The following contains spoilers forFinal Fantasy 7 RemakeandFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
As the industry continues to get bogged down by self-proclaimed remakes that are minimally remade and those that turn out to be little more than remasters, games likeFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeand its successor,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, stand tall as giants. It has now been five years since the release ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, the first entry in a trilogy aiming to reinvent the originalFinal Fantasy 7, and it set in stone not only what a video game remake could be, but also what its successors would be able to accomplish on account of its willingness to stretch itself beyond the confines of the original game.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s name is a bit of a double entendre, all things considered. Yes, it is the first of three entries dedicated to modernizingFinal Fantasy 7’s gameplay, visuals, and soundtrack, but it did something drastic that many might have seen as impossible beforehand: daring to reshape the original game’s story. In that way,Final Fantasy 7 Remakeis a true remake, as it introducesFinal Fantasy 7to a new generation of gamers with a fresh take on the original game’s story that still finds its roots there. Rather than making some of the biggest changes to the original game, however,Final Fantasy 7 Remakelargely facilitated changes five years ago thatFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthwould later capitalize on, even to the point of controversy.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Paved the Way for Rebirth to Change the Story
Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s Whispers Trivialized the Original Game’s Canon
WhileFinal Fantasy 7 Remakedid make some changes to the original game’s canon, many of them were minuscule in comparison to the Whispers.The Whispers inFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeare ethereal entities tasked with preserving the narrative events of the original game, and even intervening whenever characters deviated from the predetermined path of the 1997 classic. For example, when Sephiroth unexpectedly impales Barret in the game, the Whispers resurrect Barret in order to maintain continuity between the originalFinal Fantasy 7and theFinal Fantasy 7 Remaketrilogy.
With the inclusion of the Whispers,Final Fantasy 7 Remakewould ensure that the trilogy would remain faithful to the original game’s storyline, all while allowing it to explore new narrative directions, albeit temporarily. However, byFinal Fantasy 7 Remake’s ending, the protagonists confront the Whispers and ultimately overcome them, thereby freeing the rest of the trilogy to make some bold choices regardingFinal Fantasy 7canon. This would most directly impactFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthwhen it launched nearly four years later.
The concept, while innovative, has understandably frustrated longtimeFinal Fantasy 7fans, but the trilogy has chosen to remain faithful to the storytelling device, even intoFinal Fantasy 7 RemakePart 3.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Followed Suit With Altered Storylines
Since the Whispers were eliminated inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, reality was fragmented into multiple timelines — a wave thatFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthlater rode with the concept of divergent realities being central to its narrative, characters, and worldbuilding. In these new timelines, characters experience massively different destinies than they did in the original game.Zack Fair, for instance, who died in the original game’s story, is still alive in an alternate reality inFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Aerith is also presumed to still be alive in another timeline by the end ofFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth, despite having died in the original game.
In other words,Final Fantasy 7 Remaketook a bold leap of faith five years ago when it introduced the Whispers, and while it was ultimately the defeat of the Whispers that threatened the original game’s canon, had they not been introduced in the first place,Final Fantasy 7’s canon likely would have remained intact inside theFinal Fantasy 7 Remaketrilogy. Whether that decision is a “good” decision is dependent upon who is asked, but it’s impossible to deny how innovativeFinal Fantasy 7 Remakewas five years ago and still is today, and how it might influence future video game remakes.
