Written by Ken Megura. Edited/Corrections by Sigma.
MAKO REACTOR NUMBER 1
Talk to Barret, (who joins you) and then talk to each Avalanche member to open the doors. After opening the second door, head right to enter another chamber with a treasure chest (Phoenix Down). Then, go back and enter the elevator (you'll have to talk to Jessie first). Press the arrow switch to activate it.
Work your way down the stairs
and go through the door to the left. Then follow Jessie down the ladder.
When he stops, search the area in front of him for a Potion (it's hard
to see because of the steam). Climb down, cross the pipes, descend
the nearby ladder, and take note of the Save Point before
heading down the walkway.
Pick up the Restore materia on the ground in the next area and set
the bomb. An alarm will
sound and you'll have to fight the boss, a huge scorpion-like machine.
You now have ten minutes to escape from the power plant. You'll need to make your way back to the upside-down T-shaped entrance hall where one of the Avalanche members is waiting. Talk to Jessie to free him and then get out. Since Barret gets a new gun after the battle, be sure to equip it. Also, talk to the other members to open the two doors on your way back.
MIDGAR CITY
AVALANCHE BASE
When you're ready, go back to the train station to prepare for Avalanche's next mission. If you like, you can go to the far right to enter a train yard, but there's not much of interest there.
MAKO REACTOR NUMBER 5
Anyway, it's a lot faster
to just head north to where the green barrier is and go down the hatch
to the west (examine it and choose the top choice twice or the middle option
once). Pick up the Ether in the
adjoining passage, climb
down the two ladders, and talk to Wedge. Then go up the ladder near him
to reach a room where Jessie is waiting for you. Take the Potion that's
next to him and climb down the ladder on the far left end of the room to
reach a chamber where you can find a Tent, a Save Point, and Biggs.
Go up the ladder here to
reach the No. 5 Reactor. The room you're in should be familiar. Slide down
the pipe and then work your way back to the heart of the plant. After Cloud
fiddles with the machinery, go back to the large room and climb up the
stairs and into the elevator. It'll take you to a new floor. Grab the contents
of the treasure chest outside (Ether) and then head to the left where there
are three control panels. You'll need to hit your panel as the same time
Barret and Tifa hit theirs (using the 
button), so give it a shot. Instead of waiting for them to raise their
arms, you'll have an easier time if you time it so that you hit your panel
just before they do. You can't use the panel if you didn't go back to the
heart of the power plant. Afterwards, go through the opened gate (there's
a Save Point here), and head north.
In the T-shaped room, you'll be stopped by a group of guards, and then meet President Shinra. After that, a helicopter and a hydrofoil-like machine show up. The Shinra president leaves in the helicopter, but the huge machine attacks you and your friends.
MIDGAR SLUMS
The correct order of barrels to drop is: the leftmost barrel (in the back), the far right barrel (in the back), and the far right barrel (in the front). Simply tell Aeris to hold on each time, examine each barrel, and choose the top option to drop it. This way, Aeris won'thave to fight anybody. When Aeris meets you at the top of the chapel, she'll hook up with Cloud.
In the upper area, climb
up the second beam on the left and jump out of the
hole in the roof. After you and Aeris make it back to ground level,head
left to find a Save Point. To the northwest is a town. Be sure tomeet the
man in the pipe near the entrance. In one of the houses, youcan also find
5 gil if you talk to the drunk man in bed, then examine the
drawers nearby. There are several stores here in the slums,including one
that sells Materia. To the far, far right is a path that leads to Aeris's
house and a garden. You can spend the night here once you've
met Elmyra, Aeris's mother. When you wake up, look between thedesk and
the bed for a Potion and a Phoenix Down. Then, sneak downstairs (or Aeris
will make you go back to bed) and leave the house (you can dothis by not
touching the walls and not running, either). In the lower flower bed to
the right, you can get a cover materia and an Ether.
There's another Save Point
near Aeris' house if you need to use it.
Leave the town and go left
to the hole in the wall. Aeris will be here waiting for you and will rejoin
you. In the next location, work your way
upward (by going across the hole-filled metal length, then down the
iron beams and through the
passage, then up the brown pipe and finally down
the stairs and heading to the left). After Aeris leaves you at theplayground,
head east, then go north to arrive at the Wall Market.
WALL MARKET
Your objective in this part of the game is to sneak into the large building where Tifa is being kept. To do this, Cloud will have todress up as a woman in order to get inside since men aren't allowed into the building.
You'll have to dress up as a girl. To do it easy, go to the clothing store and ask for a dress. The owner says her father makes the dresses but is sitting in a bar and won't make dresses anymore. Go to the restaurant and talk to the man on the right. Aeris will convince him to make a dress. Now you'll need a wig too. Simply go to the gym and talk to Big Bro. Do squats with one of big Bro's students and you'll receive a wig. Now dress up as a girl! (Note that you can do more to look even better, coming soon in this guide)
When you finish, go to the
large building in
the north and talk to the man by the food carts again. He'll let you into
a posh-looking parlor. Now, go up the stairs and into the door onthe far
left after talking to the receptionist. Then, go down thestaircase to the
torture room (!) where you'll find Tifa and an Ether by
the smoldering coals. Once
she's joined you, head back up the stairs and go into the middle door.
Inside is Tifa's kidnapper, the nefarious Don
Corneo. He will examine each of you when you try to approach him.Who he
picks for his 'friend' is determined by what items you collected
in the Wall Market:
- He'll pick Cloud
if you're wearing the Silk Dress, Blonde Wig, and
have the 'best'
extra items (the Diamond Tiara, Sexy Cologne, and
Lingerie or
Bikini briefs.)
- He'll pick Aeris
if you're wearing the Silk Dress, the Blonde Wig,
the Lingerie
and the Sexy Cologne (in addition to anything else you
may have).
- He'll pick Tifa
if you're wearing the Silk Dress, Blonde Wig, and one
or two of the
extra items not mentioned above (or anything worse than
that).
If Corneo picked Tifa or Aeris, then read below:
In the next room, examine
the item bag by the bed to get a Phoenix Down, and talk to the man by the
television set after talking to the other henchmen. After revealing your
true nature to the love-struck goons, they'll
fight you. This is followed by another fight with the otherthree punks.
Afterward, get Aeris from the torture chamber and then go
into the middle door again (if Aeris was picked, then you'll meet
Tifa when you go outside).
When you're through intimidating Corneo, look
behind his bed for a Hyper, then stand by your allies. He'll make you choose
one of three options. No matter which one you choose, you'll
fall through a trapdoor.
If Corneo picked Cloud, then you'll end up in his room. Search behind his bed for a Hyper, then talk to him and answer anyway you like. Your friends will burst in and threaten him and Corneo will ask you a question; pick any answer you like and you'll still plummet to the sewers below.
THE SEWERS - TRAINYARD
Here, circle left around
the car to get a Potion. Circle left again to find
an oil can with an Ether inside of it. Go north and enter thetrain to the
right to move the other train car out of the way. Climb atop
the formerly blocked car to get a Hi-Potion. Now, ride the other train
back backwards, climb onto the eastern train car, jump onto thetrain you
just moved, and climb across it and the last car before goingdown the ladder
to get back to the front part of the Train Graveyard.Head left. The Avalanche
members will be fighting atop the support pillar
you first saw when you arrived at the base. After Wedge plummetsto the
ground, save your game at the Save Point and talk to the man onthe left
if you need to buy items. Climb up the stairs and you'll meetBarret,
who is firing at the Shinra helicopter you saw back at the
plant. Reno will jump out,
and you'll have to fight him. Good thing Barret joins you. When you inflict
enough damage, the boss runs away!
