Another great thing to share
a full analasys that FF VII was never completed and ares was to be reborn
from game faqs
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*************** 7) AERIS'S DEATH AND THE UNFINISHED GAME THEORY ***************
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This section is devoted to an issue I wanted to keep separate from the general
FAQ as it is such a BIG plot point and also has implication outside of the
games plot and into the actual design and development of the game.
The first big question everyone has about FF7 is Aeris, why did she have to
die? And indeed was she meant to stay dead? I always felt the ending of FF7
seemed a little rushed. I had always thought Aeris did have to "die" the way
she did on disc one, but would somehow come back maybe even as the embodiment
of Holy to fight Sephiroth in the final battle. I was emailed by RTSmith005,
who has VERY strong feelings on the matter of Aeris death and whether she was
intended to come back. He has given permission for that email to be reproduced
in full below. While I DISAGREE that the game was spoiled by the ending as it
stands (I always thought they were quite brave NOT to clear up every loosed
end, so don't flame me people), I am still intrigued by all the evidence he
provides that Aeris was intended to be brought back.
THE INCOMPLETE GAME THEORY - contributed by RTSmith005
"As I sit writing this I am listening to Aeris's theme in the background. I
first learned about Aeris's death when I was casually browsing FF7 web pages
and I came across Andrew Vestal's masterful editorial on whether or not FF7 is
complete. Ignoring the spoiler warning I found out that Aeris died during the
course of the game. I was upset that I knew this fact, but I then decided that
it was six months before the release, it didn't really matter. When I finally
got the game I knew that Aeris would die at the end of Disc One. I decided to
use her all the time during the battles, and I gradually got attached to her.
Attached to a video game character? Well, most people get attached to
characters in movies or novels, and that is really what FF7 is, not just a
game, but a movie/novel experience. As one of my friends who played the game
said "Man it felt like I knew her." When I reached the Forgotten Capital I
realized that Aeris was about to die and it seemed that my time with her was
all too short and fleeting. It had been the date at the Gold Saucer that had
really made me love her as a character. I watched in horror as Sephiroth
descended and gutted the peaceful Aeris. As Cloud later said "She smiled, in
the end..." I couldn't believe what I was doing. I was feeling sad at the death
of a fictional video game character! I was on the verge of tears, real tears of
sadness! How ridiculous and idiotic and stupid was that? Except it's not.
Square has made a game where the characters seem real, and it is indeed a
testament to them that we feel this way about them. It's nothing to be ashamed
of, or to be embarrassed about. The rest of the game was good, but not as good
as the first twenty hours.
The first disc of the game was pure genius. The second disc only got
interesting when we learned about Cloud's past and the Sapphire Weapon attacked
Junon. Otherwise, the second disc only gets very, very depressing, with the
storyline making you think Cloud is a Sephiroth clone and Bugenhagen dying
(although that is actually on Disc Three). The fall of Shinra was horribly
done, in fact the last ten hours of the game are altogether horrible. The
storyline is rushed, many plotlines are left unexplained, and the characters
undergo very little development (besides Cid and Cloud). The third disc is a
waste, as the last dungeon is hardly a challenge. The path to Sephiroth is
interesting, and the fight with Jenova is good, but the Bizarro-Sephiroth fight
is horrible and tedious. The final battle is incredible, literally some of the
best music in any game. The ending was also good in the beginning, as Cloud's
final battle one on one with Sephiroth was spectacular. Otherwise, the ending
was absolutely a waste. FFIII's ending was just as bad, with absolutely no
character development occurring. The ending in FF7 was a waste of disc space
and uninventive thinking. The scriptwriters should be shot for destroying such
a good game. Indeed, many people I have talked to have totally changed their
opinions on the game after viewing the ending.
In short the ending is horrible. My first opinion on it was that humanity was
wiped out by Holy, as Bugenhangen hinted at earlier on in the game. However,
upon thinking about it, wouldn't it be the ultimate injustice if humanity had
killed Sephiroth, freeing Holy and thereby saving the Planet, and the Planet
replayed humanity by killing each and every last one of them? But now, thinking
about it, I hope that Holy did indeed wipe out humanity. It would be a fitting
ending to an altogether tragic game. Why am I so bitter about the ending and
the latter half of the game, you ask? Well, the answer is simple. Everyone
probably knows about the Aeris resurrection theory. If you look at the game
there is a vast amount of empirical evidence that Aeris's resurrection was
originally supposed to be part of the game, perhaps if only in the original
script or in early versions of the game. I believe that there is NO WAY to
resurrect her now, however, I believe that FF7 is incomplete, and that we are
all playing a game that is truly the greatest ever made, but that could be so
much better. First I will present the evidence that can be found in the game
and related to the game.
1) The presence of Aeris's ghost in her church is a very small plot point in
the game. In fact, it's barely discussed by any one in the game itself. Why
else would it be in the game. A nostalgic moment? Perhaps.
2) Before the final battle there is an extra ledge that no one is standing on.
3) For the battle against Bizarro-Sephiroth, if you are strong enough to form
three parties, then one party has only two characters. Each party should have
three members...
