My girlfriend is playing the Switch version of Final Fantasy 7 for the very first time, without any prior knowledge minus Cloud being the protagonist. Up to this point Aerith was her favorite character... enjoy you sick bastards.
I already knew she would die, but that sentence almost made me cry. This is my first final fantasy game and i just played this part this morning. I'm still sad.
0:33 that reaction, that look, that face. That is the face we all made, every gamer everywhere when it happened. The sudden realization of what just transpired and that she wasn't coming back. The realization that this wasn't just about saving the planet anymore, this was personal. Then the music hits and the tears being to flood. This was the first time I'd ever cried and was emotional over a character death in a video game.
I played the game completely blind too when I was 9 years old, right when the game came out in 97. Aeris was my fav character as well. I remember my family was going on vacation the day after. This scene hit me the night before I left with my family and it completely ruined my vacation. It was all I could think about. I was like quiet and depressed the entire trip.
atciowa03 Actually the boss fight was made intentionally very easy. The boss has a lot of HP but does basically no damage. It’s as if the game gives you a punching bag. Also Aeris’ theme plays throughout that boss fight. It’s part of the intended experience.
The strentgh of this moment is that even with the most cynical view, you will feel the loss of of the time you spent to level up this character... So with some heart, it doubles the pain... And as a video gamer you think : naaaah, I'll have to resurect later. And you carry this hope to the very end of the game. Once finished, the loss is complete.
I feel that one of the most overlooked yet absolutely ingenious parts of FF7's design is that each character has their own designated spot in that little character grid thingy, and after Aerith death the character grid doesn't just shuffle her empty slot to the final square where it would become less noticable... instead, it actually keeps Aerith's forever-empty spot right there on the character grid, as a constant reminder of the fact that, yes, we have lost someone...
@@GrahamChapman Yep ! Do you remember one of the last scenes of the game ? All the heroes are standing on red rocks in front of the glowing final menace. I immediatly noticed that there was one only rock with nobody standing on it, on the side... T_T It even made me believe that there was a way to have Aerith at this final step of the game.
@@MegaDAWIL Oh yeah, I noticed that, too... the rock that Aerith would've stood upon, had she still been at our side... It was those little things that really got to you, y'know... We all believed that... There's a reason why the search for ways to revive Aerith became such a huge thing in the FF fanbase. But I really do respect the fact that Square didn't include any such cop-outs, and they better not include any in the Remake, either. In fact, I sincerely hope that they'll be able to recreate those little reminders of the fact that Aerith is gone...
I never saw it that way. I thought it to be funny how Aeris already got all the ultimate weapons and items the game would give her way earlier than the rest, like she was set up for something. Then when she died this bit about reaching her sealing totally made sense.
Could you imagine if these would’ve been recorded 26 years ago when we first played this game. When this for us was the absolute pinnacle of gaming. It was so hard to watch, I genuinely felt like I was grieving and had to do it in private. This really is the greatest video game I’ve ever played.
My reaction was waaaay worse, I cried for 10 minutes and then after they had placed her in the water I think I stopped playing the game and started playing again after a week. That really messed me up.
The water funeral part was the nail in the coffin for me… I was slightly spoiled years ago about this… but not the part about the water… and the fight with JenovaLIFE… ugh 💔
@@ComicalHealing Same. That Jenova fight tho. So annoying. Took me a few tries. Didn't feel any accoplishment after I beat her. I mean. Of course. But still. Expected more of her lol.
That scene should be considered psychological torture given that it made grown men shed tears from hearing three notes 13 years later when playing the remake
I feel like FF4 had so many emotional moments.... only to be completely undone at the very late game. I still love the game, but now it just doesn't hit me as hard.
I remember when I was a kid and played it fresh for the first time. Played it when it came out. I had a “crush” I guess on her or at Le east cared about her character. I was 10. I bawled when she died. It’s what has cemented this game as being the best, the deepest of all time imo no matter how great graphics have improved. The story, what happens, the music...all of it. Remake might just kill me, lol. I keep hearing they’ll change that, but sad to say changing one of the most iconic moments in gaming would be idiotic. Of course, we won’t know for years when the second part is released.
