Four years after its initial release, Square Enix has patched Final Fantasy 7 Remake to amend one of Aerith's lines at the very end of the game.
The update comes ahead of the release of Rebirth later this week and additionally makes a change in Remake to Tifa's outfit seen in a certain flashback to ensure consistency across both games.
But why amend this specific line from Aerith? Fans are now debating, as spotted on ResetEra. The ending of Final Fantasy 7 Remake is discussed below.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Review – FF7 Rebirth Spoiler free review new gameplay
The amended line is right at the very end of Remake, after the party battles Sephiroth. We see the paths of Zack and Aerith cross, seemingly from different worlds or timelines, as rain begins to fall.
Aerith looks upwards and states: “I miss it… the steel sky.”
The steel sky in question is the plate the city of Midgar is built on, which the slums lie beneath. It's poetic, then, and calls back to an earlier line from Aerith that also references the steel sky. Furthermore, it parallels both the party and the player's journey – the adventure will continue in Rebirth, out in the open world and no longer beneath the “steel sky” of Midgar.
Except now that line has been changed to: “This sky…I don't like it.”
Ostensibly, the new line has the same purpose and has a similar meaning. Aerith still looks upwards and comments on the sky, after all.
One fan theory is this new line more closely references prequel Crisis Core. When Aerith meets Zack in that game, she says the sky frightens her due to her living in the slums most of her life. And, as mentioned, this line is spoken just after her path de ella crosses with Zack's as the rain falls-is this a memory that inspires her words de ella?
A more simpler explanation, though, is that the line has been amended simply to match the Japanese “Sora… kirai da”, which translates to “I hate this sky”.
The change is certainly less poetic, but is there a deeper meaning that relates to Rebirth – or beyond?
Fans won't have long to wait – Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is due out exclusively on PS5 on 29th February.
Until then, read our Eurogamer Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review: “an overstuffed but lovable re-imagining.”
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