So when *THAT* moment arrives for Aerith... are you going to be able to keep your eyes dry?

[Jairus]

Having seen how amazingly beautiful and well-voiced they've made Aerith for the remake, it makes me wonder what *THAT* moment for her will be like - you vets all know what I mean. It's going to be even more emotional with it in full modern HD than it was in the original, and that moment in the original had such a profound effect on people and gaming, I imagine the remake's rendition will be even more powerful. We all know that moment's coming, but I'm sure there isn't really much that can prepare us for actually seeing it in HD like that. I'm guessing a new generation of gamers will come down with Aerith Syndrome - that is, the inability to keep from bawling one's eyes out whenever Aerith's Theme is heard.

So I'm wondering how many of you all will be a teary mess when that moment comes? How did you react when it happened in the original? Do any of you suffer from Aerith Syndrome? I knew she left, having stumbled across that bit of info in a walkthrough at the time (might have been K. Megura's original FAQ, I don't remember exactly), but I didn't know why because I hadn't read that far ahead, so it was still something of a surprise to me, which I'm grateful for. Still gave me the feels when it happened, and I imagine it'll do so again in the remake.

 

[Tetsujin]

Not gonna lie, her death never affected me. It was just a plot point for me and nothing more.
I'm also not a fan of melodramatic deaths for the most part. Quiet, realistic and grim usually affects me more than overly sad music and slow motion stuff.

 

[Keveh Kins]

^This.

Spoiler

Zack's death in the original game springs to mind. No glamour, no melodrama, just shot while his back was turned and then riddled with bullets while he was helpless to defend himself.

That always stuck with me. How tragic and sudden and sickening it was, just when they were about to make it home.

I've never liked his Crisis Core demise as it was as dramatic as dramatic can be, and dampened that sensation of real loss that his original death captured perfectly.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I'm the same as Tets.
Dynes' death, on the other hand, turned on the waterworks.
Mind you, I knew exactly when and how she snuffed it before I ever played the game, so probably I didn't get invested in her character the way I might otherwise have done.

 

[Castiel Strife]

I don’t think it will be that emotional for me, to be honest. Final Fantasy VII was one of the first games I ever played, and before that I was playing games like Super Mario World. I was only 6 when Final Fantasy VII released. When I first played it, I had no idea what the hell I was doing and so I hated it.

That was just the kid in me. Once I grew up just a little more I was able to grasp the concept and it became my favorite game, which it has remained to this day. But being a kid and not really playing too many mature games prior, someone dying in a game was a shock to me. Especially a main character dying. So the shock is what really brought out those emotions. Plus I loved Aerith, and I still do.

I’m sure it will be somewhat emotional, but having played the game so many times and already knowing what’s happening - I think that will make it tough to bring out too many emotions. But it all depends. If they throw in a twist or really anything like that, it could make it new enough to bring out my emotions.

One thing I’ve always found is I get extremely emotional when things end. Usually being games and TV series. So I do think there might be some stranger cutting onions in my apartment when I beat the Remake. ? Some of that emotion will be just because it finally happened, and some of that will be that it will feel like the game ended all over again just like when I finally beat it so many years ago.

 

[Roger]

Think I won't keep it dry tbh.

 

[ChipNoir]

20+ years after the fact, the emotional impact is kinda nul. I'd have to relearn to love Aerith all over again in new ways through the remake if this'll have any impact. Otherwise I may or may not get the minor chills I usually get now when revisiting that scene.

 

[fancy]

That's the whole thing, I reckon. The idea of Aerith dying alone doesn't shake me up cuz I'm so used to the it? I didn't cry the first time I played either cuz it's the world's worst kept spoiler. So the challenge in the Remake, I reckon, is to make it feel really fresh and surprise newcomers as well as old. I hope they totally subvert our expectations, have us following cues that leave us confident that we're about to witness her inevitable death only to pull the rug from under us. Then they snatch her away.

It's gonna be really interesting, I wonder how that's gonna play out. I hope their solution isn't to amp up the melodrama cuz, similar to others, I don't care for it.

I hope I cry.

 

[Misterbadguy]

Didn't cry at the time (I do get a tiny bit emotional at the ending nowadays though), remains to be seen this time around. My only hope is that the line of thinking for writing the scene isn't "this is very important so make it as melodramatic as possible", because we could end up with something really cringeworthy in that case.

 

[ChipNoir]

Who are we kidding? It'll be 100% melodrama, complete with Aerith's corpse dissolving into lifestream tendrils as she floats to the bottom of the lake.

 

[Lestat]

Gonna sob like a fucking child!

 

[Keveh Kins]

Who are we kidding? It'll be 100% melodrama, complete with Aerith's corpse dissolving into lifestream tendrils as she floats to the bottom of the lake.

Like a human shaped aspirin, off to alleviate the aches and pains of a creaky aul geriatric dying planet

 

[Jairus]

I figure they're counting on veterans' knowledge of what happens and will play off of it to make it different than we're expecting but still overall faithful and impactful. They know how well-known the moment is and so they know that to make it fresh they have to do more than simply HD-ize it. With that in mind, I'm sure they'll develop it in such a way as to be relevant and impactful for vets as well as newcomers.

And having emotion doesn't necessarily mean melodrama. One can have the former without the latter, and the mere presence of the former does not force it to be the latter, either. Just my thoughts about that.

