Multiple Endings in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
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What Redditors are SayingAre There Multiple Endings in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth?
TL;DR
There is no confirmation of multiple endings for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The narrative seems to focus on a singular storyline with potential variations based on character relationships or minor plot differences, but not divergent endings 
[1:1][1:2].
Narrative Structure and Trilogy Format
The consensus among commenters is that having multiple endings in the middle game of a trilogy would be narratively complex and potentially problematic [1:2]. Typically, Final Fantasy games have one fixed ending, with few exceptions where alternate endings are non-canon or cosmetic [3:2][3:3]. The developers appear to be telling a specific story despite changes to the original narrative [1:4].
Speculation on Plot Changes
While there are significant deviations from the original game's plot, many speculate that these changes serve to enhance the emotional impact rather than alter the ultimate outcome [2:2][2:3]. Some theories suggest that the alterations may lead to different paths within the same overarching storyline rather than entirely separate endings [2:5][4:5].
Themes of Grief and Denial
The narrative of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth explores themes of grief and denial, particularly through Cloud's character arc [5]. The ending has been described as confusing and polarizing, reflecting the complexities of dealing with loss [5:1][5:2]. This thematic exploration suggests a deeper emotional journey rather than multiple narrative outcomes.
Multiverse and Lifestream Concepts
Some discussions propose multiverse theories or different paths within the lifestream as explanations for the narrative changes [4:5][4:7]. However, these are speculative and not confirmed by the game developers. The concept of multiverses or alternate dimensions might be used to enrich the storytelling rather than create distinct endings [4:12].
In summary, while Final Fantasy VII Rebirth introduces narrative changes and thematic depth, it is unlikely to feature multiple endings. The focus appears to be on a singular, albeit complex, storyline with potential minor variations.
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POST SUMMARY • [1]Summarize
Will FF7 Rebirth feature multiple endings?
Posted by Detective_Joker · in r/FinalFantasy · 2 years ago
ORIGINAL POSTI dont know how to feel about FF7 Remake's slight changes, but i find them interesting. I really do hope FF7 Rebirth gets multiple endings based on player's choice but idk if any FF games has ever done that before (since im still kinda new with FF games until i find ways to play older FF titles via emulators or something). But hey multiple endings worked for Square IPs b4 (like Nier and Drakengard), so im really interested to see how Rebirth would handle it, if they would. Until any further detail is shared, i guess wanting multiple endings in a FF remake game is huge copium
No chance at all of multiple endings in the middle game of a trilogy. That would be a narrative disaster.
The only way I see it having multiple endings is if there are only minor differences. Maybe the relationship you have with some characters affect a scene it or something.
Having multiple endings in the middle of a trilogy where the outcome is different just doesn't make much sense.
I guess they could also do something like XIII-2's paradox endings where they are just "what ifs" and there's just one canon ending. But I don't see why they would do that.
> and there's just one canon ending. But I don't see why they would do that.
that sounds a lot like how Drakengard and Nier does things tbh
I highly doubt it. Despite changes to the narrative it seems like thet still have a specific story they are telling.
I hope not. Commit or don’t at all, you cowards!!
No
r/FinalFantasyVII • [2]Summarize
Speculation about the ending of Rebirth and opportunities in the next one
Posted by Evisteron · in r/FinalFantasyVII · 5 months agoI just finished Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PC - and I have thoughts.
First of all - the way the edited the big thing, it was clear they were messing with me. They did multiple edits that seemed design to provide hope that they changed the outcome, like having Cloud parry the strike from above, but then - nope, didn't work. The outcome is unchanged. Also, the playful editing, while cute, undercut the emotional impact of the event, for sure.
This is ultimately appropriate, but a bit cheap, and it cheapens the impact of that scene compared to the original. I was there all those years ago... It was a big deal when the only healer in my entire party was murdered, pointlessly, by Sephiroth. The decision to do that had the intended impact. It was emotional, and then the followup with Cloud releasing her to the water, was also impactful. They skipped that here, so they could allow the character moment to be the central driving character arc for the third game - I agree they needed to do that, but it did cause a fumble here at the end, IMHO.
BUT - there is a bunch of added stuff, the Zack things in particular, and that's the interesting stuff. There's been some rumors that the FF7R team is gong to add a bunch of content in the third installment, which will be "optional." This could mean "multiple endings." Since the Zack stuff, which I assume is all happening inside the life stream, isn't in the original, and they added all the fates stuff, I assume they have left themselves the option (but not the guarantee, as they warned at the end of FF7 Rebirth) that they can change things about the narrative. There's also the very strong possibility, that they simply kept Aerith around in that form, so they can still use the model and make her more of a personified presence after her death than she was in the original (I think that would be a mistake, her absence made it feel like a loss, you know?) There also seemed to be a plan in play in the first game - Aerith seemed to know about the original events, before the fates took her memories (which they mentioned a bunch in Rebirth.) There are roads left unblocked here. There was also all this stuff about multiple worlds, almost even redefining "reunion" as more than just the re-assembly of Jonova - I don't think any of that was in the original (it's been decades.)
(BTW, the next game will probably be called "Final Fantasy Reunion" - NOT Reborn, which is too close to "Rebirth." The word "Reunion" has a lot of meanings here, the reassembly of Jenova, the merging of worlds, and potentially, saving and reuniting with Aerith - and the Japanese love that kind of thing, given Nihongo's percent for homonyms.)
Back in the 90s, there were a lot of rumors (which it turns out were unfounded) - or maybe desires - that there were cut plans to add alternative endings to FF7, where you can find a way to save Aerith. If they stick to the original intent closely, they will NOT make a way to do that. And the remakers have shown themselves willing to use manipulative editing to double down on the original narrative, while trying to impart a sense of surprise to an old story. They may well stick with this formula. That could explain why they had Zack's hopeful plea for Cloud to "save Aerith" - something which again, wasn't in the original. They could be using that plea as a misdirect, but this would be disappointing.
I really hope they don't do that. I really hope they add at least, and alternative, optional ending, where you can actually save Aerith - and the planet. The original ending was disappointing in more ways than one (similar to FF XVI actually.) You know, not all Final Fantasy games have disappointing endings, I don't know why that has become a staple. Anyway. I've waited nearly 30 years for a way to save Aerith! Give this fan what he wants!
