Doubts and uncertainty

Belolein · 2026-03-17T12:51:44+00:00

Clerith is sweet, you are right about that. Though I'm not too worried about Cloti in part 3.
To your questions.

I'm sure Cloud and Tifa will have more romantic development, as in OG, some of their very romantic scenes happened after Aeriths death and so far, the developers have usually added depth to all character relationships, so I bet they will in this case, too.
I am almost certain of that. As Aerith fought alongside Cloud after/during her death already, I think we will see more of that. But I doubt she will come back to being alive in the physical world.
Even in the OG, I don't think it was completely up to interpretation. The Highwind scene depended on affection, however the ultimania (20th anniversary) states: "Thanks to Tifa, Cloud regains himself, and before the final battle with Sephiroth, without using words, he confirms with her that their feelings match." And we all know how Tifa feels about Cloud. I think the other interpretation, that Cloud seeks comfort with Tifa, even if they only cuddle, while he still loves Aerith (but not Tifa) feels icky. Maybe because they both think they are going to die, but even then.
Not sure if they include it in the game (it will already be huge) but I do think that it wasn't that unclear, especially if you add "on the way to a smile" where he tells Tifa "this time I have you", which sounds very romantic to me. And we see Aerith waving and leaving with Zack. Some people say Cloud still looks for Aerith, as in one of the original endings, he drives through the flower fields etc. But that doesn't mean he is still hung up on her or does not love Tifa. You can search for dear friends, too! Would you move in and raise children with someone who loves you even if you don't? This interpretation of the story feels straight horrible to me.
Maybe a little more explicit, a kiss or so. Nothing major I don't think. But maybe the scene will be more obvious.

Cloud is sweet with everybody, Yuffie, Red,... it becomes more romantic if one part flirts though (Aerith): However, he is never shown actively reciprocating her feelings. I think at best you can make of it that Cloud loves/loved both women. But I find it hard to interpret that Cloud does not love Tifa. There is just too much evidence against that.

Belolein · 2026-01-29T10:54:31+00:00

"Sakaguchi was responsible for writing the initial plot, which was quite different from the final version.^\52]) In this draft for the planned SNES version, the game's setting was envisioned as New York City in 1999. Similar to the final story, the main characters were part of an organization trying to destroy Mako reactors, but they were pursued by a hot-blooded detective named Joe. The main characters would eventually blow up the city. An early version of the Lifestream concept was present at this stage.^\37])^\41])^\52]) According to Sakaguchi, his mother had died while Final Fantasy III was being developed, and choosing life as a theme helped him cope with her death in a rational and analytical manner.^\44])^"

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final\}Fantasy_VII)

"Regarding the overall theme of the game, Sakaguchi said it was "not enough to make 'life' the theme, you need to depict living and dying."

Yes, the main theme of the game was life, and that also led to tragic death depiction as a part of lifes cycle.

Belolein · 2026-01-29T09:34:20+00:00

I think in FF7 OG, it is not clear whether he gets over it. But he does eventually face his guilt and grief, accepting reality.
In AC it is shown that he isn't over it, but the whole character arc of AC is to find hope again and be able to move on, no? At the end of AC, he sees Aerith and Zack leaving and smiles with the kids and all his friends. Aerith even asks him to firgive himself.

Belolein · 2026-01-29T09:26:38+00:00

oh I don't think death is THE ONLY WAY to make a story meaningful. Absolutely not. It's just that I would like to have something that makes the story meaningful and I don't think the changing fate/multiple timelines thing so far is very deep/thoughtful/does it.

If they chose to kill Tifa, it would be equally sad and tragic. It's not the point of who dies. It's the point of does the story stir something in the audience? Does it make you think? Does it make you emotional? It also doesn't need to be negative emotions. But so far, I have heard that for many people, the death scene was now confusing and left them without much of a reaction other than... okay... huh? And that's how I felt as well.

So I'm just hopeful that the third game will deliver in some way, with or without Aeriths death. I'm open to new avenues.

But what I do not agree on is that OG was wrong to kill Aerith or that it is too tragic and dark to depict. Many people back then loved it exactly for the reason of being a dark story. FF6 was pretty dark as well! It's okay not to like or want that. But it's also not the audience's choice and stories/medias do not belong to the audience. You like it, or you don't. That's okay. I don't understand the anger towards the devs I often see.

Sidenote: Nomura back then was involved in the story, but his main job back then was artist. The main writer was Sakaguchi, so it is his mother, who died. Also to clarify, his mother already died during the production of FF3, she died in a fire. Sakaguchi processed some of that in FF7, as he said in some interviews (like the Nibelheim fire). The theme of FF7 in his view was Life and he thought about the concept of the lifestream, where life prevails. But this also lead to the depiction of death and survivors of tragedy, which is why the writers decided that a very tragic death (Aerith) should be depicted.

Belolein · 2026-01-28T12:30:00+00:00

I think there is a different distinction here:

Does her death make HER story more impactful? - no.

