I’ve had greater than a month to think about Remaining Fantasy VII Rebirth’s ending, and it’s not typically that my emotions about one thing worsen with every passing day. But, right here I’m, fascinated with how Sq. Enix has chosen to cap off the center part of its deliberate Remake trilogy, and I’m much more puzzled by how onerous Rebirth commits to being non-commital in its eleventh hour. I’m sympathetic to the concept that this isn’t the ending to the story, however Rebirth feels much less like a correct springboard for a brand new conclusion and extra like purchaser’s regret on what may have been a bolder cliffhanger.
We’ve already mentioned Rebirth’s ending right here at Kotaku, and in order for you a extra charitable learn on its last hours, you possibly can take a look at Claire Jackson’s explainer. It’s also possible to learn Digital Tendencies’ piece in protection of the ending, through which Giovanni Colantonio additionally has a fairly optimistic studying on it whereas acknowledging that it’s polarizing. However for me, Rebirth’s failings come much less from its lack of ability to weave that exposition naturally into its personal narrative however from what seems like a intentionally obscure, thematically derailed conclusion. It feels as Jesse Vitelli put in his evaluation on Shacknews, written in pencil so it doesn’t should decide to something it may possibly’t erase.
Remaining Fantasy 7 Rebirth spoilers observe.
What occurs in Remaining Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s ending? It’s sophisticated
To make sure everybody’s on the identical web page, let’s break down what really occurs on the finish of Rebirth. Nicely, as greatest we are able to, contemplating its deliberately obscure presentation. Massive baddy Sephiroth explains to our brooding, hallucinating protagonist, Cloud Strife, that the multiverse exists and that he’s making an attempt to make these completely different worlds converge. Particular person continuities are held collectively by the ghost-like entities referred to as Whispers, which try to preserve everybody from going off-script. Remake’s ending entails the defeat of the Whisper Harbinger, which suggests that the group ought to now be capable to defy destiny. However in Rebirth, it’s steered that the Whispers aren’t simply the protectors of destiny, however beings which might be inclined to outdoors affect from individuals like Sephiroth. That is the start of elementary shifts within the Remake trilogy’s themes—the query then turns into, is Rebirth actually reckoning with new reveals and increasing upon its personal concepts, or is it merely doing a whole thematic pivot, selecting the spectacle of the multiverse over an introspective examination of predeterminism?
That’s what I’m wrestling with. Rebirth’s ending doesn’t encourage confidence that the tracks aren’t being constructed whereas the practice is barreling towards its vacation spot. And that inconsistency in theme is what makes Rebirth’s ending suspect and finally an enormous letdown to me.
Remake steered that Cloud and all his buddies could not attain the identical bittersweet conclusion they did within the unique Remaining Fantasy 7—they could take a unique path. But Rebirth brings them proper again to the place they might have been had the Whispers by no means been launched. After Sephiroth tries to pitch Cloud on being his multiversal accomplice in crime, issues begin to play out like they did in 1997. Within the Forgotten Capital, Aerith, the occasion’s mage, flower lady, and the only real survivor of the Cetra race, prays to make use of the Holy spell and cease Sephiroth’s Meteor spell from destroying the world and permitting him to ascend to godhood.
Cloud, managed by Sephiroth, raises his sword to strike Aerith down, whereas being held again by the Whispers as he resists his foe’s affect. Although he practically brings down his blade, he is ready to maintain himself again lengthy sufficient for Sephiroth to (as he did practically 30 years in the past) descend from above together with his personal sword in hand. Within the unique Remaining Fantasy 7, his blade pierces by way of Aerith’s stomach, killing her in one of the vital devastating deaths in video video games. In Rebirth, Cloud manages to regain management of his physique and block the assault together with his personal sword.
At first, this looks like the second Remake was main us to towards. Destiny has been defied and Rebirth has adopted by way of on Sq. Enix’s daring promise of recent potentialities for Cloud and firm, rewriting a historic second in Remaining Fantasy historical past. Once I heard that Remaining Fantasy 7’s story is perhaps completely different, I instantly considered Aerith’s destiny, recalling what number of hoaxes and schoolyard rumors there have been about probably saving her when you did X, Y, or Z in your playthrough. None of these ever got here to fruition, however Rebirth gave us an opportunity to look at the hypothetical. And for a second, while you see Sephiroth’s sword hit the bottom and never Aerith, you suppose a model new world of potentialities has opened…till blood begins spilling from a wound we by no means see.
Rebirth’s first drawback is in its intentionally deceptive storyboarding. Sq. Enix is aware of that each participant who is aware of what’s coming within the Forgotten Capital is anticipating one thing divergent right here. The fake-out solely serves the aim of dangling hope in entrance of a participant to take it away. However what it exhibits subsequent is the place it unveils its precise intentions: as an instance that there’s a multiverse of potentialities through which Aerith may survive. Destiny could possibly be defied, however these potentialities are occurring some other place—not within the sport world through which we spent 30 to 100 hours touring in direction of this conclusion.