They made a bold decision to alter the scene in a way to truly immerse the player into Cloud’s fractured mind state- and to have people ponder many things- did Cloud blocking that sword create a new lifestream world where Aerith did survive? Was it all in Cloud’s head? Is Jenova taking the form of Aerith in Cloud’s mind? Is the Aerith Cloud is seeing in the final scene real, from the lifestream, or a Jenova fragment?! I think in that sense, it’s actually very well done, and provides more emotional impact than if the scene was exactly the same. It makes you ponder and think about it long after the game is over. The real kick is whether the decision to alter the scene this way will work out or not in the third game.
However, I do agree if this was not just the middle chapter of the story, and this was the only version of the scene we were going to get, it would’ve ruined the emotional payoff. But I trust that the developers are saving the real gut punch for Cloud’s lifestream sequence, which will now also involve him remembering the moment Aerith died, his agonizing speech holding her lifeless body, and the burial scene (which the game hints that during the ending and the credits still happened). It will now be tied to Cloud’s character arc of finding his true self that was part of the original game. Which has the potential to have much more impact, if done right. Unfortunately it sacrificed us seeing this moment now. I can understand people don’t see the vision and are pissed off about that. But I have faith that the developers know what they’re doing and have thought a lot about this before making this decision. We will see how it pays off.
I do think the name of the third game is going to be called Reclaim. There are a lot of reasons why this makes sense thematically. Sephiroth uses the term “reclaiming our world,” several times in the Remake series in regards to Jenova and his perceived birthright. The planet is going to attempt to “reclaim itself,” from Shinra and Sephiroth by summoning the Weapons. And of course, the most important reason, Cloud “reclaiming,” his true self after the lifestream sequence, and us finding the real Cloud. And then, there’s the idea of our party, and the planet and the lifestream, “reclaiming themselves,” from fate, or the idea of a fixed destiny, whatever that may be.
It would just be a little disappointing if they spent all this effort on this fate stuff, then didn't let you actually change anyone's fate. I can make some arguments for and against that - it would just be disappointing. If they really wanted to just retell the original story, then I would have preferred they do that straight.
I do think they are going to change fate at the end of the game. I think remake and rebirth have several plot points that deviate significantly from the original game. I don’t really get why people think that the ending is going to be exactly the same or that fate “won’t be changed,” simply because a lot of core plot points from the original are the same. Given that it’s a huge plot point of these new games to change fate, and the way the original ended was ambiguous, sometimes interpreted to be a bad ending (Red XIII literally implies the original game’s ending was bad in the whisper harbinger fight), I believe that these changes will manifest in significant differences at the end.
Multiple endings is the absolute worst thing they could do to themselves narratively.
I think we are going to see the 1-1 remake version of aerith death in part 3 as a flashback (that is so nomura)
And my bet is Rebuild as a name
I don’t think they’re gonna go with Reunion because they used it for Crisis Core but I think it would’ve been the best choice
Whenever a JRPG has multiple endings, there's usually one canon ending, which makes all other endings kind of pointless.
Also, I feel like the hope of saving Aerith is misplaced. The whole reason why Aerith in Remake had knowledge of the future was because her future self dies and is communicating back through time. Sephiroth is doing something similar because he also dies in the future. Sephiroth and Aerith's deaths are predetermined.
But another crucial detail: Sephiroth wants to become immortal through merging all worlds. Aerith does not want this. She is fighting against the one thing that could possibly save her.
A reunion with Aerith will probably more spiritual in vibe.
r/FinalFantasy • [3]Summarize
Do Final Fantasy Games Have Multiple Endings?
Posted by JustA-Wanderer · in r/FinalFantasy · 4 years agoCan you write it down as a list without giving any spoilers? Like:
Final Fantasy VII - One ending
Final Fantasy X- One ending
Thank You
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong about any of these:
- FFI: One ending
- FFII: One ending
- FFIII: One ending
- FFIV: One ending
- FFV: Multiple, but not really (essentially just a cosmetic difference)
- FFVI: One ending (length changes depending on how many party members you recruited)
- FFVII: One ending
- FFVIII: One ending
- FFIX: One ending
- FFX: One ending
- FFX-2: Two "main" endings, plus a bonus third ending (in the form of a post-credits scene after the "good" ending) if you get 100% completion
- FFXII: One ending
- FFXIII: One ending
- FFXIII-2: One "main" ending; multiple non-canon "paradox" endings
- LR:FFXIII: One ending (I think)
- FFXV: One ending for main game, plus one of the DLC's (Episode Ignis) has a choice in it that can lead to an alternate ending for the game
- FFVIIR: One ending
Generally FF games have one fixed ending, I'll try to think of the exceptions
FF6 - Not really any difference in the ending, just a minor difference in the credits depending who you didn't recruit.
FF10-2 - There is a true ending here and at least one other ending.
Dirge of Cerberus - There's an extra optional scene in the ending that makes it the true ending.
Lightning Returns - Once again, more than one ending with one being the real ending.
That's all I can think of, there may be some other spin-offs.
> Lightning Returns - Once again, more than one ending with one being the real ending.
You're thinking of XIII-2, LR only has 1 ending
I'm sure there's a fake ending and then the real one and then an extra scene. I went for the extra scene on my playthrough so I can't really say what the fake one is.
15 has like, 2.5:
The main ending
An alternate non-canon ending in one of the DLCs
Another non-canon DLC ending that was cancelled, then made available as a novel.
Pretty positive they made the novella ending the canon one
Ignis ending best ending
X-2 has multiple endings
It took me many years to realize X-2 had a great ending too I only got the good ending. Was so awesome to play it so much time later to get the best ending. Never bothered with the other possibilities tbh, just really wanted to see the best end movie.
FFV - depend on who survived the final battle, the ending cutscenes will be different.
FFXIII-2 - Has different Paradox Ending, but you don't need to defeat the final boss multiple times to get each ending. The player only need to choose different dialogue option during certain scene or fight bosses after activating an exploration ability ( or Paradox Scope fragment skill ) .
r/FFVIIRemake • [4]Summarize
Rebirth ending
Posted by jackblackbackinthesa · in r/FFVIIRemake · 6 months agoOkay I know I’m late to the party here but I just beat the game. Can someone help me understand the ffvii rebirth ending. I do not understand the purpose of the whispers if they were going to kill her and give her the obiwan treatment. Like what is the point of a story arch about diverging from the original, if they’re not going to diverge from the original.