CLIMBING THE WALL
When you're done, leave and go south from the playground. Return to the Sector 5 Slum and go to Aeris's house. Talk to Elmyra, her mother. Youcan spend the night in the upstairs bedroom once the intermission ends. Return to the Wall Market and go to the dead-end area near the parlor. (you'll see a bunch of kids run in there). Climb up the pipe, and you'llfind yourself high above the town. If you haven't gotten them already,go to the 'Machine & Gun' store and talk to the man at the left end of the store; he'll sell you 3 Battery for 300 gil. You'll need themto activate the boxes in this part of the game. With that in mind, examine the box-shaped object in the lower right to try and start anearby propeller. Head up, and you'll jump onto the propeller. From there, make your way to the other box and activate the painted barrier.Climb up it, and use the O button to jump onto the swinging metal pipe.
Despite what Cloud says, jump when it is close to you (just as it stops squeaking). After that, climb up to the next screen.
Here, climb up, then drop down to activate the next box and you'll find an Ether. Climb down the lefthand pipe and make your way back up again.Instead of dropping down, continue up, and you'll find yourself atShinra's headquarters.
SHINRA HEADQUARTERS
Going up the stairs takes
forever, but it's free of enemies and you can get
an Elixir that's lying on one of the landings. On the other hand,going
through the front door and taking the elevators in the back is
faster, but you have to
fight several battles along the way. You can't use the circular lifts by
the doors yet, but you
can use them once you reach the 60th floor. If you go up the stairs,you'll
see a door marked 'Accessories'. Inside the room, you can lookat a monitor
to see a short FMV sequence about Shinra's products (thisis the most overlooked
FMV in the game). There are two chests here, but
the lady won't let you open
them. She will sell you items, though. Remember,
if you go through the front, check the control panel in theelevator (the
one that goes haywire) after each enemy encounter in order
to continue upwards. If
you go up the stairs then change your mind and go
back down, you won't have to fight anybody on the elevators, and themain
area of the ground floor will be empty (an easy trick for not
having to fight anyone).
No matter what method you use, you'll eventually reach the 59th floor. Head southeast and kill the armored guards to get the Keycard 60, thentake the lift to the 60th floor. Here, you'll have to head to the roomin the upper-left and make it to the other side without being seen bythe patrolling guards. In order to stay hidden from them, pause behind the gold statues, then lead Tifa and Barret across using the O button. If you mess up, not only to you get attacked (ambush-style combat), butyou'll have to start all over again. Keep in mind that the set ofguards on the right half of the screen move faster than the ones on theleft.
Take the stairway up to the
61st floor. Talk to everyone here. A man who
asks you about Aeris will give you the Keycard 62 if you answer "......".
On floor 62, talk to the man in the room, Domino, and the man
in white, (Hart) then check
out the two library rooms. Answer Domino's question
and he'll give you the Keycard 65. The problem with this isthat the answer
changes with each game you play. It seems like it wouldbe easy enough
to simply try each answer until you get it right, but youget an Elemental
Materia for free if you answer correctly the first time.So, it's in your
best interest to just reset and keep trying in order toget the materia.
Hart will help you out if you need it, but he'll wantyou to pay him first.
To get the answer, simply look for the misplacedfiles, write down the first
letter of the file name, and when you get all
four, try to organize them into a word. Then talk to Domino, andfind which
word matches the one you came up with (or at least has theletters you found).
He gives you varying items depending on how manytries it takes you (you'll
get lesser items if you mess up each time).
The 63rd floor is tricky.
You have to collect 3 Coupons from all three rooms,
but you're only able to open 3 doors at a time. You can resetthe doors
by investigating the computer in the right-hand room, but that
also resets the location
of the Coupons. You can move around using walkways
in the ducts; to enter them you have to climb into the black,box-shaped
structures (there's one in the computer room). You can't dothat unless
you have at least one of the three items.
To get the items, follow
this procedure: activate the computer, then head
to the top of the screen and open the gate farthest to the right.Head right
and open the left-hand gate, then walk right and go south
to enter the room where
A Coupon is. Choose the top option to climb into
the black box and use the walkway to get to the room where B Couponis.
Finally, go through the door in this room and open the door to theleft,
then go north to enter the room containing C Coupon. Then use thewalkway
to return to the computer room.
Now if you want, you can just trade one of the Coupons for an item, but if you have all three then you'll get all three items. The tradesetup works like this (choose 'Coupon Change'):
- Trade Coupon A for
the Star Pendant accessory
- Trade Coupon B for
the Four Slots bracelet
- Trade Coupon C for
the All materia
To get your items (depending on how many coupons you have) go to the computer and choose the bottom option, then the top. Keep in mindthat you can only do this once.
On the 64th floor, you'll
find a Save Point and bedroom to your left. You
can use the machines in the exercise room, or waste 250 gil tryingto get
a health drink (which you can't actually get, BTW.) If you
examine the lockers in the
back room, you can find a Phoenix Down, an
Ether, and a M-phone (HP Shout), but you can only take the first two items
for now. Head to the 65th floor.
Here, you have to open a
treasure chest, then examine a broken section of
the model in the circular room and choose the top option to repairit. This
unlocks one of the other chests, allowing you to open it anduse the part
inside to repair another section of the model. When youhave finished, you'll
get the Keycard 66 from the final chest. You must fix the model in a counter-clockwise
fashion starting from the
bottom. The order of the
chests you open goes like this:
- Upper-left room:
bottom chest
- Upper-left room:
top chest
- Lower-left room:
left chest
- Lower-left room:
top chest
- Upper-right room:
chest
- Middle-right room:
get the Keycard 66 from here when you're done.
On the 66th floor, you can either run into the meeting hall as quickly as you can. Or you can enter the stall in the bathroom located in the northwest corner of the floor. Choose themiddle option, and you'll climb on top of the toilet and enter an air duct. Move forward to see what the Shinra members (Reeve, Palmer,President Shinra, Heidegger, Hojo, and Scarlet) are discussing.
Climb back out, then climb up the stairwell after Hojo (the pony-tailed scientist) in the room to the right of the meeting hall. Note that you'll end up in the air duct even if you ran into the hall. On the next floor (67), talk to the people and keep following the scientist. After looking in the purple chamber (and after Cloud getsanother headache), move beyond the crates and to the right to find a Save Point and a treasure chest with a Poison Materia inside.
Enter the elevator to the
north, and then watch as the scientist toys with
Aeris. Now, choose who you want to protect Aeris, (eitherBarret or Tifa),
and then you can name the lion-like creature (Red 13)
that was attacking Hojo.
He'll fight alongside you when the mutant boss
shows up. Don't forget that Red 13 comes equipped with his ownMateria!
Tifa or Barret return after the battle (depending on who you chose). You'll be asked to make a new party (but you can keep the old one you hadbefore, if you wish). When you're in control of Cloud again, be sure tograb the yellow materia (Enemy Skill) that's left behind in the samplechamber. Then go up the ladder and head south. Talk to the man in the gray coat to get the Keycard 68. Go back down to floor 66 and tryentering one of the lifts; you'll get caught by Rude (he's a Turk whoyou'll be running into constantly throughout the game). He and Tsengwill 'escort' you to a meeting with the president of Shinra. Afterwards, you'll end up in the jail cells on floor 67. Here, listen to everyone, then go to sleep.