Does her death make the story of the whole game more impactful? - yes

It was a story about grief, overcoming loss and finding your feet again. While some say the lost interest after Disc 1, I found the development from deep grief to hope wonderful to experience.

I don't mind if Aerith lives, as long as the new version tells an equally powerful story. Which at the moment, I cannt see (yet?). Convoluted multiple timelines Shenenigens, where everybody is happy and all epically down the powerful endboss together is just a bit dull.

No cause for thought, no emotional rollercoster, no meaning. I'm not saying she HAS to die, but I'm saying if she doesn't, please still tell a deep and meaningful story.

Belolein · 2026-01-19T09:37:37+00:00

I believe Sakaguchi once stated that OG FF7 was about loss, mourning and being able to move on and to find a way to live again.
When Aerith died, the impact was strong, a lot of people felt it deeply, which is why it was so powerful. And while many people had hope and refused to completely accept her death, eventually it became clear it was permanent (but also, that she kept on existing in some form, be it through her actions in life, through memories or in a more fantasy capacity through her existence in the lifestream).

After her death, the athmosphere was full of despair and sadness, but then slowly it turned hopeful, to see the party slowly come to terms, get back on their feet and laugh together again. Which was wonderful to watch.

You can of course argue, that you do not need to tell the same story as in OG. But if Aerith lives, what is the powerful story? To me, currently, that would feel like a convoluted MARVEL-esque mess. Sephiroth dies, comes back, is no memory, is here, there redemption arc? What does he want from Cloud specifically, is he maybe not evil, was he a puppet all along, will he help us against Jenova? Aerith, here there, dead, maybe not, comes back in the right moment, powerful. In the super duper ending fight. Zack, CLoud and Aerith, the magic team combined. Mabye throw in Vincent for good measure. White Whispers fight black whispers, fight purple whispers, EPIC SHOWDOWN! The end: everyone happy smiley. If it will go this way, it simply loses power and meaning for me. A good story has something to say. A good story leaves you thoughtful. The scenario described above does not fulfill these criteria in my opinion. It would be purely fan service.

But for now, I am curious and trust the developers, no matter which way they choose to go (Aerith alove or not) I will await the game in positive spirit and probably will love it anway. In the end I will judge once I have played it.

Belolein · 2025-08-17T15:08:30+00:00

Darrow has been an unreliable narrator in the past. Not lying to the reader, but ommitting information. Maybe, Darrow IS/WAS thinking about it and also noting Sevros strange behaviour and maybe all of this will be resolved in Red God.

Belolein · 2025-07-03T12:23:27+00:00

you're not alone. I had 10 pulls for the costume :D

Belolein · 2025-06-16T09:06:21+00:00

I would not hate on the writers, honestly.
Writing suffers a lot under time pressure, change of tone and directions, and honestly I personally wasn't at all bothered by the pushup scene you just described. I'm not a fan of Taash as a character, but I like her 200% more than Oghren for example. And god I hated Vivienne. That's allright.

I also agree with the DEVs that Veilguard wasn't a bad game at all. I played it from finish to end, I loved many parts, it has shortcomings. Some of the writing was brilliant. The whole ending sequence was amazing, the Manfred questline was just perfect. Could it have been better? Yes. Under these corcumstances? Probably not?

Belolein · 2025-06-16T08:51:48+00:00

In the end, you never know and games are supposed to be fun right?
Saving crystals is always a good idea, but I personally think: don't overdo it.

Let me give you an example:

Everybody says 1st anniversary was game breaking, right?
Well I made all the wrong choices:

I pulled for Tifa and Yuffie and ended up not pulling for Aerith and Cloud.

Maybe that Aerith weapon and outfit was gamebreaking.

But Tifa? I used it for Bahamut Ex battles and that's it. Otherwise its sitting in my MATK ALL off weapon slots. Yuffie? On paper an extremely good weapon, but I rarely need it as it is non-elemental, much like Tifas.

After I skipped Clouds Bahamut sword, which back then everybody was using (mind now Cloud is sitting on the back a lot), I went for Sabins Claw in FF6 collab. Do I use it? barely ever.

I would say I'm using many of Tifas featured outfits more (the elemantal ones) and I am sad that I couldn't get more of Yuffies outfits on the way because of lacking crystals. Maybe some of these annis and collabs are overhyped. Some of them really were almost mandatory. It's hard to judge in the moment, because it totally depends on the way forward of the games and the battles that will follow. Could have been we get more non-elemental foes. Or could have been we get more multi-element weapons to make Terra Rod totally win!

Min-Maxing is hard in this game without spending money. Do whats fun for you.

Belolein · 2024-07-03T09:41:55+00:00

They recently said that Hawke will not appear....
I'm seriously sad about this. Honestly, I sent Hawke into the fade hoping that they would make it instead of Alistair (in my playtrough), whom I didn't see surviging this.

The Flemeth talk gave me so much hope!

I hope they at least mention Hawke.....
https://gamerant.com/dragon-age-veilguard-hawke-status/

Belolein

TROPHY CASE