I just finished it last night and while I loved the game, the multiverse stuff sucks and takes it from a high 8 or 9 to a flat 7.
Sephiroth can travel and communicate between dimensions. In some universes, it seems Aerith survives and in others, she dies. I guess she dies in our universe, but her "force ghost" lives on, at least for a moment. I initially thought it could be cool for her to show up occasionally, a la the Joke in Arkham Knight. On thinking about it more, I realized it would only cheapen her death, more than they already did with the ending to Rebirth.
Frankly, I'm much less anticipatory for part 3 now. I'll play it.
But it seems like the writers really thought they were being meta and clever, when in fact they just wrote a really shitty take on a classic story that was already great on its own.
I think we are being convinced it's a multiverse, but it's not. The multiverse aspect is different paths of the lifestream, showing us this is the way it has to be. We are seeing clouds perspective of events. Aeris isn't there for anyone else. She's not a force ghost. Cloud hasn't come to terms with what's happened. Like the original, and the remakes, sephiroth and the story itself push against the fourth wall to convince the party, and you, the player, to do his bidding.
Yea I agree with you, I’m not convinced that the outcome is following multiple frames of the multiverse at this time, (though almost surely comatose cloud and aerith were a different branch) but what sephiroth describes when cloud is going through the wormhole is definitely congruent with a multiverse.
It's not a multiverse, That would imply there's more than one planet/life stream..Sephiroth explains this isn't the case in the end. "The planet (singular) encompasses a multitude of worlds". NPCs in Cosmo Canyon hint at it too. Too much to type out, watch this video, my favorite so far.
No matter what you see here in the comments, nothing will actually be the right explanation, they left it very ambiguous. Purposely always having something to contradict the other theory , wait for part 3, but my guess is that we see 2 dimensions, alive and dead And the reality is that we don't know which world we really saved, because every camera cut at the end it was a transition between worlds sometimes, especially in the last CGI, it's a Frankenstein of a world
Here to help: https://www.reddit.com/r/ff7/s/CF36hNn3Kw
I think there are better theories out there than this one in regards to Aerith is alive in some world. This one felt a little too convoluted with the game straight up lying to us basically.
I'm not so sure about that. First, Aerith needs to be dead at this point in time for both Sephiroth's Plan to succeed and for the Planet's ultimate survival. Second, for the last CGI, I don't think we're seeing two worlds at all. Aerith lives on in the lifestream, and the physical Aerith we see is just her I guess "presence" watching over everyone (Advent Children used water for this until the very end). Cloud isn't experiencing any merged timelines or anything, he's going crazy/full Jenova. Aerith is dead, and Cloud is in a kind of stress based denial, further influenced by the Jenova cells in him that have been influencing his perception and shaping him into a half remembered version of Zack since Remake. Nobody's contradicting him because they think it's the soldier degradation like Roche (they are correct, but it's Jenova's doing, not Mako exposure). Aerith is present in spirit, so Cloud isn't technically hallucinating, but he's also the only one that can actually see her.
Although I understand this line of thought, I don't believe it's all in Cloud's head. Of the theories he has, this is the one that runs over many things presented in the trilogy, being more supported only by OG. I made a comment that should be down there in this post but what must be going on is these multi dimensions with lifestream being both theories half true . In the end the remake trilogy would be Cloud's promised land or him in search of it, just like the 2 games the third part will follow the same with the ending if it's similar to the OG, completely changing perception, being ambiguous and direct at the same time.It won't be the same as what AC leads to, as mentioned in the remake, and what they want to avoid.The hints in other media make it seem like the remake is a continuation of the MFF x FF7 collab. There's also this rainbow thing there. And it ends up showing Cloud going to a "new" place after Sephiroth left first, I recommend everyone to watch or play it, it explains a lot of confusing things in the remake (like the memories of the OG).
I mean the fact that she's still there even in spirit is a huge divergence from the original. That means she's way stronger than she was during the original game because they never felt her presence until the final moments of the original game and Cloud couldn't see her till Advent Children, two years after the events of FF7.
I think they are going to show more of Aerith's actual struggle within the Life Stream to quell Sephiroth's corruption, her dying was unavoidable because Cetra are the only ones who can fight that battle.
Having just did CH 12 a few times for platinum, I'm now convinced Cait Sith tells us the answer during his commentary during the Loveless play.
I highly doubt they are just going to follow the OG with all the hints given to us. The most prevalent theory is cloud is in denial and is schizo but I feel that completely ignores everything the game shows us.
Like why are Zach’s last words to cloud asking him to save Aerith? Including that line but just saying “he didn’t know” is dumb, clearly the writers are trying to tell us her fate is still not sealed, and cloud has some say in it.
I think this post explains a lot of what we see the best. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the ultimate reason Aerith lives or dies is up to her. As of now she is resigning herself to “fate” in order to win, but Cloud expresses multiple times that he wants a say in the future.
r/GirlGamers • [5]Summarize
FF7 Rebirth is a Wonderful Exploration of the Complexities of Grief (Spoiler Warning)
Posted by xd3v1lry · in r/GirlGamers · 1 year agoCW: Death
Now that I've sat on Rebirth's incredibly confusing and polarizing ending for a while and listened to the many discussions trying to make sense of it (I especially recommend this one with NicoB and Maximillian Dood), I think that I really like the direction they've taken it. In the original game, Cloud seemed to come to terms with Aerith's death far too quickly, but denial is a huge part of the initial stages of grief. Someone said that the confusing ending mirrors the reaction of fans of the OG game back when reliable information on the internet was scarce, and there were tons of rumors about secret tricks to bring Aerith back. In many ways, it took many fans a lot longer to accept Aerith's death, especially because of how sudden and unexpected it was, than it took Cloud.
