The Aerith effect

[Crop]

Ok, so I read that collection of articles. They seem to be written by a rather die-hard Cloud/Aeris fan, rather bluntly misinterpreting and misrepresenting things. My favorite being his comments on the Ultimania interviews, where the interview specifically discusses not only the risque nature of the scene, but also that they had to tone down the original version, which is something that he quotes, but completely forgets about when it comes to his analysis.

I also find it odd that despite the talk of the various requirements for the differing versions, there are no concrete requirements listed. No specific discussion points for the revealing of the information he says is needed, nor any required affection value to reach the "High Affection" ending.

Of course, there are screenshots that don't look altered, but even that doesn't tell if this is final game code or dummied out script. I'd prefer a source a little less biased and a little more scientific, thanks.

Also, this all belongs in the love triangle thread.

Whatever woman this fan wants Cloud to bed is irrelevant to the point I was making, if you want a different view all you have to do is type in the scene into google and a ton of information comes up. I chose this one because it had everything Wolf needed to know all in a handy location.

I don't understand why you think it's a fake scene? Unless you're a CloudxTifa guy and hate to think there's a possibility that they don't bump uglies.

[Skyblade]

Ok, so I read that collection of articles. They seem to be written by a rather die-hard Cloud/Aeris fan, rather bluntly misinterpreting and misrepresenting things. My favorite being his comments on the Ultimania interviews, where the interview specifically discusses not only the risque nature of the scene, but also that they had to tone down the original version, which is something that he quotes, but completely forgets about when it comes to his analysis.

I also find it odd that despite the talk of the various requirements for the differing versions, there are no concrete requirements listed. No specific discussion points for the revealing of the information he says is needed, nor any required affection value to reach the "High Affection" ending.

Of course, there are screenshots that don't look altered, but even that doesn't tell if this is final game code or dummied out script. I'd prefer a source a little less biased and a little more scientific, thanks.

Also, this all belongs in the love triangle thread.

Whatever woman this fan wants Cloud to bed is irrelevant to the point I was making, if you want a different view all you have to do is type in the scene into google and a ton of information comes up. I chose this one because it had everything Wolf needed to know all in a handy location.

I don't understand why you think it's a fake scene? Unless you're a CloudxTifa guy and hate to think there's a possibility that they don't bump uglies.

True, and I wasn't trying to denigrate your point. I just found it amusing how far the author was trying to go to split the two up even in the "high affection" version's analysis.

As to my skepticism, a scene which Wolf hasn't found in game scripts and which has no definitive "this is how you obtain it" requirements just tickles my cynical nature. Considering raising Aeris's affection higher than Tifa is neither difficult, nor uncommon, I would think that the "low affection" scene would, if anything, be more common than the "high affection" scene, which has specific conditions to fulfill if the article is to be believed. Thus, it should be more likely to be in the game scripts than the "high affection" version, making me curious as to how Wolf missed it.

As to why I don't check myself, well, I'm too lazy to do research into an issue I don't really care about. I don't disbelieve the screenshots, I'm merely skeptical of their source. And if the game gives you the choice, then good. My opinion is that pretty much any issue the game gives the player a choice in is always the player's choice. Even if, as I believe from the interview, a certain path was intended by the developers (at least, for the high affection route), when they gave you the choice, it became up to the players.

So whether Tifa and Cloud got together or not is up to the players. As such, whatever happens is canon for your story, and the argument doesn't really matter, in my mind.

[Mercen-X]

F'yal. AC is canon. Tifa and Cloud are a couple thus the canon pairing. Aerith be damned and so shall ye CxA shippers all be. Live wittit! Hachachacha!

[Jiro]

I'm not disputing that Cloud and Tifa might be a couple but they aren't the perfect couple. It's simply a matter of settling for second best because they're alive.

EDIT: I thought this was the other thread. Whoops.

[Skyblade]

Next you'll be arguing that Dirge of Cerberus is canonical.

And, yeah, this has shifted way off topic and should go in the love triangle thread.

