game is Cloud’s spotty and also confused memories. The opening chapter if you don’t know the twist of FF7 plays this up, however, if you do not know it. The subtle references may go right past you until its inevitable reveal in the third game. At first, I was thinking okay they are dragging this out, but I read the thought of Cloud being an unreliable source of information and when it’s viewed that way, the game does make a lot more sense of things.
It also shows how much more powerful Sephiroth is in this game, as he is constantly in Cloud’s head, to the point he is the only person who can see him. It gets truly terrifying when scenes play out of him ruthlessly and without emotion trying to kill people. All of which is another subtitle point of you are never playing those scenes, you watch them happen. Like, if someone else is taking control of him. The control thread reaches its climax when Cloud wonders if Tifa is even real or Jenova is in his head and the resulting scenes truly hit the notes well. Even the other party members are wondering what the hell is going on, Tifa also begins to see how much influence Sephiroth has over him in her Lifestream joy ride. She also doesn’t question a lot of the details of Cloud’s story in Nibelhem which still seems odd to me as I think if I did something like that, people I know would go “Wait, that’s not what happened.” But, it’s for plot at the end of the day.
It is a great tool to subvert expectations and also keep newer people hooked. Also, the writer’s use of this is still in play by the end of the game as it seems implied Cloud is still under the influence, which while we are talking about him and influence, let’s step into the big bad driving force of the game
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The Shadow of Sephiroth:
There is no way this series of games is not gonna have one of the most iconic villains in all of gaming history at the forefront. The fact remains however how much he’s actually in the game versus how much of his influence is felt is gonna be an interesting point of contention. Everyone knows he’s up to something. It’s pushing the party on and also, and it got the attention of Shinra, again we have the benefit of knowing the story already to know where we are heading. However, to a new person, this reinforced drive may still not be that obvious. We spend much of the game trying to figure out just what the hell he’s planning. It is not until we get to the GI that we truly realize the stakes, and even then it’s not obvious. Still, he sneaks into Cloud’s head and he puts doubt, he drives him forward for his ends also and is very aware he has strings to use at any time.
It is also clear the end game for Sephiroth and Cloud is for Cloud to be the right hand of his army, there are scenes in the game where perhaps he is like Aerith sliding Cloud showing him other dimensions where he is in a robe (in a very Dark Souls vibe scene which looked killer to be honest.) To break his will and make him submit to the fate he wants. When he does reveal himself, it is almost in a hammy Shakespearean villain kind of way where he, monologues in almost screen-chewing delight. Even after the last battle there is a glee in his eyes and smile that makes even Aerith’s blood run cold. Commenting he knows this is not over, I kind of took it, as he’s moving to his end game (which he is but still.)
The big moment and subversion:
Finally, let’s talk about the thing we all knew was coming, the death of Aerith, while many would point out that they did not know if the event was gonna happen I was pretty confident as if you look at the writing of the story and the intent, her living was just going to destroy any base narrative you had for this game, the tale at the end of the day is tragedy and how people will respond with the death of someone they are fond of in friendship or other ways. The theme of the planet dying is tied to her as it rallies the troops and finishes the fight so another more tragic death the death of life does not happen.
If you look at all the stuff that happens in the game, Cloud being unreliable, Aerith sliding between dimensions and also, Sephiroth doing his thing. You see the intent the whole time was not to say this was not going to happen, but to direct your attention to other things. So when it does happen it does have the impact. This would be like remaking (DON’T DO IT DISNEY!) Star Wars and not making Vader Luke Skywalker’s father, it would destroy a lot of key moments. You can however distract and subvert things so that when it happens it does still have the punch. It just lands in your face instead of deep in your gut. Everyone is saying how this game is straying away from FF7, in my opinion, though it’s just telling a different avenue of the game. Think of it like a renegade super director cut of the original, tech may not have been there to do all they wanted and now it is. So, they naturally took advantage of it and people wanted it. So, why should they not?
Combine this with the gameplay of this release and you get once more a very dense picture, I said in the first post I still recommend this game, it is just a shame a lot of the interesting plot things will be lost at first blush due to sheer amount of bloat in the games mini-game assault to the senses. As I said, when this game hits it hits perfect, I hope once more the developers pay attention to what is not working and go back to a bit more of a linear focus on the game. It doesn’t have to be expansive and massive but too much to do will ruin what could be an excellent final game in a trilogy of a game split into three games.