BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | | \/ B T \ * ~~BTB's Final Fantasy VII FAQ~~ * \ T B /\ | | \/ B T \ * ~Version 1.0~ * \ T B /\ | | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB !#$%^&*!@#$%^&*!@#$*$% * @ % CENSORED VERSION & $ # #!*&^%$#@!*&^%$#@!*$!@ wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ _\ /_ | | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / | | / /\ \ _\ /_ | ~Quick-Naviagate~ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / | | / /\ \ _\ /_ | | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm To get where you're going in a hurry, try Quick-Navigate! Just follow these five easy steps: 1. Highlight the name of the section or subsection that you want to go to in the table of contents (listed below). 2. Press ctrl + C. 3. Press ctrl + F. 4. Press ctrl + V. 5. Press Enter. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ _\ /_ | | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / | | / /\ \ _\ /_ | ~Table of Contents~ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / | | / /\ \ _\ /_ | | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm -------------------- I. Basic Information -------------------- A. Author's Note (Read This!) B. Quick Info C. Statistics & Probabilities D. About Limit Breaks E. The Materia System F. "Lost-Forevers" (Definitely Read This!) -------------- II. Characters -------------- A. Cloud Strife B. Barret Wallace C. Tifa Lockhart D. Aeris Gainsborough E. Red XIII F. Cait Sith G. Cid Highwind H. Yuffie Kisaragi I. Vincent Valentine ---------------- III. Walkthrough ---------------- A. The Rebels of Midgar B. Shinra Co. C. The Eastern Continent D. The Western Continent E. Call of the Ancients F. Adventures in the Frozen North G. A World in Despair H. Reunion & The Final Battles --------------- IV. Side Quests --------------- A. Shinra Mansion's Safe B. Wutai C. The Ancient Forest D. The Gelnika E. WEAPON Battles ----------------- V. Little Secrets ----------------- A. Turtle's Paradise Challenge B. Shinra H.Q., Floor 63 C. The Sleeping Man D. Enlisting Yuffie E. Enlisting Vincent F. Tifa's Piano G. The Back Room H. The Costa Del Sol Weapons Dealer I. Mideel's White Chocobo J. The Key to Sector Five K. Lucrecia's Cave L. Da-Chao Fire Cave M. Benefits of the Huge Materia N. Return to Shinra H.Q. O. Cosmo Canyon Revisited (Again) ------------------ VI. Level-Up Spots ------------------ A. Mideel B. The Final Cave (Marshy Section) C. The Gelnika --------------- VII. Date Night --------------- A. The Factors B. The Dates --------------------- VIII. The Gold Saucer --------------------- A. Cheap Arcade Games (in the Wonder Square) B. Motorcycle Chase (in the Wonder Square) C. Snowboard Game (in the Wonder Square) D. Torpedo Attack (in the Wonder Square) E. The Speed Square F. The Chocobo Square G. The Battle Square H. Odds & Ends of the Gold Saucer ------------------- IX. Chocobo Farmin' ------------------- A. Catchin' 'Em B. Feedin' 'Em C. Trainin' 'Em D. Breedin' 'Em -------------------------- X. The Fort Condor Battles -------------------------- A. The Basics B. Your Troops C. Strategy Session D. The Battles of Fort Condor -------------------- XI. Limit Break List -------------------- ------------------ XII. Materia Lists ------------------ A. Magic (Green) Materia B. Support (Blue) Materia C. Command (Yellow) Materia D. Independent (Purple) Materia E. Summon (Red) Materia --------------------- XIII. Equipment Lists --------------------- A. Weapons B. Armor C. Accessories -------------- XIV. Item List -------------- -------------- XV. Spell List -------------- ----------------- XVI. Summons List ----------------- ---------------------- XVII. Enemy Skill List ---------------------- ------------------ XVIII. Other Stuff ------------------ A. Bonus Cinema B. Tropical Getaway ------------------- XIX. Hints & Tricks ------------------- A. All Lucky Sevens B. Unlimited Rare Items C. Multiple Support Materia Trick D. Item Duplication E. The 3rd Mystile --------------------------- XX. Unconfirmed Info/Rumors --------------------------- -------------------------------------------- Version Info, Credits, & Contact Information -------------------------------------------- BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~I~ ~I~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | I. Basic Information | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~I~ ~I~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. Author's Note (Read This!) | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Thank you for choosing a BTB FAQ. From the name of the section, "Stuff You Definitely Should Know Before Playing", a few things should be apparent. Here, I shall convey useful information about the game itself which is not readily apparent to the player. This is information that would greatly behoove the player to know and does not reveal anything, either story-wise or anything that may give you an unfair advantage while playing (for those of you who hate that sort of thing). In short, it is highly recommended that you look this section over before you begin playing. The walkthrough is the "meat" of the guide, containing in-depth strategies, directions, and so on. The appendices, or in other words all the parts of the walkthrough that are not the walkthrough, contain supplemental information that may be often referenced in the walkthrough. However, take note that during the walkthrough, I generally assume that my reader possesses a basic knowledge of the information found within the appendices, so please keep that in mind when using the walkthrough. Lastly, I must stress that in addition to providing help and information with the game itself in the walkthrough, I also keep a very good running tab on whatever plot may exist, often adding insight and commentary. This is meant to assist you, the reader's understanding of not only the technical aspects of the game, but also the finer details (namely the plot). Many people often say that my various commentary makes the game more enjoyable for them, which is indeed my intent. If you do not wish to partake of my commentary, I most certainly understand, and hope you at least find the answers to your question in the various non-plot-related parts of my FAQ. If, however, your distaste for my writing style leads you to bitch about my "filler-laden" FAQ, then my advice to you is quite simply to go fuck yourself and find something better to do with your time. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. Quick Info | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm The following list is a quick run-off of general things to bear in mind about this game: --- Final Fantasy VII takes place in a 3D world. Sometimes, especially on the more cluttered screens, it may be difficult to see where everything is. If you press the select button, a few things will pop up to aid you, however. A finger will hover above your head to show where you are (useful for keeping track of yourself when your sight is obstructed by something). Green arrows will indicate things that can take you across the screen you are on. For instance, they may point to a vine that you can grab hold of, or a ladder. Red arrows indicate passageways that will take you to another screen. --- While the All materia grants benefits in battle (see section I.E. for more on materia), there may be times when you wish to forgo them. The R or L buttons will toggle your "All" spells between affecting one or all allies/enemies. Also note that All's benefits can also be applied outside of battle, as well. For instance, with a Restore materia linked to an All materia, access the Cure spell from the menu screen. As in battle, L or R will toggle between the spell targeting one or all of your party. --- As far as managing your materia is concerned, equipping and unequipping them via the menu screen is usually adequate. However, there are easier ways to manage large quantities of materia, which is via the "exchange" option (visible on the materia screens). Here, you can exchange materia via any character considered to be a part of your party at the time (note that any character that has been removed from the group will have left his/her materia behind in your inventory). You can exchange materia one-by-one, or you may exchange the entire weapon's/armor's materia from one to another, by clicking on the name of said weapons/armors (the source and destination). They will be placed in exactly the order they came, with any overrun staying with the original character. Finally, an entire character's materia collection may be transferred from one to another, by clicking on the character's names (again, any overrun will stay with the original wearer). --- On the battlefield, your characters may battle from either the front or back row. Characters in the back row do less damage with their physical attacks, but take less damage from physical attacks in return. Note that enemies also have a back row, but it may sometimes be difficult to tell. If you are unsure, press select when over an enemy, and if said enemy is in the back row, it will be noted next to the enemy's name on your information bar. When no more enemies in the "front row" are left standing, the enemies in the back row are moved up to the front (note that this rule does not apply to your party). There is no additional penalty for when a back-row fighter attacks another back-row fighter, and long-range weapons and attacks will do equal damage from any distance. --- All status enhancements and status ailments except for death (and two others mentioned below) shall only last for the duration of the battle (though some status enhancements will wear off during the course of longer battles). These effects will also wear off if a character dies. Also note that any row changes made in battle will also revert at the end of the battle. Lastly, in addition to the "universally recognized" status afflictions (poison, paralyzed, sleep, confusion, berserk, darkness, toad, mini, stop, slow, haste, petrified, and death sentence), are two new status ailments, both of which are exceptions to this rule and shall last until whenever you happen to dispel them, or if the character afflicted with them dies. Sadness is a condition that halves the progress of a character's limit bar (see section I.D. for more on limit bars). Fury, conversely, doubles the progress of the limit bar, but also handicaps one's Attack Percentage. Still fury can be a beneficial condition if you're more concerned with building up your limit bar than in connecting with physical attacks. Aeris, for example can benefit greatly from becoming enraged, especially at limit level four. --- Getting hit in the back really hurts. Whenever the enemy gets the drop on you and attacks from behind or catches you in a deadly pincer attack, watch out, as their attacks are going to be more powerful. On the other hand, this can also work to your advantage when you surround an enemy or happen to catch them from behind. Note that when you are caught from behind, your characters will not turn around until their either attack, or you tap the R & L (run buttons) to turn them around to face their enemies. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. Statistics & Probabilities | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm This is a subject that is mostly limited to RPG's, and deals with the random probabilities of things happening in the game and the statistics that they are based upon. Statistics are important in every RPG, and some other games as well. Unfortunately for us, statistics are a far different thing in every game we have ever played, and they can often be confusing. Below is listed every statistic in the game, how we get it (and/or make it bigger), and what it does (simple enough for ya?): --- HP & MP are self-explanatory stats. They increase at each level up, and are among the two most common stats that are affected by materia (mentioned later in section I.E. of the FAQ). For this reason, even a character with a low MP total can be brought up significantly (albeit usually at the expense of stats like Strength and HP). HP, on the other hand, is one of the stats that usually gets shafted through heavy materia usage, though the prevalence of the HP Plus materia goes far in helping you to alleviate this problem, and will later on help you to give serious HP boosts to your characters. --- Strength refers to a character's natural strength, and is a factor in a character's Attack, which in turn affects damage done by physical attacks. Strength goes up with each level up, and may also be raised via the Power Source item. Strength is one of those stats that is more written in stone than the others are because there is not much you can do to raise it (though a few scattered accessories will raise it a bit). Furthermore, materia will do nothing for this stat except lower it. --- Vitality is a character's natural resilience to physical attack, and is a factor in his or her Defense rating. It goes up as a character levels up, and can also be raised with the Guard Source item. Like Strength, there is not much you can do to raise this stat (except locate an accessory or two, one of which will actually pose a significant boost, but is regrettably rare and will not surface until late in the game). Also like Strength, you'll find that materia generally has a negative effect on your Vitality. Luckily, the effects aren't nearly as bad as they are with Strength, and are only present in the more potent magic materia. --- Dexterity is a character's speed or agility. Faster characters attack first in combat, and can get more attacks in over time. Dexterity goes up with each level up, and it may also be raised with the Speed Source item. Other than that, however, not much can be done to alter this stat, in one direction or another. One accessory out there can give you a boost to your Dexterity, and the Speed Plus materia and grant you large bonuses later on, but that's about it. --- Magic refers to a character's ability with magic, and has a direct affect on a character's Magic Attack. Magic goes up with each level up, and it may also be raised with the Magic Source item. Magic is like MP: there are a gazillion ways you can go about jacking this stat up to ungodly high levels. While