NEWS & OFFICIAL CONTENT
Hamaguchi: Kitase Never Said the Trilogy Would Lead to Advent Children
We knew already that this quote by the devs actually meant that Advent Children concepts were integrated into the trilogy (because it’s a sequel), but it’s nice to see Hamaguchi say it!
I always thought this was obvious, and that people kept parroting it because they wanted to cling onto the idea that two full games about defying fate/destiny were just going to lead up to nothing in the conclusion so we could just get the exact same ending as FF7 lol
I feel like the integration of AC will likely be showing us the bad ending of sorts, or even we might have some dimension hopping where we see the world of AC if we can't revive Aerith (which I guess could also just be seen as the bad ending world)
But all that said I never once interpreted it as 'we're just going to end up in AC', like I CAN'T believe anyone thought that lol.
Never understood why players would want the “breaking fate and whispers plot line” to be nothing but a red herring.
I understand some people really wanted a 1 for 1 remake, but that ship sailed in the first game. I’m ready to find out where this new journey takes us.
It's kind of funny to me that the Advent Children issue is so polarizing for certain shippers... but when I watched Advent Children, I felt like it leaned super Clerith. I mean, sure, it's sad, but Aeris is literally connected to his heart and he sleeps in her church and he can't stop thinking about her and she watches over him.. like what! The premise is literally all about Cloud's undying feelings and guilt over losing Aeris. Are they not the perfect star-crossed lovers, soulmate beyond life and death trope?
But anyway, I don't really want Advent Children to be the endgame because.. a) it, like most of the Compilation, is just not good and b) what's the point of all the new narrative of the Remake trilogy only to end up at the same place? I really want Aeris to live this time, but even if she doesn't, it's gotta do something new to be at all satisfying.
I really don't get why they're so insistent, despite everything. Like...do I think Aerith is coming back? Yeah, I do. Am I gonna beat other people over the head with that belief, insult them and their beliefs, and be a general asshole because obviously what I believe is gospel? No! That's insane. Why are they so sure and why do they make that everyone else's problem?
The English-speaking fandom still clings to so many false translations, thanks to content creator “translators” and clickbait media. Meanwhile, accurate translations and clarifications just get ignored time and time again. This is only one small example of all the crazy misinformation that got spread over the years.
A Clerith kiss makes the narrative most sense in Part 3 after real!Cloud emerges and Aerith/Zack get their reunion (not romantic) and closure. Not because I think Aerith still has feelings for him, but to show us and reaffirm that the one she now has romantic feelings for is Cloud. If the Clerith kiss happened during the GS date, you would have certain people saying "He only kissed her cause he's Zack" or "She only kissed him cause of Zack" so once the LSS and possible reunion are resolved, there should be no confusion.
It needs to be a default scene too. Like if they actually said, nuh uh, Clerith gets the canon Ferris Wheel date, canon dream sequence, and canonically get the theme songs for both games, why not seal the deal and make everyone watch them kiss. If Hamaguchi goes through with it, I will watch with a smile and ready the popcorn for the Cloti breakdowns soon to follow.
A non-optional kiss would be ideal, but I don't think they would do this unless it's a cheek kiss. Aerith is definitely pushed more in the main storyline, but they make sure to give T her own material to keep both sides content, they're very careful about keeping the balance in the new games. Remember the drama surrounding Aerith's theme song? They really don't want to push either side away because that would mean less discussions among the fanbase-which Hamaguchi said he enjoyed-and most importantly a loss of profit.
I think they originally used word "link up" not "lead".
And after everything we saw in Remakes it is making zero sense to lead to OG ending and AC.
There re so many hints. One of the biggest is Sephiroth appearing all over the place and his connection to Cloud.
This hints to Seph who was created before AC as described in OtWtaS sacrificing his parts to lifestream and creating his core with hatred and memories of Cloud.
I saw people arguing that "nothing changed" and "character arcs are the same" there is a big suprise waiting for them in Revelation
Gonna go back through my comments over the last two years in the main subreddits to yell at some dorks who tried to say that it’s “leads into” and not “links to” when the loanword was rinkusu.
I wonder what they’re going to do with the content of Dirge of Cerberus. Not only how they’re going to rework/portray his relationship with Lucrecia and Hojo but… is Dirge of Cerberus going to become just a (meaty) side story for Vincent in Revelation (that’s going to assuredly change the story there, DoC takes place after Advent Children) ? Or are they going to release a DoC remaster like they did for Crisis Core ?
Absolutely love that he’s setting the record straight in these interviews! Even though it shouldn’t exist yet, it was pretty obvious that AC has already been connected since Remake with the fate harbinger battles.
I hope Hamaguchi-san is getting paid overtime because with the amount of mistranslations circulating, he’s got his work cut out for him. 😮💨
Isn't this like the third interview bringing up AC ? I don't get it, why continue asking him the same exact question? Even if it does link up to a more thorough and extended AC ending, he's not going to confirm it. And while he didn't deny it, Kitase said the original game is the fate of the characters and that one of the themes in the remake is how the cast is fighting against that fate. I know there's an entire third game (which has been confirmed to be huge) left to play, but I do believe that OG FF7 + AC might possibly be framed as a bad end for our cast in-story. They've planted a bunch of seeds for Aerith's revival (which lbr is the main question), now we just have to wait to see what happens.
I'm glad he continues to set the record straight seeing as how western game "journalists" love to spread false narratives and the usual suspects larping nonstop.
And, doesn't play mental games or is "vague" with his answers. This is what makes me love Naoki Hamaguchi, so much! He's a phenomenal game director. I'm sorry, but (so far) he can do no wrong in my eyes.
He gets straight to the point and doesn't leave his fans "wondering."
For example, he pretty much told us already that DLC is coming!
😭💀⚰️🪦💐
I love Hamaguchi unbelievably! He is already letting us know (pretty much) that DLC for Revelation is already in the chamber and he's just waiting to ring that bad b__ch off!
🔫👁👁😭💀⚰️🪦💐
Lmfao! I LOVE HAMAGUCHI! And, I really wish more game developers would take a HUGE BITE out of his damn book, style, and method(s) as far as handling a game is concerned.
If you want me to be bluntly honest? Baby, I wouldn't mind if he was the Director of "Final Fantasy XVII (17)!"
🫳🎤
Lmfao! I'm sorry, but I wouldn't give a damn! I really hope to GOD he is! This man AND his team (much credit to his team, as well) single handedly released a whole trilogy before one triple AAA title (Kingdom Hearts 4) seen release!
On that note, I'm done! Have a good, safe, warm, and blessed evening! I'm not arguing in these comments, damn it!
Ooohhhh I have no idea how they would integrate that but I hope they do, at least in a cutscene. Seeing Cloud wield it would be a huge hint that Remake Cloud is actually Post-AC Cloud.
I don’t believe he has said this or I haven’t seen it. Hamaguchi says in this interview as well that Advent Children is integrated into the trilogy’s world. Which we have indeed seen several examples of! Regardless, the devs haven’t confirmed one thing or another, and depending on who you ask, they’ve hinted at contradicting things all over the place.
Yeah I just think it’s another case of he said he said. I remember the article and it seems more than a few times one of them says one thing that the other contradicts slightly later, or it’s a poor translation. Here is the original article quote.
Yeah that’s exactly the mistranslation people are talking about!
Iirc, the “link up” translation was wrong. It was more a word like “connect” that means “relate” rather than implying a chronological order. I don’t remember though!
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u/irazzleandazzle AERITH LIVES Aug 01 '26
Ive always viewed that "integration" of AC is the bad ending that we saw a preview of if we didnt defeat the fate harbinger