Final Fantasy 7 Reborn director says Cloud and Aerith relationship comments were misunderstood

final fantasy 7 reborn Director Naoki Hamaguchi has stated that his previous comments about the nature of Cloud and Aerith's relationship were misunderstood, and that no member of Square Enix will officially comment on the character's relationship.

December interview inverse Hamaguchi stated that “Alice has always been that sisterly character, pulling Claude along with her to encourage him,” leading many fans to complain or question the director about the true nature of their relationship.

Final Fantasy 7, both the original and the first two entries in the remake trilogy, has always been fairly vague about Cloud's relationships with Aerith and Tifa. The player's choices will affect their interactions, prompting things like dating different characters depending on how the player (as Cloud) treats them. “Canon” relationships have long been controversial.

So fans were shocked when Hamaguchi basically referred to Alice as a romantic partner in his comments, even though he has now told Automata This is a misunderstanding, and neither he nor anyone at Square Enix will communicate the nature of the characters' relationships outside of the game itself.

“As creators, we will continue to convey (the relationships between our characters) through our content,” Hamaguchi said. “For example, no one is going to make any official statement about who Claude likes, who Aerith likes, etc.”

He added that the misunderstanding may stem from subtle linguistic and cultural differences between his native Japanese and the English publication of the article.

All of this happens while Final Fantasy 7's modern retelling isn't over yet. More answers, or more questions, may come in the third and final part of the remake trilogy, though fans will have to wait a while, as Square Enix isn't expected to release until 2027 at the earliest.

This story has now ended internally However, “Final Fantasy” series producer Yoshinori Kitase has previously stated that he is “sure that fans will be satisfied with the final chapter.”

In our 9/10 recap of the last gameIGN said: “Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth impressively builds on the remake, being both a top-notch action RPG filled with thrilling challenges and a celebration of a world that means so much to humanity. Awesome rendition of the world that many people have had for so long.”

Ryan Dinsdale is a freelance writer for IGN. He would talk about The Witcher all day long.