there is an accessory that will give you a boost in this department, the usual method for raising one's Magic stat is just to put on some materia, almost all of which you'll find will raise this stat (usually at the expense of HP and Strength, mind you). However, even though you have the capability to take your worst magician and go far in increasing their magical prowess... why would you want to? --- Spirit means a character's resistance to magical attacks, and thus has an impact on Magic Defense. This goes up at level-ups, and can be permanently raised with the Mind Source item. Spirit, unlike Vitality, is a stat which is damn near impossible to alter. There is one accessory which will give you a boost in the Spirit department, and another which will grant you a heavy bonus on it, though the latter is very rare and does not surface until late in the game. --- Luck is a quite common stat in RPG's. It goes up occasionally at level- up, and can also be raised with the Luck Source item. For starters, you should notice that the Luck stat should be pretty even straight across the board with all of your characters. Secondly, it's pretty much going to stay that way. Aside from one accessory which will give you a bonus to your Luck, the only other way to alter it is with the Luck Plus materia, though the Luck Plus materia can eventually be refined to offer a rather big bonus to one's Luck. The exact role of the Luck stat is an enigma, but it is known to have an effect on the frequency of critical attacks. Physical attacks which strike critically do twice the normal amount of damage. --- Attack plays a direct role in how much damage your character deals with a physical attack. The factors that make up a character's Attack stat are their Strength stat and also the equipped weapon. --- Attack Percentage (also known as Hit Rate) is an indicator of how often you can expect a character's physical attacks to hit their intended targets. Usually, this statistic is very close to and often above 100% (to help compensate for the target's Defense Percentage, mentioned below). Unlike Attack, Attack Percentage is a direct result of your equipped weapon --- Defense indicates how much damage one can expect a character to receive from incoming physical attacks. Defense is a result of a character's Vitality and equipped armor. --- Defense Percentage (or Evade, as it is more commonly known) measures how often a character is able to dodge incoming physical attack completely. This is usually quite low, and is a result of whatever armor said character has equipped. --- Magic Attack indicates the level of potency a character will use magic, either direct attack magic or curative magic, so the name is a bit misleading. This statistic is derived from a character's Magic stat. --- Magic Defense is a measure of how much damage taken from magical attacks will be reduced by. This is a result of your Spirit stat and your equipped armor, and can also further benefit from some of the game's more potent materia. --- Magic Defense Percentage (or Magic Evade) indicates how often your character will be able to completely avoid a magical attack altogether. This stat is usually extremely low, and is a result of the armor your character is wearing. --- Each character, as well as a breakdown of their particular statistics are listed in section II. Of the FAQ. Each statistic will be listed as: Very High/Good, High/Good, Average, Low/Poor, or Very Low/Very Poor. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | D. About Limit Breaks | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Limit breaks are a new feature incorporated in Final Fantasy VII (one that actually was introduced somewhat in Final Fantasy VI). Basically, each character in the game has their own unique, powerful "limit breaks", which may (nay, must) be used in lieu of a normal attack when their "limit bar" fills up. Every time your character takes damage from an enemy, the limit bar goes up a little bit (meaning you can't kick your own ass and expect the bar to go up). The more damage taken, the more the limit bar will fill up. The bar fills rather slowly, but it carries over from battle to battle, meaning you can save that kick-ass limit break for the next battle when you'll really need it. Do watch your characters' damage intake, however, as when they die, their limit bars will be depleted. On a separate note, when a character's limit bar fills up, their "time bar" (which determines when their turn will take place) will fill up immediately. However, you only get this effect once, meaning that you can't use their turn to do something else and expect the time bar to shoot right back up. Each character, excepting Cait Sith and Vincent (and I'll mention them a bit later) has four limit break "levels", with each "level" having two different limit breaks, excepting the fourth and final level which will contain only that character's ultimate level break. Each consecutive level has more powerful limit breaks, but each level also will result in a vast increase in the amount of damage that must be taken to bring the limit bar up. For instance, a character set at limit level one will see their limit bar fill up much more quickly than a character whose limit level is set at two. You can set your character's limit level on the menu screen to whichever level you desire, assuming you know at least one limit break in that level. When your character's limit bar fills up, and your character happens to know both limit breaks for the level he or she is on, you may choose between them The exception to this rule is Tifa, another special case I'll mention later on. Characters start the game with only one limit break to their name (the first limit break on the first level, obviously). The rest must be somehow earned throughout the game. The system is a fairly simple one, however. First of all, to earn the second limit break on each level, you must use the first limit break on that level approximately 8 times. After earning your second limit break for each level, you may learn the first limit break for the next level up when the character in question deals the killing blow to approximately 80 enemies. Lastly, the fourth level limit breaks, or the "ultimate" limit breaks for each character may not be learned through conventional means. You must hunt down the item of the same name as their ultimate limit break, and then use it on them (and this may only be done when the character in question has already learned all of his or her other limit breaks). For more information on limit breaks in general, each character's ultimate limit breaks, and references to other points in the FAQ as to the locations of the ultimate limit breaks, refer to section XI. of the FAQ. Limit breaks have a lot going for them. They are generally some of the most powerful attacks in the game, and this effect is magnified by the fact that they generally have a very high critical hit rate (the excepting the special cases Tifa, Vincent, and Cait Sith, for various reasons). Critical hits, as you should know, do twice the normal amount of damage, and when you double an already greatly magnified attack, expect to see some results. Unless otherwise noted, all limit breaks deal physical damage rather than magical. Limit breaks also all have the advantage of being long-range attacks. Lastly, I must mention the special cases. Vincent, to begin with, has only one limit break for each level. In his case, the requirement to use each limit break 8 times to earn the next limit break is dropped, and his requirements are solely to kill 80 enemies to attain the next level's limit break. The way his limit breaks work are also a lot different. Rather than presenting themselves as a single attack, Vincent's limit breaks instead transform him into a powerful, uncontrollable creature, who will attack the opposition with a specific set of given attacks. As an added bonus, when and if he is defeated in these forms, he will simply revert back to normal rather than dying outright. Refer to section XI. of the FAQ for more information on Vincent's individual limit breaks. Next, Cait Sith. Cait Sith, like Vincent, has only one limit break per level, but unlike the other characters, Cait Sith only has two limit break levels. What this means is that all Cait Sith must do to attain his second and final limit break is kill 80 enemies. Cait Sith is also the only character that has no ultimate limit break. Lastly, Tifa has all of the normal levels and amounts of limit breaks, but she does not use them separately. Rather, she uses them all together as one big attack that gets bigger and bigger with each consecutive limit break learned (though the number of attacks she will utilize are still limited to the current limit break level she is set to). The disadvantage to Tifa's attacks are that when you go to use them, the slots will start spinning. There will be one slot for each limit break she has, and you can stop each slot on either "hit", "miss", or "yeah". Yeah attacks do about twice the damage of a hit, while missed attacks will not connect at all. For more information on Tifa's individual limit breaks, refer to section XI. of the FAQ. I must mention, however, that even though she uses all of the attacks at once, she must still be set to the proper level to earn credit towards her second limit break for that level (for instance, she must use her level two limit break 8 times to earn the second limit break for that level as opposed to using the level three limit break 8 times, even though the level two limit break would be used in conjunction with it). wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | E. The Materia System | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Materia is another system new to Final Fantasy VII. Materia, for all practical purposes, is the heart of the game's battle system. Without materia, your battle commands are pretty much limited to fight, item, and limit breaks. Materia is equipped, just as weapons and armor are. However, materia is "equipped" to "slots" in your characters' weapons and armor. Each weapon and piece of armor in the game has a certain number of slots that materia may be equipped to. In addition to this, the slots may either be "linked" or "unlinked", and each weapon and piece of armor also has a different "growth rate" for materia. These will both be explained momentarily, but first, on to the basics of materia. You see, materia, much like your characters, gain a type of experience, called "ability points". Each materia retains its own ability points, regardless of which character earns them, and may be transferred freely. Ability points are never lost, but remain only with that materia, just as with experience for your character. The character equipped with the materia must also survive the battle for the ability points to be earned. In addition, the piece of weaponry or armor also has an effect on ability points that are applied to the materia in question. Specifically, this refers to the equipment's "growth rate", as mentioned above. Some weapons and armor, for instance, have a growth rate of two, meaning that the materia equipped to it will receive twice the amount of ability points as you earn in battle. Some extremely rare pieces even have a growth rate of three, which triples the ability points for equipped materia. Conversely, some equipment has a growth rate of zero, meaning that equipped materia will receive no ability points. However, the majority of the game's equipment has a growth rate of one. Anyways, when certain levels of mastery (in the form of ability points) are earned, the materia "gains a level". These levels are represented by stars on the materia's information screen. Each materia has a certain number of "levels" that is can reach, and has a star for each level. As materia levels up, it will generally convey greater benefits to the user. Furthermore, when a materia reaches its final level and is considered "mastered", and a brand new materia of the same type is "born" and placed in your inventory. "Born" materia are brand new and have no ability points; mastered materia, having reached their ultimate level of achievement, no longer gain ability points. As for the advantages conveyed by the materia at higher levels, as well as the potential number of levels for said materia, both are generally dependent on the type of materia you are using. And keep an eye out for them as you travel! The better half of your magic materia and a few of your independent materia are purchased in shops (some command materia is sold, as well, but if you play your cards right, you should never have to buy any). Other than that, however, all of the game's materia are found just lying around, and the vast majority are not in chests (they just lie around in the open). As the game further progresses, they are hidden in less and less conspicuous spots, so keep your eyes peeled. It is especially important that you keep a vigilant watch out for materia because, as discussed in section I.F. of the FAQ, a number of rare materia are also lost-forevers. There are five types of materia, and each has different uses and applications: --- Magic materia is the first and generally most prevalent form of materia. Magic materia is green, and will grant magic spells to the character who equips it. At higher levels of mastery, more potent spells may be unlocked from the materia. For instance, the Ice materia will grant the Ice spell to the user at it's initial first level. When the materia levels up, however, it will also grant the Ice 2 spell to that character (in addition to the Ice spell). Magic materia will lower a character's Strength and HP when equipped while it raises their MP and Magic stats. More potent magic materia will also raise a character's Magic Defense stat at the expense of Vitality. Magic materia will generally have three or four levels of mastery, though some have five. Note that among those magic materia with only three levels of mastery are single-spell materia that will not yield their lone spell to the user until the second level of mastery has been reached. Another note is that mastered magic materia will never convey any further benefits than an identical magic materia that has reached the next highest level before mastery. Magic materia