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u. EXCAVATORS' SITE / THE FOREST
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ITEMS IN THIS AREA: 'Summon Kujata' materia, Water Ring.
Make your way up to the Northern Continent by going around the left side
of the Western Continent after going along the river by the Gold Saucer.
Head to the right edge of the continent, where you'll find a forest
surrounded by mountains. In the middle of the forest is a big rib cage
and a large skull. Approach it, and you'll find yourself in a excavation
site where a bunch of archaeologists spend their time digging. Before
doing anything else, you might want to head up the ladder and go through
the hole in the back to reach a forest, the same one from Cloud's dream.
Keep walking until you reach the second forest screen. If you stand here
for a moment, you'll see a red Materia floating on the left side of the
screen. It will switch to the right side and back again every few
seconds. Try to predict where it will show up and use the O button to
grab it. Your reward is the Summon Kujata materia. If you try to
continue through the forest, you'll find that this screen repeats
endlessly. So, go back outside. Before going on to the next part of
the game, you may want to buy some bracelets and items; talk to the
man sitting near the rib cage and pick the second option in order to
buy things from him.
What you need to do at this point in the game is comission one of the
men to dig up the Runahaapu (Luna 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 Runahaapo 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 Runahaapu (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 Runahaapu 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 Runahaapu.
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, if
you talk to the digger sitting by the room, and choose the first option
twice, he won't let you select and place diggers. Finally, try going
into the forest. If the screen turns green, then you've got the rightitem.
When you've got Runahaapu, go into the forest. When you reach the second
area, the screen changes to a green color, and the forest will no longer
repeat. Beyond the forest is a rocky area. First, go under the tree
trunk to reach the treasure chest with a Water Ring inside. Climb up the
rocks near the pink mass of coral, then go through the fallen trunk and
head north to reach the next area (you can't climb up the vine in the
first area, so ignore it). Walk along the curving path and you'll find
yourself back in the World Map, in the canyon near the forest. Head
straight forward to the top-like object to continue your quest.
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v. ANCIENT CITY
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ITEMS IN THIS AREA: Magic Up, Aurora Bracelet, Meteorite materia, Guard
Up, Elixir, Techniques of the Enemy materia, Wizard
Brace.
This area looks a lot like the floor of the sea; there's shells and coral
everywhere. At the crossroads, take the left path. It leads to a stone
building--inisde of the building is a Save Point, and there's a chest on
the upper ledge with a Magic Up inside it. Leave the building and
continue past it, following the path east into the rock face. Inside,
go down the stairs and head all the way right to find a chest with an
Aurora Bracelet in it. You can check out the blue crystal if you want,
but there's nothing you can do with it at this point in the game. Return
to the crossroads and take the middle path. Enter the shell building and
climb the spiraling walkway to the very to to find a green materia lying
on the ground (Meteorite). Go back to the crossroads yet again and take
the right road. It leads to an area with several shell buildings. Go
all the way to the right, then go north to enter the building before you.
Climb all the way to the top level. There's a chest here containing aGuard Up.
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, and
the main path leads to another part of the chamber with the blue crystal,
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 ground
floor 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 the
third bed (Techniques of the Enemy), 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 you
wake up in the night, grab the materia (it's easier to see at night, too).
Originally, I though this was a 'bug' materia (don't I feel silly now),
but it's not.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 join
him, 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's
place. 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.
Aerith's 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 Aerith, Cloud has another spastic
fit and will draw his sword. You can press the controller and the
buttons to make Cloud do different things, but pressing O three times
will make him try to strike Aerith. Luckily, he'll come to his senses
beforehand with some help from his friends, but Sephiroth makes an
appearance and attacks Aerith. After her death, Sephiroth escapes,
leaving behind another monster in his wake.
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BOSS TIPS: JENOBA*LIFE LV: 50 HP: 10000 MP: 300
This boss is weak against earth attacks, so use Earth and Titan. Also,
Meteorite, Bahamut, and Kujata all work very well. Physical attacks do a
surprising amount of damage. The boss will cast Reflect on itself the
first time you cast a spell on it, so be wary about using spells too
often. Jenova*Life's attacks are not that strong (about 400-700 points),
but it has an ultra-deadly blue bubble attack (Aqua Breath) that inflicts
+1500 damage to each character. Be sure to have some Recovery Materia
handy. Considering it's the last boss on this disc, this is not a very
hard battle. You'll get a Wizard Brace when you win the battle.
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After beating the boss, there's another FMV sequence, then you're given
the option to save your game. Guess what? You just finished Disc One!
My times (if you're interested, and even if you're not :)) were 29:04
initially, and 25:20 for the rewrite.
. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
4. WALKTHROUGH - DISC TWO
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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a. THE CAVE
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ITEMS IN THIS AREA: Serpent Halberd, Thunder Bracelet, Hypno-Crown,
Last Elixir, Magical materia, Power Up.
You'll start off outside of one of the shell-shaped buildings on the east
side of the Ancient City. If you walk to the left, Cloud will have
another attack and you'll see the ghostly form of Sephiroth leaving the
Ancient City. Once Cloud has recovered, follow Sephiroth by heading
north, then east along the path you couldn't take before. Note that
you're free to go back through the Forest and return to the World Map,
but there's no point in doing so unless you wanted to buy some items or
find Vincent or Yuffie (unless you already have them). Although you're
now on Disc 2, none of the other events that occur in this disc will
actually happen until you get the Highwind in section 4e (meaning that if
you were to return to the World Map, you couldn't go on the Huge materia
quests yet, dig up the Gate 5 Key, or bring Buugen Haagen back to the
Ancient City).
In the next area, ignore the white, spiked object for a moment. Instead,
walk behind it (look for a path to your left). This will allow you to
reach a chest containing a Serpent Halberd (a weapon for Cid). Once
you've gotten it, climb up the spiky object. It's a little tricky to
navigate due to it's spiraling shape, but you'll eventually reach a
cave entrace after making your way to the top.
Inside, walk to the left and press against the second cleft in the wall.
You'll climb to the top and be given two options (Right or Left). Pick
the bottom option (Left). Walk over to the next cleft and climb up it,
then choose the bottom option when you reach the top to land on a litte
ledge with a chest above it. You can open the chest from where you are;
there's a Thunder Bracelet inside. Face the cleft and choose the bottom
choice, then the top one to jump to the other side. Now, go to the right
and when two options appear, pick the bottom one. This lets you climb
down to where the first chest is; there's a Hypno-Crown inside of it.
Climb back up to the top of the cleft, pick the bottom option, then press
against it to try and get back on. When two optoins appear, choose the
top one. Then, make your way up to the ledge with the chest, and pick
the top option. You can now take the Last Elixir from inside the chest.
Get back into the cleft and choose the bottom option to jump to the west
side of the path. Work your way to the left, climb up the cleft, and
head left a second time to reach a long ladder. Selecting the bottom
option will left you climb down to the bottom of the ladder.
If you search using the O button, you'll find a purple materia (Magical)
near the lower-left corner of the screen. When you approach the ladder,
you'll automatically climb up to the ledge you were at. Now pick the top
option after nearing the ladder and climb all the way to the top. Once
you're off the ladder, run to the right and go through the opening on the
north wall. In the next room, take the contents of the treasure chest
(Power Up) before exiting through the far opening to the northwest.
Once outside, keep to the east. After heading along the coastline
for a while, you'll come across a sharp curve that turns to the west.
Just beyond it is a village and a deep valley, which you can't enter
without exploring the village (Icicle Lodge) first. |