Final Fantasy VII

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Introduction

Conventions

Button names

The guide tries to use the button names as specified in the game controls section. Some bits may refer to either the specific Playstation or PC controls; these should probably refer to the generic control names instead, with possible explanations on which buttons to use on either platform. Example: Instead of "Press O to climb the ladder" the guide should say "Press [OK] to climb the ladder", or, if necessary, "Press [OK] (Enter on PC, O on Playstation) to climb the ladder".

Bold

In general, boldface entries in text is used to denote

an important item that the player might be interested in picking up (for example, "On the floor you'll find Steal materia.)
flunkies of a boss (see below)

For editors: Materia names should be marked fully in bold ("Steal materia" instead of "Steal materia"). Boldface may also be used to emphasise important issues, but for that purpose, italics is recommended.

Boss statistics

An example of boss statistics is as follows:

Looming・DEADLINE

Lv: 32, HP: 12000, MP: 600, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: Time

Whatever you do, don't cast Haste on party members, because the boss is able to absorb this, and heals approximately 1000 points when you do this. Stop works on this boss, but only somewhat. Aside of this, most summons work pretty well, though Odin does almost no damage. The boss keeps summoning Depart Mgrs (sic)—ignore them and focus on attacking the boss itself; The Mgrs have a nasty Report Cover Sheet Reminder attack that might be nasty unless the character has Deaf status ailment up.

The statistics are explained as follows:

Boss name should be self-explanatory. You can see the boss name in the game by pressing [Assist] to bring up the name display, or by using the Sense materia (if Sense works on this boss at all).
Level means just about the same as character level; if your party is close to the level of this boss, the fight should be fairly straightforward to win. A good trick to do is to train your party to be near the level of the boss before wading in to the area where it's found.
HP and MP tell how tough the boss is, physically and magically. Like the characters, the boss dies if it's HP goes to zero. If MP goes to zero, the boss can't use magic attacks anymore (some bosses use attack arsenal based entirely on magic attacks, and thus become sitting ducks if their MP runs out).
Weak against shows attack types that are particularly effective against the boss.
Strong against (In more technical terms, Blocks) has attacks which do little damage against the boss. This field also includes attacks that the boss Nullifies (in other words, does no damage whatsoever to the boss). As a side note, most bosses are strong against Gravity attacks (Demi, etc).
Absorbs lists attacks that not only are useless against the boss, but actually heals the boss (This is often pretty obvious - a creature that's obviously on fire might just be healed if you use Fire attack on it), sometimes as much as the damage that would be normally inflicted.
Strategy text should be self-explanatory. This section will also list possible flunkies of the boss (ie, smaller enemies the boss keeps summoning over and over) in boldface. The strategy generally refers to how to defeat the boss as a whole.

About the game

Final Fantasy VII was a seminal release in Square Enix's Final Fantasy series, widely regarded as one of the most successful gaming franchises in history. Released in 1997, FFVII was a gamble for the company. Prior to VII all the Final Fantasy games had been on Nintendo consoles but VII was released for the Sony PlayStation. FFVII took the series in a new direction, which it has pursued ever since. This landmark release paid off, it is thought by some to be the most popular and well-liked game in the Final Fantasy series, possibly the best RPG ever made or even the best game ever made.

Final Fantasy VII was released under the same name in Japan, the US and Europe - correcting inconsistencies in numbering between the regions. With each new release, Squaresoft (now Square Enix) added new features. The latest release of the original title in Europe (PAL) contained bonus material not seen before, namely the two WEAPONs; Ruby and Emerald.

Characters

Final Fantasy VII characters
Overview | Limit Breaks | Training

This article has an overview of the different characters in Final Fantasy VII.

Cloud Strife

General Information

Name:	Cloud Strife
Birthplace:	Nibelheim
Birthdate	August 19
Age:	21
Occupation:	Mercenary
Weapon:	Buster Sword
Height:	5 feet 7 inches (170 cm)
Blood Type:	AB

Background

Growing up in the sleepy mountain town of Nibelheim, Cloud never quite fit in with the other children in the village, though he often tried to get closer to his next-door neighbor, Tifa Lockhart. Hoping to prove his worth, he set out to join SOLDIER like his hero Sephiroth. At fourteen, and after saying goodbye to Tifa, he left for Midgar to pursue this dream. 7 years later Cloud meets Tifa again in the Sector 7 Slum in Midgar. Cloud, now a mercenary, is hired by Tifa and AVALANCHE to destroy the Number One Mako Reactor.

Details and further information

Limit Breaks

Barret Wallace

General Information

Name:	Barret Wallace
Birthplace:	Corel Village
Birthdate	December 15
Age:	35
Occupation:	Leader of AVALANCHE
Height:	6 feet 4 inches (193 cm)
Blood Type:	O
Weapon:	Gun-arm

Background

Leader of the terrorist group AVALANCHE, and bitter enemy of the Shinra. He grew up in the mining town of North Corel, where he was involved in a decision to have the town switch from mining coal to using Mako energy, against the protests of his friend Dyne. The decision turned out to be disastrous for the people there, and both him and Dyne lost one of their arms after an attack from the Shinra. Barret had an operation to have his arm replaced with a gun, and learned that Dyne did the same. He adopted Dyne's daughter, Marlene, and traveled to Cosmo Canyon where he learned about the harm the Shinra and their Mako reactors were inflicting upon the planet. He came to live in the Midgar slums, where he took command of a group called AVALANCHE to fight back against what he believed the Mako reactors were doing to the planet.

Details and further information

Limit Breaks

Tifa Lockhart

General Information

Name:	Tifa Lockhart
Birthplace:	Nibelheim
Birthdate	May 3rd
Age:	20
Occupation:	Bar Hostess, AVALANCHE member
Height:	5 feet 4 inches (163 cm)
Blood Type:	B
Weapon:	Gloves

Background

Bright and optimistic. Tifa always cheers up the others when they're down. But don't let her looks fool you, she can decimate almost any enemy with her fists. She is one of the main members of AVALANCHE. She and Cloud were childhood friends, and although she has strong feelings for him, she would never admit it.

Details and further information

Limit Breaks

Aerith Gainsborough

General Information

Name:	Aerith Gainsborough
Birthplace:	Icicle Inn
Birthdate	February 7
Age:	22
Occupation:	Flower Merchant
Weapon:	Staff
Height:	5 feet 3 inches (160 cm)
Blood Type:	O

Background

Young, beautiful, and somewhat mysterious, Aerith met Cloud while selling flowers on the streets of Midgar. She decided to join him soon after. Her unusual abilities enable her to use magic, but she seems more interested in the deepening love triangle between herself, Cloud and Tifa.

Details and further information

Limit Breaks

Red XIII

General Information

Name:	Red XIII
Birthplace:	Cosmo Canyon
Birthdate	???
Age:	48
Occupation:	Beast
Weapon:	Head-dress
Height:	3 feet 9 inches (114 cm)
Blood Type:	???

Background

Just as his name implies, he is an animal with fire-red fur. But under his fierce exterior he possesses a great intelligence. His sharp claws and fangs make him good at close-range fighting, but other than that, not much is known about him. It's not even certain that "Red XIII" is his real name. A real enigma.

Details and further information

Limit Breaks

Cid Highwind

General Information

Name:	Cid Highwind
Birthplace:	???
Birthdate	February 22
Age:	32
Occupation:	Pilot
Weapon:	Spear
Height:	5 feet 8 inches (173 cm)
Blood Type:	B

Background

Cid is a tough-talking, warm-hearted old pilot who hasn't forgotten his dreams. There's no better pilot by air or sea. He believes someday he'll fly to the ends of the universe. With his handmade spear and knowledge of machinery, he throws himself into any attack regardless of the danger.

Details and further information

Limit Breaks

Cait Sith

General Information

Name:	Cait Sith (Controlled by Reeve Tuesti)
Birthplace:	???
Birthdate	???
Age:	???
Occupation:	Fortune Teller
Weapon:	Megaphone
Height:	3 feet 2 inches (97 cm)
Blood Type:	???

Background

Cait Sith rides around on the back of a huge stuffed Mog he magically brought to life. Megaphone in hand, he's always shouting orders and creating dopey attacks. When his slot machine attack works, the enemy lines look like an overturned toy box. His hobby is fortune telling, but like his personality, it's pretty unreliable.

Details and further information

Limit Breaks

Vincent Valentine

General Information

Name:	Vincent Valentine
Birthplace:	???
Birthdate	October 13
Age:	27
Occupation:	Ex-Turks Gunman
Weapon:	Gun
Height:	6ft
Blood Type:	A

Background

A mystical man, stern and upright while at the same time dark and mysterious. His past connection with Shinra, Inc. is what made him join Cloud and the others. He may seem frail at first glance, but hidden inside his body lurks a fearsome power.

Details and further information

Yuffie Kisaragi

General Information

Name:	Yuffie Kisaragi
Birthplace:	Wutai
Birthdate	November 20
Age:	16
Occupation:	Materia Hunter/Ninja
Weapon:	Shuriken/Knife/Boomerang/Origami
Height:	5ft 2in
Blood Type:	A

Background

Although you'd never know it by looking at her, Yuffie comes from a long line of Ninjas. She forced herself into the group just to get a 'certain something'. She's sneaky, arrogant and "way" selfish. But with her super shuriken and her special skills, there isn't anyone else you'd rather have on your side in a fight.

Details and further information

Characters/Limit Breaks

Final Fantasy VII characters
Overview | Limit Breaks | Training

Limit breaks are powerful attacks, or other handy status boosts, that can be performed once the limit bar is full. The limit bar is slowly filled as enemies attack the character. Fury status makes limit bar fill quicker and Sadness status makes the limit bar fill slower.

Most characters have 4 levels of limits; these characters can only learn the 4th limit once all other limits are learned. The 4th level limit is hidden, and comes in form of a "manual" to the limit. Once all other limits are learned, simply use this manual object on the character to learn the level 4 limit.

Most of the first limits on each level are learned by killing more and more enemies. This means that the character has to be the one that deals the killing blow; it doesn't matter if other characters damage the enemy as well. Most second limits on each level are simply gained by using the first limit on the level enough times.

These tables below list the number of times you have to use the first limit break of each level to get second limit breaks, as well as the number of kills needed to gain the first limit break of the next level. These numbers aren't conclusive because there is an amount of randomness to the system, they should be used as guidelines

Cloud

Name	Level	Effect	How to unlock
Braver	Level 1	Damages one enemy	Cloud starts with it
Cross Slash	Level 1	Damages one enemy, inflicts stop	Use Braver 8 times
Blade Beam	Level 2	Damages one enemy, splash damage to all others	Kill 80 enemies
Climhazzard	Level 2	Damages one enemy	Use Blade Beam 8 times
Meteorain	Level 3	Damages random enemies	Kill 80 more enemies
Finishing Touch	Level 3	May remove enemies from battle	Use Meteorain 8 times
Omnislash	Level 4	15 slash attack	Buy the Omnislash manual from the Battle Arena in the Gold Saucer. It costs 64,000 Battle Points in Disk 1 and 32,000 Battle Points in Disk 2 and 3.

Tifa

Tifa's limit breaks are chained. When a limit break is used, she will do all of the attacks in the following order, up to the maximum limit of the level currently selected. The slots system is used to pick how well the limits in question are handled: "Hit" means normal damage, "Yeah!" gives extra damage, and "Miss" will mean the limit is not going to be used. Too many misses will break the chain and the limits that follow aren't used. If a "Miss" occurs for a certain limit break, the count for that limit break doesn't go up. Also only the first limit break of the Level Tifa is set on will accumlate uses. For example, if Tifa has her first limit breaks of Level 1 and Level 2 and is set on the Level 2 limit. Then no matter how many times she gets a "Hit" or "Yeah!" on the Beat Rush portion of the slot, her count for Beat Rush will not improve.

Name	Level	Effect	How to unlock
Beat Rush	Level 1	Damages one enemy	Tifa starts with it
Somersault	Level 1	Damages one enemy	Use Beat Rush 8 times
Waterkick	Level 2	Damages one enemy, water elemental	Kill 80 enemies
Meteodrive	Level 2	Damages one enemy	Use Waterkick 8 times
Dolphin Blow	Level 3	Damages one enemy	Kill 80 more enemies
Meteor Strike	Level 3	Damages one enemy	Use Dolphin Blow 8 times
Final Heaven	Level 4	Damages all enemies	On Disc 2 or 3, after Cloud is rescued, play the piano in Tifa's house in Nibelheim to get the manual.

In game, there's one way of learning the melody - during Cloud's story in Kalm. You can get the limit break even if you don't find the melody out then, however, just play the melody normally.

File:FF7-Tifa-Limit-Piano.png

(Listen to MIDI version)
Melody: Do Re Mi Ti La Do Re Mi So Fa Do Re Do
Keys: [Cancel], [Switch], [Menu], [Pgup]+[Menu], [Pgup]+[Switch], [Cancel], [Switch], [Menu], [Pgup]+[Cancel], [OK], [Cancel], [Switch], [Cancel]
Playstation version: X, S, T, R1+T, R1+S, X, S, T, R1+X, O, X, S, X
PC version: Ins Del Plus 9+Plus 9+Del Ins Del Plus 9+Ins Enter Ins Del Ins

Note: Tifa must be in your party when you play the song to get the limit break.

Barret

Name	Level	Effect	How to unlock
Big Shot	Level 1	Damages one enemy	Barret starts with it
Mindblow	Level 1	Damages one enemy's MP	Use Big Shot 8 times
Grenade Bomb	Level 2	Damages all enemies	Kill 80 enemies
Hammer Blow	Level 2	May instantly kill an enemy	Use Grenade Bomb 8 times
Satellite Beam	Level 3	Damages all enemies	Kill 80 more enemies
Angermax	Level 3	18 attacks on random enemies	Use Satellite Beam 8 times
Catastrophe	Level 4	20 attacks on random enemies	Save North Corel from the runaway train, and an old lady in a hut will give the manual to you.

Aeris

Name	Level	Effect	How to unlock
Healing Wind	Level 1	Heals the party for half their HP	Aerith starts with it
Seal Evil	Level 1	May stop and silence an enemy	Use Healing Wind 8 times
Breath of the Earth	Level 2	Cures all party members' status ailments	Kill 80 enemies
Fury Brand	Level 2	Fills all party members' limit bars	Use Breath of the Earth 7 times
Planet Protector	Level 3	Makes all party members invincible for a period of time	Kill 80 more enemies
Pulse of Life	Level 3	Completely heals party	Use Planet Protector 6 times
Great Gospel	Level 4	Planet Protector + Pulse of Life	From the weapon store on peninsula.

To make it easier to get Aerith's 2nd and 3rd limit breaks just do the following. After you escape from the Church give Aerith some Materia (I gave her Fire, Ice, and Restore Materia) and get into some random battles. Fight only with Aerith using her magic (this should instantly kill most enemies) and use Cloud for healing. Do this until you have her 2nd limit break (If you don't have Seal Evil limit break by the time this is done...you can do it now if you want). Seems like it'll take forever? It only took me a little more than a half an hour. Take a break from playing, (Unless you want to continue of course!) and repeat to get her 3rd limit break. This'll make it easier when you want to get her last limit break.

To get the Level 4 manual, you need to talk to the sleeping man in a cave near Junon. He'll tell how many battles you've been in. When the two last digits of the battle count are same and odd, he'll give you a piece of Mythril. This can then be traded for the Great Gospel manual at the blacksmith on the peninsula south of Gongaga. The blacksmith will give you two boxes to choose from, the "big one" and the "small one", choose the "small one". The small box is located up the stairs in a grey safe.

You can do this any time after getting out of the Corel Desert prison and before going to the Temple of the Ancients. Take the buggy given from Dio, go to Costa de Sol, and take the boat back to Junon. It will allow you to cross the river to get to the cave. You can also get there by following the coasts and going up the river with the Tiny Bronco.

Red XIII

Name	Level	Effect	How to unlock
Sled Fang	Level 1	Damages one enemy	Red XIII starts with it
Lunatic High	Level 1	Casts haste on the party	Use Sled Fang 8 times
Blood Fang	Level 2	Drains HP and MP from one enemy	Kill 80 enemies
Stardust Ray	Level 2	10 random attacks	Use Blood Fang 8 times
Howling Moon	Level 3	Casts haste, berserk and increses power for Red XIII	Kill 80 more enemies
Earth Rave	Level 3	5 random attacks	Use Howling Moon 8 times
Cosmo Memory	Level 4	Damages all enemies	Defeat Lost Number in the Shinra Mansion to obtain the manual.

Cait Sith

Cait Sith only has two limit breaks.

Name	Level	Effect	How to unlock
Dice	Level 1	Damages one enemy for 100 times the sum of the dice	Cait Sith starts with it
Slots	Level 2	Random effects	Kill 40 enemies

Cid

Name	Level	Effect	How to unlock
Boost Jump	Level 1	Damages one enemy	Cid starts with it
Dynamite	Level 1	Damages all enemies	Use Boost Jump 8 times
Hyper Jump	Level 2	Damages all enemies	Kill 80 enemies
Dragon	Level 2	Drains HP and MP from one enemy	Use Hyper Jump 8 times
Dragon Dive	Level 3	6 random attacks	Kill 80 more enemies
Big Brawl	Level 3	8 random attacks	Use Dragon Dive 8 times
Highwind	Level 4	18 random attacks	Use the submarine to reach the sunken Gelnika (airplane wreck found in one of the bays). The manual can be found in the cargo hold.

Yuffie

Name	Level	Effect	How to unlock
Greased Lightning	Level 1	Damages one enemy	Yuffie starts with it
Clear Tranquil	Level 1	Heals party	Use Greased Lightning 8 times
Landscaper	Level 2	Damages all enemies	Kill 80 enemies
Bloodfest	Level 2	10 random attacks	Use Landscaper 8 times
Gauntlet	Level 3	Damages all enemies	Kill 80 more enemies
Doom of the Living	Level 3	15 random attacks	Use Gauntlet 8 times
All Creation	Level 4	Damages all enemies	Defeat Godo at the top of the Wutai Pagoda and finish Yuffie's subquest to obtain the manual.

Vincent

Vincent, unlike all the others, has only one limit break per limit level, and his limit breaks involve morphing into another creature. You cannot control Vincent while he is morphed.

Name	Level	Effect 1	Effect 2	How to unlock
Galian Beast	Level 1	Berserk Dance: Damages one enemy	Beast Flare: Fire damage to all enemies	Vincent starts with it
Death Gigas	Level 2	Giga Dunk: Damages one enemy	Livewire: Lightning damage to all enemies	Kill 60 enemies
Hellmasker	Level 3	Splattercombo: 5 attacks to one enemy	Nightmare: Status ailments to one enemy	Kill 60 more enemies
Chaos	Level 4	Chaos Saber: Fire damage to all enemies	Satan Slam: Attempts instant death, then does fire damage to all enemies	Waterfall by the lake.

To get the lvl4 manual, go to the waterfall on the northern side of the round lake on the second continent. You need a either a colored chocobo or the submarine to reach it.

If you go to the waterfall with Vincent in your party, a cutscene follows. Return to the waterfall after approximately one hour of play time, and you will get both the manual and Vincent's best weapon.

Characters/Training

Final Fantasy VII characters
Overview | Limit Breaks | Training

General Tips

Training is essential as you won't be powerful enough just running through the game. It is also fun and rewarding, there's nothing better than killing what is meant to be a difficult boss in a few strokes. Some describe this as cheating, but my idea of cheating does not include hours of work.

Anyway, the best training stops, obviously, give you good EXP, AP and Gil. However, you should be able to kill the enemies there without too much trouble, and, most importantly, quickly. You should be close enough to a save point of the world map so you can duck out and use a tent if you get in trouble, and to PHS so you can bring in new people for training.

Use double and triple strength equipment as much as possible. And always fill them up with materia completely, you should be able to defeat the enemies wherever you're training easily - so there's no need to bother about combining materia for effect - just take whatever needs levelling.

Having said that, one little combination is good for racking up kills. Long Range/Cover/Counter Attack allows you to concentrate kills on one character, in order to gain limit breaks or just to rack up the kill counter.

Gaining EXP

The purpose of EXP is to level up your characters. EXP is gained by defeating enemies. As you progress through the game, enemies will give you increasingly more EXP each time you win a battle. However, it takes increasingly more EXP in order to level up at higher levels. Only members of your party will receive the full amount of EXP quoted after the battle. However, other characters will receive a portion of the EXP received.

Gaining AP

AP is used for leveling-up materia, like EXP, there's no real trick to getting this. You can however maximise growth by using Double and Triple growth weapons and armour. Failing that, use weapons/armour with as many slots as possible. When you master a materia, it spawns a new peice of that materia - which can then be levelled up further to replace the old materia which can usually be sold for a tidy profit.

Mideel and Corral Valley (see below) are good places to gain AP.

Stat-building

Strength - you can gain Strength Sources quickly in the Gongaga Reactor. The only enemy there is a large, Rhino-headed tank which morphs into a Strength Source.
ALL STATS - In the sunken gelinka underwater, every enemy can be morphed into a source.

Gaining Limit Breaks

Limit levels are gained in one of two ways - a) using your current limit break a set number of times or b) getting a set number of kills. Usually, the first limit break of a limit level is received by killing 80 enemies while the second limit break is received by using the first limit break between 6 and 10 times. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule including Vincent and Cait Sith. Try using powerful magic with all, or all-hitting enemy skills to wipe out large groups of enemies to fulfill the first. To gain the second Limits on each level, find a powerful enemy to manipulate and have it attack you to build up your limit meter. Repeat. You can also just use Hyper which will make your meter fill up faster.

A good place to gain the second skill of a limit level is Mideel - if you don't kill the monsters instantly, and have Hypered the characters, their limit break meters should fill up pretty fast.

Fourth level limit breaks can only be obtained by getting a special item which is different for each chartacter. Note: Cait Sith only has 2 limit levels and does not have an ultimate limit break.

For more details, see the Limit Breaks Appendix.

Gaining Gil

You can gain gil from battles just like EXP or AP - there's no trick.

However, a much better way to gain gil is to master ALL materias (see the AP section. These can be mastered very easily, but can be sold for a whopping 1.4 million gil. Once you've mastered one, let the spawned materia take its place and sell the old one.

Another way is to find the area - the island south of Bone Village - with an enemy called "Trick Play". Thay have an attack called "Gold Mountain" that attacks you with gold-giving you 800 gil each time. Just set up your party so nobody is a level that is a multiple of four (because it has level 4 suicide) and that they absorb fire/ice/water/ect. other good choices are coupling final attack and life together, but not with Phoenix, as it will kill it. With elemental defences set up, it will be hard to get a game over, as Trick Play has an attack called "Hot Springs" that actually heals it's target. Now, why don't you just let the game run, and go make yourself a sandwich, or put a pizza in the oven and eat lunch? Just check on your party every now and then. After so much time, the beast has hopefully used Gold Mountain a lot, giving you lots of gil whenever you choose to finally put it out of it's misery.

Good training spots

The Mythril Mine

The first good place to train up is the Mythril Mines near Junon. This is a fantastic spot to gain all of the Limit Breaks in Levels 1 through 3 for Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aeris, Red XIII and Yuffie. Before you start, be sure to acquire the Enemy Skill Matra Magic from the robots around Midgar - this is effective for killing off an entire party of monsters with minimal MP cost. If you forgot to get Matra Magic, use Quake-all, though it's not as effective. You'll also want to go through the cave once and get Yuffie on the other side (see Appendix: Optional Characters).

Once you have done this, re-enter the cave. You're looking for a particular room, just north of the screen next to the Junon entrance. It's basically a cliff, with a treasure chest in the bottom-left. Here you will meet large groups of enemies which you can kill off using Matra Magic to rack up your kill meter fast. Do one character at a time, giving them all the kills to gain limit levels. None of these enemies pose a risk to you, except, Ark Dragons. These rather insect-like creatures are perfect for gaining the second limit break on each level as their Flamethrower attack significantly increases your limit meter. TIP: The Arc Dragon will always go for the enemy with the most HP, so, attack two of your characters until they are sufficiently low. You can then concentrate on a single character. Just let the Ark Dragon toast you, occasionally healing, until either your Limit Meter fills (then you can use the Limit to finish off the Ark Dragon) or the Ark Dragon runs out of MP. When this happens, simply put it out of it's misery with a few physical attacks.

It may take a while, but eventually you'll have all the Limit Breaks - a real benefit so early in the game. You'll also be around level 25 AND you should have enough money to get some potions, status-curing items and weapons for a while. PLUS: You should now be plenty strong to go try and get the enemy skill Beta from the Midgar Zolom. Just remember to equip the person who has the enemy skill materia with a elemental-fire combo on his/her armor and the talisman as an accessory to up your spirit.

Corral Valley

Between the Sleeping Forest and the City of the Ancients is the very aquatic landscape of Corral Valley. You want the screen with the hollowed out tree-bridge, which gives exceptionally good EXP, AP and Gil for this point in the game. You'll be fighting different groups of very weak creatures, whose only attack is Dance; which is irritating, but by no means deadly. This little beasties give a massive 2000 exp and 200 ap a go. Use Trine, or another decent-strength all-attack to wipe out groups of monsters (if you're quick, you can do it before they start a wave of time-consuming Dances).

The amount of EXP/AP you get here is unmatched for a LONG time, so make the most of it. You can very easily and quickly max out all your magic materia and a good 4 alls - use any weapons with double growth you have, the Edincoat and Cait Sith's Silver M-Phone can also hold lots of materia for growing. You should be able to reach around level 50 in just a few hours - and you can go forward a screen to the world map in order to switch party members. You'll make about 250 000 gil - which is nothing considering you hopefully mastered enough alls to get about 6 million gil. Hold on to these until you get to the Icicle Inn, you won't need the money til then anyway.

Mideel area

If you travel to the Mideel area, and go by the Chocobo tracks to the west of Mideel's place in the forest, the beach on the southside of the tracks has a rather useful enemy to fight - Sea worms. They give 200AP, 1300 EXP & 5000 gil and are easy to kill, seems fire isn't greatly effective but everything else should work a treat. The sea worms are the only monsters that appear in battle on that beach, and are easy pickings. I have found it a useful place to train-up and get gil as its attacks are extremely weak, just wack a comet2 an ice3 and an attack on it and its done. You can steal a dragon scale, and at times get a turbo-ether from killing it.

The Wutai Area

The Wutai area is also a good place to level up. The enemies usually comes in groups of three, and are generally easy to defeat. Defeating these will give you a bunch of EXP and AP, and also, good items, such as X-Potions.

The Northern Cave

The Northern Cave is the best possible place to level up. On the way down, the Gargoyles and Dragons are good enemies to defeat for EXP and AP, but, once you get to the place where you choose paths, along the left path, and the top room (I think), there is a swamp area. In this area you will fight Magic Pots (little urn-like things) and Movers (red bouncing balls). To kill the Magic Pots, you must give them an Elixer, and you can finish them off pretty fast (they only have 4096 HP). They give you a whopping 8,000 EXP, 1,000 AP, and 8,500 Gil each, and generally comes in groups of two or three. Also, the Movers, more rare to find (though I generally get them pretty often), are good enemies to combat. They come in groups of three, and have harmless attacks. Each Mover, although they wont get you any EXP, will give you 800 AP, and 30,000 Gil each; for a total of 2,400 AP and 90,000 Gil per battle. Use double and triple growth weapons, such as the Apocalypse to level up materia quickly.

Note: This is a good place to use your save crystal.

Problem: Can i exit the cave after choosing a path!?!?!?

Methods of Auto-levelling

Auto-levelling is considered by many to be cheating, it involves setting up your game so you can automatically win battles and then leaving the game to play for hours. There are a few methods:

Midgar Zolom:

This is easy. Just set up everybody's materia so that you can easily win against a Midgar Zolom. It might be smart to hook up final attack materia with life, just to make sure. Then maybe hook up a strong command/magic/summon with an hp or mp absorb materia. You may also wish to set up your party so they can resist/absorb fire attacks, just in case it casts Beta. Anyway, just set up the game for easy victory, then do something that will automatically press the accept button for you, like tie a rubber band around the controller, or tape down the button, or equip counter materia, or counter=slash-all/counter=mime combinations. Now, just sit in the marshes so that the Zolom will keep coming to you. Now, go see a movie, or get some sleep. When you return to your PlayStation, you will be much stronger, and richer! (if your party did not die.)

Preface/Story/Before the game

2000 Years Ago

Arrival of Cetra

The Cetra, also known as the Ancients, were an ancient peoples who go from planet to planet, searching for the 'Promised Land'. It is possible that the 'Promised Land' is, in fact, the afterlife; where the Cetra return to the planet. In the meantime, it seems their mission is to settle on planets to maintain and protect that planet's lifestream and to enrich the world with their knowledge. Long in the past, a group of Cetra arrived on the planet and settled amongst the indigenous humans there.

Calamity from the Sky

Shortly after the arrival of the Cetra another lifeform landed on the planet, possibly following the Cetra. Later known as JENOVA this creature appeared to the Cetra of Knowlespole, near the north crater where it had landed. It presented itself as one of the Cetra, and brought a message of peace. The truth is, JENOVA was a malicious viral lifeform. JENOVA's cells infected the Cetra of Knowlespole, turning them into monsters. JENOVA and it's virus spread among the Cetra, though it left the indigenous tribes unharmed.

WEAPONs and the defeat of JENOVA

In response to the wound JENOVA inflicted upon the planet the lifestream created 5 huge monsters: Sapphire WEAPON, Diamond WEAPON, Ultimate WEAPON, Emerald WEAPON and Ruby WEAPON. The WEAPONs' sole function was to destroy everything in its path, thereby absorbing as much spirit energy as possible to heal the wound. However, before the WEAPONs could fulfil their mission, a few surviving Cetra managed to seal JENOVA somewhere near the Nolespole(Northern Continent),or in MOUNT. Nibel Over the next 2000 years the Cetra dispersed around Earth and their numbers slowly dwindled. The WEAPONs went into hibernation in the North Crater for when JENOVA should return. The planet continued its efforts to heal the wound JENOVA left.

The last 50 years

The Rise of Shin-Ra

Around 50 years ago, President Shin-Ra founded the Shin-Ra Weapons Company. They quickly grew in influence in a world made up of tiny townships with no substantial form of government. In this period, Shin-Ra developed a space program culminating in a manned space-flight plan. The rocket was to be piloted by Cid Highwind, a renowned Shin-Ra pilot. However, on the day of the launch an engineer named Shera (Sierra in Japanese version) stayed below-deck trying to fix an oxygen tank. Cid chose to abort the launch even as he ignited the rockets instead of letting Shera burn to a crisp. Having missed their launch window, Shin-Ra abandoned the mission and put its space program on hold.

At some point in their weapons research, Shin-Ra discovered the fuel potential of the lifestream and dubbed it Mako energy. Shin-Ra realized the profit potential in this cheap and abundent energy source and poured more and more funding into it. Soon the major towns depended upon Mako energy, and with their existing armed forces controlling the operations along side the corporate divisions, Shin-Ra was poised perfectly for world domination.

The Shin-Ra company designed and built the vast Metropolis of Midgar in the Mako-rich plains near Kalm. There, eight reactors tunnelled into the Earth, drawing vast amounts of energy from the lifestream there and subsequently causing all the wildlife around Midgar to shrivel and die. It seems there were already towns where Shin-Ra wanted to build its city, their solution was to simply build over them. As a result, Shin-Ra built the city into two parts: A massive plate was erected, where Shin-Ra employees and the rich from around the world could live a life of luxury. Underneath, the old towns transformed into overcrowded, dark slums. The names of the old towns were forgotten as the original inhabitants of the land died and were replaced by the poor, seeking a new life in Midgar but finding only misery.

Above, Shin-Ra let the people elect a Mayor to keep the people happy. Shin-Ra still held all the power, and people didn't complain as long as things were good. All around the world the same happened, Shin-Ra built reactors in every human settlement on the globe, making the populace dependent on the company whether they liked it or not. Where there was resistance, Shin-Ra countered with force. In Corel, a coal-mining town whose livelihood had been wiped out by the rise of Mako, Shin-Ra troops burnt down the town claiming the people had attacked the reactor. A mineworker named Barret Wallace, who had the reactor's construction, and his friend Dyne were returning from negotiations with Shin-Ra when they saw their town in flames. They were attacked by Scarlet and a group of soldiers. Barret caught Dyne before he fell off a bridge, and Scarlet's troops opened fire on them. Barret lost his right arm trying to hold on to Dyne's, and Dyne lost his left arm trying to hold on to Barret's. Dyne plummeted from the cliffs near Corel and was assumed dead. Returning to Corel, Barret found Dyne's infant daughter Marlene in the rubble, he took her with him to Midgar and swore to take revenge against the Shin-Ra. Barret chose to graft a gun onto his arm stump. The Golden Saucer theme park was built over the ruins of Corel, invested in by Shin-Ra (a possible reason why Shin-Ra burnt the town). The survivors of Corel moved to the ropeway station taking people to the Golden Saucer, scavenging and selling junk to tourists.

Shin-Ra also struggled to bring the Eastern continent and Wutai under its control. Wutai, a large and influencial state was governed by Godo Kisaragi who refused to allow a Mako reactor to be built. Shin-Ra waged war upon Wutai, reducing the great civilization to a small tourist resort. During this war Shin-Ra built the city of Junon, once again, simply building over the original inhabitants. Junon was built as a military port, presumably to defend the western continent and Midgar from invasion by Wutai, it contained the giant cannon 'Sister Ray' as well as numerous artillery installations which would later be used to defeat WEAPON. This war was costly, and as a result of this Shin-Ra made the final move from a weapons manafacturer to a power company.

Sephiroth: One-winged Angel

2000 years after JENOVA was imprisoned by the last surviving Cetra, a brilliant but inexperienced Shin-Ra scientist named Professor Gast discovered what he thought was an ancient, preserved in the rock on Mt. Nibel.

Preface/Story/During the game

This guide is designed to explain the major events of the game, and some of the more confusing elements. The Glossary section will attempt to provide some of the background information, see the characters page as well.

Glossary

Jenova

An alien creature found in an ancient geological stratum, discovered by Professor Gast. It was believed by him and the Shinra to be one of the Ancients, a powerful race who are believed to be the source of magical knowledge. Professor Gast later came to suspect it had a very different origin after meeting an Ancient named Ilfana. Jenova was kept in the reactor near Nibelheim, and later moved to the Shinra building.

The Jenova Project

A set of experiments conducted by Hojo to create humans with the power of the Ancients. Humans were treated with Mako and exposed to Jenova's cells. Some of those treated became monsters, and the experiment culminated in treating the infant Sephiroth, who was branded with a tattoo of the number 1, marking him as Hojo's first subject.

The Jenova Reunification Theory

Hojo believed that if Jenova's body was ever dismembered, it would re-form itself. After the events of Nibelheim, he treated several individuals with Jenova's cells and expected to witness a Reunion of them with Jenova itself. At least 12 additional subjects were involved. One of which was a sick man in the Midgar slums bearing a number 2 tattoo, and the last of which was RedXIII, who exhibited no significant reaction to Jenova.

Mako

A mysterious force of the planet used by the Shinra as a source of energy. It is used to treat members of SOLDIER to enhance their abilities, leaving a strange blue glow to their eyes, and it is believed to represent the distilled knowledge and magic of the Ancients. Bugenhagen refers to it as the Lifestream of the planet, and the continually renewing energy of all living things. When any creature dies, it enters the Lifestream, and is reborn into some other form. Shinra's use of Mako is considered by elements of AVALANCHE and others to be destroying the lifeblood of the planet.

Materia

Crystalized Mako energy, which allows the bearer to use magic.

The Turks

A set of mercenaries who work for the Shinra corporation, Vincent Valentine was formerly of their ranks. Members include Tseng, Reno, Rude, and Elana. They serve as the usual reliably incompetent villains.

Shinra

The Shinra corporations was formerly a weapons manufacturer, but there turned out to be more money in Mako production. In control of the elite fighters of SOLDIER, responsible for Mako reactors, and in charge of the city of Midgar. Greedy and often irresponsible, but they aren't intentionally trying to destroy the planet.

Shinra Executives include the president and his son Rufus in charge of the organization as a whole, Palmer in charge of the space division, Scarlet in charge of weapons research, Heidegger in charge of the army, and Reeve in charge of urban development. Professor Gast was previously employed by Shinra but quit, and Hojo is a mad scientist in charge of several unethical experiments in the name of Shinra.

The Promised Land

A legendary place believed to be the home of the Ancients, and a place full of power and rich with Mako energy. The Shinra believe they can mine it as an abundant source of Mako, but none of them suspect its true origins.

Weapon

A legendary monster from the past used to defend the planet from some great threat to its very existence.

Meteor

The ultimate destructive magic said to be contained by a black materia. It is said to summon a meteor powerful enough to nearly destroy a planet. It would also force the planet to try to heal itself by drawing on the Lifestream and gathering it to the point of injury.

Character Summary

Cloud: Young man who lived in Nibelheim until he was 14, when he left to join SOLDIER to be like Sephiroth. Came back as a first-class SOLDIER but troubled mentally. Experiences strange flashbacks on occasion and is emotionally alienated from his surroundings. Skilled with a sword and familiar with the Shinra from his past working for them, starts the game as a mercenary for AVALANCHE.

Tifa: Childhood friend of Cloud and a martial artist. Cloud made a promise to protect her as a child if he ever became strong or famous. She looks after Cloud now and tries to keep the group together.

Barret: A bitter terrorist determined to bring down Shinra and stop the use of Mako reactors. He lost his right arm and traded it for a gun. Has a daughter named Marlene and leads a crew known as AVALANCHE against the Shinra.

Aeris: A flower girl from the slums, believed by the Shinra and herself to be an Ancient. Tifa and her compete over Cloud's mostly non-existent affections.

RedXIII: An experimental project of Hojo's who seems to have suffered no ill side effects. His real name is Nanaki, and he comes from Cosmo Canyon. A strange dog-like creature with a number 13 tattoo.

Cait Sith: A robot-like fortune teller who is more than he appears.

Cid: A bitter pilot who lost his dreams to be in the Shinra Space program thanks to a mechanic named Shera who insisted on repairing the ship before it launched. He's the current owner of an airship.

Sephiroth: Cloud's nemesis and the finest warrior who ever lived according to many. He disappeared five years ago at Nibelheim but has recently been seen appearing all over the world. Is believed to be hunting Black Materia and the Promised Land.

Plot Outline

Disc 1: Midgar through the City of the Ancients

Midgar

Midgar Slums

Cloud Strife is hired out by AVALANCHE, a terrorist group blowing up Mako Reactors due to the harm they believe it is causing to the planet. Led by Barret, they blow up a reactor and escape on a train. Cloud's childhood friend Tifa is in charge of a bar in the sector 7 slums, and she tries to keep Cloud from just running off. He agrees to do a second mission, but they have to run for it on the train raid over. After their second attempt to blow up a Mako reactor they fall into a trap set by the Shinra and have to escape. Cloud meets a flower girl from the slums named Aeris who helps him recover, and he saves her from the Turks, a band of Shinra mercenaries trying to capture her because she's an Ancient. Aeris's mother Elmyra asks him to leave Aeris in peace, and tells Cloud of Aeris's abilities, but Aeris follows him anyway. Aeris helps Cloud dress up in drag to rescue Tifa, who's been kidnapped by a playboy called Don Corneo. They learns of a plot to destroy the sector of the city where AVALANCHE is believed to be located, and go there to try to stop the Shinra scheme. Cloud is thwarted by the Turks, and sector 7 is destroyed, but not before Aeris helps get Barret's daughter, Marlene, to safety.

Shinra Building:

The whole group heads to the Shinra building to get revenge on the president and rescue Aeris. Hojo is attempting to breed Aeris and an experimental animal named RedXIII, both the last remnants of dying races. RedXIII turns out to be a helpful creature, and attacks Hojo and joins the party. Cloud notices a holding container for a creature named Jenova, and learns that the Shinra are seeking the promised land by using Aeris. His group is captured by the Turks and put in prison. Cloud wakes up to find his door unlocked, Jenova missing from its holding cell, and the president of Shinra has been stabbed with the Masamune, a sword he knows belongs to Sephiroth, a legendary first-class SOLDIER who was supposed to have been dead for years. Cloud confronts the new president of Shinra, Rufus, and makes a getaway on a motorcycle with his crew.

Cloud's Tortured Past

The group leaves Midgar and travels to Kalm, where Barret and the others want to be filled in on what Cloud knows about Sephiroth, and what their connection to Shinra is. Cloud reluctantly explains all he remembers.

Five years ago, Cloud was a first class SOLDIER alongside Sephiroth, although he was nothing compared to the legendary warrior. He was only 16 years old. Cloud did his best to be friendly with the regular members of the army as they dealt with motion sickness on the ride over. Sephiroth remarked to him about Cloud visiting his hometown as they arrived, and said he had never had a home. Cloud visited Tifa's house for a while, visited his mother who advised him to find an older girlfriend to take care of him, and spent the night in the inn courtesy of Shinra. They headed out in the morning, and Sephiroth took Tifa as a guide to go to Mount Nibel to visit the Mako Reactor to see what was causing the problems with monsters appearing in the area. The group got a photo taken together, and Cloud noticed Tifa but never talked to her alone. Two soldiers accompanied them to the Mako reactor, but the bridge broke, and only one continued with them. Tifa was forced to wait at the door of the reactor and Sephiroth learned that humans had been injected with Mako by Dr. Hojo to create monsters. Sephiroth was disturbed to notice that the monsters were associated with something called the Jenova project since his own mother's name was Jenova.

