Something else I thought I should bring up in regards to "player choice".
Cloud and Tifa almost kiss in Gongaga "non-optionally", and no amount of gaslighting will ever convince me otherwise, here's why:
First off, we have to take into consideration the situation. Cloud and Tifa are more vulnerable and open to each other here than has ever been shown before this in re;trilogy. These are two people who have been confirmed to have mutual, deep romantic feelings for each other, and are finally beginning to really open up and trust each other.
Second, let's take a version of this scene where Tifa wasn't going to kiss him, what was she going to do? Walk up to him, close her hands around his and then just stand there looking at him? To claim she wasn't going to kiss him you would have to ignore the fact that they both inch closer to each other, that Tifa and Cloud both slightly open their mouths, and that Tifa's eyes start to flutter as she closes in.
and again, if Tifa wasn't going to do anything to him there, you must also ask yourself why the devs purposefully had Yuffie and Cait Sith posted up against the door, begging for them to kiss: "Kiss. Kiss!" (I'll tell you why, it's a trope that a romantic pairing has their moment interrupted by a third party, it might just be the most prominent, easily noticeable trope in japanese media, from what I've seen, anyway. You'll also notice that Cloud looks down towards her lips here)
Furthermore, if Tifa really wasn't going to do anything, then why did she look back at Cloud, smile, and nod at him? And then why have the camera cut to an up-close shot of him completely blown away?
So far, this is all excluding the fact that Tifa's Gold Saucer date is a direct continuation of this scene.
On the gondola, she brings up how close they are at the minute, and how she can't remember a time when they were this close, obviously talking about how open and trusting they are with each other, a development that mostly takes place throughout the game, but really blossoms in Gongaga. A few moments later she says "Or am I getting ahead of myself
again"
what is really important to note here is that she says "again", what other moment in the story so far could she be referring to here other than the time she clasped Cloud's hand and inched towards his face? And judging by the fact that Cloud immediately picks up on what she means, reassures her by saying "not one bit" (I know it's slightly different in japanese, but the message is still roughly the same), and then kisses her, it's clear that Cloud and Tifa both knew the intention behind Tifa's actions in Gongaga.
In conclusion, the only reasonable interpretation of this scene is a version where they were about to kiss but were interrupted, and any other "interpretation" is being purposefully obtuse.
Just to clarify, I know that most people on this thread are already aware of everything I've said here, I wrote this as sort of a reference for myself in the future, and for any lurkers that might doubt the plausibility of Gongaga's "almost kiss".
