Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s Surprise Patch Makes Tiny but Inexplicable Change to the Ending

There are spoilers ahead for Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s ending.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s launch is right around the corner, and ahead of its release, Square Enix has released a patch for its 2020 predecessor, Final Fantasy 7 Remake. A number of minor adjustments have been made, though one in particular has left some fans baffled.

As Final Fantasy 7 Remake ends, in its final scene, with Cloud and company leaving Midgar behind and venturing into a wider world, Aerith looks up at the clouded sky, and says, “The steel sky. I miss it,” referring to the steel plates of Midgar she spent her entire life under.

It’s the last spoken dialogue in the game, though following the new patch, it’s been changed (caught by a user on ResetEra), with Aerith now saying, “The sky… I don’t like it.” The meaning is unchanged, of course, and it’s a pretty minor edit, all things considered- but it’s an objectively worse line, so one has to wonder why the change was made at all.

Other changes made by the patch have also been caught by players. On PS5, the game’s opening has been fixed, and no longer plays an unfinished version of the music track playing during the scene. Meanwhile, during brief flashbacks showing a young Tifa in Nibelheim, her outfit has also seen some minor adjustments to make it consistent with what she looks like in the same, extended sequence in the upcoming sequel.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launches for PS5 on February 29. In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 10/10, saying, “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is one of the best Final Fantasy games of all time. It’s nothing short of a spectacle, an epic journey full of bombastic action, heartfelt emotion, and unforgettable moments- a celebration both of itself and the legendary game it is based on, one that brazenly and loudly demands your attention, and actually manages to hold on to it, because all of its flash is backed by just as much substance. From storytelling to world design, from exploration to combat, from visuals to music, from the amount of content it offers to how much meaningful variety that content exhibits, in nearly every way that matters, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth surpasses expectations.” Read the full review through here.