Now, you add in the further complexities of ideas about fate and what it means to have a proper "death." Lots of people complained that they were robbed of the emotional impact of Aerith's death in Rebirth because it was so confusing. But I think that there is simply no way to replicate the emotional impact of the original game, especially given that "Will Aerith die?" was the big question on everyone's mind from the moment we realized Remake was not a faithful retelling of the original story. I think the confusion IS the emotional impact, and it is a legitimate manifestation of grief. Closure does not always come easily. In a genre full of narratives about defying fate, it's really interesting that in FF7R, fate does not refer to the will of the Gods but the canon itself, co-created by the game developers and the way it has lived on in the imaginaries of fans. It is a trajectory of normativity, an idea of *how things should be.* This version of fate is not so easily defied, and not everyone *wants* it to be defied in the first place. It's such a meta commentary on the cliche of defying fate in so many RPGs, where one could almost say that defying fate *is* the most typical fate of a JRPG protagonist.
Furthermore, the fact that Aerith was denied a proper "death" in this game resonates with how subjugated minorities can also be denied proper deaths in the real world. In the OG game, the act of Cloud dropping Aerith's body into the bottom of the pool represented the closure afforded by a proper funeral. But not everyone is fortunate enough to get something like this. I'm thinking of the many South Americans who disappeared suddenly and have never been found due to the political instability of the region as a result of US foreign intervention, or the many gay men who died during the AIDs crisis in the 1980s, or the families of trans youth that took their lives who refuse to honor them and insist on holding a funeral with their deadnames. In such cases, it's almost impossible to indulge in a romanticized narrative of "defying fate."
It seems really painful that we're gonna have to wait another 3-4 years for the final game in the trilogy to receive proper closure, but hey, at least we know it's coming in 3-4 years. Many people don't even have that luxury.
Anyway, I've been listening to "No Promises to Keep" on repeat (if you didn't know, there's a full version with expanded lyrics). I'd love to know if the ending impacted anyone else so deeply as well!
They got me really good with the ending, like I cried in relief because they make you think Cloud saved her at first, which made it that much worse when you realize he didn't. Then the music for the first part of the boss battle and the way all the other party members have full limit gauges because they're so upset. I literally had to pause my game because I had tears to the point I couldn't see what I was doing.
I honestly thought Cloud's behavior made the ending that much sadder and more impactful, especially compared to how miserable everyone else in the party is. It just hammered home the point that he is super mentally unwell and getting worse, it's really sad. It doesn't bode well for him for the next game.
(Also, as a side note, speaking of grief and this game, people's individual trials. Especially Aerith's. I was a wreck after those, lol.)
Tbh, the fact that you cried so quickly meant you were quick to accept it at some level, and that's actually pretty amazing.
For me, I really had to sit on it for quite a while. Especially since we saw Aerith fight with Cloud in that final battle! Maximilian Dood's theory is it was omni-Aerith who helped Cloud in that fight. Although she was able to save Cloud from becoming completely broken and made into a puppet by Sephiroth, however, Sephiroth realized that it made Cloud think prime Aerith was still alive, which he could use to his advantage, which was such a 🤯🤯🤯 idea
I mean. The weird rainbow stuff was around her so who knows what will happen with her in part 3, but Aerith as we know her in this game is gone I think. The impact that had on the sane members of the party was just heartbreaking.
I'm pretty open to whatever they do in part 3, I've really enjoyed the story so far. I'll admit. I'm a big fan of Final Fantasy in general, but I have never managed to play all the way through the OG 7. I don't like turn based battle and something about that style of graphics from games that came out around that time messes with my eyes to the point that I have a hard time seeing what is going on. So I don't have the attachment to the original story that some fans have. But I am really loving the current version and I can't wait to play part three.
r/FFVIIRemake • [6]Summarize
Just beat the Rebirth, thoughts about ending
Posted by Ray-Zide · in r/FFVIIRemake · 1 month agoJust to start off I've never played the original
I'm sure this isn't the hottest take but does anyone else have mixed feeling on the ending sequence? I was fine with the Zack dragged into alternate timeline/afterlife part and excited to see what they were gonna do with it but once it started doing the All Possibilities it kind of lost any stakes or tension.
The worst part I have with it is during Aerith's death where I felt nothing since I just assumed the Saving her/blood on hand/another timeline where theres blood on his mouth instead and swapping between them were all just possibilities so I felt nothing during what should have been the most impactful moment in the game.
By the end I just went "oh they did kill her off I guess" when she didn't get on the plane and barely cared despite her being my favourite character because the whole sequence lacked clarity. Only after looking it up did I realise saving her was one of Cloud's delusions since they mixed it in with all the multiple timeline stuff.
The game is great overall but they botched the Aerith death scene badly by trying to confuse the player instead of letting them feel the moment.
Having also played original, agree. I do think it’s interesting to have cloud come out confused / delusional on the other end of it, but the execution during the event itself was clunky. Here’s hoping they nail an emotional pay off in the next game, but still weird to remove it from where it rightfully belonged.
I think they were trying too hard to take us through an emotional roller coaster of thinking we saved her then realizing we didn’t only to think we may have saved her again when she’ keeps appearing, it’s cheap storytelling IMO.
Essentially they tried to replicate the shock factor of the death scene in the original by giving us a “twist” because rightfully they understood the moment is too iconic for anyone to be surprised/shocked by her death in the remake. They should have ignored shocking us and focused on maximizing the emotional feelings Aeriths death would still remain in the remake such as sadness/grief/anger/denial etc
They should have just had her die normally and let us be mournful over losing a cherished character and it would have hit so much harder.
I kinda liked that Cloud losing his mind. It's a bit ambiguous but it sets up the next game well. You can feel the emotion how everyone is upset and Cloud is just delusional.
The whole Zack and Aerith alive in another timeline is a wildcard element and it's hard to tell what will happen next. But people will be upset if Aerith lives or dies. So there is no way they can please the playerbase.
My theory is that the "other timeline" is actually just Cloud's subconscious and it's just trying to show him what the world would be like if Zack and Aerith didn't die... like, their sacrifices weren't in vain because they were necessary to lead to him dealing with his issues with Tifa later on. In that world they obviously failed since it's about to end.
It's pretty obvious to me especially you look at the final fight with Cloud and Zack versus Bizarro Sephiroth. The scenes keep moving between them fighting the same person, they're doing the same thing with holding their swords during their little Soldier chant, and no one else ever is there to see Zack when they're fighting Sephiroth "together." It's himself and Zack's memories subconsciously working together to deal with his potential identity crisis.
Also, I don't think the fanbase will be unhappy if Aerith is dead. I think people want that like the original.
That's an interesting theory I kinda like it. I think some fans want Aerith to live. I am sure a lot do want the same death though. But I am interested to see what they do with it.
