Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth takes a side in the great Tifa and Aerith debate

polygon.com:

The development team behind Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has seemingly taken a side in the great Tifa-versus-Aerith debate.

It might seem silly, but the question of who Cloud should smooch has animated the FF7 fandom for decades. On one side, we have Tifa Lockhart, Cloud’s childhood friend with a warm, generous gaze. On the other, there’s the flower-seller Aerith Gainsborough, who brings a sense of playfulness wherever she goes, and whose powers carry the fate of the world. Fans refer to each pairing as “Cloti” and “Clerith,” respectively. Although a lot of this debate is arguably a matter of opinion, being invested in one particular side can vastly change a player’s perceptions of the game. Even something small, like each character’s outfit, can be a point of discussion as to which one is “better.”

The most reasonable way to settle the argument has always been “Cloud shouldn’t date either of them.” The guy is clearly so zonked out on mako and Sephiroth-related mental trauma that he probably can’t support a romantic partner in a sustained way. But hey, where’s the fun in that?

Now, with the release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it looks to me like the developers have picked an official girlfriend for Cloud. Given that this debate has raged on for so long, it feels like a monumental decision — even if some people may not agree with my analysis below.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for the intimate Gold Saucer date in Chapter 12 and the ending of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.]

I personally believe that the team behind Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has finally picked Tifa to be the official romantic interest for Cloud. This isn’t to say that Cloud doesn’t have feelings for Aerith, or that there’s no chemistry there, but key creative decisions in Rebirth’s telling of the story just tend to steer the ship toward Cloti this time around.

Here’s the biggest argument to illustrate this: Cloud and Tifa kiss, for crying out loud! Admittedly, not everyone will see this cutscene. In