Sephiroth brooded for a while, and Cloud hunted him down in the basement of the mansion in Nibelheim. Sephiroth learned of an alien creature discovered by Dr. Gast and believed to be the last of the Ancients, or the Cetra. They named it Jenova and experimented with its cells impact on other life forms. He also learned of the promised land, a place of power held sacred by the ancients. Sephiroth grew angry with Cloud and asks him to leave him alone.

When Cloud woke up later, the whole village was burning, and Sephiroth stabbed several of the villagers. Cloud chased him to the Mako reactor, and found Tifa struck down by Sephiroth. He dragged her to safety as she mumbled about him keeping his promise. Sephiroth attempted to free the body of Jenova and told Cloud that the ancients are the rightful heirs of the planet, and he will seek the promised land. Cloud vowed to stop him, and they approached to fight. Unfortunately, that's where Cloud blacked out, that was all he could remember.

Sephiroth and Cloud both had disappeared for five years, and the body of Jenova was moved from the reactor at Nibelheim to the Shinra building, where it was apparently broken out by Sephiroth. The group isn't sure what to make of everything, but decide to keep pursuing Sephiroth.

The Black Materia Hunt

Junon

Cloud and company hire a Chocobo to cross a dangerous swamp filled with giant snakes, and they find the corpse of a snake apparently killed by Sephiroth. They meet the Turks again, who are apparently looking for Sephiroth, Aeris, and the promised land. They make their way through the mines and come to the city of Junon, where Cloud, after rescuing a girl, has to disguise himself as a Shinra soldier to sneak onto a military vessel carrying Shinra President Rufus to another continent. On the Ship he meets Sephiroth briefly and has to fight a creature apparently generated from the arm of Jenova.

Gold Saucer and Corel Prison

Cloud and company visit Mt. Corel, a mining village destroyed by the Shinra. Barret used to live there, and blames himself for allowing the Shinra in. They visit the Gold Saucer, have a strange fortune-telling creature named Cait Sith join the party and predict bad luck for one of the party. Shinra soldiers are in a few parts of the theme park, and Cloud finds a bunch of people shot. Cloud and party are blamed for the murders, and dropped into Corel prison beneath the Gold Saucer. The only way out is as a Chocobo racer. Barret tells the part of an old friend of his, Dyne, who lived with him in Corel and lost his other arm to be replaced by a gun the same way Barret did. His friend is the boss of the prison and is the father of Barret's adopted child, Marlene. He has sunk into depression and wants to kill them all, so Barret fights him alone, and Cloud is able to enlist as a Chocobo racer. He wins a race and is able to get out, and the boss of the Gold Saucer, Dio, let's him know he didn't think they were guilty anyway.

Cosmo Canyon

Cloud and company learns about the Shinra trying to harvest Huge Materia from Mako reactors, and that Sephiroth was looking for black materia. They also hear about a boy named Zack who joined SOLDIER 10 years ago, and was Aeris's old boyfriend. They travel to RedXIII's home of Cosmo Canyon on a buggy, and learn he thinks his father was a coward who refused to defend his village. Cloud learns about how using Mako is draining the life force and spirit energy of the planet, and RedXIII finds the body of his father, who actually died defending his village. They head to Nibelheim, only to find that the whole town has been rebuilt and no one seems to recognize Cloud or want to talk to him. Nine men in black cloaks are nearby with Tattoos on their arms of different numbers, who speak about hearing Sephiroth's voice, the reunion, and Jenova. Sephiroth was known to have a number 1 tatoo, and a sick man in Midgar had a number 2 tatoo. They visit the Shinra mansion and find Sephiroth in the basement, talking about Jenova bringing a calamity from the skies. Sephiroth tells him he thinks Cloud is too weak to join the "reunion" but he is welcome to try. Cloud travels through Mount Nibel where the old Mako reactor was, and heads to Rocket Town.

Rocket Town

Rocket Town has a giant rocket sticking into the sky, the remants of Shinra's space program that was aborted after a failed launch. Captain Cid was in charge of the rocket that was going to be launched, and he's pinning his hopes on Rufus, the new Shinra President, to restart the space program. Cid is also the proud owner of the tiny Bronco, an airship. The rocket launch was aborted because of a mechanic named Shera who stayed in the engine room to try to repair the oxygen tanks. Cid cancelled the launch rather than let her die from the heat of the takeoff. Since then he blames her for ruining his dreams. Rufus shows up and informs Cid they have no intention of restarting the space program, they just want to take his airship so they can follow Sephiroth to a place called the Temple of the Ancients. Cloud fight off Palmer so they can take the airship before the Shinra can get it, Cid escapes with them but the ship is damaged in takeoff and is forced to land in the water. Cid informs them it can only function as a boat to traverse shallow water, and he's willing to join them to help fight the Shinra.

Gold Saucer Redux

Cloud learns that the Temple of the Ancients is on the continent to the east, but he needs a keystone to enter, which is owned by a very rich man, who sounds like Dio, the owner of the Gold Saucer. Dio was willing to give them the keystone in exchange for seeing Cloud fight, but they were unable to leave the gold saucer once the tram broke down. They chose to spend the night at the ghost inn, where Cloud brought Cait Sith and Cid up to speed on what they were trying to do in keeping Sephiroth and the Shinra from reaching the promised land. The night, Cloud was dragged out for a date with a member of his party and played the lead in a show. After a romantic ride through the sky, Cloud spots Cait Sith, who's stolen the keystone, and who hands it off to Tseng of the Turks. Cait Sith admits to being a spy for the Shinra, and that the body of the animal is actually a robot he's controlling remotely from Shinra headquarters, he's a Shinra employee himself. He also says he has Marlene as a hostage, so Cloud needs to cooperate and keep him in the party, but Cait Sith does want to help him and directs him to the Temple of the Ancients.

Temple of the Ancients

Tseng of the turks shows up at the doorway, wounded by Sephiroth, and says that Sephiroth didn't come there to seek the promised land after all. He gives Cloud the keystone and Aeris leads them inside, where they encounter some of the spirit bodies of the ancients protecting the temple. Aeris has a vision of Sephiroth attacking Tseng and vowing to become one with the life force of the planet. Sephiroth materializes in front of Cloud and Aeris and disappears, saying he intends to cause a fatal wound to the planet and absorb all the energy the planet summons to heal itself. The murals on the wall depict meteor, the ultimate destructive magic which summons a meteor powerful enough to destroy a small planet. The black materia turns out to be the temple itself, only it has to be shrunk down from the inside, killing whoever is inside. Cait Sith volunteers for the job since he has a robotic body, and the temple disappears with the black materia shows up in its crater. Sephiroth appears levitating above the crater, saying that he has travelled the lifestream and absorbed the knowledge of the Ancients and all those who have lived since. Cloud has an out of body experience after Sephiroth tells him to wake up, and he watches himself hand off the black materia to Sephiroth from the point of view of himself as a child. He has a small breakdown and watches himself again beating up on Aeris before his party members stop him. When Cloud blacks out he has a vision of Aeris saying goodbye to him, that she has to go to the city of the ancients to stop Sephiroth, and Sephiroth follows her and saying "we need to stop her." When Cloud comes to, Aeris is gone, and he's scared to continue hunting Sephiroth in case he loses it again.

The Promised Land

City of the Ancients

Tifa and Barret do what they can for Cloud, and they head to Bone Village, where Aeris was seen heading into the Forgotten City through the Sleeping Forest. Cloud locates the Lunar Harp to open the way and treks through the Sleeping Forest to the Forgotten City of the Ancients, where he finds Aeris in the middle of a crystal like cathedral, apparently praying. Cloud begins to lose control of himself and finds himself drawing his sword to attack Aeris when his party members yell at him to stop. Aeris looks up at him, smiles, and Sephiroth flies out the sky to stab her straight through the back, as a white materia slips out of her fingers. Sephiroth laughs at Cloud's pain, and says Aeris will soon become part of the lifestream of the planet, which will soon become part of him when he reaches the Northern Crater. Cloud yells at him, and Sephiroth says to stop bothering to pretend he's angry or hurt. None of his feelings matter, "because you are... a puppet."

After battling another one of Sephiroth's minions, Cloud lays Aeris to rest under water. He admits to the group that he doesn't understand himself anymore and that he fears there's something terrible inside himself waiting to be unleashed that made him nearly kill Aeris himself, but he can't forgive Sephiroth for what he's done and he has to continue. He doesn't know how Aeris was intending to stop Sephiroth, but he has no choice but to try to prevent him from using the Black Materia. As he begins to head out, he hears the voice of Sephiroth beckoning him to head North, past the snow fields.

Disc 2: The Northern Village to Midgar

Northern Village and Snow Fields

In the Northern Village, Cloud and company find Dr. Gast's house and learn about Aeris's mother, Ilfana, another ancient. She explains on a video how 2000 years ago the Ancients, or Cetra, gathered near the Northern crater to try to heal a wound inflicted on the planet. They tried to gather the planet's energy to heal the wound, but were unsuccessful. The being who had caused the injury to the planet, known as the "crisis from the sky" offered friendship to the Cetra, but betrayed them and infected them with a virus, causing many Cetra to go mad and become monsters. The monster who had injured the planet was known as Jenova, and it was eventually sealed away by the Cetra, but as long as it lives the planet can never fully heal. The planet created a monster known as "Weapon" through sheer will to destroy Jenova and anything which might threaten the life of the planet. Weapon lies dormant but as long as Jenova lives the planet remains wary. At the end of the set of videos Cloud watches with Ilfana explaining the past of the planet, Hojo shows up to kidnap Aeris and apparently kills her father, Dr. Gast, as well as Ilfana.

Cloud evades the turks and Shinra forces moving into the village in pursuit of Sephiroth by snowboarding into the valley. After trecking through the snowy wasteland, he reached the Northern Crater, the exact site where Jenova crashed down years ago and the planet was forced to gather energy to heal itself. It's known as the promised land simply because of all the Mako which was gathered there to heal the wound. Along the way, Cloud encountered several of the black-hooded men he had seen previously, all of which appeared to be perishing along the route. The Shinra were in hot pursuit, with Hojo laughing and saying the reunion would be soon. Sephiroth appeared and stabbed some of the black-hooded men, saying that "that this body had outlived its usefuless" and disappeared. He returned and forced Cloud to fight another battle with Jenova, after which he learned that the reunion was related to Jenova's cells. After the battle Cloud found the remains of the black materia, but decided to leave it behind with one of his friends to keep it from falling into Sephiroth's hands again.

Northern Crater

As Cloud headed north, the northern crater disappeared and he found himself in Nibelheim. He decided it must be one of Sephiroth's illusions, but was surprised as he watched a familiar scene with himself walking into Nibelheim. The difference was that the man following Sephiroth wasn't him, it was a black-haired man wearing his clothes and using his sword. Cloud watches the same black-haired man leave the Shinra mansion, but thinks nothing of it since he believes it just to be a trick. Tifa was frightened, and Cloud yelled out to Sephiroth, asking if he was trying to say that Cloud was never in Nibelheim five years ago. Sephiroth appears, laughing at him, saying he was only a puppet. Cloud was constructed piece by piece by Hojo from the dead at Nibelheim. His body was constructed with Jenova's cells, and infused with Mako. He was just another Sephiroth clone like the black hooded men, only he was incomplete, not even given a number.

Cloud refuses to believe him, calling on all the memories Tifa and himself had shared before Nibelheim. Sephiroth laughs at him, saying that Jenova has the power to alter memories and appearances, Cloud was created in part by Tifa's memories. Sephiroth shows him the photo that was taken of him, Tifa, and Cloud, only the black-haired man appears in his place again. Cloud insists that his version of events is real and that Sephiroth's is a lie, but he's suddenly unable to remember when or how he joined SOLDIER.

Meanwhile, Scarlet, Rufus, and Hojo reach the depths of the Northern Crater, which they believe to be the promised land, and find a web full of materia and Mako energy. Part of the wall begins to come alive, and Hojo says it must be Weapon, the creature which exists to protect the planet. Meanwhile, Sephiroth disguises himself as Tifa and tricks the party member holding the black materia into following him. Cloud shows up next to Rufus and the others, no longer in the illusion, but clearly disturbed. He takes the black materia back, saying it is time for the reunion. He apologizes to Tifa that he couldn't be the real "Cloud", and hopes she meets him someday. Hojo laughs, saying the reunion is complete, and tries to talk to Cloud and ask what his number is, but Cloud says that he never got one, since Hojo assumed he was a failure. Hojo refuses to give him a number, and tells the others he was one of the clones of Sephiroth he developed.

As Cloud rises into the air, Hojo explains to the others the Jenova unification theory: that if Jenova's body were to become dismembered, it would eventually try to become one again. The event would be Jenova's reunion. He expected the reunion to occur around Midgar where Jenova was stored, but Jenova disappeared from the Shinra building. Hojo figured out that Sephiroth was able to take control of the "Jenova clones", and was bringing them all to himself. Cloud mumbles to himself that he was never pursuing Sephiroth, he was being summoned by him. Cloud calls out to him, saying he brought the black materia. Sephiroth's frozen body appears into the middle of the web of materia, Hojo cackles that Jenova and Sephiroth will not be diffused into the lifestream but gathered together here, and Rufus tries to evacuate, taking Cloud's party. Cloud hands the black materia over to Sephiroth, and the Northern Crater erupts with energy. Cloud's party escapes with Rufus on his airship, as Weapon, a giant mechnical dragon arises out of the crater as well.

Meteor and Weapon arrive

As Tifa blacks out, she remembers her first meeting with Cloud after he returned, finding him at the train station, with him saying he hadn't seen her in five years, and herself thinking it had been seven. She asked him to join AVALANCHE so she could keep an eye on him and try to figure out what was wrong with him. When she comes to, she hears that she'd been asleep for a week. Sephiroth is sealed in the Northern crater, protected by a barrier of light, and a monster called Weapon has been on the rampage. Rufus is trying to fight it, but it seems hopeless, and outside they can already see a giant meteor getting closer to the planet. Rufus shows up and says there's nothing more he can do, and he intends to have Tifa and the others executed so the public can blame someone for the whole disaster.

Scarlet shows up to execute them, but Weapon shows up to attack, and Cait Sith reveals himself after posing as a reporter and knocks Scarlet out. Barret tries to rescue Tifa, and Rufus fires the Mako Cannon Sister Ray at the weapon, but only wounds it. They attack it with everything they have, but it rams into the side of the base. Cait Sith leads Barret to the airport, and Tifa escapes from her cell as the weapon attacks the side of the base, making a hole. The mako cannon blows Weapon's head off, and Tifa climbs to safety and slaps Scarlet silly. Tifa escapes by jumping off the end of the cannon and gets picked up by Barret on the Highwind. The crew of the highwind rebelled against the Shinra and joined up with Cid and your party to help save the planet. All of the party is on the ship, and Tifa hopes to search for Cloud some place where the lifestream gushes up above ground.

Tifa leads the party to Mideel, a place where Mako energy gushes up from below. Cloud is in the clinic as an invalid, unable to talk or cope with anything. The doctors say he was exposed to extrodinary amounts of Mako radiation, causing damage to his brain. He must have fallen into the lifestream and been carried down to Mideel. Tifa decides to stay with Cloud to help him recover, and Cait Sith lets the party eavesdrop on a meeting between two people he calls "Gya ha ha" and "Kya ha ha", or the Shinra executives Heideger and Scarlet, also accompanied by Rufus, Reeve, and Palmer. Shinra's two goals are to destroy meteor somehow and remove the barrier around the Northern cave to defeat Sephiroth. They plan to destroy meteor by collecting Huge Materia from all the Mako reactors and launching it in a rocket to blow up Meteor. They've already gathered the huge materia from Nibelheim, and plan to dispatch troops to Corel and Fort Condor.

The Huge Materia Hunt

Barret and the others decide they don't trust the Shinra and don't want to let them get their hands on the huge materia, plus they believe it might help them since it's supposed to react to regular materia. Barret elects Cid to be the new leader of the group when he wakes up, and he decides to head to North Corel to deal with the Shinra there. The Shinra have run off the the Huge Materia on a train there, so Cid races another train out to catch up with it, leaps onto the Shinra train, and shuts it down before it can crash. The villagers give them the huge materia out of gratitude. The group also heads to Fort Condor to save the base being overrun by Shinra and witness the birth of another Condor, and gain another huge materia. They head back to Mideel to check on Cloud.

Cloud's Therapy Session

When Cid and the others arrive, lifestream starts gushing out of the ground and another monster called WEAPON shows up to terrorize the place. Cid and the group manages to chase Ultima Weapon away, but the lifestream below the village is still gushing up, and they all have to escape. Tifa tries to get Cloud to safety, but they both end up falling into the lifestream together, where Tifa finds herself inside Cloud's troubled subconscious. Cloud guides her back to the entrance to Nibelheim, but Tifa confesses to him that she never saw Cloud at Nibelheim five years ago, it was Sephiroth and another man.

Cloud remains confused, so Tifa takes him back to the promise he made her by the well years ago. Sephiroth wanted her to think Cloud only made up his memories by hearing her stories, so Tifa asks Cloud to show her one of his own memories. Tifa asks him why he joined SOLDIER, and Cloud admits that he wanted to stand out, and to be noticed. He takes Tifa back to a memory of them as children, and how she barely knew him until he went away. Cloud was never a part of her group, and begin thinking that maybe he was different. The day Tifa's mother died, she climbed the mountain looking for her, Cloud followed her but they both fell off. Her family blamed Cloud for what happened, and he started to blame himself even though Tifa never even knew he was there. Cloud started getting into fights and acting immature, and heard about Sephiroth, and thought that maybe if he was strong like him, Tifa would finally notice him. Tifa feels sorry for him, but Cloud tells her not to worry about it anymore.

Tifa's convinced Cloud wasn't just created five years ago if they share their childhood memories, so Tifa takes them back to Nibelheim, and they go over Sephiroth cutting Tifa down at the reactor. The dark haired man shows up, runs past Tifa, and chases after Sephiroth, and Cloud suddenly remembers that his name was Zack. Zack was the name of the first-class SOLDIER who accompanied Sephiroth. Cloud then remembers Zack getting tossed aside by Sephiroth, and an ordinary military grunt grabbing Zack's sword and stabbing Sephiroth. The grunt took off his helmet, and Cloud recognized his own face. Cloud was the ordinary soldier he recalled in all his memories. He was the one who got sick on the train, and who followed Tifa, Zack, and Sephiroth to Nibelheim. He didn't want to show his face to anyone in town since he was too ashamed of failing to get in to SOLDIER. After he stabbed Sephiroth at the reactor, Cloud helped get Tifa to safety, and chased Sephiroth as he staggered away with Jenova's head. Sephiroth stabbed Cloud in the side, but Cloud lifted Sephiroth up by the hilt of the his sword and tossed him into the bowels of the reactor, where he vanished into the lifestream.

With Cloud finally realizing who he really is, he's able to put together the shattered pieces of his personality, and come to rest outside of the lifestream, where the group is waiting for them. Cloud admits to the others that he never made it into SOLDIER, his friend Zack did, and since he was ashamed of who he was, he managed to convince himself that he had lived in Zack's place. Hojo's experiments on him with Mako and Jenova cells made him close physically to a member of SOLDIER, and his weaknesses mentally and infection with Jenova made it possible for Sephiroth to manipulate him. It was his fault Sephiroth was able to gain the black materia and try to summon Meteor, but Cloud intends to do everything in his power to stop him. Cait Sith suggests they head to the Underwater Reactor near Junon to get the last Huge Materia, and Cid's glad to have Cloud in the lead again(he can never remember who has what materia anyway).

The Huge Materia Hunt Continued

Cloud heads to Junon where another Huge Materia is being taken via sub to the Shinra. After engaging Reno of the Turks briefly, Cloud hijacks a sub and sinks the Shinra vessel. They learn via the sub's radio that the Shinra are gathering the huge materia they found to the Junon airport, and they discover that the cannon at Junon has been moved. They arrive at the airport to find that the huge materia is being taken to rocket town, where the plan is to launch it into the meteor.

Cloud and Cid fight their way past Rude of the turks to reach the rocket, where Cid takes over the launching of the rocket. Cloud tries to convince Cid that the materia represents generations of knowledge and wisdom they can't afford to lose, and which they may be able to use to fight off Sephiroth, so the Shinra's scheme of using it against meteor may not be such a bright one. Cid's not too eager to give up his life's dream of going into space, but the rocket is launched with them in it before they can do anything.

They're left on a collision course with meteor, but Cid says they can get to an escape pod in time. Cloud snags the huge materia, and they make their way to the escape pod, only to have an oxygen tank blow up and injure Cid. Cid realizes that one of the Oxygen tanks was malfunctioning, and Shera was right to delay the launch. Shera shows up on the rocket to rescue them, and they fly out in the escape pod. The rocket crashes into meteor with a fantastic explosion, but the giant rock looming overhead is left unharmed. Cid talks to the group and said he's had a revelation, the planet isn't very old compared to the universe or all the other stars and planets out there, it's like a little kid, assaulted and infected by Jenova and Sephiroth, and it needs their help to protect it. RedXIII suggests they go talk to his grandfather Bugenhagen to see what they can do.

City of the Ancients Cloud asks Bugenhagen why Aeris wasn't afraid to challenge Sephiroth on her own, and whether or not they could continue what she was trying to do. They decide to travel to the city of the ancients to learn more, and Bugenhagen lets them store their Huge Materia and help learn the secrets of its power, which seems to be tied to the different types of materia. At the city of the ancients, Bugenhagen tells Cloud that what they need to do is find the magic of Holy, which is used to protect the planet from great threats. It will remove anything which is bad for the planet, including meteor, weapon, or even humans themselves. Aeris had the white materia which could summon Holy, but it disappeared when she died. Bugenhagen reads the ancient's script and says to seek the key where sunlight can not reach. One submarine trip later after running into Reno and Rude of the Turks on a sunken ship that was carrying weapons and materia built to destroy Sephiroth, they find the key.

The key turns out to be a literal key to a music box, and a column of water appears, which is used to project the image of Aeris praying right before she died, and the white materia slipping from her hands. Aeris already came to the planet and prayed for the magic of Holy, but Sephiroth is preventing the magic from working to destroy meteor. Meanwhile, Cait Sith informs the group that the Shinra have moved the Mako Cannon that destroyed the other weapon to Midgar, so they can fire it with the mako energy harvested in its reactors. They've renamed the Mako cannon to the sister ray, and it's a weapon powerful enough to reach the barrier around the northern crater itself.

When Cloud takes to the air again, a new Weapon rises from the sea and moves to attack Midgar. Cloud and the others aren't sure if the sister ray is ready to be fired yet or not, and Marlene is still in Midgar with Aeris's mother. Cait Sith and Barret argue about whether Barret blowing up the Mako reactors was any better than when the Shinra does, and Cloud and the others decide to attack the weapon before it can reach Midgar. After battling it off, the weapon moves to attack Midgar, and they fire a blast from the sister ray, destroying the weapon and reaching all the way to the Northern Crater to destroy the barrier which protects Sephiroth. The blasts from the weapon still damage Midgar and blow up the Shinra building with Rufus still inside, and Hojo takes over the mako reactor and attempts to increase its output in some scheme to give more mako energy to Sephiroth. Cait Sith admits to being Reeve, the shinra executive in charge of urban development, and he tries to shut off the reactor at Midgar but is unable. Reeve is taken prisoner by Scarlet and Heidegger, and Cloud and the others parachute into Midgar to stop Hojo's scheme.

Optional Events

Yuffie: At some point, the party can meet Yuffie in the forest around Junon, and after challenging her briefly, she tries to trick them into stealing some of their money. After playing with her ego, she decides to join them when she sees how much materia they have.

The group travels to Wutai, and Yuffie steals their materia when they get attacked by Shinra soldiers. They follow her to Wutai, where the turks are hanging out at the turtle inn paradise. The group chases Yuffie around Wutai, where they learn that she's mad at her father for giving up on the city. They corner her, she apologizes and says she just wanted to help Wutai from being a tourist trap. She leads them to her home where she says she's hidden the materia, but she runs away again when she gets the chance. Don Corneo shows up again and kidnaps Elana of the Turks as well as Yuffie, and the party joins up with the Turks to find them both, and they finally corner him after fighting one of his pets. Elana and Yuffie are rescued, and the Turks get a call that Shinra wants to hunt Cloud, but they decide to let the group go since it's their day off. Yuffie gives the group back their materia and they take off.

Yuffie also has a chance to battle through the five levels of the Wutai padoga, challenging the fighters there to prove her supremacy, and she's able to fight her father on the top level, and they gain a mutual respect for one another. Her father gives her his most valuable materia, and tells his daughter he turned Wutai into a resort town because he didn't want to fight himself, he asks Yuffie to help Cloud and his friends. (and steal all their materia after they're done)

Vincent: Hojo left a message in the Shinra mansion that he needed to get rid of all those who stood in the way of his research, particularly that one from the Turks. After investigating the clues in the mansion the party finds the combination for the safe and the key to the basement, where a man named Vincent sleeps in a coffin, atoning for his sins. The party tells Vincent about Sephiroth and how he learned of the Jenova project and how he was created. Vincent explains that Lucrecia gave birth to Sephiroth, as an assistant to Professor Gast. He joins your party for a chance to meet Hojo again.

Vincent also has a chance to visit a waterfall cave and find Lucrecia. He recalls his past at Nibelheim, how he loved the scientist named Lucrecia, but she rejected him and married Hojo instead. The two of them decided to experiment on humans, and created a child named Sephiroth. Vincent tried to stop Hojo, but was attacked, and Hojo experimented on Vincent, giving him the body of a monster. Vincent considered the form to be his punishment and penance for being unable to stop Hojo, Gast, and Lucrecia with their experiments. Lucrecia tells Vincent she wanted to die, but the Jenova cells inside her wouldn't let her, and that she still dreams of her child Sephiroth, whom she never got to even hold. She begs to know how he is, since she can't believe he perished so easily five years ago, but Vincent coldly tells her that Sephiroth is dead.

Nibelheim revisited: Cloud can head back to Nibelheim again, and find a note in the piano left by Tifa's old martial arts instructor, Zangan, who carried her to safety from the reactor. Hojo and the Shinra arrived in the town and used the bodies they found for twisted experiments, and Zangan began to see the black-hooded men staying around. He left behind a gift for his star pupil, Tifa. Cloud also headed to the basement, where he was able to remember how Zack and him were both trapped in holding containers, as experimental subjects for Hojo. They broke out, and Zack dragged Cloud to safety and dressed him in a SOLDIER outfit. Cloud was still delirious, so Zack talked to him on a truck ride to Midgar about their plans to become mercenaries. Zack was hunted and gunned down by Shinra soldiers, and Cloud was left for dead. He grabbed Zack's buster sword and escaped to Midgar. Hojo also left behind files on two experimental subjects in the basement, one of whom exhibited no reaction to Jenova, and one who did, Cloud learned that it was himself and Zack.

Shinra's End

After parachuting into Midgar, Cloud and company make their way through the Midgar sewers, and after a final run-in with the Turks, they fight off Scarlet and Heidegger's latest weapon, the Proud Clod. Cloud confronts Hojo at the Mako reactor, who dismisses Cloud as a failure. Hojo explains to Cloud that he's attempting to channel the Mako energy to help Sephiroth, because Sephiroth is his son. He had a son with the scientist Lucrecia, and injected it with Jenova's cells while it was still in the womb, hoping that they could create a creature with Jenova's power. Hojo's also has been experimenting with Jenova cells on his own body, and Cloud has to destroy his mutated form.

With the Shinra in ruins, Cloud and others sail through the skies and gives a motivational speech about how everyone is really fighting for themselves and those closest to them. He gives them all a chance to find their own reasons for fighting Sephiroth, and Cloud shares a moment with Tifa together. The group reunites with everyone willing to do their part, and Cid pilots the airship straight into the Northern Crater.

Disc 3: The Northern Crater and Sephiroth

The group heads into the Northern Crater, with the party splitting up and reforming to explore all the paths. Cloud heads into the depths of the crater and has to fight a final battle with a form of Jenova. Sephiroth appears, and is preventing the magic of Holy from being released. Cloud and the others fight him in a duo of bizarre forms, and Sephiroth disappears and the magic for Holy is freed. As the group tries to escape, Cloud suddenly loses control of himself again and the scene shifts to Sephiroth and Cloud inside Cloud's head, in a titanic battle to rule Cloud's personality that takes... all of a couple seconds. Cloud frees himself of Sephiroth's influence once and for all, and the group escapes from an explosion coming from the Northern Crater. The magic of Holy heads to Midgar and tries to stop the meteor, but it's not strong enough. Cloud and the others become convinced the whole planet is doomed, when the lifestream begins gushing out from all over the planet and strengthening the magic. Now that Aeris's soul can return to the lifestream she's able to strengthen the magic and destroy the meteor. Five hundred years in the future, Midgar is overrun by plants and vegetation, RedXIII and his kids have a good time, and children still laugh apparently. Or something.

Executive Plot Summary

Cloud from the start of the game on tells everyone that he was a bad-ass member of SOLDIER, first class, and that he witnessed Sephiroth turn evil at Nibelheim. Sephiroth is a legendary warrior and experimental subject of Hojo's who was infected with the cells of an alien creature named Jenova from birth, and chose to follow the will of Jenova rather than the Shinra or anyone else. After Cloud confronted Sephiroth at Nibelheim, both disappeared for five years.

Cloud fights against the Shinra at Midgar, who are draining the lifeforce of the planet by using Mako energy, and he begins to hunt Sephiroth all over the globe. Sephiroth is pursuing a black materia which can summon a deadly meteor to injure the planet, and his goal is to wound the planet and absorb its lifestream. Aeris, an Ancient from a long forgotten race, tries to summon the magic of Holy to stop the meteor and Sephiroth, but Sephiroth kills her and prevents the magic from being released. Cloud gains the black materia himself but hands it over to Sephiroth after finding himself under Sephiroth's control briefly. Cloud chases Sephiroth to the Northern Crater, and Sephiroth tells Cloud that the person known as Cloud died at Nibelheim, he's merely another monster created by Hojo to be a clone of Sephiroth. Cloud freaks out and Sephiroth uses the black materia to summon the meteor. A monster known as weapon wakes up and starts terrorizing everything it sees as a threat to the planet, which is mostly the Shinra. The Shinra have a scheme to launch some huge materia in a rocket to blow up the meteor, but it fails. They keep the weapons at bay with a Mako cannon, and eventually pierce Sephiroth's barrier around the Northern Crater.

Tifa finds Cloud after he fell into the lifestream and helps him figure out that he actually was at Nibelheim five years ago, only he was a lowly army grunt rather than a first-class SOLDIER. His friend Zack actually was a first-class SOLDIER, and Cloud imagined himself in Zack's place because he didn't want to confront his own failure at getting into SOLDIER. Cloud actually did confront Sephiroth at Nibelheim, and Sephiroth fell into the lifestream while Cloud was mortally wounded. Sephiroth's body ended up at the Northern Crater, where he was able to exercise his will over the subjects Hojo had infected with Jenova and appear in their places. In the aftermath of Nibelheim, Cloud was experimented on by Hojo, who infected him with Jenova which gave Sephiroth some measure of control over him. Cloud purges his personal demons, beats up the Shinra to stop Hojo from aiding his son Sephiroth, and defeats Sephiroth at the northern crater, where he also frees himself of Jenova's influence. Aeris is able to return to the lifestream and summon Holy to destroy the meteor en route to the planet, and everyone lives happily ever after. (except for Aeris, who is of course dead)

Preface/Story/After the game

What happened to the playable characters?

Cloud Strife: Cloud lived with Tifa and Marlene in the new town of Edge, built on the edge of the ruins of Midgar. Cloud started a delivery service, however, he was still overcome with guilt because of his failure to save Aerith. Cloud then snuck out on Tifa and Marlene, wanting to be alone in his misery.

Tifa Lockhart: Lived with Cloud and Marlene in Edge. Opened up a new Seventh Heaven bar in the town.

Barret Wallace: Left his daughter Marlene in the care of Tifa and Cloud while he went to take care of his personal demons, and to find a new energy source to replace Mako.

Nanaki: Returned to Cosmo Canyon.

Cid Highwind: Married Shera and gained legendary status as an airship pilot. Started up an airship division to aid the World Restoration Organization.

Cait Sith/Reeve: Started up the World Restoration Organization, charged with restoring the planet after the evils of Shinra Inc. and the Meteor Incident.

Yuffie Kisaragi: Helped in the evacuation of Midgar along with Vincent and Reeve before Meteor impacted. Afterwards, returned to Wutai.

Vincent Valentine: Helped in the evacuation of Midgar along with Yuffie and Reeve before Meteor impacted. Afterwards, roamed the world, spending most of his time in the Ancient Forest to reflect on his past sins.

Game controls

General

The game uses the following controls. PC version refers to the controls with their labelled names, the PS version uses button symbols (for most part, anyway, there are still some slips in it that show labels instead).

Button	Explanation
Directional buttons	These move the lead character and the pointer in the menus.
[PgUp] / [PgDn]	Move the pointer up or down one page in the menus, or rotate view in world map. Hold down both to escape from battles.
[Camera]	Changes camera angle on the overworld map.
[Target]	Changes camera angle on the overworld map. In combat, shows targeting aid.
[Assist]	Outside of combat, shows a hand pointer above lead character's head, and shows exit markers. In combat, toggles target name window.
[Switch]	Toggle between Equip and Materia screens. In combat, makes the command menu disappear temporarily so you can check your barrier gauges.
[Menu]	Opens the menu.
[OK]	Confirm choice in menus. Attempt to use/activate the item in front of the character (open chests, climb ladders, etc), or talk to an NPC.
[Cancel]	Back one level in menus, or close the menu in question. Outside of the menus (but not in the overworld), hold down to make the character run.
[Start]	In world map, changes map display. Pauses during battle.

Controls on different systems

Button	PlayStation	PC (Number Pad)
[OK]	Circle	[Enter]
[Menu]	Triangle	[+]
[Cancel]	Cross	[0/Ins]
[Switch]	Square	[Decimal/Del]
[Start]	Start	[5]
[Assist]	Select	[-]
[PgUp]	L1	[9/PgUp]
[PgDn]	R1	[3/PgDn]
[Camera]	L2	[7/Home]
[Target]	R2	[1/End]

Specific controls

Specific controls are (or will be), for most part, listed in the minigame articles. The ones that won't should be listed here.

Status Effects

During battles in Final Fantasy VII, many status effects can be induced on your party or enemies.

Below is list of status effects, their appearance, their effects when used, and their remedies.

List of Status Effects

Name	Appearance	Effect	Remedies
Beserk	Target glows red	Attack damage is rased, however character becomes uncontrollable. Commands cannot be entered until the battle ends, the status is removed, or the character dies	Remedy (Item), Esuna (Magic), Angel Whisper (Enemy Skill), White Wind (Enemy Skill)
Confusion	Target rotates on the spot	Commands cannot be entered and the target randomly attacks both enemies and allies (including itself)	Any physical attack, Remedy (Item), Esuna (Magic), Angel Whisper (Enemy Skill), White Wind (Enemy Skill)
Darkness	Target glows dark grey	Hit rate dramatically reduced	Eye Drops (Item), Remedy (Item), Esuna (Magic), Angel Whisper (Enemy Skill), White Wind (Enemy Skill)
Death Sentence	Timer appears over target head	Target will be instantly killed when the timer reaches zero	Death Force (Enemy Skill) prevents instant death once the timer reaches zero
Frog	Target appears as a frog	Target's attack damage significantly reduced, unable to cast magic	Maidens Kiss (Item), Remedy (Item), Esuna (Magic), Angel Whisper (Enemy Skill), White Wind (Enemy Skill)
Fury	Characters limit gauge is coloured red	Character receives more damage from enemies, however limit gauge fills faster	Tranquilizer (Item)
Paralysis	Target stops moving	Target cannot act in battle for a short amount of time	Remedy (Item), Esuna (Magic), Angel Whisper (Enemy Skill), White Wind (Enemy Skill)
Petrification	Target stops moving and turns to stone	Target cannot act in battle. If all allies are turned petrified, the battle is lost	Soft (Item), Remedy (Item), Esuna (Magic), Angel Whisper (Enemy Skill), White Wind (Enemy Skill)
Poison	Target glows green	Target takes small damage periodically during battle	Antidote (Item), Remedy (Item), Poisona (Magic), Esuna (Magic), Angel Whisper (Enemy Skill), White Wind (Enemy Skill)
Sadness	Characters limit gauge is coloured blue	Character receives less damage from enemies, however limit gauge fills slower	Hyper (Item)
Silence	Small muted speech bubble appears over targets head	Target unable to cast magic	Echo Screen (Item), Remedy (Item), Esuna (Magic), Angel Whisper (Enemy Skill), White Wind (Enemy Skill)
Small	Target appears small	Attack power reduced (all physical attacks deal 1 point of damage)	Cornucopia(Item), Remedy (Item), Esuna (Magic), Angel Whisper (Enemy Skill), White Wind (Enemy Skill)

Other Status Effects

Name	Appearance	Effect	Remedies
Barrier	Barrier gauge fills	Target receives reduced damage from physical attacks	Debarrier (Magic), Despell (Magic)
Haste	Targets moves faster	Target's ATB gauge fills faster	Slow (Magic), Stop (Magic)
MBarrier	MBarrier gauge fills	Target receives reduced damage from magical attacks	Debarrier (Magic), Despell (Magic)
Regen	Target glows orange	Target's HP rapidly replenishes	Despell (Magic)
Slow	Target moves slower	Target's ATB gauge fills slower	Haste (Magic)
Stop	Target stops moving	Target cannot act for a short period of time	None

General combat strategies

Back attacks: If you're getting attacked at back, there's an easy remedy for that. Hit [PgUp]+[PgDn] (both shoulder buttons on PlayStation, (presumably?) 3 + 9 on PC). Normally this makes your party run away, but with just a brief push, they won't. And after they've tried running away, they always turn to face the enemy. This way, you're never actually back-attacked.

General boss combat strategies

Or, good advice on how not to die in the massive boss battles.

Heal often. How often you need to heal a character depends entirely on how much damage the boss does, but as a general rule, if the character has less than a half of HP left, it's always a good idea to heal up. At first, you probably rely on Potions and Hi-Potions, but in general, using Restore materia is much cheaper and more effective in long run. Once you have the Big Guard enemy skill, White Wind becomes a rather handy enemy skill as well, because Cure2's effectiveness is reduced by Big Guard or MBarrier, while White Wind goes straight through it. Same also goes for Aerith's limit breaks.

Protection and haste. The most useful spells in boss fights are Haste+All, Barrier+All and MBarrier+All. This makes your party faster and gets less damage. But in general, if you have Big Guard enemy skill, things are much easier.

Fury. If the boss is strong against magic and needs good physical beating, using Hypers to get the party to Fury status makes them more likely to get limit breaks.

List of things that are easy to miss

This module intends to have list of things that have to be done at certain parts of the game, or items that are only available at certain parts of the game and have to be picked up at that point or they'll be missed for good.

Shin-Ra Headquarters

There's two ocassions to go here. Better take them on either visit.

One of Turtle's Paradise posters.

Chocobo jockey room

Ramuh materia

Great Glacier and Gaea's Cliff

These items at the Great Glacier aren't permanently missable, though they're not available for another grab for quite a while if you miss them at the beginning of CD2.

Alexander materia

The following are permanently missable, since they reside on the Gaea's Cliff, which means they can be only got at the beginning of CD2:

Ribbon (Ribbons are extremely rare, so it pays to get this one. See Things to Collect.)

Temple of the Ancients

Most of the items, especially the Morph materia which can be found only here.

Yuffie's home

One of the Turtle's Paradise posters.

Walkthrough/Assault on Mako Reactor no. 1

The adventure begins

Welcome to the world of Final Fantasy VII! The opening cinematic leads us, thrillingly enough, right into the action. At the very beginning, you're controlling an Ex-SOLDIER, now employed by AVALANCHE, who gets to try out this newfangled combat interface right on. The first few soldiers are not too difficult to deal with: Just hit them with all of your might. The manual tells a lot of interesting tidbits on how to fight, obviously, but it isn't very difficult: Choose "Attack" and the bad guy and after a few hits, the thing dies. After you've defeated the guards, a brief introduction to the examining things: Walk up to them and hit [OK] (Circle on PS, Enter on PC) to examine the bodies of the two guards, to scavenge a potion from each. As it looks kind of silly to see our intrepid spiky-haired protagonist walking everywhere when the rest of the ecoterrorists seem to be on run, you may also want to learn how to run while moving: Keep [Cancel] (Cross on PS, Ins on PC) pressed. Learn that, as it makes this purported "100-hour RPG" to be completable in mere 45 hours of play time! ...okay, maybe there's more to it.

In the reactor, you will also meet mechanical things: Brute force works wonders here, as does the Bolt magic. You can pick up handy things like Potions from the enemies you defeat. There's really nothing too difficult in this chapter; Learn the basics of the game interface, learn to fight and examine/activate things, that sort of thing.