are discussed in further detail in section XII.A. of the FAQ. The spells they grant you, however, are discussed in section XV. of the FAQ. Note that all magic materia, unless otherwise noted, is compatible with the support materia, All. --- Support materia is also a common form of materia, mainly because a certain materia in the group (called All) is pretty much the single most prevalent materia in the entire game. Support materia is blue in color, and does not function on its own. Rather, it conveys its benefits to other materia via "linked" slots in your weapons or armor. "Linked" slots are two materia slots that are joined together, and are present in most weapons and armor. "Unlinked" slots have nothing joining them together. For a support materia to function, it must be placed in one of the linked slots next to another materia. Linked slots have no effect on two joined materia if neither is a support materia. Also, for obvious reasons, two support materia linked together or support materia placed in unlinked materia slots will prove quite worthless in battle. In addition, support materia has no effect on independent materia (mentioned later). Anyways, using support materia is a rather simple process. Simply "link" it to whichever materia you desire. For instance, the All materia allows the spells of the magic materia it is linked to to affect all enemies or all allies on screen rather than a lone target. When you link an All materia to an Ice materia (which grants you the Ice spell), for instance, you will now have the ability to cast Ice on all of your enemies. Conversely, the Restore materia grants you the Cure spell, and linking it to an All materia will give you a Cure spell that affects all of your allies. On the negative side of things, support materia is usually severely restricted in its uses. And oftentimes, when you find yourself thinking "hey, that would kick so much ass if I linked this to this!", it usually won't work. For more information on the limitations of specific support materia, refer to section XII.B. of the FAQ. Anyhoo, support materia will either have two or five levels of mastery. The lone exception to this rule (isn't there always an exception?) is the Elemental materia, which has four levels of mastery. For more information as to the bonuses granted by specific support materia, refer to section XII.B. of the FAQ. On a final note, support materia has no effect on a character's statistics. --- Command materia isn't as common as magic or support materia, but there are still a number of them to be obtained. Command materia is yellow, and each will grant a different command to your character in battle, such as "Steal" or "Manipulate". At higher levels of mastery, the command will sometimes "evolve" into a better command (command materia will only have two or three levels, and only those with three levels will "evolve"). Steal, for instance, will become Mug at level two. So, in the end, each command materia will grant you only one command (the lone exception to this rule is the Throw materia). Then there's the E. Skill materia, which is a very special case in many ways. Anyways, command materia shares a characteristic with magic materia in that mastered command materia will never convey any further benefits than an identical command materia that has reached the next highest level before mastery, so command materia that do not "evolve" into a better attack, such as Manipulate or Sense, will garner no benefits from advancing in level (likewise, "evolved" attacks will never get any better than they already are). Command materia oftentimes will give a small boost to a certain stat, but the gains are extremely minimal and are more of a nice little bonus than anything. Specific command materia are covered in detail in section XII.C. of the FAQ. --- Independent materia are more common later in the game than in the earlier parts. Independent materia are purple, and function a bit differently than other materia. They will not give you attacks, commands, spells, et cetera. Rather, independent materia will offer large statistical boosts or other useful abilities to the user. For instance, the Long Range materia allows a character wielding a short-range weapon to attack as if it were a long-range one. Another example, the HP Plus materia offers an HP boost to the user. Independent materia varies widely in the levels of mastery available, ranging from two to five (though one special materia has only one). Any independent materia with only two levels of mastery will see no benefits gained at level-up, but all others will convey increased bonuses clear up until mastery. For more information concerning the benefits conveyed by specific independent materia, refer to section XII.D. of the FAQ. Lastly, as mentioned above, independent materia is for obvious reasons non- compatible with support materia. --- Summon materia, like independent materia, is hard to come by earlier in the game, and is generally much more prevalent later on. Summon materia is like magic materia in a way, except that it offers your character a "summon" attack that will call the materia's namesake to battle. The Shiva materia, for instance, allows you to summon Shiva. Summons are generally extremely powerful attacks that target all enemies, but take their tolls in high MP costs, for the most part. They are ideal attack to use against large groups of enemies, because they are not only powerful, but also will not lose any damage to an All materia, as would be the case with most magical attacks. But whipping out a summon on just one or two enemies is usually more or less a flagrant waste of your MP. Also, all summon materia have five levels of mastery. And, for each level, you can use said summon command an additional time in a given battle (though you should find it quite rare that a single summon attack will not quickly bring most normal battles to an end). Summon materia also shares the statistical applications of magic materia (that is, it will raise MP, Magic, and possibly Magic Defense at the expense of HP), with the exception that they will not affect your Strength or Vitality stats, thank God. Summon materia themselves are discussed in section XII.E. of the FAQ, while the summon attacks are detailed in section XVI. of the FAQ. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section I: Basic Information|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | F. "Lost-Forevers" (Definitely Read This!) | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_______________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section I: Basic Information|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm In most games, normally RPG's, there are an abundance of things to collect, acquire, do, find, and see. While most of these can usually be done at your leisure, this section is dedicated to helping you find certain things that can no longer be done after a certain point within a game: * The entirety of the events described in section VII. of the FAQ fall into the category of lost-forevers. While not being actual tangible objects that you can acquire, you still only get one shot at one of four possible outcomes. This is determined through a series of events scattered throughout the early game that are mostly one-shot deals in themselves. * The Iron Bangles sold at various shops in Midgar are lost-forevers in a sense, as after reaching section III.C. of the walkthrough, you will no longer be able to purchase them. * The All materia in the Sector Seven Slums is a lost-forever. You must collect it before leaving the Sector Seven Slums. * One of the flyers you need to find to win the Turtle's Paradise contest (refer to section V.A. of the FAQ for more details) is a lost-forever. You must find flyer #2 while at Shinra H.Q. If you miss it the first time around, you've got one more chance to find it. Refer to section V.N. of the FAQ for more on that. * The Elemental materia that you receive from Mayor Domino (on the 62nd floor of Shinra H.Q.) is a lost-forever. Basically, you have one chance to get it, as mentioned in the walkthrough. Failing that, you will not receive the materia. * The All materia on the 63rd floor Shinra H.Q. is a lost-forever. The Star Pendant and Four Slots armor found here are also lost-forevers, but may be found elsewhere. At any rate, not only must you collect these during your first trip to Shinra H.Q., you're also barred from making further attempts to go for other items once you've collected, so you must grab the coupons for the items you want on one trip. For more information, refer to section V.B. of the FAQ. * The E. Skill materia located on the 68th floor of Shinra H.Q. is another lost-forever. You've gotta grab it before leaving. * Though not neccissarily a lost-forever, there are only two Chocobo Lure materia, and they do, in fact, come in handy later in the game. So, for the love of God, don't sell the Goddamn thing. And if for some reason you sell the first, don't sell the second one. Or ingore my advice, I don't care. * The battles at Fort Condor are laden with lost-forevers. For more information, refer to section X. of the FAQ, but of worthy mention are the items of note that may be lost forever at Fort Condor: the Magic Comb, Peace Ring, Megalixir, Vagyrisk Claw, Imperial Guard, Phoenix materia, and finally one of the four Huge Materia. Some of these, namely the Magic Comb and Super Ball, actually may be purchased later on, but so late that it's almost pointless to buy them. * The Shinra Beta armor is a lost-forever. You can steal as many as you want from the Marines on the Shinra Boat, but only while you're still aboard. * The All materia and Wind Slash, both found on the Shinra Boat, are lost- forevers. Note that if Yuffie has joined you, you will be unable to collect the All materia until the party regroups. Also note that the Wind Slash cannot be found until the party regroups, so don't go nuts looking for it before then. Note that you may buy the Wind Slash later on in the game, but far too late to be useful to you at that point. Anyways, you must collect both before leaving the boat. * The Ifrit materia is a lost-forever. You must collect it before leaving the room where you battled Jenova-BIRTH. * The Four Slots sold at Costa Del Sol are lost-forevers, as they will cease being sold later in the game. * The Wizard Staff at Mt. Corel is a lost-forever. You must get it during one of your three possible falls off of the tracks. Note that the Star Pendant, also found down here, is also a lost-forever, but can be located elsewhere. * The Parasol is a lost-forever that must be won from the Speed Square at the Gold Saucer before going to the Temple of the Ancients (later in the game). * The Ramuh materia is a lost-forever. You must collect it before leaving the jockey's lounge at the Gold Saucer. * The Aqualung enemy skill is a lost-forever, as you may only collect it during the first disc when you have access to the enemy who teaches it to you. Also, it may be learned from a boss battle with Jenova LIFE, but that too, is a one-time-only shot. * Everything at the Gi Cave is a lost-forever. This includes the Added Effect materia and the Black M-Phone. Get them before you leave. Although the Black M-Phone may be purchased later on, it will be far too late for it to be of any use. * Tifa's Platinum Fist weapon is not a lost-forever, but will surface again far too late in the game to be of any use. Get it from one of the creepazoids at Nibelheim before leaving. * The enemy skill Trine is a lost-forever which your have three chances to learn. First, from the Materia Keeper at Mt. Nibel, secondly, from the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods at Wutai, and lastly, from the Stilve at Gaea's Cliff. * The Yoshiyuki is a lost-forever. You must collect it from Rocket Town before a certain trigger point in the game far later on (during Disc 2). * The Shotguns sold at rocket Town are lost-forvers, as they will stop being sold later in the game. * The Wutai side quest is a lost-forever in itself. It is impossible to complete past a certain point in the game, however, after examining masses of reader feedback, it is my conclusion that this point is different in different versions of the game. So, to be safe, I'd advise you to complete the side quest as soon as it becomes available (this is when the game programmers intended for you to do it, anyways, so it all should work out). Granted, you may still travel to Wutai, three items received as a result of it (the HP Absorb, MP absorb, and Leviathan materia) remain lost-forever. * Everything at the Temple of the Ancients is a lost-forever. This list includes: the Luck Plus materia, the Morph materia, the Bahamut materia, the Princess Guard, Trident, and the Ribbon. Grab it all before you leave or you can never get it! Also note that certain unique equipment that is equipped can also be lost forever at the Temple of the Ancients. Refer to section III.E. of the walkthrough for more specific information. On a final note, though some of the things mentioned above can be bought later, again, the opportunity will arise far too late to be worth your time. * The Gigas Armlet, in a way, is a lost-forever. The game automatically grants you one copy, but further copies may be stolen from the Gigas creature at the Crater. However, you must steal all you want before you leave. * Everything at Gaea's Cliff is a lost-forever, including the Megalixir, Fire Armlet, and the Javelin. The Enahance Sword is here, too, but you can buy more later. * The MP Turbo and Neo-Bahamut materia are both lost-forevers that you must collect before leaving the Crater, as are the Kaiser Knuckle and the Poison Ring. * The Elemental materia at Nibelheim is a lost-forever. You must collect it during section III.G. of the walkthrough before traveling to Mideel. For more on this, refer to section V.F. of the FAQ. * All four Huge Materia you will encounter during your main-line quest are lost-forevers. Basically, for each Huge Materia, you'll get a chance to save it. Failing your mission, you lose the Huge Materia. An interesting collilquary to this rule is that you will always receive the Huge Materia in the same order, regardless of which missions (if any) you fail to save a particular huge materia. That order