[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for the original Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.]
14.03.2024 - 19:07 / gamesradar.com / Tetsuya Nomura / Iain Harris
Now that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has been out in the wilds for a few weeks, players are reaching the end of the hot new RPG. That means many have seen the ending and are picking it apart online, for better or worse.
As Square Enix has revealed previously, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth ends at the Forgotten Capital – the scene of the original's most shocking twist. In short, it matters a lot to people. You can imagine why veteran developer Tetsuya Nomura was "even more nervous" about fans' reactions to Rebirth's ending than its predecessor's.
Before we continue, take this as your spoiler warning that the rest of the article will dive into spoiler territory, so here's your out if you still need to get there.
Still here? Grand. As we delved into with our Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth ending explainer, what you get here is largely a faithful retelling of what happened in the original Final Fantasy 7, albeit with some caveats.
The broad strokes remain the same, as Sephiroth ensures Aeirth meets her end, though this time around we've got some extra bits to mull over while we wait for the trilogy's concluding game. Cloud appears to save Aerith before it turns out that he didn't, the brooding merc can still see Aerith afterward while the rest of the party clearly can't, and more, as the multiverse narrative meshes with events.
Much like Remake, Square Enix wants the retelling to prompt questions and debate to ensure that future events aren't totally void of surprises. Exiting Midgar threw up many questions as we clobbered the arbiters of fate holding everything together. In Rebirth, though, we're dealing with a much more cherished moment of the original, and some fans aren't vibing with how busy it's become.
"Why make it so complicated?" writes one fan, while another says; "I have no fucking clue what direction they’re going to go with this because it's confusing as fuck."
Going deeper into it, another says, "She still died, which is good, but that event really needed a moment to breathe. Her death was meant to leave a void, an emptiness that we would carry leading into the next game. But the constant shifting between timelines, then actually seeing Aerith's spirit interact with Cloud takes away from that moment."
Naturally, other players don't mind the ending at all. While some people are just bummed that Aerith ended up dead, fans of the ending say you're supposed to feel like that – if anything, it's a testament to the writing and actor performances.
As for how complicated things get, more optimistic fans are keen to remind that you don't need to understand everything right now aside from the broad strokes.
"Our party banded together and defeated Sephiroth," one fan writes. "Do you really need to know the
[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for the original Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.]
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We’ll say this up front for those of you still exploring Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s vast world: there are no late-game story spoilers here. As seen in its pre-release debut via a new trailer late last year, the action RPG’s theme song “No Promises to Keep” is performed in-game by Aerith. Behind the scenes though, the track was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the legendary composer behind the iconic soundtracks for much of the Final Fantasy series, including Final Fantasy VII Remake. The song’s vocals were performed by American singer Loren Allred, who brought her spellbinding singing voice to the track, augmenting the beautiful—yet tragic—world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the epic story told within it.
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Weapons are totally free if you can find them in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. While Buster Sword-ing through each chapter, you’ll find rare purple chests in dungeons and other story-specific areas. These chests contain unlockable weapons, which in turn unlock unique weapon abilities. These weapons don’t just increase your stats. By equipping a weapon and using its unique weapon ability over and over, you’ll eventually master that ability, permanently unlocking it for your character.
Fans of the series should pay special attention to 's Protorelic quests. Technically labeled as Phenomenon Intel on the map, these quests are better known by the names of the mysterious artifacts they're centered around: the so-called Protorelics. These technological antiques are highly sought after, especially by resident expert Chadley, who can reverse engineer them into useful items. Completing Protorelic quests also contributes to the gang's overall Party Level in FF7 Rebirth.
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