@@SamaraMorgan715glad to report developers are aware of everything and they love these characters more than us. So have no worries, ff7 remake was actually the best, characters and the world and story are incredible 👌
Replying to a 2-year-old comment here. ;) I have a feeling they're going to do a bait-and-switch on us in the remake. They're going to make you think you've saved her, but then it will turn out that because she (and Zack) lived, Sephiroth will end up winning. Then, in order to fix everything, she will send us back to that moment, and let it happen, ripping out and stomping on our hearts all over again.
This was very endearing to watch. Just watching this at 1:27 got me choked up. We all know that pain when that happened for the first time. And every time i replay the game i still cry here. When the remake comes to this part i will need to take like a week off work to pull myself back together.
amist the crying the "i dont wanna fight" kills me, this sad ass scene plays out with the music and everything and instead of combat music u just fight with it still playing.
I appreciate how this video was considerate towards those you don’t know about this scene yet :) Bothers me when people spoil significant moments like this and try to justify it with “it’s like 20 years old now, it’s not really a spoiler” like no, these are new fans that are new to the series!
Thanks! Yeah I think it's because the remake was coming out, and not knowing how it was going to shake out made me want to leave it ambiguous. This was a reaction video for people like me who wanna relive a big moment in gaming history through someone else
I didn't play the game until 11 years after it came out. But my best friend in high school had played it and told me about it. He even brought the CD or something in to school the next day after he played that part and showed me the cut scene. Even knowing about it ahead of time though, it doesn't lessen the impact at all. Hearing about it second hand versus actually going through it. When you've actually played the game all the way through at that point, and you're invested in her as a character, and you're invested in the story and in her personality as a person, since she's so sweet and innocent. And then you actually see and experience it firsthand finally, it's just as impactful as going in blind. Or it was for me.
Omg I so sorry, at first glance I though it said "My blind Girlfriend's reaction". What like, how does that work? I feel dumb. I loved her reaction though and glad she was able to see it.
I remember rwaching this scene..After that final boss batle, i save the game and went straight to bed. I didnt cry..but aerith death make me keep thinking about it..i just want to go to sleep and aint gonna believe that this scene happen.
I held it together until the “I don’t wanna fight” at the end….. totally felt that…. Brought me back to when I was 15 feeling that same thing. I didn’t want to fight either. Also wanted to add… it was nice to see a genuine reaction to this moment and not some faked bs.
I remember when I first experienced this. Days of sadness. Eventually replaced with amazing amounts of rage. While performing omnislash on Sephiroth in the final battle, I was screaming at the TV.
The first time I played this, I got to this moment having had omnislash and omnislash was ready to go. The sound of omnislash in the battle is cinematically perfect.
This game changed my life. When I was a kid, my first time playing I was like "I have to read all this? No thanks.." two years later I decided to give it a shot. And boy am I glad I played this game
The part that hurts more is when each other the characters pay their respects that are in your current party. One that hits me is when cait sith or TIfa paying their respects
It's always a gem when somebody doesn't know because it's the most memed spoiler for decades online. I had to keep my mouth shut for 3 months because I wasn't sure if a friend of mine knew about it or not, wasn't sure about his progress too. Unfortunately, he found out by accident at some point before it happened for him when I asked after he finished the game.
This is straight up why I hope there is a chance to to save her in ff7r. My younger self would not forgive me if there wasn’t. Maintain the original story but damn gotta save her at the same time
Yeah I agree with you but, I feel like you can’t tell the story of FFVII without Aerith being killed. It’s like telling the story of Christianity but Jesus is never crucified.
And I _just_ bought a new staff for her for when she comes back from the forest :( Man, the second playthrough with the loli Aeris flashback scene is gonna suuuck. "You hear voices don't you?" "NO I DON'T, THEY'RE LYING, MOMMY!"