is: green, yellow, red, blue. In short, if you miss one huge materia, you miss out on the blue one. If you miss two, it's blue and red, etc. For more on the benefits conveyed by the Huge Materia, refer to section V.M. of the FAQ. * The Warrior Bangle is a lost-forever that must be stolen from the Eagle Gun during your fight with it. * The Shinra Alpha, Battle Trumpet, Scimitar, and Leviathan Scales are all lost-forevers that must be collected before leaving the Underwater Reactor at Junon. Furthermore, the Leviathan Scales must be collected in order to obtain two other items, both of which are lost-forevers in this respect. Also note that the Shinra Alpha is not actually found, but rather stolen from the Underwater MP enemy hanging around the Underwater Reactor. * Both of the items inside Da-Chao Fire Cave, the Steal as Well materia and the Oritsuru, are both lost-forevers that can only be reached if you managed to collect the previously-mentioned Leviathan Scales. * The Zeidrich is a lost-forever that can be stolen from Rude during your battle with him at Rocket Town. * The Zeidrich and the Touph Ring are both lost-forevers that can be stolen from Rude and Reno during an optional battle at the Gelnika (the side quest detailed in section IV.C. of the FAQ). While the side quest itself is not a lost-forever, the battle with the Turks there is. Reno and Rude will not appear here if you challenged them and Elena to another optional battle (at Midgar). Seeing as that optional battle is a lost-forever of and within itself, and also contains stealable lost-forevers, it is probably in your best interests to complete the Gelnika side quest as soon as it becomes available to you. * The Zeidrich, Minerva Band, and Touph Ring are all lost-forevers that can only be stolen from Rude, Elena, and Reno (respectively) during an optional battle in Midgar (later in the game). See also the optional fight with the Turks (above), in which the Minerva Band, Zeidrich, and Touph Ring may be stolen. * The Bahamut ZERO materia is a lost-forever that hinges on your ability to collect the three prerequisite items to obtain it (all three of which are lost-forevers in their own respect). Those three items are the Bahamut materia, the Neo Bahamut materia, and one of the four Huge Materia. * The Aegis Bracelet, Mystile, Starlight Phone, and Max Ray are all lost- forevers that you must grab while in Midgar later on in the game. You must grab them all before leaving. * The Pile Banger, Master Fist, Glow Lance, and HP Shout are all lost- forevers that you can only grab during your optional return trip to Shinra H.Q. For more on this, refer to section V.N. of the FAQ. * The Missing Score, Barret's ultimate weapon, is a lost-forever you'll find while climbing a tower at Midgar (later in the game). You must collect it before leaving Midgar, and while it is easy to notice, it won't appear unless Barret is with you. * While the game grants you one copy of the Reflect Ring, future copies may be stolen from Ultimate WEAPON for as long as it is alive. Once it dies, you lose that chance. * The legendary 3rd Mystile is a lost-forever which can be obtained only by exploiting a glitch in the game detailed in section XIX.E. of the FAQ. But, you only have one shot at it, and you must take that shot when the party splits up at the Final Cave. * Depending on your outlook, the Master Magic, Master Command, and Master Summon materia are all lost-forevers. While the game can almost assure you one copy of each, subsequent copies are completely reliant on the fact that you have managed to not only hunt down copies of all of the other materia corresponding to their color (many of which are lost-forevers in their own respect), but also have retained the huge materia in question, to boot (also lost-forevers). BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~II~ ~II~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | II. Characters | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~II~ ~II~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. Cloud Strife | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * HP----------Average * Strength----Very High * Vitality----High * Dexterity---Average * MP----------High * Magic-------High * Spirit------Average * Luck--------Average Our spikey-headed hero is looked upon by the others as the unofficial team captain for a reason. And it sure as hell isn't for his leadership skills, charming personality, or sanity (all of which he completely lacks). It's because he kicks ass. And that's a good thing, given that you are never allowed to get him out of the traveling party. For starters, Cloud is the strongest member of the group, and his magical skills are second only to those of Aeris and Cait Sith, which is a winning combination already. Add to that the HP and Vitality to hold his own in a battle, and top it off with some of the game's most damaging limit breaks (including, of course, the infamous Omnislash), and you have pretty much the best character in the game on your hands. As an added bonus, realize that all of these statistics are going to be amplified by the fact that since Cloud is never allowed to leave the group, he is usually going to be a few levels ahead of everybody else. And for God's sakes, look at the size of that Goddamn sword! You think he's compensating for something? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | B. Barret Wallace | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * HP----------Very High * Strength----High * Vitality----Very High * Dexterity---Very Low * MP----------Very Low * Magic-------Very Low * Spirit------Low * Luck--------Average Barret is the founder of the rebel group known as AVALANCHE, which opposes the Shinra Corporation at all costs. He is a big, angry black man with an arm that has been surgically replaced with a gun and a personality that is conducive to him often firing that gun at things, usually at whatever makes the mistake of being anywhere near him when he feels like killing something. His stats tend to skew in a very extreme direction, making him an ideal fighter, but not so much of a non-fighter. His Strength is solid, and his extremely high HP and Vitality ratings make him a walking tank, a fact which is amplified by the wide selection of long-range weapons for him, meaning you can significantly increase his durability by sticking him in the back row. On the negative side of things, Barret isn't too fond of things that don't involve shooting someone, and this is reflected by his Magic and MP ratings, both of which are notably the lowest in the game. You also can't expect too much maneuverability from a guy whose limbs are bigger than most other people's bodies, so don't be surprised at the rock- bottom Dexterity score, either. And lastly, his limit breaks in the early game are passable, but are trumped by those of the other characters. They do get better later in the game, however, with limits like Satellite Beam, Anger Max, and the doomsday blast known as Catastrophe. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | C. Tifa Lockhart | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * HP----------Low * Strength----High * Vitality----Low * Dexterity---High * MP----------Average * Magic-------Low * Spirit------Average * Luck--------Average Cloud's childhood friend and every teenage boy's wet dream, Tifa is just the hottest thing on two very long, voluptuous legs. She's a sweet person, but the makers of the game spent far more time making her breasts big than they did in trying to create a personality for her. She kicks a lot more ass than you'd expect from a girl in a skirt shorter than a quick sneeze, and after maybe half an hour or so of staring at her, you will eventually find that she does, in fact, have fists, and is rather fond of hitting things with them. She's got the Strength to match Barret's, and is one of the game's speedier characters to boot (insert your own dirty joke here). However, unlike Barret, she suffers in the HP and Vitality departments, and things are just made worse by the fact that Tifa is ideally a fighter and therefore should be placed on the front lines. Her limit breaks are a bit of a wildcard, as well (see section I.D. for more information on Tifa's limit breaks). But bearing in mind that the full damage potential for Tifa's ultimate combo at any given point in the game is as high if not higher than the other limit breaks of the day, a skilled player should be able to utilize Tifa's ultimate combo with excellent results. The only downside is that each successive limit break becomes increasingly difficult to use to its fullest extent. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | D. Aeris Gainsborough | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * HP----------Very Low * Strength----Very Low * Vitality----Low * Dexterity---Low * MP----------Very High * Magic-------Very High * Spirit------High * Luck--------Average The sweet, innocent, helpless flower girl from the slums with a very special characteristic, which you will discover not too long after meeting her. She's just the sweetest, nicest, cutest thing you'll ever meet, which naturally means that bad guys and villains really hate her. Her stats, like Barret's, tend to fall into an extreme category. She is probably the best character you can hand your materia to and see amazing results, as she boasts the highest MP and Magic stats around. On that same token, don't be expecting her to do much damage with that bonk branch of hers, and you'll find that it's also not too difficult for her to get her frail little ass beaten in battle, especially given that you've likely gone and piled her up with materia, effectively worsening these stats. At the very least you can stick her in the back row and hope she doesn't get wailed on too badly. Another good point is her strong Spirit, notably the best in the game, which at least cuts down damage intake in the magical department. Plus, there's also Aeris's limit breaks... They all are defensive-type limit breaks, which can be very beneficial to the party but are desperately lacking in the field of direct damage. Her more advanced limit breaks kick an ungodly amount of ass, but on that same note are severely constrained by Aeris's single most detrimental attribute, which will rear its ugly head about halfway through the game. Read all about it in section III.E. of the FAQ, and don't say you weren't warned. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | E. Red XIII | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * HP----------High * Strength----High * Vitality----Average * Dexterity---Very High * MP----------Average * Magic-------High * Spirit------Low * Luck--------Average It walks, it talks, it makes various wise and scholarly comments. Calm, quiet, peaceful, and reserved, and is also what appears to be some kind of a dog, which makes the previous statements stand out a bit more, I suppose. Granted, you eventually discover Red XIII's real name, but you prefer to instead still call him by the repulsive name granted to him by the asswipe that kidnapped him and performed various scientific experiments on him. Statistically speaking, Red XIII has a lot going for him. He's a solid fighter with notably good magical abilities, to boot. In addition to that, he's got a good HP base, giving him the resources to function effectively as either a fighter or a magician, though preferably some sort of happy medium between them. And as a final bonus, Red XIII is the speediest bastard in the whole game. The only possible flaw Red XIII possesses is his limit breaks. Early in the game, Red XIII's limit breaks are about as good as those of the other characters. However, later in the game, they really begin to lose something to the more powerful limit breaks that begin to surface around him, culminating with his lackluster ultimate limit break, Cosmo Memory. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | F. Cait Sith | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * HP----------Very High * Strength----Low * Vitality----Very Low * Dexterity---Low * MP----------Average * Magic-------Very High * Spirit------Average * Luck--------Average No, you're not hallucinating. It's a cat riding a giant stuffed animal. And nobody else on the team apparently sees anything even remotely strange or unusual about this. Cait Sith claims to be a fortune-telling device, but you can only expect so much psychic ability from someone that's 90% stuffing. And he doesn't make up for it with a good personality, either. Even for a house pet, Cait Sith is Goddamn stupid. He is, however, the best magic user you've got besides Aeris, clocking in with an extremely high Magic rating. To make things interesting, he also has a lot of HP to back that magic prowess up with. Granted on the negative side of things, he doesn't have very much Vitality to go will all that HP. He's not much of a fighter, but that shouldn't really matter, as you'll probably want to put him in the back and load him up with materia, anyways. But then, there's Cait Sith's limit breaks. He's only got two of them, and both are very high-risk attacks. If you know what you're doing, they can prove useful even late into the game, and then even have the advantage of being low-level limit breaks (thus they become available for use far more often than the higher-level limit breaks). But damage-wise, Cait Sith's limit breaks really can't hold a candle to any of the more powerful level three or four limit breaks, let alone doomsday attacks like Omnislash, Catastrophe, and Highwind. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | G. Cid Highwind | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * HP----------High * Strength----Average * Vitality----High * Dexterity---Very Low * MP----------Low * Magic-------Average * Spirit------Average * Luck--------Average A grizzled, hardened pilot with a bad attitude and a mouth that makes even Barret blush, Cid (referred to by everyone else as "Captain") was slated to be the first man in space, but an accident prevented his dream from coming true, and the Shinra has been denying him the chance ever since. And he's pissed, Goddammit. He's a decent fighter and has some magical skills, making him an effective character in either role. He's also got a healthy supply of HP and Vitality to see him through the trials ahead. Aside from that, Cid's more or less a pretty average character, with no real weaknesses except that he has grown very slow with age (and I guess the 100+ cigarettes he consumes on average every day aren't helping too much, either). His limit breaks also stand out as some of the most damaging ones available throughout the entire game, clear until the end when he picks up the Armageddon blast called Highwind. