Reception
Aerith has received an overall positive reception from both critics and fans. GamesTM referred to her as a "gaming legend." RPGamer stated that although Aerith "represented the token damsel in distress," she "broke the mould in terms of personality," possessing "an admirable pluck that was not brassy nor off-putting." Aerith has also been included in most of GameFAQs' "Character Battle" contests, though she progressed only a few rounds each time. In February 2007, she was listed in Tom's Games list of "Top 50 Greatest Female Characters in Video Game History", citing her death scene and the beauty of her appearance and personality. In late 2007, Aerith was named 5th best character of all time in Dengeki PlayStation's retrospective awards feature about the original PlayStation. IGN ranked her the number two in their top Final Fantasy VII character list — a rank higher than the game's protagonist, Cloud Strife. GameTrailers ranked her at the top of "Top 10 Babes who Are out of Your League." During February 2010, Famitsu readers voted Aerith as the 24th best video game character. Her relation with Cloud has also received positive response, with the two appearing in the The Inquirer's list of most memorable video game couples, while IGN listed them in their article of "Best Videogame Romances"
Her death in Final Fantasy VII has received a great deal of attention. Players commented on message boards and blogs about the emotional impact the scene held. Fans submitted a petition to Yoshinori Kitase requesting her return. GameSpy numbers her demise as the 10th greatest cinematic moments in video game history, while its readers voted it the second most cinematic moment. GamePro considers her death sequence to be the greatest of all gaming moments. Tom's Games called the scene "one of the most powerful and memorable scenes of the Final Fantasy series—or any other game, for that matter." Edge called her death the "dramatic highpoint" of Final Fantasy VII, and suggested that reintroducing her through the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII titles "arguably undermines this great moment." In 2005, Electronic Gaming Monthly listed Final Fantasy VII number six in their list of "10 Most Important Games", stating that without this game, "Aeris wouldn't have died, and gamers wouldn't have learned how to cry." GamesTM argues that her death helped establish the popularity of Final Fantasy VII. ScrewAttack has added Aerith's death to their "Top 10 OMGWTF Moments", referring to it as one of the "touchiest moments in video game history." In 2011, IGN ranked her death scene at No. 1 in its list of Top 100 Video Game Moments.
Read more about this topic: Aerith Gainsborough
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)