The next morning, you'll find that your door is unlocked. Investigate the guard, then talk to Tifa. Check the guard again to unlock the doors,then look in on Barret and Red 13. After freeing your companions, returnto the lab and talk to Red 13. Talk to him again after taking theelevator up to the 68th floor, then use the incline to reach the walkwayagain. Go all the way along it until you find two purple Potions, thenclimb back down and enter the door from the ground floor. The green barsof light won't hurt you; run through them and pick up two more Potionsbefore climbing up the stairs to the 69th floor.
Go out the center door to reach a Save Point. Then, run up either of the purple stairs. Check out the dead Shinra president, capture Palmer,then go through the door to the north to exit the room. Outside, talkto the man in white. He's Rufus, son of the Shinra president.
The other characters will return to the floor below, and you must lead them outside (you can also choose to unequip Aeris' and Cloud's materiain case you want to juggle them around for the upcoming battles). Yourteam now consists of Red 13, Barret, and Aeris; don't forget to re-equipyour Materia (it seems as if the top option removes it....) Head to the lift (by taking the lower door). When you activate it, you are attackedby a huge gun-wielding machine while going down the side of the Shinrabuilding.
After killing the boss, you must fight a flying machine.
The scene switches back to
Cloud. Heal yourself if necessary, equip materia, then press Start.
Rufus will then attack you. Feel free to adjust his equipment/Materia if
need be before the battle.
Leave the rooftop and head
back to where Tifa is waiting for you. As Aeris,
try to approach the front doors. After a short conversation,you and the
gang will escape by motorcycle (and truck). Your team is
now made up of Cloud, Tifa,
and Barret.
An option screen appears
where you have the following options:
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ESCAPE FROM SHINRA HQ
KALM TOWN
Outer World Controls
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- You'll start off in a truck being driven by Shinra soldiers. After talking to the soldiers and Sephiroth (Cloud's former ally in theShinra army and now a wanted criminal), the truck will be stopped by a dragon. You'll have to fight it, but Sephiroth can kill it in two hits. In the flashback, Cloud's portrait is different; this 'Young Cloud' is of a low level, but Sephiroth is so strong that you need not worry about losing battles.However, you can't control Sephiroth's actions and you can't hurt him (because of your low level), either. Although Young Cloud comesequipped with an Pre-emptive materia and Sephiroth has several mastered materia equipped, you can't take them for your own. Also, YoungCloud and Sephiroth can't use Limit Breaks (because they don't haveany).
- After the battle, you'll end up in Nibelheim, Cloud's hometown. Talk to Sephiroth and the guards if you wish, then head north.If you want to look around the town, feel free to, but nothing you do during this part of the game has an affect on the rest ofyour quest (although is does affect the character's questions and reactions to Cloud's story). One thing you might want to dois go into Tifa's house (the large building on the 'southeastern' side of town). You can read her stuff, play the piano (if youplay the 'Highwind' theme, Cloud will act like he remembers it from somwhere), or even search her closet. Also note that you can't get Vincent Valentine during Cloud's flashback because you can't examine the safe.
- When you're done looking
around town, go to the inn and head upstairs.
Talk to Sephiroth and choose to get some sleep. The
next day, talk to Sephiroth and get your picture taken, thensit back and
watch the FMV. When you're in control of Cloud, head along the bridge and
talk to Tifa, then talk to her again
further along the bridge and it will break. After you'verecovered, head
northeast into the cave, then keep heading north. Eventually,
you'll arrive at the Jenova plant. Enter it, head along
the beams, then walk onto the wood platform and climb downthe chains and
go after Sephiroth. Talk to him in the next area,
examine the chamber to the
left of Sephiroth, then talk to him twice,
once to make him move out of the way and once to make Cloudlook inside
the chamber. After Sephiroth goes ballistic, you'll return
to Kalm Town. Pick the top option to save your game, or the
bottom option to continue. Cloud's narrative starts off backat Nibelheim,
where he enters the large mansion at the edge of
town.
- Inside, climb the two staircases and head to the right. Enter the lower door and make your way into the next room; if you examinethe circular part of the stone wall, a passage appears. Enter it and climb down the spiraling walkway until you reach the bottom; keep walking from here to find a library. Leave after Sephirothfinishes talking. After Cloud wakes up, return to the library. Sephiroth gives a little speech then he exits the mansion; return to the town square. Try entering the house to your right.
- Back at the Jenova plant, return to the area with the chambers after witnessing the struggle between Tifa and Sephiroth. Examine Tifa tocarry her out of harm's way, then run up the stairs and enter the door that Sephiroth opened. After the FMV sequence, Cloud'sflashback ends and you are returned to Kalm Town. Note that you have to go to Kalm Town to proceed with the game; youcan't make your way through the Mythril Mines beforehand, although youcan visit the Chocobo Farm if you want to. As for treasure, there's anEther in the door beneath the stairs in the house near the inn, another Ether in the cabinet on the second floor of the house to the right ofthat house, and a Peacemaker in the chest on the second floor of thethird house (take the curving stairs). If you take the normal stairs inthe same house, you can get a Guard Source in the cabinet by the little girl. Finally, in the house on the other side of the town, there is anEther in the door beneath the stairs on the north wall of the firstfloor. Oh, you'll be given the PHS when you talk to your allies on the first floor of the inn; it allows you to switchgroup members whenever you want, providing that you're in the World Mapor standing on a Save Point (there are a few exceptions to this rule).
Leave the town and head east to reach the Chocobo Farm. Talk to the Chocobo at the front end of the pen and choose the top option to seethe big yellow birds dance; you'll get the Choco/Mog materia afterwards. Then, talk to Choco Billy (the man with the hat) in the stables behindthe pen. Choose the first option, then the 4th option, then the topoption again. Providing you have 2000 gil to spare, he'll sell you aChocobo Lure materia, which lets you attract chocobos to ride.
To catch a chocobo, wander
around outside on the chocobo tracks (in this
area of the game, you can meet them on the light patches ofgrass, too),
until you are attacked. If a chocobo is one of your
opponents, then kill off
the other enemies and when the battle ends, you'll
be riding the chocobo. If you attack the chocobo, it willhurt you and the
other enemies, then escape, so you'll have to try again.
Don't forget, you can only fight chocobos if you have theChocobo Lure materia
equipped. When riding a chocobo, your can move around
normally, and you won't get attacked by enemies. You can press X to dismount,
but if you do this, the Chocobo will run away and you'llhave to catch another
one.
A little to the south and
directly west of the Chocobo farm is a cave, but
a creeping snake in the marsh before the cave entrance will rise upto attack
you. Instead of trying to kill it now, go get a Chocobo
instead, who can outrun
the snake and enter the cave. Yes, you will still
get attacked if the snake touches your chocobo.
Note that you can run across the marsh on foot, but nothing special happens if you do so (and it's nigh-impossible to pull off withoutrunning into Midgar Zolom).
Note that if Midgar Zolom knocks one of your allies off-screen, the game won't end should the other members be killed; instead, you'll findyourself standing at the edge of the marsh.
The first time you get across the marsh, you'll see a large snake impaled on a tree. Just exit the screen to continue playing. Also, ifyou get off your chocobo while on the patch of grass before the mineentrance, he'll stay there in case you need to return to the farm (thisdoesn't seem to happen all the time). If you're strong enough, you can get to the Mythril Mines without ever having togo to the Chocobo Farm.
JUNON TOWN
Nearby is a rocky outcropping with a huge bird statue atop it, the Condor Fort. Enter it and choose the second option when talking to the man outfront. After climbing up the rope, you'll find yourself in a town builtinto the rock itself. There is a Save Point, item shop, bedroom (you cansleep for free), and Materia shop here. Talk to everyone. If you have enough Gil, you can hang around and fight the 'mini-battle' as many times as you want (it's fun!). Otherwise, leave and go northwest throughthe forest to Junon Town by the shore.