 

[Ite]

I certainly hope I get swept up in it.... I certainly hope I don't experience it solely through an analytical "oh they went in that direction" lens. But that's my hope for the remake in general........

 

[Castiel Strife]

That's the whole thing, I reckon. The idea of Aerith dying alone doesn't shake me up cuz I'm so used to the it? I didn't cry the first time I played either cuz it's the world's worst kept spoiler. So the challenge in the Remake, I reckon, is to make it feel really fresh and surprise newcomers as well as old. I hope they totally subvert our expectations, have us following cues that leave us confident that we're about to witness her inevitable death only to pull the rug from under us. Then they snatch her away.



I hope I cry.

Oooooh that would be intense. I’m not sure how they could pull it off, but if they somehow made it seem like they weren’t killing Aerith in the remake and like Sephiroth drops down and misses or something lmao. Then you all leave the area and BAM! Sephiroth just stabs her in the back or clean OFF with her head!!!

Okay I am exaggerating a bit, but if they did find a way to like convince us that they decided not to kill her (which would be a horrible decision) and then did it anyway - that would be interesting. But really I want the story to be as close to the original as possible so it’s probably better if they just do that but find a way to make it stand out in some way.

 

[ChipNoir]

I figure they're counting on veterans' knowledge of what happens and will play off of it to make it different than we're expecting but still overall faithful and impactful. They know how well-known the moment is and so they know that to make it fresh they have to do more than simply HD-ize it. With that in mind, I'm sure they'll develop it in such a way as to be relevant and impactful for vets as well as newcomers.

And having emotion doesn't necessarily mean melodrama. One can have the former without the latter, and the mere presence of the former does not force it to be the latter, either. Just my thoughts about that.

The only way I can imagine they'd pull that off is by changing Sephiroth's obvious descent. Have Aerith look like she's about to say something with the frame centered on her face, and then her face freezes as (if they were to be so bold) a thin splatter of blood spurts up from bellow frame, and the camera pulls back to show Sephiroth standing behind her.

Otherwise I feel like Nomura will instead just focus on recreating it perfectly.

 

[Vyzzuvazzadth]

When talking about surprising veterans, the first thing that came to mind was Cloud actually going through with his attack while being manipulated and killing Aerith himself... only to snap out of yet another illusion caused by Jenova.

Pair that with the idea of ChipNoir and we'll have a double subversion of expectations.

Topic: A strategy guide unfortunately spoiled her fate for me (in the Limit Break section of all places!) so I wasn't really surprised. In general, I don't really get emotional when playing a game myself. It's only when watching someone else play and witnessing their emotions and investment. That gets me every time (not just the Aerith scene).

Although, the only scene that gets the water flowing all by itself is the reunion of Garnet and Zidane in the ending of FFIX. That's a really powerful scene.

 

[SeaDragon]

Never touched me as much as he recognized the importance and the general commotion caused at the time. In fact, in the remake, I hope they manage to redo this moment with the due foresight in order to relive it in the "right" way. The scene is perfect as it would be enough to rearrange it without add any more useless melodrama.

I wonder if they will remember someone's gloves

 

[Castiel Strife]

The only way I can imagine they'd pull that off is by changing Sephiroth's obvious descent. Have Aerith look like she's about to say something with the frame centered on her face, and then her face freezes as (if they were to be so bold) a thin splatter of blood spurts up from bellow frame, and the camera pulls back to show Sephiroth standing behind her.

Otherwise I feel like Nomura will instead just focus on recreating it perfectly.

Holy cow!


That is a perfect way to really do the scene justice while also making it fresh and tricking the fans just a tad bit. I love it.

 

[FFShinra]

I KNOW WHY THEY CHANGED HER DRESS! They will psych us out by panning the camera up only for Sephy boy to chop from the side, anime style, where it takes a sec for the body to follow the slice. With her dress tied at her waist, it allows both halves of the body to fall while covering her modesty!!!

I am a P R O P H E T!!!!!

 

[Jairus]

I KNOW WHY THEY CHANGED HER DRESS! They will psych us out by panning the camera up only for Sephy boy to chop from the side, anime style, where it takes a sec for the body to follow the slice. With her dress tied at her waist, it allows both halves of the body to fall while covering her modesty!!!

I am a P R O P H E T!!!!!

Lol, or have him slice downward as before, but this time she falls apart vertically, one half to the left and one to the right, much like Kung Lao with his razor hat fatalities.

Seriously, though, a scene that does give me feels every time is when Red sees what really happened to Seto at the back of the Gi cave. That's going to really be something to see in the remake.

 

[jazzflower92]

Then again modern Square has a problem with trying to hold back on the subtly.

 

[Jairus]

Then again modern Square has a problem with trying to hold back on the subtly.

I suppose that's true, but even they know this isn't just any game, and that because of that I'm sure they're aware that they have to be extremely careful with how they do it. So the usual expectations may not apply, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[a_apple]

Then again modern Square has a problem with trying to hold back on the subtly.

That's my biggest problem with them (at least in regards of how the compilation was handled). The reason why ffVII is my hands down favorite final fantasy, is because it had so many moments that were really impactful due to the restrained and sober manner they were delivered :/

Edit:
uhhh I think I misunderstood your post :0

 

[donkeyjack]

Won't cry this time as I'm not 11 yrs old anymore.