If I were to be honest in regards to my preference, I would say that I would want Aerith to be aware of her death being something fated to occur.
I would want that emotional juxtaposition of Aerith knowing her demise was looming over her future, and her attempts at living a positive life all while trying to change the future for herself and the planet.
One thing FFVII Remake emphasized is was that regardless of what fate or the future may hold, it is the individual that defines themselves based on the choices they make. The future may be doomed or it may simply be a blank slate, yet it ultimately isn't about where the destination may lead. It's about the choices one makes that define who they are. Aerith being confronted with that struggle while also trying to avert disaster would be an interesting direction to take this modern adaption given the nuance that would be used to have Aerith conceal this information from everyone else, until it becomes something that's undeniable. Either Cloud reveals he saw it too, or Aerith breaks down and reveals she knows that the Forgotten Capital is where her journey ends.
Upon that revelation, I would want Cloud and the others to work their damndest to avoid her predetermined fate, with them seemingly succeeding when they actually interrupt Sephiroth from executing Aerith, and proceed to defeat Jenova LIFE . Aerith and Cloud releasing a sigh of relief and proceed to leave.
Only for Aerith to end up dead anyways. Because Sephiroth swooped down from elsewhere, and she simply died elsewhere but the alter.
The best thing the writer's could do is
not play to the expectation of Aerith's death 1:1 in terms of the OG. It wouldn't be the same nor would it carry the same impact as it did in 1997. It simply can't. Aerith's death inhabits it's own space within pop culture. The zeitgeist that allowed for her death to be memorable and significant does not exist anymore. Everyone knows she dies. Pretending that is not the case only feeds into the safety of nostalgia. It wouldn't offer anything new aside from the same script with an updated pallet. If the writer's want to evoke a similar experience and emotion that was captured back in 1997, they'll have to craft the experience for 2020, and the situational awareness that exists in the present.
They have to fool the audience. The writer's must challenge the player's perception and expectation of what will come from Aerith's experience and ultimate fate. Because if they don't, the emotional impact will either be blunted, or misdirected in simply focusing on adherence to what came before. That's not going to evoke a uniquely memorable experience. It'll simply be a copy.
That's why I'm certain the entire purpose of the "change our fate" plot, is to serve as a means of eradicating the audience's safety net of using the OG as a guide to expectations. They've torn up our map, so now the writers can lead us to the same locations of the OG, through different unmarked roads that create their own unique experiences. And despite leading to the same destination, we won't see it coming until it's too late.
I cannot for the life of me wrap my head around Kitase's logic here.
Is the shark in Jaws less effective as a villain just because "everybody knows" who the shark from Jaws is?
Is it still not a "big deal" to a new viewer when the shark finally appears on screen just because the shark has become a pop culture icon?
Does the way the shark is built up in Jaws somehow make it a worse movie the second time you watch it?
He's literally saying what I just said.
The Jaws of 1975 cannot be duplicated in 2020 because Jaws has entered the collective pop culture knowledge and experience through it's own fame and notoriety. A duplication of that same formula would only be treading the same well-worn path that everyone knows and expects. It'd be a novelty and purist favoring, yet it would not offer anything but the same regurgitated experience.
Kitase wants to portray Sephiroth in a way that's adapted to the era the Remake inhabits currently. It'd be a waste of the character since the first game is meant to be able to stand alone as a game. That means not wasting showcasing it's main villain; it needs to change it's pacing to fit the adaption model it is using. Pretending no one has awareness of Sephiroth and repeating the introduction of his character that already
put him at the heights of pop culture notoriety, does nothing new to advance the character or create a unique and creative experience for a new generation. However, tailoring the Remake experience in a manner that utilizes him in a creative way, does more than copy the same situation of the OG. It allows for Sephiroth to make a fresh, memorable impact which goes beyond what's expected. It allows for the experience to carve it's own unique space. This is why Nojima has rewritten the script entirely. This is why Kitase has changed the way things have been ordered in the story. This is why they are teasing the expectations of everyone.
They're not trying to make a perfect copy of FFVII 1997. They're trying to "remake" the experience of FFVII in a unique way that fits
this era, not the nineties.
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