The first few rooms are quite straightforward, and basically all you need to do is to run along the people and talk to them if they stop. Your party, for most the rest of the chapter, consists of Cloud and Barret, both of whom you get to name^[1] at an early opportunity. The only notable thing on the few first rooms is on a room to south: a chest holding a Phoenix Down.

Along the way, you will learn how to climb ladders, operate buttons, and like. You'll notice also sometimes flashing items and chests on ground; these can be picked up and opened. You'll find Potions on floor here if you pay attention.

You'll eventually reach the actual reactor room. On the floor, there's a save point, and as you cross the bridge to the other side, you'll find a Restore materia on ground. So this is definitely a good place to learn how to save the game and pick up items. Note that you cannot actually use the Restore materia yet, so aside of picking it up, quit worrying about it for a while. (A terrible shame, because you sure could use it for the stuff that's about to happen!).

As you place the bombs, Cloud gets a rather strange flashback. Huh? Well, don't worry, it will all make sense later...

A mission would be nothing without a good, big, warm-up fight. As soon as the bombs are ready to get tripped, a really big nasty thing shows up.

Guard Scorpion

Lv: 12, HP: 800, MP: 0, Weaknesses: Lightning, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

The first boss is simple enough if you follow the horribly translated clues. Lightning works great, so Cloud should stick to Bolts as long as possible, and Barret can't yet use magic, so he needs to use physical attacks. Potions help a great deal if you're running low on HP, and you should have gathered up a few by now. If you turn out to be really unlucky, Phoenix Down revives fallen characters. The scorpion raises its tail, and completely contrary to what Barret babbles here, you shouldn't attack at that time, because the scorpion will counterattack with the Tail Laser. This is a good point to drink a few potions if you're low on HP, and learn how to Defend too (hit right on the command menu and choose defense). Resume attacking as soon as the tail falls again.

(Notice the similarity of tactics with the first boss in FF6...)

The boss leaves an Assault Gun, which Barret can use, and is better than his default weapon. The time bomb is set, and you now have 10 minutes to go back the same way you came.

Along the way, you'll run into Jessie whose foot seems to be stuck. Talk to her and help her to get loose again. If you missed her and get back to the rest of the gang, you still probably have plenty of time to get back and there again. Once you're out, the reactor blows up.

Going to Sector 7? The train just left.

After you escape, you and the rest of the AVALANCHE split up. There isn't much to see here, but you actually do get to meet Aerith for the first time. You don't know her, but she's going to be really important character later on. You can buy flowers from her if you want to. Flowers are pretty. There is a potion lying on the ground just before the south exit in this area.

When you finally head towards the train station, you get surrounded by soldiers, who, as the beginning of the adventure showed, are quite trivial to defeat. You can actually choose to avoid fighting them, but since they're easy to defeat and garner a few items and Exp, it's probably best to fight them. Eventually, the torrent of clowns ends, and you leap from the bridge to the roof of the passing train, conveniently right on the right car too.

There isn't terribly much to do aboard the train, just talk to the AVALANCHE members as you see fit. Jessie will show you a computer diagram of the railway system. After you get back to the station, head left, where you find, among other things, a savepoint. The Sector 7 slums are further to the left.

On to...Sector 7 Slums and Assault on Mako Reactor no. 5

^ For the sake of clarity, in this guide, we're using the original character names - apart of another character you meet soon, Aerith, whose name was mistranslated as Aeris in both PS and PC versions.

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
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Walkthrough/Sector 7 Slums and Assault on Mako Reactor no. 5

Sector 7 slums

Back in Sector 7, you will meet a lot of scared people. Head to the bar - the building on left where Barret is waiting.

Inside, you meet Tifa Lockhart for the first time in this game. If you bought flowers from Aerith, you can give them to her (or Marlene...) Talk to the folks there. If you try to get out, Barret will come in, and gets the meeting downstairs going. You can ask Tifa to make you a drink if you want to.

Downstairs, you'll get to talk more to the AVALANCHE folks and see exactly how cold Cloud is. As you try to get out of the house, Barret will give you your pay - and you sign up for the next mission.

So, in the morning, after greeting Barret and Tifa (who will now accompany you for a while), up. Barret asks how to use Materia. Choose to explain if you want to see a tutorial on Materia system. You can now use the Materia menu to arrange your stuff.

Outside, there are a few places to visit. You can talk to people, and visit houses. You also have some money to spare now, so you can visit the weapon shop and the materia shop. Pick up as much Materia as you think is necessary, and maybe also some protective stuff, potions, maybe even an extra Phoenix Down (there is never enough of those).

Barret hinted that the weapons store guy knows something. Talk to the guy behind the fence and he forwards you upstairs. Beginner's Hall has a cute dog, and a lot of helpful tutorials to get you familiar with all of the basic aspects of the game. There's also a Save Point there. Here, you can also pick up a free All materia here, so it pays to see this stuff. And did I mention the dog is cute?

Reactor no. 5

Once you're done, head up-right from the town the way you came in and head back to the train station. The train is waiting, hop aboard.

Inside, talk to folks again, Tifa wants to show you the security monitor again. Something goes wrong, and the security lockdown starts. You now have 15 seconds to head out of each car - just follow where the rest of the folks are running again. Eventually, you'll reach the last car, and you get to jump out of the train.

Once outside, there's really not much else to do but go up. There's a security gate there. Examine the air conditioning duct, and head down. What follows is a simple maze-like thing that really isn't a maze at all - you don't have people running ahead of you to guide you, but whatever route you take, you'll finally end up to the crawlway leading to the reactor and a save point. Along the way, you'll meet Jessie and Wedge, and find (at least) an Ether, Potion and a Tent, which is right beside a save point.

Once you get to the duct and emerge to the reactor side, you've got to slide to get down. Reactor no. 5's inner building is exact same as the no. 1 - this is familiar territory now already, I hope.

Head to the reactor core room again, plant the bomb, and Cloud gets another flashback. This time, far more weird than the one in the first reactor. What kind of reactor is this then? Why's Tifa got that hat? What's going on in here? Again, I assure you things will make sense later, but as of now, you just have to note that Cloud has some weird flashbacks and mental issues.

The good news: There isn't a boss fight here. What can that possibly mean? Well, among other things, it means that the boss fight is somewhere else. So, to get out, head back the same way you exited the first reactor, and up the elevator.

The security room is different in this reactor. Tifa and Barret go to the other side of the table. Try to hit the button at the exact same moment as the others. It doesn't need to be exactly at the same time, just close enough. (Is the security in this power plant really this awful, or is there something even more sinister waiting here for us?)

Head out, and there's a save point on the other side of the room. Save here, because you won't be getting to a save point until in the next chapter of this walkthrough...

So we get out of the reactor... oh, this was a trap. How unsurprising. A trap so cunning that the very president of Shin-Ra had to show up to congratulate you for your unsuspiciousness and introduce you to his secret weapon and your certain doom, called Air Buster.

Air Buster

Lv: 15, HP: 1200, MP: 0, Weaknesses: Lightning, Strong against: Gravity, Earth, Absorbs: -

This is the first boss fight that might get you a bit sweaty, but you aren't in any real danger if you just remember to heal up if you're getting serious damage. The fight is unusual in that Tifa and Barret are on one side and Cloud on the other. Take advantage of this fact if you can by alternating attacks so Air Buster's back is to the attacker. This tactic is especially effective with Limit Breaks; someone on one side draws its attention first, then a party member on the opposite side attacks it with a Limit Break. Keep hacking and Bolting the thing. The retaliations and cannonstuff is pretty bad, so heal really often. But before you know, the thing firstly stops turning, so it can't retaliate on the other side any more. And when you start preparing for the worst, the thing just gets a short circuit or something and explodes.

And with the explosion, the bridge breaks and Cloud, after a short struggle falls.. falls... falls...

...into nightmares. But at least the wake-up will be pleasant.

On to...Meeting Aerith, Wall Market, Don Corneo

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
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Walkthrough/Meeting Aerith, Wall Market, Don Corneo

Spiky hair sticking from that flower bed there

Cloud crash-lands and goes blank. Obviously, this leads to more confused dreams that probably make absolutely no sense to people who play the game for the first time - but they all will be revealed later.

As he comes to, we find ourselves in the church. The flower girl from slums, Aerith by her name, is here tending her flowers. Discuss with her about things. Someone who calls himself not very important appears.

And a moment or two later, you note that the person is actually very important. This is Reno, one of the Turks, who has come to grab Aerith with a couple of Shin-Ra soldiers. So, Cloud and Aerith escape.

The climb to the top isn't easy. Aeris is down, and gets attacked by Shin-Ra soldiers. When she gets attacked, you either have option to have her wait or let her fight or run. If you let her wait, you can push one of the barrels down from above. If you push the wrong one, you have to fight anyway. The fights aren't too hard, only bad thing is that Aerith doesn't have much melee fighting power and she has no Materia. If you give her some, she'll start kicking butt. Even without Materia, the soldiers aren't too difficult to defeat.

To prevent the fights, push the barrels in the following order:

The one way off to the left.
The center one in back.
The one off to the right.

The only waterfall in the polluted city

After this, you escape across the rooftops, Cloud volunteering to do some bodyguarding. When you get back to ground, head left (savepoint somewhere here too) and up. Talk to the folks in the slums. There's a weird person with a weird tattoo in the pipe. (You guessed it. Foreshadowing.) There's a Materia and weapons store where you can get Titan Bangles which may help things a little bit. Many people seem to miss where to go next - Just head left from this place to get to Aerith's house.

Aerith's house garden has an Elixir and a Cover materia. Head in. It's a good idea to stay overnight—except that Elmyra wants Cloud to leave before Aerith notices a thing. In the room prepared for Cloud, there's a Potion and a Phoenix Down. Sneak down (don't run, Aerith will hear you and sends you back to the room) and out. Head through the slum and now to left from the intersection.

Oops. Aerith is here afterall. She wants to tag along. Head through the maze in the next room (you'll probably run into one of the craziest enemies of the game here, the Hell House), and you'll arrive to the Sector 7 gate. Aerith stops by the playground.

And just as you start to chill down, a chocobo cart comes from Sector 7, with a familiar barmaid, not looking at all like a barmaid, aboard... whatever's gone in Tifa's mind now? Time to follow her to Wall Market.

Wall Market: Wretched hive of pervs and villainy

Welcome to the greatest and the weirdest shopping district in the Midgar slums! As you walk around and ask people things, you'll soon find out that Tifa has become a candidate for inclusion to the Honeybee Manor, and new inductees have to be personally checked by someone called Don Corneo. Corneo's manor is fairly easy to find, it's on the northern side. The problem is, the guy on the door will only let women in, Aerith is the only woman around, and Cloud just cannot let a frail maiden like Aerith, despite her helpfulness and willingness to take risks, be sinfully savaged by these villains. But luckily, Aerith's resourcefulness knows no bounds, and she has a wonderful idea which she tells Cloud right away.

In a feeble attempt at one-upping Nintendo in making history of LGBT videogaming, your next objective is to get Cloud dressed up like a girl. Technically, this is very simple, and you practically cannot lose this thing, and you can do this very very simply. If you want to put more effort into this, read the whole section first. If you are afraid to see Cloud in a dress for too long, just do the simple things.

Firstly, you need a dress. If you talk to the cloth store clerk, she says that her father does the cloth designing, he's lounging in the bar without any inspiration whatsoever. Talk to him and convince him to make a dress for Cloud. A challenging task! He then tells you to scurry off.

After you return, Cloud's hairstyle stands out too much, so you need a wig. You'll get this by going to the gym and entering the squatting competition (it doesn't matter if you win or lose). After you have the wig, return to the cloth store and scurry away to the Manor Corneo.

If you've got to go, go with the style

(Todo: what other items there are, how to get them, and how they affect the outcome...)

If you want, you can do the following optional things. Not that I want to spoil anything, but very soon, Don Corneo's going to pick a bride for himself; the more of these items you collect, the queerer the whole thing goes. But here's a list of stuff that you can collect, anyway:

The best possible dress is one that "feels soft" and that "shimmers". In other words, a silk dress. The other options are "feels clean" and "shiny". There is a cotton dress to be obtained, or a satin dress. (Todo: what combo makes what dress)

In the bar, there's a woman in the bathroom who's having severe digestion problems. Go to the restaurant, get Today's Special, and you'll get a pharmacy coupon. Head to the pharmacy, exchange the ticket for a digestive medicine. Head to the bar, and the woman will give you sexy cologne. There is also disinfectant or deodorant to receive from the coupon. The disinfectant will get you the cologne and the deoderant will get you the flower cologne.

Talk to the indecisive man pacing on the lowermost Wall Market. At one point, he'll can't make up his mind and will give his membership card to you. But don't go in the Honeybee Manor yet...

Go up the rightmost path on the lower screen, past the man with the big cooking pot. The man in the store wants to know what's in the inn's vending machine, but can't check it out himself because he's been banned. Pay for the night. Get the 200 Gil item from the vending machine. Head back to the shop and the man will give you a diamond tiara. Returning the 50 Gil item to the materia shop man will get you the glass tiara and the 100 Gil item will get you the ruby tiara.

The best possible wig is the blonde wig, which you'll get by winning the squatting competition with the Big Bro. The second best possible wig is the dyed wig which you get if you tie with Big Bro. Losing to Big Bro will get you just a regular, old wig.

Before you go to get changed for good, head to the Honeybee Manor. Poke your nose around. First of all, here, you get more of the man-to-man action, or perhaps see even more freakish Cloud mind-bending. If you take peeks in the occupied rooms (note that you can look around with the d-pad), you'll also see President Shin-Ra engaging in some Epic Foreshadowing, and also get to see the first glimpse of Cait Sith. Most importantly, by poking around here, you'll get lingerie (if you enter the top left room), or the bikini briefs (if you enter the bottom left room), and also, before you leave, you get the makeup from one of the girls. (Obviously, this isn't showing up as a Key Item in inventory.)

Corneo's Little Cave of Horrors

In Corneo's room, head upstairs and through the open door. Here you meet Tifa again, who explains what's going on. After some discussion, Corneo's lackey comes and asks you to show up in his room.

Corneo will pick one of the three girls depending on what items Cloud had when he dressed up. If Corneo picks Tifa or Aeris, Cloud ends up in a room with some drooling men. He takes off the dress, and they attack you. There's a Phoenix Down in the room too. If Corneo picks Cloud (and you need the above items to do this), the whole thing is a little bit shorter.

Tifa will be selected if you have just the basic items (dress, wig), or if you have the worst possible items that you can get (glass tiara, cologne, etc.)
Aerith will be selected if you have the moderately good items (ruby tiara, dyed wig, flower cologne, etc.).
Cloud will be selected if you have te best possible items (diamond tiara, blonde wig, sexy cologne, etc.).

Remember to steal the Phoenix Down in the Lackey's room if Cloud isn't selected, and the Hyper behind Corneo's bed.

Either way, Cloud, Aeris and Tifa get to intimidate Corneo strongly, and learn of a terrifying plan to destroy Sector 7. And just as you're about to leave, he ends up buffing up his Evil Antagonist Skills and keeps talking. And, having once in his life gotten the trap set up correctly, sends the heroes down to the sewers with a flick of a switch.

A cutscene follows... and our heroes, as noted, are in the sewers.

On to...Sewers, the Train Graveyard, and the fall of Sector 7

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
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Walkthrough/Sewers, the Train Graveyard, and the fall of Sector 7

(Todo: May need some expansion)

After the cutscene you splash down in the sewers. Talk to Tifa and Aerith to wake them up, but before you wake up the other of them, be sure to check up your healing and materia if necessary. Of course, Don Corneo wouldn't have thrown you into the sewers expecting the foul stench alone would have killed you!

Aps

Lv: 18, HP: 1800, MP: 0, Weaknesses: Fire, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

This is relatively easy fight still - just keep hammering away with limits, attacks and spells. Aps' sewer attacks are more of an annoyance than a real threat. In fact, he'll probably end up doing more damage to himself. One full-party healing should be enough (either take advantage of Aerith's limit break or use Restore+All combo to cast Cure on all party members.

There's a single notable item in the sewers, a Steal materia. Getting back to the surface after beating the boss should present no problems, the enemies are relatively weak.

Train graveyard

The train graveyard is easier than it looks. The only thing that probably confuses at first is that the train cars may have holes on their roof so figuring out where the items are is more difficult. Use the ladders and ramps and whatnot to cross to the other side. There's a Hi-Potion and Ether here, loose or in rain barrels.

On the other end of the train graveyard, the trains block your path. Hop on the nearest engine that has a door open. The engine will push one of the cars off the way. Then hop on the another engine, and the way clears.

TIPS: Give Tifa the steal materia since her DEX rating should be higher than Cloud and Aerith. On the second screen, you can steal ethers from Deenglows (the green flying creatures) and you can steal the Striking Staff for Aerith from Eligor, who looks kind of like a cross of Baraka from Mortal Kombat and a Centaur. The Striking Staff will not be sold in stores for a very LONG time (Junon).

The fall of Sector 7

The column is still standing! Regrettably, Wedge isn't, as he just fell down. Nor are Biggs and Jessie in much better condition a bit further up. Aerith scurries off to get Marlene from Tifa's bar. You can buy stuff from the merchant here. Save if you feel like.

Once you reach the top, Barret says that the enemies are coming by air and lets you get your Materia and equipment sorted out before they get closer. Get Barret equipped.

And then... oops, Reno shows up and calmly sets the hell bomb loose. Of course, fighting him does no good, but it always pays to try...

Reno

Lv: 17, HP: 1000, MP: 0, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Bolt, Absorbs: -

The red-tailed Turk is one of the recurring bosses, so don't think this will end here. Bolt only does half damage, but other elemental spells are pretty good. Reno's special attack is the Pyramid, which shields one of your characters in a gold pyramid. While a character is in the pyramid, they are considered knocked out, and if all three characters get enclosed, it's game over. To remove the pyramid, simply attack the character affected, and the pyramid will go away. His low HP makes this a relatively quick battle.

Reno will rush off at one point, and it's time for our characters to make for a quick escape. Barret will figure out how to use the hook cable, and off you go...

On to...Back to Aerith's House and the Road to Shin-Ra HQ

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/Back to Aerith's House and the Road to Shin-Ra HQ

You'll find yourself on the playground. Barret will be pretty broken after Sector 7 is destroyed, but he'll be a bit hopeful as he learns that Marlene might be safe. So, after this cutscene, head toward Aerith's house - and Barret and Tifa will join Cloud.

Back at Aerith's house, you find out about the Cetra (Ancients), and who Aerith's mother really was. And Barret will meet up with Marlene.

Back to Wall Market

Barret will suggest that Wall Market might have something that might help us get to the Shinra headquarters. So head there.

It's a good chance to stock up with all sorts of stuff. The people will discuss about how the neighboring sector went crash, the porridge is all ruined, and how all sorts of stuff rained down - and that damn weapon shop man grabbed them all!

The weapon store man - the one who's constantly fixing up the tank, not the clerk - tells you that you need batteries to get up to the plate. Umm... okay. Buy them, they're not that expensive.

I really recommend that you should stock up on Lightning materia, have at least 3, one for each party member at time. You are, of course, heading to a highly technical place next; highly technical means "doesn't like power surges".

The long climb

As you pass Don Corneo's mansion, a bunch of kids will tell you of something cool, like, a cable that just happens to hang down all the way from the World Above and lets you climb the sector wall.

After you get up, the place is again fairly straightforward: The yellow sockets need batteries inserted in them. These let you advance. (If you didn't get the batteries earlier, climb back down to the market and buy the batteries from the gun shop, as noted earlier. If you don't have enough money, well, think of something...)

The single most frustrating minigame in the entirety of the game is right here too. It involves leaping to the other side by using the swinging bar. Timing is really important. The best way to proceed is to pick some static spot of the background, and hit the button as the bar is at that point, and try earlier. To me, it seemed like coinciding with some puffs of smoke on the background. The point is, the right moment is when the bar is swinging towards Cloud, and pretty close to him, but not quite there.

Have fun storming the castle!

You can save at the front entrance of the Shinra building. Tifa begs you to sneak in. The first part of getting in is to head left, and use the side entrance door. Now begins the fun, long and dull part of the game - you need to climb all the way up to the 59th floor! Whoever decided to actually make you climb 59 flights of stairs (they're all there, you can count them as you ascend) should be caught and shot immediately! :) The best way that I've found to get through it is to make it a race between you, Barret, and Tifa. The feeling of elation you get everytime you take that corner and finally pull out ahead is almost worth the climb. The only spoils on the long climb are a lone Elixir, though the conversations between Tifa and Barrett are nearly worth the climb too.

Right through the front door!

Alternatively, you can do what Barrett suggested and just walk through the front door to the Shinra headquarters. As soon as you head in, you will get attacked. As soon as the battle is over, you can chase the group of people around the lobby, or you can just jump on the elevator at the back of the lobby. However, security klaxons start going off, and you'll have to figh random battles on the elevator till you get to the 59th floor.

Presumably, you have here a chance of seeing a Turtle's Paradise poster on the lobby wall; You will get the another chance to see that when you visit the building at the end of CD 2 though, so don't worry if you decide to climb the stairs instead.

On to...Infiltrating Shin-Ra HQ

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/Infiltrating Shin-Ra HQ

59th floor: Guards! Guards!

There isn't much to see here. Beat up the guards before they make much of a rukus and grab their Keycard 60. The robot guards are very susceptible to Lightning but Ice works pretty well too; give each party character Lightning materia, hammer away with it, and you can kill each of the guards in one turn. If you don't have enough Lightning materia, at least equip one person with a Lightning + All combination so that you get a good spread on your first hit, then just Lightning/Ice/Assault Gun and you can still normally take the guards out in one turn.

60th floor: Metal Shinracrud Solid

Time to sneak past guards! Head to the room on the left. Open the door, head to the statue when the guards aren't looking (you can move to the first statue no matter what the guards are doing). Then, when the guards aren't looking, scoot across the gap between the pillars, one at a time, until you reach the middle and Cloud leaves your control. At this point, you use [OK] to let Barret and then Tifa know when it's safe to cross a gap. Remember, anytime the guards aren't standing still they aren't looking! Then, do the same process for the right side of the room, note that the distances are shorter and the guards run now. Be careful, Snake. I mean, Cloud.

If you get seen, the guards will attack from both sides. In that case, use Bolts or Bolt/Ice/Gun again. Luckily, if you absolutely don't manage to get through with five tries or so, the torrent of guards will eventually end... The team isn't very happy about this, but at least you tried!

61st floor: Bar of the Fools

This is the employee lounge or something. Luckily, the door is busted so you won't need a keycard to get to this floor. Once inside, talk to every people in the room. If you don't show yourself to be a complete idiot by talking about Aerith, you get a Keycard 62 for your trouble.

62nd floor: My Librarian, My Mayor

The Mayor will help you if you manage to solve his riddle.

So here goes, solution to the riddle: Look at each library room. Each room contains books on certain topics (read the signs on the doors). Each room has two shelves. Each shelf has two books, stored on the ends of the shelf. Your task is to find the book that doesn't belong in the room in question. (For example, "5 Reactor Construction Chart" that has somehow been filed to, say, urban planning library.) Then, count to the indicated letter, ignoring spaces and punctuation and such, from the beginning. Make note. (In the example, "T") Arrange all four letters to a word.

Mayor will give you Keycard 65 for guessing right eventually, and an Elemental materia if you guess right at the first try.

63rd floor: Warehouse of goodies

This floor is optional; if you want, you can leave this for CD2 when you return to Midgar. You can do this now to get some helpful stuff though.

Once you reach this floor, go to the door access computer below where you come in. It will give you the ability to open three doors on this floor. If you choose the top-most door you have access to, then the second door you pass to the south, you can get the coupon in one of the rooms. From there, jump into the air ducts and make your way to another room containing a coupon. Exit this room, and open the door to the left to get to the last coupon room. Afterwards, jump into the air ducts again and go back to the door access room again. Tell the computer you want to trade in your coupons, and you will be rewarded with a Star Pendant accessory that protects against Poison, a Four Slots armor that holds four individual materia, and an All materia.

If you make a mistake and open up the wrong doors, go back to the door access machine to reset the doors. Remember, once you turn in your coupons, the doors won't reset anymore!

64th floor: Not another gym?

You can rest and save here.

65th floor: Exhibition behind locked doors

There's a big Midgar model in the middle. One of the chests contains "Midgar parts". Insert the piece to the model in its appropriate place, and another chest will open. Repeat this until the last chest unlocks. It contains Keycard 66.

66th floor: Why is everybody talking of the bathroom?

As you get in, you note that President, Heidegger, Scarlet, and other people are gathering in the big meeting room. Obviously, it's not really wise to barge in. Most of the folks here seem to have some sort of bathroom obsession. So, head to the bathroom.

Use the ceiling grate to get to the ventilation shaft, which just happens to be above the meeting room. Cutscene ensues. Listen patiently.

As the meeting ends and you crawl back, you see Hojo leaving to the floor above.

67th floor: Mad science!

Here, you see Hojo adoring his new specimen, and he goes to the floor above using the elevator. While Tifa seems preoccupied with the cute specimen, Cloud gets freaked out by remains of Jenova, who seems to be locked up in the other container. Not much you can do about it - head north, save if you want, then up.

A brief cutscene ensues. Summary: Specimen up. Barret mad. Specimen pounce Hojo. Aerith safe. (Select who will take care of her.) The specimen (whom I shall henceforth call Red XIII, in honor of Hojo's insanity) has a name which you surely do get to pick. Red XIII is also armed with some free Materia.

Another specimen shows up, and you need to fight it. For this fight, your party has Cloud, whoever you didn't send away with Aerith, and Red XIII.

Sample: HO512

Lv: 19, HP: 1000, MP: 120, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Bolt, Gravity, Absorbs: Poison

Don't pay attention to the HO512-opt flunkies, the boss will just revive them. Besides, they won't be able to hurt you too bad. HO512 will poison your party, so equip someone with the Star Pendant you found earlier. I would recommend Barret in your party since he's the only character with a long range weapon at this point. This fight is pretty easy. Just pound the guy into submission.

After beating HO512, run around the floor and steal Carbon Bangles from "Moth Slashers" (the blue chain saw looking things) and steal the Hardedge for Cloud from "Soldier: 3rd" (the blue soldiers, who can give you a serious beating, but the Hardedge is worth it at this point in the game).

Escape from the Shinra Building

Time to get out! But just as you enter the elevator, this bald guy, whom you will henceforth know as Rude, stops you. Seems that he and the Shin-ra security folks have captured you and the rest of the team.

Some cutscenery later - where you get to meet President Shinra in person - you find yourself in prison. Kill time.

As you wake up, we find out a few alarming things: Jenova is missing from the containment. Tail of blood leads up. President Shinra has a big honkin' sword on his back. Palmer spooked because he saw Sephiroth come and kill the President.

Rufus waits you outside. Talk forth.

Basically, there's now two battles to deal with. You get careful options and time to prepare the battles if you play your cards right.

The Elevator fight

The first battle is done by Aeris, Barret and Red XIII. You get to remove Cloud's and Tifa's materia first. Re-equip. I recommend a good dose of Lightning materia (hey, we're still in Shinra building!) and Restore as well. You definitely need to have good spells on both Red XIII and Aerith.

Enter the elevator, and boom... Well, let's just say, this is one of those battles that make skeptics love this game. A battle in the freaking elevator. The following two bosses will be fought immediately after each other, so you don't get any chance to rest or change equipment between them.

Hundred Gunner

Lv: 18, HP: 1600, MP: 0, Weaknesses: Lightning, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Pound Hundred Gunner with everything you have. The quicker you get rid of him, the better as his attacks get stronger as the fight goes on. This is a long-range fight; physical attacks from anyone besides Barret are thus likely to fail. Equip Barret with the Elemental-Lightning combo in his weapon and use standard attacks and have Aerith and Red XIII launch spell after spell (helps to have more than one bolt materia). Red XIII's limit breaks are long-range attacks, so take advantage of them.

Heli Gunner

Lv: 19, HP: 1000, MP: 0, Weaknesses: Lightning, Wind, Strong against: Earth, Absorbs: -

Less HP, but does more damage and attacks more often. Use same strategy as you did for Hundred Gunner, just watch your hit points.

Balcony fight

You get to mess with Cloud's materia and equipment at this point too. Rufus and Cloud talk and talk and talk. And then the time for talks is over.

Rufus

Lv: 21, HP: 500, MP: 0, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Rufus is accompanied by a creature known as Dark Nation (lv 18, hp 140, mp 80), who will spend its first four turns putting up a Barrier and MBarrier on Rufus and itself. If you can kill the hound before his second turn, it'll make your life a whole lot easier, but even if you just whack Rufus, you should win pretty easily. One good strategy is to set up Cloud's weapon with a elemental-poison combo that way you have a chance of poisoning Rufus, but both magic and physical attacks work just fine. Few people with any sense of preparation have problems with this fight.

Now, head downstairs. You can save at the savepoint - just remember to do it before you talk to Tifa.

Crazy Motorcycle Chase

And then it's the time to show some surprising thinking. The crew gets in a car, Cloud gets a motorcycle. Time to slam some baddies after you figure out the instructions. Note that this is the chance to rearrange your party for the coming fight and get the materia up correctly.

Also note that if you use PC, I strongly suggest drinking 10 litres of coffee - I cannot recommend illegal/controlled stimulating substances. The following game is was manageable on my P166 with Voodoo1, pretty hellish to play on a Pentium III 600MHz with a GeForce 4; I sure wouldn't want to try this on my Athlon XP 3000+ with the same graphics card! I have heard that there are some unofficial fixes to make this game a bit less... mentally straining. Playstation version is really smooth.

There's really not that much into this game - you can ram the bikes against the railings, or slash them with your sword. Either way, get rid of them before they damage the passengers or cloud too much. Eventually, you end up getting tailed by something really big...

Motor Ball

Lv: 19, HP: 2600, MP: 120, Weaknesses: Lightning, Strong against: Gravity, Fire, Absorbs: -

Damn! Do these bosses ever end? In fact, this is the last one in this escape attempt. The only hard thing about the fight is that the motorcyclists might have managed to inflict some damage on the party members. Another thing is that this fight starts as a back attack - tap shoulder buttons to momentarily run away as soon as the fight starts to make your party face right way. Apart of that, hammering the thing with Bolts should work wonders. You barely need the healing.

Time to adore the view and try to get down. You're finally out of Midgar.

On to...Five years ago, and a Parade for Rufus

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
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Walkthrough/Five years ago, and a Parade for Rufus

Freedom at last

After getting out of Midgar, you need to split your party into two groups. You get a new item called PHS, which is used through the menu, and can be used to change the party characters on the world map and on save points. You now need to pick two characters besides Cloud for your party. (I usually go for Tifa and Red XIII, but there's really no point in choosing them specifically - just go with your tastes. If you want funny comments from the ladies, pick Barret and Red XIII. =)

Barret tells to head northeast to the village called Kalm. Finding your way to that location is not really all that difficult. If you have trouble with directions, switch to overhead view and head up and right. You should see a few houses there, these represent Kalm. Got it?

Five years ago...

In Kalm, follow your friends to the inn's second floor. Cloud tells of the time when he went to Nibelheim with Sephiroth. This is the game's first story bit; you can't really play a lot in this section, though there's some interactivity.

First of all, Cloud talks with Sephiroth in the van, and then, they hit a really big dragon. The dragon just trashes poor little Cloud (who's a measly Level 1 youngster in this episode). Try hitting the dragon, it's pretty pointless though and you won't do much damage. Sephiroth will try to keep you alive with Life2 spells if the dragon kills you, but he won't do that more than a few times - don't worry, he'll restore you to full health afterwards, and you won't gain XP or AP from this fight anyway. He will eventually slash the dragon twice for a ludicruous amount of damage, killing it.

Then head to the town. You can talk to the people here; Be sure to visit Cloud's mom, and also check out Tifa's home - she isn't home right now, though. (This allows for a bit of comic relief, make sure to check the dresser...) While in Tifa's home, be sure to check the piano; you can play it, and if you pick the right choices, Cloud will play the Highwind theme melody: "Do-- Re Mi Ti-- La--... Do Re Mi So Fa Do Re Do--..." (Get used to hearing this a lot latter in the game.) Don't worry if you don't get this, it's just a hint for getting Tifa's limit break later in the game.

Head to the inn, talk with Sephiroth and the guys, and sleep.

In the morning, after a brief but very consequential photography session, Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, and two Shin-Ra soldiers head to the Nibelheim mountain. The rope bridge breaks. You need to head up the path. There are random monsters here, but these are absolutely weak against Sephiroth. (Do you need a reminder that you're supposed to track down and ultimately kill this guy?) Eventually you come into a Mako fountain, where you get a brief cutscene. Then, you find yourself in the reactor in the mountaintop. Do what Sephiroth says here, and you'll get a glimpse of the monsters Hojo is cooking here.

You'll find yourself then in Nibelheim again. Go talk to Sephiroth; In the Nibelheim manor, find the guy who is on the second floor and search the room - there's a hidden door leading to the cellar. Sephiroth is reading here.

In the morning, go talk to Sephiroth again. He's annoyed beyond belief. Logically, he wants to kill everybody. Help the folks as said.

Next up, there's still a confrontation with Sephiroth in the Nibelheim reactor. Help Tifa, go after Sephiroth. And that's the end of that story. Cloud's memory sure doesn't seem that good.

Chocobo Farm

Now, Kalm folks seem to hint that Sephiroth went south and over the mountains. Once you head south, you find that the only way through the mountains is through a cave beyond the swamp, and the swamp is guarded by this really nasty worm called Midgar Zolom who easily kills the party (it's level 26 with 4000HP, and its Beta attack - which is worth learning as an enemy skill though - is rather nasty). You can see the wyrm moving under the waters, but your footsteps attract it, and before you know, you're looking at Game Over screen. So what to do?

Head to the Chocobo Farm. First of all, talk to the chocobos in the front; choose "Wark", they dance for you, and you receive your first summon materia: Choco/Mog. In the barn, Choco Billy will firstly sell you a Chocobo Lure materia for 2000 gil, and tells you everything you need to know about catching and riding chocobos. You should also buy some Greens from him. Don't spend too much on them; you won't be needing them that much at this part of this game.

Head out, equip Chocobo Lure, and waltz around in the tracks. Feed greens to chocobos and bash the baddies. Now, you can ride across the swamp without getting eaten by Midgar Zolom. Note that the Chocobo only allows you to outrun the Midgar Zolom; if it catches you, you will lose your Chocobo and be forced to fight it.

It is possible to defeat and acquire Beta from The Midgar Zolom at this point, but it is tricky and requires some luck. If you would like to try, I highly advise you save first.

Prepare

    Pair elemental materia with fire in the armour slot of the same character that has enemy skill. Also equip a talisman to this character. This will cause beta to do about 700 hit points instead of 1100+.

The fight

   What you will want to do is cast bio until the Zolom is poisoned. Have one character designated to heal the chosen character learning Beta. Have the other characters defend. The Zolom had to be provoked to trigger Beta. He won't use it until he is under 1200 hp, but you are going to wait until the Zolom is about 250 hit points. When he gets to 250 hp attack him with any character to trigger Beta, and have the character designated to survive the attack use a hi-potion.

If all goes well, the Zolom will die right after the attack from the position, and you will have acquired Beta.

Note*

   You have to survive AND defeat the Zolom to learn it. He will often kick a character out of play. If this happens and he uses beta, it will say you have learned Beta, but if you fail to defeat him you will lose it.

Caves

Before entering the cave, you see one of these legendarily tough Midgar Zoloms staked on a tree. Sephiroth seems to be pretty tough, in case it wasn't obvious before. Now, you need to head through the caves; there are some items here on chests, and there's really only one way through aside that. You will also run into Turks; Reno is too bruised to show up, but you get to see Rude, Tseng and the newest member of the unit, Elena, who does not tell you that Sephiroth went toward Junon. Nope, you can't hear it from her! No way!

To Junon

Recommended average party level: 20

Important: At this point, it isn't advisable to do anything really tricky in Junon - you should visit the shop to get some Tents, but not much else. At this phase, it's definitely important to head to the bush and kill tons of monsters, until each member of your party (not the dormant characters or anything) are around level 20. It doesn't hurt to have your materia grow as well; You'll soon benefit from level 2 spells (Fire2, Ice2, Bolt2, etc), though they aren't completely necessary. At least some of your characters should also preferably have Level 2 Limit Breaks already, too. You can also make your time worth it and recruit Yuffie (see Optional characters. The best place to kill monsters at this time is the Mythril Mine (see also Training).

You can also visit Fort Condor at this time.

Priscilla's aquatic friends

Once in Junon, head down to the beach. Priscilla calls for her friend, Mr. Dolphin. Then she thinks you're with Shin-Ra, and kind of panics when a big monster shows up. Egh. And now she's drowning while you have to deal with this ugly thing.

Bottomswell

Lv: 23, HP: 2500, MP: 100, Weaknesses: Wind, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Now here's something: A water creature that flies. You can't hit it without long range weaponry, so the most effective way to deal with this thing is with spells. Fire spells keep rasping good amounts of damage from it. Choco/Mog is great as well. The only scary attack this thing has in repertoire is the Waterpolo - a bubble appears around the character and it will suck HP off the character until dead. You can only damage the bubble with magic - and unlike Reno's pyramids, you really have to make sure you're targeting the bubble and not the character! Good way to deal with Waterpolo infestation is using spells with All paired to them - Waterpolo is a measly level 4 creature and is practically fried ten different ways when you as much as sneeze at it.

After the monster is dead, it's time to breathe life to Priscilla. (Get ready for a lot of minigames that follow!) The controls will be explained. Exhale when the CPR meter is full. Repeat a few times until Priscilla is revived. Don't worry if this seems to take longer than it should; a slight mis-timed breath will cause you to start over, a rather annoying feature. Her father will take her home to rest, and you should take rest too in the rightmost house in Junon.

Infiltrating Shin-Ra, take 2: Uniforms are Not Suspicious

And then, after some disturbed dreams that probably make no sense to first-time player, you wake up, and seems like something funny is going on outside. Firstly, Priscilla is awake, and shows her gratitude by giving you the Shiva materia, a very nice ice-based summon. Now, music can be heard from above, which means that Rufus is having a parade in his own honor. And, looks like he's going to cross the ocean too. So what do we do? Get aboard the ship.

Secondly Priscilla helps you get up to the Junon proper. Your friends leave climbing electric towers to pros, which means Cloud is going to have to go alone. Barret takes your PHS too, because the following procedure is a wet one.

Priscilla calls Mr. Dolphin to jump. Follow the instructions once again. Try to find the proper for the jump, it's fairly easy. Just jump once and then jump again from where you landed. Once up, climb the ladder to the airfield.

On the airfield, head toward the screen, then head downward and use the yellow switch to make the elevator go down. Head to the building on the lower edge of the screen.

There's a save point in the corridor. The officer wants you get properly dressed, and now you need to head out for the parade. Follow the folks out and do as they say.

Note that while between the parade events, it's possible to sneak in some of the Upper Junon buildings, such as the weapon shop. If you have tons of cash, and you probably do if you went killing creatures before going to Junon, I definitely recommend you to pop in at least the weapon store to pick up good weapons like Hardedge, Grand Glove, etc...

Here comes the funniest minigames in the whole bunch (it's most amusing if you mess it up, actually). When the officer says "charge", run to the right edge of the screen, then walk to the position, and keep pacing on the rhythm. Be quick but nice, and the TV ratings don't get too much down. The Shin-Ra TV company, according to the Sources, mails this kind of stuff to thank you for your influence to the ratings:

51+ %:	5000 gil
40+ %:	6 x Ether
22+ %:	6 x Potion
0+ %:	Grenade

After the parade, there's a brief scene with Heidegger and Rufus, and you need to train for the next event, a proper military gun salute. Just push the buttons the officer says. Note that in the training, the sequence is normal and straightforward; in the actual event, the commands are random. This should be simple enough after a few tries. (It's a lot more confusing in PC though.) Rufus' mood gauge determines what prize Heidegger will give to you:

100+:	Force Stealer (sword for Cloud)
60+:	HP Plus materia
0+:	Silver Glasses accessory

And be sure to note how cute Red XIII is when he's peeking from behind the cargo, and rest assured he'll be cuter in the next scene =)

Head in the ship after you're done with the drill.

On to...In Shin-Ra Uniform

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/In Shin-Ra Uniform

It's difficult to stand on two feet...

Aboard the Shin-Ra ship, there's not that much things to discover. You won't run into any enemies at first. So, talk to every person in the ship. You'll note that the rest of the party has, indeed, managed to sneak in the ship properly disguised. Even Red XIII, who has slight problems standing on two feet - though it's not really the walking style that stands out, it's the tail. Yuffie, if she's in your party, wants Tranquilizers.

In the loading hold, there's a box with Ether and an All materia (if you can't get there, just leave it be for later...) On the deck, there's a Save Point. One of the sailors can sell you a revitalising drink for 250 gil (if you didn't heal up before going up in Junon, this is your chance, otherwise it's just wasting money); another will sell you Potions and Phoenix Downs.

After you've talked to everybody and, in sheer boredom, talked to them again, Aerith will ask about Barret's whereabouts. Find your way to the bridge where Barret is looking through the window to the captain's cabin.

And then comes an intruder alert. After a fit of confusion, it becomes apparent that they aren't looking for the heroes...

