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Two speedrunners in the Final Fantasy community have uncovered a glitch in the original 1997 Final Fantasy VII that allows players to bypass nearly the entirety of the game's first disc and retain one of gaming's most beloved characters beyond her tragic fate.
The exploit, discovered by speedrunners AceZephyr and Kuma, employs a complex manipulation of the game's terrain data system through repeated mounting and dismounting of a chocobo near Midgar. This technique enables players to pass otherwise impassable areas, including walking across the ocean, to reach the City of the Ancients far earlier than intended by the developers.
What makes this discovery important is that it allows players to keep Aerith in their party after her famous death scene. While Aerith still meets her fate at Sephiroth's hands in the cutscene, she can still remain a reserve party member afterward, albeit with some limitations.
The glitch requires no external cheats or modifications, making it the first legitimate method to keep Aerith in the console version. However, there are several challenges to using this skip effectively. Players arrive at the Forgotten Capital severely underleveled (typically around level eight or nine) and must face some serious late-game opponents, including a challenging Jenova boss battle.
Moreover, the game crashes if Aerith joins in the battle immediately following her death scene, and her continued presence in the party can trigger soft locks during certain cutscenes.
The speedrunning community is currently working to optimize this technique, which could potentially reduce completion times by up to two hours. It builds upon previous speedrunning knowledge, specifically the "Kalm skip," and shows how even after more than two decades, dedicated players are still discovering new secrets within classic games.