Once you arrive at Junon,
talk to the villagers, then go down the stairs to
the shore. Here, a young girl named Priscilla is playing with adolphin.
Out of nowhere, a big flying boss shows up and attacks her,
then your party.
After killing the boss, you'll have to revive Priscilla. To do this, watch the lung-shaped meter that appears in the upper right. Press the S button once to make the meter start to raise. Just as it reachesthe top, press S again to make Cloud breathe into the girl's mouth.It will take a couple of tries. Afterwards, go to the house near theentrance to town and talk to the person there (for some reason, choosing the top option won't make Cloud go to bed, but if you go back in the house and try again, he will go to sleep).
During the night, Cloud will
have another bad dream. In the morning, leave and go to the house above
the stairs (your friends will be gathered
near it). Priscilla will give you the 'Summon
Shiva' materia, a
gift for saving her life. Follow her to the shore, then talk to hera second
time. Barret will show up and the girl will keep talking;when you have
the chance, choose the middle option. Your goal in thispart of the game
is to leap atop the iron beam above the electrical tower
so that you can sneak into the heart of Junon Town. Yourcontrols are:
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The next area has a higher
and lower level. If you investigate the box-like switch, you'll be taken
to the lower level. From there, head south to
find a building. There is a projecting roof nearby which has a door
underneath it; just press
against the edge and you'll enter a hallway filled
with soldiers. In the halls, go up to find a locker room. Check out the
half-open locker and choose the second option to dress up as a
guard. When the captain
of the guards asks you another question, pick the
bottom answer.
Then, leave the locker and
take note of the Save Point before heading through
the door (follow the other soldiers). Now that you're outside,go into the
first alleyway. You'll come across a group of marching
soldiers. The head guard
will want you to join in and march with them perfectly,
so it may take a couple of attempts before this event willend. You also
have to move your gun in time with the soldiers by pressing
and releasing the O button. You'll get something if you're finished.
Afterwards, you'll have to
stand at attention while Rufus and Heidegger talk
to each other...press in any direction and the captain of the guardwill
tell you to get back in line. After the rest of the soldiers leave,
the captain will give you
an option; choose either option and you'll return
to the locker room for some training on the next event. There,you can try
to follow the captain's orders, if you wish. When he asks
you a question, choose the
top choice to try training again, or the bottom
option to finish the training. Once the soldiers leave, followthem
outside.
Now's your chance to do a
little shopping and treasure hunting. You'll run
into Rude in the basement of the first weapon shop, but he won'trecognize
you in your Shinra guard uniform. Go through the third doorand talk to
the guard near the back of the room, then jump down to anarea with several
Shinra guards and some holograms. In the far corner of
the room is a yellow materia (Enemy Skill). This place is
similar to the 'House of Learning' back in Area 7 Town where
you could learn about the game's mechanics. On the second floorof the same
building, you can get a 1/35 soldier and a Mind Source. In
the room with the cats nearby
is a Luck Source. On the third floor is a red
Power Source and a green Guard Source.
If you enter the fourth door
on the other side of town, you'll find that that
Elena, Rude, and Tseng of the Turks are here. It's a good thingthat you're
in that uniform. Go through the sixth door to find a room
with a soldier; you can
check the silver trashcan for a message and pick up
a yellow Speed Source in the side room. On the floor above, you canpick
up another 1/35 soldier.
In the next area, Heidegger
and Rufus show up again. You have to do your salute according to what the
captain of the guard tells you to do (remember
your training)! At the very end, all you have to do is be
facing forward: pressing
any button will make you do the 'spinning gun' salute.
Unfortunately, the order of commands is random each time youplay, so just
do your best. Afterwards, you can press the following
buttons to make Cloud do
funny things:
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After everyone else leaves, Red 13 (who was watching from just inside the boat) will talk to you if you try to leave instead of boarding the boat.Either way, you'll end up joining your friends in the boat's hull.
SHINRA CARGO SHIP
Here, talk to Barret, who is spying on the Shinra members. After talking to him a couple of times, an alarm will sound. Go back to the center ofthe boat to find your friends. Then, assemble your party. If you wantto change the setup, talk to your friends again. When you're ready, godownstairs and head through the door that the one guard was standing infront of. In the next room, watch out for enemies and climb up theladder, the walkway leads to a chest with a Wind Slash inside. Did youget all the items on the boat? When you're ready, go and talk to thecaptain of the guards. It turns out that he's dead. Then, Sephiroth shows up, and summons a huge monster for you to fight before he fliesaway.
COSTA DEL SOL
Outside of the town, head
through the mountains and across the bridge. You'll
find a cave-like entrance. Talk to the man on the hill, thenkeep
heading north. Eventually, you'll reach a walkway that leads to
a large Mako furnace. Head
south and follow the train tracks; there's no
point in looking around here. Keep going, and you'll come acrosssome
curving tracks and a Save Point. As you walk along the tracks, youcan get
the following items: Double Machinegun, Turbo Ether, and aTransform materia.
These tracks are rickety,
and when you walk across them in certain areas a
message will appear telling you to press O so that you don't fallthrough
them. It's better to let yourself fall, because you can then
hold left or right and rapidly
press O to land beneath the tracks. Then, press Up to climb back up. If
you landed on the left side of the tracks, you
can pick up a Wizard Staff. If you landed in the middle, you can'tget anything,
but if you landed on the right side, you'll find a Star Pendant.
There are three places where you can fall through the tracks,so be sure
to get these items.
Take the upper rail path
to the next area. Are your friends waiting for you
on the lower track? If they're not, then go back and take the lowerpath.
You'll get an option to summon them using the PHS system.
Assuming they're there,
take the upper path and keep walking until you find
a wooden shed. Enter it and pick the top choice when you'reprompted to
make a decision. This will lower the tracks on the bottom
path. Before returning to
the lower rail path and following after your allies,
you can walk to the end of the path you're on and climb the wall;you'll
hear birds chirping if you're in the right place.
After finding the nest, you can choose to take the treasure in the nest (the top option), or leave the birds alone (the bottom option). If youchoose the top option, you're attacked.
This guy's easy; just attack
until it dies. You'll get 10 Phoenix Downs should
you kill it. You can get two Softs from it; one bystealing, the other
by killing it with Morph.
You'll get 10 Phoenix Downs after the battle is over. Cloud will then return to the train tracks. Keep in mind that this is a one-shot deal;whether you decide to take the treasure or not, you can only make a choiceone time. As you're traveling along the lower rail path, you'll see apart where the track splits in two directions. Take the left path (the one that turns back). Walk north (towards the bridge), then right (underthe first bridge). It may sound confusing, but you'll end up in a littleshack where there's a bunch of items and a man resting on a bulldozer.There's a Mind Source and a Power Source here, and the chest has a Tentinside of it. Leave and follow the other path across the bridge in thenext area to reach the town of North Corel.
THE GOLD SAUCER
You'll see a Save Point in the background of the first area of the Gold Saucer, but you'll need GP (not gil, like what you've been using) toactivate it. Pay the man to get in (the first choice is for a one-time entrance, the second choice will let you enter as often as you'd like),and then choose the path of your choice after your companions separate.
