The Ending Is A Storytelling Triumph

[Mista Moon Goon]

Spoilers ahead! If you haven't finished the game, you've been warned

When first completing the final chapter I was confused and angry that they took the iconic Aerith death scene and made it so confusing that it lost the weight and emotional significance that resonated with me from the first game.

But then I returned to the last couple chapters while chasing after the hard mode achievement...and I realized two things.

1. They captured Aerith's death scene in a new and equally impactful way...if not even MORE impactful. It was during Cloud and Aerith's date in the different universe Midgar. They go to the church and Aerith hands Cloud the white materia. Then Sephiroth shows up as Cloud returns to our world. I'm convinced that Aerith is different from ours, first of all, and second, I think that version of Aerith dies, as Sephiroth slowly enters the church and walks towards her.

And then I realized something else. Serphiroth is actually HUNTING DOWN all the Aerith's in all of these different timelines/multiverses/whatever and killing her because only Aerith can put a stop to him.

So they had AN Aerith death scene - just not the one we're used to - and did something different and even more dark and haunting, imho.

2. And then there's what Cloud sees after Sephiroth kills our Aerith when she's praying. I'm totally convinced that she's dead. What we see is Cloud's perspective - the unreliable narrator - that she's alive and well. He's so convinced that she's alive that his limit break is not even full at the start of the Jenova fight whereas EVERY OTHER PARTY MEMBER has full limit breaks.

They found a way to breathe fresh life into Aerith's death scene and Cloud as an unreliable narrator that I can't help but marvel at the story and call it triumphant.

I am so excited for part 3! I would say that I hope they don't drop the ball (let's hope it's not the season finale of Dexter, for example), but at this point, I completely trust the writers.

What do you all think?

[AlpacaLips]

Someone watched Maximillian Dood

[Scarlet Crusade]

I felt very disconnected from the whole thing and think they wasted Bizarro Sephiroth early for no reason. Sephiroth is still a pushover of a fight and I can’t take him seriously. It’s so weird that Rufus is technically a more challenging opponent. I’m also more interested in where Rufus’s storyline is going rather than anything to do with Aerith.

[Vapore]

Enjoy your free jester.

[alumlovescake]

Yeah that's cool and all but they completely pivoted from Remake's Jessie, Biggs and Wedge surviving

[Eastgrove]

The only thing they've done is make Cloud even more miserable and worthless than the OG. At least back then there was actually a point to it.

[LexAnimex]

I hate the ending.

[level3]

引用自 Mista Moon Goon：

He's so convinced that she's alive that his limit break is not even full at the start of the Jenova fight whereas EVERY OTHER PARTY MEMBER has full limit breaks.

I think he doesn't have limitbreak since he ain't feeling ♥♥♥♥ about her death. Shown in between his "tearful" moments, where he just talks to her like a robot.

引用自 Eastgrove：

The only thing they've done is make Cloud even more miserable and worthless than the OG. At least back then there was actually a point to it.

He's a lot less likeable in rebirth. That probably was the point. I kinda hate him now tbh.

[RDG]

I think the whole "paralell" universe due to different choices/happenings/chances/etc is interesting (chrono cross was similar in that regard). I hope if they are going that route they actually double down on it and let us explore those different "universes" or "possibilities" instead of trying to make an absolute convoluted mess just to try and reconnect the plot with the OG.

[Eastgrove]

引用自 RDG：

I think the whole "paralell" universe due to different choices/happenings/chances/etc is interesting (chrono cross was similar in that regard). I hope if they are going that route they actually double down on it and let us explore those different "universes" or "possibilities" instead of trying to make an absolute convoluted mess just to try and reconnect the plot with the OG.

The only reason I didn't like Chrono Cross was because it was a sequel to Chrono Trigger. It was one of the best JRPGs on the PS1, bar none, but it failed as a sequel to me.

Actually exploring a parallel world and seeing the rather significant differences first hand by virtue of butterfly effects was utterly fascinating. What kind of a difference can one life make?