As to the topic at hand, what else is there to talk about when discussing Aeris? She's a fairly standard character except for her death.

[Mercen-X]

Except that, as mentioned earlier, she's got some of the best white magic based limit breaks the series has ever seen. Take E. Skill, Ultima, KotR, QM, HP+, and Shield materia out of the game. Maxing out Aerith and being able to keep her would have broken the game. Thus everyone who started out on the Aerith hate train and refused to build her up before getting to know her would have been cursing themselves later on because the game would by this time be made ten times more difficult. Of course, that's a hypothetical.

[Aulayna]

Has anybody else noticed that Aerith is only famous for being killed ? Nobody really mentions how much of a impact she made on the gaming world and Final Fantasy while she was alive. She's basically famous for being stabbed in the back by Seph. And that's it. Could be worse. Tifa is only famous for having giant boobs. None of the girls are famous for the right reasons.

[Without even touching on the fact that FFVII was the first one to really go mainstream in Europe etc] I'm pretty sure the reason why people remember she was killed is because of the love triangle you witness and how during the majority of Sephiroth's monologues about the Cetra and then emphasis on how she is the last surviving one and so integral to the known plot at the time (it's easy to look back in hindsight when you know how everything played out but when looking at a scene like this you really need to look at it from that specific moment in time when the audience first experienced it). So she got built up as being integral to the story with a lot of emotional investment. Then BAM she dies. Oh and she doesn't just die, she gets murdered in cold blood. That was pretty uncommon for the time in videogaming.

[Mercen-X]

Yeah, I'm sure if it had been Yuffie who got ganked, no one would have blinked much less remembered.

[maybee]

Yeah, I'm sure if it had been Yuffie who got ganked, no one would have blinked much less remembered.

No they would of cheered because of how annoying she was.

@

Aulayna

Yeah but she's not the only character to be murdered in cold blood. Look at Leo from Final Fantasy VI or would of been Final Fantasy III back then. Yes FF VII was the first Final Fantasy go mainstream, but why don't we go back and realize that Aerith was not the only one to have a tragic death ?

It's not 1997 anymore.

[Aulayna]

Aulayna

Yeah but she's not the only character to be murdered in cold blood. Look at Leo from Final Fantasy VI or would of been Final Fantasy III back then. Yes FF VII was the first Final Fantasy go mainstream, but why don't we go back and realize that Aerith was not the only one to have a tragic death ?

It's not 1997 anymore.

Because the thread is about why is Aerith's death the only thing that's widely remembered about her character (not that she's the only character - ever - to have died a tragic death)? Ergo being the first FF that went broke out of a relatively niche market it was a pretty seminal moment for a lot of first timers who up until then probably weren't used to very indepth stories.

Leo wasn't exactly setup as a love interest for the protagonist either.

Plus in a lot of advertising for the game she was pretty much the "Poster Girl."

And well, she was female.

This bucked a lot of trends at the time considering this was on the tail end of gaming where it was all about saving the Princess etc.

Yes it's not 1997 anymore but to understand why one scene had such an impact you have to look at it as if it was 1997 still.

[Skyblade]

Except that, as mentioned earlier, she's got some of the best white magic based limit breaks the series has ever seen. Take E. Skill, Ultima, KotR, QM, HP+, and Shield materia out of the game. Maxing out Aerith and being able to keep her would have broken the game. Thus everyone who started out on the Aerith hate train and refused to build her up before getting to know her would have been cursing themselves later on because the game would by this time be made ten times more difficult. Of course, that's a hypothetical.

Actually, they'd be remembered the same way all support skills in this game are: Awesome, Yet Impactical (thank the fact I'm posting from my phone that you were saved a TV Tropes link).

Most of the support abilities in this game rock. Barrier, Time, Heal... They're all really useful. Yet you never use them. Why? Because most battles take a few seconds, two turns, tops. Using support skills just drag the battles out, rather than actually improving your efficiency.

Healing Wind is basically Restore + All. A little more useful due to having Limit priority, but that's all.