If you try to leave the Station
Square (the area where you're at; all the
areas in the Saucer are divided into 'squares'), Aeris will joinyou. As
you explore the rest of the Gold Saucer, you'll discover that
Shinra soldiers are snooping
around, looking for Sephiroth. When you're
ready to move on, go to the Wonder Square. Here, you'll meetCait Sith,
a would-be fortuneteller. He'll automatically join you since
you only have two members
(you and your friend) at this point.
Go to the Battle Square and
you'll find a bunch of dead bodies; the handiwork
of Sephiroth. As you're talking to the few who are stillalive, Dio, the
proprietor of the Gold Saucer shows up and promptly
blames you for the carnage.
Cait Sith makes a dash for freedom, but after
following him, the party is trapped. Dio and his henchmen thensummon three
large robots that throw you and your allies through the 'Gateway
to Heaven' to a desolate area, the Corel Prison, which liesat the base
of the Gold Saucer.
Here, you'll find Barret. After he runs away, examine the dead body and talk to the other guy before going though the southern gate. Thereis a treasure chest here (in the chamber at the base of the ladder), butit's already opened (?).
In the second area, talk
to everyone here. The building to the far southeast
is a bar, and a man inside will sell you items. After lookingaround here,
enter the building to the east (it doesn't matter which
entrance you take). Barret
will show up once you're inside, as will Tifa
and Aeris. After Barret's flashback (in which his best friendfalls down
and North Corel is razed to the ground), reassemble your
team and go back to the first area. Examine the guard (who isdead), then
either leave through the gate. If you exit by going throughthe area between
the gate and the building to the right, you'll end upwandering around in
a wasteland until a caravan (the same one that Tifa was
captured in) shows up. When it does, pick the top option to get aride back
to the area beyond the gate or choose the bottom option tostay where you
are (in the middle of nowhere...you'll have to keepwandering around until
the caravan shows up again).
Anyway, once you've gone past the gate, talk to the man out here and go to the right. Any other direction leaves you stranded in the desert(read the above paragraph again if you want to get back on track). Thistakes you to the caryard. Go up from here and you'll run into noneother than Dyne (the guy from Barret's flashback). He tells Barret about his wife and Marlene (who is actually his daughter), then decides to attack Barret. In the battle, you're forced to fight using just Barret.
After Barret's friend dies,
you'll find yourself back in the trailer. After
talking to the coach, you'll be invited to become a Chocoboracer. In the
elevator shaft, choose the top option to have the racingprocess explained
to you, or pick the bottom one to skip it. In the
room with the other men, check the alcove by the Chocobo poster fora red
Summon
Materia (Ramuh). Then, talk to the girl in pink (Esther) to
start racing.
Your controls as a Chocobo
racer are:
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The more you Dash, the slower your walking speed is, so conserve your Dash Meter for when you really need it. You have to keep racing untilyou win, so get good fast! Esther will explain the controls to you againprior to the race if you choose the top option, or you can conclude yourconversation with her and start racing by choosing the bottom option.If you can't get the hang of it, then just keep racing using theAutomatic Sequence mode until you get first place.
After winning, you'll receive
the Buggy as first prize, and can now
roam freely about the overworld and even pass through shallow rivers!(Look
for lighter-shaded fords along the rivers.) Your controls are set
up in the following manner:
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GONGAGA TOWN / COSMO CANYON
After the Turks leave, head
northeast, then go north to reach a pile of scrapped
machinery. As you're looking around, Tseng shows up
in the Shinra helicopter and talks about 'Huge Materia' (which you'll
learn more about in Disc
2). After they leave, examine the area to get the 'SummonTitan' materia.
Then go back to the first area and head left. In the second
area, there is a Deathblow materia near the left path (whichreturns you
to the World Map). If you take the north path, you'll arrive
at Gongaga Town.
Be sure to visit the stores (don't forget that you can climb up the pole in the Accessory Shop to reach a room where you can buy weapons) andget the treasure chests from the inn (X Potion) and the old man'shouse (White M-phone). If you go into the far right house, you'll meetan old couple who apparently know Cloud (or someone just like him), and someone else named Zack. When you're done here, return to the WorldMap. Head southwest, then turn toward the river and go over the shallows, and then make your way up through the mountains to reach CosmoCanyon. If you try to drive past the town, the buggy will short out,so you don't really have any choice but to enter the town (and you can'tget anywhere else without the buggy, so even if you didn't drive it past Cosmo Canyon and entered on foot, it wouldn't matter.)
When you approach the man
at the gate, Red 13 will talk to him (he'll either
bound up the steps past your party if he's not with you, or he'lljust leave
your party and start talking if he was with you previously).Everyone here
knows Red 13 by the name 'Nanaki'. After Red heads up thestairs, talk to
the guard and choose the bottom option to be let into thetown (Red 13 will
reappear to make sure you guys get in). If he was inyour party, you'll
have the option to make a new team; otherwise, you canlook around town
freely. Don't miss the Save Point located in theTigerlily Arms Shop. In
the Item Shop, there is a passage with a red rope
across it that prevents you from checking out the room in the back.
Keep this place in mind
because if you return to Cosmo Canyon in Disc 2 or
3, the rope will have been removed and you can get an Elixir, a Magic source,
and the Full Cure materia orb from the back room.
Eventually head up to the
observatory, where you'll run into Red 13 and
Bugenhaagen, an old geezer who knows all kinds of things. AfterRed 13 leaves,
go back down and talk to your friends in order to make
a new party. Then talk to
Red 13 in the room connected to the inn before
returning to the observatory. Enter the side door, chat withBugenhaagen,
and you'll see a short FMV sequence.
When it's over, return to
the large bonfire to the right of the entrance.
Your friends are here. Talk to everyone here, then chat with
Red 13 a second time. Bugenhaagen will show up, and you'llmake a new group
(with Red 13 as a permanent member). If you want someone
else, just talk to another ally (it doesn't matter which one).Follow Bugenhaagen
back to the sealed door above the weapons shop
and talk to him, then choose
the top option. He'll open the door for you.
Enter and climb down to the very bottom of the shaft, then headleft.
In the next area, head right
and up until you see a hole facing left. Enter it and you'll be given an
option. Pick the top one to make an opening
appear nearby. Go through it, then head up and left. You'llslide on the
oil and hit a spiked wall, reducing every member's HP by500 points. Then
go south, through the hole, and head right to reachthe materia you
couldn't get in the first area (Added Effect). Go back and carefully walk
along the edge of the path to avoid
slipping across the oil. Then go right, up, left, down the
stairs, and through the
underpassage to reach a chest with an Ether inside of it. Then return to
the stairs and go left, then down to find
a second chest containing a Black M-phone. Then climb back upthe stairs
and head to the upper-left to leave this area.
There are five passages in
this area; you only want to take the 2nd and 4th
passages from the left. First, take the 4th passage. When youtouch the
web beyond it, you'll have to fight a giant spider (Stinger).
When you've killed it, follow
the path north to find a chest with an X
Potion inside. Then go back and take the 2nd passage from the left.Kill
the Stinger that attacks you when you touch the web and then head
left and down. As you're
going through the tunnel, hold right and you'll
find an alternate path that leads to yet another treasure chest. You'll
find a Fairy Ring in it. Go back up to where the web was andwalk north
to find another web. Past it is the exit, but try holdingleft and Cloud
will go along a passage hidden by the rock that leads toa chest. There's
an Turbo Ether inside.
When you approach the giant face in the next cavern, it begins to move and you are attacked.
Grab the spell Materia (Gravity) that's left behind and follow Bugenhaagen up the steps. After the sequence with Red 13 and the other creature (his father, who was transformed into stone), make a new party and leave the town. Don't worry, Red 13 will rejoinyou when you try to leave. The Buggy will be working again when you leave Cosmo Canyon.
