Final Fantasy 7has left its players grieving for the past 27 years, but now some speedrunners may have just discovered a loophole that could save one important character’s life. The original version of the game was released in 1997 and became a memorable piece ofFinal Fantasyhistory. A true RPG experience, it includes many emotional moments as Cloud and his crew work their way through the adventure, with some heartbreaking loss along the way.
While there are nowmany ways to playFinal Fantasy 7with the remake trilogy at the top of most players' minds right now, the classic game from 1997 is still being experienced by many, particularly in the speedrunning community. Recently, two speedrunners for the game,AceZephyr and Kuma, discovered a skip that would not only shave a couple of hours off of their time, but saves Aerith’s life in the process.Luzbelhas shared this loophole on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The tactic is not flawless, however, with many highlightingseveral ways that the game can break while attempting to use this hack. Understandably, the game is not designed for any of this to take place, which can cause many issues to come up.
Aerith Can Be Saved In This Speedrunning Hack For Final Fantasy 7
And Players Save Roughly Two Hours Of Game Time
The trick is not a simple one, as is highlighted by the number of problems that can arise.Kumahasshared a video tutorial on YouTube of how this happens, which takes a very specific combination of events involving Cloud riding a Chocobo. Eventually, Cloud will be able to walk on the water and walk across the ocean, arriving at the Forgotten Capital. Once there, the cutscene will play as though he arrived through proper means, and players will be able to skip everything between Midgar and City of the Ancients.
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In doing so, one of the portions of the story which is skipped involves when Aerith would have left the party. This means that she happily finds her way across the water in the party as though nothing ever happened, or was supposed to happen, and can continue on in the game.
Screen Rant’s Take: Aerith Must Be Very Confused In This Timeline
She Can Now Witness Her Own Death
While it is exciting that Aerith lives, the game creates a second version of Aerith which is still killed by Sephiroth just as it should happen for the story. The only difference now is that when this takes place,another Aerith is still alive and well in my party, and therefore would be witnessing her own murder. Of course, knowing that Aerith is actually alive makes it much less traumatizing for me, and can prompt many unique story ideas in my head about how a clone could have been made, and that clone is who was killed rather than my Aerith.
Currently, the endeavor to make this scenario happen is incredibly complex, yet knowing that there is at least a sliver of hope is still exciting. Hopefully, speedrunners or other equally creative players will find an easier way to save Aerith in the game, although there are alsoways to modboth old and new versions ofFinal Fantasy 7to make it possible as well.