Another trail of blood

Head back to the deck. This is the time to choose who will participate in the really friggin' huge fight that follows. Pick your two best-trained characters besides Cloud, give them the best weapons. (If a party member you don't want to use for this battle has all the materia, you can choose them, remove the materia and then talk to the any of the remaining party members to reorganize.) Save at the Save Point if you aren't feeling suicidally brave.

Belowdecks, if Yuffie was blocking your way, you can now pick up the All materia. The guard posted on the door will now no longer resist your small plan of going into the cargo hold proper. The cargo hold is also a good place to encounter enemies if you desperately need to level up your party in preparation for the next boss. If you're going to do that, just make sure you don't go anywhere near the soldier in red near the door.

You'll finally find Sephiroth, who doesn't seem to stick around, which leads you to fight something else entirely. Welcome to H.R. Giger's pleasant little daydream, this game's most recurring boss and also probably the toughest challenge in this game so far...

Jenova-BIRTH

Lv: 25, HP: 4000, MP: 110, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Poison, Absorbs: -

This can get hairy if the party on average is wayyy below level 20 or something, so I hope you spent good time in the bush looking for Yuffie before you went to Junon! It's possible for sub-20ish characters to kill Jenova with sheer luck though, but it won't be easy at all... If you're on level 20-25, there should be very little problems, however, especially if you have level 2 elemental spells and good healing strategy. Various fire attacks, like Fire2 spells and Flame Thrower enemy skill work great here. So does, kind of, ice. Especially the Shiva summon. Physical attacks do work, to extent. The nastiest things Jenova can do here are Tail Laser (damage all around) and Stop.

Jenova leaves a White Cape accessory. After the fight, you'll have to make sense of this Jenova's tentacle that seems to have been left behind. It's time to get out of the ship, but before you do, take everything in the room: Ifrit summon materia and Wind Slash weapon for Yuffie.

On to...Costa del Sol, Corel, and the first visit to Gold Saucer

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/Costa del Sol, Corel, and the first visit to Gold Saucer

Costa del Sol

After you get out of the ship and head to Costa del Sol, Rufus shows up, makes it clear he doesn't like what Heidegger is doing, and disappears with a helicopter.

Welcome to the best holiday resort ever! There isn't really that much to do here, though you can pick up a bits and pieces of information and a few handy items, and stock up with various interesting items. This is a place where Yuffie sells materia, Barret seems to show he really liked the navy uniform, Red XIII has fun with a ball, and, whoa, to prove all geek stereotypes so right and so wrong, Hojo is lying on the beach surrounded by hot women and is still clothed in a lab coat. He seems to give you the idea that Sephiroth was seen in the town and fled to another direction.

In the basement of the big house, you can find free items: Motor Drive (weapon for Tifa), Fire Ring, and Power Source. The Fire Ring is a pretty neat accessory, so don't forget that! The locals also seem to suggest you should buy some Softs.

Corel Mountains

There's really only one way to follow after you leave Costa del Sol. Follow it. Once you reach mountains through the zig-zagging paths, you'll end up in a place where a man is resting. He seems to have seen Sephiroth. Press onward, and once you go over that top of the trail, you end up...

...in a big gigantic Mako reactor. Doesn't Shin-Ra leave any place untouched? Apparently not. You may think it's a good time to start exploring now and see where you can get, but I don't recommend that - this place is really dull at this point of the game and most of the monsters in this area will be pretty sweaty to kill. This same advice goes to all of the Corel areas. So, for now, head onward (the tracks leading down).

After this, you come to some place that looks more like a rollercoaster than a credible railroad bridge, but who am I to criticize Square's omniscient graphic designers? Too bad the railroad is in a really bad shape right now. The instructions on the screen will tell what to do. If you want to avoid falling, hit Circle (or the OK key for the PC version); if you fall, you can guide Cloud to either left or right by pushing that way and tapping Circle. There's two item bags you can collect: Wizard Staff (weapon for Aerith) on the left, Star Pendant on the right.

There's a save point along the rails, and on the top of one of the slopes, you can find a chest with a W Machine Gun (weapon for Barret). You can also find a Turbo Ether and a Transform materia.

At the rightmost part of the rollercoaster section, go down, and you'll see that the rest of your gang has found what seems like the only way forward, except that the bridge is up. Backtrack, head up, and go to the booth to switch down the bridge. You can climb to the top to take 10 Phoenix Downs from a bird's nest if you wish. When you head back to the lower bridge to follow your friends, you can take a detour on a railway going left. Follow it down and around the ledge. There will be a hidden cave where you can get a Tent, Mind Source, and a Power Source. And you can talk to a guy on a bulldozer. Then head back and follow your friends.

Then there's one last long bridge. Some Bombs seem to be stalking in this area, and these things have a really annoying habit of exploding on your eyes; dispatch them with Ice2 before they cause too much damage.

North Corel

North Corel doesn't have much to see right now either - aside of Barret getting really sad and all after getting yelled at by some of the locals.

There's shops. Don't use too much money here; one of the guys says that a mysterious guy, with tattoo number 1, and a really cool black cape, headed to Gold Saucer. And Gold Saucer is an amusement park, and amusement parks are damn expensive places. You need at least 3000 gil just to enter there! If you can afford it, you can buy a Force Stealer from North Corel - a nice double-materia-growth sword for Cloud.

If you are low on money, you can go right, which leads to the world map - you can't get much further out yet, though. Or, you can head left to get to North Corel ropeway station. Here, Barret will tell a little bit more of the destruction of Corel town before you get aboard the ropeway car.

Gold Saucer

Gold Saucer! Named so for the plates on which the staff will carry your cash away! The fabled home of Super Dunk! The place that advanced the technological know-how of millions of gamers by forcing them to finally find out how to mute their TV!

At this point, Gold Saucer is really not that fun and there's really not that much to do, but you've still got to pay for the entry. Go ahead, walk about. Get to know the place, you'll probably visit later. You've got to pick who you're going having fun with. Barret isn't around though, obviously irritated by the rampant commercialism and exhortations to participate in the throw-away culture that is in utter conflict with the green values close to his heart. Or maybe it's something more personal?

In Speed Square, you meet Dio, the owner of Gold Saucer. He babbles something about something called Black Materia, and how this tattooed cape guy wanted one. He hints that Battle Square rocks. Regrettably, you can't get there yet.

In Wonder Square, you'll meet another character who wants to join you: Cait Sith. He'll give you some weird fortunes first. (Some say Cait Sith is an useless character, but at least he comes with two cool Materias: Manipulate and an almost leveled-up Transform.)

In Battle Square, you see how this stout guard suddenly flumps down. He's been shot. Sephiroth isn't known for his gun skills. Oh dear, looks like everyone in Battle Square seems shot. Dio isn't very happy, it seems. You try to flee to the Battle Arena but Dio is more clever than that. As the judge, jury and executioner, he does a really quiet-like trial and sends you to the desert prison enjoying a life sentence. What a harsh guy.

On to...Desert Prison, Chocobo race, and a visit to Gongaga

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/Desert Prison, Chocobo race, and a visit to Gongaga

The Desert Prison

The desert prison is a rough place, but mostly because there's enemies that either try to steal stuff from you or explode on your face. You start here with whoever you picked to be with you in Gold Saucer, and Cait Sith.

Head to the larger area below. A lot of people here seem to suggest that you can get back up if you win a Chocobo Race. Also, this Boss person seems to be in charge. You meet Mr. Coates in the bottom of the area, but it turns out he's just an underling. There's a savepoint here, as well as a bar on the bottom right corner where you can buy some supplies.

Barret, whom you misplaced temporarily, is in the bigger house on right side. Barret kills an eavesdropper behind a couch and then the rest of the folk come to hear about Barret and Dyne's story. In the end, you need to pick one character besides Barret to your group.

Head up. You can either wander around in the desert like a loon, where you can fight the sandworm (or is it the land worm?) enemy in the desert, but there isn't much point (you can get much better experience and AP elsewhere later on), and there is nothing you can really do here, so just follow the story.

When you reach an area with lots of broken down cars, walk around them a few times until you get into a battle with Death Claw. You can learn the enemy skill Laser from him. This is the only point in the game where you can learn it until disc 3, so use this opportunity while you have it. Now that you have the Manipulate materia, it should be a piece of cake. Just manipulate the Death Claw and have him cast it on whoever has enemy skill equipped. Also, you can learn Matra Magic (if you haven't already) from Death Machine in the general Corel Prison area.

At this point, you should equip Barret pretty well, because the Boss person - yep, Dyne, whom you heard about just a moment ago - is here. He seems to be quite bitter and wants to kill Barret. Barret will fight Dyne alone.

Dyne

Lv: 23, HP: 1200, MP: 20, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

If you, like me, haven't used Barret much since Midgar, you probably have him on a pretty low level (~18-20) when you meet Dyne. In this case, a good strategy is attack and heal in turns. On higer levels, you may be attack for two turns and then heal - but in any case, you need a lot of healing, because Dyne has some pretty nasty attacks. I usually don't even need to use normal attacks, because in this fight Barret's limit bar tends to shine red hot every other turn anyway, even without Fury status! Aside of physical attacks, summons work well. Apparently, Flame Thrower enemy skill and Fire2 are good against him, and I seem to get pretty good results with Ifrit as well.

There is also the cheap to way to win, but it takes a bit of work before combat. You will need Barret's second 3rd level limit break, Angermax, and to build it up, just run around in the previous screen until you encounter the Death Claw enemy, which can be manipulated to use Laser on Barret. When Barret's limit bar is full, simply run away or kill off the enemies through non-Angermax means, and then enter battle with Dyne. Angermax delivers an one-turn kill under most circumstances, but make sure that Barret can survive at least one attack from Dyne.

Then Dyne throws Barret a piece of jewelry and then, sadly enough, jumps off the cliff to his death.

Chocobo race

Now, Coates seem to be more eager to sign you up for a chocobo race, and a woman called Ester shows up and becomes your manager.

Ester gets you to the jockey room by elevator and explains how to control the chocobos. In the jockey room, there's Ramuh materia which you definitely should pick up.

Todo: PC equivalent?

As for the actual race, you may want to refer to the Chocobo section. A simple hint would be to hold down L1+L2+R1+R2 buttons, which makes chocobo racing a bit easier. Actually, there's very few things that can be messed up here; If you lose, you get to try again, and again, and again...

Once you win, Dio sends you a letter of congratulations, gives you a "buggy" that is your first "vehicle" in this "game", and hints that Sephiroth went to Gongaga.

Gongaga

Now that you have the "buggy" and the Manipulate materia, you can start learning some good enemy skills. Start by getting Aqualung from the Harpy monster. Harpy can be found by driving around in the desert area around the Gold Saucer. Just manipulate Harpy and make it cast Aqualung on your party to learn. Next, drive around the beach close to Gongaga until you run into the Beach Plugs to learn Big Guard. This is one of the most useful enemy skills in the game!

At this point, it's theoretically (and practically, if you're patient) possible to drive back to Costa del Sol, take a ship back to Junon, and then find a green-and-white bird called Zemzelett from the Junon area. You can Manipulate it to learn White Wind enemy skill, which is very useful. It's a long journey though, and it's not strictly necessary (I've finished the game twice without it...), you may want to wait until later for this.

After getting White Wind, you can head back inside Mythril Mine to get Flame Thrower from the Arkdragon if you missed it the first time or if you need it for your second Enemy Skill materia.

Defeating Midgar Zolom Early in the Game

Move those with the enemy skill materia equipped to the back row. Before going into battle, give a traquilizer to all party members. When in battle, cast Big Guard on your party. Then have those who are in the back cast strong spells or summons. Midgar Zolom will cast Beta on your party when he is near death. Recast Big Guard if you need and keep fighting him.

Then, you can battle Midgar Zolom and learn Beta, if you're really daring. He's still a very tough monster at this stage in the game, but Beta is a great skill to have as it causes heavy fire damage to all opponents. Make sure you have Big Guard before going into this battle (see the insert to the right for details).

To continue the game, head back to Gongaga--the big blown-up mako reactor to south, in middle of the woods. When you get in Gongaga, you hear Reno and Rude talking about... the ladies? Elena shows up, alerts the others, and there we go again - fighting Reno and Rude!

Reno and Rude

Lv: 22/23, HP: 2000, MP: 230/135, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Individually, the two Turks are not much of a worry, because if you manage to kill the other, the other will flee soon after. Just remember to heal at times, some of the attacks like Turk Light are fairly nasty. Focus your attacks on Rude, since he has the ability to heal himself and Reno. Ramuh summon is pretty useful.

After the fight, head up to the reactor. When you get close, Scarlet and Tseng will show up in a helicopter, look into the reactor, babble something about Huge Materias, and leave. If you're guessing "Shin-Ra must be up to something", you're correct. Now, look into the hole where Scarlet looked into, and reach for the thing in the bottom to get the Titan materia. Two new summons in such a short while!

Now head down and follow the path to left - you should find a Deathblow command materia somewhere here too. Now to north, to the Gongaga Village.

People here will sell you stuff you've not seen before (for example, Mystify and Time materias, which are probably useful at some phase, and a Fury Ring), and talk about an explosion years ago. You also run into a few old people who want to know about some SOLDIER called Zack. Tifa and Aeris, if either or both of them are in your party, will react to this for some reason. Hmm... something is obviously afoot... Go to the Inn in the far left corner where you can find a chest containing an X-Potion. In the Mayor's home in the far right corner, you can get a White M-Phone, which is a weapon for Cait Sith.

After you've stocked up and all that, it's time to head down and left, to the world map, and head west. Where else would Sephiroth have gone?

On to...Cosmo Canyon and Red XIII's family matters

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
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Walkthrough/Cosmo Canyon and Red XIII's family matters

Cosmo Canyon

Recommended average party level: 25

There's very few pathways to take from Gongaga next: The only real way lies east, over the river, and to a mysterious place that tends to live in eternal twilight. (Not quite as cool at that as Tenebrae in Ultima VIII, but it has just a little bit better music. Not much though.) Here's the thing - you can't much miss this place. The game throws some really big hints toward you that checking out Cosmo Canyon would be a good idea. Among other things, if you drive past the town in the "buggy", the "buggy" will "break down" and "explode" and things, leaving you at the mercy of the local mechanic.

Red XIII, who appears to be called Nanaki here, joyously goes to see his grandfather. Who, in fact, turns out to be a 130-year-old man called Bugenhagen. This place is full of mysteries.

There isn't a whole lot to do in Cosmo Canyon right now. You can visit the Shildra Inn (which has one of those Turtle's Paradise posters) and pick up an Elixir after staying there. Or you can shop for weapons. There's also another Turtle's Paradise poster in the town.

Once done, climb all the way up to the topmost building, where Red XIII is talking with Bugenhagen. Red XIII wants Bugenhagen to show you his contraption, and for that, you need to hunt down two party members. Your party is scattered throughout the city; Barret, Yuffie, and Cait Sith are in the rooms in the mountainside, Tifa and Aerith are in the bar at the inn.

Once your party is selected, head back up. Bugenhagen will show you his holographic planetarium, and lecture you some of the basics of this... very thoughtful... typical... Japanese RPG... cliché... backstory. Basically, Mako-sucking technology is evil and the lifeforce in every living being is really cool. (In case you missed it, this is going to be one of the Central Themes of the game, so you'd better pay attention! Not that it's too hard to comprehend or anything!)

After this, everyone will retreat to the Cosmo Candle, the big bonfire in the lower plateau. You need to talk to everyone here. (Barret wants to rebuild AVALANCHE, Aerith thinks of how alone she is, and Tifa seems strangely lost in thought, thinking of the past again...) Last, you need to talk to Red XIII, who seems to be pretty mad, because he thinks his father was a wimp. Bugenhagen seems to disagree.

Cave of the Gi

You probably noticed a steel door that was closed down and some kid was wondering what kept it in place. Yes, a masterfully careful dash of Magical Superglue of Foreshadowing. Anyway, your party will now consist of Cloud, Red XIII and one character of your choice. Equip them well. Materia them well. Bugenhagen will follow you from a distance - too bad we won't see him in battles.

After the door, there's a long descent down, then a big room full of little caves. Each of the caves has a rock. If you hit one, you either get a bunch of not too happy Gi Spectors (sic - should be "specters", I'm not sure what ol' Warren thinks of this game), or the other cave opens up. The one you need to hit is the one nearest the wall up there, but don't worry too much about the battles either if your characters are at proper level. The worst trick the monsters in this area have in sleeve is the Death Penalty attack, which really isn't all that frightening unless you attack really really slowly. (You'll probably learn the enemy skill here. It's a pretty useless enemy skill.)

The next few areas up are a little bit of a maze. The chests contain some Stuff. After the door to lowermost area, you can head left and down to get to the ledge on the first floor - you can pick up Added Effect materia there. However, do NOT run on the brown stuff; you won't be able to stop, and if you hit the wall, you will get seriously injured. Not too bad, just heal up.

Head up the right side of the room and circle back to find the Black M-Phone for Cait Sith in the first chest you see in the room, you'll pass through a tunnel. As you head back up, go through another tunnel on the right to get an Ether in the other chest. In the next area you'll find five passageways, the first and the fifth one are connected, the fourth one leads to an X-Potion, the third one is a dead end, and the second one leads you through. After going through the second passage, head to the southwest and look for a secret passage in the tunnels to reach the chest with a Fairy Ring.

You should keep in the middle of the rooms and head up. A few times, you'll end up to some spider webs; walk in them and you need to fight Stingers. Keep your healing spells handy when fighting those; their Sting bomb attack tends to be really nasty. Before you head into the next room, look for a passage on the left to reach a chest with a Turbo Ether.

Eventually, you'll end up in a big cave with a nasty-looking rock face that... wait a moment... it's not a rock face, it's ~~Gin Attack!~~ Gi Nattak!

Gi Nattak

Lv: 29, HP: 5500, MP: 200, Weaknesses: Holy, Strong against: Earth, Gravity, Wind, Absorbs: Fire

For the unprepared and uninitiated, this is going to be one really annoying fight. First thing first: Hold your Fire spells and Ifrit. They're not going to do much good in this fight: Fire spells will not really work toward Gi Nattak, and they'll heal the flames nicely. The flames (Soul Fire) have a nasty Take Over ability which tends to be a headache. Anyway, Ice and Shiva are pretty useful here. And here's a big hint: Gi Nattak is, as you may have guessed from the number of Gi Spectors and Bugenhagen's babblings and other Big Freaking Clues, undead - and undead really, really don't like healing spells. Cure spells will damage it, and Life, Phoenix Down, and X Potion will destroy it on one hit (if they manage to hit it, that is - they tend to miss).

After the fight, pick up a Gravity materia from the floor. Happy ending to this little drama: Red XIII finds out that his father wasn't that much of a wimp, really. Awwww.

Time to leave Cosmo Canyon. Buggy gets repaired if it broke down. Red XIII will follow you, and now has a Seraph Comb weapon which you can equip as it's not really that bad. Onward, again!

On to...Nibelheim, Rocket Town and Tiny Bronco

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
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Walkthrough/Nibelheim, Rocket Town and Tiny Bronco

If you haven't used Aerith a lot, this would be a perfect time to put her in your party for a while, otherwise in you're going to be in a world of hurt slightly later in the game when you have to have her aboard and she's a level-twenty weakling. So let her stick around until she's around level 27-30.

Nibelheim

Recommended average party level: 30—35

After Cosmo Canyon, there's very few directions you can take. Ummm grrrmrr... north! Head north until you come to yet another town.

Which turns out to be Nibelheim. Wait a second? Wasn't Nibelheim burned by Sephiroth?

You can go to various houses here. You'll find out a few things:

There's a few people hanging around, but they think it's highly annoying that you ask about the Nibelheim fire.
Most of the other places are full of black-hooded, tattooed guys who mumble something about "the Reunion". They give you some items too.

If you want some experience and gold (and don't we all?), it'd be a perfect time to do Vincent subquest here - head to the Shin-Ra Manor for that.

If you go to the basement of Shin-Ra manor, you'll find Sephiroth... ye gods... Sephiroth was right there! He tosses a Destruct materia at you and disappears, telling you to go north - where you were going anyway, right? So scary guy! So obvious!

Nibel mountains

The Nibel mountains path is not very twisty. You can climb the mountains to grab a Rune Blade for Cloud (a nice four-slot double-growth blade), and Plus Barrette for Red XIII (a nice four-slot double-growth pin).

After the path, there's a rope bridge going up. Now you get to go through a fun little maze to find lots of items and various materia. After the rope bridge, you'll notice five chutes. Start by taking the chute that is second to the right. Pick up the Powersoul (a weapon for Tifa) and then jump off to the lowest level. Steering clear of the monster, take the exit in the right corner of the screen. Jump down and go into the cave below. Go towards the top end of the tunnel, then cut back to reach the farthest cave on the left. Move through the hidden tunnel to get the chest containing an Elixir. Head back to the far end of the cave and go through it to get to the next room where there's a fountain. On the left side of the fountain, you can pick up an Elemental materia. Then, proceed into the next room. Loop to the end then come back to the right to get the Sniper CR, a weapon for Vincent. Go into the next room and take the lower left path to get to the where the reactor is. On the right side of the reactor is a door that will take you back to where you started (the room with the chutes). Climb to ladder to get back to the chutes. This time, take the second chute to the left. This will take you to a chest containing the All materia. That's about it for the stuff in this area.

Down on the bottom of the big area at the top of the mountain is a save point. Too bad the only exit forward is blocked by a really nasty-looking monster. Meh.

Materia Keeper

Lv: 38, HP: 8400, MP: 300, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: Fire

Oh bother. This thing is probably a lot higher level than what you expected, but should be doable with sub-lv30 characters if you play your cards right. And like most boss fights, this gets a lot easier with Big Guard, keep it up all the time! You'll probably learn Trine enemy skill from this thing; once you do, it kind of works against this thing too. Under no circumstance you should use Ifrit or Fire, as these just heal the thing. Also, don't use Vincent because his limit break involves him into a fire-breathing beast which you can't control. His fire-based attack will happily recharge the Materia Keeper again and again until you die. But on the bright side, Bio seems pretty effective too. Oh, and it helps if you swear loudly when this thing casts Cure2 on itself. Won't help the fight, but it helps you concentrate.

(What's funny is that I always remember that this boss is in this game, but I never quite remember where. A boss you really remember, but never can quite place.)

It was called a Materia Keeper, and the Materia it kept is called Counter materia, and by all means, you should pick it up as it's kind of handy.

Rocket town

Some twisty passages later, you find yourself on the world map again, heading north... north... north! And here your options kind of run out again. Eep. Wait, there's a rocket sticking out in the middle of the plains? Could that be just a decoration, or a gigantic big clue on where to head next?

Upon entering the city, you will find yourself in a courtyard. The first guy you meet says Sephiroth hasn't been seen here. But... but... this is a big clue town? Yes! Everyone's talking of someone called Captain. To the immediate right is an inn (100 gil a night). The building on the immediate left is a weapon shop. You can buy a Shotgun for Vincent, some gold armlets, etc. The house in the upper left corner doesn't contain anything. Across the courtyard in the upper-left-middle is an Item shop were you can buy Barrier and Exit materia.

Outside of the Item shop, there's an old guy. Talk to him a couple of times and you'll find out that he wants to rest his aging eyes on that big rocket, and will give Cloud Yushiyuki for his troubles. (A kind of a lame sword, but so is the Nail Bat on the first glance.)

In the middle house there is a Drill Arm (weapon for Barret). You can walk through this house and find a nice-looking airplane called Tiny Bronco on the backyard of one of the houses. A woman called Shera will tell that the plane is in fact owned by this Captain guy, who, as the multitude of hints have pointed out by now, is in the Rocket.

After hearing so %#@&ng much about this Captain, you'll %$#@*ng find him from this #$@%*ng rocket. The Captain, as it turns out, is a new character - Cid, who %&*@#ng swears a lot. He tells you of the Shin-Ra Space Program. And no, he won't give you the %#@&ng airplane. (For the sake of convenience, the rest of the document is kind of censored.)

Prepare for the most shocking and tear-inducing part of the game. Head back to the house where Shera is. Cid wants you to have tea. Shera makes it, and tells why Cid swears so much, specifically, she tells of the sad state of the space program. Awww. I hate to see space exploration have such setbacks.

Then, Shin-Ra executives arrive to the town. Palmer barges in Shera's house. You probably remember Palmer from the Shin-Ra building, but luckily, he's too obsessed with lard to remember you right now. Head out, and you find out that no, Rufus hasn't shown up to restart the space program, just wants to grab Cid's airplane. Shera hints you that Palmer is trying to steal the plane and it would be prudent to stop him.

Palmer

Lv: 38, HP: 6000, MP: 240, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Yess! If Materia Keeper was frustrating, at least you now get to fight something a little bit less perplexing. Palmer's Mako Gun is a bit annoying though, but nothing to worry about if you just remember to heal. Hammer away with spells.

Then, the airplane gets moving. Palmer ducks around, runs away, and gets flattened by a truck. Eep. That's got to hurt. The party hops aboard, the plane gets going, and you grab Cid aboard. Too bad Shin-Ra troops manage to damage the plane and it crash-lands. At least you can use it now to cross some waterways - but you need to wait a lot longer until you get a real airship...

On to...Gold Saucer Dream Date

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
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Walkthrough/Gold Saucer Dream Date

The sky's the limit, but the airplane is busted

Did you notice something? The game didn't throw you a Really Big Clue on how to proceed. Your next goal is to find your way to the Temple of the Ancients. Of course, you don't know where it is, or if you happen to find your way there, you'll eventually notice that you can't get in!

But the Tiny Bronco will be your first really big thing that makes the game a bit less linear. Now you can, and should, explore stuff! Time to head to the firm land again. Just about every random NPC you find will babble something about Sephiroth's whereabouts anyway.

So, here's some things that you might want to do:

You can do Wutai sidequests. I recommend to have at least average party level 32 to do the first quest - and have Yuffie at that same level if you also intend to do the second Wutai quest. Personally, my characters are usually barely tough enough to do the first Wutai quest, and I normally don't keep Yuffie in party so she's behind the rest, so I usually do the first Wutai quest.
You can try your luck at Fort Condor. This is not necessary though, and you gain no real benefits from this.
If you didn't do this earlier, grab two fairly essential enemy skills: Go to Junon and find a Zemzelett, manipulate it to get the White Wind. Remember that scary snake guarding the swamps near the chocobo farm? It's a level 23 creature, so it should be pretty simple to bash by now, and if you don't just insta-kill it or something, it may teach you Beta enemy skill.
If you want to learn or see Aerith's Level 4 limit break, this is about your only chance. See Aerith's limit breaks for more details.

Todo: What else to do?

Hints, hints, hints...

You may, for example, end up in Bone Village (a village on the northern continent, a big dinosaur skeleton sticking out of the woods). The guys working there have seen Sephiroth looking for the "Keystone", except that apparently some rich guy has it.

The guy at the weapon shop on the peninsula south of Golden Saucer and east of Gongaga was the previous owner - and he tells that the stone was sold to Dio, owner of the Gold Saucer.

Oh yes, that guy.

Annoying Carnival Music, take 2

Onward to Gold Saucer! Dio was the Manly Man and logically keeps all of this stuff in the only location you didn't scour throughoutly on your first visit to Gold Saucer - the Battle Square.

You'll find out, of course, that Dio has a showroom - wow, free entry, too - full of really weird things. Really big alarm clocks, genuine klein bottles presumably for sale (inquire within!), and this Keystone thing.

Dio shows up, and won't let Cloud to borrow it unless he fights on the arena. Basically, this is one-on-one fighting against all sorts of weird critters, with random handicap between the fights. (See also the Battle Square guide, though you won't need the guide much in this fight - after all, there's only one possible prize this time.) The goal here is to survive at least one fight. Just keep thwacking monsters as long as you can stand up. If you get wiped out in the first fight, Dio will let you try again.

After a successful fight, Dio gives you the stone. Hooray! Time to start looking for the temple! ... except it turns out the cable car is busted.

Luckily, Cait Sith knows the hotel owner. There's a brief cutscene where Cloud and the rest try to recap exactly what you're trying to accomplish next and what strange mystical things we've learned of the Cetra.

Dream date!

Prepare for the moment most people had been waiting for. ("Ooh, you can date party members! This is so much cooler than Ocarina of Time!" Meh...)

In the middle of the night, one of your party members shows up.

Which party member, well, that depends a lot on who you've been treating best over the game. If you've constantly worried about Aerith, she shows up, if Tifa, she shows up. With a little bit of trickery, it's possible Yuffie or Barret will show up - both reportedly have amusing dialogue in the following scenes. I always seem to get Tifa. (...yeah, I dump the flower girl and go for the old friend...)

Now, it's time for a little bit of romantic and silly fun. The first stop is the Event Square - here, you'll end up acting in a play. It really doesn't matter what dialogue choices you make - just pick the ones that seem like good ideas at the time.

Next up is Round Square. If you didn't try this before, here's the big point: you can make Cloud look in different directions with the keypad. That's all. Your companion will tell a lot of interesting things here.

...and then, the... Cait Sith station? What's Cait Sith doing with the Keystone?! After him!

After a little bit of chasing him around the place, a few things become apparent: He just handed the Keystone to the Turks and he has Marlene as a hostage. Not good at all!

After a bit of dialogue, you end up back in your hotel room. Be sure to check the wardrobe for an elixir.

On to...Temple of the Ancients

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
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Walkthrough/Temple of the Ancients

Sound of jungle drums and fly-swatting

Recommended average party level: 35—40

So it's time to head out of the park and to the Temple of the Ancients. Your team consists now of Cloud, Aerith, and one more lucky winner.

It's seriously recommended to be around levels 35 to 40 at this point. I also recommend finding Big Guard enemy skill if you don't know it yet.

A good spot to train at this moment would be the island with the Temple of the Ancients itself. You can't miss it, once you get going with Tiny Bronco - go southeast of Gold Saucer and follow the island chains. The only annoying thing is that the island is inhabited by Slaps, who are... mosquitos. They cause the party to get poisoned, saddened, and berserkified, and cause just about as much damage as normal mosquitos in general. If you see them, drop the controller and come back in two hours. Once you've done that a few times, equip Tifa with Peace Ring and Odin materia. Or maybe Ifrit if you want to save your anger for the upcoming bosses.

Also stock up on Tents, Elixirs, and stuff like that. (There's no need for Tents inside the temple, but they're very useful if you're training up.)

The Temple

Aerith will have a fit once you reach the temple, which is quite understandable because her ancestors are around. A black-caped guy comes out and collapses. Eep...

Sephiroth is somewhere in the temple and at the entrance, you find out he has tickled Tseng with his sword. Tseng gives the Keystone to his (as we learn) old friend Aerith. With the help of the Keystone, you get in the temple.

The courtyard will look complicated, but it's really not - there's one correct path to go, and the temple guardian - an old man in a blue robe - will show you the way. Basically, use stairs and the vines and doorways and such. You can pick up Trident, Rocket Punch (Barret's dull weapon), Luck Plus materia, and Silver Rifle. There's one chest you can't get to right now, and one doorway you can't access.

At the end, you reach a door that leads to a single corridor with big stone wheels rolling through it. The wheels have a gap in them; the idea is obviously to run to the center of the corridor right where the gap happens to be, then run to the next wheel's gap, and so on. You'll get flattened if you fail, but don't sweat it.

In the end of the corridor, the stones somehow disappear, and Aerith and the Ancients will lead you to the pool and show you a vision about what happened a bit earlier. Grab the Morph materia from the ground - it's highly useful. Continue along the corridor, and the guardian waits there, giving you the option to restore HP and MP for free, or save the game.

Time Guardian

Press on and you find yourself in the Time Guardian's room - the Obligatory Clock Face Puzzle. (These are just as big in Japan as chessboard traps are in West.) You must use the clock hands to cross. The instructions on controlling the time are shown, they should be simple enough.

If you get knocked down from the hands, you end up in a small room where small dragons attack you. In that room there's a chest with the Nail Bat. The door leads back out.

Here's what happens in the various rooms.

Todo: the other rooms? This only has the notable ones. =)

XII	The back door of the temple. You'll get here later.
I	Enemy Encounter, Jemnezmy, Toxic Frog x2
II	Dead End
III	Enemy Encounter, 8 Eye x2
IIII	A chest containing Princess Guard, Aerith's ultimate weapon.
V	Leads to the inaccessible roof in the courtyard, with a chest containing Ribbon. This is a very rare item, be sure to grab it!
VI	Toward the hall with the murals. This is where you should head once you're done. Check the other rooms first!
VII	A chest containing Trumpet Shell, a weapon for Cait Sith.
VIII	A chest containing a Megalixir.
IX	Dead End
X	Where you came from - back to the corridor with the pool.
XI	Dead End

Mural hall

Once you head through the six o'clock door, you find yourself in a room with a lot of caves and locked double door.

The idea is to catch the temple guardian. You need to memorize where each passage seems to lead, and try to get yourself into the same corridor with the temple guardian. Or, you can cheat and just go in the same corridor each time - you're bound to collide sooner or later. The guardian, once again, gives you option to heal up or save. At the lower level of the maze is a gold chest containing Tifa's Work Glove. Don't forget to pick it up before moving on.

Once you head through the double doors, you find yourself in the mural hall. Sephiroth shows up, talks about his true plans, and makes Cloud seriously freak out too. Then, Sephiroth disappears. Time to reflect on the whole Sephrioth/Black Materia/etc thing here.

And eep... just as you get yourself lulled to safety of Long Cutscene with Nice Music, there's time to fight a creature. A big creature.

Red Dragon

Lv: 39, HP: 6800, MP: 300, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: Fire

This fight is really simple if your characters are on adequate level as recommended earlier, toss Big Guard in, preferably, and keep hammering the thing. The lizard barely has time to sneeze after you use Odin and some other big summons/spells - use everything but fire-based ones (Fire and Ifrit).

You get a Dragon Armlet, a really nice armor, and after the fight, you see Bahamut materia floating right in front of you. A big summon materia. Grab it!

Now, go back to the end of the mural hall. There's a model floating about. Shake it. Eep. Cait Sith calls you and offers to grab it while you run outside.

Heroic deeds for nothing

Head out, and the guardian is still here. Heal up and save. This would also be a good time to make sure Aeris doesn't have any unique armor equipped on her. Feel free to give her tons of good materia and an accessory, though. That is obviously needed here.

Now, the Time Guardian room has locked so that the only way is through the 12 o'clock door, which leads out of the place.

But if you're wondering why this wikibook took so long to write - well, suffice to say that I hate this following boss. I hate it. I hate hate hate hate hate...

Demon Gate

Lv: 45, HP: 10000, MP: 400, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Poison, Earth, Absorbs: -

...hate hate hate hate this boss. Okay, this is actually a winnable fight if you use Big Guard. The boss deals a LOT of physical damage, so the barriers are needed anyway - you basically have to Haste and Barrier everyone if you don't have Big Guard, which isn't a perfect solution since it takes longer. Under no circumstance think healing and reviving is underrated here, heal a lot, revive fallen fighters right away, and recklessly abuse Aerith's limit breaks to that end too. Bahamut is just about the only summon - or spell - that damages Demon Gate. Apart of that, use a lot of physical attacks. Limit breaks are good too (use Hyper to get all party members to Fury).

(I actually beat this boss on the first try when I'm playing the game as I'm writing the guide, but the point is, this boss is scary. It flattens the unprepared. Be wary.) Phew! If you beat that - congratulations, that was the hardest mandatory boss in the game! Seriously! But there'll be a lot more bosses ahead that will probably inspire you to swear a little bit more loudly...

Next comes a long cutscene where you first see Cait Sith get flattened, you get a hard-earned Black Materia, and... um... see Sephiroth take it. Or, rather, Cloud giving it to him.

Cloud freaks out, Cait Sith no. 2 shows up, Cloud faints, Aerith shows up in his dream, and as Cloud wakes from the nightmares (not for the first, or last, time in this game), Aerith... has... went... to... Forgotten Capital... in actuality... too. What a silly thoughtless flower girl!

On to...Sleeping Forest and the Forgotten Capital

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/Sleeping Forest and the Forgotten Capital

Aerith has gone to the Forgotten Capital. She has left you her accessory (if any) and all Materia.

Excavations at Bone Village

Now, your path leads to the northernmost continent. The Bone Village is a place marked by big dinosaur bones sticking out of the forests there.

Here we find a lot of archeologists. They say Aerith has gone this way and, incidentally, so has Sephiroth. They also tell you can't get through the Sleeping Forest without the Lunar Harp.

The archeologists are willing to help for a little bit of money, specifically, 500 gil. Ask them to dig for the Lunar Harp, then set up each of the archeologists to their place. (Further hints: The Lunar Harp is somewhere on the top plateau in the Bone Village. It's not terrifyingly difficult to find, just ask them to dig for Lunar Harp and determine its location.) Once all five have been set up, each archeologist will turn to face the place where they think the item seems to be. Move Cloud to the point where their lines of sight meet, then hit the button. After the digs, you can then retrieve the item from the box on the front of the tent.

Todo: What else to dig from here?

Sleeping Forest

There isn't a great deal of stuff to do in the sleeping forest. On the first screen, the Kjata materia is floating through the branches. Grab it.

On the second screen, there's a box containing Water Ring. This is also a great place to train if you want tons of AP.

After the next screen, you make a brief jaunt to the world map, after which you find yourself in...

The Forgotten Capital

There's not much to do here - and you don't need to explore this place much right now, you'll return here later too. You can find some things here though. Most notably, you can find another Enemy Skill materia on the right side of the town, somewhere in the house with beds.

You need to sleep in this house and in the middle of the night, Cloud wakes up and tells where Aerith is. Specifically, in that prominently placed big house in the middle. Head there. On the top of the spiral, you'll find a Comet materia.

You can't cry underwater

Head down. After a long stairway, you reach a savepoint and a platform where Aerith seems to be praying.

Now, if you're thinking the whole scene is too calm, it's true. If you think Sephiroth just might be ready to leap from the shadows, I'd say you have a good eye for spotting obviousities. So, this is your chance to get ready for a boss fight. Give some character (Tifa, in my case) an Edincoat (or anything like that that holds tons of materia) with tons of summon spells, Heal and Life, and an (this is important) the Water Ring you found earlier.

Cloud heads up alone and then proceeds to almost slice Aerith in half, no matter what you're trying to do with your controller. (Patience! He's not really a genuine psychopath - you'll soon learn what's really going on!) And then Sephiroth comes and...

...okay, since this is one of the most famous scenes in history of CRPGs, I don't think this is a spoiler. Sephiroth kills Aerith. Dead. I won't tell how this scene goes, so you might find the scene interesting despite of this widely-known fact.

Sephiroth tells a lot of rather odd details on his plans, and Cloud is clearly not ready to take this in this situation. So, it's time to fight yet another weird part of the creature Sephiroth calls his mother.

Jenova-LIFE

Lv: 50, HP: 10000, MP: 300, Weaknesses: Earth, Strong against: Gravity, Poison, Absorbs: Water

As noted above, a character with Water Ring and resurrect/heal/barrier spells (Cure, Life, White Wind, Big Guard, etc) will make the fight highly trivial, because Water Ring means most of the attacks against the character will only heal that character, since Jenova-LIFE's attacks are water-based.

Big Guard is very useful here, as is White Wind: the latter goes right through Big Guard's MBarrier part.

The big noteworthy thing is that Jenova uses Reflect at one point. After that, don't use normal spells on her. Comet works even after that, though, as do summon spells and Enemy Skills. Physical attacks are highly valued then. And, as always, remember to heal. Jenova uses Aqualung Enemy Skill too, which can be a handy thing to learn!

Afterwards, you learn, through Jenova's thick accent, that Cloud is a puppet. And exactly what that means.

This concludes the first CD. Hunt for the madman Sephiroth continues on Final Fantasy VII CD 2: The Further Adventures of Tifa and C#&%d - Lightning-Materia Boogaloo, included with your copy of Final Fantasy VII. Specifically, you'll then head into the cold. But now, it's time to save and have a deep breath and things like that.

On to Disc 2 and...Into the cold

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/Into the cold

Todo: This module could use some more meat, not sure exactly what but it seems a bit hasty...

Toward the north

The second CD continues from the Forgotten Capital. Head forward, and you see Cloud's weird mind projection (or whatever) of Sephiroth heading to right path.

The next screen should be fairly straightforward, head up the conch-like thing. The chest, if you're able to reach it through the ground, contains a Viper Halberd. The screen after that should likewise be fairly simple; you can climb up and down the vertical shafts. The chests contain Bolt Armlet, HypnoCrown and a Megalixir. On the bottom of the very long ladder, you'll find a Magic Plus materia. Head up that ladder, and out through the next cave (that also has a chest containing a Power Source).

Now you're back on the world map. The idea is to head as far west as you can, and toward north - you're practically going a little bit northwest. Press on until you find a city.

Icicle Inn

This place seems to be the northernmost point of the civilization. To get further north, you need two items. Talk to the folks in the big house, and you'll find out how to get the Glacier Map - it's actually hanging on the wall, and you can just grab them, though the owner thinks you're a bit bold for taking it before getting his permission. Then, as you find out, there's no way to get further anyway - but as you investigate things, you'll find out that the kid in one of the houses has broken his leg and will let you take his snowboard. Stock up on items if you want and check the north west house for a few videos talking about Ilfana, Aeris's mother.

