Stumbled upon this and now I gotta binge your videos. this is unbelievably wholesome, I can't believe you were able to preserve this experience fresh and I'm happy you could
[PLEASE INSERT DISC 2] I remember that appearing after the last cutscene with Cloud explaining what they should all do next, and it was just so heavy and surreal to me to see that screen. I never played a game that demanded that of me, so for some strange reason, seeing that screen for the first time after [you-know-who] dies has stuck with me for years!
Yeah, killing one of the main characters is not something that happens a lot in these kinds of games. Back in 1997 at least. It was a real shock for everyone who played it back then, especially since Aerith is the main magic user/healer of the party and absolutely no one expects the healer to be permanently removed. The boss you fought after that was Jenova LIFE. You faced another version of Jenova already. Jenova BIRTH on the Cargo Ship. You can probably imagine that after BIRTH and LIFE comes another Version later in the game.
Such a beautiful beautiful beautiful character. Her death still shakes people to the CORE 27 years later. I’ve seen her die a hundred times but boy did I cry for you
I had the same reaction at 13 years old as I did replaying it at 35 - fighting Jenova whilst sobbing like a baby… god bless you brother, this moment was a sucker punch for all of us.
That was painful... very painful... I think its even worse at. Rebirth since the Battle is way longer and you have to focus in it after being devastated by the loss.
I'm 64 and have played it over and over again it never gets old and the possible materia combinations are almost limitless. I've gotten every possible materia in the game mastered on a few saved games along with 99 of every.possible item. I love this game.
I’ve been replaying for months and of course thru game progression fell in love with her character and refuse to progress the game any further. It’s been months. Lol
Congratulations on finishing Disc One! For 27 long years, some of us have been carrying this deep sadness with us. Excited to see you go through the rest of this life-changing game! If you have not already, I would also highly recommend playing through the Remake series (Remake, Intergrade and now Rebirth)! 🎉
So you finally made it. Welcome to the sad club! As for Rebirth, without spoilers, it does end after the events of the Forgotten Capital. I would suggest continuing with this story before Rebirth if you want a better experience, as Rebirth does change many parts of story to various degrees. Having the knowledge of the OG game also gives a much deeper insight into Rebirth's story, but I can't really say more without spoilers.
See I'm in a weird spot with this one. I know I'm excited and enjoy all the things that show up in the remake series through the lense of someone who's knowledgable and played the original multiple times. But is it better to go into the remake series with completely fresh eyes? Or as a fan? 🤔 Like would I have enjoyed the ending of rebirth better if I experienced it with fresh eyes? for example.
@@dyangoh1646 While certain elements could be enjoyed more from playing without knowing anything, I feel the overall story is better understood after playing due to, well, spoilers that I can't really say.
Wow, it has been a while since I have seen a reaction from someone who didn't already know Aeris dies prior to playing. Although this happened for me back in '98, I swear I felt that actual shock and pain through you this time...I actually cried again if you can believe it and I have seen this scene soooooo many times 😢 At least she wasn't in your party for that fight, I got stuck with Barrett who I hardly used until that point and had no materia on....it's been over 25 years and I still remember that. Love your playthrough, BTW.
Aerith is one of my favorite characters of all time and a comfort character of mine as well. So playing the og for the first time after remake and seeing this, my heart BROKE and I stopped playing for a week cause I was so heartbroken and in denial that she was gone😭
It's a good thing you are playing OG before the new trilogy finishes, because there's a lot of big things spoiled in the new series ahead of schedule. The new series may end up changing a lot of these big events though, have to wait until part 3 comes out before they decide for sure what changes and what stays
@@micman963 they have added elements, and deepened plots, but our characters main timeline is still 1:1 with original essentially outside the softening of a few scenes (president shinra and dyne) all the big “changes” are occuring in zach timelines. By the end of the 3rd game I think we will have main timeline as a 1:1 recreation of original, and the alternate timelines will contain all the “new” and changed plot points.
@@HomeDefender30 They softened/censored a lot more than just a 'few" scenes. The experience is very different in contrast to the OG now because of it. It's also a bit of a stretch to say it's 1:1 when we haven't even been to rocket town yet, when that's on the first disc before Aerith dies.
@@micman963 what else has been softened story wise? And I said “essentially 1:1” not “perfectly 1:1”…. All the major plot points from og have happened at this point and don’t worry, we will get to rocket town… Outside of Yuffies introduction being different, and them changing president shinras and dynes death, we have damn near exactly the same story in the main timeline…. I’m not speaking on the extracurriculars in zach and Biggs timelines.