All I can say about the Aerith stuff is that I completely agree with you. I felt absolutely nothing. They made it so convoluted and overwrought that it stripped away any possibility of garnering an emotional response out of me.
My son, who knows nothing of the story, that I've been playing through the remakes with, also had zero response to it, simply because of how unclear everything is.
By contrast after we finished Rebirth we played through Disc 1 of the OG and that scene hit us both like a truck, just like it hit me the same way 4000 years ago when I played for the first time.
I know this sub will downvote me into the pit for this comment, but I really think they botched that ending, and it was the ONE thing they absolutely should not have botched, but it was expected after seeing what they did to the other emotionally challenging scenes from this part of the story.
Even if it 100% makes sense, they explain everything, and in hindsight it ends up being brilliant, that's not the point. The point of that scene is purely emotional and shouldn't have been used as a vehicle for more convoluted JRPG nonsense, and I love convoluted JRPG nonsense. My favorite JRPG is a goddamn mess of convoluted nonsense (Xenogears).
It being unclear is the point. If, per chance, she actually *is* saved by the end of part 3, then you aren't *supposed* to have the same emotional reaction to it.
Again, everyone is jumping to conclusions when there's still a game yet to come. We don't yet know just how different things will be at the end, and we don't yet know what the point of all the new stuff is. The only thing we know for sure is that they left her "death" open-ended, and they did it intentionally.
Huh, I thought because of the timeline chicanery Sepheroth was pulling with the Whispers and stuff that Aerith was put into a Schrodinger quantum state where she is both dead and alive but only Cloud can see her because of his connection with Sephiroth and Zack.
This is entirely possible. Cloud seeing the Rift in the sky while no one else can was put in the ending for a reason.
Maybe but by showing it to us first from Clouds brain damaged point of view it will cheapen the affect of showing it normally in part 3 even if they do. It was supposed to be the biggest moment of this game not the next one which has the whole conclusion as a climax.
>By the end I just went "oh they did kill her off I guess" when she didn't get on the plane and barely cared despite her being my favourite character because the whole sequence lacked clarity. Only after looking it up did I realise saving her was one of Cloud's delusions since they mixed it in with all the multiple timeline stuff.
This isn't clear yet, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The visual effects surrounding her death/Cloud saving her plays along with Sephiroth's dialogue about new worlds being born when the boundaries of destiny are breached. It's possible that Cloud did save her, breaking destiny and creating two divergent worlds. We're then pulled back into the world where Cloud failed, but that doesn't mean he world where he did save her is fake.
The devs intentionally made this moment vague. And they allude to multiple interpretations in the Ultimania.
The Ultmania also says names 3 mysteries that are meant to be left open by the ending.
- Is Aerith alive or dead?
- Where is Zack now? (His final scene gives no indication of what world he is in.)
- What is Sephiroth's real plan?
Also important to note here that Zack's quest hasn't ended. His goal is still to save Cloud and Aerith. And he quite openly says at the ending "Who says worlds can't meet again?"
r/FFVIIRemake • [7]Summarize
If you are struggling to understand the game's story, do a second playthrough
Posted by Korr4K · in r/FFVIIRemake · 4 months agoI don't own a PS5, and refused to play the PS4 version, so I had to follow a complete playthrough years ago on YouTube. My first reaction at the end of the game was that the developer intentionally made the story unclear and overcomplicated just for the sake of it. What is going on with Cloud? What is happening at the end? What are these "worlds"?...
With the PC release of Rebirth, I was able to do a proper second playthrough and things make much more sense when you already know what to look for and what is going to happen next. Many details that at first can be dismissed become much easier to spot.
All in all, I would say that the game is actually pretty linear and consistent, and that I was able to answer most of the questions I had years ago. I would also recommend reading the various Ultimania and comments left by the devs because it becomes apparent from their answers how we tend to overcomplicate things
No way I'm suffering through that combat again xd
I'll suffer it once more whenever part 3 will come out, that will hopedully explain everything. Suffering it twice or thrice if I would need to Play through remake too? No way
Yea... 100 hours to complete the game were a lot
** To complete the side content.
You can complete the main story in far less time (just like many other games out there).
Can't fault the game if you have this need to 100% things but don't like it. If you don't like it, don't 100% it.
Like A Dragon has such cheap, mostly shit side quests that I gave up on 100%ing it. Stellar Blade too. Dying Light 2 too. I don't feel bad about that. Just is what it is but at least glad that, like Remake, I could still complete the main quest and then come back to the side quests any time I wanted in the future.
I think your mistake was not playing the game. For what reason did you refuse to buy the PS4 version?
I got Remake PS4 because I didn't know how long it would take for the PC port to come out, which happened surprisingly very fast so for Rebirth I decided to wait. I abandoned my PS4 long ago for PC gaming, so that was the main reason
I think part of it is that we don't see the story through til the end since we're waiting on the last game. Until that game comes out and gives more context for the story as a whole, it can feel like things are unresolved or unexplained in the moment. But then again, if you read halfway through a book and stopped, you would also expect to have questions and unresolved points that make no sense.
That being said, there's a lot in there that seems to make it pretty clear if you step back and consider the bigger picture of what has been explained so far. Just a few questions remain to wrap it up.
A lot of the personal bias comes from an existing place: the original game. People love that game, and they wanted that game again, so any hints at change scares them. Especially when they don't know what could change, or how well it will be done. They know the original is good; there is no fear of the unknown with that.
Well... except for the shippers. Their own bias is absolutely self-imposed brainwashing. Wanting it to go one way or the other just for whomever Cloud ends up with is dumb, especially when they want a specific character dead just for that reason.
Just curious. The game originally launched on PS4. Why did you refuse to play it?