Seal Evil is rarely used. While powerful, especially if Stop works, most bosses are immune, and for most enemies, a quick spell to kill them is better. Why cripple what you can kill?

Her next one (forgot the name, sorry) is another Useless Useful Spell (darn it, another missed link). Getting Esuna early is awesome, even if you can only use it every few battles. Oh, except that status ailments are rarely a problem. I mean, most enemies don't use them, and they wear off after a battle, so, again, it's easier to just kill them. The only time status ailments really cause a problem is when facing the frogs in Gongaga Forest. Oh, and Frog means you can't use limits, so too bad.

Fury Brand sounds awesome, and is one of Aeris's best limits. Great for training limits, especially. And it gives you two for the price of one! Provided you're willing to hang on to it. Because otherwise, Aeris will hit her limit while the others are halfway there, wasting the extra limit power. I suppose it's nice unleashing four limits on a boss right out of the door, but is it really that much better than three?

Pulse of Life is Healing Wind all over again. Sure, it heals fully instead of half, and it cures status ailments too. But status ailment curing is relatively pointless, and the healing is basically Cure 3 + All. A little better, but not enough to matter.

Planet Protector. Ho hum. Sure, limited invulnerability is nice, but you rarely use it. You can't heal while it's active, so all it does is buy you more time to attack. A healing spell would do much the same thing, and an actual offensive limit at that level would finish most battles. This one just gains you so little, overall.

And then we get Great Gospel. Both of her last two combined. Way more useful than Planet Protector, since it heals as well. Definitely her best. But rarely needed, and, as a final limit, difficult to spam. Heck, it gives you several turns during which none of your character's limits will advance. Powerful? Yes. Game breaking? Maybe, but no more than half the other skills in the game. Even removing your entire list, though, the game isn't nearly hard enough to make this limit have more than token functionality. I never use Shield or Quad Magic, I only use KotR and Ultima when I want to be flashy, and only use Enemy Skill for the variety. The game still isn't that hard.

And that's the thing. The game isn't hard enough, and the battles don't last long enough, to make any of the support abilities really useful. If it were, they'd all be game breakers, because there are some really powerful ones. But you can breeze through the game with only basic Materia, if you want.

She wouldn't be remembered for her limits, because they aren't actually that useful. She'd be remembered as a "nice idea", trying out a character with entirely defensive limits, but that's all.

[Mercen-X]

So then the programmers made the game easier once they decided Aerith would die.

Back to Aerith's death. If just one more player character had died (like Barret or Tifa or Red XII), Aerith's death would not be nearly as memorable in that scenario either. It wasn't her identity but the fact that she was the only playable character in FF7 to get sashimid. Pretty much anybody who got killed by anyone in the course of the game would be remembered for being killed provided they were the only playable character in-game to die.

Come to think on it, Zack is also basically remembered for dying, once you find out who the hell he is despite him not being playable until CC.

[Roogle]

I agree with your analysis of Aerith's limit breaks. I believe they are only truly useful during challenge runs or a low level run of some kind. I don't think that the game was built difficult enough to make her truly useful; in fact, I think a lot of people avoided using her as she can be less straightforward than characters like Barret or Red XIII.

Maybe if the game was more difficult and players used her as a crutch to get past the first parts of the game, then her loss would be more profound on the player...

[Formalhaut]

I agree with your analysis of Aerith's limit breaks. I believe they are only truly useful during challenge runs or a low level run of some kind. I don't think that the game was built difficult enough to make her truly useful; in fact, I think a lot of people avoided using her as she can be less straightforward than characters like Barret or Red XIII.

Maybe if the game was more difficult and players used her as a crutch to get past the first parts of the game, then her loss would be more profound on the player...

I definitely agree, I rarely used Aerith, in fact the only time I *needed* Aerith was obtaining Beta early from the Midgar Zolom for her superior spirit stat and healing abilities. Aside that, I didn't really have much use for her.

[Arizona Lively]

I love Aerith. She should get her own action-prequel! Or a few dozen mini-games in the rerelease.