LogFAQs > #979221381

Roche is great! Though I kinda figured he would die since he wasn't in the original game. Granted he's not exactly dead yet, maybe he'll be healed and become bros with Cloud and Zack.

As for Aerith, there's some multiverse shenanigans going on (which was hinted at in Remake), but she is in fact dead. At least the one that we've been travelling with is. We can only guess how the alternate timelines will effect the main one in the third installment.

The original story is still overall in tact though. Sephiroth's goal has just shifted from taking over one planet to taking over all of them now.