@@HomeDefender30 ok so, just in the "main timeline" off the top of my head. at the beginning of part 1 where avalanche blows up reactors, they changed it so shinra is actually the one who blows them up, so that players don't have to feel like it's their fault for the destruction of those sectors and the suffering of the residents. They changed the plate falling scenes to where now the majority of people got out of alive when it fell, Corneo confirms this in the sewer when he said shinra's plan failed because it was suppose to be a huge tragedy. God forbid players feel sad about something again they changed wallmarket in a few ways, but notably the honeybee is no longer a seedy creepy brothel, instead it's a respectable dance establishment where even school teachers moonlight there as dancers. Shinra building's most memorable scene that was like a scifi-horror with bodies and blood trails all the way up to impaled president dead in his seat, now changed to purple goop with no bodies at all anywhere to be seen. The last battle on the highway itself is a huge change I'd argue but that takes way too long to talk about and then in rebirth Cid is a entirely different character, to the point where he's basically not even a character at all now. His character was betrayed to the full extent by enix and if you spend even 5 minutes watching the OG scenes where you meet him at rocket town it's undeniable. He will not be allowed to have those scenes in the new version of rocket town, because he's not acceptable for modern audiences I guess in temple of the ancients in the OG, cloud beats Aerith to a pulp while she's on the ground, and whoever you pick as your third party member has to come down and knock cloud's possessed body out. This a very dark scene where often times some players actually believed he was pounding on the ground, but the ones who realized what he was doing it's very shocking Aerith's death or "death" scene in rebirth is hugely changed, to the point where players are now more confused than feeling anything else The entire tone of the remake series is incredibly light hearted by comparison to the OG, because of censorship and music, and changing things so that they aren't hard for audiences to watch is still changing things in the story. There's tons of other stuff that's been changed for various reasons, but these changes are not small, and they have a huge impact the overall tone of the game. That's not even going into the fact that remake+rebirth have many scenes being spoiled way ahead of time, which also ruins the surprises for people who don't know the story. That's why I said it's ideal to play OG first, not that I don't think remake or rebirth are good, or even great games in their own ways.
Back when this game came out I was 7 years old. Aerith was my absolute favorite character who I used in every battle that didn't have a preset party selection and I was devestated when this happened. I just laid down in front of the TV and cried for the rest of the day and cried everytime I continued playing. When you look at the PHS you see the spot where her portrait was, empty, and I couldn't handle it. For years I tried every "cheat code" and game shark to try to find a way to bring her back but no dice. I hated being forced to play the rest of the game without her. Back then main characters didn't just die in the middle of the game and it really shocked me. Even though its my all time favorite game I still get heartsick and try to delay getting to this part of the game as much as I can by spending time grinding levels like crazy. 😂
welcome to the trauma club :) played this when i was 14, i was devastated. Back then, we all tried everything possible to revive her or somehow glitch her back into the game lol.
This was the first RPG I ever played back when I was 13 in 97. First time I felt that connected to a story and its characters. Aeris dying broke me. Never cried before at a movie or game. It definitely changed what I thought games could be as a medium. I've been a fan of the series ever since. I've never seen someone else react to her death before without already knowing. Listening to you read Cloud's comments afterward and hearing your voice break...got me this morning. Took me back to my teenage bedroom sitting on the floor with a 19" tv and ugly crying.
I challenge anyone who condemns "nerd tears" to play this game and not cry for Aeris. Messed me up good when I was 10 years old lol. Still a tear jerker.
I feel like such a monster. I cried during the opera scene in FF6. I cried when Rinoa hugged Squall in FF8. I cried when Yuna said "I love you" in FF10 I cried at the end of FF12 and I cried like 5 times during FF14. But the Aerith scene? It was sad.. but I didn't cry. Am I just broken? 😂
This death scene still makes me cry no matter how many times I see it. It still effects me so deeply. I siggest go into the interesting lab house again in the snowy village when you can. Still interesting things to see there. :)
😿 I was unfortunately spoiled on that part before getting to it Glad you got to experience it for real. It may hurt, but that makes it so much more meaningful
Play ff7 OG all the way through then go to rebirth. OG is a phenomenal game that holds up on his own even to this day. The music, story…love watching you replay this. Glad you’re enjoying the journey
Just stumbled upon this channel. Subscribed Fun Fact: What makes this even more sad is this was written in the plot because Sakeguchi the creator had recently lost his mom and he was turning that grief into creative energy for the story.
I know this was traumatic, but thank you for sharing this. I was unfortunately spoiled as a child about her death prior to playing it, but it still hurt. Bad. It was somehow therapeutic reliving the experience through your eyes.
It's cool that you give me the chance to get to know the game and its history, it's been my favorite game since I played it for the first time in 2001.
Very happy for you that you were able to play this amazing game! She’s my favorite too. I would suggest that you play the original FFVII game in completion before playing Rebirth. Although I haven’t played it myself, I did complete the original before playing Remake and you just appreciate it so much more. Not just the pixel characters coming to life but also the music. 💐
Aerith was my first fictional trauma at a young age. This scene is forever burned in the minds of Teen RPGs players at the time. Aerith was one of my most used and best characters in FF7 and to lose her at the end of disc one devastated me.