Then Elena and some Shin-Ra soldiers show up. This is a little bit of a comedic cutscene: Use the controller as indicated, move left out of the way to dodge. Either Elena manages to punch you in the nose, or she misses by a mile and goes down the hill.

Great Glacier

The next point is to snowboard down the hill, in one of the most blatant cases of "guess if this minigame gets unlocked for normal play at some point?"... yes, it will be unlocked in Gold Saucer after this.

Talk to the man to find out how to snowboard; hopefully, this guide will one day contain some tips in the Snowboarding section. Then just head down the hill; there's a curious amount of tricks to do around here. It doesn't really matter what route you go, you just end up at a different part of the glacier.

Now, it's time to navigate around the glacier. Press Square (Switch in the PC version) to check the map. Your objective is to identify where you are (it should be easy - look for landmarks in your current location that looks a bit like the ones in the map) and head toward the red checkmark. You can refer to (someday available) Great Glacier section.

Anyway, either you reach the foot of the mountains eventually, or you slump down and freeze to near death. Either way, you find yourself at the base camp on the foot of the mountain; if you freeze, the climber guy has found you and nursed you to health.

From the climber guy's house, if you head south you'll reach a large snow field where you have to place markers to keep following a straight path through the snow. If you head south directly there will be a cave with an All Materia inside it. Head all the way south by following your markers in a straight line, until you reach a new area, you'll reach some hot springs. Go to the bottom left to touch it, then head back to the field and go directly east to reach a cave where a snow lady lives. If you touched the hot springs, you'll be able to fight her and win the Alexander summon materia. Head back north or get lost again if you like.

Climbing the cliff

The climber will explain how to climb the cliffs and how to keep your body temperature up. (Ultima VII this game is not—one might guess a place like Icicle Inn would sell warm clothing, but no, our brave heroes want to go to the mountain in a T-shirt...)

You can take various paths that lead up up and away. One of the hidden caves on the cliff face has a Ribbon, and since this is the only time you'll be on the cliff, I suggest you grab it since these are very useful and very rare.

Caves

The two caves aren't much to write home about - they do have some annoying monsters in them, like the Stilvas (who do teach you interesting enemy skills, like Trine and especially Magic Breath, which is a really cool enemy skill). On the cliff proper, you'll run into Malboros, which teach Bad Breath enemy skill - though I sure hope you have either a White Cape or did pick the Ribbon from earlier, or the temple, because this enemy skill has some annoying properties (like sleep+toad+annoyance). In the first cave, the idea is to find your way to a big rock, then push it down, and follow it; In the second cave, the idea is to find your way out, then to the "balcony" above the room, and knock down the huge icicles (this can be done in a single turn by casting Fire3 at them).

Third cave

The third cave has first a save point. And, a cave where a black-robed guy seems to be dying. And a big monster shows up. Uh...

Schizo

Lv: 43, HP: 18000, MP: 350, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: Fire/Cold

This is a nasty two-part boss - they're identified in targeting as "Schizo (left)" and "Schizo (right)". The left side does Ice, the right side does Fire - that is, their attacks are based on those elements and they absorb that damage type. Typeless summons, like Odin or Bahamut, are good. Things like Magic Breath and Kjata are utterly useless and just heal the thing. And the worst part is that once you kill either head (they BOTH have the statistics above...) they explode with lightning ball, so watch out for that too. Dragon Armlets (from the dragon in the temple, or the Blue Dragons in the preceding few rooms) are handy though, they soak up the damage a bit. Big Guard is priceless here. Apparently, Magic Hammer enemy skill (but who has that now?) is neat against this boss because all of its attacks are magic-based.

After this humongous boss fight, which turns out to be the hardest one in this section, it's time to head out and to the top of the cliff. A nice view over the Northern Crater.

Black robes torn by the whirlwind

Go down the cliff. If – for some extremely unlikely reason – Tifa isn't in your party, she shows up and insist on going with you. In the first room, there's a nice shiny red orb – Neo Bahamut materia. You'll see the Shin-Ra approaching from the skies, too. Eek. Better hurry.

There's two screens where you need to cross the chasm – as the instructions say, time to cross the chasms when the wind is quiet. Otherwise, you get knocked back and you need to fight some weak enemies.

A lot of black robes after, you meet up with Sephiroth again... who's killing the black-robed guys. What the heck? Well, no time to reflect on bizarre things now, time to fight our old enemy again!

Jenova-DEATH

Lv: 55, HP: 25000, MP: 800, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

This battle is really really really really simple. You barely have time to set up barriers and try out a few non-elemental summons or perhaps enemy skills - Jenova gets fairly stunned by Neo Bahamut's sneeze alone! Jenova's attacks are now fire-based, you probably have something to counter those already, like Dragon Armlets or Fire Rings or something. All in all, this fight is absolutely simple.

Now, things start to make a little bit more sense. Have Cloud give the Black Materia to either Barret or Red XIII (others will refuse to take it, and you can't give it to a party member either). There's a save point here.

Head up after you've saved. There's a loooooooong cutscene that follows, and even if things started to make sense a bit earlier, I guarantee the whole game gets really confusing now. Pay attention, and remember that it all will make sense later.

On to...A tricky situation in Junon base

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/A tricky situation in Junon base

Wait, now this gets complicated

As noted in the previous chapter, there's a long, long, long cutscene here. Since the walkthrough doesn't focus on plot discussion, I don't think it's needed to go over it here. You find out a lot of interesting things, such as that the Black Materia is actually blue, and not at all pyramidlike like previously.

The point is, Cloud isn't with you anymore. He fell to the gigantic lifestream explosion in the Northern Crater.

But I'd like to introduce you to yet another JRPG cliché, called Dekar's Rule: "If you don't actually see a character die (or are explicitly told so by somebody who did), they're not dead." [2] So quit worrying about Cloud.

Execution on all channels at three o'clock!

For some time henceforth, you're mainly controlling Tifa. Cloud's materia and accessory have been miraculously returned to your inventory. Note that if your third party member wasn't Barret, the materia that was on whoever was your third character at the time isn't available for you; you'll run into a few of the other characters soon enough, but at most, you need to wait until you get out of this predicament you'll find yourself now....

Tifa wakes up after being knocked out for seven days. Barret shows her what's happening outside: The Meteor is coming from the skies. Eek.

Rufus and Heidegger show up and clap you in irons. They have decided to cheer up the populace with a televised public execution.

For a brief while, you're controlling Barret. Follow Tifa and the soldiers downstairs, there's a save point here too. You'll end up in the press room. Scarlet throws Tifa in the gas chamber and the guards lock her there. (Oh wow! Look! The guard dropped a key! I've got an addition to that cliché list: "If the characters are condemned to some death trap, and NPC drops a key, well, just do one plus one, okay?")

And just as Scarlet, that sadistic executioner, wants to see Tifa squirm and beg for mercy, the base gets attacked by one of the Weapons released from the crater in that previous big cutscene. The thing, incidentally, is called Sapphire Weapon - though the name isn't mentioned anywhere in the game.

Also, it turns out one of the reporters was Cait Sith in disguise. Here's some silly-scented chloroform, Scarlet! Take that and that and that, soldiers! Barret can't obviously get the gas chamber door open, so Cait Sith suggests opening it from elsewhere, so Barret and Cait Sith join up. Equip the characters as you see fit.

As you go out, you find out that Scarlet woke up and locked the door from inside. Eep. Cait Sith gets a great idea, but won't tell you what it is - head right down to the airfield. Outside, if Yuffie is with your party, she's here - talk to her and she's back in the fray. Press on. Head to the upper level on the airfield, and go right, where the big airship is waiting. Well, I wonder what will happen now? I really do?

Meanwhile, in the gas chamber, Tifa shows us some amazing escape artist skills. Basically, follow the on-screen instructions to

slide down, and pull the key closer
pick up the key with feet
take the key in the mouth
use the key in mouth to the manacles in hand to unlock them.

Then use the console on left to shut down the gas.

How to get out? Well, the Sapphire Weapon wants to really roast the Junon base, and gashes a big hole in the wall - coincidentally, right where the gas chamber was. Get out, climb down the wall...

...go forth and, um, you have no other place to go besides the big gun barrel.

Scarlet, the slap-o-phile, shows up, and tries to slap Tifa. Tifa isn't handcuffed now, of course. In this scene, one of the defining scenes of the Final Fantasy series, two ladies—one evil corporate executive with ambition to build various devices to kill people in interesting ways, and one with a heart of gold and a noble cause to fight tirelessly on and on without reward—engage in an epic cheek-slapping contest atop the barrel of a gigantic cannon over the naval harbor of Junon, with the late afternoon sun painting the scene with soft orange tones, the only sounds being the crash of the waves, cry of the seagulls, and the slaps of the combatants—both committed, for different reasons, to take this fight as far as it has to go. (This scene is pure genius, I tell you.)

Okay, so eventually, Scarlet yields and notes that Tifa has nowhere to go but to jump down to her death. But luckily, the airship Highwind shows up. Barret tosses down a rope and Tifa leaps aboard. Yay! Crisis averted!

On to...A journey through cloudless skies

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/A journey through cloudless skies

Where the wind takes us

Now it's time to get used to the various facilities of the Highwind, find out how all of the stuff there works, and talk to the folks aboard about the plans on what to do next. There's a whole lot of stuff to do at this hour.

Todo: Okay, really, what to do here before going to see Cloud?

What you can do at this time: Train your fellows, explore stuff, and go to some places you couldn't previously.

It's actually easier to tell what you can not do. For starters, Gold Saucer is closed—Dio is on the door, saying he's not sure if it pays to keep it running. So, you can go catching chocobos, but you can't race them right now.

Another thing is that if you get the bright idea of going to the Gaea's Cliff and back where Sephiroth is sitting, well, you can scrap that idea as well - the guy who takes responsibility of that little sledding track there won't let you go down the hill.

Also note that Highwind cannot land on forests, mountains or snow. You can reach places like the Round Island (an uncharted island on the top northeast corner of the world map), but you can't land on that.

My sources say we head to the last unexplored town

Okay, a lot of people, including Bugenhagen if you visited Cosmo Canyon (and why not, he's a wise guy who has guided you before), seem to suggest that there's an island to the south with springs of Lifestream. Well, look at that! If you happened to open the menu near Temple of the Ancients, you probably wondered what the heck "Mideel Area" is. A town near the Temple of the Ancients? Yep! Just east of it, actually.

Mideel is a nice small quiet town, with a cute dog that seems to like Tifa. And then Tifa hears someone talking of some familiar thing. Eep!

So, you've found Cloud. Cloud is not being very healthy at the time. Tifa will stay at his side (and automatically gives you back her materia and accessory).

Other things you can do in Mideel: You can visit the shops and buy some really nice gear, and fine accessories. Also, there's a small white chocobo there: Feed him some greens, and scratch behind his ears (you remember what Choco Bill said back in the farm, right?) He'll give you a Contain materia, which is a spell materia that has some unusual properties. If you check the back of the weapon shop you'll find a locked door, go outside down the path to the left and search to find a rusty key, and try to use it in the lock, only it will break off. Be honest when the man asked you what happened, and you'll get a Curse Ring. You can also go inside one of the houses to find an Elixir, only for once the man inside will complain, just be honest again and you'll get to keep it.

Big plans from Gya ha ha and Kya ha ha

Aboard the Highwind, Cait Sith lets you hear of Shin-Ra's new plans. Apparently, they're gathering Huge Materia from various regions (as you probably remember from Gongaga reactor, if you went there). They're going to use that to blow up the Meteor. For some reason or other, the characters obviously want the world dead, not leave the comet-busting to professionals, and stop Shin-Ra's new illustrious plan...

You can do the following two sections actually in either order.

The Flying Materia Train!

Cid heads the party now! Head back to Corel Reactor - in case you forgot, back to North Corel, up, over the big hangbridge, follow the tracks. You really want to save the game at the save point here! If you fail here and not save, it isn't completely disastrous, but very annoying!

As you reach the door of the reactor, two soldiers stop you. They're not very tough.

After you defeat them, the materia train comes from the reactor. Cid heads in and you follow the train on another train.

To do:
PC controls! PC users will have a hard time following with the PS controls.

You have 10 minutes to stop the materia train. Basically, follow your on-screen instructions. First, you need to alternate between Up and Triangle. Keep doing that in good rhythm and sooner or later, you reach the other train and jump in.

In each car, you have to fight a creature or maybe even two. I've noted that summons work great here, but take too frigging long - enemy skills like Beta, Trine and Magic Breath rule here. You need to fight five times in total, then you get to the engine. You need to dispose of the soldier who runs the train.

Then comes the critical part. As Cid says, you need to push the things the same way. Try Up + Triangle, twice. Oooops! The speed is only getting faster! Okay, Down + Cross, twice? Great! It's slowing down! No, it isn't! Aaargh! ...and the train stops just in time.

(Alternatively, you can push first Down + Cross twice, then Up + Triangle twice.)

If you manage to stop the train, a kid will give you Ultima materia (An elite spell) and you can find the Catastrophe (Barret's lv4 limit break manual) from a woman in one of the huts. If you fail, you can still buy the Ultima materia from the kid, it just costs a lot. If you fail to reach the materia train at all, you won't even get that!

El Condor Splode

The second Huge Materia is at the Fort Condor. Instructions for beating that minigame are in a separate article.

This time is a little bit different: The condor will die in a giant fireball and the egg hatches. After the battle, head through the door to the top of the reactor, and you see the newly hatched bird - and a tempting red orb, the Phoenix materia.

Then talk to the folks at the fort, especially the warboss' father who sits by the table downstairs. He'll give you the materia.

Return to Mideel

As you return to Mideel, things seem to be a bit more tumultuous than before. The ground starts shaking all of sudden, and it seems the Lifestream is very, very upset. And suddenly, a big dragonlike thingy appears out of blue and you need to fight it.

Ultimate Weapon

Lv: More than enough, HP: Tons, MP: 400, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Eeeeeeeeek! Be afraid! Be very afraid! The big boss! The very big WEAPON boss! Well, actually this fight is quite easy. Ultimate Weapon has a beam attack that can do lots of damage, but usual boss fighting tricks will take you far. And luckily, the thing flees very quickly too - you'll be fighting this thing later though, if you want...

Cloud's self-discovery

In the following cutscene, everyone dies. Well, at least the town gets blown into smithereens - luckily no one was hurt and everyone's still around after this. But Tifa and Cloud drop into the Lifestream.

What follows is a... really... really... really long cutscene. It's time for Tifa to finally help Cloud to get grips of what he really is. You'll find out a lot of cool stuff about what really happened in Nibelheim, for instance. Whippeth out ye olde popcorne and cola. However, you do need to run around and talk to the various Clouds as Tifa.

After a bit of rest, it's time for Cloud to get back to leading the crew. No use getting off the train, indeed!

On to...Huge Materia below and above

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/Huge Materias

What then?

Now would be a good time to spend an afternoon getting yourself a Golden Chocobo. This is the first ocassion to get one, and it's fun to have a reasonably well grown Knights of Round materia arould in the giant big end battles. =)

Basically, do whatever you want - and once you're bored, go to Junon.

They all lived in a Red Submarine

Recommended average party level: 45—55

In Junon, head up to the airport. Wow, did you notice something seems to be gone from the city? Can't quite put your finger on it yet.

The basic idea of this section - as revealed to you, the idea is to head to the Underwater Reactor - is quite simple. You go down the tunnel that begins from the upper level; head the way you went to the cargo ship, until you come to the narrow tunnel to the left where Shin-Ra soldiers are doing drills. They head to the tunnels. Fight your way through (none of the enemies here are very tough), go through the seafloor tunnel, take elevator up, fight more Soldiers, and stop Reno from loading the Huge Materia to a submarine. (Oh, by the way, in the seafloor tunnel you can Morph the Ghost Ship enemies to Guide Books, items the trader in Kalm wants. Trade them for Underwater materia, which can be handy when fighting the Emerald Weapon.)

Of course, there's a little snag in our perfect plan: Reno gets the thing packed to the sub, leaves in a hurry to his next appointment, and leaves the party to fight the single most frustrating boss in the game. (I don't say I hate it as much as Demon's Gate though, as that boss merely inspires me to have emotional rage; this boss inspires throughoutly cold methodical hatred.)

Carry Armor

Lv: 45, HP: 24000/10000/10000, MP: 200/100/100, Weaknesses: Lightning, Strong against: Gravity, Poison, Absorbs: -

Before I start telling you what this major migraine source does to your sanity, let me tell you why I told you to breed a Golden Chocobo and pick up Knights of Round earlier: With KoR, this thing is a one-hit KO. While it may get an initial attack and make your jaw hurt, when you see knights march and torch this nuisance, you'll find it worthwhile.

Without KoR, this thing can be considerable hairy. The boss consists of three parts: The body (Carry Armor) and arms (Left Arm and Right Arm). Each is a level 45 creature, though obviously the body has higher stats. The body has Lapis Laser, which kills your party dead without any precautions, and the arms can grab the characters. The arm grab means the grabbed characters get damaged as well when you damage the boss, and worse, it can grab up to two characters. No might in the world will make it let go of the characters until they're dead, so revive your fallen comrades immediately - if your remaining kicking member gets grabbed, the fight ends unhappily!

Good protection (MBarrier or Big Guard) is essential. Some techniques are effective, among them everything that has anything to do with lightning, including Bolts, Ramuh a little bit, and Magic Breath and Trine enemy skills. Aside of that, hit the thing with everything and anything.

Carry Armor leaves God's Hand, a nice weapon for Tifa. After the fight, you get the bright idea to get into the other sub. In the submarine bay, be sure to check every box: Battle Trumpet (for Cait Sith), Scimitar (a weapon for Cid that has triple materia growth rate!) and Leviathan Scales key item, which will douse the flames of Wutai cave.

In the other sub, you first need to fight your way in. There's a save point in the entryway. In the command cabin, you have the option to either fight the commander and two soldiers, but who has the heart to fight Cloud's old (if brief) friends? So, you can take them hostage.

Das Boot: Edward Scissorhands' Cut—a submarine movie in 0:00:10

This Wikibook will undoubtedly one day have a complete guide to submarines (never guessed there would be yet another unlockable minigame, right? No? Aww.) but for now, here's a brief tutorial: Directional buttons control where the thing is going, like an airplane. Triangle increases speed, Cross slows down. Square fires a torpedo, and it will hit more surely if you have a lock-on. R1 for sonar view, R2 to change views.

The reason I'm not going to explain it too well is that either you're a complete newbie, and will nevertheless master this simple task in no time at all and destroy the red submarine in good time, or you're a veteran, and destroy the red sub in ten seconds flat - just speed after the red sub, get a lock-on, and torpedo away.

If you fail - well, you did save in the sub entryway, right? If not, it's not that bad, you just missed the Huge Materia. If you succeeded, the thing stays safe in the bottom of the ocean until you grab it, no need to hurry though.

You get orders to return to Junon. Once you do, all you see is an airplane going to...

...Rocket town! Darn! Looks like they're carrying out their meteor-smashing plans!

Blasting off and wasting lard

As you reach the Rocket Town, you find out Shin-Ra is fussing all over the rocket. As you head there, the soldiers spot you and attack you. Fight them off.

If Cid isn't in your party, he comes along now, obviously eager to defend his beloved rocket. (Rearrange your stuff here if needed.)

Climb up. Rude and a few soldiers are responsible for this Huge Materia shipment - time to knock them all down!

Rude

Lv: 42, HP: 9000, MP: 240, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Rude and his two Attack Squad flunkies are pretty easy to beat. Rude does have some nasty attacks (Bolt2 and, just to draw this on for a while, Cure2). But if you watch out and keep healing yourself, there's really no practical reason you shouldn't beat this. This is one of your two chances to steal the Ziedrich armour from Rude (the other time is in the sunken Gelnika (before or after his defeat at Rocket Town)). It pays to steal it, as it is arguably the best armour in the game.

In the rocket, there's one more baddie to beat. Enter the cockpit. Cutscene follows: Cid's workers leave the rocket to Cid, and then we hear that Palmer is launching the rocket. Eep.

Once in space, you can go fetch the rocket by using the ladders to right. The combination lock needs button key presses; If you get it wrong, you have three minutes to get it right, listen to Cid's ideas. The correct combination is [OK], [Switch], [Cancel], [Cancel] (on Playstation, Circle, Square, Cross, Cross).

To get to the escape pod, go left. There's a cutscene involving Shera, who shows up and leads you to the pod.

The rocket will hit the Meteor, and won't cause much damage to it at all, not even if you leave the Huge Materia in the rocket.

What then?

Red XIII has the bright idea that we should go to ask Bugenhagen what to do next - and that would be prudent. However, at this point, the immediate danger is gone; you can explore a bit if you want.

For example:

Take the submarine and visit the sunken Gelnika (near Costa del Sol).
Grab the sunken Huge Materia too (you should be able to find the red submarine on the ocean floor somewhere around the Junon area, if you killed it straight off the bat it will be due west of The Temple of the Ancients - just move your sub close to it and you should pick it up automatically). This, of course, assuming you managed to stop the red submarine!
If you have the Guide Book, Visit Kalm to exchange it to Underwater materia - even if you probably are way too weak to face Emerald Weapon right now...

If you were victorious in all materia tricks, it would be a good time to see that Bugenhagen has all of your Huge Materias. Leave them to his care when you visit Cosmo Canyon and ask the old man what to do next!

On to...Weapon Raid at Midgar and Requiem for Shin-Ra

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/Weapon Raid at Midgar and Requiem for Shin-Ra

More Wisdom from Bugenhagen

The point, as of now, is to go back to the Forgotten Capital with Bugenhagen.

In the Forgotten Capital, you find a lot of Ancients-related stuff - and when you head to the left city parts, you find some sort of round area with a lot of mysterious stuff in the center. Bugenhagen is very interested of it.

After some crypticism, he tells that the key to unlocking this place's mysteries can be found from where the sun doesn't... um... I think it's taken literally this time. Anyway, I think it's best at this point to just go looking for the key yourself; the whole scene here is quite anti-climatic if you just do it by the book. Actually, it's pretty flat either way, but at least you accomplish something.

Still want some direct clues? Submarine. Below sea. Northernmost continent. Secure bay. Hidden underwater cave under the continental shelf. Key to the Ancients.

As you return, Bugenhagen shows you some more of the amazing cutscene videos.

As you leave, Cait Sith calls. Apparently, Shin-Ra has moved the Junon cannon to Midgar. So that's what was missing from Junon.

Big thing's coming this way!

As you leave for Highwind, something big shows up. A gigantic big Weapon appears out of nowhere and heads toward Midgar!

Not a big deal. Just head to the shore, wait for the Weapon to get there, and...

Diamond Weapon

Lv: ???, HP: 30000, MP: ?, Weaknesses: Lightning, Strong against: Gravity, Poison, Absorbs: -

Blammo blammo. Knights of the Round. KO in round one.

Ahem.

Overall, Diamond Weapon isn't a terribly difficult boss. Just let the thing taste your usual boss strategies. Diamond Weapon alternates between being immune to physical attacks and immune to magical attacks, and starts off being invulnerable to physical attacks. There's no way to tell except one attack type just doesn't work. Just fry the thing with Bolts and the thing will drop dead soon enough - though it does have some pretty nasty attacks. As usual, healing is important if you can't find a fast way to kill it.

Good grief! In the longish video that follows, the Northern Crater barrier gets shot. And looks like Shin-Ra is busy with their own troubles. Let's head to Northern Crater!

...oops! Darn! Looks like Hojo is finally going crazy. (Who would have guessed?) The next step is to parachute in Midgar and fry Hojo before he does something dumb.

...but before we get to that...

Note: This is your absolute last chance to do most of the stuff that needs to be done in Disc 2. This includes...

Wutai sidequests

It's also a good time to make sure you have done the following, though they can (and should, unless you're in a terrible pinch) be left to do in Disc 3 too:

Raised Chocobos and got the 4 hidden materia
Obtained Omnislash, W-Summon and Final Attack from the Battle Arena
Get the maximum limit breaks for all your characters

You can take on Ultimate Weapon now if you want to, however, note that if the thing flies over Midgar, you end up to Midgar instead of fighting the thing (so it's better to save each time before you start bumping it).

Commandos in Midgar

As you reach Midgar, the city is under martial law, so, to borrow an action movie cliche, "I guess we gonna have to jump!"

Cait Sith is telling where to go from here - You need to use the tunnels. The side street with the manhole has a save point.

After you go down, you end up in a really big room with lots of pipes and ladders. This place is somewhat confusing, but wandering around here shouldn't be too difficult - just remember that the only way to get to some places is through a platform, ventilation pipe or a ladder somewhere else. The treasure chests here are green. You can, among other things, pick up Aegis Armlet, Starlight Phone (for Cait Sith, I think?), and Max Ray (for Barret), and some more items too (TODO!)

There's a save point next to the duct that leads out. You end up in the tunnels. Now, I highly recommend going downward from here - eight intersections down is a really long way, but you can get some cool stuff, like Power, Guard, Mind and Magic sources, and most importantly, the unique W-Item materia at the very end of the tunnel with the save point. The only bad thing about the place is that there's tons of Shadow Maker enemies here - you can find Turbo Ethers from them, but the annoying thing about them is that they have really slow attacks, and they also make your party quite slow too! The journey down will take forever!

Once you go up from the rails section where you came through, the Turks will appear. If you did the Yuffie subquests, they give you the option to not to fight them.

Todo: Stats in the not so unlikely case it's unavoidable...

Up from there, there's two passages. The farthest up one leads back to the Shin-Ra building, and if you missed the Turtle's Paradise poster earlier, now it's the time to go read it - it's on the first floor lobby, on the farthest wall. You won't get another chance in the game! There's not much else to do in the building, except perhaps go pick up other things you missed earlier.

The second underground passage takes you to the Sister Ray. Well, it would, if Scarlet, mad about losing the Sister Ray, would try to restrain herself from coming up with some more weapon names. So here's Scarlet's and Heidegger's new toy...

Proud Clod

Lv: 53/52, HP: 60000/20000, MP: 320/300, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Proud Clod consists of two parts: The thing itself and Jamar Armor (second set of stats above). As usual, try Big Guard or set barriers, those really help in the fight. Aside of this, this fight is relatively straightforward and doesn't have big surprises, just use the biggest and meanest spells and attacks you can think of. The boss will start using the big guns at the latter half of the fight though, so watch out for that (MBarrier or Big Guard will help greatly there too!) Or, eh, Knights of Round, first-turn KO (if you don't have Knights of the Round use the Phoneix Summon, this does a lot of damage!).

Head up. There's two boxes here with Mystile and Elixir, and a savepoint. Then, up the ladder! If Barret is in your party, you can find the Missing Score here, which is Barret's best weapon - the box isn't here if he isn't in the party.

Up in the uppermost platform, we find this mad scientist, who, like any mad scientists, injects himself with "my beautiful creation, mwahahaha" and turns into a hideous monster.

The following boss fight is done in a single fight. This is going to be a long fight with tons of different creatures and Hojo's forms, so whatever you do, don't waste Knights of Round on his first form. (If you have Knights of Round, I suggest not using it at all - this is probably simple enough to do in any case - or saving it for the last of the three forms. Or you may waste it on the first form if you're really sure you can take the latter two without it...)

Hojo

Lv: 53, HP: 13000, MP: 250, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Hojo is basically a sitting duck with no really big attacks - the only headacheful attack is the ~~Flunkie~~ Capsule ability which summons a Bad Rap sample and Poodler sample (who look like Bad Rap and Poodler respectively). The ability also heals the critter if one already exists, so don't waste your ammunition on the two flunkies.

Helletic Hojo

Lv: 53, HP: 26000/24000/5000, MP: 200/400/300, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Once you smash Hojo for a while, the Jenova brew starts to have some odd effects on him, and turns him into a gigantic huge critter that has a body and two arms (stats above are for the body, left arm and the right arm). The body can recreate the missing limbs. This thing is big and the arms can cause status effect changes against which there are some cool remedies (like Ribbons or White Wind), but basically, all there is to this fight is a lot of good old-fashioned smashing.

Lifeform Hojo-NA

Lv: 58, HP: 30000, MP: 100, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

The last form is relatively easy, but can give some headaches because the Combo attack makes a whole lot more status effect stuff than any of the previous attacks. You should give the character who has all of the nice spells and toys a Ribbon or Headband to make sure your entire party isn't sleeping through the whole fight - Just about everything else can be cured easily, but that trick makes this fight a piece of cake.

Hojo is dead, Scarlet and Heidegger are stuck in a wreck, Turks scattered, and Rufus presumably perished in the Weapon attack (I don't want to spoil things, but I say emphasis on presumably). Thus, Shin-Ra is no more. (But you can't really kill a corporation, at least without tons of paperwork, now can you?)

A longish cutscene follows - and that concludes the CD 2 of Final Fantasy VII. The adventure continues in CD 3, The Formerly Missing Non-Linear Game Experience, included with your copy of Final Fantasy VII.

On to Disc 3 and...Descent into the Northern Crater

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/Descent into the Northern Crater

Now we're free

Basically the thing is now this: You may think you have a CD's worth of stuff to do. Not really - you have basically unlimited access to most of the areas you've been to before. Now, the game has turned quite non-linear. There's no real point in giving you any hint on where specifically to go.

Now, basically, you don't need to head down the Northern Crater right away. In fact, it could be dangerous if you do; some versions of the game apparently have a bug that prevent you from returning if you go down the crater. The Crater has a lot of really really bad baddies though. It's better to stock up really good before going there.

Basically, you're left with a quite a few of things you can and should do before going about. You can now collect various things that you can pick up at just about any time.

Here's other cool stuff that gets unlocked at this point:

You can go to Cosmo Canyon with Red XIII in your party. Say bye-bye to Bugenhagen and get Red XIII's ultimate weapon.
More?

And most of all, you should level the hell up. I've beaten the last bosses by heading down the crater with my party around level 68. You can try to get your levels even higher if you want to make the end fights ridiculously simple. I recommend heading to the Mideel island and beating tons of the monsters.

The Northern Crater

Recommended average party level: 65—70

And so it begins...

A few recommendations for fighting through the Northern Crater: You may want to equip someone with a safety bit to avoid the possibility of a level 4 death spell wiping out your entire party, or else make sure your party member's levels are staggered. Ribbons are useful for all the spells which cause sadness.

The path to the friends

When you "land" into the crater, you find yourself sliding down hill. You'll end up in a chasm with spirally ledges going down. The cave leads back to Highwind. The first chest contains Save crystal - you can use that to deploy a save point anywhere in the Northern Crater. (At least until we indicate otherwise - you can't use it in the very last leg of the journey). The other chest contains Guard Source.

The next area has chests containing Power, Magic, Guard and Mind Sources. Hit [OK] to climb the ledges where it's possible. Also note that at the topmost platform, half behind a stalagtite or something, you see something glittery. Climb to the top-left ledge and check it out - it's a HP Absorb materia.

Then there's rooms where you can hop down and up ledges, and one room that connects the cave entrances. The cave has a couple of chests that hold some interesting items, of which I have little clue. (Todo!) On the ledgey room, there's a Mind Source.

Splitting can be beneficial

In the next room, you reunite with the rest of the gang. Here, you can basically send some of your friends through the left and right path.

Make sure you try all the forks along the path to pick up the chests, there are some useful items, including a W-Magic materia, Counter materia, Shield materia, and Magic counter materia. When you reach the point where your party splits up, you can send your party members down different paths to get most items. The left then down path is the one which will allow you to return to the top. The left then up path is a great one to use your save crystal on to create a save point - it contains the best experience building place in the game. Simply use elixirs on the magic pots and kill them and you'll net thousands of experience and AP points.

Todo: What's really on the different paths?

When you reunite with your party and they give you the items they found, only proceed if you're ready to face Sephiroth, and head back and save anyway, this is the point of no return. (If you edited save game to get Aerith back to your party, she'll be disappearing for good now...)

On to...Finale

Final Fantasy VII Walkthrough
Disc 1 Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Disc 2 Part 1 2 3 4 5 | Disc 3 Part 1 2

Walkthrough/Finale

So here, our friends reunite. It's time to go finally kicking some goth-bishōnen butt. At the top of the stairway leading to the center of the planet, there's still one more chance to first grab all of the cool trinket the other folks have collected, get your gear in order, and pick your team as you plunge down to...

The stairs

The stairway consists of fights with some really annoying enemies. Basically, if you start mysteriously seeing "Game over" screens, it's more often thanks to these massively annoying guardians. They come in a couple of different varieties: floating eyes (Allemagne), big knights with bigger swords (Iron Man), and skeletal dragons (Dragon Zombie). (In D&D terms: Eyeballs, Level 65 Munchkins and Ancient Dracolichs). Eyes are easy, knights kill you dead, skeletal dragons die when you as much as sneeze at them, but have the nasty habit of killing you dead with Pandora's Box (Be sure you have your Enemy Skill materia equipped if you haven't aquired this Enemy Skill yet!). When fighting Iron Men and Dragon Zombies, it's best to treat each fight with equal seriousness as if it were a boss fight; start the fight with Big Guard and throw some big summons at it. You remembered to bring tons of Ether, right? Just kill the baddies, then afterwards Cure yourself and pump yourself full of Ether.

The hideous thing is coming right at us!

At the bottom of the stairs, you find yourself looking at a gigantic big... mass of... something... Mother Brain? No, something quite more unexplainable than that.

Jenova-SYNTHESIS

Lv: 61, HP: 60000/10000/8000, MP: 600/600/600, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Earth, Poison, Gravity, Absorbs: -

Ah, Jenova, Jenova... now, somewhat more truer face, I assume. Jenova's ultimate form consists of three parts: Jenova-SYNTHESISA (the body), Jenova-SYNTHESISB (right tentacle) and Jenova-SYNTHESISC (left tentacle). The tentacles slap the characters, and, predictably, can be revived by the main body.

The fight itself shouldn't be too hard if you just use a sensible guarding strategy (ie, Big Guard) - just use whatever you have in your arsenal. Big spells, summons and really heavy-hitting enemy skills are rulesome. Avoid using Knights of Round, though, even when it's tempting. The only big point is that near the end of the battle, Jenova starts counting down from 5: If the countdown reaches zero, Jenova casts Ultima and dies. If you survive the blast, you still win, but get no experience or AP from the fight (and this is the last fight where you even can get those!)

Art thou goth enough?

After the fight, you end up to the actual center of the planet. Well, it is rather hard to say where you are at the moment, but the good thing is, Holy is close by. As is Sephiroth.

For the following fight, you will get to split your party into one, two or three groups, depending on how well you got here.

Todo: How is the number of groups determined? I always get two groups!

Bizarro Sephiroth

Lv: 61, HP: 40000/2000/10000/6000/4000, MP: 400/400/400/400/400, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Poison, Absorbs: -

This is, as the name indicates, a little bit strange fight. The game helpfully gives you some hints on how to proceed, but that's of very little practical use.

The body consists of not five, but tons of parts - A (chest), B (head), C (left and right core), D (left and right magic) and E (left and right magic). If you have multiple parties in fray, you can switch the fighters whenever you destroy a body part. Apparently the idea is to blow away the outer layers and then thwack the core parts to pieces - the core remains invulnerable until other parts are destroyed.

Use whatever you have, just note that some elements get absorbed by some parts. This goes especially with fire attacks.

There are some annoying counterattacks, like reviving (Bizzarro Energy (sic)), Stigma (poison) and Aurora Fence (nobody seems to know what this is supposed to be).

You can't Sense the boss, so none of the stats are official. These are in case none of your characters are level 99 and you didn't use Knights of Round on Jenova-SYNTHESIS. Basically, add a couple of thousand to each part for each leet character and some more on body if you used KoR.

All in all, this is a rather challenging fight. In a pinch, you may even have to use Knights of Round twice! I seem to survive with just one use, though.

Fight in the heavens

Bizarro Sephiroth falls down! I know that was a strange fight. What on earth was that thing? But there's no time for extraneous explanations! No time for transitions! Time to tackle something symbolic. And the music is pretty good. "In taberna quando sumus / non curamus quid sit humus / SEPHIROTH!" ... wait, no, it wasn't like that. Some other part of Carmina Burana, anyway.

Safer Sephiroth

Lv: 70 or so?, HP: tons..., MP: guess?, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: -, Absorbs: -

Now what on earth is THIS then?

A lot of the stats are very very very debatable as you can't Sense this boss. Safer Sephiroth's stats scale based on how well you did earlier - he has over 80000 HP, even more if you have characters on level 99 or had to kill the Bizarro Sephiroth's some parts multiple times, apparently. Some sources (Kao Megura at least) say Safer Sephiroth has 680 MP. The fight is still relatively easy (as said earlier, the stairway was probably the hardest part!)

Safer Sephiroth has following attacks up its sleeves:

Wall.
Shadow Flare, a kills-everyone-dead attack probably familiar from the Ultima Weapon fight.
Pale Horse, some annoying status effects.
Break, a nasty Earth attack.
Heartless Angel, an attack that reduces HP to 1 and gives status effects.
Supernova, a summon that reduces HP to 1 and gives status effects and is preceded by a frigging long but ah so cool animation.

I heartily recommend Ribbons (or White Capes etc if those aren't available), big summons, spells of extreme nastiness. Phoenix materia is definitely recommended - causes some damage and revives some undoubtedly fallen party members.

Let the love flow! This is your finest hour! Use whatever stuff you have lying at the bottom of the bag here!

And, uh, a hint, Sephiroth just can't handle Knights of Round twice. =)

The end?

After the bad guy has been blown to the ionosphere, it's time to go home. Or not so for Cloud, who weirds up, goes spirit-journeying and ends up fighting...

Sephiroth

Lv: ?, HP: ?, MP: ?, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: -, Absorbs: -

Cloud's final confrontation with the dark antagonist himself, a sword duel in the depths of... cosmos... somewhere... um...

Well, this fight is for show only - you can't lose. You can only use Omnislash limit break, even if you don't have it yet - at least you get to see what it looks like - and even if you don't pick this thing, because Cloud will counter-attack automatically if Sephiroth tries to attack. (Reportedly, equipping Counter materia on Cloud will lead to a little bit less spectacular results, because that way, Cloud will counter-attack normally, causing much less damage...)

The end.

Sephiroth is destroyed – in a rather unexplained way. It is quite difficult to tell for sure, though, what really happened at the end. If the end seems weird, just read megabytes of fan analysis and speculation and it all starts to make sense. Kind of.

Holy tries to destroy the Meteor. Lifestream tries to stop all. Everything goes white.

And, after some typographically offensive end credits (boring Arial - is this what they call end credits these days?), Red XIII returns to Midgar after 500 years.

Optional characters

This section covers how to get the two optional characters to join. Getting both of them is highly recommended: Yuffie's sidequest gives you some interesting materia, and Vincent is a devastating fighter with all-around long-range weapons and amazing limit breaks, and getting him gives you also some interesting items and materia.

Yuffie

You will run into Yuffie randomly in the woods. The earliest opportunity to get Yuffie is before going to the Junon for the first time, the woods are to the east and to the south of the town. You can also run into Yuffie on the central continent, south of Corel Desert / Gongaga area, southeast of Cosmo Canyon.

Yuffie will first appear as a "Mystery Ninja". Her stats are different depending on the party level, but should never be too hard to defeat.

After the fight, you find yourself on an empty clearing, talking to Yuffie, who wants to fight again. DO NOT open the menu or Yuffie will steal your gil - subsequently, do not use the save point as this is just a ruse to get you to open the menu. Keep talking to her and she will join you. You need to pick the correct dialogue choices basically on instinct and trial and error, and if you fail, do not worry, just find the Mystery Ninja again in the woods and you'll get to try again.

If you don't want to guess, the correct dialogue choices are 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 1st and then the 2nd dialogue choice. (The actual lines are different depending on who leads the party. For Cloud, they're "Not interested", "...Petrified", "Wait a second!", "...That's right", and "...Let's hurry on". As a side note, in case you haven't noticed this, Yuffie calls Cloud a "spikey-headed jerk", Tifa "boobs" and Cid a "bow-legged old man".)

Vincent

You can find Vincent any time you are in Nibelheim (in present time, that is - not during the Cloud's flashback early in the game, of course). On the lobby desk of the Shin-Ra Manor, there's a book that has hints on finding out the correct combination of the safe upstairs.

First hint says "Lid of the box with most oxygen". There's a box in the greenhouse, open it, and then use it again to examine the lid.

Second hint says "Behind the Ivory's short of tea and ray". This is probably the most frustrating riddle to figure out (especially since piano keys are no longer made of ivory and we rather prefer to call the notes 'ti' and 're' anyway). Examine the surroundings of the piano.

Third hint is probably the easiest, as it tells exactly what to do: Find the creaking floor on the second floor, on the right side, near the chair, then go "left five steps, up nine steps, left two steps, and up six steps". Note that this refers to actual walk animations rather than d-pad presses or anything to that tune, so quit running for a while and count the paces. You will end up in the short hallway on the second floor. Examine the surroundings there to find the hint.

The fourth hint is given right in the book, but the entry itself is invisible; simply move the pointer to the 4th slot to learn the last move directly.

If you don't want to chase the hints, here's the code right away: right 36, left 10, right 59, right 97. When opening the safe, stop on those numbers exactly and hit the button. If you slip, you need to start over. The safe door should open with a little bit of practice. But the following fight needs no practice, just a coherent strategy...

