It would seem that Final Fantasy fans are in for a treat over the next couple of years, as not only was Final Fantasy 16 recently announced (and reportedly significantly through development), but Final Fantasy 7 will continue with its next couple of parts. Of course, there’s still a lot of questions there, such as how many parts it will be, but fans do know one thing: future parts are sticking close to the story.
Shortly after the release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 1, producer Yoshinori Kitase stated that, “from here on out, we’re not drastically changing the story and making it into something completely different than the original.” This is to preserve the nostalgia that many older fans went into the title with, and it’s a good philosophy to have. However, it begs the question whether or not that means the Whispers are gone; after all, while this is not an exact confirmation that they won’t return, they only exist because of the changes to destiny (otherwise known as the original FF7 story). Combined with their role in the first game, their fate seems sealed, but perhaps it shouldn’t be.
First, it’s worth analyzing their role in the initial Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Whispers are invisible beings, only appearing once someone who can see them touches another, and are meant to preserve fate itself. This means they are not good or evil; they simple preserve the events of the story and destiny, so on a meta level, they are intended to preserve the story of the original game. As further proof, they attack, harm, and protect Cloud and his friends based on their actions and if they themselves are deviating from history.
The Whisper Harbinger is a culmination of these supernatural entities, revealing that they appear when someone tries to alter destiny. Obviously, this would be Sephiroth who even asks Cloud to help him forge their own destiny, and this itself would imply that Sephiroth is somehow aware that it is his destiny to fail. On the other hand, they are deeply tied to Aerith who seems to know things of the original FF7 timeline as well (Marlene’s name, Cloud’s history, and more), so in this way, the Whispers are entities formed into these characters already.
Throughout Final Fantasy 7 Remake, there are multiple encounters with the Whispers. It all comes to an end with the party faces off with The Whisper Harbinger before taking the fight to Sephiroth, and there’s a lot to dissect in the moments leading up to it. Sephiroth creates a “singularity” through the Whispers, opening a new destiny where the future is not fixed. Fighting the Whispers shows moments of destiny such as Aerith’s death, Meteor, and the ruins of Midgar. With Sephiroth opening a “new destiny” and the Whispers defeated, several changes have already been revealed: Zack Fair is somehow alive, Biggs survived the plate collapse, and more.
This itself begs the question of how future parts of Final Fantasy 7 Remake can stick closer to the original story and not make it something new. These changes alone could make serious alterations, and while the defeat of the Whispers could be their last moments, there’s plenty of reasons it shouldn’t be.
Sephiroth goaded Cloud and gang into fighting the Whispers, and as a result, things could change—but they don’t have to. It would seem, on the one hand, Cloud, Aerith, and other characters who will eventually join like Vincent Valentine, Tifa, and Cait Sith in defeating Sephiroth are like the Whispers themselves; they are preserving the course of destiny/the plot of the original. This doesn’t have to be so literal, but it could show how the Whispers are supporting them, even if the Destiny ahead is not fixed. It does seem unlikely they will return as a big bad again, but at the same time, they never really were. That effectively means their defeat is not permanent, and that as this supernatural entities, they are probably not gone (although, of course, this could be explained for simplicity’s sake).
Including the Whispers and keeping the story as close to the original as possible actually go hand in hand. While, yes, the Whispers themselves are a change, they are there to protect the destiny of the characters. The Whispers could also be used to explain Biggs, Zack Fair, and more in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2, while at the same time not diverging from the story too much.
It should be noted Kitase’s statement is that they’re not “drastically changing” the story, and as a result, a few changes can easily be expected. Bringing the Whispers back instead of relegating to the first game would be good way to explain the slight changes that do exist, while not sacrificing the contributions of the original FF7 or the FF7 Remake as well.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 is in development.
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