Spoilers Tied to the Original Final Fantasy 7 Ahead

The arrival of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in just a few weeks stands as one of the most highly-anticipated moments of 2024's release calendar. The midpoint of the planned Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has to take Cloud and his companions out into the open world and establish how much of the story going into the third game will change. Central to this is an understanding of what Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth intends to cover as the second game.

Game ZXC recently had the opportunity to speak with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi and the legendary Yoshinori Kitase, original Final Fantasy 7 director and current Final Fantasy brand manager (among many other duties at Square Enix). During the conversation, we asked how the team settled on the ending point of FF7 Rebirth since there is no shortage of options, and he spoke about the previously announced decision to put Forgotten Capital at the end.

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The Forgotten Capital's Importance in Both FF7 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

The Forgotten Capital is one of the most important locations within the context of Final Fantasy 7's story as it's both the last remaining vestige of the once great Cetra civilization (otherwise known as the Ancients) as well as the site where Aerith makes her final prayer for Holy to stop the Black Materia's summoning of Meteor. It also happens to be the site of one of the most poignant and tragic deaths in video game history, where Sephiroth commits the heinous murder of Aerith and jumpstarts Cloud's descent into madness.

Given the importance of the location in terms of how it impacts the larger narrative of Final Fantasy 7, it's understandable for fans to wonder how Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will approach this iconic moment and location. Especially considering how the existence of Whispers in the FF7 Remake timeline presents the capacity for canon events to change dramatically, the biggest question on everyone's minds heading into Rebirth is likely something to do with the fate of Aerith, and it's also something Kitase and the team behind Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are choosing to address head-on.

[W]e felt that it was necessary for the ending of Rebirth to serve as the most dramatic part and as the story's climax of Final Fantasy 7. There were many discussions to decide this, and we thought that ending at that point would be the most effective way for people to wonder and want to play the next title as well. For original players of Final Fantasy 7 as well, I think this is the area that people most wonder about, so we felt that made it the most appropriate ending point of Rebirth.

Further, Kitase mentions that the team wanted to have the ending to Rebirth be something that left off on a cliffhanger and kept players wondering and speculating about what might happen in the final installment of the trilogy. Ultimately, he's not wrong that longtime fans of Final Fantasy 7 are heading into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have the question of Aerith's fate lingering over them, leading Kitase and the team to feel that concluding at the Forgotten Capital "made it the most appropriate ending point of Rebirth."