Welcome to the Jegged.com walkthrough and strategy guide for Final Fantasy VII! As with any strategy guide or walkthrough, please note that these pages contain spoilers. Don’t read too far ahead if you don’t want to ruin the story.
Let’s get started…
The start of the game is an opening cinematic sequence that begins in Midgar.
A train will pull into the train station. Walk down towards the train platform at the far end of the screen. You can press the ‘Cancel’ button to run (
Button) unless you customize the controller which is highly recommended.
Unlike later games on the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, Final Fantasy VII was setup with a backwards controller configuration which is the standard configuration in Japan.
Examine the body of the knocked out red guards to receive two free 
Potions. You will be thrust into battle against two guards as you work your way across the train platform.
They are fairly easy to take care of but you will have to be fast. Final Fantasy VII uses live battles rather than a turn-based combat system, another change from some of the previous games in the series. One attack with your sword will take care of each of the Soldiers.
First Blood
You automatically receive the First Blood Trophy after you emerge successfully from the first battle of the game.
Enter the next screen and speak to the AVALANCHE team members near the closed doorway. You will be provided with an opportunity to choose a name for the main protagonist of the game.
It is recommended that you not change his name from Cloud as he will be referred to as “Cloud” throughout this strategy guide. This goes for all of the other main characters as well.
Continue along the pathway and through the doorway. As you move through Sector 1 you will be thrown into random battles against soldiers and guards. Keep an eye on your HP and use a Potion if it gets too low.
Take a right at the T-intersection. Speak to Barret at the top of the stairs for a quick conversation regarding the reactor. He will join your party and you can now fight with him in regular battles.
You should immediately take this opportunity to move Barret to the back row as he fights using a long range weapon. He will take less damage while he is in the back row and his attack strength will not be impacted. Check out the Tips and Tricks section for more information about the front and back row mechanics.
To move Barret to the back row just select the “Order” option in the main menu, select Barret and then put him in the same place by pressing Select again. His profile picture will move to the right of Cloud’s profile picture as shown in the screenshot below.
Talk to Biggs (the character near the locked door) to open the door. Talk to Jessie in the second room to decipher the code on the second door and move in.
Move down into the southeast section of the next room to find a chest that contains a Phoenix Down. Speak to Jessie near the elevator and jump in.
Barret will give Cloud another speech about reactors and what they are doing to the planet. Follow Jessie out the door of the elevator.
Follow her down the stairway and through the door at the bottom. Walk up towards the gap in the floor and Cloud will automatically jump over it. Jessie will give you some information on how to use the ladder.
Grab the Potion lying on the ground in front of Jessie (the flashing blue vile). Continue down the pathway and take the ladder down to the pipe below. Follow the pipe around the pathway to the left and take the next ladder down to the scaffolding below.
Save your game at the 
Save Point before you continue as you have a boss battle coming up. Continue down the pathway leading to the bottom-right.
There is a small blue orb blocking the pathway - pick it up to receive a 
Restore Materia. You cannot use or equip the Restore Materia until later on in the game after you receive instructions. Make sure that Cloud and Barret are at full HP before you continue in to the next area.
Walk towards the pipe and Barret will begin speaking again. Cloud and Barret will set the bomb and then be ambushed by the Guard Scorpion.
HP: 800
Reward: 
Assault Gun
Cloud’s Lightning Materia (Bolt magic spell) works very well on the Guard Scorpion. Other than that just there isn’t much strategy to this fight - just keep the attacks coming.
The Guard Scorpion will counter every attack you throw at it when its tail is raised - just use Potions on Cloud or Barret if their HP gets too low. Either that or just wait it out and it won’t attack you at all until it puts its tail back down.
A video demonstration of this battle is included below for reference:
Do not forget to equip the Assault Gun that the Guard Scorpion after the battle concludes!
A timer will start up as soon as you defeat the Guard Scorpion. It is time for you to make a hasty exit! Pausing the game does not stop the timer, nor will entering the save menu, so you are going to have to be quick.
When you run past Jessie make sure that you stop and help her free her leg! If you forget to help her you will have to come back and find her before you can leave the reactor area. Once freed, she will come upwards and open the locked doors for you on the top floor.
Talk to Jessie at the first door (orange hair) and then talk to Biggs at the second door. Sector 1 will then explode as team AVALANCHE makes their exit.
