Unlocking the Complete Story of FF7 Rebirth with a Quick Guide

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FF7 Rebirth lives up to its name

This article contains major spoilers for the story of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, including its ending. It's up to you if you want to continue reading.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was released almost two months ago now, and fans are still trying to decipher its ending, which some considered ambiguous. While Final Fantasy VII Remake gave a whole new dimension to Midgar by opening access to several of its sectors and was content to tease the changes to come with the appearance of spinners in several key scenes, it still remained rather faithful to the first six chapters of the original game, at least until its end scene where Zack Fair seemed to have survived the shooting that took his life in Crisis Core. Moreover, it was his return which announced the somewhat particular context of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthwhere he appears several times.

Indeed, in addition to embodying Cloud and his adventure companions, several sequences ask players to embody Zach in what appears to be an alternate universe. In this world where Zach eventually returned to Midgar, the fates of several key characters were altered, starting with Biggs, who died in the first opus but who is ultimately the only member of AVALANCHE to have survived in this one. While Cloud And Aerith are both unconscious, Zach evolves in a city devastated by the fall of the plate of Sector 7where his choices seem to have serious consequences not only on his future, but also on other universes…

The theory of the multiverse in FF7 Rebirth

Although it has not yet been confirmed by the developers, the theory of the multiverse seems to be the best way to explain the events of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. As you will undoubtedly have understood while playing, the future is not only already written, but above all it is protected by the white spinners in the service of the planet, who erect walls to prevent the characters from rewriting history. But FF7 Rebirth also highlights black spinnerswhich are under the control of Sephirothand who are precisely seeking to modify events to help Sephiroth in its quest for a fractured world, as you can see in the graph of Recklesstar below, translated by Chronos on Twitter (or X):

If we base ourselves on certain sequences of the game and in particular on the words of Sephiroth, a new parallel world is created each time history is rewritten. Some manage to survive, but others crumble until there is nothing left, as we saw in the final sequences of the game where the world of Zach boiled down to the flowery chapel, and where that of the meeting of Cloud And Aerith was fracturing before their eyes.

Some players Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have also succeeded in isolating the different alternate universes based on the canine mascot of Shinra. Called Stampthis dog takes the appearance of a beagle in the original world, but its pedigree changes depending on the world the characters find themselves in. When you control Zach for the first time, it is a terrier dog, and each of the SOLDIER's choices will eventually create world fragments where his race will change again. For example, when Zach seeks to save Biggsthe dog has the appearance of a pug, while when confronting Sephiroth in front of the chapel before falling into a gap, we can see Johnny hold a stuffed animal shiba inu. And finally, the mascot looks like a spitz when Cloud And Aerith walk together shortly before the final fight.

All these examples, and the insistence of Sephiroth to use the vocabulary of fracture and some meeting suggest that it is indeed a question of alternative worlds and not dreams, as some seem to think. This argument is also based largely on the fact that Cloud is the only one to see the breach in the sky at the end of the game, but Cloud being an unreliable narrator from the start, it is difficult to rely on his impression of the world to justify its complexities. It remains to be seen whether the multiverse theory will be verified in the third opus, but in the meantime, this is what makes the most sense for a good portion of players.