The complete emotional weight of Aerith’s dying is obscured and confused throughout Rebirth’s last hours as the sport quickly oscillates between visions of various continuities through which she survives. Cloud exists in the course of the multiverse, so he sees a number of outcomes unfold directly, signified by Aerith’s blood on her garments, arms, and Sephiroth’s sword which disappear and reappear because the multiverse collapses in on itself.
The vignette is simply sophisticated additional when Aerith exhibits up within the last boss combat between Cloud and Sephiroth. The backwards and forwards between whether or not or not Aerith survives within the last hours is an instance of Rebirth’s lack of ability to commit. However finally, after the combat is over, we see two variations of Aerith’s destiny play out. One, is the Remake continuity, the place Tifa, Barret, and the others stand over her physique. She has died on the planet we’ve inhabited for 2 video games now. Cloud, in the meantime, walks over to her in a unique continuity and is ready to wake her up earlier than returning residence.
Rebirth distorts Remake’s ending into one thing much less compelling
Rebirth’s large reveal is that Cloud exists in some form of multiverse state and is ready to talk with and see Aerith the place the remainder of her buddies can’t. He’s the one one who can see their good friend as she walks across the occasion who’re all grieving her dying. He is also the one one who can see the tear within the sky, which signifies that the multiverse is falling aside on the seams. However the sport’s final moments are all so deliberately disorienting that it’s robbed of any emotional weight. As I’ve peeled again the layers with different gamers previously few weeks, what I’ve discovered beneath is altogether cowardly in comparison with what Remake proclaimed was doable.
Jackson Tyler at Paste Journal completely summed up the emotions I had after I completed Rebirth. As they write, Rebirth is so misguided in its makes an attempt to each be trustworthy to the supply materials and be one thing totally new that it finally ends up a large number of contradictions. Not solely is the finale decided to by no means decide to an concept that may be concretely defined with proof, nevertheless it additionally raises new questions which might be far much less compelling than the succinct thematic thrust of Remake: Is our destiny written within the stars, or are there methods to beat the inevitable monitor of our lives? There aren’t many video video games higher geared up to discover that than a Remaining Fantasy 7 retelling. As an alternative, we get a cop-out the place Rebirth kills Aerith however finds methods to maintain her round anyway.
Thematic consistency is a naked minimal pillar of storytelling and Rebirth makes a Star Wars sequel-level name to forgo that in favor of trickery and confusion. This doesn’t really feel like a plot twist, it seems like retreating to an imagined security through which it doesn’t should envision a Remaining Fantasy 7 story the place extra radical adjustments occur. What if Cloud had died as an alternative of Aerith? Might Disaster Core protagonist Zack Honest bounce by way of the multiverse to tackle the mantle of the occasion’s chief? Aerith didn’t even must survive for me to be intrigued, however what if something was materially completely different from the way it was in 1997? Remaining Fantasy 7 Remake requested this query, and Rebirth appears so scared of the reply that it twists itself in knots, making an attempt to provide you with a solution to move the buck to a unique facet of the multiverse.
I say all of this, and there’s a wonderfully cheap likelihood {that a} third sport circles again to the concepts Remake proposed in 2020. However to that, I say, why would I ever give this trilogy that advantage of the doubt once more? Even after I wasn’t certain Sq. Enix may pull off a metatextual remake narrative much like the Evangelion Rebuilds or Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, I used to be nonetheless open to the thought. However now that it’s taken such an overt 180, why ought to I belief it to have any consistency transferring ahead?
That is probably the most maddening results of the intentionally ambiguous means Remaining Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s ending performs out. It invitations hypothesis, and that uncertainty is the right defend for criticisms of its shortcomings. It pivots away from defying destiny, nevertheless it may be main into another climax or character arc we don’t learn about but, so we should always wait and see earlier than casting judgment, proper? The third sport can and certain will broaden upon the numerous hypotheticals being tossed across the web. However that doesn’t make up for Rebirth’s disregard for what Remake boldly proclaimed was doable.
These are fascinating questions, and there’s pleasure in theory-crafting, however all of us, whether or not we just like the ending or not, are working on assumptions the sport refuses to make clear or have interaction with. By the point the third and last sport on this trilogy is out, a lot of our hypothesis about what Rebirth really meant ultimately shall be debunked or supported. Proper now, I’m not prepared to provide the ending flowers for what it would possibly result in when Remake’s thematic thrust has been tossed out into the void of the multiverse. Probably the most radical factor Rebirth may have accomplished was observe by way of, and searching for a disorienting cliffhanger, it couldn’t even handle that.