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | H. Yuffie Kisaragi | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * HP----------Low * Strength----Average * Vitality----Low * Dexterity---High * MP----------Low * Magic-------Average * Spirit------Low * Luck--------Average A perky, though somewhat brash teenage girl, Yuffie also happens to be a member of a distant clan of ninja. Of course, the only ninja-related skill she appears to have really mastered is the art of theft. Silent and shadowy she ain't, instead preferring to shoot off her mouth at any given opportunity. Like Cid, she has decent skills in both the fields of Strength and Magic, making her generally effective as both a warrior and a magician. She's also really fast, which fits well with the fact that she is a ninja. On the downside of things, she is one of the more fragile members of the party, with low HP and Vitality ratings, but this problem can be somewhat lessened by the fact that you can keep her in the back row (all of Yuffie's weapons are long-range). She's got solid limit breaks throughout the early and late game, but it sort of saddens me to see it all fall apart with her ultimate limit break, All Creation, which proves to be one of the weakest ultimate limit breaks in the game (right up there with Red XIII's Cosmo Memory). By the way, Yuffie is one of the game's hidden characters, and will not join up with you one her own. For more information on how to get Yuffie to join you, refer to section V.D. of the FAQ. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section II: Characters|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | I. Vincent Valentine | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /_________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section II: Characters|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm * HP----------Low * Strength----Low * Vitality----Low * Dexterity---Low * MP----------High * Magic-------Average * Spirit------Average * Luck--------Average A mysterious man with an even more mysterious past, the only apparent thing about Vincent is that he is one of the creepiest people you've ever met. Despite his looks, he is actually rather intelligent, and has learned and experienced much through his past. At times, it seems that he and Red XIII are the only two on the team with any common sense at all, which is rather sad given that both of them are biological test subjects. Vincent's stats are actually rather unimpressive. He is a poor fighter with low HP and Vitality ratings and really nothing to redeem himself except for a mediocre Magic rating and a vast array of surprisingly accurate long-range weapons (which, used in conjunction with the Deathblow materia can make up for his poor fighting ability). Given his poor fighting ability and long-range weapons, Vincent is first and foremost a prime candidate for the back row. Secondly, his true strength lies in his limit breaks. Granted, Vincent's limit breaks are a bit unpredictable (as are just about any transformation brought about as a result of scientific experimentation), but they generally result in a massive increase to Vincent's overall offensive and defensive capabilities. The downside is that you lose control over him when he transforms. For more information on Vincent's limit breaks, refer to section I.D. of the FAQ, and to learn how to make Vincent a part of your team, check out section V.E. of the FAQ. BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T B / \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B /\ | ~III~ ~III~ | \/ B T \ * * \ T B /\ | III. Walkthrough | \/ B T \ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * \ T B /\ | ~III~ ~III~ | \/ B T \ *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* \ T B \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ / B T / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T BTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww \ \/ / O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|Section III: Walkthrough|/ /\ \ _\ /_ | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ/ \Ż \ \/ / | O / /\ \ _\ /_ | A. The Rebels of Midgar | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ / O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | / /\ \ _\ /___________________________ | Ż/ \Ż \ \/ /|Section III: Walkthrough|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O / /\ \ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Welcome to: Mako Reactor #1 The game begins with a lovely CG movie sequence. A flower girl walks out of a dark alley into a busy street. The camera zooms out, further and further, to reveal the large megalopolis surrounding her. This is the city of Midgar. "Final Fantasy VII" flashes on the screen, and then the camera begins to zoom in again, this time on a rapidly approaching train. It reaches its destination and slows to a stop. Several people jump off the train and disable the guards standing around. One of the people, a big black man with a gun for an arm, motions for the spikey-haired fellow in the back to follow him. Then, the rest of the group takes off into the distance while you take control of the spikey- haired one. You don't get a name for now; he is described simply as Ex-SOLDIER. When you try to move, a fight will begin with two of the guards there. This fight is ridiculously easy, and serves mainly to get you acclimated to the game's battle system. Expect all fights on this mission to reflect the ease of this fight. Your character has the Bolt and Ice spells, but for the moment they serve as little more than more spectacular ways to kill your enemies in a single hit. Actually, I take that back. One enemy here that you can't kill in a single hit is the Sweeper, which you'll meet a little later. Of course, your magic will make short work of them. After the fight, you might want to examine all three of the fallen soldiers (the ones that your comrades knocked out earlier). Each is carrying a Potion and, from the looks of things, they won't be needing them. Head around the bend ahead of you and meet up with the rest of the group. The group is a small bunch of rebels calling themselves AVALANCHE. You are ex-member of an elite group known as SOLDIER. You introduce yourself as Cloud. When everyone else beings to introduce themselves, you coldly stop them, saying that you don't care. You're here for the mission and then you're gone. So you're a mercenary now. Then, the big black guy shows back up (he's their leader). He voices his distrust in Cloud (the ex-SOLDIER), and then takes off into the building. Follow the group into the building (heading right at the fork, then going up and finally heading left to the exit). You enter a catwalk suspended high above a deep abyss below. Head out onto the catwalk until it forks. Ahead of you, you'll see the fat guy in the group (named Wedge) standing guard at the exit. He would continue on with the rest of you guys, but he has a stick of butter that he needs to eat, so the rest of the group heads up along the catwalk and into what appears to be a gigantic reactor of sorts. Head on inside and talk with the rest of the group. The big black man begins his tantrum. He whines about how the evil Shinra corporation is sucking the life out of the Earth (called "mako") with these reactors. Your emotionally detached response displeases him for some reason, and he joins you. Meet Barret. When he joins you, by the way, you would be advised to enter the menu screen and move Barret to the back row to take advantage of his long-range weapon. Barret is almost as strong as Cloud, but not quite. In addition to the Sweepers, it will also take Barret more than one hit to dispatch the enemy known as Grunts. On the positive side of things, he can hit all the stuff in the back row for maximum damage, so use this knowledge to your benefit. Anyways, talk to the other two members, Biggs and Jesse. They'll open up the doors ahead of you and lead you to a large room. If you head all the way to the bottom-right corner, you'll discover a chest with some Phoenix Down in it. The door to the elevator is just ahead of you. You'll step inside the elevator and descend into the reactor, Barret whining at you non-stop the whole way down (this guy really needs to learn how to shut up once in a while, don't you think?) You exit in this gigantic room atop a huge structure. A set of stairs spirals around the structure, and will take you to the bottom. The door to the next room is directly in front of those stairs. You'll continue along a very straightforward path from there until you reach a save point. If you've ever played a Final Fantasy game before, you should be familiar with these things. You shouldn't have to rest up, but you may want to go ahead and save. That being done, continue along the path towards the reactor's core. As you step along, you should notice a Restore materia along the path. It's big, shiny, and obvious, but you'll still have to stop and pick it up or else pass it by. Nab it, but realize that all of the other materia in this game isn't quite this obvious. Then again, this couldn't be more obvious if it had a giant flashing neon sign that said "free materia" pointed at it. Anyways, step up to the core and Barret will ask you to plant the bomb. Cloud has some sort of weird memory lapse, but then continues to set the bomb as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Then the timer starts. But, don't worry- you get more than enough time. But, it does count down during battles, so don't dawdle. The Guard Scorpion arrives. If you've ever battled Mist (Final Fantasy II/IV) or Whelk (Final Fantasy III/VI), you should know exactly what you're up against. Basically, it's a stronger enemy that you are free to battle for awhile. However, at certain times during the fight, the Guard Scorpion will raise its tail into the air. Do not attack it at this time unless you would like to receive a big can of Whup-Ass. Other than it's retaliation in that mode, Tail Laser, which'll do big damage to both of your characters, the Guard Scorpion basically just has a couple of moderately powerful single-person attacks. Just keep your HP up (with all those Potions in your inventory) and you'll be fine. And since you have nothing better to do but wait when it's tail is up, that makes an excellent time to use your Potions. Anyways, Barret can't do much else besides attack, but Cloud's Bolt spell will take a nice chunk out of the Guard Scorpion. Your limit breaks also make excellent attacks when applicable. Win the fight, and you get the Assault Gun for Barret, which should be immediately equipped. Now get the hell out of here. As you crawl back up the stairs, stop to help Jesse, who's foot has been caught in the grating. Whether or not you want to help her is moot, because she's the only person that can get you past the security doors on the level above. Continue out of the reactor the same way you came back to where Wedge was standing (you know, the fatass?) Then exit through that door. Outside the reactor, Barret commands the team to split up, and that you'll all meet at the train station. You should exit the screen via the only exit (press Select if you can't see it). You emerge on the city streets. The flower girl (you know, the one you saw in the opening sequence), approaches you and asks you what's going on. This seemingly meaningless conversation actually will have some degree of effect on the game later, however (refer to section VII.A. of the FAQ for more information.) You've been warned. Following that conversation, head south through the city streets. If you've got good eyes, you'll spot a Potion lying on the ground on the screen below this one. Yup. As advanced as the Final Fantasy series is, your characters have still yet to adapt the "Don't Drink Things you Find Lying in the Middle of the Street" trait yet. For God's sakes, I know hobos with more common sense than that. On the next screen down, you're approached by a couple of soldiers. You can either fight or run, it doesn't matter really, because more lemmings, I mean, soldiers will just come in to replace the ones you kill. You eventually find yourself surrounded by things you could easily kill with one swipe of your huge-ass blade. Nope. You opt for the daring escape, instead. In another dramatic movie sequence (not a full CG movie sequence this time, but one of those cutscenes where your characters still look like claymation action figures), Cloud hops off of the bridge onto the moving train below, and the disappears with it into the tunnel. The scene cuts to the inside of the train, where Barret and the rest of the team wonder what could have happened to you. That's when Cloud busts in through the door from atop the train. Barret gets pissed off at you (you'll soon learn that it doesn't take too much to piss Barret off). And then the team heads towards the front of the train (with Jesse stopping to wipe your face clean before she leaves). In the front of the train, Barret talks to you some more. This time, they discuss Midgar. Midgar is a gigantic, round city that is divided into eight sectors that closely resemble slices of a pizza (the word "pizza" is actually used in reference to Midgar several times throughout the game. Mmm... pizza...). Furthermore, the majority of the city is built on a humongous plate that sits high above the ground (this would be the "pizza" the game references). The plate, like the city, is divided into eight sections. I know the idea of a floating city sounds really cool (actually, it doesn't necessarily "float", as you'll find out here in a minute), but you really never get to visit it. Nope. Because you spend all your time at Midgar underneath the plate, where there's somewhat of a separate, scummier city that makes Harlem seem like Beverly Hills. I mean, really. What can you expect the land value to be for a polluted hellhole built underneath a Goddamn floating city? This is one of the things Barret takes offense to, actually. For once, you can kind of understand why he's angry. Because he has to live in said hellhole. Cloud asks why everyone doesn't move onto the plate, but that's sorta like saying "why doesn't everyone have a million dollars?", no matter what kind of misguided response Barret gives you. Anyways, you can talk to the rest of the team now (and the greasy hobo who lives in the back of the car), but the person you have to talk to to advance in the game is Jesse, who's standing at the front of the car. As you might have guessed, until you talk to her, this train is never going to get to where it's going for some odd reason. Anyways, Jesse shows you the computer screen that she's looking at, which shows you a cool little diagram of Midgar. It then shows you the course that the train is on. You were on the plate a minute ago, and now the train is taking you down below to the slums. The track spirals around a gigantic pillar, one of the eight total pillars that hold the plate up in the air (I told you it didn't float). And when I say gigantic, I mean it. The pillar is a tower unto itself. Anyways, at about this point in the conversation, you pass through a security checkpoint. Since this is the future, the lights just flash red for a few seconds, some mysterious force scans the ID's of everyone in the train, and then everything goes back to normal. Jesse tells you that you guys are all, obviously, using fake ID's. She then asks you a question, and your response is another seemingly harmless one that will have some sort of impact on the game later (again, see section VII.A. of the FAQ for more details). Anyways, the train comes to a stop at a train station in Sector Seven. Welcome to the Sector Seven Slums. