For decades, Final Fantasy fans have fought in the shipping wars and are still debating who, canonically, is absolutely made for Cloud, but Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s director Naoki Hamaguchi wants no part in the violence - he just wants to see the spiky-haired icon happy. The OG Final Fantasy 7 never explicitly made a romantic connection between Cloud and his mates, but there were enough teases in the script for fans to make the connection themselves. There’s Tifa, Cloud’s childhood bestie who knows more about him than himself. Then there’s Aerith, a source of newfound hope for Cloud and the entire party. Tough choice, there. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director defends the JRPG's overlong filler, but says he’s "striking a balance" with Part 3: "Players just have too much to do and too much to play" Final Fantasy 7 Remake series devs knew JRPG fans wanted to know "what's gonna happen to Aerith," so they tried to make sure players "won't be able to tell… until the very end" Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director says the team could do a "completely new IP" or maybe "something new within the Final Fantasy series" after finishing Part 3 of the JRPG remake “But I think one thing I can say, after spending so long working on these games, over 10 years of developing on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series – I've spent so much time looking at Cloud, walking behind him, seeing him go around the world,” Hamaguchi explains. “I think I probably spent more time looking at the back of Cloud than I have anyone in my actual family. "So I got this very special feeling – I've got a lot of sympathy, a lot of affinity with Cloud himself, and I just want what makes him happy.” Hear, hear. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director "would love" to make an AA game with a similar scope to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 that's "really focused on one area."