Graymouse
Pro Adventurer
Don't mind me, just dropping off the daily tweet dump.
Interviewer: When you actually play the game, naturally you play with Cloud as main?
Sakurai: No, I play as Tifa… (lol) Cause I like Tifa.
Interviewer: Would you say you’re Team Aerith, Team Tifa…?
Sakurai: To say it directly, I’m Team Tifa (lol). I’ve been Team Tifa since the OG (please don’t tell [Aerith’s VA] Sakamoto Maaya!)
Rather, by choosing Tifa, the player is rewarded with a scene that deepens their understanding of the relationship between the two characters. We've already seen Cloud threatening to murder any guy who shows an iota of interest in Tifa. Here, we finally have a scene that indicates Tifa may feel the same way about him.
To get Aerith's angle, it's still optional because it's in her sidequests, but if you do them, you'll get the scene where she asks about Tifa.
This is something rather interesting that I had noted; that in the sewers, while it's presented in a rather neutral way (Cloud ends up right in the middle of the two girls, same distance, he's clearly given the choice of "who" he wants to wake up first), the game only rewards you for waking up Tifa. Waking up Aerith is rather inconsequential, except that you do get her resolution scene, but the game would still rather that you wake up Tifa and get this scene.
Yeah, that's a really good point as well. I also forgot to mention that in the Ch. 8 Aerith scene, you can hear Tifa's Theme playing in the background throughout their entire conversation, which completely gives the game away, imo. (err I mean in a colloquial sense, though I guess it is kind of foreshadowing for later parts of the game as well)
EDIT: also like @minami758 said, Aerith asking about Tifa isn't optional, while Tifa's sewer scene is. And optional in the truest sense, since while all 3 Ch. 14 resolutions can coexist, Cloud can only canonically wake up one girl in the sewer.
Unless I'm missing something, Tifa in the sewers is the only time anyone in the game asks Cloud about his relationship with Aerith. Meanwhile, both Aerith and Jessie ask Cloud about his relationship with Tifa (in either an explicitly or implicitly romantic light) in non-optional cutscenes. I didn't break down the Jessie Ch. 1 scene because it's literally 2 shots of Cloud not knowing what to say, lol.
And while we're at this, can I be greed and ask what is your opinion about Aerith's reaction of seeing the flower in Seventh Heaven?
I was initially quite resistant towards the idea of Tifa showing jealousy in the sewer because of all of my memories from previous iterations of the LTD, but stepping away from it, Tifa being jealous should actually be seen as a positive, especially at this stage of the relationship. It's a pretty commonly used trope to establish one character's romantic interest in the other. Like for the all the players who are looking somewhere else while they're touching or staring at each other, these are the moments, where even they would go 'Oh, wait --- that's what's going on here.'
Sure! Though I don't think I'm really contributing anything that hasn't already be said. I am also of the view the Remake!Aerith doesn't seem to be nearly as romantically interested in Cloud as OG!Aerith. I didn't clock a single moment where I felt like she was expressing romantic jealousy. She definitely likes Cloud as a person and enjoys teasing him (and very often she's teasing him about his relationship with Tifa in a playful way rather than a way for her to get him to notice her own romantic interest).
For this particular scene, visually, since Aerith is the only party in the triangle who is physically present, it doesn't tell me anything we don't know other than the fact that we are supposed to pay attention.
Instead, we have to rely on the story beats leading up to this point to derive its intent.
Here's what we know about the flower:
-Aerith gives the flower to Cloud (telling him it represents 'reunion' - whether or not it's explicitly romantic seems to depend on the translation); depending on what dialogue option you choose, Cloud only agrees to accept it after she tells him it'll make his girlfriend's day
-Cloud gives the flower to Tifa, who puts it near the register where Aerith finds it
-Knowing that Cloud was well-aware of the flower's meaning, she later asks him who he gave it to, and he obfuscates. She teases him and knows he's lying.
We also know that Aerith is only at Seventh Heaven because Tifa asked her to find Marlene there. I can't remember if at any point Aerith is told that Tifa works there, but it's not a leap to think that she made that connection.
I feel like it's pretty clear the reason she smiles because she recognizes that Tifa is the person Cloud gave the flower to. (Why else would the game have her explicitly ask him about it in Ch. 8? There are plenty of other things to mindlessly banter about if it's just meant to be a throwaway line).
Now the meaning of her smile is more debatable. Interpreting facial expressions is something that's inherently more subjective, which is why I don't get into it much; however, we do know that Aerith has asked and teased Cloud about his relationship with Tifa multiple times; we also know that she has spent at least a couple of hours that night observing how the two of them behave around each other. For me, it's not a smile of acquiescence (accepting that she's "lost") or like a game-on-she's-really-going-to-fight-for-Cloud now smile, but that kind of knowing smile you smile when you realize two of your closest friends like each other before either one of them does.
One last thing to note, is that the scene immediately following this moment (which is connected to the scene where Aerith is taken by Tseng) is where Tifa jumps towards Cloud on the pillar and we get that slow-mo handgrab. Another moment where the game is telling the audience to pay attention. Perhaps it's trying to tell us the same thing?
.I tried to keep it alive as long as I could
but now, it's dead and buried
like the bar, our home and everything else
they took everything from us again
I was initially quite resistant towards the idea of Tifa showing jealousy in the sewer because of all of my memories from previous iterations of the LTD, but stepping away from it, Tifa being jealous should actually be seen as a positive, especially at this stage of the relationship. It's a pretty commonly used trope to establish one character's romantic interest in the other. Like for the all the players who are looking somewhere else while they're touching or staring at each other, these are the moments, where even they would go 'Oh, wait --- that's what's going on here.'
Likewise, when she touches him you also see about a 1000 thoughts go through Clouds mind as he desperately tries to wrack his brain for the correct thing to do. As if this is complicated, but his Soldier persona has no answer programmed in for this.
He's trying to answer "should I hug her" based on some sort of reasonable logical answer, "Is it the correct thing to do?" He's trying to think it through beyond the hug itself.
But the answer is the most simple one, don't think about it, don't 'pretend', just do what comes naturally IN THE MOMENT, just do what YOU want to do, what the real Cloud wants to do, which is "just freaking hug her".
I don't agree that his arms are doing nothing, they are slightly bent, they look like they're already stuck in between two states "should I, or shouldn't I". And the answer is "don't follow your brain, don't follow your fake persona, follow your heart". And then the conflict ends and his arms take a side, if you will.
Me: "Dude, If you think that's obvious now, you don't even know the half of it, I have no idea why people are still debating this."
@Graymouse I won't lie, it pained me when she went "I know it's useless to cry", girl tries too hard and is way too harsh on herself
@Stiggie lol the whole "Let's take a break" "NO!" part was hilarious Let us know his thoughts after he finishes the whole game o/
I was initially quite resistant towards the idea of Tifa showing jealousy in the sewer because of all of my memories from previous iterations of the LTD, but stepping away from it, Tifa being jealous should actually be seen as a positive, especially at this stage of the relationship. It's a pretty commonly used trope to establish one character's romantic interest in the other. Like for the all the players who are looking somewhere else while they're touching or staring at each other, these are the moments, where even they would go 'Oh, wait --- that's what's going on here.'