I had switched to PC gaming and I haven't used my PS4 since many, many years ago. The port for Remake (and the rest) was pretty fast compared to many other console titles so I decided to wait. I really liked Remake so I wanted to experience Rebirth with my best setup and not an "old" PS4
Rebirth wasn’t released on PS4…
Yeah most of the complaints are people who are just too lazy to read beyond their distaste for the re trilogy as a whole
People upset a death they knew was coming was ruined by pesky plot.
r/FF7Rebirth • [8]Summarize
Finished the game after 168 hours
Posted by greenmachinefiend · in r/FF7Rebirth · 3 months agoI started playing this game in January right after finishing Remake Intergrade and I tried to hit every side quest and protorelic activity that I could before moving on to the next areas. Last night I finally beat it and I just want to air my thoughts as precisely and succinctly as I can. I genuinely love Final Fantasy as a franchise and have ever since I watched my brother play the first NES game back in 1994. My brother, cousin and I spent the entire summer of 1998 playing FF7 (although we never beat it, but I do remember we got far enough to challenge the weapons). Later on in my early adulthood I would go on to play and finish FFX, FFX2 and FFXII and then I eventually circled back to play all the way through FFV and FFVII. So all that is to say, I have a deep love and nostalgic connection to Final Fantasy and FFVII in particular.
As far as FF7Rb goes, I'm very conflicted on how I feel overall. On the one hand I love this game for it's special moments, like when Yuffie sings to you about how bored she is or the moment on the beach with Aerith, but on the other hand I feel like a lot of the tedium dragged the experience down a few notches for me. I get the argument that you don't have to do all of the sidequests, but I don't really agree with that because if you don't do all the side stuff, you miss out on important story beats. To me it's like, why even play the game if you are going to just ignore a huge percentage of the content? Especially when a lot of it expands character arcs and has rewards that affect the rest of the gameplay.
I liked a lot of the mini games, but I would have preferred much of them to be cut in favor of side dungeons. So, for example, the Fort Condor one was fine (although I don't understand why they changed it from Intergrade and made it worse IMO) but why did we need Gears and Gambits too when it was essentially the same kind of game? I liked Cactuar Crush because it was a combat based mini game and I really loved Queensblood, the Chocobo Racing was fine although it felt to me like playing a less fun version of Mario Kart. The rest of the mini games were one and done for me, like the Red XIII one and pretty much all the ones at Gold Saucer. I really disliked the Moogle gathering one, but again, I felt compelled to do it anyways because of all the useful items walled behind the moogle store. I share the sentiment that many people had where we seemed to be bombarded by mini games at Costa Del Sol and then Gold Saucer which, for me, made that part of the game really hard to get through.
I loved the characters and the way everyone was expanded on. I love Yuffie, Barret, Zach, Tifa, Cloud and especially Aerith and I deeply loved the combat, especially the synergy abilities. I took me a long time to get the hang of Remake/Rebirths combat and I still don't feel like I fully grasp everything, but I greatly enjoy it. I feel like I do want to return for hard mode and keep exploring the different combat play styles and eventually do all the content at Gilgamesh island. I don't think I will go for platinum trophy, but I'm definitely not ready to leave this world yet just because I finished the story.
The last thing I want to mention is Aeriths death sequence. I am not a fan of the "multiverse" gimmick and I feel like it sanitized this whole sequence. So for example, one of the most hard hitting lines in the original game was completely omitted. This is the line I'm referring to:
"Aeris will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry...or get angry... What about us... what are we supposed to do?"
In the new version of this sequence, I feel like Square has become afraid to let the audience feel the raw pain of loss, so they try to have their cake and eat it too by relying on this cheap "multiverse" gimmick. The original game got the point across that Aerith was still with you in a moment during the final cutscene, but this game has to spell it out for you, or make you think that Aerith is actually still alive in some alternate timeline. That really bothers me. Not enough to ruin the game, but enough to make me feel like Square has regressed in mature storytelling.
I could go on, but those are my thoughts as concise as I can make them. Thank you for reading.
I have more or less the same feeling. For the ending, if you want a deep dive into what it means and a prediction on what could happen in Part 3, here's a 2 hours long analysis video that I highly recommend to checkout: https://youtu.be/WNvYQft1W-o?si=jggjwDS7IZC5JDmw
About plat-ing the game, for me, initially I don't feel like doing it either. I just wanna try out Hard mode which I never did back in Remake. So being inexperienced of it, I tried to be as well prepared as I could and while doing prep work for Hard mode, I was able to clear so much achievements that there were only less than 10 left to do. That's when I decided to might as well get the rest of them.
Just a heads up since you wanna check out Hard mode as well that you may end up clearing plenty of achievements while preping for Hard mode.
And when you do attempt for Hard mode or any brutal challenges, watch Optinoob's guides. Not only they are very beginner friendly, you also will learn some mid-high level ways of playing around with the materia and combat system. There are more skillful players out there but Optinoob is a great starting point to explore deeper into the mechanics.
Thanks for the recommendation! I might take a break from FF7Rb for a little while, but when I come back I'll start looking into this prep content!
Solid take. I definitely got frustrated doubling back starting around hour 90-95 where new side quests opened. They could’ve cut down protorelics to 3 instead of 4 and done away with some of the additional mini-games. I’d argue that the gold saucer is intentionally mini-game heavy per the OG, but I didn’t max out all the games there.
Overall, it seemed like Square swung entirely in the other direction after open world XV where it was bare and overloaded with a tad too much content. My personal hope is they find the sweet spot for Part 3.
Regarding the multiverse aspect, I concur with some other folks that some of the depth gets taken away from Sephiroth with the Oz-like plane but I don’t entirely hate on the “spicing it up” factor - they want to bring some novelty to the new series and I think it’s worked well so far for the first two. They could entirely botch it or succinctly pull it together so going to give the devs/writers space on that front to see how they fold it all together.
I feel like square had the opportunity to capture the same level of emotion with her death sequence, just in the opposite direction. I literally gasped when he parried the blow, followed by confusion and disappointment. It seemed like they leaned into the whole multiverse thing and didn’t really utilize it very well. I guess we’ll see with the 3rd game but I think some opportunities have already been lost
Yeah, the whole sequence just felt really deflated to me. I was expecting and mentally preparing to feel sad, but instead I just felt confused and put off. The whole thing was just a real letdown after 160+ hours of being with this character. I haven't looked into theory crafting videos or anything, and maybe the next game will give some new context that will make it better, but as it stands in the game now, it's a bit hollow.
A lot of us feel like you. We were there at beginning, played the OG and have lived with it until now; I particularly do not like what they’ve done - as of now. I feel like they’re toying with my emotions. Although it’s been nearly a year since I platinumed Rebirth and the anger, confusion and betrayal have subsided a bit, I am not really looking forward to the third one.
I will play it because I have to. Hopefully they resolve everything with act three.
