‘Complete surprises:’ FF7 Rebirth’s Aerith explained what’s shocked her most about the Rebirth trilogy
As the year comes to a close and we consider our contenders for Game of the Year, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is certainly on the shortlist. Despite game’s ending proving somewhat controversial, no one can say Rebirth isn’t one hell of a ride. I got so emotional that I screamed at Cloud through my TV.
Of course, the reason Rebirth felt so emotionally tense is because we were all waiting to see whether Aerith would share the same fate in the new trilogy that she suffered in the original 1997 game. Because the first installation, Final Fantasy VII Remake, introduced “Whispers” which show up at key moments in the narrative to “change fate,” what might become of Aerith was the question upon Rebirth‘s release.
The answer (or lack definitively thereof) to that question surprised players once Rebirth‘s credits starting rolling. But it turns out that it wasn’t only fans who were surprised—the voice actors were, too.
‘A total surprise’
Major spoilers ahead for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
In a recent interview with The Escapist, Aerith’s voice actor—Briana White—revealed that the cast recorded both Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth out of order. This tactic is sometimes used by studios on major projects as a safeguard against spoilers leaking out of recording sessions. As White puts it, developers change the order “to keep you guessing. Like, ‘Oh, what’s going to happen?’ ”
In Rebirth‘s case, though, the feeling White describes is almost comically similar to how players felt at the end of the game:
We all know because we played the original Final Fantasy VII that A happens, B happens, and then C happens. But sometimes in the game, they’ll do A happens, B happens, D happens… is C still going to happen? And then it does.
We all record completely out of order, for the most part. We’ll do sometimes like the main story, and then the side stuff, or, you know, we’ll do pickups of different scenes that weren’t ready yet for us. So, the order of things is completely fresh to me and a total surprise.
But also sometimes there are things that didn’t happen in the original Final Fantasy VII that the Whispers end up getting involved in, and those things are complete surprises to me.
Briana White, via The Escapist
In other words, the voice actors were just as in suspense as we were—just from a different perspective. Regardless how you might feel about how Rebirth treated Aerith’s death—too indefinite? too fast-moving? too multiverse-y?—I will never in my life forget how I felt making Cloud walk up to that platform where Aerith was praying. It’s one of the most singular moments I’ve experienced as a gamer. To hear that the Whispers surprise the voice actors, too, is almost a relief.
As players, we can assume that everyone on the inside of a game’s development knows exactly what’s going on. But even the voice actors are kept guessing. White was nominated for both a Golden Joystick and a Game Award for her performance in Rebirth, so she clearly knocked it out of the park with her performance.
Still, those creatives at Square Enix are sure cheeky.
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