This review contains spoilers
(Spoilers for Final Fantasy 5, 6, and 7 as well, in case you care)
Final Fantasy 7: Aerith's death; One of, if not the most iconic character deaths in video games. Sephiroth swooping down out of nowhere and taking the life of the young flower girl you've traveled with throughout the entire game, Aerith's theme bleeding into the Jenova fight right after, replacing the usual high energy track with a somber tune, and Cloud and the gang's emotional reactions in the aftermath of the incident, make for a heartbreaking yet iconic moment in not just Final Fantasy, but gaming as a whole.
Final Fantasy 6: General Leo's death; A man who despite working for an evil empire, is truly good and noble at heart. After what seems to be a happy ending gets rudely interrupted, he's merely disposed of by the empire despite being their top ranking soldier, and his death is mourned by the heroes regardless of the side he fought on in war.
Final Fantasy 5: Galuf's death; After what appears to be a hopeless fight against the big bad, Galuf breaks free of the crystal's control and gives his life to save his granddaughter and the heroes from Exdeath's wrath. Even though the party uses various healing spells (A detail I always appreciated) on him, he dies. His spirit soon after gives his granddaughter the courage to fight with the party in his place, and assures he will always watch over them.
Final Fantasy 4: Cid's "death"; The heroes, engaged in a sudden fight with the Red Wings, seem to be in a hopeless spot. Cid suddenly announces he is going to jump off the airship with a bomb, and abruptly kills himself to seal off the entrance to the underground. It's worth noting that fellow party member Yang had sacrificed himself not even five minutes earlier in the dungeon, for no important reason. And this is a reoccurring thing, at LEAST five playable characters kill themselves to save the party from some peril they could've easily worked around. It's hard to be sad when it's happening for the second time in five minutes, and Cid is quite literally telling the main antagonist, Golbez to go fuck himself and giving him the fucking middle finger while plummeting to his demise. (I found out after beating the game I somehow used a gag fan translation, but it's still worth noting.)
At least Tellah's death is somewhat noble because A: he gives his life fending off Golbez in a way similar to Galuf, with the spell he's been seeking to cast the entire game, and B: since he actually fucking STAYS dead because SURPRISE, Cid survives his heartbreaking suicide bombing and turns up in the dwarf village, alive and, not really well but still alive. Yang also randomly comes back to life late in the game with no foreshadowing and about as much justification as his death had in the first place. The magic twins suddenly petrify themselves instead of doing something smarter like casting teleport, you get the idea. The actual reason for the game's party being about as stable as a failing marriage is most likely the five character in battle limit, but they really couldn't have come up with anything better whenever you hit the limit of party members?
Final Fantasy 7: Aerith's death; One of, if not the most iconic character deaths in video games. Sephiroth swooping down out of nowhere and taking the life of the young flower girl you've traveled with throughout the entire game, Aerith's theme bleeding into the Jenova fight right after, replacing the usual high energy track with a somber tune, and Cloud and the gang's emotional reactions in the aftermath of the incident, make for a heartbreaking yet iconic moment in not just Final Fantasy, but gaming as a whole.
Final Fantasy 6: General Leo's death; A man who despite working for an evil empire, is truly good and noble at heart. After what seems to be a happy ending gets rudely interrupted, he's merely disposed of by the empire despite being their top ranking soldier, and his death is mourned by the heroes regardless of the side he fought on in war.
Final Fantasy 5: Galuf's death; After what appears to be a hopeless fight against the big bad, Galuf breaks free of the crystal's control and gives his life to save his granddaughter and the heroes from Exdeath's wrath. Even though the party uses various healing spells (A detail I always appreciated) on him, he dies. His spirit soon after gives his granddaughter the courage to fight with the party in his place, and assures he will always watch over them.
Final Fantasy 4: Cid's "death"; The heroes, engaged in a sudden fight with the Red Wings, seem to be in a hopeless spot. Cid suddenly announces he is going to jump off the airship with a bomb, and abruptly kills himself to seal off the entrance to the underground. It's worth noting that fellow party member Yang had sacrificed himself not even five minutes earlier in the dungeon, for no important reason. And this is a reoccurring thing, at LEAST five playable characters kill themselves to save the party from some peril they could've easily worked around. It's hard to be sad when it's happening for the second time in five minutes, and Cid is quite literally telling the main antagonist, Golbez to go fuck himself and giving him the fucking middle finger while plummeting to his demise. (I found out after beating the game I somehow used a gag fan translation, but it's still worth noting.)
At least Tellah's death is somewhat noble because A: he gives his life fending off Golbez in a way similar to Galuf, with the spell he's been seeking to cast the entire game, and B: since he actually fucking STAYS dead because SURPRISE, Cid survives his heartbreaking suicide bombing and turns up in the dwarf village, alive and, not really well but still alive. Yang also randomly comes back to life late in the game with no foreshadowing and about as much justification as his death had in the first place. The magic twins suddenly petrify themselves instead of doing something smarter like casting teleport, you get the idea. The actual reason for the game's party being about as stable as a failing marriage is most likely the five character in battle limit, but they really couldn't have come up with anything better whenever you hit the limit of party members?