FFVII Rebirth Developers Discuss the Fate and Possible Death of Aerith

A new PlayStation Blog interview with the FFVII Rebirth Producer Yoshinori Kitase and Creative Director Tetsuya Nomura discussed the fate and death of Aerith in both the original Final Fantasy VII and remake. However, it also doesn’t explain what will happen to her in this retelling.

When Kitase discussed what will happen with Aerith in the second part of the remake trilogy, he noted it is “one of the most important themes.” In a following comment, he also said “it was essential to keep the majority of the elements from the original game.” However, he also noted that the Whispers and other elements are designed to “shake up” events.

Here is Kitase’s full statements in Sony’s PlayStation Blog regarding what may happen to Aerith in FFVII Rebirth.

Aerith’s fate is one of the most important themes in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s story. I really want people to play the game and feel it directly, so I will not say too much here, but when comparing this scene to how it was presented in the original, I am confident that the audience will feel a great breadth of emotion from the extra level of detail in how the characters are portrayed.

…As there are many fans of the series, I felt it was essential to keep the majority of the elements from the original game. On the other hand, if we simply followed along, keeping the story unchanged, it would only appeal to people’s nostalgia. We added the Whispers as a new element that could “shake up” the storyline and thus create a feeling of anticipation towards where things were going. I think that has already proved to be appealing to the fans.

As for Tetsuya Nomura’s comments, he was very straightforward about how anything he said could provide a hint as to whether or not we will see the death of Aerith again in FFVII Rebirth. So instead of directly addressing it, he expressed his desire to see people play and respond to events.

Whatever I say will give people a hint about what is going to happen, so this is very difficult to answer. Really, I can only say that I want players to experience what waits for them at the end of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and feel it for themselves rather than getting that second-hand. Different people will respond to it differently, but I think that they will want to pursue that feeling, whatever it is, and set out on their next journey soon.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will come to the PS5 on February 29, 2024, with the exclusivity arrangement ending on May 29, 2024. FFVII Remake is available for the PS4, PS5, and PC, and FFVII Ever Crisis is available on the PC and mobile devices.