For many, Square's Final Fantasy 7 received such critical and commercial success. It's extreme popularity lead to the game receiving a full remake in 2020 which further enhanced and expanded upon every aspect of the game, dubbed Final Fantasy 7 Remake. However, the original version still holds many amazing secrets that show the high level of foresight that went into the development of the game.
[Warning: The following article contains Cloud, and his hated rival, Sephiroth are fleshed out mainly through the use of this dialogue. This huge importance of dialogue leads to the inclusion of hidden lines that never should be seen by players, except through methods like hacking, to make sure that every scenario is ed for.
That being said, every character can't be in every situation at once. Whether currently in the party by choice, or recently deceased, characters like Tifa, Aerith, and Cid have hidden dialogue options to cover scenes they usually shouldn't be a part of. This is especially interesting for Aerith due to her death towards the end of the first disc. Players simply wouldn't be able to access the character without hacking, so including unique interactions in these scenes seems especially bizarre.
FF7's Hidden Dialogue For Aerith
Those who played Final Fantasy 7 were absolutely distraught when beloved character Aerith had her iconic death scene near the end of the first disc. This lead to many people attempting to revive her, or find hidden ways to bring her back into the main roster. However, all of these attempts proved to be fruitless and Aerith remained deceased for the rest of the game, until hackers discovered ways to bring her back to the party. This lead to many surprising discoveries of hidden dialogue that Aerith is given, even after her death.
For many of these moments, Aerith actually graces the party with her presence, appearing as normal in the scenes. Her dialogue is often reserved to basic and generic lines from other points in the game, such as, "let's look at the map," or "let's rest" at certain places. Though more peculiarly, sometimes Aerith will interact directly with the scene going on, like whispering to Cloud that the Pun Man has "a fearful sense of humor," in Rocket Town, the home of Cid, who might change in FF7 Rebirth. She also directly responds to Cid's lines in Fort Condor, where she questions, "What is this?" In the video above, YouTuber GarlandTheGreat has compiled the entire collection of these hidden dialogue options. Whether these options exist to torment hackers, or are scrapped ideas for pushing Aerith's death later in the game, they at least provide some interesting moments.
FF7's Hidden Dialogue For Tifa
Fan-favorite fighter, and childhood friend of main character, Cloud, Tifa Lockhart also has some dialogue in scenes she should never be a part of. In Final Fantsy 7, unlike Aerith, Tifa doesn't meet her untimely fate, so it is a bit less intriguing to find these hidden samples and lines. However, through the same means, by hacking Tifa to be the leader, or exploring as her during Cloud's absence in Act 3, players can still find these placeholder lines. Potentially, many of these lines exist to prevent the game from crashing due to unforeseen circumstances.
By making Tifa the party leader for side quests, sometimes dialogue is changed partially which has pretty minor adjustments to the tone and plot of those scenes. For example when meeting and fighting Yuffie for the first time, if Tifa is the party leader, Yuffie, who is more tragic in Remake's INTERmission DLC, will use some choice words regarding her appearance. Unlike Cloud, who more often than not is the leader for this scene, Tifa, instead of acting dismissive, will act more invested and try to reason with Yuffie. Players can also experience various unique lines by collecting a Megalixer from a cupboard in Kalm, or by examining house lights in the Forgotten City.
FF7's Hidden Dialogue For Cid
Last but not least is the airship pilot and series regular, Cid. Though Cid makes an appearance in every game except the original's NES version, each incarnation is different. Cid Highwind, Final Fantasy 7's Cid, much like Tifa, can share some hidden lines and interactions as the party leader, either through hacking or from both Cloud and Tifa's absence in Act 3.
When Cid is the party leader, Yuffie, much like before will have special interactions with the character, calling him a "cranky-legged old man." Also, when recruiting Vincent (who's important to FF7 Rebirth) as Cid, he will attempt to persuade the secret, optional character, using his background as a Shinra engineer as leverage. Finally, when using Cloud for Don Corneo's reappearance, usually the dialogue will reflect the fact that the characters know each other. However, if no member of the party knows of Don Corneo, like when Cid is the party leader, the characters' dialogue will reflect that neither one has any idea why they are messing with each other.
While this hidden dialogue can seem like a mystery that reveals hidden information of the game and it's characters, the more likely scenario is that it is just added into the game to prevent crashing during unexpected situations. That being said, these unique interactions show cool Easter eggs for the characters and their personalities, which is especially important for characters like Aerith, who died early in the original game. Despite this, some hidden dialogue mentioned has already made appearances in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, showing that it might be more than just a placeholder. For now though, these glimpses at the hidden dialogue in Final Fantasy 7 feel like snapshots of what could have been major character moments in the game.
Source: GarlandTheGreat/YouTube