NIBELHEIM
First, go into the inn. Talk
to the black creature in the back to get a
Luck Source. You can get an Elixir from another one of the creaturesin
the Item Shop, and a second Luck Source if you talk to the small
creatures in the upper floor
of the southeastern house. The large house to
the east is Tifa's home, and you'll be given a Platinum Fist and anTurbo
Ether if you talk to the creatures here. There's a piano in
Tifa's room that you can
fool around with.
This next section is optional--you
can just continue on through the mountains
if you want. However, Sephiroth won't show up in the mansion
after you reach Disc 2, meaning you can't nab the Destruct
materia unless you get it
from him during the first disc (read below for
details).
Now, go into the large mansion
at the edge of town. Left of the entrance
is a piece of paper. It has
several hints on it that
clue you in to the combination of the safe on the
upper floor.
You can get the 4th number by chosing the blank space beneath the first three tips (look at the paper, choose the top option, then movethe cursor down to the blank space and press O).
Head right and look for the sliver of light near the stairway, it's very hard to see. It's an opening that leads to the lower section ofanother room. There's a chest here, with a Silver M-phone inside.Go back out and go into the northern door beneath the staircase. Inthe adjoining hall, head right and and up to find a chest with a Twin Viper in it. To the left is a room with a broken piano (whichyou could have also reached by looking for the opening near the leftstaircase in the main room).
Go up the stairs and head
left. In the circular room is a chest that has
an Enemy Launcher inside. There's nothing in the northern roomexcept
for a locked safe--you'll need the right combination
in order
to open it. If you want
to try your luck,
examine it with the O button and choose the top option to
enter the combination or the bottom option to quit.
Open the safe (or not), then go right and into the right wing of the manor house. If you go up, you'll find a chest with a Magic Sourceinside. Then go into the lower room and examine the curved wall to open a secret passage. Go down the spiralling walkway, and then headright. If you got the gold key from the safe, you can open the northern door. Continue to the right to find a libarary. Then go north and you'll run into noneother than Sephiroth, who will pelt you with a green materia before flying away. Be sure to get the materia (Destruct) before leaving the mansion.
Once you're back outside,
leave Nibelheim from the northern entrace and
contine along until you see a passage leading into the mountains.In the
next area, follow the path until it splits, and take the north
path, which wraps around
the back of a spire and leads to a chest with
a Rune Blade inside of it. Now go back and follow the originalpath. You'll
notice that just before the bridge, there's a path that curves
away to the north. Follow it up into the mountains and whenit curves south,
take that path instead of continuing in the same direction.
The path curves several times, but eventually you'll makeit to the top
of the mountain, where you can find a chest. It may help if you press SELECT
so that you can see yourself
when a mountain is blocking your view, and if you can't seemto get any
further, press in other directions (like down) to scale theback of the
mountain.
Go back down to the main path and head up the bridge. Inside the cavern, take the ladder down instead of the tubes, or you won't beable to get all the treasure in this area. You don't have to worry about the large boss near the door just yet. Feel free to make useof the Save Point, then climb back to the top of the area. Enter thepipe labled '2' to end up on a rocky ledge. There's an item bag here, get it and then press down to jump down to a lower ledge, then press down again to reach the floor. Climb backup one last time and go into the pipe labled '4' in order to reach thetreasure chest on the bottom ledge below; there's an All materia lying within. Walk against the right edge of the ledge to drop downto the floor.
See the path heading south, just below the path that the boss is blocking? Follow it to go outside, then try to keep walking and you'lldrop down to the lower ledge. Following the path here leads to a deadend, so enter the cave instead and take the righthand path once you'reinside. Ignore the exit at the other end of the cave and work your way southwest, then go through the small hole. Walk up, then left, thendown in order to reach the treasure chest you could see when you first came in here. Inside it is an Elixir. Now go through the exit to arrive at a wooded area. On the ground, to the left of the mass ofcrystalized Materia is an Elemental materia. Take it and proceed north,going through the opening to go back into the caves.
Inside, head to the right,
then go up as far as you can and walk left past
the stone walls to reach a chest containing a Sniper CR. Thengo back and
take the rightmost passage. It goes south and leads you
back to the outside. From
here, head left (going right leads you to a
dead end). You'll eventually end up at the Jenova Plant you visitedin Cloud's
flashback. There's nothing to do inside the plant, so continue
beyond it to the door set in the rock wall. Enter it andyou'll end up back
in the chamber with the pipes again.
It's true that you could
have taken the door and done this entire sequence
in reverse, but then you couldn't have scaled the ledge andyou would have
to go all the way back, instead of taking the express
route like you just did.
Now climb down and examine the boss, and it
will attack you.
After the battle is over, examine the purple materia that is left behind in order to take it (Counter Attack). Then follow the path outside--itleads back to the World Map.
ROCKET TOWN
Go into the house to the
right of the old man. This is the home of Sheila
and Cid, although neither of them are around at the moment.There's a chest
here with a Drill Arm inside it. If you go out the back
entrance, you'll find a light airplane in the backyard--it's oneof Cid's
inventions, the 'Tiny Bronco'. After looking at the airplane,Sheila will
show up. When she leaves, go outside and head north toarrive at the rocket--climb
inside it to find Cid. After chatting with him,
name him. You can then ask him several questions; you have to atleast ask
the first one (top choice) in order to proceed with the game.Then leave
the rocket and return to Cid's house. Sheila will show up,then Cid, too.
After Cid goes out back, Sheila will explain how Cid was
going to pilot his rocket into outer space some time ago, butaborted the
launch when he discovered that Sheila was still making last-minute checks
and hadn't left the launch pad yet; she would be burned to
ashes since the launch could only be aborted, not delayed. By saving
her life, Cid's dreams were
shattered, since he did not have the resources
to repair the rocket, which tipped over after falling backonto the lauch
pad.
Cid comes back into the house, then Palmer shows up--an employee of Shinra. Go outside and you'll run into Rufus and a Shinra guard, whohave come to 'borrow' the Tiny Bronco. After Sheila brings you back inside the house, go out the back entrance to find Palmer standingatop the Tiny Bronco. Talk to him and he'll attack you.
Palmer will run away but
gets hit by a truck (?!). Your party and Cid will escapeon the Tiny Bronco.
Although it gets damaged during your escape it can
still be used to skim across shallow water and traverse rivers(although
you can't go up or down waterfalls). Here are the airplanecontrols:
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BACK AT THE GOLD SAUCER
If you want to try and see if you can win all the battles, then keep fighting. After each battle, the message 'GREAT!' will appear, followed by two options. Choose the right option to stop fighting,or the left option to continue fighting. If you choose to continue, a jackpot-like device will appear. You can stop it from spinningby pressing the O button, and whatever comes up when you press O willtake affect prior to the start of the next battle. Depening on what you get, different things will happen to you, although certain accessories can render you immune to some of the more debiliating effects.
Furthermore, the status ailments that you are afflicted with as a result of the jackpot stay with you from battle to battle, and you'reforced to stop the jackpot after each battle, so you could end up being a poisoned, petrified frog in a few rounds, if you're notcareful. If you last through seven battles, then the fighting ends.
Should you make it through all the battles, Dio will give you a Choco Bracelet and a Choco Feather, in addition to the Keystone.
There's nothing else you
need to do at the Gold Saucer now, but when you
try to leave, you'll discover that the ropeway that the sky lifttravels
up and down is broken, leaving you stranded in the Saucer.