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Welcome to: The Sector Seven Slums The team departs the train and everyone heads off to the left (towards the slums). You'll want to follow them. On the next screen to the left, there is a save point at the top of the screen that you may wish to use. There's also a guy standing next to it, and if you talk to him, he'll point at the gigantically obvious structure in front of you. The camera will zoom out, and give you a pretty good idea of just how big the pillar is (that is, the pillar that holds the plate up). At the bottom of the screen is the path to Sector Six, but it's blocked by a couple of soldiers. You know, the ones you can kill really easily if they try and attack you? Well, these ones just prefer making snide remarks, so there's really not much you can do with them at the moment. Exit the screen to the left and enter the slums. Now, when I say slums, I mean it. Look at this place. It's horrible. I know hobos with a higher standard of living than this. Houses are constructed out of spare machinery parts and topped with sheet metal, for God's sakes (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but it gets worse later on). And as if that wasn't scummy enough, there's a bar you'll be wanting to go to. It's at the bottom of the screen and shouldn't be too hard to spot, because you'll see Barret running inside and throwing everybody out (I guess nobody's going to argue with a man who's hand is a gigantic gun). Barret then calmly waits outside for you to show up. The bar is called "Tifa's Seventh Heaven", and is about as run-down as everything else around here. Take note of the sign in the corner that says "Texas", a state which obviously does not exist in this game (something I've always found amusing, anyways). At any rate, walk inside the bar, and you are greeted by the bar's owner, Tifa, who congratulates you on a job well-done. If you bought a flower from the flower girl earlier, you've now got the option to give it away. This is another of those decisions that has an effect on the game later, as mentioned in section VII.A. of the FAQ. After a brief chitchat, Cloud says that he just wants to get his money so that he can leave. Try to exit the bar, and Barret comes barging in. He yells that the "meeting" is about to start, and then walks over to the pinball machine. The pinball machine is actually an elevator which descends into the basement, which is kinda neat. The rest of the team hops into the hole after him, leaving you and Tifa alone. Once again, what you do now will have some sort of impact on the game later as referenced in section VII.A. of the FAQ. When you're done, hop down into the basement and chat with Barret and the gang. Barret asks Cloud if anyone from SOLDIER was there during the mission. Cloud replies that if anyone from SOLDIER was there, Barret wouldn't be standing here right now. Barret gets pissed off. But as I've said before: walls, table lamps, and cereal bowls piss Barret off. Anyhoo, instead of taking out his aggression on Cloud, Barret kicks Biggs's ass for no good reason (well, he shouldn't have been standing there!) Tifa comes down and calms Barret down before he destroys the whole damn place, however. Then you go back upstairs to discuss your money. As you head for the door, Tifa comes back upstairs and asks you to please join AVALANCHE. When you refuse, Tifa yells at you and accuses you of walking out on your childhood friend. This is another response that affects the game later (see section VII.A. of the FAQ). Either way, the scene flashes back to the promise Cloud made to Tifa as a child. Cloud and Tifa were sitting atop the village well when Cloud said that he was leaving for Midgar to join SOLDIER. Tifa had asked him that if Cloud joined SOLDIER and became famous and if she was ever in a bind, that Cloud would come to rescue her. Of course, Cloud is currently neither famous nor in SOLDIER, but when Barret comes to pay him, Cloud has an apparent change of heart and offers to go along for the next mission. You wake up the next morning in the basement. Head back upstairs to the bar and Tifa asks you how you slept. Again, your response affects the game later (again, see section VII.A. of the FAQ for more info). You also discover that Tifa is coming with your group for the next mission. Barret comes on inside and asks you about the materia you found the other day. Accept his tutorial if you need to know more (your decision here, despite what you might think, has no effect on the game later on, as mentioned in section VII.A. of the FAQ), but what this really means is that you can now manage your materia through the menu. You also gain control of the party, and Tifa mentions to you that the owner of the weapon shop wanted to talk to you before you leave. Anyways, before you leave there are a few things you can/should do. A little shopping never hurt anyone, but remember that you only have so much money right now. Still, some new armor might be in order, and the item shop also sells (besides items, which you may buy a few of) materia. Buy whatever you want, but you probably won't have enough money for more than two pieces of materia, so choose wisely. Also, above the weapon shop (take the stairs inside), there's another room. This is a "training room", meant to get you acclimated to the various aspects of the game. It's worth visiting no matter how well you know the game, however, because there's an All materia and an Ether to be found here. Both, namely the All materia, are lost-forevers, as mentioned in section I.F. of the FAQ. As for the All materia, you've got two options here. You can link it to a Restore materia for a Cure-all spell, or link it to one of the other materia for an attack-all spell. If you do this, you should probably know that many of the enemies that you are about to face are weak against lightning magic, so the Lightning materia is a good candidate for this. And even though Barret has the linked slots in his weapon, Cloud is far better with magic than Barret is, and would wield an attack spell with far better results. Anyways, one you've got your gear in order and your head on straight, head for the train station (and you might want to save your game at the save point before leaving, as well). Hop on the train, and Barret will make yet another show of just how much of A jerk he can be. He harasses the hapless employee for no apparent reason. The employee cowers, saying that he's scared enough because AVALANCHE had proclaimed that there will be more bombings and that only the most dedicated employees would go to work today. This pisses Barret off. Go figure. Anyhoo, the train ride begins, and Tifa heads to go look at the computer screen (the one Jesse showed you the other day). Well, just as she begins to say something that sounds somewhat sexually suggestive, you pass through the security checkpoint. Oh, and guess what? You're fake ID's don't work this time around. The train enters security lockdown mode. Well, the security check starts with the back car and moves forward, so you've just got to run to the front car. But it isn't as easy as you think, however. You see, the timer is running, and you've only got so long to get to the next car. If you don't make it, then that's where you get off, my friend. And the further you make it, the less you have to walk. Also, how far you make it in the car has an affect on the game later on, as mentioned in section VII.A. of the FAQ. Along the way, a few things can happen, by the way. On the first car (the one you start on), if you speak with the bum in the back, he hands you a Phoenix Down. In the second car, if you speak with guy near the front of the car, he gives you a Hi-Potion. In the third car, a guy may run by and steal something from you. If you want the item back, you have to go after him and threaten him, but it may take too much time to be worth doing. Anyways, when and if you make it to the front car, that's where you hop off the train in daring fashion and land in a tunnel below. From here on out, you're on foot, my friend. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Welcome to: Mako Reactor #5 Well, technically, you're still in the connecting tunnels adjacent to the reactor, but close enough, eh'? Here're the enemies you can expect to battle down here... First, there's the Blugu. It's a little pain-in-the-ass creature that can put your characters to sleep with it's Hell Bubbles attack. They fall prey to lightning magic very easily, however. Then there's a creature called the Rocket Launcher, which, as you might expect, has some pretty powerful physical attacks. Again, lightning magic makes very short work of them. Once you reach the reactor, you'll meet a few more generic enemies (SP. Combatant, Blood Taste), who are quite weak and can be taken care of extremely easily. Be warned that the Smogger, another more or less generic enemy, can poison your characters, however. The Smogger may also occasionally drop the Deadly Waste item after battle, which produces an attack far stronger than anything you can get at this point in the game, so you may want to fight around a bit and collect a few of those. Lastly, there's the Proto Machinegun. Their attacks aren't that strong, but they can take a bit of punishment. Still, lightning magic will shut them down very quickly. Anyways, you're in the tunnel now. The direction you're headed is up, and the earlier you got tossed off the train, the further you have to walk. On the tunnel's southern end (this is where you'll land if you got thrown off in the first car), there's a station with an infinite supply of Sp. Combatants. Of course, they are extremely nice and won't attack you unless you attack them first. You can kill as many of them as you'd like without causing a panic, interestingly enough. It's just that for every one you kill, another will be sent to take their place. It seems like you could decimate the entire Shinra army base through this manner, but the steady stream of replacements is seemingly endless. It's like the Shinra has more people than the Chinese do... Oh, and don't worry: the soldiers will not do anything smart like alert the army to your presence, or even try to attack you unless you talk to them first. Anyways, once you've had your fun, head to the tunnel's north end. Well, it seems that the tunnel is blocked off by giant, painfully obvious, flashing, neon security beams, so you've got to crawl through that clearly- marked "intruder's entrance" hatch to your left. It's a tight fit, but I wouldn't expect the Shinra to be too accommodating to people trying to break into their reactors. Just be glad that it's big enough for Barret to fit into. Follow the path (and be sure to grab the Ether lying on the ground along the way) to a ledge above the rest of the reactor (there's a ladder leading down here, but it's kind of hard to see without pressing Select). Climbing down that ladder, you'll end up downstairs on a sprawling catwalk. There are two ladders down here, but both will take you to the same room leading to the reactor. You'll also meet up with Biggs and Wedge down here. In the next room, you'll meet up with Jesse, who whines about her fake ID's botching the whole mission up. Ignore her whining, grab the Potion lying on the ground, and crawl down the ladder in the lower-left corner of the room. This takes you to another catwalk, where you'll find an Ether and a save point, as well as a ladder leading into the reactor itself. You emerge in a very large room that should look extremely familiar. The only difference is that you took a different way in. Head to the door at the foot of the stairs and descend into the reactor. You'll end up at the reactor's core, and Cloud will be asked to set up the bomb. But first, however, you are treated to another of Cloud's memory spasms. This time, Cloud flashes back to a scene in another mako reactor. You see a younger version of Tifa kneeling next to her injured father, swearing vengeance on the Shinra. I guess this would explain why Tifa supports Barret's cause, though exactly what happened remains a mystery... Anyways, Cloud snaps out of it, again seeing nothing unusual about what just happened, and nonchalantly sets up the bomb. Now, it's time to get the hell out of here. Head back upstairs to the giant room. You can't go out the way you came, you're going to have to leave the reactor as you did