Follow Barret up the stairs. Cloud will run into Aeris for the first time here in Sector 8. Aeris will ask “What happened?” and Cloud will be presented with two options for responding:
Some of the interactions that you have with characters will have impact on a scene later on in the game at Gold Saucer. They can be considered somewhat of a waste of time to worry about during any general playthrough of the game though unless you are trying to obtain all of the available trophies.
It is recommended that if this is your first time playing the game that you ignore the “Best Bromance” information windows listed throughout this guide. If you would like more information on the Gold Saucer Date Side Quest just click on the link in the information window below.
Best Bromance
Throughout this strategy guide you will see references to the Gold Saucer Date side quest. Decisions that you make as you play through the game, including whom you talk to and how you answer their questions, will decide which character goes out on a date with Cloud when they reach Gold Saucer for the second time.
While this date scene has little relevance to the overall story and game itself, there is a trophy that you can obtain if Barret is the one to go out on the date with Cloud. Selecting Barret is quite hard to do though unless you follow a very specific set of steps.
Check out the Gold Saucer Date side quest page for more information on the date and this trophy.
Note: This first interaction with Aeris has no impact on the Gold Saucer Date scene or obtaining the Best Bromance trophy. You can select either answer to her question when she asks “What happened?”, however you should choose the “Nothing…hey…” answer, followed by “Don’t see many flowers around here” and then “Buy one”. You can use this flower to obtain points for Barret later.
There is a Potion on the left side of the next screen (shown in the screenshot below). Continue southward into the next area where Cloud will be ambushed by more Soldiers.
You will be given the option of fighting the soldiers or running away. Don’t waste your time fighting and select the “Later” option every time it is presented. Cloud will jump onto the train below as it passes.
Follow Barret, Jessie and Biggs to the front of the train when they leave the car that Cloud lands in. Speak to Jessie again to have a look at the Midgar Railway System Map. Walk towards Barret after Jessie gives you the overview of the railway system and the city of Midgar.
Best Bromance
Dialogue in this section of the game will influence the Gold Saucer Date side quest and obtaining the Best Bromance Trophy.
After Jessie has finished explaining how the security system works, talk to her a second time and select:
| “Thanks anyway” | No change |
| “Looking forward to it” | - 3 to Tifa |
Remember, if you’re trying to go on a date with Barrett you need to select all of the options that reduce your points with Tifa and Aeris.
Go and talk to Barret and the team when he calls everyone over at the station. Follow the team to the left after he orders the team to move out.
You can have a look at the pillar in the next screen if you talk to the man to the north near the Save Point. Follow Barret and then talk to him to get into the building that he chases everybody out of.
This establishment is Tifa’s 7th Heaven, a bar in the Sector 7 Slums and the primary hideout of Team AVALANCHE. You will get the opportunity to name Tifa and it is recommended that you not rename her.
Try to leave the bar and Barret will bust into the room to continue the story along. You can talk to Tifa behind the bar for some more conversations and dialogue. Follow the team down the pinball machine trap door and go over to talk to Barret to continue the story.
Best Bromance
Dialogue in this section of the game will influence the Gold Saucer Date side quest and obtaining the Best Bromance Trophy.
Tifa will notice that you have a flower in your hand:
| “Give it to Tifa” | + 5 to Tifa |
| “Give it to Marlene” | + 5 to Barret |
If you talk to Tifa while she is behind the bar:
| “I don’t feel like it" | + 5 to Tifa |
| “Give me something hard" | No Change |
When Tifa accuses you of leaving your childhood friend:
| “How can you say that!” | + 5 to Tifa |
| “…Sorry" | No Change |
If you talk to Tifa before talking to Barret after Cloud wakes up, she will ask how he slept:
| “Barret’s snoring kept me up…” | + 5 to Barret |
| “Next to you, who wouldn’t?” | + 5 to Tifa |
Providing Barret with a tutorial of how Materia works will not impact the date mechanics.
Take the pinball machine elevator back up to the top floor and walk towards the exit. Tifa will come upstairs to talk with Cloud and to try and convince him to join Team AVALANCHE. Barret will give Cloud his payment of 1,500 gil and then offer to join Team AVALANCHE on the next mission.
Ride the elevator up to the main floor the next morning. Speak to Tifa first and then speak to Barret to learn about the next mission - the Sector 5 reactor. Barret will ask Cloud for an explanation of how Materia works.
If this is your first playthrough of the game you may want to watch the full tutorial. Alternatively, you can check out the Tips and Tricks section for some advanced tactics.
Make your way down to the bottom of the screen. There is an item shop on the left where you can buy Potions, Phoenix Downs, Antidotes and some basic Materia.
