With the release ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, Square Enix has continued to deliver over 30 years worth of releases within the series since the first game released in 1987. However, with the newYuffie DLC, the series is starting to dip its toes into more mature territory, something that fans that the franchise has picked up over the last three decades have requested for years.
One specific part ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade’snew DLC marks the first step in this direction for the series, with some rumors indicating that the next full title will tread further into more mature content. This could be a risky move from a marketing perspective for the series with a possible M rating limiting the selling potential, but could be exactly what fans have been hoping for as players have aged past the current target demographic. Moving forward will be getting intoMAJOR SPOILERterritory for the Yuffie DLC.
The Final Confrontation with Nero
As fans were quick to notice when the first trailers dropped, Deepground andNero make an appearance in Yuffie’s DLCto act as the final enemy mob and boss encounter for the campaign. However, while Yuffie is able to come out victorious from the fight, her companion Sonon doesn’t quite make it to the next part in one piece, getting killed and absorbed by Nero. The reason to bring up this moment from the climax of the DLC is that Sonon’s death is oddly reminiscent of something from the original game, but more importantly that it is one of the bloodiest death in the series.
While it’s a bit of a stretch to call this the bloodiestdeath inFinal Fantasy, this mostly comes from the fact that the series is not known for having much blood at all. Some more recent titles likeFinal Fantasy 15have been rated with “Mild Blood”, but major character deaths even in that game were either off screen or used a black sludge in place of actual blood, with the exception of Lunafreya. So, Sonon dying by being violently stabbed multiple times before coughing blood onto Yuffie’s face is up there in the series as far as the maturity level goes.
Final Fantasy 16 Plans to Be Mature
There is only a small amount ofblood shown inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, but the inclusion of it at all after having been omitted in the base game is a solid step towards more mature material. This also lends credence to news thatFinal Fantasy 16will be going for a full on M rating as it promises to be the most mature experience in the series so far. In the case of this most recent death, this use of blood in such a brutal way makes it seem that Square Enix is testing the waters for how to approach these mature experiences with both longtime and new fans.
Taking on a moremature experience withFinal Fantasyis a new look for a series that has boasted some impactful deaths, but often chooses to heighten the emotion and lessen the carnage. However, while it might be unfamiliar, longtime fans of the series who played the originalFinal Fantasyback when it released in 1997 have been ready for this change for some time. The issue arises with the more common target audience of the series, which has generally extended more towards teenage and adult fans, and how this might limit the exposure of future titles.
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The Risks of Taking Final Fantasy to a Mature Rating
A mature rating for any game means several things, both for adult and younger fans as it can mean a completely different strategy for both design and marketing of the title. Keeping the violence that comes with theFinal Fantasyseries' combat systemsalready pushes for a teen rating. It’s the toning down of the graphicness of that violence that has allowed Square Enix to continue to keep the series more openly available to multiple age ranges with both the numbered entries and several spin-offs.
That being said, aiming for a mature rating might be exactly what older fans of the series have been looking for, with characters like Cloud doing the type of damage players would expect when swinging around a half-ton slab of steel. Mature titles are a real crowd pleaser, even if that means limiting the marketable audience of players that Square Enix can draw from for more games in the future. However, in the case ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake’s Aerithin particular, dipping into a more mature direction for Part 2 and 3 might be the best way to give fans an even more impactful finale than the original could ever attempt.
What This Could Mean For Aerith in a Future Part
One of the big mysteries forFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeis Aerith’s fate, since the ending to Part 1 has made it clear that the continuing story is a separate timeline that will take various deviations moving forward. This has led to some players hoping that there’s a chance that Aerith can be saved from Sephiroth during the infamous stabbing scene in the Forgotten City. The thing about this is, if Square Enix is looking to continue the trend of introducing more mature content and adding more visceral substance to the deaths in the series, this could set up for the most harrowing moment in the series.
As mentioned before, Sonon’s death is reminiscent of another death in the series, where he is stabbed from behind while someone who has quickly grown close to him can only stand by and watch. It’s shockingly similar to the impaling that Aerith receives fromSephiroth in the originalFinal Fantasy 7, only moments after Cloud and the player finally reunites with her, hoping to see her return to the party again. Taking the nods from Sonon’s death to the Aerith scene could mean that fans might finally include blood on Sephiroth’s sword and a sight that’s as viscerally difficult to watch as it is emotional.
Final Fantasy 7 Remakeis available now for PS4 and PS5.
