Most of the cast of Final Fantasy VII Revelation have been voicing these new iterations of the RPG’s iconic characters for nearly a decade. So it’s understandable that when that long road was at last coming to an end, some of the actors may have had trouble holding it together in the booth. At a New York City Comic Con panel featuring many of the trilogy’s main performers, Square Enix showed footage from some of the final recording sessions. And while there were plenty of goofy antics as it all went down, a few members of the cast were also clearly in their feelings.
Briana White and Britt Baron, the actors who have played the English versions of Aerith and Tifa across all three games, are both shown crying in some of these last recording sessions. Luckily, the video wasn’t entirely dour and sad, as most Final Fantasy games have their share of comedic moments as well. If you’ve ever wanted to hear Sephiroth say that his favorite flavor of Doritos is Cool Ranch, that’s in there, too.
Travis Willingham, who is taking over the role in Revelation due to scheduling issues with original actor Tyler Hoechlin, is also shown behind the scenes performing the game’s larger-than-life villain for the first time. I got a little misty-eyed being in the room for the panel because, despite it all being marketing-sanctioned promotional material for games that make me mad when I think about them too long, I know what it’s like to follow something for that many years, make it a big part of your life, and then have to let it go.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation is bringing Square Enix’s Remake trilogy to a close on April 8, though it’s unclear just how much it might deviate from the source material given the first two games have gone back and forth on that since the first launched in 2020. It sounds like Aerith will still play a major role, as White is still in the booth despite everything that happened at the end of Rebirth.