Cait Sith will either show
up (or leave your party, if he's already with
you guys) and suggest that you all meet him at the Ghost Hotel.At the Hotel,
you and your allies will chat for awhile. In the next
scence, you'll find yourself
in your room.
At this point in the game,
a character will come into your room and ask to
go on a date with you. While it's usually Aeris, it's beenconfirmed that
you can go on a date with Tifa instead, if you were niceto her and mean
to Aeris throughout the course of the game. It's muchharder to do, but
if you have had Yuffie in your party for a while, she may
wish to date Cloud as well. If you're really mean to all the women
in your party, Barret will
date you (so be nice!) It's not what you think--just
a friendly outing.
First, you'll go to the Event Square. Since you're the 100th person to come here that day, you and Aeris will be offered a role in theupcoming play. What you do here doesn't affect the game in any way,so just pick whatever options you'd like and watch one of the manyhumorous endings. Next, you'll ride the gondola in the Round Square. When Aeris looksout the window, you can press left to look out, too, and see variousFMV sequences showcasing the events at the Gold Saucer.
After the date is over, Cloud
and Aeris will return to the Station Square
only to find Cait Sith sneaking around with the Keystone. He'llrun away
when Cloud yells at him, and you have to chase him around
various sections of the
Gold Saucer. (If you don't want to waste time doing
that, then go to the Chocobo Square, enter it, and chase CaitSith back
outside). Eventually, Cait will stop at the steps outside
of the Chocobo Square. The
Shinra helicopter shows up, and Cait will toss the Keystone up to Tseng.
When confronted by Cloud and Aeris, Cait reveals
that he is in fact a spy for the Shinra. He insists that hecontinues to
travel with Cloud and his friends because he has taken Marlene
as a hostage back in Midgar.
Once Cait Sith leaves, you'll find yourself back in the Ghost Hotel. Check the iron maiden for an Elixir. Leave the room to meet up with your allies again. After a brief talk, Aeris will join your party, becoming a permanent member.Pick another ally and then leave the Saucer, since the ropeway is nowrepaired.
Now that you're back at North Corel, leave and return where you parked the Tiny Bronco. Look at the World Map. See the tiny chain of islandsnear the bottom of the map? Just to the right of them and to the leftof Mideel and the Fort Condor is a large island. If you go there, you'llsee a large temple surrounded by a forest. This is your next destination, so land the Tiny Bronco at the shore and head to the temple.
TEMPLE OF THE ANCIENTS
This area has a very confusing layout; it's a mass of stairs, walkways and passages. There are chests everywhere, and a kooky old man in ablue robe is also running around down here. From where you arrived,head up, then left, then up again and go down the stairs to the groundlevel. There's an opening just above you; go in it, turn to the right, then climb down the vines clinging to the wall beneath you. If yourun underneath the long staircase nearby, you can reach a treasure chestthat has a Trident inside of it. From there, head right, go down thestairs, then turn and climb up the wall using the vines. Head past the opening (which you can't enter at this point, anyway) and go up thestairs. The old man will dash away; ignore him for now and climb up thevines to reach a platform. There's a shiny pink item here (Mind Source).Take it and go down the stairs, then enter the door to your left to finda room with a treasure chest and the old man. Inside the chest is theSilver Rifle. Talk to the geezer twice and he'll offer his servicesto you:
- Purchase Items
- Restore HP and MP
to maximum
- Save your game*
- Nothing
* Choose the top option
to decline or the bottom option to accept and
save your game.
Outside, go back up the stairs and down the vines, but this time, head down and to the left. You can pick up a green item here (Turbo Ether).Then go down the long stairway. At the bottom, climb down the smallerset of steps to your left, then work your way towards the southwestcorner of the screen. There's a small patch of vines here that you can climb down. Be sure to open the nearby chest; there's a Rocket Punchinside of it. Now, go down the stairs and walk northeast along thepath to find some more vines and the old man, who scampers away whenyou get too close. Climb up the vines, then go up the stairs next to you, go through the archway, turn east and go down the stairs, andclimb up the long stretch of vines on the nearby wall. Head left, underneath the staircase, and you can nab a purple materia (Luck Plus).
Now, go back the way you came (go right, down the vines, up the stairs and down and out through the archway so that you're back on the paththat the old man was standing on, just above the vines). Walk to theeast until the path stops, then head south and turn east again to enterthe nearby door. As you enter, the old man will dash away. There are huge hollow boulders that are rolling down this walkway. To get pastthem, time your dashes so that the hollow part will be directly overyou, causing Cloud to kneel as the boulder rolls over you. Then keepgoing until you reach a side path that leads to a pool of water. Grab the Morph materia near the pool, then continue along the walkway, avoiding the boulders. Once you reach the end of the path,they'll disappear for good, but remember that if you get hit by a boulder, you'll be dragged all the way back to the beginning of thepath. Alternately, you can wait until the boulders disppear and then go back and pick up the materia after the sequence with Sephiroth.
Once the boulders are gone, Aeris will sense a powerful prescence in the chamber and return to the pool. Light will erupt from the surfaceof the pool, and you'll be able to see what I presume is a flashback ofTseng and Elena (both Turks) running around in the shrine. After Elenaleaves, Sephiroth shows up and creates a double of himself. While he busies himself with attacking Tseng, the laughing double flies up intothe air. After this sequence is over, Sephiroth's double will descendinto the pool and then fly away. When you return to the end of the passage, the old geezer will bewaiting for you, and will once again offer his help:
- Restore HP and MP
to maximum
- Save your game
- Nothing
When you're ready, go down the stairs. There's a huge room here with twelve doors labeled I to XII. In the center of the room is the talking clock. Here's a list of what's in each passage:
I = A passage that leads to a treasure chest. Open it and you will fight 3 monsters.
The Poison Frogs are weak against Ice, so use cold-based attacks/spells on them. Their attacks will turn you into a frog, but they attack sooften that it's better for you to wait until they hit you again (turningyou back into a human) instead of wasting a Maiden's Kiss or otherrestorative item. The woman is weak against Poison, so use one of the Bio spells on her for good results. The only point infighting this battle is if you want to learn Song of the Frog from thefrogs (providing you have a Enemy Skill materia equipped).
II
= This passage is blocked off by rocks. You can't do
anything here, so return and pick another.
III =
A treasure chest. It contains monsters, too. You won't get anything for
defeating them.
Both of these red, multi-eyed monsters are weak against Poison, so use the best Bio spell you've got, or simply attack to dispatch them. Ifyou've got Morph equipped, you can morph both of them into Magic Source items, which is really the only point in fighting this battle.Although weak, either enemy can drain lots of HP from you (around 1200-1400 points!)
IIII = Shouldn't
this be IV? Anyway, there's a chest here,
the Princess Guard
is inside.
V = This
passage leads outside to the gold chest you could
see but not normally reach.
VI = Read below
to find out what to do here.
VII = There's a chest
here. A weapon for Cait Sith is inside it.
VIII = You can get a Mega
Elixir from the chest in this
room.
IX = A passage
blocked by fallen rock.
X = This
is where you came in.
XI = Yet another
blocked passage.
XII = Read farther
below.
At some point, you should stand on the hour or minute hand and let the second hand approach. When it passes over you, it will knock you downinto the pit below. When you land, you'll find yourself in a room witha treasure chest. Before you can open it, you'll be ambushed by twomonsters.
