Square Enix has been drip-feeding us info on Final Fantasy VII Revelation, but the latest content conspiracy theory comes not from a new trailer or interview excerpt, but from the game’s rating. First reported by IGN, fans have noticed that the game’s Xbox store page includes a pending rating suggesting that once the ESRB officially weighs in, the game is likely to be rated Mature. The previous two games in the trilogy are rated Teen, potentially making Revelation the first game in the Remake trilogy, and the second mainline game in Final Fantasy history, with an M rating.
According to the ESRB, Mature games “may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language, and there are many reasons Revelation might have the stronger label. The game will feature a lot more Cid Highwind and he curses a lot. Point in the strong language column. Revelation will also include battles against the weapon superbosses and the final fight with Sephiroth which, powered by hyper-realistic graphics, may be way more graphic than they were in the 1997 original. Point in the blood and gore / intense violence column.
However, it’s the “sexual content” part that fans are aspirationally latching onto. In the orignal’s third disc, Cloud and Tifa share a moment under the Highwind where they have a deep, emotional conversation. At one point, Cloud says he doesn’t know what to say to Tifa, and she replies that words aren’t the only way to let someone know what they’re thinking. The game fades to black and when we see them again, they’re cuddled up, with Cloud telling Tifa it’s almost dawn. Could those two childhood friends, saddled with an entire Highwind’s worth of sexual and romantic tension, have spent that night out platonically? Sure. Could that also have been a 1997 way of suggesting those two finally stopped dancing around each other and fucked? ALSO YES!!
There have been several moments throughout the Final Fantasy series in which it’s implied or made explicit that characters had sex, with Final Fantasy X being the best among them all. A Mature rating doesn’t mean Final Fantasy VII Revelation is guaranteed to add another sex scene to the cuddle pile, but since Square Enix has the technology, why not use it?