The Truth About Aerith's Affinity | Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Many people tried to say that Aerith still likes Zack and that the dream date wasn’t romantic, when the developers went out of their way to make different scenes because she did, in fact, say on the GS date that she likes Cloud now and their feelings were reciprocated. If it wasn’t a romance plot point then they wouldn’t have done this. It should be obvious but the way I try to see people twist it is insane

Very cool. When we thought LA determined that scene, some people thought that in the “LA” route it was implying that he didn’t have feelings for Aerith and that his feelings were determined on whether you got HA or LA but it’s actually closer to the opposite. Cloud’s lines there are not based on his own feelings but rather, what he THINKS Aerith’s feelings are. If he doesn’t have either of the dates, he doesn’t get clarity that Aerith likes him now so he’s more reserved about his feelings in that line. This definitely changes the perspective of the scene and really you can’t use it as an indicator that Cloud’s feelings only apply in the HA route anymore like some people have.

so it was never about Cloud friendzoning Aerith, it was about Cloud being worried thar Aerith might friendzone HIM lmao

In the original game's disc 2 Highwind scene, if Cloud has low affinity with Tifa, he's uninterested and platonic with her, and it takes 50+ affection points to get her "high affinity" scene - in which Cloud will be warm and romantic. So it'd make sense that Rebirth's church date was the same.. but it isn't. The important thing here is that Cloud has dated Aerith before - most logically, that he understands her feelings for Zack have resolved and she's interested in him now. If he doesn't hear that, then he still makes the first line asking her for another date, but chickens out when she presses him about what "next time" means. Thus, it seems that unlike the Highwind scene (where his interest in Tifa is variable based on affinity), Cloud is always interested in Aerith, he's just afraid she might not actually feel the same or still be hung up on Zack. Great analysis, you're spot on.

This makes so much more sense. So it's the narrative instead of how the characters feel about each other. Brilliant move from the devs tbh.

So this basically eliminates the possibility of a question or argument that it matter how high her affliction is that Cloud is friend-zoning etc etc , it’s the soul indication of the confusion and uncertainty with Cloud of if Aerith has feelings for him (in his mind) so he stays reserved but only if you do the dates in 8 / 12 cause it gives more confirmation to Cloud that Aerith likes him especially if you do the skywheel date which he gets that confirmation from Aerith that she wants to be with him it’s another way of the devs throwing in there that Aerith is the supposed date cause this also goes in line with your breakdown of the No Date to Date Aerith of this scene in chapter 14.

Normally when a game lets you choose a romantic partner for your character, your choosing how your character feels. The fact that FF7 is a little different, as it's implied that Cloud always has feelings for Aerith but 'can' potentially misunderstand Aerith's feelings, really shows how choices in games aren't always straight forward.

I didn’t realize that the affinity level didn’t determine that scene. Definitely interesting to think about

I love this because that’s the thing a lot of FF7 fans don’t get. Cloud is not a self-insert, he’s not choosing between the two girls based on your choice. His feelings for Aerith are always present, but it’s what he KNOWS at the time that determines his response. It’s all a case of Dramatic Irony. If we date Tifa in Chapter 12, Cloud never has Aerith’s feelings confirmed, so he’s left with questions and uncertainties that triggers his LA response. That’s the only determined case. Genius on the devs part honestly.

Got to make 98% on my 1st Rebirth playthrough and tbh her route is the ONLY one that makes sense with the story and how it unfolds

This video clears so much up. And I think it's smart how the devs turned an affinity dialogue from the OG of Cloud being jealous and expanded on it-- making Aerith unsure and having Cloud remember Zack-- created a new conflict that either gets resolved early with Aerith's dates and reaffirmed in chapter 14 with a confident Cloud, or resolved in chapter 14 with Aerith confessing to Cloud.

If Cloud's response is dependent on getting just 1 of the Aerith dates between Ch8/12, then it also fits in narratively with his conversations with Barret or Nanaki on the Gondola. Barret tells him to think about who it is he truly wants and confess before it's too late, and telling Aerith that he wants to have another date with her does just that. Nanaki's statements about Aerith clearly made him uncomfortable, but he promises to protect her regardless of what the future brings.

Love all your videos, you're dispelling the ignorance in the FF VII fandom and I'm all for it

Hello to the haters in the comments! See yall in part 3.

Nice video, I assumed you just needed the chapter 12 date to resolve his feelings around the jealousy subplot running in the background. Chapter 8 being enough is interesting.

Oh so this explain why a i saw a playthrough on which aerith was the date in ch 8 but then tifa in ch 12 and got the "yeah, next time"

Dude ngl , I love your voice. Also, THIS IS HUGE ❤❤😮

Nice content like always!!🩷 Honestly, of all your videos, this is the “only curiosity” that I knew bc I checked it myself. Two of my friends prefer Tifa and they didn't see the church scene with “HA” so I explained that it was bc they didn't have any date with Aerith😅. In spanish subs puts “that’s what friends do, right?”. It’s so bad, I can’t do anything to convince them that Aerith it’s the real love of Cloud, they’re so blind🥲 But for me it’ll always be Clerith💙💚

I was so confused when my husband got high affinity while dating Tifa. Then he told me he did have Aerith in the first date Chapter 8. Now it clarifies a lot of things.

So the conclusion is if cloud have dated aerith at the gold saucer (either in ch 8 or ch 12), he would've known that aerith had feelings towards him. That's why at the church, he said "Next time". But if he hadn't date aerith at the gold saucer, he wouldn't known whether aerith has feelings towards him or not + not sure if she had moved on from Zack or not. That's why he said "i mean, why not?" because he wasn't sure about Aerith's feeling towards him. But whatever happens , cloud eventually knows that aerith loves him too. And now because cloud knows that aerith loves him too, i think we will get a scene where cloud will confess his feeling towards aerith in part 3