Fans are excited to see how far the story will progress inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2when it eventually releases. The first game introduced some huge changes to the overall narrative, opening the door for a different vision of the original’s events. Now that Cloud and the others have defied fate by defeating the Whispers in the firstFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, the events to follow could be unique. One event from the original carries so much weight for the story that it’s likely to still occur, however.
Longtime fans ofFinal Fantasyand gamersin general are likely already aware of a pivotal moment involving Aerith. After continuing their journey to pursue Sephiroth, Cloud and the others find themselves in the City of the Ancients. The crumbled city was once home to the Cetra, the “Ancients” that inhabited the planet from which Aerith and Sephiroth are descended. Many fans are wondering ifFinal Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2will feature Aerith’s deathas she tries to obtain the Holy materia. It’s more likely the emotional moment won’t make an appearance until at least the third game in the remake project.
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FF7 Remake Part 2 Already Has a Lot to Deal With
The main reason why Aerith’s death should be pushed back to a later game is simple:Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2already has a lot to address. Looking at just the original game’s narrative, there’s a healthy amount of content before the City of the Ancients. The end of the first part ofFF7 Remakesees players leaving the city of Midgar after defeating the Whispers and Sephiroth. By contrast, Cloud and AVALANCHE escaped Midgar hours into the original game. The amount of detail put into expanding Midgar will likely be brought to the rest of the game’s world, which would by its nature extend the length of the overall experience.
One thingFF7 Remakedid well was manage to extend the length of the Midgar section of the original while not feeling artificially extended overall. The detail and care put into fleshing out Midgar and some of the originalFF7’sopening momentswas critical to its success. It is safe to assume that Square Enix is putting just as much care into the rest of the game as players get to explore beyond Midgar. But there’s a lot of places, characters, and events between the end ofFF7 Remakeand Aerith’s death in the City of the Ancients.
FF7 Remakehas lots of areas left to explore. As a basic sequence of locations, players visit Kalm, Chocobo Ranch, Mythril Caves, Fort Condor, Junon, the ship, Costa Del Sol, Gongaga, Cosmo Canyon, the Gold Saucer, Nibelheim, Rocket Town, Corel, Wutai, the Temple of the Ancients, and the mining town ahead of reaching the City of the Ancients. That list seems exhaustive, but it drives home the point. IfFF7 Remake Part 2similarly fleshes out its locales as the first game did with Midgar, the game will be enormous. This isn’t even mentioning a few side areas, optional character events, and side quests all available in the same amount of time.
There are many moments from the original game to explore. Just based on the assumption that Square Enix will expand most areas to better represent the new vision ofFF7’sworld, the next chapter will be a huge game. Even more likely to affect when Aerith’s death appears are changes to the story andtheFF7 Dirge of Cerberuscontent brought in withIntergrade. These changes will likely feature prominently inFF7 Remake Part 2, further extending the playtime.
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Deepground and Zack Will Likely Push the Moment Further
Now it seems safe to assume thatZack Fair is alive inFF7 Remake, and in the same timeline as the others, and this impact will be felt most by Aerith and Cloud. In the original game, Aerith and Zack were a romantic couple before Zack left on the mission that would eventually lead to his death. Meeting Cloud, she immediately saw a lot of Zack in him, and that helps drive their relationship. Their similarities had come at the cost of Zack’s life and Cloud’s psyche. In the original, Cloud suffers a mental break after being experimented on and witnessing Zack’s death outside of Midgar.
Exploring Zack’s side of the story now that he is alive again will probably take up a chunk of game time in the next chapter. Whether that means Zack will be a playable character and interact with the other characters remains to be seen. That being said, it’s nearly impossible that he won’t at least be heavily featured. This is already adding to the staggering amount ofcharacters likely to come inFF7 Remake Part 2. The arrival of Deepground inIntergradewill also need to be reckoned with depending on how different the game’s timeline becomes from the original.
Deepground is an important facet ofDirge of Cerberusand the extended story ofFF7.The events ofDirge of Cerberusoccur several years after the original game and theAdvent Childrenmovie. The Deepground research facility had already been operating during the events of the original game, but players never encountered it.Intergradechanged that by having Yuffie stumble into the facility on her mission to acquire Shinra’s “ultimate” materia. Here she encounteredFF7 Dirge of Cerberusvillain Nero- another of Shinra’s attempts at creating super soldiers to rival even Sephiroth.
The members of Deepground may or may not appear in the immediate sequel. While the originalFF7timeline would imply the main game wouldn’t introduce Deepground elements, the defying of fate could change when and how they make their way into the forefront. It’s also possible that Zack could encounter them separately if he continues to make his way into Midgar.Intergradeimpacts the next chapterin major ways, and combining those with elements already present in the original means there likely just won’t be enough time to reach the City of the Ancient - and that moment fans are likely dreading.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2is currently in development.
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