FF7R: Aerith Revival (Discussion)

[The Witch]

Should there be an Aerith Revival Route (known as エアリス生存ルート in the Japanese fandom)?

According to My Navi, 444 of its readers were asked if they had played Final Fantasy VII. Out of that, 89 said, “yes.” That’s not a huge sample by any stretch, but the site then asked them what they wanted in the game. Here are the top five answers, with the percentage of those that answered:

5. Enhancing or improving Yuffie Kisaragi’s scenes - 9 percent

4. Enhancing or improving the game’s ending - 11.2 percent

3. Full voice acting - 13.5 percent

2. Adding more mini-games in the Gold Saucer - 20.2 percent

1. Adding an Aeris lives “route” (or storyline) - 32.6 percent

As reported by kotaku.com

This is a very big deal to a lot of Japanese fans, more so than most Western fans are aware of. Of course there are the fans that don't want this, too, but it seems like tug-o-war right now. I'm not sure where I stand on the issue just yet. I'd like to read everyone's thoughts and use your opinions to help bring me to my conclusion.

So to start,

* Do you think Nojima, Kitase, and Nomura will bring Aerith back or provide an alternate route where she can live?

* Would you like for Aerith to be brought back to life or allowed to live?

* Would Aerith still have a purpose in the story if she lived?



I know this is bound to get heated but try not to let the discussion get personal. Please no insults or snide remarks. This is just a game we're talking about so don't take things people say either against or for the idea as a personal attack. Have fun.

 

[ZaXo Ken'Ichi]

No. I don't want her to live, nor be revive-able. The only way I would be even remotely okay with it, would be if it was some super secret, tongue-in-cheek thing, and it was absolutely impossible for it to have any effect on the story. Like, maybe it's only possible after you beat Shirtless Sephiroth at least once, or in a New Game+ mode or something.

Aeris' death is by far the most important thing in that game in terms of impact on players and gaming. It changed the entire landscape of games in a lot of ways (doesn't matter if games did it before, her death made the impact), and is a well known thing far reaching outside of people who've played the game themselves. Taking that out, or allowing people to go back on it would utterly destroy what the story of VII is known for. Yes, the story could obviously work with her still alive (though reviving her with any 'logical' means would be beyond stupid). But it just wouldn't be the same. That would destroy one of the core themes, and remove a lot of the weight of the narrative. Super bad idea.

I wouldn't mind having her accessible as a party member to play with, post-death. But again, if they did that, it'd have to be a 4th wall breaking nod to the rumors that has zero impact on the story.

 

[iSmiff]

Yeah I don't think it should be an option either. It's a huge part of the story whether you realise it or not. It's basically what makes up Clouds minds that he's going to see things through to the end. For the planet, for the rest of the team, for tifa sure; but also for revenge and for Aeris.

It would be difficult to imagine the team following the same path without her being dead. The whole game route would have to be changed to accommodate this. It just doesn't make sense story wise or design wise really.

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

I don't think that Nojima, Kitase and Nomura would want to revive Aerith in the upcoming remake. The reason I said this is because it will ruin the games plot and the purpose of her death by simply reviving her in the remake, bringing a lot of mysterious questions to the players and confusing them story wise. I just don't seem to find a way that she can be revived in a sense way. I personally think that they should leave the plot as the original to prevent from adding any complications to the game's story line.

 

[Harlequin]

I wouldn't like to see her revived in the remake, although I wouldn't mind a few more references and appearances similar to her in the church after Cloud's return to the slums. I can't see how the events of the game would make sense were she to live.

 

[greenyxi]

I'd like to see a bonus mode where she lived. It wouldn't remove the impact of her death, since it's not the true game, but it would give you an extra party member to choose between for the rest of the game.

By bonus mode, I'm thinking like Wesker Mode in Resi Zero. A reskin of a character that gets ignored during cutscenes etc.

In terms of the real story, no she shouldn't be revived. And probably won't be.

 

[iSmiff]

...although I wouldn't mind a few more references and appearances similar to her in the church after Cloud's return to the slums.

Definitely. I feel like the remake is going to not only expand on core gameplay and story element and other stuff like this but Im guessing it'll also have lots of nods to the original game too. Easter Eggs are awesome fan service and I feel like Devs like hiding them too.

 

[Dionysos]

I can see that they might bring her back but the whole point of her sacrifice was to have her remain dead but have her spiritual essence remain to aid the planet in the Lifestream.

Narratively speaking the ending will not make sense if she’s brought back to life. They might have to change the way Meteor is stopped.

That’s to say nothing of the player’s own emotional journey. Aerith’s death brought about a sense of loss. In sharing the experience with the characters in the game I think it also brought many players closer to those characters. Bringing Aerith back to life would cheapen the impact of her death.

A non-canonical alternate universe FFVII+ (as Greeny suggests) might be the only way. If they do that then please let us control Sephiroth too!

I wouldn’t mind it though if they do make the ‘Aerith’s Ghost’ event more prominent and have a spectral image of Aerith visible in the church. I guess they’ve already paid homage to that in Advent Children by having Cloud have visions of Aerith and Zack in the church. It would be easy enough to do something similar in the FFVII Remake as a nod to fans.

 

[Six]

I cannot see why they would bring her back at all, nor would I want to see it. I don't want them to change any of the story personally, and that is a huge change. Aeris was more important after her death than when she was alive. I don't mean that in a bad way at all, but I think her death was a key point in the team surviving, with her help in a "different universe" if you will.

I think reviving her would break the "realistic" (lol realistic let me help you with this green goo-y stuff) feel that the original has. It was meant to be this way and I cannot picture it any other way.

 

[Shaissa]

I think with this remake they will want to get all the sequels and prequels in order. With that in mind Aerith is dead in DoC and AC and at least her death was a nig part in AC so they wouldn't bring her back.

Like others said I wouldn't mind things like her ghost in the church having more of an event... Maybe even getting past the stupid fish in ancient city after she dies. Maybe even pick a little fun of the famous rumors of Aeriths death.

 

[rowe]

Keep her dead.

Unless a "new game +" is done, where there are actions that can be taken to save her, but only then. Other than that, it'll ruin the story. Her death is pivotal.

 

[Draconic]

Bringing her back would be the kind thing to do, but it would also suggest a lack of appreciation for her sacrifice. In a way though, even after she dies, she never really leaves you. That being said, I wouldn't be averse to having Great Gospel activating randomly in desperate moments at a later stage in the game. It happens with Kadaj, doesn't it?

 

[Thule Esperada]

Aerith's death is widely considered a genre defining moment in rpg history. It taught gamers how to cry and all those phrasings you know? To undo Aerith's tragic fate would not only completely ruin the emotional impact forever, but it would be disrespectfull to the scene's legacy. So absolutely NO, I don't want a revival option under any cicumstance.

 

[Cardinal Copia]

As has already be pointed out by others in this thread, she needs to stay dead. It would literally change the entire story if she were somehow revived.
Wasn't there talks that originally in the game they had plans for players to be able to take steps to revive her? However, they never added those options because they were close on the deadline? I could have sworn I read that somewhere.

 

[Puteng]

If there have good good script story in FF7 remark, rebirth...I truely hope Aerith would keep alive.

If there don't have good story next, the original one is just the best.