I watched you cry and immediately knew those feelings. This hit me hard back when it first came out. Glad you are enjoying the game so far. I actually got misty eyed watching again for the 100th time lol
Also pro tip add enemy skill to your a character now! Any skill used by an enemy has the potential to be learned and you can get some really powerful abilities
Good advice for Rebirth as well. There's some REALLY broken character builds that uses the Enemy Skill Materia as the core like Enemy Skill connected to the HP Absorb materia
The thing that always hits me hard here: Against Jenova-Life, it's playing Aerith's Theme as the boss music here. The discord and the gravity of the situation is always painful, but it's somehow also beautiful.
When I was young, I didn't like Aerith that much. I was into the warriors like Cloud, Barret, Sephiroth. Too young. Didn't care about cuteness. Later on and especially since the Remake and Rebirth, Aerith has become my favorite character. She's the heart and soul of FFVII. What a sad moment in gaming that is Aerith's death. Still remembered decades later. Masterpiece!
Enjoying these. If you run out of emotional games to play after finishing (hopefully) FF8 and FF9, I recommend Nier: Automata and Umineko no Naku Koro ni. Umineko in particular is a large time investment but I promise you the juice is worth the squeeze. There is nothing like it.
I wanna know how those ruiins are in such good shape and why the planet doesnt rly have more of them :3 the buildings are totally preserved in there as if they had been upkept somewhat
Yeah. This is the pivotal moment of the story, and one of the key moments to exemplify the theme they were trying to convey through gameplay. How do you deal with the strongest healer being gone? It's like a part of you has been ripped away, which is exactly what grief and loss feels like... loss being the key theme of FF7's story. I reacted the same way. I was also devastated.
I played this game like 20 years after it was released. I knew that aerith was going to go away so i never had that part surprise me. It probably would have impacted me more if i played it without knowing anything
I had this moment spoiled for me even before I played the game. Some of the local gaming magazines practically screamed "oh my god they killed Aerith! you bastards!" from the pages back in 1997.
I'm so glad you're playing this. It's such a great game! They original is perfection. Played this when it came out and watching you feel so much for every moment gives me flashback feels too 😢 I'm playing the remake/rebirth versions now. And if you ever get a chance to play them it would be awesome to know what you think of them. I'm liking them but they changed the story. The original is best imo ❤ (btw you have the best party 😊 vin and tifa) btw click long ranged party members in menu to put them in the back row while in battle 👌🏻 they get hit less etc
Aeriths Tod wird im Remake Part 3 noch einmal eine würdige Verabschiedung werden, da im zweiten Part (Rebrith) das ganze nicht so emotional gemacht wurde wie im original. Final Fantasy 7 ist ein Meisterwerk der Spielgeschichte. In 3,5 Jahren erscheint angeblich der letzte Teil. ❤
Everyone wants to save Aeris/Aerith. There were fake glitches, real mods, some hacking, all to get her back. A week ago I actually saw within the last few years a real glitch, filmed start to finish, using Yuffie warping to get her back in your party. You were actually half set up to do it! As one requirement is to not have gotten Yuffie.
Oh no, you missed all the story in the house with the lab equipment! There's a monitor you can interact with that gives you some backstory on a certain character.
When I first played this when I was a teen, I couldn't handle this scene and broke down. My dad used to just laugh at me in an attempt to get me to snap out of it and got me to realise that it's just a videogame and these are fictional characters. Whenever I get emotional playing any game, I always think of his words and I get over it soon, lol. It's testament to the quality of this game, getting an emotion out of any type of players, young and old. This game in particular will always be an instant classic for me.
There was one slight nitpick... I noticed you referred to Jenova as him. Jenova presents as female - it was badly translated that Jenova was male a couple of times in the game. In addition, in the house with all the computer equipment, examine that equipment. You'll find out quite a lot of info, especially about a certain character.
This is the best FF game ever. I would start Rebirth then come back to this. Rebirth ends at Aerith’s death. I would consider playing Crisis Core Reunion (Zack’s backstory) first though it gives a lot of back story that will make rebirth have a whole lot more meaning and understanding.
How did you get them that high. I mean the HP and MP I don't remember the HP/MP plus Materia being there in Disc 1. I am sure most of us were around the 40's on the first time.
I tried everything to bring Aerith back, I remember buying a Gameshark only for that reason, but never found a Code that actually worked, they trully made her really gone! T.T
Hopefully you got the opportunity prior to her death to use her #4 limit break; Great Gospel. I felt somewhat guilty for her death because I took all her good armor and weapons off her after the Temple of the Ancients boss fight.
I highly recommend playing Crisis Core if you havent already before playing rebirth. Wouldnt hurt to also watch the extended version of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (the movie)
