Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is not the only game in the Final Fantasy 7 universe to be receiving a new title. The 25th anniversary broadcast also included the announcement of a remake of Crisis Core, a prequel starring Cloud’s friend Zack Fair, who is extremely important to the backstory and lore of the original Final Fantasy 7. The remake will be titled Crisis Core Reunion, possibly hinting at a reunion between either Cloud and Zack or Zack and his potential love interest Aerith. With so many new titles revealed, fans have quickly begun to speculate about the potential meaning of the Rebirth subtitle and what it could refer to in the upcoming game.
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Sephiroth Rebuilding His Body
Potentially the most literal interpretation of the title, Rebirth could easily refer to antagonist Sephiroth and his need to rebuild his physical body. Prior to the events of the original Final Fantasy 7, Sephiroth discovered the unethical experiments that the Shinra power company had been carrying out, including those related to his own birth and powers. These revelations led to Sephiroth rethinking his entire worldview, and ultimately going on a destructive rampage that left his body severely damaged. At the beginning of Final Fantasy 7, Sephiroth was barely clinging to life, sustained only by the power of the Lifestream. One of his primary goals throughout the game was to rebuild a working body for himself.
Ultimately, in the original game, Sephiroth succeeded in locating the cells of the alien organism Jenova, which had been used to alter his body in the first place. From these cells, he built himself a new physical form, with which he was able to confront Cloud during the final battle of Final Fantasy 7. However, changes made to the Remake timeline indicate that Sephiroth may be able to carry out this rebirth and reconstruct his body much earlier. Thus, Rebirth could signal the reappearance of a physical Sephiroth, able to challenge Cloud and his party more directly and serve as a much bigger threat in Part 2 of the remake.
Aerith Surviving Her Fate
One of the most memorable moments of the original Final Fantasy 7 is the death of Aerith Gainsborough, one of Cloud’s party members who journeys with him from the beginning of the game. Aerith is the last remaining descendant of an ancient race called the Cetra, which grants her both powerful magical abilities and the constant, unwanted attention of higher-ups from Shinra. She joins Cloud on his quest to hunt down Sephiroth, and can potentially develop feelings for him, although it is unknown how much of her feelings towards Cloud come from memories of her previous relationship with his friend Zack.
While attempting to use her Holy magic to stop Sephiroth from casting the dark magic Meteor, Aerith is killed by Sephiroth and her body and spirit both return to the planet’s Lifestream. If Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth plans to continue altering the original game’s story, one of the most dramatic ways to do so would be allowing Aerith to survive. She could successfully cast Holy and stop Sephiroth, averting her death entirely, or she could be killed and somehow reborn or resurrected using the Lifestream. Either of these options could easily relate to the subtitle Rebirth.
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Cloud Regaining His Sense of Self
Although he remains one of the Final Fantasy franchise’s most iconic protagonists, Cloud Strife is in fact a deeply conflicted individual who suffers from identity and memory issues relating to his guilt over the death of Zack. At the beginning of the game, many of the memories Cloud thinks he possesses, including his time in the SOLDIER program and his feelings of having met Aerith before, are actually Zack’s memories. It is only throughout the course of his journey alongside his companions and his hunt for Sephiroth that Cloud is able to establish any sort of identity or self. The presence of the subtitle Rebirth could indicate that the second part of the remake trilogy will focus on Cloud’s internal journey, and potentially mean that he is successful in establishing his identity once again.
The Renewal of the World and Lifestream
At the beginning of both Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake, much of the world is in a bad state. The massive city of Midgar is a miserable place to live, with only the richest and most powerful even able to afford to see the sky. The Lifestream is weakened, and its guardians - including Aerith’s ancestors and Red XIII’s species, among others - have been captured or destroyed entirely by the greedy, power-hungry Shinra. AVALANCHE, the resistance group which party members Barret and Tifa are a part of, is dedicated to opposing Shinra’s efforts and protecting the environment. It is possible that Rebirth refers not to the rebirth of a single individual, but instead of the entire world free from Shinra and Sephiroth’s clutches.
The Game’s Status as “Not a Remake”
To the surprise of fans, director Tetsuya Nomura was extremely insistent during the anniversary event that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth should not be thought of as simply a remake, and will in fact serve as a potential entry point for new Final Fantasy fans who have not previously played any other game in the expansive Final Fantasy 7 universe. In particular, Nomura noted that fans will not even have had to play the first part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which released in 2020 to general acclaim. If Nomura’s claims are true, it is possible that the title Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth refers to a rebirth not for any one character, or even the game’s world, but for the entire series.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will release in Winter 2023 for the PlayStation 5.
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