Final Fantasy VII had a creepy glitch that fans are hoping to see again in Final Fantasy VII Remake, as it became a central co⛄mponent in many early gaming urban legends regarding the resurrection of Aerith Gainsborough.
Final Fantasy VII launched with a number of glitches th💫at were fixed in the international releases of the game. Two of the most peculiar moments in the game involve a ghostly image of Aerith that appears in the Sector 5 Church. One of these apparitions appears to be a secret that was messed up by programming, while the other was the result of a glitch.
The intentional ghost sighting can be seen after her death, but the player needs access to Midgar again after Cloud returns to the party after the events in Mideel. If Cloud returns to the Sector 5 Church, then Aerith will be seen tending to the flowers. Attempting to leave or moving towards her will cause Aerith t🐲o flicker and vanish. It's possible to get closer to the ghost with the aid of glitches, but she still cannot be interacted with.
The second ghost of Aerith can be seen by returning to the Sector 5 Church before her death. A ghostly image of Aerith will appear in the cent🍸er of the room for a fraction of a second, before vanishing when everything finishes loading. Reno also appears at the bottom of the screen, though he is harder to see. The fact that Reno's there suggests that the scene is the result of a glitch caused by sloppy programming relating to the first scene that takes place iꦬn the church.
So, what makes the ghosts of Aerith so special?
The ability to bring Aerith back from the dead was the source of countless urban legends in the early days of the Internet and might have rivaled catching Mew in Pokémon Red & Blue for the sheer number of silly ways that people claimed it could be done. The fꦬact that the player could encounter Aerith's ghost (intentional or not) added an air of legitimacy to many o🐻f the urban legends about her revival. Going to the Sector 5 Church after performing some ridiculous list of tasks seemed like a natural endpoint for many false urban legends regarding the resurrection of Aerith. Surely Squaresoft wouldn't have teased players with Aerith's ghost if there wasn't a way to bring her back?
Final Fantasy VII was made by a team that was still getting to grips with the new 3D hardware of the original PlayStation. The game launched with a lot of glitches due to the team's inexperience and the incredible popularity of the game led to these glitches reaching memetic and historic status within the early online gaming community. The fans are still not 100% sure that the ghost of Aerith was ever meant to be seen. Including it in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series as a nod to the many wasted hours that players spent trying to save her could finally prove that it was intentional, and that Cloud (and the player) were only meant to be given a glimpse of someone that they could n🍌ever touch again.
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