You know it’s been 13 years since Final Fantasy VII came out on PlayStation and still one of the most significant things that I remember about the game is the now-classic scene of Sephiroth killing Aerith. I was playing the game with my friend from high school and we were both pretty shocked (he even cried). Seriously? Crying over a video game character’s death? If you weren’t around to play the game back then, I would highly recommend you check it out on PSN…though if you do I suppose I just spoiled a major part of the game for you, but you should experience it yourself before thinking it impossible to cry over a character’s death in a video game. Even I was saddened! Please note that if it’s your first time around with the title, it’s going to feel extremely outdated by today’s standards. If you go into it with an open mind, you’ll still find a pretty good game that contributed well to the industry. It’s actually one of the titles in gaming that might have been over-rated when it came out, but can’t be denied its significance.
This video was made by YouTube user MegaRanMusic and adds more fuel to my suggestion. I’d like to get your thoughts though, so I’ll break this question up a little more, since some readers might not have experienced Final Fantasy VII. If you’re old enough to have played the original when it came out, do you still put that killing moment as more impactful than any other hero/heroine/villain’s death in the last 13 years? If you’re a younger gamer who has no idea what I’m talking about, has any game character passing on made you (dare I say) cry? This should be interesting.
Bullshit. Nanako’s death scene from Persona 4 is way more signifigant.
I’m on the boat that says “Final Fantasy VII” had a lot of overrated aspects to it. But given some thought, it’s not hard to see why Aerith’s death is a victory in using video games for storytelling. It isn’t just like the movies because it also uses gameplay to its advantage. As you play, you often use her because she’s one of the few characters in the game whose attributes identifies her as a mage. She’s one of the first characters to join you. Hell, prior to the final moments of Disc 1, you were pretty much forced to use her. Even if you don’t cry when it comes to video games (I don’t, particularly), even just seeing the character select screen without her picture feels empty. It also used video game style music to effectively convey the scene. The emperor had his Imperial March. Jaws wouldn’t have been as creepy without that foreboding theme. Aerith’s death scene will likely burn her theme in the back of a gamer’s mind for the rest of their lives….even though, on reflection, her theme is kind of overwrought and corny.