Lost Number

Lv: 35, HP: 7000, MP: 300, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

This boss attacks you with both physical and magical attacks. Logically, so should you. The first half of the fight is probably fairly routine fare. Around the midpoint of the fight, the boss splits up and will start to use either magic or physical attacks almost exclusively. If the purple half remains, it attacks physically, and is vulnerable to spells; if the red half remains, it attacks magically, and it's vulnerable to physical attacks.

The boss will leave behind a lot of interesting things: Cosmo Memory (the manual for Red XIII's Level 4 limit break), The Odin summon materia, and - lastly - the key to the basement!

Now head to the cellars where you visited during Cloud's flashback. With the key, you'll be able to open the door north in the room that led to the library door. Open the coffin in the middle and Vincent awakens. Talk to him about Sephiroth. He will doze off again, so open the coffin again. Ask "Who are you?" Then, there's nothing more to do, so head back out towards the stairs up. Vincent will stop you, and will then follow you.

Wutai sidequests

Wutai sidequests are entirely optional, but are highly recommended because there's a whole lot of fun to be had with all of the new materia and items. Also, while the first quest takes an evening to accomplish, at least it saves you from the trouble of doing one more boss fight later.

Both sidequests need Yuffie to be in your party, preferably trained somewhat up also. For instructions on how to get her, see Optional characters module.

Hey! Give me back my marbles!

Recommended average party level: 32—38

The first of the subquests can be done any time between getting the Tiny Bronco on disc 1 and before going to Midgar to stop Hojo in Disc 2.

Once you get into the Wutai area for the first time, Yuffie stops you. And then suddenly, bad guys appear out of nowhere. A fight ensues, but...

...you no longer seem to have any of your materia around! What follows is some really, really challenging melee without much of any magic.

So, let's follow Yuffie northward. If you came by Tiny Bronco, this means a long foot trek, and the mountains are very treacherous. If you see any birds, run. They've got worse weapons than just guano, namely, high-level bolt magic.

Eventually, you'll reach Wutai Town. When you enter, you see Yuffie running. Visit the houses there, including Turtle's Paradise, the fine restaurant... resort... thing. You'll meet the Turks, on vacation.

But where's Yuffie? Take a time to peek around, there's a lot of good hiding places, interesting places, like this funny old guy in the house to the far right, and shop that has an inviting box. Let's open the box... Oo! an MP Absorb materia! ...which Yuffie naturally steals right away!

Hopefully you're now a bit more familiar with the town's layout, so keep looking for Yuffie's hideout. Wait a moment... wasn't the screen in the old man's house folded? When you try to restore that part of order to the world, it takes a few seconds for Yuffie to realize she's in the plain view. Unsurprisingly, she then flees.

Now, as you head out, you have probably learned to pay attention to the smallest details that might give some clue as to what to do. Outside, there's a great big vase outside of the Turtle's Paradise. The other characters in your team, brightly enough, decide to close off all other exits while the leader smokes Yuffie out of the pot. She has nowhere to run and seems really sorry.

After a brief cutscene, you're in Yuffie's house. She tells you to pull a lever. If you suspect trap and pull the other one, you get trapped. If you tell what she said, you fall into her trap. The bottom line is, you're trapped.

Now head out, and go far, far to the left, toward the pagoda in the distance. Yuffie's obscure hint of "steel" probably reminds you of the big iron bell on the left. Ring the bell to reveal a door. You'll now note that Yuffie, and Elena of the Turks, has been taken by Don Corneo's men.

Find your way up and out. You need to fight Shin-Ra soldiers, but they manage to delay you while the kidnappers escape. Get out, and you manage to strike a truce with Reno and Rude.

So now starts yet another search operation. It's highly recommended you heal up properly, and purchase a lot of Bolt Plumes or Fire Veils from the store (10-20 of them should do). It should be recommended that for the upcoming boss fight, you arrange your Item menu like this: Bolt Plume (or Fire Veil), Phoenix Down, Hi-Potion, X-Potion.

Once you're healed up at the savepoint and have tons of helpful items, head to the Da-Chao, mountain of statues. There's a lot of stuff to see here, and you can find the Dragoon Lance for Cid in a cave. (You can return here on Disc 2 or 3 if you have Leviathan Scale to get more interesting stuff!)

After a while of searching, you'll find Corneo, Yuffie, and Elena. Corneo doesn't really like his love games interrupted, and is still mad for you destroying the Aps in the sewers, so here comes the retribution: Rapps.

Rapps

Lv: 39, HP: 6000, MP: 300, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: -, Absorbs: -

Without your materia, and especially if you're lowish level, this is going to be a really hairy deal. Rapps' Aero3 attack is really, really devastating. This gets really easy if all of your characters are in Fury and harass the boss with Limit Breaks (Vincent is really nice here, constantly smashing the boss for like 400-500 damage every turn). Don't bother much with physical attacks, just use Bolt Plumes and Fire Veils a lot (or other throwable items, expecially ones that do fire damage), revive fallen characters with Phoenix Downs. If the characters have above 50% health, HiPotionify them every now and then, otherwise, just use Phoenix Downs, they're pretty cheap.

After the fight, you see the Turks doing the justice their own way. Bye bye, Don Corneo. Yuffie returns the materia to you, and even admits that it's too hard for the lazy programmers to remember locations of various items, so you should now spend a good while fixing up the order of your materia. The MP Absorb you found from the city is yours as well.

Climbing the Pagoda

This section will walk you through the series of one on one boss fights with Wutai, against the Five Secred Gods in the Pagoda. You should be able to manage most of the victories without training Yuffie at all, unless her level is terribly low.

Each Sacred God exhibits different characteristics, and will become progressively more difficult. You should take a moment to learn Yuffie and equip her with the proper gear, and materia between each victory. You will also need to restore any hit points, magic points and any hangover status effects gained from previous battles.

(The only out of the way ability you may want is the L4 Suicide enemy skill, you can get it from "Mu" which looks like a squirel. Mu can be found near the Chocobo Ranch).

Gorki

Lv: 30, HP: 3000, MP: 150, Weaknesses: Wind, Strong against: Earth,Gravity, Absorbs: -

Gorki represents "power" out of the gods, and acts like the Valron creature around Nibleheim. Arm yourself with the Elemental/Gravity Materia in your armor's linked slots to protect against Demi. Make sure Yuffie is in the back rank, the only other materia essential to victory is restore. These battle can be a wastrel on MP, please read the section dedicated to each boss before fighting them. Gorki will setup a strong defense with the various Barrier spells, he will also use Regen when he is on the ropes. Gorki, when he bolsters his defense with barrier, counter with destruct materia. You may attack him with spells, but stop once he puts up reflect. Do not dispel Reflect off of him, it will prevent him from replacing Regen while the Reflect is in effect. The battle is mainly a slugfest, keep your health out of the critical area, use barrier if his attacks are unbearable.

He'll give you an X-potion for winning. Restore Yuffie's HP and MP.

Shake

Lv: 32, HP: 4000, MP: 180, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Shake represents "speed" and acts a lot like the strange penguin creature Skeeskee around Cosmo Canyon. This battle is nothing with the enemy skill L4 Suicide. Attack Shake with L4 Suicide, then finish him with any attack. Shake is blazing fast, after the L4 Suicide attack, he'll get in at least two blows, which can defeat Yuffie if she is low level. If this concerns you, use barrier before attacking with L4 Suicide. If you don't have L4 Suicide, here is your guide. You must take away Shake's advantage, have Time Materia equipped, use Haste and Slow to turn the tables on him. This battle is a slugfest as well, Shake's Rage Bomber attack is strong, and causes "Fury" which will make subsequent attacks from Shake even deadlier. If you have barrier, time, and restore, you should be able to outpunch Shake.

You'll gain a Turbo Ether for winning. Restore Yuffie's HP, MP and cure any hangover status effects, then head to the next floor.

Chekhov

Lv: 34, HP: 5000, MP: 210, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Chekhov represents "magic" and acts like the bizzare Twin Brain monster found in Mount Nibel. The "Jem Ring" accessory makes this an easy fight, it will counter her Stare Down attack which paralyzes Yuffie. All you will need is Restore Materia essentially, Chekhov moves very slow, you should be able to get off plenty of attacks on her without worry, barrier will cutdown her absorb attack which drains your HP and restores Chekhov's. If you forgot to equip your Jem Ring, barrier is essential, you'll need your regular hard hitting spells to make up for the ring as well.

You'll receive an Ice Ring for winning. Restore Yuffie's HP and MP and head to the next floor.

Staniv

Lv: 36, HP: 6000, MP: 240, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: Gravity, Absorbs: -

Staniv is the undefeated god of war in the pagoda and acts like Madouge in the Mythril Caves. Staniv boasts that he is the final boss but he's forgotten something, he is level 36, which makes him vulnerable to L4 Suicide. Attack with L4 Suicide, and any attack for a quick fight. If you don't have L4 Suicide, you'll have to beat him the long way. Staniv for the most part will strike you with his oversized flail, which causes a fair amount of damage unless you're in the back row with barrier. Sometimes he'll use War Cry, but that only causes Sadness. You'll just need restore, time, and barrier to win this one. Use haste and barrier as soon as things get started, and exchange blows with Staniv. Unless you fall asleep in this battle, and neglect your HP, you should defeat him without any problems.

You'll get an Elixir from him after winning. Restore Yuffie's HP, MP and any hangover status effects, and head to the next floor.

Godo

Lv: 36, HP: 10000, MP: 240, Weaknesses: -, Strong against: -, Absorbs: -

Godo is the surprise boss, he is completely unique looking and represents Omni, or all of the other god's combined. In addition to being Yuffie's father, Godo is extremely powerful. His level is a misprint in guides, and he is not weak against L4 Suicide. Godo has a plethora of attacks at his disposal, depending on which of his three faces are looking at you. The red dragon face attacks with beast sword, which causes a fair amount of physical damage. The gold face uses Mini and Cure2. The white face attacks with Drain, Bio2, and Demi3 and Trine enemy skill. This battle is very hard unless you've built up Yuffie, in order to win, you need to eliminate the greatest threats. Elemental/Gravity, and Elemental/Poison (or Added Effect/Poison) are essential, make sure they're in the linked slots in your armor. Hopefully you've visited the Sleeping Man, and found a Bolt Ring accessory, or ventured to the Temple of the Ancients and have the Dragon Armlet. This will negate Godo's strongest attacks, if you have the Dragon Armlet, drop the Bolt Ring for the Ribbon Accessory. This combo should prevent Trine, Bio2, Demi3, Mini, and Poison from affecting you. You also obviously need Restore Materia. If you have the materia slots, have counter attack, time, barrier, poison, and Enemy Skill (if you haven't learned Trine enemy skill yet). If you don't have this gear, and your levels are low, you will probably get thrashed by Godo. Start the battle defensively, with haste and barrier. Do not underestimate Godo's attacks, be generous with your cure spell. If you have it, attack with Slow, and Bio on Godo, until he is both Slowed and Poisoned. Throw everything you have at him, but keep MP reserved for a few cure spells. Re-apply barrier as it fades, if you don't have Trine, hold steady until he uses it. Trine will cause serious damage if you don't have Lightning Elemental resists. Once Godo starts to succumb to your attacks, he will use Cure2 on himself, it'll heal a decent amount of damage, but not enough to swing the tides back in his favor. This will slow the battle, you can counter by switching, to melee attacks, and casting MBarrier, or Reflect on Godo if you have it. This will dampen or reflect his healing.

Godo is a worthy opponent, if your levels are low, he may still overtake you. Come back later, gather some of the items I mentioned, or build up Yuffie and try again.

You'll gain the power of the Watergod for winning, the Levianthan summon. As well as Yuffie's Extreme limit break "All Creation." You'll also get a emotional scene with Godo, and the respect of Wutai.

Things to Collect

Materia caves

HP <-> MP: Found in the cave north of North Corel (the ropeway station). You must have a river chocobo to reach it.
Quadra Magic: Found on an island to the east of Chocobo Billy's Farm. You must have a black chocobo to reach it.
Mime: Found on Wutai Island, on the eastern edge south of Wutai's northern peninsula. You must have a mountain chocobo to reach it.
Knights of Round: Found on Circle Island, an uncharted island in the northeast part of the world map. You must have a gold chocobo to reach it.

Turtle's Paradise flyers

Throughout the game, you will find posters that advertise Turtle's Paradise, the restaurant in Wutai.

Sector 5 slums - In the top floor of one of the houses.
Shin-Ra headquarters, first floor - on the bulletin board. (You have to read this on either time you're visiting the building, or you'll miss it for good.)
Gold Saucer - Ghost Square shop.
Cosmo Canyon - Weapon shop.
Cosmo Canyon - Shildra Inn.
Yuffie's House in Wutai - In the cellar. (You need to read this when Yuffie takes you in there, or you'll miss it for good.)
After viewing all the Turtle's Paradise flyers, you have to read the main poster in front of the Turtle's Paradise bar in Wutai.

If you find them all, you can collect the prize from the barkeeper in Turtle's Paradise.

Ribbons

Ribbons are the most handy accessory ever devised by a FF designer. They're also pretty rare. Here are some places to get Ribbons, though:

A chest in Temple of the Ancients.
Master Tonberrys can be morphed into extra Ribbons.
There's a pretty well-hidden cave in Gaea's Cliff.
Special Battle in Gold Saucer, though they are reportedly pretty rare.

Bone Village

The Key to Sector 5 can be found by looking for normal treasure. If the tremors point toward fighter plane's nose on the lower plateau, dig just under the tip to reveal it. This is the most probable location for it, though it may reportedly vary.

Lucrecia's Waterfall

You need a colored chocobo or a submarine to reach the round lake on the southern half of the western continent. There's a cave behind the waterfall.

Once you enter with Vincent in your party, you get a cutscene that explains a lot about Vincent's background. (In Disc 2)

Return to the cave after about one hour or more of play time (in Disc 3). Doing so, you'll get Vincent's level 4 Limit Break manual (Chaos), and Vincent's ultimate weapon (Death Penalty).

Sunken Gelnika

A big airplane has sunk in front of Costa del Sol. Use the submarine to reach it.

Inside, there's first a save point and a chest. In the second room to the left, not up the ladder, you have to fight Rude and Reno of the Turks. Rude does Bolt2, and both Reno and Rude both have admirable physical attacks that will amp your limit bars. Two good strategies here are to equip Steal materia and steal the most invaluable and prized armour in the game, Ziedrich from Rude, and to use Hypers on your party to quicken their wait time and fill their limit bars faster. This is one of two chances to steal the Ziedrich armour from Rude, so you can have up to two!

The third room is the cargo room. Behind the pipes, you'll find Hades materia. In the chests, you find Conformer, Yuffie's ultimate weapon, Highwind, Cid's lv4 limit break manual, and... other stuff?

The enemies here are very strong, but they can be morphed into Sources, which raises your stats. Getting Sources here is the only way to raise stats to the max value of 255; you cannot reach this point by leveling up.

Ancient Forest

Ancient Forest Puzzles

The puzzles here aren't very difficult, as long as you figure out the gist of things before too long. The enemies are annoying, but not impossible if you're strong enough to destroy the Ultima Weapon - which is, of course, the only way to reach the Ancient Forest without doing a whole lot of chocobo breeding. The basis of the puzzles are as follows:

Pressing [OK] when facing one of the jumping insects or frogs picks it up. Pressing [OK] again while holding an insect or frog drops/uses it.
You can reset the puzzle at any time by pressing Square. You can also reset any given screen by leaving the screen and returning.
Dropping an insect in front of a hole that emits a frog sound will replace one insect with one frog. This can only be done once per reset.
If you drop a frog or insect in front of one of the hanging pitcher plants, the insect or frog is eaten by the plant and you can jump on top of the plant. After a short time, the plant will eat the insect or spit out the frog.
If you stand on top of a pitcher plant that has eaten a frog, when the plant spits out the frog, it also sends you flying in a pre-set direction. You can clear some otherwise un-jumpable gaps in this fashion.
The giant piranha plants must either be avoided or fed one of the bowling-ball-sized fruits that can be found up high in some screens. They hurt a lot if you step on them. However, if you are very careful, you can swipe the item from inside the first piranha plant without getting eaten.
The flowers with hanging purple vines will launch you in a preset direction if you can reach them.

There are several very nice items in the forest - including a triple AP growth sword for Cloud that does very good damage as well - and it's possible to get them all with a bit of work. You may want to have a character with maximum hit percent though; the plant creatures have absurdly high evade scores. Magic usually does the trick as well.

Weapons

Wikipedia has related information at Weapon (Final Fantasy)#Final Fantasy VII

This article is about the optional bosses. Looking for lower-case-w weapon information? See Final Fantasy VII/Equipment/Weapons.

Ultimate Weapon

Ultimate Weapon is the boss you first fight in Mideel, and can be fought for real toward the end of CD2, after Diamon Weapon is destroyed. From Ultimate Weapon you can win Clouds ultimate weapon- called "Ultima Weapon" for some unknown reason. Ultima Weapon will appear hovering in a crater.

You'll need to ram it with Highwind to get it moving. When Ultimate Weapon is flying around, you need to ram it a few times before it will finally stops over some spot; ramming it then will start a fight; the type of the fight will depend on location. To attack it during an air battle you'll need a long range weapon or long range materia and during the air battle you can steal a circlet from it. During a ground battle you can steal a reflect ring from it and use ground attacks against it.

You can get air battles at the lake near Junon, Mideel, Mount Nibel and Mount Corel and the ground battles at Gongaga, Fort Condor, Midgar, the Northern Crater and Cosmo Canyon. Ultimate Weapon will fly around these so you just have to fly around these ares to find it.

When it sustains enough damage, Ultimate Weapon will fly away and after you've fought it in enough battles and it's sustained enough damage it will fly to the Cosmo Canyon Mountains for a final showdown where you can finally win Ultima Weapon. For this battle you'd probably want to equip the handy Enemy Skill materia as the person who gets the last hit on Ultimate Weapon will be attacked by Ultimate Weapons final attack- Shadow Flare, and it's quite a useful enemy skill to have, so having omnislash and equipping the Enemy Skill to Cloud would be a good idea. Regen is also a helpful magic to have and is a good idea to cast near the start of the battle.

So after you've finally defeated Ultimate Weapon after all that chasing you'll have Ultima Weapon and after it's defeated, Ultimate Weapon explodes and opens a walkway to the Ancient Forest, a place with many handy things in like Supershot ST for Vincent, Spring Gun Clip for Red XIII, Apocalypse for Cloud (because that's helpful AFTER you've got Ultima Weapon...), Minerva Band armour, Slash-All and Typoon materia and an elixir or two. (NB you can also get here by breeding a green chocobo)

Ruby Weapon

Ruby Weapon is an optional boss that shows up in the Corel Desert around the Gold Saucer on CD 3, once Ultima Weapon is defeated on CD 2 or 3. To fight it, you need to steer the airship to the red thing that sticks out of the sand, you can also take a gold chocobo and run into it;But be well prepared.

General things

Recommended average party level: 65 (if you're very good) or 80+

To defeat Ruby Weapon, here is a general list of the items you will need:

The fight nets a ridiculous amount of AP, which you should take advantage of. Preferably, use a weapon with triple growth, loaded with materia. (Scimitar for Cid, or the Apocalypse for Cloud). Use double growth weapons if these aren't available. Otherwise, go for the best equipment armor and weapon wise.
Final Attack-Revive or Final Attack-Phoenix combination.
Hades, Knights of Round, and Mime Materia Mastered. W-Summon and Master Summon Materia is useful here.
Plenty of Elixirs.
Omnislash or any other multi-hitting limits help here too.
Lots and lots of patience.

Strategies

The other two members of your party should be down. Ruby Weapon will otherwise use the Quicksand attack, which will remove two members of your party from the battle. Just kill them off before hand and keep it a one on one battle.

Ruby WEAPON is not immune to Stop, so start off with casting Hades, or W-Summon Knights of Round with Hades and repeatedly mime that.

Be wary of using Knights of Round unless accompanied with a HP-Absorb materia and high HP levels. Ruby usually counters with the Ultima spell.

Consider the possible materia combinations, preferably combined:
(Knights of Round)+(HP absorb): allows 10% of the damage caused to be re- absorbed by the caster, in the case of Knight of Round, It will probably completely refill the caster's HP.
(W-Summon) and (W-Magic): not necessarily in the same pair of slots)
([Command]Counter)+(Mime): that is, the counter materia that counters with an attached command materia. The result is that every time Ruby attacks, the character counters by using Mime. Several of these pairings increases the number of counter attacks.
(Fire) and (Elemental): Can reduce, nullify, or even absorb the damage from Ruby's Ruby Flame attack, depending on what level your Elemental materia is on.

With all of the above, it is possible to have a party or single character who W-Summons Knights of Round (theoretically allowing almost 260,000 damage) and is healed for 10% of the total damage the summons cause, and can counter any of Ruby WEAPON's attacks with this.

For example, it is quite possible to cause, for example, 80,000 damage per Knights of Round spell for a relatively high level party. So, using the combination above, they would cause 160,000 damage per turn, and per counter attack, and the caster would be healed for 16,000 HP every time. Even with Ruby's Ultima spell counter-attack, the healing effect should allow most paries to pass WEAPON with (relative) ease.

And of course, Regen, Haste and Wall (or even faster, Regen and the "Mighty Guard" Enemy Skill) are useful.

(Todo: other tips and strategies?)

Emerald Weapon

Emerald Weapon is not to be confused with what is sometimes referred to as "Onix" or "Sapphire" WEAPON, that attacks Junon at one point in the game, before being seemingly decapitated by the cannon. Final Attack + Revive recommended for sure.

It's found in the ocean, so you need the sub. And as for where... look around near the Gelnika, see the vast rather fierce looking monster swimming around deep down in an ocean trench. Be wary when leaving the Gelnika, too- Emerald WEAPON has a habit of waiting just above it.

Strategies

You can use '7777 fever' to inflict a large demage on Emerald Weapon. You can even start the battle with all your members having '7777 fever' and at full limit break.

Before using this trick, you should have one character acquired with the 'Manipulate' materia, and another one with 'Transform' materia. Then you can just wander on the world map to engage in a normal battle. Use your character to hit themselves. It is just to ensure all their HPs are below 7777. You can now use the 'manipulate' command to control your enemy. Then use the magic to transform the manipulated one into 'mini' status. Now control it to hit your party member. The character's HP will be reduced by 1. Do it until the final 2 digits become 77. Then finish the battle and go back to the menu screen. It's time to use your potion and hi-potion. Do some calculations and use the potions until the his/her HP reaches 7777. You can do this to all your party members.

An alternate method to get 7777 HP is to reduce the character HP to as low as possible, and then equip the Cat's Bell accessory. Walk around until the character's HP reaches exactly 154 (approximately 2 HP per step). Enter battle, and cast Demi 2 on the character, and either escape or end the battle. Use 2 potions and 15 hi-potions on the character, and (s)he'll have 7,777 HP.

Handy tips

You can run away from both Ruby and Emerald WEAPONs, using the normal running away method or using the 'escape' spell (Banish, no matter how much you want it to, does not work!). After you run, Emerald occurs as normal, but Ruby is completly out of the sand until you enter a location, then it resubmerges.

Minigames/Motorcycle chase

The motorcycle minigame is crucial in the escape of Midgar. You begin with an FMV of Cloud stealing a Shin-Ra motorcycle, and riding it through the building, while the rest of the party obtains a truck by similar means. Cloud flies out a window, and the truck follows as all characters end up on the Midgar highway. Shin-Ra motorcycle guards and highway patrol soon appear on the scene and the minigame starts. Be careful, as eachmember of your party gets hit on the highway, they lose some of their HP. At the end of this game, you encounter the Motorball boss. Once you reach the Gold Saucer, you can replay this game as many times as you want for 100 Gil.

Controls

Button	Action
[MENU]	Access the menu (only at the beginning of the minigame)
[OK]	Slash right with Cloud's sword.
[CANCEL]	Choose party (only at the beginning of the minigame)
[SWITCH]	Slash left with Cloud's sword.
[DIRECTIONAL BUTTONS]	Move in desired direction.

Objective

The objective of this game is to destroy all the opposing guards either by slashing them, ramming them into the guard rails, or letting them crash into their fallen comrades. This is to be done while trying to avoid collisions between the enemies and your party. This game ends when you reach the fallen sector.

After the minigame

After the original minigame ends, you encounter the Motorball boss.

Motor Ball

Lv: 19, HP: 2600, MP: 120, Weaknesses: Lightning, Strong against: Gravity, Fire, Absorbs: -

This is the last boss in this escape attempt. The only hard thing about the fight is that the motorcyclists might have managed to inflict some damage on the party members. Apart of that, hammering the thing with Bolts should work wonders. You barely need the healing. Be careful, this battle begins as a Back Attack. Simply tap the run away buttons to look right at the boss before his initial attack.

After the conclusion of the battle, you get to see the excellent view of Midgar, and a rope dangling from the end of the highway. The group climbs down the rope, and ends up on the outskirts of Midgar. You then form a party and head on over to Kalm.

Minigames/Fort Condor

Fort Condor is located in the Junon area, near the back entrance to the Mythril Mine. It's easily accessible from Junon (though a river appears there later in the game).

The basic problem is this: Folks at Fort Condor are waging war against Shin-Ra, who seem to be hell bent on conquering back their precious Mako reactor. The Fort folks merely want to protect the giant condor who is nesting on top of the reactor.

So, you're going to spend money on a gigantic warfare thing. You can either let the folks fight it out themselves, or command the troops yourself. Warcraft II it ain't, but nevertheless it's an interesting and fun real-time strategy minigame.

When to play

Fort Condor is an interesting minigame, and you can access it in various parts of the journey on CD 1 and CD 2.

Shin-Ra attacks the fort a total of 17 times, which are as follows:

When you first reach Fort Condor.
After saving Priscilla and resting at that old person's house.
After receiving the whistle from Priscilla, before going to Upper Junon.
After getting the Buggy.
After finishing the storyline events in Cosmo Canyon.
After getting the Tiny Bronco.
After getting the Keystone from Dio.
After finishing the storyline events in the Temple of the Ancients.
After finishing the storyline events in the Forgotten Capital.
Not possible. You cannot reach Fort Condor at the time Shin-Ra attacks.
See above.
See above.
See above.
See above.
After getting the Highwind.
Not possible. See reason for missing battles 10-14.
The Final Battle. Mandatory. See Walkthrough.

You only need to fight battle number 17 to recover the Huge Materia, but it is probably better to fight (and win) some of the other battles, as they will yield some very useful items. If you are ever short on funds, consider selling a mastered "All" materia.

Units

The various units are as follows

Name	HP	Attack	Range	Cost (gil)	Notes
Fighter	200	30	1	400	No weaknesses and no strengths
Attacker	180	25	1	420	Good against beasts; Bad against barbarians.
Defender	220	35	1	440	Good against barbarians; Bad against wyverns.
Shooter	160	20	1—3	520	Good against wyverns; Bad against beasts.
Repairer	160	10	1	480	Can repair warmachines; Weak attack and defense
Worker	160	15	1	400	Can set a mine. Weak attack and defense.
Stoner	100	20	1—4	480	Cannot move or rotate once deployed. Rolls down one stone down a preset path.
Tristoner	150	30	1—5	1000	Cannot move or rotate once deployed. Rolls down three stones down a preset path (wider attack area than with Stoner.)
Catapult	100	18	1—5	480	Can be reaimed during combat. Launches boulders at a given spot.
Fire Catapult	120	25	1—6	600	Can be reaimed during combat. Launches flaming boulders at a given spot, giving a wider attack area.

Enemies

Todo: Fill enemy details

(Probably incomplete list)

Name	HP	Notes
Beast	-	The equivalent of an ally's Defender. Strong against Shooters; weak against Attackers.
Barbarian	-	The equivalent of an ally's Shooter. Strong against Attackers; weak against Defenders.
Wyvern	-	The equivalent of an ally's Attacker. Strong against Defenders; weak against Shooters.
Commander	280	Combat will end if defeated.

Controls

Button	Explanation
[PgUp]	Speed up the battle.
[PgDn]	Slow down the battle.

...and more.

Basic strategies

Note that you can only deploy your units on the top half of the battlefield.

Todo: For those with less money...

If money is no objection, here's what I usually do: Just above the line, there's a good slaughterground. Set up two tristoners on the left path (few units try to go this way usually and these are easily rebuilt), two on the very far right, and three tristoners on the middle. Place the multiple ones on top of each other; this way, if the enemy is destroying the lower one, it's getting hit on the head by the one above.

On the slaughterfield, deploy some Defenders and perhaps a few Shooters as well. Shooters are good to be placed right above Tristoners as well.

Minigames/Basketball Game

This minigame is located just to the right of the front door of the arcade section of Wonder Square. The goal is quite simple: For 200 gil each game, you can make as many shots into the basket as you can... as long as you don't miss any. This sounds much easier than it actually is, but the rewards are worth it.

For each basket that you score you get 1gp for it and another shot. Thus if you score 2 baskets; you get 2 gp... 3 baskets; 3 gp... and so on. But when you reach shot 10, it gives you the option to double or 1gp your total. If you make your shot, you go straight up to 20gp, and then you continue from there. When you hit your 20th shot, it again asks you to double or 1gp your total; thus pushing you up to 60gp at that point.

The following is the amounts that you can "shoot" for:

1 - 10, then double
21 - 30, then double
61 - 70, then double
141 - 150, then double and so on...

In the PlayStation Classic, you can use the save state cheat feature should they miss the basketball hoop, they can start over until they succeed. They can get a total of 300 GP.

Minigames/Snowboarding

In the snowboarding minigame, the goal is to get from the top to the bottom of one of three courses while collecting balloons and avoiding obstacles.

If you manage to get a "great" ranking (over 70 points) on one of the courses you will unlock a new course (The 3 courses being Beginner (A), Expert (B) and Crazy(C)).

Your points are effected by the following:

Ballons - Blue balloons give you more than red, green more than blue.
Time - The longer you take the less points you will earn
Control - For every object you crash into, you will lose points.

Snowboarding can be very helpful for raking up the GP in the gold saucer, then again the GP award from it can be unpredictable so you'd be safer going with something like the submarine game or possibly Chocobo Racing.

Minigames/Submarine hunt

The Submarine hunt minigame is a minigame that occurs when you first 'acquire' your very own submarine in Disk 2. The game consists of politing your submarine around a fairly small map, avoiding mines and torpedo fire from other submarines while trying to sink the red Shin-Ra submarine with torpedoes, which is transporting the huge materia that the party is after. The minigame can be won very easily, as the Shin-Ra sub starts out right in front of the player sub, and sinking it is just a matter of pressing the "Fire" button enough times.

(Todo: Controls, strategies, wikifying, other stuff.)

Minigames/Gold Saucer

Overview

The gold saucer features a special currency known as GP you can win at the wonder square or the Chocobo Races. You can also exchange GP for Gil (the regular FF7 currency) from a man who stays outside the entrance tram. Regular tickets to the gold saucer cost 3000 Gil, and a lifetime pass costs 30,000 Gil. A lifetime pass can also be obtained for 300 GP at the Wonder Square.

Ghost Square

There's a hotel here, a shop, and a Turtle's Paradise poster for you to read. Your party stays here automatically during one part of the game, but you can stay whenever you like.

Round Square

You take a ride during the date sequence, useless otherwise.

Speed Square

Allows you to play a basic shoot-em up minigame where you shoot targets for points. You are placed in a rollercoaster and must shoot all the enemies you see as you progress along the tracks. You're eligible for prizes if you score over 3000. And if you score over 5000 on disc, one you will get aeries most damaging weapon, The parasol. And if you do the same on disc 2 you will get Cids best weapon, The flayer.

Event Square

This place is deserted, except during the date when you have the chance to participate in a little play.

It's a mini-play, complete with kings, dragons, and princesses - oh my!

Wonder Square

Play tons of fabulous minigames for prizes, including the Motorcycle chase, Snowboarding and Submarine hunt minigames. Other games include a basketball shooting game based around timing, a fortune game that gives you clues, a crane game playable for small prizes, and a rock-paper-scissors game that cheats and is virtually impossible to beat. If you play the Mog minigame, the first time you win it the guy standing nearby will give you 30 GP. You can also exchange some GP for prizes here, including two rare Materia.

**Wonder Square Prize List**
1 GP	Potion
20 GP	Ether
80 GP	X-Potion
100 GP	Turbo-Ether
300 GP	Gold Ticket (lifetime pass to the Gold Saucer)
500 GP	Carob Nut (useful for mating blue/green/black Chocobos)
1000 GP	Gil Plus (increases Gil party earns in battle)
2000 GP	Exp Plus (increases EXP equipped character earns in battle)

Chocobo Square

You can either bet for your favorite chocobo jockeys here, or, if you have chocobos of your own, participate in the races.

For now, see Chocobo guide which covers the racing aspect to some extent. Betting is different.

**Chocobo Racing Prize List (Incomplete)**
Item	equivalent GP
Turbo Ether	150 GP
Tranquilizer	10 GP
Ice Crystal	50 GP
Fire Fang	20 GP
Antartic Wind	20 GP
Hero Drink	15 GP
Sneak Attack	300 GP
Hyper	10 GP
Megalixir	300 GP
Hi-Potion	15 GP
Phoenix Down	10 GP
Potion	5 GP
Sprint Shoes	500 GP
Cat's Bell	500 GP
Swift Bolt	50 GP
Elixir	200 GP
Bolt Plume	20 GP
Magic Counter	500 GP
Enemy Away	300 GP
Ether	30 GP
Chocobracelet	400 GP

After you win 10 consecutive S class races you'll receive the following items as a bonus from Ester: Sprint Shoes, Precious Watch, Cat's Bell, Chocobracelet, Counter Attack.

Battle Square

The Battle Square in the Golden Saucer is probably the most rewarding mini-games in FF7. After paying a 10GP registration fee (you can earn GP at Wonder Square and the Chocobo Races) you pick a single character and head of into the arena. There, you fight a gauntlet of up to 8 enemies with increasing difficulty levels. On top of this after each round, if you choose to carry on fighting, you are given a handicap (see handicaps chart) which can make what would normally be an easy battle into an impossible task. After you have completed 8 battles or if you choose to quit between rounds you will receive BP which can be exchanged for prizes, the more severe the handicaps you suffered then the more BP you earn. You will also gain a consolation prize, a "tissue". If, however, you die you will receive none of the BP you earned. Any changes to your HP, MP, Limit Meter, Status, etc. will not carry outside the battle arena, so even if you die you will appear outside with the exact same stats as you came in with. Similarly, you can gain no EXP, AP or Gil in the battle arena.

Strategy

If you're going for the big prizes (Omnislash, W-Summon) it is almost universally accepted that you should wait until disc 2 and 3; when the prices are lower and until you're around level 60; so you stand a chance.

It is probably a good idea to do this with Cloud, simply because he will always be your strongest character. If you have them, equip him with Ultima Weapon and a Mystile, if not just find the strongest weapon and armour you have and equip that: don't worry about materia slots (the Ziedrich can be stolen early on from Rude in Gongaga and is a good choice for this). Also, try and get your limit meter up to about 4/5 of the way before you go in (it will then be at 4/5 every time you enter the arena). A ribbon is essential. This done, go to the Golden Saucer and get about 100 gp, I did my time in the battle arena immediately after breeding a golden chocobo and so had plenty of GP from racing, however it shouldn't be a problem to get enough GP in Wonder Square later on the game (when the Sub and Snowboard games are unlocked).

You're now ready to fight, remember that you will lose your BP if you leave Battle Square so this all has to be done in one go. Equip Cloud with as many Counter Attacks, HP Pluses and MP Pluses you have as well as an Enemy Skill with Big Guard and most importantly Slash All (see the materia section and enemy skill section for help with these). When you get inside the arena cast Big Guard straight away and start attacking. By the end you might get into trouble because of handicaps, a broken accessory or weapon can be a thorn in your side so if you find you just aren't doing enough damage raid your inventory for those items you've accumulated in the course of the game, or use Enemy Skill if it isn't broken by now. Heal any status effects you can with items. Use this strategy to build up 32 000 BP and purchase Omnislash. To maximise BP, try and get All Materia broken before the last round, this isn't as bad as it seems when you are mainly using physical attacks and items, Slash All will be disabled but that doesn't matter as there are no groups beyond about round 6.

Once you have Omnislash the Battle Square is easy. Spend any leftover BP on small items and head outside the Golden Saucer, build up your limit meter until you are ready to use Omnislash and then return to Battle Square. This time, all you need is Enemy Skill and Mime, fill whatever space you have left with HP and MP Pluses. Whatever you do, don't equip Counter Attack. In the first battle, cast Big Guard on yourself and then use Omnislash. From then on you can just keep miming Omnislash and wiping everyone out. Hopefully, you have 9999 HP so you should never need to heal, if you do, hold out until the last minute and use an X-Potion - you'll have to use normal attacks after that. Omnislash, at full power, will kill all the enemies in the Battle Arena in one go, if, however, you're weapon gets broken multiple times the damaged can be severely reduced, just keep at it though. You can easily build up enough BP this way to buy W-Summon and anything else you want.

A Dame to Kill For

The woman outside the Battle Square says she likes Fighters, but not those who are all talk. To prove her otherwise go into the arena and do a full gauntlet of eight enemies. If you talk to the woman again, she will give you the Sprint Shoes accessory.

Special Battle

If you have Omnislash, W-Summon and Ultima Weapon the woman at the counter will offer Cloud a place in a special battle. This isn't any harder than a normal Battle Square gauntlet using my Omnislash technique mentioned earlier. Once you win this battle you will receive the extremely handy "Final Attack" materia.

Round 1: Sea Worm LV 22, HP 18000, MP 200

Round 2: Ho-Chu LV 39, HP 8600, MP 290

Round 3: Unknown LV 52, HP 15000, MP 150

Round 4: Serpent LV 40, HP 28000, MP 290

Round 5: Wolfmeister LV 43, HP 20000, MP 200

Round 6: Behemoth LV 45, HP 14000, MP 400

Round 7: Maximum Kimaira LV 49, HP 8000, MP 350

Round 8: Proud Clod LV 53/52, HP 60000/20000, MP: 320/300

Minigames/Tifa's piano

Basically, you can play different songs with the piano in Tifa's room in Nibelheim.

How to play the piano

File:FF7-CMajorScaleAndChords.png

You have one octave to play with. The notes are as follows.

Note	Button	PC	PlayStation
Do	[Cancel]	[0/Ins]	Cross
Re	[Switch]	[Decimal/Del]	Square
Mi	[Menu]	[+]	Triangle
Fa	[OK]	[Enter]	Circle
So	*[Cancel]	[9]+[0/Ins]	L1 + Cross
La	*[Switch]	[9]+[Decimal/Del]	L1 + Square
Ti	*[Menu]	[9]+[+]	L1+ Triangle
Do'	*[OK]	[9]+[Enter]	L1 + Circle

Asterisked entries mean you need to press either [PgUp] or [PgDn] while pressing the button in question. Therefore, either [9] or [3] on PC or L1 or L2 on PlayStation work.

You can also play three different chords.

C	Down
F	Left
G	Up
C'	Right

If you play all the notes in order (as in on the list that comes up, you receve tifa's secret savings, a mighty 1 gil.

Playing piano is ended by pressing [Start] ([5] on PC, Start on PlayStation).

Songs to try

So far, see Tifa's limit break on information on how to play the Highwind theme.

Locations

Final Fantasy VII features a large world map with numerous locations to explore over the course of play. Listed below are the major destinations that Cloud and the others visit during their journey.

Eastern continent

Sector 7 Slums
Sector 7 Slums

Kalm
Kalm

Chocobo Farm
Chocobo Farm

Mythril Mine
Mythril Mine

Fort Condor
Fort Condor

Junon Fishing Town
Lower Junon

Midgar (ミッドガル, Middogaru): The largest and most industrialized city in the world, where both Shinra and the second incarnation of AVALANCHE are based. It sits in the middle of a large plain on the eastern continent. The area around the city has become distorted and polluted as a result of the use of mako reactors. The city is divided into eight numbered sectors. Each sector has two areas: one at ground level and one elevated section on a plate fifty meters above the ground. The upper plate is supported by a main column in the center of the city and an additional support column located in each sector.^[1] The upper city is primarily home to upper class citizens, while the lower portions consist of slums and lower class settlements. The lower class part of the city is also home to seedier establishments such as a brothel. The city is powered by eight mako reactors, one in each sector. There is also Reactor 0, which the other eight reactors get their energy from. There also appears to be a built-up ring outside the main perimeter of the city. The city's name is likely an allusion to the Midgard of Norse mythology. This hypothesis is supported by the name of the town of Nibelheim, which would correspond to the Norse Niflheim.

After the Meteor incident, Midgar was in ruins and it served as both the site of Cloud's final battle with Sephiroth, on the remains of the Shinra headquarters, and the site of Omega's awakening before Vincent destroyed it.

Edge (エッジ, Ejji): This city appears in Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus, which are set two and three years after the events of Final Fantasy VII, respectively. It is a city built north of the remains of Midgar and is where most people who used to live in Midgar now live, including Cloud and Tifa. It is not mentioned in the movie itself but one of the developers says it in an interview that can be found in the extras on the bonus disc that comes with the movie.