4) Throughout the game Cloud is in situations in which he must pick Aeris over
Tifa or show that he is an uncaring or a caring guy. However, after Aeris's
death, this entire point is dropped. Considering the number of decisions you
are forced to make (around twenty some) you would think it would have more
bearing than who you get to date...
5) In the Japanese version, why does Aeris speak at certain points after you
use the GameShark to get her back? Why does she only have it in certain spots?
6) Aeris's best weapon has only seven Materia holders and it can gain AP, while
EVERYONE else's best weapon has eight linked slots and gains no AP.
7) Aeris's Umbrella has a higher Attack Power than her best weapon, the
Princess Guard, whereas everyone else's best weapon has a higher Attack Power
than all of their other weapons.
8) When you get Aeris's fourth limit break she has most likely already died.
If you actually do what you need to do to get it before she dies you waste vast
amounts of time (it took me three extra hours of getting her limit breaks up).
The point is that if you get it before she dies, it doesn't seem like you
should have it yet.
9) Right before the pillar steps in the Forgotten City before Aeris dies there
is doorway in the background. If you look at the patterns on the pillar, the
doorway is somewhat similar but markedly different. Programmers usually don't
put extra stuff like that in a game; it's a waste of time and effort. There is
no way to reach the door.
10) If you look at the floor before Cloud is trying to kill Aeris, there is a
spiral staircase leading downward. If you think about the way the City is
shaped it should be the reflection of the stairs above, but if you think on how
the glass around Aeris is shaped, it physically couldn't be so...
11) In the game manual there are FMV drawings of the characters. Every
character's drawing except Aeris (she is looking at the highwind you see it
where disc 1 is in) actually occurs in the game, or could realistically occur.
Aeris's cannot, as she wasn't with Cloud when he first saw the Highwind on the
first trip to Junon. She had already died when Barret and Tifa made their
escape on the Highwind later. In the picture she also dressed in white, and the
entire game she dressed in red...
12) The strongest empirical evidence for this lies in a conversation Cloud has
with Tifa during on the bridge of the Highwind... Tifa:I wonder what Aeris
felt... when she was on that Altar... Cloud: I'm sure she wanted to give her
life for the planet... Tifa: Really? I wonder? I don't think that's it at all.
I think she didn't think she would die at all, but that she planned on coming
back all along. She always used to talk about the "Next Time". She talked about
the future more than any of us'. This is very, very suspect, as anyone can see.
The entire game is ruined, in my opinion, by the loss of Aeris, and the death
of hope and joy. Many argue her death insured the player's hatred of Sephiroth.
Even if she were to be theoretically resurrected, I would still hate Sephiroth.
In my opinion, Square should re-release the game with her resurrection, and a
better ending, one worthy of a Final Fantasy game. Would it make her death
meaningless? Yes, it would, her sacrifice would be null and void and hollow.
But her death makes the game meaningless... Judging by the number of people who
desperately want to resurrect her, I think Square would profit financially from
such a decision. A game, which was already great, could be made truly perfect.
But somehow, I don't think this will ever happen. - XxRTSmithxX.......(thx for
letting me share this falsehead)"
Further discussion of this angle of the game is welcome, if anyone has
conclusive proof either way of whether Aeris was to have stayed dead or was a
victim of rushed development then it would be very welcome.
I was quite surprised and gratified by the response RTSmiths views got. I am
pleased to see many people engaging with his comments and several have provided
some well thought out responses to his arguments. With permission of the
authors I have reproduced their arguments in full.
"Hey, I just wanted to say that my friends and I have thought about the Aeris
resurrection theory and came up with some reasons why it couldn't be
possible.
1.) First in the final showdown with Sephiroth, there is a party of two.
People assume that there is one person missing, but I look at it as there
are two people too many. Considering that Yuffie and Vincent are both
secret characters, this would make the third party nonexistent.
2.) Second, the whole reason Cloud and the others kept fighting was because
they hated Sephiroth even more for killing Aeris. If Aeris was resurrected,
the plot line would have become very slow and harder to develop.
3.) In the previous Aeris resurrection theory, one of the reasons mentioned
is concerning Aeris having a level 4 limit break. First, this could just be
a challenge for more serious gamers. Most people don't beat Ruby weapon,
just like most people don't take the effort to get Aeris' level 4 limit
break. Also, if she didn't have a level 4 limit break, people would be
suspicious when they viewed her limit breaks in the menu.
4.) Concerning the choices you have to make about Tifa and Aeris from
Cloud's point-of-view- though this aspect of the game is quickly forgotten
after Aeris' death, the whole point of the questioning is to give character
development. When you are forced to take the position of a character and
respond to questioning, you feel closer to the characters. Therefore, the
questions are not needed later on in the game, as character development
slows and plot development takes a stronger hold.
5.) For Aeris' ultimate weapon having only seven materia slots, the creators
most likely did not want to give away the fact that Aeris' end was near by
giving the player her ultimate weapon that early."
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Originally Posted by DJZen
good point