[Scarlet Crusade]

引用自 RDG：

I think the whole "paralell" universe due to different choices/happenings/chances/etc is interesting (chrono cross was similar in that regard). I hope if they are going that route they actually double down on it and let us explore those different "universes" or "possibilities" instead of trying to make an absolute convoluted mess just to try and reconnect the plot with the OG.

Trouble is, it’s already been stated that the endgame for part 3 is to connect better with Advent Children, so it’s a foregone conclusion.

[RDG]

引用自 Eastgrove：

引用自 RDG：

I think the whole "paralell" universe due to different choices/happenings/chances/etc is interesting (chrono cross was similar in that regard). I hope if they are going that route they actually double down on it and let us explore those different "universes" or "possibilities" instead of trying to make an absolute convoluted mess just to try and reconnect the plot with the OG.

The only reason I didn't like Chrono Cross was because it was a sequel to Chrono Trigger. It was one of the best JRPGs on the PS1, bar none, but it failed as a sequel to me.

Actually exploring a parallel world and seeing the rather significant differences first hand by virtue of butterfly effects was utterly fascinating. What kind of a difference can one life make?

Agreed, I pretty much just consider it it's own thing, and I think it is the best way to enjoy it.

[Taika]

I don't think the writing is bad per se, and get a sense of where they're going with it, and will give them the benefit of the doubt to see if they can tie it up in a satisfying way.

But it doesn't have more impact than the original to me in any way whatsoever. This whole being both alive and dead, or maybe dead in one dimension but not another, hopelessly dilute the stakes and gravity of any decision or event. Knowing your reality is the only one, and when you're dead, you're dead... THAT is what is really heavy. They're probably portraying Cloud's fragmentation better in this, but it wasn't worth sacrificing the most iconic scene in gaming.

So as it stands... story is my biggest disappointment and step back for me. I loved just about everything else though... so still a great experience overall and I'm glad to be alive to see it. Just feels like they missed being the greatest of all time.

[ni.nishishi]

引用自 RDG：

I think the whole "paralell" universe due to different choices/happenings/chances/etc is interesting (chrono cross was similar in that regard). I hope if they are going that route they actually double down on it and let us explore those different "universes" or "possibilities" instead of trying to make an absolute convoluted mess just to try and reconnect the plot with the OG.

I don't believe we'll explore parallel worlds since we're dealing with the lifestream. These "timelines" seem to be worlds crafted within the lifestream from the memories and experiences of lives that have lived.
I'm thinking almost Final Fantasy 10's pyreflies and how they are made of the memories of individuals and can form themselves and environments into existence by sheer will.

It would make sense why Aerith called the world she and Cloud were in a dream.

[Eastgrove]

引用自 Taika：

They're probably portraying Cloud's fragmentation better in this

Or worse. Cloud having a false persona doesn't mean he has to be unstable. What's more, the twist isn't that Cloud has a false identity. The twist is that he's a puppet of the story's villain. Based on what I've read, Aeris's death scene is an utter failure as far as revealing Cloud as the villain's puppet. That was the point of it. Whatever Cloud felt, whatever he said, whatever he believed, it was fake. He existed for the sake of the villain's goals.

It's not made explicit by the Temple of the Ancients. One might think it's just a power of Sephiroth's, that he can mind control people at will. Kind of like with Terra in FF6 when she's made to wear the slave crown. But it's more like with Kain in FFIV, where the evil feelings in his heart made him vulnerable to the villain's control. Cloud is compromised in an unknown way and it comes as a shock to everyone.

And Rebirth seems to make it very clear early on that Cloud's actions are not his own. He clearly can't be trusted or relied on, but everyone does it anyway.

[Mista Moon Goon]

引用自 alumlovescake：

Yeah that's cool and all but they completely pivoted from Remake's Jessie, Biggs and Wedge surviving

I can see how that can be disappointing to some. But I also see it as one of the themes of the game, that despite wanting to change your fate, it doesn't matter in the end. Maybe it's a foreshadow of things to come because Aerith does say that the way that Seph is trying to do things isn't the way things are supposed to be

Or it's just bad writing lol