Kalm (カーム, Kāmu): A germanic-style town northeast of Midgar, outside the wasteland surrounding it. It is primarily populated by former workers of the nearby Mythril Mine, which is no longer in service due to the appearance of monsters in the area. The town's residents are divided on the subject of Shinra and the use of mako. Kalm got its energy from a direct feed from the Midgar reactors.

Chocobo Farm (チョコボファーム, Chokobo Fāmu): A rural farm that sells Chocobo equipment, such as Chocobo Lure Materia and greens, both of which are necessary to catch a Chocobo. Later, the farm can be used to breed Chocobos.

Mythril Mine (ミスリルマイン, Misuriru Main): A mine to the south of Kalm. It was once the location of Kalm's main industry, but has since been abandoned due to the appearance of monsters within and around the mine. The Midgar Zoloms in the swamp outside the mines are an example of the creatures that have taken up residence. The only way to cross these swamps quickly enough to avoid being attacked is by chocobo.

Fort Condor (コンドルフォート, Kondoru Fōto): A mountain-based fortress belonging to a rebel faction located on the lower east side of the eastern continent. The fort is named for the massive breed of condor that resides there. The mountain and the surrounding area have become polluted due to the use of a now-derelict mako reactor above the fortress. On top of the reactor sits a condor nest. At the time of Final Fantasy VII, Shinra is attempting to eliminate the rebels, remove the condor and seize the Huge Materia from within the reactor. While Shinra is attempting to remove the condor, the player can take part in a strategic mini-game where they hire and command troops to combat the Shinra forces from reaching the nest.

Junon (ジュノン, Junon): The second-largest city in the game, Junon sits along the west coast of the eastern continent. The surrounding terrain and ocean have become polluted due to continued operation of the city's undersea mako reactor. As a result, the fish in the adjacent sea have died out and the original village of Junon (located under the upper city's airport) is inhabited mostly by impoverished citizens. The upper city is the location of Shinra's military headquarters, featuring an airport, submarine docks, and a powerful artillery cannon known as the Junon Cannon.

Healin Lodge: Appears only in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, it is located adjacent to Midgar, Kalm, and Chocobo Farm and serves as a refuge for Rufus Shinra early on in the movie.

Western continent

Costa del Sol
Costa del Sol

Corel Prison
Corel Prison

North Corel
North Corel

Gold Saucer's Game Room
Gold Saucer

Gongaga
Gongaga

Cosmo Canyon
Cosmo Canyon

Ancient Forest
Ancient Forest

Costa del Sol (コスタ・デル・ソル, Kosuta deru Soru): A coastal resort town that also serves as the main port on the western continent. The player can purchase President Shinra's summer cottage here, though for a hefty sum. The first time the team travels through Costa del Sol, they encounter Hojo. Cloud can also kick a soccer ball at a sleeping Red XIII on the first visit. Spanish translation: Coast of the Sun.

Corel (コレル, Koreru): Barret's hometown. Barret feels responsible for its destruction since he strongly supported building a mako reactor for the town. Shinra troops led by one of the company's executives, Scarlet, razed the village after an alleged terrorist attack on the reactor facility.^[2] Subsequently, Corel became the Desert Prison, and the Gold Saucer was built above it.

North Corel (北コレル, Kita Koreru): The shanty town settled by the survivors of Shinra's assault on Corel. In the latter half of the game, if the player fails to stop a speeding train carrying a Huge Materia, the town will be destroyed.

Gold Saucer (ゴールドソーサー, Gōrudo Sōsā): A towering amusement park built on Corel's ruins, financed and operated by Shinra. Cait Sith joins the party here. All of the mini-games that are in Final Fantasy VII (except the strategic one at Fort Condor) can be played here if the player has completed them in the storyline. This is also where the date between Cloud and either Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie or Barret takes place (though who it is depends on the actions of the player), and includes several well-known scenes such as the medieval play and the fireworks scene.

Gongaga (ゴンガガ, Gongaga): A small, desolate village ravaged by a mako reactor explosion.^[3]^[4] Aerith's first love, the SOLDIER Zack, grew up here, and his parents still await his return, unaware of his fate. The name "Gongaga" bears a strong resemblance to Ginnungagap, a place in Norse Mythology between Niflheim and Muspelheim.

Cosmo Canyon (コスモキャニオン, Kosumo Kyanion): Red XIII's birth place. It is a pilgrimage site for those who have an interest in the Study of Planet Life. Bugenhagen's observatory is here. The settlement on the canyon powers itself without mako reactors through the use of windmills. Upon entering the surrounding area on the World Map, the horizon will become a dusky red. The red canyon walls also hide the now vacant "Cave of the Gi".

Ancient Forest (古えの森, Inishie no Mori): An ancient forest near Cosmo Canyon. It is only accessible by a Green, Black, or Gold chocobo, or after destroying Ultimate WEAPON.

Nibelheim
Nibelheim

Mount Nibel full motion video
Mount Nibel

Rocket Town
Rocket Town

Wutai
Wutai

Nibelheim (ニブルヘイム, Niburuheimu): Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart's hometown. The Shinra Mansion located here was the research site for the Jenova Project, and, although since abandoned, still contains much of Professor Gast and Hojo's research. Its basement, accessible by a secret passageway, contains the laboratory and research library. Presumably after Gast left the Jenova Project, it was used by Hojo to conduct many of his immoral experiments. Vincent Valentine is also discovered here by the party, slumbering in a coffin hidden in a locked room within the basement. The town was burned down and its residents slaughtered by Sephiroth after he discovered his origins and went insane, although the Shinra Mansion was spared by the fire. The destroyed town was subsequently rebuilt and staffed by Shinra to cover up the incident. The town's name, is likely an allusion to the Niflheim of Norse mythology, referencing the massacre that occurred at the game's town. Alternatively, it may also refer to the German words 'nebel' (mist or fog) and 'heim' (home). This can be taken a step further, going from 'mist home' or 'fog home' to 'Cloud's home'.

Mount Nibel (ニブル山, Niburu-San): The mountain overlooking Nibelheim, and the site of a mako reactor where Jenova was once housed along with several of Hojo's experiments.

Rocket Town (ロケット村, Roketto Mura): Cid Highwind's town of residence. This is the site of the first successful rocket launch into space.

Wutai (ウータイ, Ūtai): A country occupying a large island off the western-most continent, although the name is primarily used to refer to the only known settlement on the island. Yuffie Kisaragi is the princess of Wutai. Yuffie's father, Godo, led the city in a struggle for dominance against Shinra but lost.^[5]^[6] When the party first reaches the mountains that must be crossed to reach Wutai, Yuffie steals the party's collection of materia and retreats to her hometown, where both she and Elena of the Turks are kidnapped by crime boss Don Corneo. Wutai is apparently based upon pre-modern Japan and China, utilizing familiar motifs such as a pagoda (where Godo resides), and a large statue called "Da Chao," bearing the appearance of what appears to be Buddha and other related figures. Wutai is also the name of a sacred mountain in China, thereby adding to the oriental feel of the region.

Northern continent

Bone Village
Bone Village

Forgotten City
Forgotten City

Icicle Inn
Icicle Lodge

Northern Cave
Northern Cave

Bone Village (ボーンビレッジ, Bōn Birejji): An excavation site where lost items such as the Lunar Harp are found. One of the items being excavated is an aircraft that bears a striking resemblance to an F-14 Tomcat, the exact meaning of which continues to be a subject of debate.

Sleeping Forest (眠りの森, Nemuri no Mori): A forest next to the Bone Village. Without the Lunar Harp, the party will wander in the forest aimlessly. In Advent Children, Cloud is ambushed by Kadaj's group and the children, who have been completely taken over by the stigma, in the Sleeping Forest while on his way to the Forgotten Capital to rescue Denzel, Marlene, and the others. A fight ensues between Cloud and Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz in which Cloud is nearly defeated but is rescued by Vincent in the nick of time.

Forgotten City (忘られる都, Wasurareru Miyako): Sometimes referred to as "the Ancient City," "the Forgotten Capital" or "the City of the Ancients." The city was the capital of the Cetra civilization, exhibiting such unusual structures as homes made from giant helical shells. A shrine exists hidden beneath the city, surrounded by water like a small isle. Aerith went to this shrine and attempted to call the spell known as "Holy" using the White Materia. Although successful, she was only barely so. Immediately after, she was killed upon the altar by Sephiroth. Cloud took Aerith to the nearby spring and released her into the water. Later in the game, a projection device located on the surface that uses a screen of water shows the events of Aerith's death and reveals that the White Materia was activated before she died, meaning that Holy should have been moving to destroy Meteor. It was this revelation that brought about the discovery that Sephiroth was holding Holy back.^[7] Two years later, the city would be used as the base of operations for Kadaj's group. It is here that they bring Denzel and other children afflicted with Geostigma who came under the impression that they would be cured. But instead, Kadaj tells the children that Geostigma is a gift and that it is the planet that is responsible for making them suffer as they do. He then has them drink water from the spring after turning black using his will (the will of Sephiroth); making them into JENOVA's puppets so they could lead him to JENOVA's head. Cloud arrived too late and struggled fighting until Vincent saved him. Cloud's cell phone falls into the spring during the fight.

Icicle Lodge (アイシクルロッジ, Aishikuru Rojji): Aerith Gainsborough's birthplace. For a time, Professor Gast and Ifalna, an Ancient, lived in the town before being hunted down and killed by Hojo and his men. The town functions as a resort because it snows year-round. The constant cold temperatures are not due to the location of the town, despite its polar position, but are actually because of the town's proximity to the Northern Crater, where the Planet channels a large amount of Spirit Energy in an effort to heal itself.^[8] The town is called "Icicle Inn" in the original English localization of the game. It is also where the famous snowboarding mini-game can be played for the first time.

Great Glacier (大氷河, Daihyōga): A large glacier to the south of Gaea's Cliff. Few people venture that far north, and those who do, get lost and pass out in the snow.

Gaea's Cliff (ガイアの絶壁, Gaia no Zeppeki): A huge cliff that leads to the Whirlwind Maze. The explorer Holzoff makes his home at its base and regularly patrols the Great Glacier for travelers who might need aid.

Whirlwind Maze (竜巻の迷宮, Tatsumaki no Meikyū): A maze of small winding ledges of similar design that lead to the heart of the Northern Crater.

Northern Cave (北の大空洞, Kita no Daikūdō): Also called "the Northern Crater." The original impact site of Jenova. The WEAPONs slept under the ice, encased in frozen mako here for thousands of years following their creation. The remaining portion of Sephiroth's body emerged here after traveling through the Lifestream and became encased in a mako crystal. The crater is also the site of the Jenova Reunion and, later, the final battles of the game. It also is where the events of Advent Children begin, as the Turks were sent by Rufus to carry out an investigation in Sephiroth's wake. However, they not only found what little remained of Jenova's head, but unexpectedly Sephiroth's Remnants as well.

Other

Mideel
Mideel

Temple of The Ancients
Temple of The Ancients

Cloud's Psyche
Cloud's Psyche

Materia Caves (マテリア洞窟, Materia Dōkutsu): Caves scattered around the world where the player can find unique and extremely powerful materia; each require a different chocobo to reach them (Green, Blue, Black and Gold). The Caves are found in Wutai, Mideel, Corel and Round Island.

Mideel (ミディール, Midīru): A hot springs town attacked by Ultimate WEAPON and destroyed by a Lifestream eruption. Cloud appears here in a near-catatonic state, confined to a wheel chair after falling into the Lifestream at the Northern Crater.

Temple of the Ancients (古代種の神殿, Kodaishu no Shinden): A large structure into which the Ancients transformed the Black Materia to prevent its use. Whoever wishes to turn the building back into the Black Materia must sacrifice his or her life by solving a series of puzzles that shrinks the temple back to its original size, crushing whoever is inside.^[9]

Goblin Island (ゴブリンアイランド, Goburin Airando): An island northeast of Midgar. This place and round island are the only places Goblins appear.

Promised Land (約束の地, Yakusoku no Chi): A place sought after by the nomadic Cetra — a legacy briefly taken up by Sephiroth, who mistakenly believed himself to be an Ancient. Aerith tells Cloud that the Promised Land may not be a specific place, but the Shinra believe otherwise and are intent on using Aerith to find it. Upon reaching the Northern Crater, Rufus Shinra comes to the conclusion that it is the Promised Land due to its vast quantity of natural mako. In actuality, both the game and the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω guidebook (an official Square-Enix publication) suggest that the Promised Land is no one specific place or thing, but rather something unique to each individual which brings that person supreme happiness.^[10]^[11]^[12]

Cactus Island (サボテンアイランド, Saboten Airando): A tiny desert island southwest of Mideel. This island does not appear on the radar and is one of only two places in which Cactuar can be encountered in random battles, the other being the Corel desert (but the Cactuars encountered in the desert are a much weaker version giving more gil but Morphing into a much more common Hi-Potion).

Sunken Gelinka: A Shinra transport plane that was shot down by a WEAPON and is currently at the bottom of the ocean between the Eastern and Western continents. It can only be explored by using the Shinra submarine. Inside the downed plane, Cloud will encounter Turk members Reno and Rude (as long as he explores the plane before encountering the Turks for the last time in Midgar). According to them, the Gelinka was transporting Huge Materia. While it is never explained as to why it was being transported, it was probably going to be loaded into Cid's old rocket and used to destroy Meteor. The area itself is perfect for leveling up high-powered characters as the monsters offer up large amounts of AP. Its also presents a hazard as Emerald WEAPON tends to hover directly above the Sunken Gelinka, a major problem to those who are not prepared to fight it. The plane's name is most likely a reference to the Spanish town of Guernica (Gernika in the Basque language), which was destroyed by a German aerial bombing during the Spanish civil war.

Round Island: A small island in the far north-east of the world, however this is not displayed on the world map. This island can only be accessed with a golden chocobo as the conditions are unsuitable for submarine or airship landings. The cave on this island contains the Knights Of The Round Summon materia, the most powerful summon in the game.

Cloud's Psyche: The world that Tifa ends up in when she and Cloud fall into the Lifestream. Here she has to help Cloud recollect his memories to discover the truth about his past.

References

↑ Jessie: "The top plate is about 50 meters above ground. A main support structure holds the plate up in the center, and there are other support structures built in each section... Each town used to have a name, but no one in Midgar remembers them. Instead of names, we refer to them by numbered sectors.(Final Fantasy VII)
↑ Barret: "That's how the Corel Reactor was built.... and completed. We all thought it would bring us an easier life. It happened when Dyne and I were out of town for a few days. Corel was burned down by the Shinra troops. All the townspeople........ All my relatives......... Everyone...... Everything......" / Cloud: "Shinra troops? What for?!" / Barret: "There was an explosion at a reactor. Shinra blamed the accident on the people. Said it was done by a rebel faction."(Final Fantasy VII)
↑ Studio BentStuff, ed. (2005). Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). Square-Enix. p. 216. ISBN 4-7575-1520-0.
↑ Gongaga resident: "It's been a while since the explosion, but you can still find pieces of it left all over town. Shinra built the reactor, without even thinking about the town's safety. And, this is the result. One day, there was a huge explosion. Many townspeople died in it..."(Final Fantasy VII)
↑ Elmyra: "Oh... it must have been 15 years ago... ...during the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some far away place called Wutai."(Final Fantasy VII)
↑ Yuffie: "You scared of the Shinra? Then why don't you fall into line and obey them, just like all of the other towns! Those guys are the ones who are really fighting the Shinra!" / Godo: "Shut up! What would you know about this?" / Yuffie: "You get beaten once, and then that's it? What happened to the mighty Wutai I used to know?"(Final Fantasy VII)
↑ Cloud: "...Aerith. Aerith has already prayed for Holy. ... / Cloud: "But...... how about Holy? How come Holy isn't moving?" ... / Bugenhagen: "Something's getting in its way." / Cloud: "......Him...... He's the only one that could do it. ...Sephiroth."(Final Fantasy VII)
↑ Gast: "Hmm, even here so close to the North Cave, the snow never melts. Is that because the planet's energy is gathered here to heal its injury?" / Ifalna: "Yes, the energy that was needed to heal the Planet withered away the land... then the Planet..."(Final Fantasy VII)
↑ Cloud: "This huge Temple? This is the Black Materia!? Then no one could take it." / Aerith: "Hmm, it's pretty hard. You see this is a model of the Temple. And inside it is a device, which gets smaller each time you solve a puzzle. As the model becomes smaller, you become smaller too. Until it's small enough to fit in the palm of your hand." / Cloud: "So, if we solve the puzzles, the Black Materia will get smaller and smaller and we can take it out?" / Aerith: "Yes, but there's one thing... You can only answer puzzles inside the Temple. So, anyone who solves the puzzle will be crushed by the Temple."(Final Fantasy VII)
↑ Studio BentStuff, ed. (2005). Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). Square-Enix. pp. 214, 580, 586. ISBN 4-7575-1520-0.
↑ Aerith: "Someday I'll get out of Midgar... Speak with the Planet and find my Promised Land. ...That's what mom said."(Final Fantasy VII)
↑ Elder Hargo: "There is no one place called the Promised Land. That is what I believe. No no, it does exist. Hmmm... You can say that too. In other words, it doesn't exist for us, but it did for the Ancients. The Promised Land is the resting place of the Ancients. The life of the Ancients is one continuous journey. A journey to grow trees and plants, produce animals, and raise mako energy. Their harsh journeys continued throughout their lives… The place they return to after their long journey… Their burial land is the Promised Land. Huh? Supreme happiness? I believe that, for the Ancients, it was the moment that they were able to return to their planet. At that moment they were released from their fate, and gained their supreme happiness..."(Final Fantasy VII)

Materia/Summon Materia

Summon (red) materia is used to summon several different beasts, each dealing various types and amounts of damage. Summon materia is acquired at different points throughout the game, as outlined in each creature's (or materia's) individual section.

All of the summon materia have 5 stars; each star allows the creature to be summoned in combat once. Thus one-star summon materia can be used once in combat and 5-star one (i.e., mastered one) five times. Master Summon materia can be used to summon all creatures without any limitations.

(To do: tables with other relevant properties)

Choco/Mog

Got from the Chocobo Farm. Talk to the chocobos, and choose the top dialogue option ("Wark"). Watch the chocobos dance and you'll receive it.

Choco/Mog
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	14	Magic:	+01	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:	Wind	MagicDef:	+00	Level 2:	2,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-02%	Level 3:	14,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+02%	Level 4:	25,000 AP
				Level 5:	35,000 AP

Deathblow!: Summons a chocobo carrying a moogle, which runs past and collides with the enemy. Dreadful. Wind-type damage. May cause Stop effect on enemies.

Fat Chocobo: (About 1:8 chance to get this) A fat chocobo falls from the skies and flattens the enemy. Fearsome. Deals non-elemental damage.

Shiva

Get from Junon after resuscitating Priscilla.

Shiva
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	32	Magic:	+01	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:	Ice	MagicDef:	+00	Level 2:	4,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-02%	Level 3:	15,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+02%	Level 4:	30,000 AP
				Level 5:	50,000 AP

Diamond Dust: Shiva appears and blows ice crystals at the enemy. Ice-type damage.

Ifrit

Got after fighting Jenova-BIRTH in the Shin-Ra cargo ship.

Ifrit
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	34	Magic:	+01	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:	Fire	MagicDef:	+00	Level 2:	5,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-02%	Level 3:	20,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+02%	Level 4:	35,000 AP
				Level 5:	60,000 AP

Hellfire: Œh, this daemonic creature called Ifrit fierily craters the enemy, dealing Fire-type damage.

Ramuh

Get at the Gold Saucer in the chocobo jockey room when trying to win freedom from the desert prison. Note: This must be obtained at that time; it cannot be got later.

Ramuh
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	40	Magic:	+01	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:	Lightning	MagicDef:	+00	Level 2:	10,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-02%	Level 3:	25,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+02%	Level 4:	50,000 AP
				Level 5:	70,000 AP

Judgment Bolt: Ramuh jolts enemies with thrilling thunder strike. Lightning-type damage.

Titan

In the abandoned Gongaga Reactor which can be accessed any time after getting out of the Desert Prison. Go to the reactor area and the Turks will show up; after the Turks leave, inspect the hole they looked into in the reactor casing.

Titan
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	46	Magic:	+01	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:	Earth	MagicDef:	+00	Level 2:	15,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-02%	Level 3:	30,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+02%	Level 4:	60,000 AP
				Level 5:	80,000 AP

Anger of the Land: Titan grabs the very ground the enemies stand on and topples it over, crushing them. Earth-type damage.

Leviathan

Solve Yuffie's pagoda sidequest and Godo gives it to you.

Leviathan
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	78	Magic:	+01	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:	Water	MagicDef:	+01	Level 2:	18,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-05%	Level 3:	38,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+05%	Level 4:	70,000 AP
				Level 5:	100,000 AP

Tidal Wave: A great big wave drowns the enemies. Water-type damage.

Odin

In the Shin-Ra Mansion in Nibelheim. Open the safe upstairs using the clues found all over the place, and fight the boss Lost Number.

Odin
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	80	Magic:	+01	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:		MagicDef:	+01	Level 2:	16,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-05%	Level 3:	32,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+05%	Level 4:	65,000 AP
				Level 5:	80,000 AP

Steel Bladed Sword: Odin rides by and slashes all enemies in half, killing them instantly.

Gunge Lance: (If the enemy is immune to instant death attacks) Odin takes his lance Gungnir and throws it to the heavens, and it impales the enemy as it lands. Deals non-elemental damage.

Bahamut

In the Temple of the Ancients after defeating the Red Dragon.

Bahamut
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	100	Magic:	+01	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:		MagicDef:	+01	Level 2:	20,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-05%	Level 3:	50,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+05%	Level 4:	80,000 AP
				Level 5:	120,000 AP

Mega Flare: Bahamut fries the enemies. Deals non-elemental damage.

Kjata

Found floating around in the Sleeping Forest.

Kjata
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	110	Magic:	+01	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:		MagicDef:	+01	Level 2:	22,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-05%	Level 3:	60,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+05%	Level 4:	90,000 AP
				Level 5:	140,000 AP

Tetra Disaster: An ugly monster causes a tiny, tiny earthquake and other nasty things. This causes Fire, Ice and Lightning damage.

Alexander

Found in the Great Glacier, in a cave somewhere on the east side of the big snowfield. Need to touch the hot springs elsewhere first, then come to the cave and fight the person guarding it.

Alexander
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	120	Magic:	+01	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:	Holy	MagicDef:	+01	Level 2:	25000 AP
		MaxHP:	-05%	Level 3:	65000 AP
		MaxMP:	+05%	Level 4:	100000 AP
				Level 5:	150000 AP

Judgment: Alexander, colloquially put, lays some justice on the enemy's rear. Deals Holy damage.

Neo Bahamut

Found in the Whirlwind Maze.

Neo Bahamut
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	140	Magic:	+02	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:		MagicDef:	+02	Level 2:	30,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-10%	Level 3:	80,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+10%	Level 4:	140,000 AP
				Level 5:	200,000 AP

Giga Flare: Bahamut hoisteth the enemies to air, then roasts them. Deals non-elemental damage.

Phoenix

Found on the top of Fort Condor after the final battle for the Huge Materia.

Phoenix
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	180	Magic:	+02	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:	Fire	MagicDef:	+02	Level 2:	30,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-10%	Level 3:	80,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+10%	Level 4:	140,000 AP
				Level 5:	200,000 AP

Phoenix Flame: Fries the enemies with phoenixfire (Fire-type damage). If any of the party members are down, they are recovered to full health (all status effects stay); Life2 is cast on all party members.

Hades

Found in the sunken Gelnika.

Hades
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	150	Magic:	+04	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:		MagicDef:	+04	Level 2:	35,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-10%	Level 3:	120,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+10%	Level 4:	150,000 AP
				Level 5:	250,000 AP

Black Cauldron: Causes damage as well as several status ailments on the enemy.

Typoon

Found high in the branches in the Ancient Forest near Cosmo Canyon.

Typoon
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	160	Magic:	+04	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:	Wind	MagicDef:	+04	Level 2:	35,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-10%	Level 3:	120,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+10%	Level 4:	150,000 AP
				Level 5:	250,000 AP

Disintegration: Quite a typhoon. Causes Wind-type damage.

Bahamut ZERO

You need to have Bahamut and Neo Bahamut materias, as well as the Huge Blue Materia. Touch the Huge Blue Materia in Bugenhagen's laboratory to get Bahamut ZERO.

Bahamut ZERO
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	180	Magic:	+04	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:		MagicDef:	+04	Level 2:	35,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-10%	Level 3:	120,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+10%	Level 4:	150,000 AP
				Level 5:	250,000 AP

Tera Flare: I say, Bahamut fries the site from the orbit. It's the only way to be sure. Non-elemental damage as well.

Knights of Round

Found on the Round Isle, in the northeastern corner of the world. It is not marked on the map. This island cannot be landed on, so you will need a Golden Chocobo to access it.

Knights of Round
Details		Equip effects		Growth
MP Cost:	250	Magic:	+08	Level 1:	0 AP
Element:		MagicDef:	+08	Level 2:	50,000 AP
		MaxHP:	-10%	Level 3:	200,000 AP
		MaxMP:	+20%	Level 4:	300,000 AP
				Level 5:	500,000 AP

Ultimate End: The jolly lot of Camelot, the 13 knights of the round table, come forth from some mystical realm or other. Each knight, in turn, smashes each of the enemies for ludicruous amount of damage (up to 9999 points each, for a grand total of up to 129,987 points of damage, not accounting for armor and other protections). Each of these attacks has different damage type.

Master Summon

Can be obtained by getting each of the other Summon Materias to master level and touching the Huge Red Materia in Bugenhagen's laboratory. Alternatively, it can be obtained by defeating the Emerald Weapon and trading the Earth Harp on Kalm.

Materia/Magic Materia

The magic materia is green. Usually, it has 3 to 5 levels (stars), and each time the materia gains a level, it's possible to use a new spell, with the first being equivalent to slight tickling, the second being the one you use most, and third one being the one that kills everything dead (or heals everyone alive or something). There are a few exceptions like Ultima. The first star filled at the beginning and the last star being filled means the materia is mastered, thus depending on the stars the materia can usually have 2 to 4 spells - in Ultima's case, only one.

The materia is here divided quite arbitrarily to Black and White magic; this division is more of a traditional Final Fantasy thing and isn't used in the games as such. Also, the Black magic is divided to Elemental and Non-Elemental attacks.

Black magic

Elemental and quasi-elemental spells

Earth

Earth

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

Quake

6

Earth element attack

6,000 AP

Quake2

28

Earth element attack

22,000 AP

Quake3

68

Earth element attack

40,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Fire

Fire

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

Fire

{{{mpcostl1}}}

Fire element attack

? AP

Fire2

{{{mpcostl2}}}

Fire element attack

? AP

Fire3

{{{mpcostl3}}}

Fire element attack

? AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Gravity

The Demi spells cause a lot of damage (particularly to fliers), but are not too accurate. Also, most bosses are nearly immune to Gravity effects as well.

Effective against Emerald Weapon when used with W-Magic or Quadra Magic.

Gravity

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

? AP

Demi

14

Gravity-based attack. HP at 3/4

? AP

Demi2

33

Gravity-based attack. HP at 1/2

? AP

Demi3

48

Gravity-based attack. HP at 1/4

40,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Ice

Ice

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

? AP

Ice

4

Ice element attack

? AP

Ice2

22

Ice element attack

? AP

Ice3

52

Ice element attack

? AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Lightning

Lightning

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

? AP

Bolt

4

Lightning element attack

? AP

Bolt2

22

Lightning element attack

? AP

Bolt3

52

Lightning element attack

? AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Poison

Poison

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

? AP

Bio

8

Poison element attack

? AP

Bio2

36

Poison element attack

? AP

Bio3

80

Poison element attack

38,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Non-elemental spells

Comet

Can be obtained from the top floor of one of the houses in the Forgotten Capital.

Comet

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

? AP

Comet

70

Non-elemental attack

? AP

Comet2

110

Non-elemental attack

60,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-02
Vitality	-01
Magic	+02
Magic Def	+01
Max HP	-05%
Max MP	+05%

Contain

Strong magical attacks with different element in each.

Can be obtained from Mideel. Give it greens (Mimett Greens) to the small white chocobo, then scratch it behind the ears.

Note that pairing Contain with All has no effect.

Contain

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

Freeze

82

Very strong Ice magic. Sometimes causes Stop

5,000 AP

Break

86

Very strong Earth magic. Sometimes causes Petrify

10,000 AP

Tornado

90

Wind elemental attack. Sometimes causes Confu

15,000 AP

Flare

100

Fire element attack

60,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-04
Vitality	-02
Magic	+04
Magic Def	+02
Max HP	-10%
Max MP	+10%

Destruct

Mystify

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

DeBarrier

12

Destroys function of any barriers

? AP

DeSpell

20

Makes magic ineffective

? AP

Death

30

Causes sudden death

45,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-02
Vitality	-01
Magic	+02
Magic Def	+01
Max HP	-05%
Max MP	+05%

Mystify

Mystify

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

Confu

18

Confuses opponent

12,000 AP

Berserk

28

Causes opponent to go berserk

25,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Transform

Transform

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

Mini

?

8,000 AP

Toad

?

? AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Ultima

Can be obtained for free by stopping the materia train in Corel in Disc 2. If you fail to stop the train, it can be bought.

Ultima

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

5,000 AP

Ultima

130

Extreme magic attack

100,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-04
Vitality	-02
Magic	+04
Magic Def	+02
Max HP	-10%
Max MP	+10%

White magic

Barrier

Barrier

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

? AP

Barrier

16

Creates a Barrier resistant to physical attacks

? AP

MBarrier

24

Creates a Magic Barrier resistant to magic attacks

? AP

Reflect

30

Can reflect magic spells back up to 4 times

? AP

Wall

58

Creates Barrier/MBarrier simultaneously

45,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-02
Vitality	-01
Magic	+02
Magic Def	+01
Max HP	-05%
Max MP	+05%

Exit

Exit

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

? AP

Escape

16

Lets you escape from battle

? AP

Remove

99

Eliminates opponent from battle

? AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Full Cure

Full Cure materia is obtained from one of the houses in Cosmo Canyon, in Disc 2 or later.

FullCure

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

FullCure

99

Restores entire HP

100,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-04
Vitality	-02
Magic	+04
Magic Def	+02
Max HP	-10%
Max MP	+10%

Heal

Heal

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

Poisona

3

Heals Poison

? AP

Esuna

15

Cures unusual status

? AP

Resist

?

Makes you resistant to tranformation

? AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Restore

Restore

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

Cure

5

Restores HP

? AP

Cure2

24

Restores HP

? AP

Regen

30

Gradually restores HP

? AP

Cure3

64

Restores HP

40,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Revive

Revive

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

Life

34

Restores life

45,000 AP

Life2

100

Restores life and entire HP

55,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Seal

Seal

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

? AP

Sleepel

?

? AP

Silence

?

? AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-01
Magic	+01
Max HP	-02%
Max MP	+02%

Shield

Shield

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

0 AP

10,000 AP

Shield

180

extreme magic defense

100,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-04
Vitality	-02
Magic	+04
Magic Def	+02
Max HP	-10%
Max MP	+10%

Time

Time

Growth

Spell

MP Cost

Description

? AP

Haste

18

Increases speed

? AP

Slow

20

Decreases speed

? AP

Stop

34

Stops all movement

42,000 AP

Equip Effects

Strength	-02
Vitality	-01
Magic	+02
Magic Def	+01
Max HP	-05%
Max MP	+05%

Master Magic

The Master Magic materia basically gives you all the abilities of all the magic materias. It can be gotten either by defeating Emerald WEAPON and trading in the Earth Harp at Kalm, or by mastering all the magic materias and trading them for the Master Magic materia at Cosmo Canyon (if you managed to save that Huge materia anyway). The Master Magic materia can be linked to and "All" or a "Quadra Magic" materia to give all spells the effect of the support materia.

Materia/Support Materia

Many of the materia slots in weapons and armor are joined with others. Blue Materia placed into these coupled slots give an added bonus to the materia it is joined with.

There are thirteen different Support Materia in the video game. It takes 1845000 AP to master one blue materia per type; no "master support" materia exists.

In the tables below, Command "main-7" materia refers to the seven materias listed here; these materias are the same ones that have to be mastered in order to get the Master Materia:

Steal
Sense
Throw
Morph
Deathblow
Manipulate
Mime

Materia list

Modifying linked materia effect

Materia Name	Properties	Effects with Maturity	Supported Materia
All	Allows supported materia, which would normally target only one character, to target entire parties.	One use Two uses Three uses Four uses Five uses	Magic: Barrier, Destruct, Earth, Fire, Gravity, Heal, Ice, Lightning, Mystify, Poison, Restore, Revive, Seal, Time, Transform; Master Magic Summon: none Command: none
HP Absorb	When supported materia damages an opponent and equal amount of HP is absorbed by user.		Magic: all Summon: all Command: "main-7", Master
MP Absorb	Supported materia returns 1% of inflicted damage to user as MP. Effect reversed if target is healed.		Magic: all Summon: all Command: "main-7", Master
MP Turbo	Uses extra MP but increases the effect of supported materia.	+10% +20% +30% +40% +50%	Magic: all Summon: all Command: none
Quadra Magic	Uses supported materia four times at random targets (or globally if effect permits) with a 2/5ths loss in effectiveness for each time the effect is used.	One use Two uses Three uses Four uses Five uses	Magic: all Summon: all except Knights of Round Command: none CANNOT be used with: All, Mega All

Affecting equipment

Materia Name	Properties	Effects with Maturity	Supported Materia
Added Effect	Equipped to weapon: adds associated status effect of supported materia to attack. Equipped to armor: defends against said status effect.		Magic: Contain, Destruct, Mystify, Poison, Seal, Time, Transform Summon: Choco/Mog, Odin, Hades Command: none
Elemental	Equipped to weapon: adds associated elemental effect of supported materia to physical attacks. Equipped to armor: defends against element; if linked to a non-elemental materia in the armor, it protects from "hidden element" attacks, i.e. some special attacks of the enemies.	(Applies only to defense) Halves damage from element Nullifies damage from element Heals instead of get damaged by element.	Magic: all Summon: all Command: Steal Independent: "attribute-plus"

Adding extra action

Materia Name	Properties	Effects with Maturity	Supported Materia
Steal as Well	Attempts to steal items from target when supported materia is used.		Magic: all Summon: all Command: "main-7", Master
Added Cut	After using linked materia, attacks physically the same target or a random single target if global effect.		Magic: all Summon: all Command: "main-7", Master
Final Attack	Linked materia is automatically used when the character is knocked out. If linked to Revive or Phoenix materia, user is revived whenever he/she is knocked out.	One use Two uses Three uses Four uses Five uses	Magic: all Summon: all Command: "main-7", Master
Sneak Attack	Chance of attacking with supported materia prior to first round of combat.	+20% +35% +50% +65% +80%	Magic: all Summon: all Command: "main-7", Master
Magic Counter	Chance of counter attacking with supported magic or summon materia.	+30% +40% +60% +80% +100%	Magic: all Summon: all Command: none
Counter	Chance of counter attacking with supported command materia.	+30% +40% +60% +80% +100%	Magic: none Summon: none Command: "main-7", Master

Materia locations

It may be useful to know how early any materia can be obtained, possibly for free.

Disc 1, part 1 (Midgar):

All (Beginner's Hall in Sector 7 , RedXIII comes with one)
Elemental (Shinra H.Q.)

Disc 1, part 2 (land travels):

Added Effect (Cave of Gi)

Disc 1, part 3 (sea travels):

HP Absorb (Wutai)
MP Absorb (Wutai)
Added Cut (Great glacier)
MP Turbo (Whirlwind Maze)

Disc 2:

Final Attack (Gold Saucer)
Sneak Attack (Gold Saucer)
Magic Counter (Gold Saucer)
Quadra Magic (near Mideel)
Steal as Well (Wutai)

Disc 3:

Counter (Northern cave)

Materia/Command Materia

The Yellow Materia equips new commands to use during battle. Some types of yellow materia will gain new abilities as they mature.

There are thirteen different Command Materias in the video game.

Materia list

Support

Materias that do not affect enemies directly.

Mime: Duplicates the last battle action performed by a party member without consuming MP or items. Limit Breaks cannot be mimed by characters other than the one who owns the limit, but every other battle action including counter attacks and defend can.
W-Item: Allows user to utilize two items from inventory at once. (See also: Item duplication cheat)
W-Magic: Allows user to cast two magic spells at once.
W-Summon: Allows user to cast two summon spells at once.

Debuff

Materias that target enemies but deal negligible or no damage.

Manipulate: Allows user to take control of an opponent and use up to three of their battle commands. While manipulated, a target's dexterity falls to negligible levels. Control will be broken as soon as the target takes physical damage. This is the only way to learn several Enemy Skills, though it does not work on all enemies.
Morph: Causes physical damage with reduced attack power on equipped weapon below 500 points. If the attack kills the enemy, the enemy becomes an item.
Sense: Allows user to see the stats (lvl., HP, MP, etc.) of a target. Not all enemies can be scanned.
Steal: Has the following abilities:

Steal: Attempt to steal an item from a single target.
Mug: Takes the place of Steal of the command list when matured. Causes physical damage to a single target when attempting to steal an item.

Attack

Materias that deal damage to enemies.

Deathblow: Either kills enemy (dealing double damage) or misses. Effective on weakened enemies only.
Double Cut: Has the following abilities:

2x Cut: Attacks one target twice in a single round.
4x Cut: Takes the place of 2x Cut on command list when matured. Attacks four enemies in succession.

Slash-All: Has the following abilities:

Slash-All: Attacks all enemies simultaneously. Attack is reduced to approximately 2/3 of normal and back row defenses still apply.
Flash: Replaces Slash All on command list when matured. When successful, causes Death to all enemies.

Throw: Has the following abilities:

Throw: Throws an item from inventory at a single target for damage.
Coin: Throws coins at a single target for damage. 1,000gil = 100HP of damage.

Enemy Skill: Learns the following enemy abilities and allows the player to use those abilities once they have been used against him/her:

L5 Death: Causes Death to a single target on one side of the battle screen if its experience level is divisible by five.
Laser: Halves the HP of a single target.
Magic Breath: Causes lightning-, ice-, and fire-elemental damage to all targets on one side of the battle screen.
Magic Hammer: Causes damage to and absorbs up to 100MP from a single target.
Matra Magic: Shoots magical missiles toward all targets on one side of the battle screen.
Pandora’s Box: Causes physical damage to all targets on one side of the battle screen.
????: Causes physical damage to a single target based on the Max HP - Current HP of the user.
Roulette: Randomly causes Death to a random target on either side of the battle screen.
Shadow Flare: Causes non-elemental magic damage to all targets on one side of the battle screen.
Trine: Causes lightning-elemental damage to all targets on one side of the battle screen.
White Wind: Restores all targets on one side of the battle screen with HP based of user’s current HP, and heals all status effects.

Angel Whisper: Revives a knocked out target with full HP and no status ailments.
Aqualung: Causes water-elemental damage to all targets on one side of the battle screen.
Bad Breath: Causes random status effects to all targets on one side of the battle screen.
Beta: Causes fire-elemental damage to all targets on one side of the battle screen.
Big Guard: Casts Barrier, Mbarrier, and Haste on all targets on one side of the battle screen.
Chocobuckle: Attacks target with damage proportionate to the number of times the user's party has fled from battle.
Death Force: Makes target immune from instant Death.
Death Sentence: Gives target a sixty second countdown to instant Death.
Dragon Force: Increases Vitality and Magic def. stats of a single target.
Frog Song: Gives Toad and Sleep status effects to a single target.
Goblin Punch: Causes physical damage to single target. Damage multiplies if target and user are of equal experience level.
L4 Suicide: Lowers the HP of, and gives the Mini status effect to, all targets on one side of the battle screen with an experience level divisible by four.

Materia location

It may be useful to know how early any materia can be obtained. This list also includes the Blue "Counter" Materia and two accessories, Hypnocrown and Sneak Glove, because they only affect Command Materia.

Disc 1, part 1 (Midgar):

Steal (sewers)
Sense (on Nanaki)
Enemy Skill (n.1, Shinra H.Q.)

Disc 1, part 2 (land travels):

Throw (on Yuffie)
Enemy Skill (n.2, Junon)
Manipulate (on Caith Sith)
Deathblow (Gongaga)

Disc 1, part 3 (sea travels):

Morph (Temple of the Ancients)
Enemy Skill (n.3, Forgotten Capital)
[Hypnocrown (Forgotten Capital): it upgrades Manipulate materia]

Disc 2:

[Sneak Glove (Midgar Sector 5): it upgrades Steal materia]
Enemy Skill (n.4, Chocobo Sage's)
Mime ([[../../Appendices/Chocobos|materia cave]] near Wutai)
Slash-All (Ancient Forest)
W-Summon (Gold Saucer)
Double Cut (Sunken Gelnika)
W-Item (Midgar)

Disc 3:

W-Magic (Northern Crater)
[Counter materia (Northern Crater)]

Master Command

The Master Command materia combines the Deathblow, Manipulate, Mime, Morph, Sense, Steal, and Throw Command Materias, allowing the user to equip all seven command abilities with a single Materia. It can be obtained by mastering all seven Command Materia and then combining them with the yellow Huge Materia. A second Master Command Materia can be obtained by defeating Emerald Weapon.