The doorway on the right leads to the Sector 7 Weapon Shop. Go up to the second floor and enter through the doorway. Speaking to the different people in this room will provide you with some basic explanations of some of the game mechanics such as Save Points, treasure chests, Limit Breaks and more.
There is an 
All Materia in front of the man at the bottom of the screen. A treasure chest will also fall and it contains a free Ether.
It is recommended that you attach your All Materia to the Restore Materia that you already have so that you can instantly heal all three of your party members.
Both Cloud and Barret have a weapon equipped with a paired Materia Slot that allows you to attach a support Materia (the blue ones). Check out the Tips and Tricks section for more information about Materia pairing.
Speak to the Weapon Shop owner before you leave and stock up on some items. The 
Iron Bangle that he sells will increase the defense stat of each of your characters while adding an additional Materia Slot. Buy three of them before you leave.
You may also wish to purchase a Fire Materia as well. Cloud comes pre-equipped with a Lightning Materia and an Ice Materia however some of the monsters and bosses that you will be fighting throughout the game will have weaknesses to Fire-based magic attacks.
Walk back to the Sector 7 Station and follow Team AVALANCHE onto the train to continue the story.
Walk over and talk to Tifa when she asks you to look at the Railway Map Monitor. The alarm will sound and Cloud will have to run towards the front of each of the train cars before the timer runs out.
There is a man in the first car that you can speak to who will give you a Phoenix Down. In the second train car there is a man who will ask you a question. Selecting “Yeah…” will get you a free Hi-Potion.
The third car has a man who will steal your gil as you run past him (you will hear a ‘ding’ noise as he passes you). Just run back and talk to him and select “That’s right.” to get your gil back. Speak to Tifa to jump off of the train with the rest of the team.
Best Bromance
Actions in this section of the game will influence the Gold Saucer Date side quest and obtaining the Best Bromance Trophy.
You will receive +5 points to Tifa and +5 points to Barret if you are able to escape the train while avoiding the security lockdowns.
Head away from the screen down the tunnel. The pathway in the next screen will be blocked by light beams. Use the hatch to the left of the beams of light and choose the option to “Go down”.
Grab the Ether (the green flask) along the pathway and climb down the ladder at the end.
Climb down both ladders into the large open area. Climb the ladder just to the left of the one you climbed down (shown in the screenshot below).
Follow the duct along until you reach the room where Jessie is standing. There is a Potion to the left of the duct near where Jessie is standing (again, shown in the screenshot below).
Take the ladder on the left side of the screen and don’t worry if you end up taking another pathway or a wrong turn. All of the paths end up in this same area. Pick up the Tent lying on the ground and then save your game at the Save Point.
Use the pipe to the right of the doorway to slide down to the lower level. This reactor has the same layout as the last reactor (the No. 1 Reactor).
Follow the pathway down the ladders and across the pipes and save your game at the Save Point.
Walk towards the No. 5 Reactor and have Cloud place the bomb.
Go back the way you came but take the stairway up to the top level rather than the pipe that you previously slid down. Ride the elevator back to the upper level.
Open the chest to receive an Ether. Enter the room to the north and Tifa and Barret will both step over to the machine in the center of the room.
Cloud, Tifa and Barret all have to push the buttons at the exact same time in order to activate the door. It may take a couple of tries for you to get it right but you have an unlimited number of tries. Save your game at the Save Point as there is an upcoming boss battle.
Go down the steps and follow the pathway north until a cutscene triggers.
HP: 1,200
Reward: Titan Bangle
This battle is relatively easy as your team will be attacking Air Buster from both sides. Attacking Air Buster from behind increases the amount of damage done by your party member’s attacks. The only downside to this is that having an All Materia paired with a Restore Materia will no longer be able to heal all three of your party members at once.
Use your Bolt magic spell from your Lightning Materia as Air Buster is also weak to lightning-based attacks.
A video demonstration of this battle is included below for reference:
Air Buster will explode once it is defeated leaving a massive hole in the platform which Cloud will fall into. Cloud will eventually fall into the lower levels of the Sector 5 Slums.
Best Bromance
Dialogue in this section of the game will influence the Gold Saucer Date side quest and obtaining the Best Bromance Trophy.
After defeating Airbuster and when Cloud is hanging from the broken platform:
| “(Be strong)” | + 2 to Barret |
| “(I don’t know if I can hold on)” | - 3 to Barret, + 1 to Tifa |