If their goal was to leave us as confused as we are, then, boy did they succeed.
I'm very happy the new games exist, because I love this universe so much. I wish I could say the new games resonated with me in the same way the old game does. I really love how the characters are expanded in the new games. So even if the story kinda drops the ball for me, I still will probably play and love all the new games anyways. I see the new games as a peripheral to the original game, but certainly not a replacement.
Good read. I also just finished the game yesterday with about 94 hours and I'll say that from the Temple of the Ancients to the end of the game just felt like a big drag to me. Now I hated Temple of the Ancients in the original and wasn't expecting anything different with this one but, the time changes and the "meanwhile this team ...." stuff felt really pointless.
My main gripe with this game has to be the boss fights. It was the same for Remake where transitioning unanticipated phases in boss fights could screw you over. There's a few that are very gimmicky i.e. Rufus, Final Boss fight and weren't very fun. And that final boss fight with Jenova/Sephiroth taking 10 different phases was so annoying. I laughed when Barret said "Damn this thing's still alive?"
Other than that, I thought the game was great, exploration was super fun and the side quests were pretty decent, I guess I'm the opposite from most people who say they hate those. I found the Johnny side quest hilarious.
r/cloudxaerith • [9]Summarize
Question about Rebirth ending.
Posted by bruinsfan1144 · in r/cloudxaerith · 8 months agoDoes cloud react differently to aerith’s death if he went on a date with her at the golden saucer vs someone else? Is there different dialogue in his reaction? If not that was a missed opportunity.
Why is it a wasted opportunity? Whether you date her or not he will react the same way: he will be be broken anyways because he loves her anyways. His love for her just doesn't depend on if you date her or not, the story doesn't give a damn about the affinity system. I don't understand this question...
No, it’s the same from what I’ve seen, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since the scene feels pretty intimate. Anyone could look at that moment and think it’s romantic, or platonic. For me, just the way she reaches for his face, and how he holds her hand to his cheek and lets out a heartfelt “Aerith” while in tears is impactful, and romantic. I believe the whole scene and those that followed were satisfying. The first scene with the hand cheek hold, then the back to back while interlocking hands, then the “wake up” one, and finally the sweet callback to Remake with the flirty “You gonna be ok getting back?” “And if I said I wasn’t?” Interaction.
Not sure what could of been added that you’d of liked, because the devs certainly wouldn’t of added something major like a kiss or a declaration in a non-optional scene, otherwise the Cloti’s would go crazy and take toxic to a new level.
Why should there even be an affinity system in such an important scene? And by yours words I assume u didn’t find his reaction romantic or sad enough?
no😭 it’s the same no matter what
Think about Rebirth as reliving the OG events through the tainted lens of hope, dreams, regrets and the inaccuracy of memories.
That scene will always remain the same because this is how the true Cloud always felt. The Cloud from OG, AC, Remake and Rebirth.
Player choices are meaningless here, because Cloud override them and take control.
r/FinalFantasyVII • [10]Summarize
Not what I thought?
Posted by Surturius · in r/FinalFantasyVII · 1 year agoOG FF7/Remake/Rebirth Spoilers:
!So I just beat the game, and I'm a little surprised by the direction it's taken. In Remake, it seemed like there were some time travel shenanigans going on, particularly with Sephiroth. The impression I think a lot of us got was that it was a post-Advent Children Sephiroth who found a way to go back and try to change things. But after playing Rebirth, that no longer necessarily seems to be the case? Now it looks like this is just some version of the present-day Sephiroth/Jenova who I guess became aware of fate, and is trying to subvert it. !<
!That being the case, it no longer feels like a sequel to me? But that just makes the whole thing weird. When I thought it was a sequel, I thought we would be getting some truly new material that builds on the FF7/Advent Children story, and that was kind of interesting. Instead, it's more like it's just a retelling of the same story with small changes that look shocking, but aren't actually all that big of a deal (Barret's death? Quickly undone. Zack, Biggs and Wedge surviving? Not really - Wedge is dead, and Zack and Biggs don't seem likely to come back to life permanently in the prime reality - so they're essentially ghosts. Aerith's death? Happens exactly as it did in the original game, only Cloud is now aware of her lifestream ghost a little early, instead of finding out about it at the end of the game). !<
!Nothing actually seems to be changing in any real significant way. If Sephiroth's not from the future, then they're just retelling the story from FF7 with changes that make things unneccessarily convoluted and less dramatically effective. Does anyone actually care that this is a slightly different version of Sephiroth who wants to rule multiple realities instead of just the planet? The stakes are pretty much the same. They coulda just... remade the game normally, if it wasn't gonna be a sequel. !<
Yeah, they tried to please all crowds,and e ded up not pleasing any.
With these semi changes, they can claim it's new, as well as. Laim it's faithful, because at the end of the day it's both,bit in the worst way possible.
Similarly... Is aerith alive? Yes and No, becasue there's multiple iterations, so you save one of her versions which will manage to be present for part 3 and get closure with the party.
So well you saved her, happy? But at the same time you didn't, which is like canon, happy?
Nope.
Exactly! At the very least I was expecting Aerith would hang around the party and maybe only Cloud would see her (kinda like a Joker in Arkham Knight type thing), to add an interesting new wrinkle to Part 3. But she's just staying behind! What is the point lol.
I am much more on board the whispers existing after rebirth than I was in remake. The original idea, spirits that are trying to keep the narrative the way it was in 1997, is actually a pretty interesting tool but I thought they were really annoying mechanically and them being shoehorned in as a final boss felt dumb and over the top.
Overall, this series is doing a masterful job of playing with audience expectations. You can hear it in the way they choose to hold and deliver iconic bits of the soundtrack at certain points. When they killed the arbiters of fate, I was dismayed that they were giving themselves lisence to drastically depart from what is, imo, one of the best stories in the medium of games.
Instead, departures are used to build out the world while telling more or less the same plot. We don’t just hide in a boat and fight Jenova, we go on a cruise. We hear about and see minor WEAPONS way before their introduction. We get to see Cid’s customer service smile which I’m sure is hiding the bitter anger he’s known for.
The big thing, you know, THE thing, is too pivotal to take away. They’ve altered the path (we have more context for the black materia and Aerith’s force ghost presence is more pronounced than the tiny glimpses in the original). Reeve isnt a psychopath, Dyne’s trajectory is tweaked.