It takes a total of 430000 AP to master the seven yellow materias necessary for the Master Command, i.e. less than half of the AP required to obtain the Master Magic (1029000 AP) or one sixth of the AP required for the Master Summon (2535000 AP) materia. Just for curiosity, 1050000 AP total are required to master the remaining five yellow materias.

Set A	Set B
Can be linked to Support Materia Necessary for the Master Command Materia	Cannot be linked to Support Materia Not necessary for the Master Command Materia
Mime Manipulate Morph Sense Steal Deathblow Throw	W-Item W-Magic W-Summon Double Cut Slash All Enemy Skill

Materia/Independent Materia

Purple Materia acts independently and is generally very specialized in its use. All effects increase as materia matures.

There are seventeen different types of Purple Materia in the video game.

Materia list

Attribute boosting materia

They only affect the equipped character (except for Gil Plus).

EXP. Plus: Gains extra EXP after winning a battle. Also adds Luck +01.
Gil Plus: Earns extra Gil after battles. Also adds Luck +01.
HP Plus: Increases maximum HP.
Luck Plus: Increases Luck.
Magic Plus: Increases Magic.
MP Plus: Increases maximum MP.
Speed Plus: Increases Dexterity.
HP <-> MP: Switches HP and MP.

Field materia

Chocobo Lure: Attracts chocobos to battle while in their habitat. Also adds Luck +01.
Enemy Away: Decreases chance of random enemy encounters. Also adds Luck +01.
Enemy Lure: Increases chance of random enemy encounters. Also adds Luck -01.

Battle materia

Unless stated otherwise, they affect the equipped character only.

Counter Attack: Counter attacks with physical strike when character is attacked.
Cover: Equipped character will take damage on behalf of ally when they are attacked. Also adds Vitality +01.
Long Range: Allows the strength of a front row attack from the back row. Can also hit flying enemies that are otherwise out of reach. (Note that most of Barret's, Yuffie's and Vincent's weapons are inherently long range so it is pointless to equip this on them.)
Mega All: Changes Attack to Slash-All and allows abilities that would only allow a single target to effect entire parties.
Pre-emptive: Increases the whole party's chance of side-attacks and surprise-attacks. Also adds Dexterity +02.
Underwater: Allows the whole party to breathe underwater, eliminating the twenty minute time limit for the battle with Emerald Weapon.

Materia locations

It may be useful to know how early any materia can be obtained.

Materia	Levels	Max AP	Location
Cover	5	40000	Disc 1, part 1: Aeris' place
Chocobo lure	4	30000	Disc 1, part 2: Chocobo farm
Long range	2	30000	Disc 1, part 2: Mithril mine
MP plus	5	50000	Disc 1, part 2: Cosmo Canyon
HP plus	5	50000	Disc 1, part 2: Cosmo Canyon
Counter attack	5	100000	Disc 1, part 2: Nibelheim
Magic plus	5	50000	Disc 1, part 3: Temple of the Ancients
Luck plus	5	100000	Disc 1, part 3: Forgotten capital
Enemy lure	3	20000	Disc 2: Gold Saucer
Enemy away	3	20000	Disc 2: Gold Saucer
Pre-emptive	5	80000	Disc 2: Gold Saucer
Speed plus	5	100000	Disc 2: Gold Saucer
Gil plus	3	150000	Disc 2: Gold Saucer
Exp. plus	3	150000	Disc 2: Gold Saucer
HP<->MP	2	80000	Disc 2: Corel cave
Underwater	1	0	Disc 2: Kalm traveler
Mega all	5	100000	Disc 3: Northern cave
TOTAL	-	1150000	-

Enemy Skills

Enemy Skills are special attacks used by enemies.

The characters can learn the enemy skills by having the Enemy Skill materia equipped when the monster attacks them. The skill will only appear in the Enemy Skill materia of the targeted character; if the skill hits all characters (like in case of Beta, Aqualung, and many others) the skill will them appear in all materias the party has equipped. The skill can only be learned if none of the other Enemy Skill materias equipped on the character trying to learn it have the skill. Frequently, the most effective way of learning the enemy skill is to use Manipulate on creatures that know the skill. After the skill is learned, they're used by choosing the E.Skill combat option.

Four Enemy Skill materia can be found in the game, more than enough for each member of your party. However, the Enemy Skill materia only stores the spells which have been cast on it, meaning you will have to have each materia learn all the spells you want it to be able to use. The four locations are:

The 67th floor of the Shinra Headquarters, the Containment Room where Hojo was attempting to "breed" Aerith and Red XIII.
The intermediate level training hall in Upper Junon (it's in one of the houses... todo: which one?)
In the room in the Forgotten Capital where you're able to rest, behind the top bed. Enter the house, and choose not to rest here, then examine the end of the bed.
At the Chocobo Sage's house, the green chocobo has it

(Todo: This module is mostly complete, but some of the skills may need expansion. All modules should have the basic information: What it does, where to get it, and what that enemy looks like if in doubt.)

Angel Whisper

Heals all HP and status effects of one target. Also revives if the character's dead. Get from Pollensalta in the Northern Crater.

Aqualung

Causes water damage on all enemies. The most obvious enemy to learn this from is Jenova-LIFE. You can get it as soon as you get the buggy from Harpys in the desert around the Gold Saucer. It's immensely useful for most disk 1 fights after that.

Bad Breath

Recommended The signature attack of Malboros (look like D&D Beholders, just has feet, and a lot of mouths instead of eyes), which in FF7 can be found in Gaea's Cliff. This incredible attack adds the enemies many nasty status conditions.

Beta

Causes fire damage on all enemies. Can be learned from Midgar Zolom (the big snake swimming in the swamp near the chocobo farm).

Big Guard

Essential. Same as Barrier, MBarrier and Haste on party. Look for Beach Plugs (green-brown little crawling squid-like things) near Corel/Gold Saucer/Gongaga region beaches - Manipulate them to get the skill.

Chocobuckle

Does non-elemental damage to a single opponent. Cast L4 suicide on a Chocobo whose level is a multiple of four after feeding it three Mimett greens. These chocobos can be found in the tracks right outside the Chocobo Ranch. The Chocobo enemy skill does damage equal to the amount of times you've escaped from battle. Therefore, if you escape 2,222 times, you can use it on anybody with full HP, and this will engage All Lucky 7's.

Death Force

When Death Force is casted on your party members, it prevents death. Go the one of the beaches near Wutai and fight the big huge turtle (Adamantaimai), then use manipulate.

Death Sentence

Kills an enemy after a countdown of 60 (not necessarily 60 seconds). Can be learnt from Sneaky Steps in the Cave of Gi (one time dungeon in disk 1) or Bound Fat in Corral Valley.

Dragon Force

Raises Physical and Magical defense of one target. Get from Dark Dragons in the Northern Crater.

Flame Thrower

An easy skill to acquire early on, you can learn it from the Ark Dragon in the North-West room of Mithril Mines, or the Dragon in Mt. Nibel.

Frog Song

Induces Sleep and Frog Status to one target. You can learn it from Christophers in the Northern Crater, or any frog enemy in the game.

Goblin Punch

Go to the goblin island, northeast end of the map, the island has a forest on it, encounter a goblin and you can either just fight it or manipulate it.

Laser

Deals damage equal to half targets current HP. Can be learned from Death Claw (Desert Prison) or Dark Dragon (Northern Crater).

L4 Suicide

Causes Near Death and Mini status to all enemies whose level is a multiple of 4. Get from Mu near the chocobo farm. Your own level must be multiple of 4 to learn the skill.

L5 Death

Kills all enemies whose level is a multiple of 5. Get from Parasite in the Northern Crater. Death Force will allow you to learn the skill without suffering the effect. Your own level must be multiple of 5 in order to learn the skill.

Magic Breath

Recommended. Causes multiple different types of elemental damage (Fire, Ice, Lightning) on all enemies. Can be learned from Stilva (Gaea's Cliff) or Parasite (Northern Crater).

Magic Hammer

Recommended. This enemy skill makes the target lose 100 MP and the character gains it. Using this a lot makes some magic-based enemies far less annoying, especially ones that rely entirely on magic.

This can be learned from the Razor Weed, which can be found on the grassy areas of the Wutai continent.

Matra Magic

This enemy skill is a handy one early on in the game since it targets all enemies and does a fair amount of damage. You can learn it from the Custom Sweeper in Midgar, the Death Machine around Junon, or the Bullmotor/Death Machine in the desert prison.

Pandora's Box

Moderate non-elemental damage to entire enemy party. Learn from Dragon Zombie in the Northern Crater.

Roulette

Randomly kills a character or enemy. Learn from Death Dealer in the Northern Crater. To learn, kill one of the Death Dealers (they always come in pairs), manipulate the remaining one, cast Death Force on everyone (including the manipulated Death Dealer) and have it use the skill until all your Enemy Skill materias get it.

Shadow Flare

This will cause massive non-elemental damage to one enemy.

The skill can be learned from Ultima Weapon, Safer Sephiroth, as well as the Dragon Zombie enemy in the Northern Crater Cave.

Ultima Weapon will use it against the character that deals the final blow against it. Equip all your Enemy Skill materias to one character and have that character deal the final blow to learn this skill on all your Enemy Skill materias.

Trine

Causes lighting damage on all enemies. Can be learned from the boss Materia Keeper (Mt. Nibel), the Stilvas (Gaea's Cliff) or Godo (Yuffie's Sidequest - Wutai Pagoda).

Note: This is the only enemy skill that can be missed permenantly. In order to learn this enemy skill on each materia, you must not do Yuffie's sidequest until you have the Highwind. This will allow you to reach Chocobo Sage's hut on the northern continent to get the 4th enemy skill materia.

White Wind

Essential. Cures status ailments and heals each party character for as many hit points the using character has. Can be learned from Zemzelett (green-white bird) in Junon region - the creature has to be Manipulated to use this skill.

????

Deals non-elemental damage equal to damage the caster has taken (max HP - current HP). Get from Jersey in Shinra Mansion (can't manipulate).

Equipment/Weapons

Cloud

Name:	Buster Sword
Attack:	18
Attack %:	96
Slots:	O=O
Growth:	Normal
Location:	Initial Equip.
Cost:	N/A
Other:	Initial Equip. Magic+2.

Name:	Mythril Saber
Attack:	23
Attack %:	98
Slots:	O=O O
Growth:	Normal
Location:	Weapon shop in Kalm.
Cost:	1000
Other:	Magic+4.

Name:	Ultima Weapon
Attack:	100
Attack %:	110
Slots:	O=O O=O O=O O=O
Growth:	None
Location:	Won from Ultimate Weapon when it is hovering over Cosmo Canyon on Disk 3.
Cost:	N/A
Other:	Magic+51. Spirit+51. More damage at higher HPs.

Equipment/Armour

Armour in Final Fantasy VII can be found all over the place. Here is the list of all the armour in the game.

Bronze Bangle

Location: Initially Equipped: Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Aeris start with this Armour
Defense/Def.%: 8/0
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 0/0
Materia Slots: None
Materia Growth: None
Added Effect: None

Iron Bangle

Location: Weapon Store: Sector 7
Defense/Def.%: 10/0
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 2/0
Materia Slots: 1
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Titan Bangle

Location: Weapon Store: Sector 5, Wall Market
Defense/Def.%: 14/2
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 2/0
Materia Slots: 2 (Unlinked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Mythril Armlet

Location: Weapon Store: Wall Market, Kalm
Defense/Def.%: 18/3
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 8/0
Materia Slots: 2 (Linked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Carbon Bangle

Location: Weapon Seller: Costa Del So, North Corel
Defense/Def.%: 27/3
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 14/0
Materia Slots: 2 (Linked), 1 (Unlinked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Silver Armlet

Location: Weapon Store: Cosmo Canyon
Defense/Def.%: 34/4
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 22/0
Materia Slots: 4 (Linked), 1 (Unlinked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Gold Armlet

Location: Store: Rocket Town
Defense/Def.%: 46/4
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 28/0
Materia Slots: 4 (Linked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Diamond Bangle

Location: Store: Bone Village
Defense/Def.%: 57/6
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 37/0
Materia Slots: 4 (Linked), 1 (Unlinked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Crystal Bangle

Location: Store: Mideel
Defense/Def.%: 70/8
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 45/1
Materia Slots: 6 (Linked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Platinum Bangle

Location: Weapon Seller: Costa Del Sol
Defense/Def.%: 20/0
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 12/0
Materia Slots: 2 (Linked)
Materia Growth: Double
Added Effect: None

Rune Armlet

Location: Store: Bone Village
Defense/Def.%: 43/5
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 24/0
Materia Slots: 4 (Unlinked)
Materia Growth: Double
Added Effect: None

Edincoat

Location: Store: Rocket Town (Disc 2/3)
Defense/Def.%: 50/0
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 33/0
Materia Slots: 7 (Unlinked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Wizard Bracelet

Location: Forgotten Capital: Defeat Jenova*Life
Defense/Def.%: 6/3
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 85/3
Materia Slots: 8 (Linked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Adaman Bangle

Location: Wutai Area: Steal from Adamantoise
Defense/Def.%: 93/0
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 23/0
Materia Slots: 2 (Linked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Gigas Armlet

Location: Template of Ancients: Defeat Demon Gate
Defense/Def.%: 59/0
Magic Def./Mag. Def.%: 0/0
Materia Slots: 4 (Linked), 1 (Unlinked)
Materia Growth: Normal
Added Effect: None

Appendices/Chocobos

In the latter half of the game (Discs 2 and 3) it's possible to rent chocobo stables, breed chocobos, and use your own chocobos in Golden Saucer Chocobo Square racing. The earliest point in the game when this is possible is right before getting the third and fourth [[../../Walkthrough/Huge Materias|Huge Materias]].

The special abilities of these Chocobos allow to access Materia caves, which is the only way to get some rare materia.

Special abilities and advantages

There are four special Chocobos:

Blue Chocobos - able to cross rivers
Green Chocobos - able to cross mountains
Black Chocobos - able to cross rivers and mountains
Gold Chocobos - able to cross rivers, mountains and sea

A gold Chocobo will also allow you to get Vincent Valentine's Level 4 Limit Break before you get the submarine, and in turn see the secret "Lucrecia scene". As well as that, you can access the Ancient Forest near Cosmo Canyon before defeating Ultimate Weapon. This area is full of great weapons, as well as the Slice-All materia.

You'll spend a lot of time racing Chocobos if you intend to get a Gold Chocobo. Luckily, this is not only enjoyable, but by the time you get to B/A class you're getting more GP a race than you could get in an hour in Wonder Square. This will allow you to get some of the rare items available from the women in Wonder Square.

Catching Chocobos

Firstly, to catch Chocobos you will need to have the Chocobo Lure materia equipped. You can buy this from Choco Billy at the Chocobo ranch. To improve your chances, level up your Chocobo lure materia as much as possible, and try to get your luck stat as high as possible using Luck Plus materia and the Amulet accessory, which you can purchase at Mideel before it is devasted by lifestream.

Most importantly, you'll need to rent some stables. If you can, get all 6, if not you'll need at least 4. Stables cost 10 000 gil (nothing compared to what you'll be spending on greens) and you can buy them from the ranch owner in the western building. You'll also need enough money to buy about 300 Sylkis Greens from the Chocobo Sage (visit his house located near the Icicle Inn). This will cost you about 1.6 million gil in total.

Once you are set up, find some Chocobo tracks (see the table below). If you're luck is high enough, and you have a good Chocobo lure you should run into a Chocobo 95% of the time. After that, there are basically two methods of catching your Chocobo:

Feed the Chocobo greens to distract it (select greens in the item menu, and then select the Chocobo). Don't bother using anything more expensive than Gysahl Greens. Once the Chocobo is happily eating away dispatch the monsters accompanying the Chocobo however you like. Be careful not to harm the Chocobo, so don't use all magic. You should also be careful, as if an enemy dies and you still have attacks queued up on that enemy you may attack the Chocobo by accident. To avoid this, just attack one monster at a time.
A much more simple way is to use the Odin summon materia. This will kill off all the monsters, but miss the Chocobo.

Once you have killed of the Chocobo's escorts you will get a message saying 'Caught a Chocobo!'. You can then ride the Chocobo around. Once you are finished, press X to get off the Chocobo and when prompted, select 'Send back to the stables'. You can keep up to 4 Chocobos outside the stables before moving them in/releasing them.

Tips for getting the 'right' Chocobo

Firstly, consult the table below to get the right quality of Chocobo. You can tell the class of a Chocobo by the monsters accompanying it.
The gender of the Chocobo is determined randomly when you move it into a stable. So to speed the process up, save the game outside the Chocobo ranch and then if you don't get the gender you want simply reload and try again.

Wild Chocobo Locations

Monsters with Chocobo	Choco Billy's Comment	Quality
1. Chocobo Ranch Area
2 Mandragora	"This one doesn't seem very good"	Poor
1 Mandragora + 1 Levikron	“This one doesn’t seem very good”	Poor
2 Levikron	“I really can't recommend this one”	Weak
2 Elfadunk	“I really can't recommend this one”	Weak
2. Junon Area
2 Capparwire	"This one doesn't seem very good"	Poor
2 Nerosuferoth	"This one doesn't seem very good"	Poor
3 Capparwire	"Mmmm, this one's not bad"	Fair
2 Capparwire (side-view)	"Mmmm, this one's not bad"	Fair
3. Gold Saucer Area
1 Harpy	"This is a pretty average Chocobo"	Average
2 Flapbeat	"This is a pretty average Chocobo"	Average
2 Spencer	"Mmmm, this seems like a good Chocobo"	Good
4. Rocket Town Area
1 Velcher Task + 1 Kyuvildun	"This Chocobo's so-so”	Mediocre
1 Velcher Task	"This Chocobo's so-so”	Mediocre
2 Velcher Task	"This Chocobo's so-so”	Mediocre
2 Valron	"This Chocobo's so-so"	Mediocre
2 Kyuvildun	"This is a great Chocobo"	Great
5. Wutai Area
3 Tail Vault	"This is a pretty average Chocobo"	Average
2 Tail Vault	"This is a pretty average Chocobo"	Average
2 Tail Vault (side-view)	"Mmmm, this one's not bad"	Fair
3 Razor Weed	"Mmmm, this one's not bad"	Fair
6. Mideel Area
3 Headhunter	"Mmmm, this one's not bad"	Fair
2 Headhunter	"Mmmm, this one's not bad"	Fair
1 Spiral	"This is a great Chocobo"	Great
2 Spiral	"This is a great Chocobo"	Great
7. Icicle Area
2 Bandersnatch	"I really can't recommend this one"	Weak
1 Bandersnatch + 1 Jumping	"I really can't recommend this one"	Weak
1 Jumping	"This... is a wonderful Chocobo!"	Wonderful
2 Jumping	"This... is a wonderful Chocobo!"	Wonderful

Racing tips

Even with weak Chocobos you should be able to get through C and B class without having to use manual control. However, you may start to have some difficulty when you get into A and S class or when you go up against Joe and TEIOH.

First off, always hold down R1+R2+L1+L2 throughout the race, this will regenerate your stamina. (for the PC version, hold down PageDown+Target) If you're having trouble winning a race, try racing the Long course (since most Chocobos will let you down on speed rather than stamina). Start of the race by sprinting (hold circle) until you get to around 1/5 stamina left. At this point you should have a comfortable lead, press Square until your Chocobo is going full speed and just run until you get near the end. You'll want to spend whatever stamina you have regenerated at the home stretch, which you means you'll have to judge how far what stamina you have will let you sprint. With this technique I have managed to not only beat any S class race but also beat TEIOH with a Chocobo with just 90 speed and 700 stamina.

On an unrelated note, if you have either Tifa or Cid in your party, they may ask to ride. Whatever you choose, it won't affect your game.

Breeding a Golden Chocobo

There are two ways to get a Golden Chocobo. The first method is to breed one on the Chocobo farm. The disadvantage of this method is that you need to spend a couple of hours at the race track and possibly sell some stuff to fund this. The other method is to defeat the Ruby Weapon to obtain the Earth Harp. Once you are in possesion of this simply take it to the Kalm Trader who will exchange it for a gold Chocobo.

Getting a Golden Chocobo through breeding is actually quite easy - don't let the peoples' talk of this being hard disappoint you, if at all this can get a little bit boring. It just involves tons of resetting and luck manipulation if you want to do this the fast and logical way.

For this, you need:

A lifetime pass to Gold Saucer. Otherwise, this is really going to get expensive. (Plus, you know you are going to be addicted to Super Dunk afterwards anyway.)
A Great Female Chocobo.
A Good Male Chocobo.
A Wonderful Male Chocobo.
Three Carob Nuts. You can steal these from Vlakondrios (the red dragon thing) south of Bone Village.
A Zeio Nut. You can steal these from goblins of Goblin Island (or kill them, all the same...)
Tons and tons of Sylkis Greens. Easily the most troublesome part of this mission: You can buy these from Chocobo Sage (north of Bone Village).
Shoulderbuttons+Start+Select. You'll need to reset often because oftentimes in breeding, you get a completely different beast than you were looking for. Don't worry, the right one will show up one day!

General principles of breeding

The most important issue with breeding is how the gender is determined. Specifically, when the gender is determined - the gender will be completely random. As noted above, the yellow chocobo goodness is determined solely by the monsters that appear around (and some randomness in some case); when you have Great, Good or Wonderful yellow chocobo caught, you can safely let all others go.

Now, the gender of the caught yellow chocobo is determined when they are moved to the stables - not before. The best strategy is thus to save the game outside the stables on the world map, then go talk to Billy, and if you happen to get wrong gender, just reset.

The gender of a bred colored chocobo is determined completely randomly. Thus, the most annoying part of the whole breeding is that often, you not only need to get the color right, but also the gender. Luckily, it doesn't take that long to know the gender, so if you get the wrong one, reset, and hope for the best next time.

Sylkis Greens

Sylkis Greens are the most difficult part of the process to get right. Basically, these are used to boost your chocobo's stats. This isn't necessary, strictly, but it makes getting a gold chocobo far more likely.

Firstly, there are number of theories on what chocobos should be boosted to A-S rank. It's definitely easy to get a gold chocobo with all chocobos at A or S, but some say that only the black female and wonderful yellow male need to be A or S.

Then, the amount. Some say 40 Sylkis Greens is all you ever need (to boost up the black female and the wonderful male). A proven theory is to feed all chocobos greens in bunches of 20 greens every time they lose a long round of racing. (Excluded from this definition of "losing" is losing to Joe and TEIO — beating that pair is nearly impossible without a golden one anyway...) Some say that the best way is to simply feed each of them 99 Sylkis, but that may be serious overkill, because the stats will max after about 40-60 Sylkis fed.

Sylkis Greens are sold by the Chocobo Sage on the northern continent. They cost an arm and leg to get. Many people seem to buy one, then resort to the W-Item cheat to get tons of Sylkis. I abused a lot of Mideel critters and ultimately sold a mastered All materia.

Breeding and racing

Basically, you need to take your Great and Good breeding pair, feed them some Sylkis, then race them on Gold Saucer until they're both class A or S. While this is not strictly necessary, it greatly increases the chances of them producing a special offspring. Two class C chocobos can produce special offspring, but the odds are so low it will likely take hours of trying, failing, and restarting in order to get the desired results.

Either way, you need to breed your Great Female with the Good Male, give them a Carob Nut, and the end result should be either a green or a blue chocobo. The first time you breed these two, it doesn't matter what color/gender combo you receive. The parents won't breed again right away, though, so meanwhile, you should again Sylkis this colored chocobo up and race it to class A or S. Fighting battles seems to help pass the time as well or you can just catch 4 more chocobos (any kind from anywhere) and send them to the stables, you don't need to bring them inside they can just be let go. When the parents are ready to breed again, you need to use another Carob and have them produce another child. Save before entering the farm for this, because you need to make sure and get a chocobo of the opposite gender to the first offspring and the other color (if you first produced a Green Male, you now need a Blue Female). When you get the right combination, again Sylkis and race.

By the time you get both the Blue and Green chocobos up to class A or S they should be ready to breed with each other. Using a Carob nut one last time, you should breed the Green and Blue chocobos to get a Black chocobo. If you've already caught and moved a Wonderful Chocobo into your stalls, make sure the Black chocobo is the correct gender to breed with it. Otherwise, it doesn't matter what the gender is, just go catch a Wonderful chocobo of the opposite gender. Then Sylkis and race both of these chocobos.

Once you have Black chocobo at class A or S, and a Wonderful of the opposite gender at class A or S, breed them with a Zeio nut. The end result should be a golden one (slightly darker than yellow chocobo).

You can Sylkis it too, even if it won't grow much as a result. It should be pretty easy to get to S class with it or even win in S class. But if you can't stand listening to the race music any more times, try going treasure hunting. A lot of cool materia caves await you.

Trivia

This page is, according to the mission statement that once appeared in the main page, "interesting and unusual details, either present in the game as such or discovered by other means". It should be noted that this makes it very much a spoiler zone.

What should go here: Interesting details from the game, big or small, obvious or not. Very persistent rumors. What shouldn't go here: Completely and utterly unsubstatiated rumors believed by nobody. Declaration of details that make you go "duh" when you read them. And, also, glitches and errors for which there is (or should be) a separate page.

Note to editors: Try to keep the things in approximate order they appear in the game.

Notorious Video Game Rumor: Aerith's Resurrection

What follows is a discussion of one of the most well-known plot twists in history of video games. Few subjects on our field seem to have generated more words.

A fact: During this game, Aerith dies. Understandably, this was a really big shock to some players, and they refused to believe such things would happen.

Another fact: Apart of cheating, there's absolutely no way to resurrect Aerith. Not in the Japanese version, not in the US/Euro PS version, not in the Japanese new version, not in the fixed PC version. In short, in none of the versions. This was the intention of the designers - Aerith dies and stays that way until the end. Hironobu Sakaguchi's mother died and he wanted to put something sad in FF7, specifically as a counterpoint to all of the heroic, necessary sacrifices.

There has been tons and tons and tons of rumors to those effect. There have been countless fake theories on exactly how she could be brought back. The most famous one of these was Ben Lansing's theory (or should we say "troll") which he unsuccessfully tried to shoot down when it became a far too popular a rumor.

There are various reasons why it can easily be confirmed that Aerith indeed cannot be resurrected:

The designers really wanted this to happen the way it happens in the game. The actual idea was to include a completely unnecessary and non-dramatic death of a major, sympathetic character.
There's nothing about ways to resurrect Aerith in the game script - you know, the solid, physical file on those game CD-ROMs. The script format (at least for PC version) has been deciphered to the point that dialogue can be extracted. Go check it yourself, with, say, Ficedula's Cosmo.
There are no further FMVs that point to Aerith or any other alternate ending.
Everything related to Aerith happens on the first CD and there's no new junk for her in CD2 or CD3. You can get all of her weapons, the ultimate weapon, and the Level 4 limit break manual on the first CD.

In short, over the years, the game has been pulled apart so many times and nobody has found a trace of Aerith on the latter CDs.

Well, actually, there is something on the CDs: There's a few places where Aerith actually appears onscreen, like any other party character at the time, and says something if you put her back to the party by using a cheat program. Mostly these lines are nothing earth-shattering and could have been as easily dedicated to any of the characters. [3] [4]

Did you notice?

In Shinra building library, Urban development library has two books titled "Midgar city map", for sectors "0-4" and "5-8". Generally Midgar is described as having eight sectors, but this would indicate there are actually nine sectors. This is either a simple flaw, or it could be easily explained that the "rich" part of the city, over the plate, is the "Sector 0".
In Dio's showroom, you find "Kleine's pot"; a reference to Klein bottles which consist of one-sided surface (and, if done properly, are impossible to build in real life, as they have to intersect their own surface without breaking it).
When entering Aerith's church in Midgar in CD2 or later, one can spot Aerith's "ghost". (This is discussed in more detail in the glitch section.)
Most people probably meet Yuffie when Cloud is leading your party, and know that she'll call Cloud a "spikey-headed jerk". However, on CD 2, it's possible to meet her for the first time when either Tifa or Cid is leading the party. She'll call Cid a "bow-legged old man" and Tifa just "boobs".
While Cloud is poisoned by Mako and being taken care of by Tifa, he will allude to a few lines from a song in Xenogears named "Small of Two Pieces - Restored Pieces", and, then mumble the word "Zenogias" in the PSX version of the game and "Xenogears" in the PC version.

Culture references

A poster in Midgar can be seen in the opening movie and some other places. It says "Loveless - My Bloody Valentine". This is a reference to real life's My Bloody Valentine band and album Loveless (though in the game, "Loveless" is also a title of a play).
An excerpt from Joseph Haydn's Creation is heard in the cutscene video where the Sector 7 is destroyed and President Shin-Ra admires his handwork. (The Creation is not the end boss music; many people seem to get these mixed up because "The Creation" appears in the credits and the end fight music does not...)
The lyrics of the music (One-Winged Angel) heard in the game's gigantic big end fight were taken from Carmina Burana - a collection of medieval secular (to say the least) songs, and a Carl Orff's famous composition involving the lyrics from 1937.
Shin-Ra's cannon is emblazoned with the name "Sister Ray". "Sister Ray" is also the last song from the album White Light/White Heat by American rock group The Velvet Underground.

Name meanings

(Should list some of the references here; No need to put every character ever here, but major ones might be a good idea. And no kilometric explanations, please.)

Sephiroth: In Kabbalah, the ten attributes of God through which he projects himself to mortals. for more, see Sephiroth.
Vincent Valentine: Vincent Price, a horror movie actor, and St. Valentine, who died for love.
Barret Wallace: Wallace is probably taken from Scottish Rebeller William Wallace. This makes sense as Barret leads the rebellion group Avalanche.
Heidegger: A reference to German philosopher and Nazi Party member Martin Heidegger.

Glitches and errors

Technically, Final Fantasy VII is not a perfect game. There are few odd glitches here and there - nothing major in this area.

The game also has flaws in story, cutscene videos and graphics. There are also debatable flaws (or are they flaws at all, just some ingenuity from the designers?) in the story; These shouldn't be discussed here but in story analysis section.

Note to editors: Try to keep the things in approximate order they appear in the game.

See also Trivia for possible weird things that are intentional.

Bugs and glitches

W-Item bug

The W-Item materia has a flaw in it. During the combat, if you choose to use an item, then select another item of the same type, but don't actually use it, just cancel the whole thing, you end up with one more item than you started with. This could be used to get tons and tons of megalixirs, greens, etc.

Aerith's ghost

When visiting Aerith's church in the second CD or later, one can spot a "ghost" of Aerith right when entering the room. The ghost will only appear for a split second when visiting the church for the first time.

The debate rages on: Is this a glitch or an intended feature? It is most likely a glitch, on following grounds:

I could have sworn seen several times people appear and disappear mysteriously when entering an area in FF7. My coffee-drugged brain also seems to remember seeing one of the kids in the church teleport mysteriously, so this area may be glitchy by nature.
It is actually possible to enter the church again in Disc 1, before starting to infiltrate the Shin-Ra building and rescuing her. She's ghostin' and poltergeistin' before she even died!
Moreover, if the designers really wanted to make Aerith appear here after her death, they could have done so with a little more noticeable effect. Now, the net effect is more spooky than memorable.

Unless confirmed by Square as an intentional feature, we have to conclude it is just a glitch.

However, no one can deny that this is an appropriate apparition. Let's face it, seeing a brief flashback of poor Aerith by her beloved flower bed is quite touching. It is further made more appropriate by Aerith's appearance in the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, especially the end.

http://img492.imageshack.us/img492/1692/noeraaeris6nn.jpg

Flaws in FMVs

When the party is escaping from Midgar HQ, Tifa and Aeris steal a truck. If you look closely at the text on the side of the truck it says "Midgal" instead of "Midgar".
The most debate-inducing FMV flaw: When Sephiroth descends from the skies, he's bare-handed. When he stabs Aerith, he suddenly has gloves. A simple continuity flaw, or an indication of something more sinister?
When Cloud gives the Black Materia to Sephiroth, it's, um, not black at all. Or pyramid-shaped. It's blue and round. (I don't suppose the game writers think Sephiroth is such a cool guy that he can summon the Meteor with a perfectly ordinary All materia?)
If you go to the Gold Saucer at the beginning of CD 2 (before Cloud recovers), there's still balloons as you enter and fireworks as you leave, even when Gold Saucer itself is closed and music isn't playing.
When the Shin-Ra rocket launches, there's a brief shot of the side of the rocket. It seems to be horizontally mirrored.

General graphics

In the PC version, during the Fort Condor battles distinct Playstation 'X' and 'O' buttons are displayed when interacting during the battles.

Background graphics

Outside of the ropeway station in Corel, a sign says "Amusement Park", but it's in Greek letters.
In Nibelheim reactor, a monster breaks loose from its tank, but when the room is seen the next time, the tank is undisturbed. (Or maybe Cloud just plain remembers it wrong, or was just imagining the monster...) [or maybe it was fixed after the Shinra team and Hojo came, perhaps?]
Sister Ray has its name painted on its side even before it is moved to Midgar and Scarlet gives it that name. You can see this name on the side of the cannon when Tifa escapes the gas chamber.

Geography and paths

Disc 1 ends in a scene in the house with the beds, Disc 2 begins from out door of the other house in the same screen in the Forgotten Capital. (What could they have possibly done in that house?)

Problems in Story

When visiting Gongaga, we spot Scarlet and Tseng looking for a Huge Materia. The odd thing is, you can visit the place any time after escaping from Desert Prison, or in the CD 2. So depending on the context and time you see the cutscene they're looking for either the Black Materia or one of the four Huge Materias, even when they aren't necessarily needing them yet for anything! Either way the scene isn't wrong as such, it's just ambiguous.
No matter when you acquire Vincent in your party, he asks, "If I go with you will I meet Hojo?" and Cloud replies, "Dunno. But we're after him and Sephiroth. So, I guess sooner or later..." Even if you've already killed the guy.
When Cloud is finally rescued, he apologises about lying about his military career and ever reaching SOLDIER. When you go out right after that and talk to Yuffie, he rambles on and on about how he dealt with motion sickness in SOLDIER.

Translation Errors

(Note: Most of the translation bugs were fixed in PC version.)

When Cloud first meets Aerith after he falls through the roof of her church, the young girl tells him he gave her a fright, since he almost fell on her. However, since Japanese being somewhat ambiguous with its lack of any person endings for its verbs, Aerith, still referring to the church, proceeds to give Cloud a good telling-off about how scared she was when the church almost fell on her.
If you talk to the sick man in the slums, Aerith tells Cloud the following: "This guy are sick".
The player can choose "Off course!" or "No, way!" when asked if they want to continue in the Battle Arena in Gold Saucer.

Literature and sources

The expression of "using the sources" is getting a bit vague in a walkthrough - most of the content for this is in the game itself. Most of the gameplay details can easily be figured out from the game itself. Numerical data... well, likewise figurable out from the game, and singular facts aren't even copyrightable, while specific representations and collections of such are.

Anyway, this isn't meant to be strict scholarly work - most of the stuff comes from the game anyway, and there isn't any point in pointing out where any individual facts and numbers have been looked up, be it the game or other walkthroughs. But this isn't meant to be wholesale copyright violation or self-glorification either - it's good courtesy to list what sources have been consulted.

So yes, following sources have been consulted, in no particular order, when composing this guide - please add any of yours if you happen to use them

Final Fantasy VII Player's Manual (PC version).
MacDonald, Chris ("Kao Megura"). FINAL FANTASY VII FAQ v2.2. [5]
Adams, Nick. The Chocobo Manifesto. [6]
Tiddles et al., Caves of Narshe. [7]
O'Day, Steele. Final Fantasy 7 Universe. [8] (Great partial walkthrough with pictures)
Shin-Ra.ru - Shin-Ra Electric Power Company. shinra.ru [9]
Adams, Nick. The Chocobo Manifesto. (Available via gamefaqs.com, not linkable directly)
Final Fantasy Finland. Gold Chocobon kasvatus. [10]
BlueShinra's Final Fantasy Wiki. [11] This wikitext is also Directly appropriatable: "All original (textual) content on this site is copyright-free, and as such, can be altered or modified by anyone (don't take it personally ^_~)." Not that much FF7 content, but very helpful nevertheless.
ff7_gal. FF7OSG: Sephiroth's HP. [12]

History and Contributors

History

The project to build the Wikibook to Final Fantasy VII started in August 18, 2005.

The first CD's walkthrough was mostly complete in December 8, 2005, and the second CD's walkthrough was mostly finished in December 29, 2005. Third CD's stuff was mostly finished in February 16, 2006.

Restored to Wikibooks 15 years later, on June 16th, 2021.

Contributors

The following people have contributed things to the guide to any substantial amount:

Urpo Lankinen, aka wwwwolf: Originator, overall organizing, most of the meat of the walkthrough sections, and generally a lot of small tweaks.
Joey Roe, some story/character background/item/appendix sections, Battle Square, Training
BigCow, filled in some of the enemy skills, I'm playing through the game for the second time on the PC and will try to work on the walkthrough and other sections as they come up. Filled in the "events during the game" section as well, trying to explain the plot in a comprehensible manner.
Kestrel (68.2.151.59) original text of the Ancient Forest.
Aassem, (contributions) (68.150.88.124 for now, contributions) contributed the Motorcycle chase minigame original text, did some work on Wall Market walkthrough (notably the items and chices), and did some Wutai area, Northern Cave area training info on my IP (forgot to log in, darn)

And also a lot of other smaller contributors and other anonymous tweakers, but I think that's all of the people who have so far added much anything. A few anonymous tweakers might get recognition here, though: User:216.170.63.150 for doing Shin-Ra HQ warehouse floor and User:70.118.33.42 for Wutai Pagoda quest. However, if you plan to do any serious contributions to this guide, I really recommend to get an user account. It's easy.

[midgar-1] Jessie: "The top plate is about 50 meters above ground. A main support structure holds the plate up in the center, and there are other support structures built in each section... Each town used to have a name, but no one in Midgar remembers them. Instead of names, we refer to them by numbered sectors.(Final Fantasy VII)

[past-2] Barret: "That's how the Corel Reactor was built.... and completed. We all thought it would bring us an easier life. It happened when Dyne and I were out of town for a few days. Corel was burned down by the Shinra troops. All the townspeople........ All my relatives......... Everyone...... Everything......" / Cloud: "Shinra troops? What for?!" / Barret: "There was an explosion at a reactor. Shinra blamed the accident on the people. Said it was done by a rebel faction."(Final Fantasy VII)

[gongagareactor-3] Studio BentStuff, ed. (2005). Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). Square-Enix. p. 216. ISBN 4-7575-1520-0.

[gongagareactor2-4] Gongaga resident: "It's been a while since the explosion, but you can still find pieces of it left all over town. Shinra built the reactor, without even thinking about the town's safety. And, this is the result. One day, there was a huge explosion. Many townspeople died in it..."(Final Fantasy VII)

[war-5] Elmyra: "Oh... it must have been 15 years ago... ...during the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some far away place called Wutai."(Final Fantasy VII)

[war2-6] Yuffie: "You scared of the Shinra? Then why don't you fall into line and obey them, just like all of the other towns! Those guys are the ones who are really fighting the Shinra!" / Godo: "Shut up! What would you know about this?" / Yuffie: "You get beaten once, and then that's it? What happened to the mighty Wutai I used to know?"(Final Fantasy VII)

[holy-7] Cloud: "...Aerith. Aerith has already prayed for Holy. ... / Cloud: "But...... how about Holy? How come Holy isn't moving?" ... / Bugenhagen: "Something's getting in its way." / Cloud: "......Him...... He's the only one that could do it. ...Sephiroth."(Final Fantasy VII)

[spiritenergy-8] Gast: "Hmm, even here so close to the North Cave, the snow never melts. Is that because the planet's energy is gathered here to heal its injury?" / Ifalna: "Yes, the energy that was needed to heal the Planet withered away the land... then the Planet..."(Final Fantasy VII)

[temple-9] Cloud: "This huge Temple? This is the Black Materia!? Then no one could take it." / Aerith: "Hmm, it's pretty hard. You see this is a model of the Temple. And inside it is a device, which gets smaller each time you solve a puzzle. As the model becomes smaller, you become smaller too. Until it's small enough to fit in the palm of your hand." / Cloud: "So, if we solve the puzzles, the Black Materia will get smaller and smaller and we can take it out?" / Aerith: "Yes, but there's one thing... You can only answer puzzles inside the Temple. So, anyone who solves the puzzle will be crushed by the Temple."(Final Fantasy VII)

[promise-10] Studio BentStuff, ed. (2005). Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). Square-Enix. pp. 214, 580, 586. ISBN 4-7575-1520-0.

[promise2-11] Aerith: "Someday I'll get out of Midgar... Speak with the Planet and find my Promised Land. ...That's what mom said."(Final Fantasy VII)

[promise3-12] Elder Hargo: "There is no one place called the Promised Land. That is what I believe. No no, it does exist. Hmmm... You can say that too. In other words, it doesn't exist for us, but it did for the Ancients. The Promised Land is the resting place of the Ancients. The life of the Ancients is one continuous journey. A journey to grow trees and plants, produce animals, and raise mako energy. Their harsh journeys continued throughout their lives… The place they return to after their long journey… Their burial land is the Promised Land. Huh? Supreme happiness? I believe that, for the Ancients, it was the moment that they were able to return to their planet. At that moment they were released from their fate, and gained their supreme happiness..."(Final Fantasy VII)

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