Hmmm, ending Rebirth at the Temple of the Ancients... Personally, I think saving Aerith's death/survival for the first 10-20% of Part 3 would be real awkward. It's such a massive event to open a game with when the buildup isn't in place. Yes, you could say that the entirety of Rebirth builds it up, but I don't think that would be effective storytelling. Dividing the buildup and payoff of that plot point between two games would ultimately hurt both. Rebirth would feel unsatisfying and Part 3 would feel oddly paced. Considering the devs want each part of this project to be approachable for new players, most recently making the bold statement that Rebirth is a great starting point, I don't think they're keen to split it up either.
I also read in the other topic how the Temple of the Ancients could be expanded to be a satisfying ending. Hey, it's possible, look at how they expanded the events after Motorball in Remake. However, we in the gaming landscape know what's to come. To fall just short of "FFVII's big spoiler" would be... unfortunate.
For me it's between the Forgotten City and the Northern Crater. I want to start my analysis by looking at the original game's three different "pacings":
- Linear with minor sidequests (Midgar)
- Wide exploration. Introduction of the world map, vehicles, and expansive sidequests, but mandatory towns are still done in order (Kalm to the Norther Crater)
- Open exploration. The Highwind allows players to zip around the planet in seconds. Players are immediately asked to locate Mideel on their own. Later, players are given the option of what mandatory event to do first, Fort Condor or North Corel (Weapon attack on Junon to Meteorfall)
The advantage of splitting the Remake Project across these three different pacings is that it gives the development team a clear "game type" to build. They don't have to mix linear and wide exploration game designs, they can focus all of the game's systems on one area. I suspect this was a huge factor in selecting Midgar as the endpoint for Part 1.
Additionally, relegating the original's open exploration to its own game allows them to start Part 3 with a banger of an event before players receive the Highwind: the Weapon attack on Junon. This would play almost identically to Final Fantasy X-2 where players were given access to the airship Celsius after its bombastic opening.
It may seem like there won't be enough events between the Weapon attack on Junon and Meteorfall to make Part 3 a long enough game. However, I imagine Wutai will be moved there, plus they'll need room for all the new developments involving Zack.
At this point you're probably thinking "gee cold_spirit is really gunning for Rebirth to end at the Northern Crater". Not gonna lie, I think that would be ideal. But do I believe they can actually go that far???
I will continue to use Remake as a reference point and say that we should expect Rebirth to be ~20 chapters. Additionally, I predict that Rebirth will continue centering chapters around locations. With that in mind, here's how I'd structure the game:
Chapter 1 - Nibelheim Incident part 1
Chapter 2 - Nibelheim Incident part 2
Chapter 3 - Kalm / Badland
Chapter 4 - Chocobo Farm / Wetland
Chapter 5 - Mythril Mine
Chapter 6 - Fort Condor
Chapter 7 - Under Junon / Polluted Coast
Chapter 8 - Junon
Chapter 9 - Cruise Liner
Chapter 10 - Costa del Sol / Vacation Coast
Chapter 11 - Mt Corel / North Corel
Chapter 12 - Gold Saucer
Chapter 13 - Desert Prison
Chapter 14 - Gongaga / Jungle
Chapter 15 - Cosmo Canyon / Cave of the Gi
Chapter 16 - Nibelheim / Shinra Manor
Chapter 17 - Mt Nibel
Chapter 18 - Rocket Town / Grassland
Chapter 19 - Gold Saucer revisited
Chapter 20 - Temple of the Ancients
Chapter 21 - Bone Village / Sleeping Forest
Chapter 22 - Forgotten City
I feel like going any further is pushing it. That's why I've chosen "the Forgotten City".
I've read people's reasoning that ending on the Forgotten City is problematic because it won't allow the devs to reproduce the emotions around Aerith's death as it was in the original game. I think that's wild. There is no way to make Aerith's death at the Forgotten City shocking anymore. It's gaming's equivalent of "Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father" (heeey, another reference to The Empire Strikes Back in this thread, what a movie).
The devs have already shown that they aren't afraid to change the emotions around aspects of the original game. They don't follow any strict rules. Case and point is Sephiroth's presence in Remake.
Kitase himself openly shared that he felt the "Jaws" approach for Sephiroth wouldn't work for Remake. Instead, they leaned hard the opposite way and introduced Sephiroth almost as soon as possible.
To recap, I don't think delaying the payoff of Aerith's death/survival to Part 3 is satisfying, but I also don't think the development team can push it all the way to the Northern Crater. To me, the Forgotten City sits in the perfect "goldilocks zone". All the buildup will actually go somewhere and it keeps the scope of Rebirth around the same as Remake's.
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