the first one you were in. Head up the stairs and you'll eventually end up in a room similar to the one where Biggs and Jesse had to open the doors for you. Well, this time you get to do it yourself. Cloud, Barret, and Tifa must all hit their respective buttons simultaneously to open the door. The computer takes control of Barret and Tifa, and you've got to hit the button when they do. No matter how many times you screw up, though, you can still do it. It's actually relatively easy if you just count to three or something, but I think it's kinda neat how Tifa and Barret move at the same consistent pace. After watching them for a few minutes, you'll start to think that they missed their calling as synchronized swimmers. By the way, you're almost at a boss fight, so a little preparation is in order. You'll have no need for an attack-all spell, but a Cure-all spell might come in sort of handy during the upcoming battle. Also, Cloud's attacks will do a nice amount of damage, but the same cannot be said for Barret or Tifa, for some strange reason. Both of them will do more damage with magic (and the boss in question is especially weak against Bolt). For this reason, you may also want to move Tifa to the back row for the upcoming fight. Oh, and you might want to heal yourself up, if at all possible. You'll want to enter this fight with the fullest possible advantage. Once you're happy with the way you have the team set up, head on out. Make your way towards the exit, where you'll be greeted by an entrouge of Shinra soldiers. Then, a helicopter approaches... It's none other than President Shinra. Cloud seems surprisingly nonchalant about it, but something tells me that the world coming to an end wouldn't startle him too much. President Shinra recognizes Cloud as an ex-SOLDIER because of the result that mako exposure had had on his eyes. He doesn't recognize Cloud, though, saying that he'd have to have been another Sephiroth to earn his recognition. Sephiroth, of course, being the greatest SOLDIER to have ever existed. Anyways, Barret gets a little pissed watching Cloud and President Shinra chit-chat, and angrily yells at the President. In his evil manner, President Shinra just shrugs Barret off and hops back onto his helicopter. Instead of ordering his endless legions of troops down your throat, however, he just leaves you with a little "playmate" and just assumes that it will take care of the job for him. To quote Dr. Evil, "I'll just place them in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death." And there's little else more elaborate and exotic than getting you ass kicked by a gigantic robot, no? It's time to fight Air Buster. First of all, you have Air Buster surrounded. This is actually more of a blessing than a curse (though it does prevent you from using a Cure-all spell too effectively). As you should probably know, it will really hurt this thing when you hit it in the back. Even though Tifa and Barret will still do more damage to the Air Buster with magic (see above), Cloud can really damage this thing if he slices it from behind. Also, you may want to save your characters' limit breaks until you have the opportunity to hit Air Buster in the back with them, as any limit break striking Air Buster in the back (especially Braver) is going to kick its ass very badly. However, you've still got to watch yourself. Air Buster has a couple of powerful attacks. One will do a considerable amount of damage to everyone he's facing (so he'll only nail Tifa and Barret with it on occasion). It's also got an attack that does big damage to a lone target, so he will be able to wipe out one of your characters if you don't keep a vigilant watch over your HP. Anyways, when you kick Air Buster's ass, you win a Titan Bangle. Air Buster, well, explodes. And it takes a good chunk of the catwalk with it. This wouldn't be so bad except that it damages the part of the catwalk that Cloud was standing on, leaving him dangling from the edge of the destroyed catwalk. Barret calls out to you, and you can respond any way you'd like (another response that affects the game later as mentioned in section VII.A. of the FAQ), but your only real option is to dangle helplessly. I suppose Barret and Tifa would do something to help you out, but if you'll recall, you did plant a bomb in the reactor several minutes ago. And it goes off right about... now. Tifa reaches out for Cloud, but Barret grabs her and flees. Cloud, meanwhile, plummets. Gee, wasn't that fun? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Welcome to: Sector Five When we last left our hapless hero, he had plummeted several stories into God-knows-what below. We now join him as he is having a vague and, to be perfectly honest, rather disturbing conversation with the voices in his head. And yes, this weird behavior continues throughout the majority of the game. The voices tell him that he used to be able to get by with scraped knees. It makes really no sense, but when you plunge a gazillion stories into nothingness, I guess I wouldn't be that coherent, either. However, a third voice begins to break into the conversation. Cloud's eyes slowly open and he finds himself in a church. Standing next to him, trying to wake him up is the flower girl that you met earlier. She says that she was just standing there when you came crashing through the roof. Furthermore, you appear to have landed on a bed of flowers that she was growing in here. A giant bed of flowers... in the middle of the church? Okay... Anyways, Cloud is still kind of groggy, what with the plummeting hundreds of stories and all, but hops back to his feet and brushes himself off as if he had just bumped his knee on a table or something. You talk for a bit with the flower girl. Have fun with the conversation- nothing you say has any impact on the game later on. Anyways, she introduces herself as Aeris. You banter about materia for a minute. She claims to have a materia that doesn't do anything. Her mother gave it to her, she says, and she keeps it with her wherever she goes. Keep talking to her, and as you do, a very creepy man will walk into the church and just stand there. You can attempt to talk to him, but he just says not to mind him. Rather, if you talk to Aeris again, she asks you if you'd be interested in being her bodyguard. I know a lot of people would reply with some snide remark like "I'd guard her body...", but if you haven't figured it out by this point, Cloud has the emotional responses of a brick. He agrees to do it, and Aeris offers to pay him with a date. Again, Cloud does not react to this in any way. However, it becomes quickly apparent that the creepy guy in the church has something to do with this when Aeris quickly whisks you away and asks you to get her home safely. You'll see the creepy man walk towards the back of the church, accompanied by several Shinra soldiers. The creepy man is Reno. He's an asshole, but we really don't know much more than that about him this point. The soldiers are expendable and meaningless. Anyways, the scene shifts back to Cloud and Aeris as they make their way through the back of the church. You might as well go ahead and take time to equip Aeris right now. Especially considering that unless you know what you're doing, Aeris is going to be doing some fighting in a minute. Hand her some materia (Barret and Tifa apparently gave their materia to Cloud before he fell), and you may also choose to give her the Titan Bangle you won from Air Buster, given both her horrible survivalability and her proficiency with magic. It doesn't really matter what you give her, so long as you hand her something that she can do some damage with (in case you haven't noticed, that stick she's carrying isn't the most effective weapon in the world). Head along upstairs until you reach a gap in the floor. Cloud jumps it with no problem, but as Aeris is jumping, the Shinra soldiers arrive and, with a hearty cry of, "stop the Ancient!" shoot at her... She misses the jump and falls to the floor below. I'm sorry, but when your job involves you shooting flower girls in churches, you might as well slaughter a bunch of nuns and kittens while you're at it, because your job as inhumanly evil as possible. You've now got an interesting notion, here. Instead of going downstairs and slaughtering the soldiers below, Cloud decides that he's going to have a little fun with them by dropping things from the rafters on them. A few things to keep in mind: first and foremost, your performance here does have an affect on the game later, as mentioned in section VII.A. of the FAQ. Secondly, if you want to do it right, you're going to have to work fast. Not only do you have a limited amount of time to make it to the appropriate barrel and push (I'm not even mentioning how long it takes to think about which barrel is the right one to push), but you also get into battles up here, as well. You'll fight things that are laughably easy to kill, but they still slow you down. The easy way out is just to keep telling Aeris to run. She'll only have to fight one soldier, and will be able to easily blow him away with any form of attack magic materia that you've handed her. But still, there's something to be said for doing things right. Here's what you've got to do: first, tell Aeris to "wait". Then, run upstairs and push the barrel on the left. Next, push the one in the far back. Finally, push the one on the right. This will see you both through the threat. Anyways, Cloud and Aeris end up atop the church, and you traverse the city by jumping between huge piles of junk. Honestly, you're running along gigantic piles of spare machinery and garbage. And who says that this isn't the slums? Anyways, Cloud hops along the piles with ease, leaving Aeris in the dust. He then teases her as she tries to catch back up. Take note of this- it's the first sign Cloud has shown this far of any spark of humanity. He mentions that the guy (Reno) who was after Aeris was a member of the Turks. They work for the Shinra, but aren't necessarily a military unit. They're more of a slimeball unit. No task too sleazy for them, according to Cloud. For a real-life comparison, think of the Turks as an evil (well, eviler) version of the CIA. Anyways, it seems that the Turks have been after her for quite some time, for some-odd reason. What business they have with her, I can't say. Maybe it's just part of their "evil" quota, I don't know. But, anyways, you end up outside the church along the path to Sector Five. If you head south from here, you'll end up back at the church (and further south, actually, to get a lovely outside view of Midgar). However, the direction you're headed in is up. There's enemies along the road, by the way. First, there's the Hedgehog Pie. This is the thing that you met back at the church. They're easy to kill, but are capable of casting the Fire spell (thankfully not with very good results). The Whole Eater is harder to kill than the Hedgehog Pie, but is mentionless otherwise. Watch out for the guy called Vice, however. These guys are exactly what they look like- thieves, and they can make off with one of your items if you let them (note that if you kill them shortly after they've stolen from you, you'll still get the item back). Anyways, it's a relatively short walk to civilization. Head north along the road, and make a right (going left leads to the road to Sector Six). You'll enter the slums of Sector Five. And, as you can clearly see, the standard of living here isn't much better than it was back in Sector Seven. As a matter of fact, there's one guy here living in a pipe. Yes, he's living in a Goddamn pipe! Go visit him, actually, and Aeris will blurt out one of the game's most hilarious typos: "this guy are sick!" Anyways, the guy are a real head case, who just sits there and spews out gibberish and nonsense. You do notice that he has the number two tattooed on his hand, which is not at all interesting, to say the least. Anyways, feel free to look around the slums. You may choose to do a bit of shopping here, you may not. It's up to you. Also, one of the flyers mentioned in section V.A. of the FAQ is here in Sector Five, so you may want to check that out, as well. Also, if you decide to further explore people's houses, you may talk to a kid in his sleep and hear him mutter abut his hidden drawer. In it, you'll find 5 gil. You can either rob him now, or come back later in the game and he'll give you a Turbo Either that he bought with the money. Of course, if you rob him, he won't buy the Turbo Ether. Anyways, when you're done looking around, head to the northeastern corner of town to Aeris's house. Now, let me take a minute to explain something here. One of the things that flowers generally require to grow is light. Another would be a relatively pollution-free environment, but we'll let that one slide for a minute. I can understand how the flowers might grow inside the church, what with the light shining in from outside Midgar and all, but Aeris's home garden is a different story altogether. She has somehow managed to grow a thriving garden in this God-forsaken barren wasteland. It's as if she missed her calling as a horticulturist. Wait a minute, no she didn't... Anyways, scope out the garden- there's an Ether here, as well as the Cover materia. Then go inside her house. Aeris's mother, Elmyra, greets you. The disturbing thing is that she doesn't seem to be in the least bit surprised that the Shinra is hunting her daughter down. She thanks you properly, and you mention that you'd like to head back to Sector Seven to see Tifa. Aeris asks you who Tifa is, and your response will obviously have a bit of an impact on the game later on (see section VII.A. of the FAQ). Anyways, Aeris offers to take you to Sector Seven (via Sector Six), and really doesn't seem to want to take "no" for an answer. Cloud seems awfully chauvinistic about it, but somehow I'd imagine that he'd react pretty much in the same way if it was Barret offering to take him back. Anyways, Elmyra asks you to stay the night and leave in the morning. Not approving of her daughter running off, she discreetly asks you to leave without Aeris. Cloud is only too happy to oblige (but don't worry, he doesn't succeed). Cloud drifts off to sleep and has another lovely conversation with the voices in his head. If by this point in the game you haven't started to think that Cloud is a complete nut job, I can't even begin to understand why. This time, Cloud flashes back to the last time he slept in a bed. It was when he was visiting his home in Nibelheim. In his flashback, he lays on the bed while his mother yells at him about not having a girlfriend. Sad. You'll wake up in a room next to Aeris's. First, grab the care package on the floor (it's got a few curative items inside), and then exit the room. Now, you need to get out of here without alerting Aeris, so walk, don't run, to the stairs. Go downstairs, exit, and head to the outskirts of town. Remember where you turned right to enter the Sector Five Slums? The left path was the road to Sector Seven (that goes through Sector Six). Interestingly enough, however, Aeris seems to have magically teleported out here (don't ask me how). Again, she ain't taking "no" for an answer. Head to Sector Six. