You can save Aerith! Well, not in the actual Final Fantasy VII game but a modded version of it. Sorry for the clickbait, but I got excited to play a version of the game that I could save Aerith in. Can you blame me?
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
New Threat 2.0 is a Mod Final Fantasy VII that slightly changes the gameplay. It introduces new bosses, restores some of the game's cut content, and has a new stat progression system. Above all, however, you can save Aerith in this mod. Below you'll find what you have to do to save her!
If you played the original FFVII, near the end of Disk 1, Aerith leaves the party to save the world by herself. When Cloud and the others meet her again in the City of the Ancients, they find her mere moments before Sephiroth kills her. The party didn't know what she was doing there until later in the game.
The Mod changes the events so Aerith is revived after Sephiroth kills her. That is, if you made the correct choice during this important moment.
To Save Aerith:
- Install 7th Heaven's Mod. You can download the 7th Heaven Mods from the official website here.
- Install New Threat Mod
- I only tried the 2.0 version, but I hear you can do it on 1.5 too.
- Play the game until Aerith's iconic scene. Sephiroth will kill her as usual.
- If you did all the steps above correctly, the next Boss will revive Aerith mid-battle as an enemy.
- DON'T KILL HER! You must avoid attacks that hit all enemies in this battle.
- After the battle ends, Aerith will be back in the party.
The story continues like usual, but I loved the slight changes because Aerith didn't die.
Opinion on the Game After Saving Aerith
While in the original Aerith's death was a big moment, and it delays the progression of the story as the party struggles to decide how to save the world. The game reveals that Aerith has already summoned Holy before her death. The goal of Cloud and the party becomes to defeat Sephiroth and release Holy that he's being delaying. That's how it went in the original.
In the Mod's story, with Aerith in the party after saving her. It turns out she didn't realize what she was doing, and only learned that she activated Holy later in the game. The main plot didn't change
What do you think?
One of my favorite things about saving Aerith with this mod is how she was able to ride the Highwind. She didn't get to do that in the original game. I also loved how they made getting her Level 4 Limit Break more emotional by making revealing the Zack's backstory a requirement for it.
I'm happy that I played New Threat 2.0! You can watch my playthrough through the links in this article.
Thanks for Reading.~