PASSAGE VI
Before going down this passage, make sure you've cleared out the other rooms since you won't be able to go back to them after the next event.When you step out into the open, the bouncing old man will see you andrun away. When Aeris asks you a question, pick the bottom answer ifyou want to return and explore more of the clock puzzle room, or choose the top answer if you want to hunt down the old man. To findhim, simply go through the passages; you want to end up going into apassage that he plans to come out of. You can go down to another setof passages by going to the left end of each ledge and pressing the Obutton to jump down a level. The passage entrances and exits arerandom, but you can catch him without too much difficulty. Don't forget to take the chest lying on the lowest level; there's a pair of ArmyGloves inside. As usual, beat the old man at his own game and he'll help you in return:
- Restore HP and MP
to maximum
- Save your game
- Nothing
Now that you've caught the
old man, the large door on the top level will open.
Go inside and head to the right. You'll encounter Sephiroth fourtimes.
Up to his usual evil, Sephiroth talks about the energy within
the temple as he as swings
his sword around, his every motion trailed by the
double that he made earlier. After disappearing, Cloud will sufferfrom
some sort of fit. After coming to his senses, the party examines a mural
on the wall whichshows a meteorite speeding towards the people of the earth.
Aeris talks about
the spell 'Meteo' which Sephiroth is planning to cast, when theparty hears
Sephiroth's voice. The temple starts to shake, and a largered dragon appears
and attacks the allies.
Pick up the summon materia that's left behind (Bahamut). Then go back and examine the floating gold object on the dais. Aeris refers to itas the 'Black Materia' . Aeris will then ask you a question. It doesn't matter which answeryou choose. At this point, if Cait Sith isn't in your party, you'll here a ringing sound and Cloud will answer the PHS phone. Cait willtalk to him through the phone. If he is in you party, then he startshopping around and talking to you. When he finishes, leave this chamber, let the old man heal you if you need it, then go back to theclock room. The only direction you can go in is straight up through passage XII. When you examine the door in the room beyond, yet anotherboss appears to finish you off.
Once the boss is defeated,
Cait Sith will have an animated conversation with
your party. If he's not in your group, then he bursts out of thedoor and
starts talking. He'll then return to the chamber where the
Black Materia was and take
it. Afterwards, the entire temple vanishes! In
the following scene, Cloud and Aeris go down into the foundationof the
temple and retrieve the Black Materia, but Sephiroth shows up
and forces Cloud to give
the Materia to him. During this time, you control
a ghostly image of Cloud as a child. If you stand in Cloud'spath and keep
talking to him, you'll prevent him from approaching Sephiroth,
but there's no point in doing this since Cloud will continueto advance
until you give up. After Cloud gives Sephiroth the BlackMateria, he will
attack Aeris (and you can't do anything about that,either). Cait Sith will
show up (actually Cait Sith 2--the same person,but with a new robot body
since the first one got trashed when the temple
was destroyed.) Then your other party
member will leap down and prevent Cloud from killing Aeris.
After a dream sequence, you'll awake in, of all places, the inn at Gongaga Town, with Barret and Tifa by your side. Answer Barret's question any way you like, then go outside. Tifa andBarret will join your party, but you don't have to keep them as permanent members. Look for the Tiny Bronco on the southern shore nearGongaga Town.
Also, Aeris has left your party for good. However, you'll have all of her weapons, equipment, accessories and materia in your item menu. Now,you need to go to the forest that you saw in Cloud's dream. First, getin the Tiny Bronco.
BONE VILLAGE / SLEEPING FOREST
What you need to do at this point in the game is comission one of the men to dig up the Lunar Harp for you. As long as you have it in your possession, you're able to pass through the 'endless'forest.
- First, talk to the
man sitting just outside of the rib-cage room.
Pick the first
option twice*. The screen will fade out.
- When the screen fades
back in, all the men will be gone. What you
do is choose
a place where you want a digger to stand and press the
S button.
It costs 100 gil to place a digger. Use the top option
to place a
digger, or the bottom option to quit. You can place up
to five diggers.
- You'll quit once
you choose the bottom option or after you've placed
five diggers.
Now, press the S button to set off an explosion.
You'll hear
a music cue, and the diggers will turn in different
directions.
- Stand where you want
one of the diggers to search through the night
and press S
again after clearing the dialogue box. You'll find
yourself back
at the bottom of the screen the next morning. The
treasure chest
nearby will be closed, and it may or may not hold an
item, depending
on where you chose to dig.
- The key to getting
the right item is to watch the diggers after the
explosion occurs.
They'll all look toward the location of the item
you need, so
try placing them in compass-point style layout so that
you can follow
their vision to the place where the item lies. If
you're really
stuck, the Lunar Harp lies just a little ways to the
west and ever
so slightly south of the tent on the upper ledge.
* Normally, the first
option is used to dig for the Lunar Harp (all
the diggers
will look in the direction of the harp). The other
two options
are used to dig up other items (the diggers will look
in the direction
of the closest item/next item to be found). But
not only do
you not have to place diggers in order to find an item,
but you can
use any of the three choice to dig up the Lunar Harp or
any other item--it's
just that the diggers won't look in the correct
direction if
you don't use the first option, and you can't use the
first option
after obtaining the Lunar Harp.
How do you know if you got the right item? Well, it will show up on the Key Item menu (where the important stuff like the PHS is kept). Also, ifyou talk to the digger sitting by the room, and choose the first optiontwice, he won't let you select and place diggers. Finally, try goinginto the forest. If the screen turns green, then you've got the right item.
When you've got Lunar Harp, go into the forest. When you reach the second area, the screen changes to a green color, and the forest will no longerrepeat. Beyond the forest is a rocky area. First, go under the treetrunk to reach the treasure chest with a Water Ring inside. Climb up therocks near the pink mass of coral, then go through the fallen trunk andhead north to reach the next area (you can't climb up the vine in thefirst area, so ignore it). Walk along the curving path and you'll findyourself back in the World Map, in the canyon near the forest. Headstraight forward to the top-like object to continue your quest.
THE ANCIENT CITY
There's nothing else to do
in this area but enter the last shell house; your
friends won't let you take the path leading out of the city, andthe main
path leads to another part of the chamber with the blue chrystal,but there's
nothing you can do there. So, if you're ready to proceed, enter the shell
house to the right of the main path. On the groundfloor is a chest holding
an Elixir. Take it and climb up the ladder.
When you approach the beds,
you'll be given an option. You can choose the
bottom option, grab the yellow materia behind the headboard of thethird
bed (Enemy Skill), exit the house, then enter it again,
approach the beds, and choose
the top option to go to sleep. Or, you can just
pick the top option the first time around, go to sleep, and when youwake
up in the night, grab the materia.
No matter what you decide to do, go to sleep when you're ready to. You'll wake up in the middle of the night. After Cloud's companions joinhim, return to the crossroads a final time and take the middle path again.
When you enter the shell building, the fish floating in the middle of the spiraling passageway will have disappeared; there are blue steps in it'splace. Go down them and you'll find yourself in an underwater palace.
At the bottom of the stairs, leave the building and take note of the Save Point before going down both sets of stairs below.
Aeris is here, and you have
to get to her by jumping across several pillars.
Press in the direction of the next pillar to get proceed,but you'll have
to use just Cloud; your allies will wait for you back on
the ground. Once you get close to Aeris, Cloud has another spasticfit and
will draw his sword. You can press the controller and thebuttons to make
Cloud do different things, but pressing O three times
will make him try to strike
Aeris. Luckily, he'll come to his senses beforehand
with some help from his friends, but Sephiroth makes an appearance
and attacks Aeris. After her death, Sephiroth escapes,
leaving behind another monster
in his wake.
After beating the boss, there's another FMV sequence, then you're given the option to save your game. You just finished Disc One.