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Welcome to: Sector Six You'll make it to a road leading through Sector Six. And I use the term "road" very loosely, because it's not so much a road as it is a huge pile of crap that used to be a road that you need to crawl past to make it to Sector Seven. And expect your journey to be monster-packed. You'll see the same enemies from Sector Five, plus a new creature called the Hell House. It's... um... a house... that attacks you... um... yeah... And we all thought that Earthbound was strange. Anyways, the Hell House has a strong physical attack, and also has an attack called Hell Bomber that nails your entire party at once. In addition, the Hell House takes a lot of punishment (heavy doses of any kind of magic is recommended). The Hell House is easily the most dangerous opponent in Sector Six, but all in all isn't too much of a threat. Just watch your HP, and you'll live. Making it through the pile of junk is a different story, however. It can be awfully difficult to tell what you can and can't crawl on without the aid of select. Here's the path you need to take: crawl up the remains of a wooden bridge to a high section of the road, then, to your right, walk along the long, thin sheet of metal something or rather (that has a lot of holes in it) to another high section of road, go up and around to the right a bit and crawl down what looks like it was once a tower or something to a lower section of road, then go up and around to the left and crawl up a long... log, it looks like, to a higher section of road, and finally, head up and crawl down another wooden bridge to your right, landing you at the other side of the road. Head up to the next screen and you find... a playground? You've now got the option of continuing to Sector Seven, or taking Aeris home. Your decision does affect the game later on, as mentioned in section VII.A. of the FAQ, but neither response will result in you actually having to take Aeris anywhere. Anyways, Aeris rushes up to the playground, saying that she can't believe that this place is still standing. She hops atop the slide and asks Cloud to join her. Cloud and Aeris start to chat for a bit again. She asks Cloud what rank he was in SOLDIER. Cloud has one of his memory lapses, and then responds. Apparently, Cloud held the same rank as Aeris's first boyfriend... how nice. At about this time, you see the gates to Sector Seven open, and a chocobo- driven cart passes through it headed towards the Sector Six Slums, otherwise known as Wall Market. Cloud leaps up and notices one of the passengers on the cart... it's Tifa! Aeris runs after the cart, and Cloud runs after her. A few feet away (was the cart really necessary to make it all the way here?), you'll find yourself in Wall Market... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Welcome to: Wall Market (Sector Six Slums) Let me begin by saying that you are about to enter one of the most disturbing points in the entire game. Believe me when I say that you will question your own sanity at least once before this whole ordeal is over. This place is loaded with strange sexual references and things that will scar you for many years to come, so you have been duly warned. Anyways, first things first. You might want to do a bit of shopping here at the local weapon shop. Remember that Tifa will be joining you shortly, so take her into consideration when you shop. Then, it's off to find out what happened to Tifa. Well, ask around town and see what's going on. There's a place called the Honey Bee Inn in the southeastern section of town. A guy hanging around just outside says that Tifa is one of the "new girls". And, as per custom around here, she was taken to see "The Don". "The Don" would be Don Corneo, a guy who makes President Shinra seem straight. He lives in that big-ass house on the northern end of town, so why not pay it a visit? By the way, you must talk to the guy at the Honey Bee Inn first to trigger the appropriate response at the Don's place. The guy at the Don's is, well, not very receptive to Cloud, Cloud being a guy and all. Aeris has a little better luck. But, Cloud's not about to let her go in by herself. That's when the plan is hatched... Why not dress Cloud up like a woman? Yes, you heard me right. Cloud gets to have a little adventure in cross-dressing! Aeris tells the guy that she'll be right back with a cute friend of hers. Now, you're off to dress pretty. Let me begin by saying that the eventual outcome of all of this will have some sort of impact later in the game, as mentioned in section VII.A. of the FAQ. That being said, you now get to go dress yourself up to the best of your ability. Basically, there's three types of each item you can get. Also, you've only got one shot at getting each item, so might I recommended saving your game beforehand in case you screw it up? Anyways, depending on how lady-like Cloud looks when he shows up, one of three different things can happen. Of course, likely the most amusing outcome is when Cloud is fully dressed up. But, hey, that's just my opinion, and I have been known to occasionally confuse "amusing" with "oh my God, somebody stab my eyes out, this is horrible". Let's get started. Your first stop should be the local dress shop. It's at the top part of the lower section of town. Well, the girl there says that her father stopped making dresses and is currently getting plastered at the bar. Aeris and Cloud agree to help out, mainly because they need a dress. Head to the bar (it's on the left side of the upper portion of town), but again, you're not going to get the response you need until you've talked to the girl at the dress shop first. Cloud will approach the guy at the bar rather bluntly, and again isn't going to get very far with him. Cloud doesn't necessarily have the best people skills, y'know. I've seen rocks more personable than he is. But again, Aeris takes the guy aside and wins him over, talking about how Cloud wants to dress up all pretty and whatnot. She hits some sort of weird/perverted note in the guy's mind, and he agrees to make the dress. He asks you what kind of dress you want him to make. This is the first step in determining how well you've done. Get the best dress (the Satin Dress) by saying that you want something "soft" that "shimmers". The next-best dress (Silk Dress) is "soft" and "is shiny". The worst dress (Cotton Dress) is what you get when you ask for something that feels "clean". Anyways, the guy sits back and starts to think for a bit. Hey, you want to see something amazing? Head back to the dress shop. He's already done with the dress! Holy crap, that was fast! But, you're still not done. Cloud's spiky hair is still a bit of an issue, seeing as the 80's is long since passed. You'll be needing a wig. Well, your dress-maker friend is there to help. He says that in addition to making the dress in the three seconds it took you to walk down here, he also spoke with a cross-dressing friend of his down at the gym. At about this point, Cloud begins to feel really insulted and asks Aeris just what exactly she had said to the dress-maker. It's off to the gym with ya! It's the first building you see when you enter the upper section of town. A guy there looks at you and asks if you're the guy that wants to look pretty. Sure. It's not like you've got any self-esteem left in you at this point, so now you've got to challenge Big Bro for a wig. In yet another sexually-slanted joke, you challenge Big Bro to a squatting contest to win a wig from him. Luckily for you, the game lets you practice a bit beforehand. It's quite easy, and if you've got the rhythm, you should have no problem beating him. Anyways, if you win the contest, you get the Blonde Wig (the best). Tie him and you get a Wig. Lose... Lose, and you get the Dyed Wig. And let's not even discuss where he's been keeping it. Awright, now you've got the dress and the wig. These are the only two items that you really need to head to the Don's. And if you're really not trying to dress Cloud all the way up, I suggest that you quit now and head to the Don's with what you've got now (remember that first you need to head to the dress shop and get dressed). On the other hand, if you're up to it, there are a few other items that you may be wanting. Let's start with some cologne. It's kind of a roundabout way to going to get it, and you have to start at the local eatery (not the bar). It's located in the lower section of town. Head there and order something to eat. After eating it, say something complimentary (note that "I've had better dog food," is generally not accepted as a compliment), and you win free Pharmacy Coupons, which really makes you question the food you just ate. Head south a bit to the pharmacy. The pharmacy and the local item shop, actually, are one and the same, and it is just south a little bit from the eatery. Go there and exchange your coupons for one of three items. The Digestive ultimately gets you the best cologne, the Deodorant gets you the second-best cologne, and the Disinfectant gets you the worst. Take your item and head to the bar this time, and head towards the bathroom, where there's someone that's been in there for quite some time. Give him whatever item you got from the pharmacy, and you get the cologne in return (from best to worst, the: Sexy Cologne, Flower Cologne, or Cologne). Strange, I know, but at least you got what you wanted. Next, the tiara. There's a shop around here (in the eastern part of the lower section of town) that really doesn't sell anything. That's because the owner is casually lounging on the counter, not really trying to do anything like run a business or any other thing else of the bothersome sort. He asks Cloud to do him a favor. Apparently, the guy at the inn has a vending machine, and he wants to know what's in it. He can't go back to the inn because there was some... unpleasantness. Anyways, before you head to the inn, make sure that you've got some money. The best item (that gets you the best tiara) is 200 gil, plus you'll also need 10 gil to stay the night at the inn (because you apparently can't use the machine unless you spend the night). The inn's really easy to spot- it's the first place you see when you enter town. Then, return to the guy with the item. The 200 gil item gets you the Diamond Tiara (the best), the 100 gil item gets you the Ruby Tiara (the second best), and the 50 gil item gets you the Glass Tiara (the worst). Ok... Now for the creepy part. You'll also be wanting some... um... underwear. There's a guy walking around the southeastern section of town (not by the Honey Bee Inn, but close to the path to it). If you talked to him earlier, you'd have discovered that he was in a frenzy of indecisiveness. Well, talk to him now and he just gives you his Membership Card to the Honey Bee Inn because he can't make up his mind. Now, head to the Honey Bee Inn. Cloud will step inside, while Aeris waits for him outside. First off, what you're probably expect to happen here, won't. In fact, it'll be much, much worse. A girl in a bee suit greets you and asks you to pick a room. There are five rooms. The two on the right are both occupied, but you can spy on the occupants through the oversized novelty keyhole. Your reactions to the goings on in these rooms should range from slightly amused to downright disturbed. The room on the top is the dressing room, and therefore isn't available. This narrows down your choice to two different rooms. The Group Room and the @#$! room. Choose your poison. Both are horribly painful experiences, but the Group Room does leave you with the better set of undergarments (the Bikini Briefs). The @#$! room, on the other hand, leaves you with the Lingerie. Um... I really can't even describe what goes on in the @#$! room, but you do wake up with a man in a speedo sitting on top of you and slapping you in the face. And if you thought that that was bad, try the Group Room. It's exactly what it sounds like. You get to take a bath with about eight or nine other oily, muscle-bound men, and their leader, Mukki (this is actually the guy that will slap you in the face if you go to the @#$! room, so Mukki is sadly unavoidable). The game programmers went out of their way to make this scene as disturbing as humanly possible, and Cloud really doesn't sound like he's having a good time, either. You do walk away from the whole experience with the Bikini Briefs and scarred for life, however. God, somebody help me! Mukki is after me! I don't want to become Mukki's girlfriend! Anyways, before you leave the Honey Bee Inn (if you haven't already run screaming from the place, that is), stop by the dressing room and ask one of the girls to apply some Make-up to you. This helps Cloud look as pretty as he can. Now that you've got all the times that you'll be needing, head back to the dress shop. Cloud will gussie himself up the best he can, and he emerges... as... um, Cloudette? I dunno. Aeris grabs herself a dress, and the two of you head for Corneo's. At Corneo's, there's a guy who tells you to stay where you are and wait for him in the lobby. Blatantly disregarding him, head upstairs and go all the way to the left to a door leading down to the basement. Down in the basement, you'll meet up with Tifa. What follows is a rather amusing scene... Cloud doesn't talk to Tifa, but rather Aeris does.