Severing the connection the arbiters (and now seeing these two new ghosts which imo still have the jury out as far as their intent) has allowed them to make little adjustments that greatly enrich the story.
Literally every change you mentioned (except maybe Aerith's ghost) could have been made without the whispers though? Why do we need the whole "challenging fate" sub-plot if the story's going to play out the same way anyway? Did they have to defy fate so that they could take a cruise instead of a boat to Costa Del Sol? I would have accepted that change even if they didn't kill God first.
Well, first of all, the story isn’t over yet so we don’t know what changes will be made in the end. We’re very much in the middle of things.
The whole point of the spirits is to make the audience comfortable with changes, not just to the story but to the game overall. Playing remake/rebirth is an entirely different experience from the gameplay to the world to the decision making. Kalm takes six minutes to fully explore in the OG, but here it’s this huge town with depth and characters and things to do and see.
The characters interact with the whispers, but the whispers are a message to you, the player. They’re there to address the dramatic irony of you knowing the story but the characters not. Even when things match the original, the veering path keeps you on your toes.
Cloud sending Tifa into the lifestream in Gongaga was wild lurch from the OG. The Black Materia’s origins are completely new and give this conflict a brand new angle. They’re clearly setting up some sort of consolidation of worlds for part 3 to coincide with the WEAPON arc of the story. These are significant changes to the story even if the big thing played out mostly the same.
It was a lure, bait on the part of the creators to keep the fans engaged with the sole aim of recreating emotion in the hope that Aerith's death hits harder, except that no because it seems that a large part of the fandom wants to see Aerith die again, so basically they are doing what everyone expects, but in a different way.
They play with everyone's expectations because they know very well that a large part of the fandom feels in control of the story because they already know the story.
The problem is that the creators not realizing that a large part of the fans has not fallen into their trap.
Don't expect anything really satisfying for part 3 unless there is something, but in my opinion it's almost certain that there won't be anything worth it, it's all the more frustrating with all this hype which is exacerbated because of the intention of the creators, the marketing and the expectations of the fans plus the anniversary of ff7 in a few years.
I agree with most of your criticisms of the Remake series. But I will say that Cloud not acknowledging Aerith's death(?) is a pretty massive deal. I don't think many people realize how much this is going to change Cloud's recovery and life stream sequence. There's a LOT more potential for drama leading up to his breakdown and afterward
I think a lot of these iconic scenes are going to be re-envisioned in new ways none of us can predict. There may even be some new twists regarding Cloud's past that weren't there in the OG.
But.... The Whispers are kinda pointless. They are a heavy-handed plot device that robs characters of agency. I'm glad they were less important in Rebirth, but you have to question why they are here at all.
Many other properties have done the "inescapable Fate" trope much better than. Greek tragedies from >1000 years ago had much more to say on the concept of Fate, and were much more subtle about it, than anything in the Remake series.
What's the practical difference between having traveled to the past to try and change history, and having knowledge of future events and trying to change that fate?
The only difference is whether you've physically lived through that future you're trying to change, or if you just have the knowledge/memories of it... But the effect in the current timeline is basically the same.
So I fail to see how that difference is actually important here.
For what I get, the "future" that Sephiroth is trying to stop is actually just another world in some multiverse kind of setting. Instead of traveling through time, he's moved between universes, and is trying to merge them all into the one single world where things go the way he wants them to go: with everybody, except mommy dear, dead.
But again, the implications are mostly the same as if he HAD traveled back in time, mostly.
The difference is that if it's a sequel, they have more leeway to make massive changes to the story without pissing people off as much. Based on what happened in Remake, I expected Sephiroth to more successfully change things as the story progressed. That's part of why I'm disappointed.
For example, Barrett dying in Remake was an awesome WTF moment that showed the potential a sequel could have. But then they took that back right away. I love Barrett, don't get me wrong, I don't exactly want him to be gone from the story, but that crazy twist might have made it worth it. The explanation in Remake was "well Barrett can't die because of fate," but then we killed the arbiter of fate. So the implication was that now massive changes (like Barrett's death) were supposed to be possible.
But that hasn't happened. There was a ton of hype both in the game itself, and from the audience in the lead-up to the game, about whether Aerith would live or die this time. They built up an expectation that things might go very differently now, and because I thought the game was a sequel, that was easier to accept. Instead... it's not a sequel and Aerith's death played out functionally exactly the same way as it did in the original game.
So what is the point of all this whisper stuff? Maybe part 3 will make it clearer, but for the time being, I feel like it's just making things more convoluted while not actually having any major impact.
Whether it's kind of a sequel or not, it's always been a remake.
How faithful or how wild they decide to go with it is fully up to them. It's not like they're constrained by creative decisions other than their own, and remakes have always existed in different levels of faithfulness.
But they've always said they wanted it to be relatively faithful.
Some surprises here and there for those who've already played the old games, but based on their own words in interviews and stuff, I wouldn't expect big changes... At least not until the very end of the trilogy, where I'm sure they'll go a bit more crazy again.
IMO, all the new stuff is probably build-up to part 3's ending, where they'll pull all this Whisper shenanigans again for a big multiversal event, and end up "saving" Aerith and Zack somehow (probably on a separate world).
Here my theory guys - all dots will be connected in huge cloud flashback in part 3. Cloud will realize aerith was killed etc. Part 3 will answer all questions. And it will be super emotional cause cloud will finally face the reality... right now our boy is living in fantasy world.
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Are there multiple endings in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Key Considerations about Multiple Endings in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth:
Game Structure: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second installment in the Final Fantasy VII Remake project, which reimagines the original game. While the first part had a linear storyline, Rebirth is expected to expand on player choices.
Narrative Choices: The developers have hinted at the possibility of branching narratives and choices that could lead to different outcomes. This suggests that player decisions may influence the story's direction.
Character Development: Expect character arcs and relationships to evolve based on your choices, which may affect the ending.
Exploration and Side Quests: Engaging in side quests and exploring different areas may also impact the story and potentially lead to alternate endings.
Takeaway: While specific details about multiple endings in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth are not fully confirmed, the emphasis on player choice and narrative depth suggests that there may be variations in the story's conclusion. Keep an eye on official announcements and gameplay previews for more insights as the release date approaches.
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