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w h e r e ' s c l o u d ? / n o r t h c o r e l
e x p r e s s
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ITEMS IN THIS AREA: Curse Ring, Elixir.
Get in the Highwind and fly to the Southern Continent. Look around until
you spot a forest with a small village nearby. Land in the grass, and
enter the village, Mideel. Look around, and be sure to do some shopping;
the items here are expensive, but well worth your money. When you're
done, go to the weapon shop and examine the door in the back of the room.
You will try to knock on it. Go outside and climb up the stairs, then
walk along the floorboards behind the house where you can buy
accessories. You should hear a sound. If you press O to examine the
floor, you'll receive a message. Return to the weapon shop and examine
the door in the back again. When an option appears, select the top
choice. You'll mess around with the door. When the shopkeeper asks
what's going on, pick the bottom option, and he'll give you the Cursed
Ring accessory. (If you want to see your character act funny, pick the
top option instead--works better with Tifa than with anyone else, IMO.
Of course, you'll have to reset and try again if you want the Cursed
Ring.)
When you try to explore the north end of the town, Tifa automatically
goes over to the cat in the middle of the screen. While playing with
it she hears that a strange man has been brought to the hospital--inside
is none other than Cloud, who survived the blast of energy back at the
Crater. However, he's nothing more than a vegetable now. Tifa insists
on staying by his side. Back at the Highwind, Cait Sith reveals that
the Shinra are hunting for the four Huge Materia, which they plan to
use in order to destroy the Meteo before it crashes into the Earth.
Barret gets distressed when he learns that the Shinra plan to destroy
North Corel in order to get the Huge Materia, then Cid declares himself
the new party leader! Despite his dorky running style, Cid makes a
good front man. Once you're able to control him, go to the Operations
room and make a new team.
Before you go anywhere else, land and return to Mideel. You can now
check out the house in the middle of the town, where an old man sits
betting his cat. There's a large green item on the man's bed (an
Elixir). If you try to leave, the cat turns out to be a ferocious
dog! When an option appears, pick the top one to admit that you took
the Elixir. However, the man will let you keep it. On the other hand,
if you pick the bottom option, Cid will feign innocence, until the old
man tells him that he took his Elixir. Either way, you still get the
item. There's nothing else to do here (at least for now, anyways), so
leave the town behind and board the Highwind (notice how Cid mentions
the Fort Condor).
At this point in the game, two of the four Huge Materia sub-quests are
available to you: you can either get the Huge Materia in North Corel,
or get the one at Fort Condor. The choice is yours. If you want the
one in North Corel first, keep reading. If you'd rather pick up the
one at Fort Condor first, skip to section 4g below. Remember, you
DON'T have to succeed at Huge Materia Quests; in fact, you can lose all
four and still proceed with the game (if you decide to do this, just
ignore any mention of Huge Materia for the remainder of the FAQ).
Ready to go? The next thing you have to do is stop a train from smashing
into the town of North Corel. You can pilot the Highwind to two places;
North Corel, and then work your way back through the old train tracks to
the Makoro furnace, or you can land at the nearby cave-like entrance that
leads to the furnace and take the train from there. Either way, you'll
still have to do a bit of walking, so it's up to you (check out sections
3n and 3o if you don't remember what I'm talking about). Anyway, once
you reach the furnace, head to the center and you'll be attacked by some
Shinra guards (easy to defeat). After you do them in, a train will
leave the furnace. What you have to do is catch up with it before it
rams into North Corel. The next scene finds you and your companions on
a train trying to catch up to the Shinra train.
Remember the digit-damaging fun you had back at the Frozen Mountain?
Well, this time, it's worse. You have to press Up and the T button
in a steady, yet _extremely_ fast motion to make Cid pull the levers
of the train so that you can catch up to the Shinra train. Even worse,
there's a time limit--you have to reach the train, board it, kill the
enemies on board, and stop it all within 10 minutes. If you practice,
you should be able to catch up to the train in about 23-30 seconds, but
remember that you'll need about 4 minutes, at best, to beat the enemies
on board, so work quickly. You fight monsters each time you leap to
a new train car, (five battles in all) and while they're relatively
easy to win, they do take up your time. If you have learned it by now,
Degeon can be used in the first two battles for a quick win. If you're
low on time, don't use Summon Materia because the Counter Attack still
decreases during the casting (which usually takes some time).
Assuming you get to the locomotive with time remaining, wait for the
conversation between Cid and your other characters to stop. You can
now do the following; press up + T to slow the train, or down + X to
Speed Plus it up. Once Cid grabs the controls, press:
Up + Triangle, Down + X, Down + X
or: Down + X, Down + X, Down + X
(if there are more commands then these, let me know, pls)
You can't enter either command while your buddies are talking to you,
so skip through the conversations when they occur. The train will
speed up, but will slow just as it reaches the town, if you've done it
correctly.
If you stop the train in time, you get a Key Item (the Huge Materia),
and a little boy gives you a green materia (Ultima). The next morning,
go to the house below the inn and a lady in a hat will give you Barret's
Level 4 Limit Break Manual. If you messed up, then the train runs
straight through North Corel. You don't get the Huge Materia, and if you
want the Ultima materia, you'll have to buy it from the same kid for
50,000 gil. However, you can still get the manual from the lady in the
hat and spend some free time at the inn ;P. So, it's really in your
best interest to save the town. If you really want to keep playing
after losing the Huge Materia, then continue on to section 3g, or if
this is your second attempted quest, go to section 3h.
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c o n d o r f o r t
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(Remember, you can do this before or after the North Corel Huge Materia
quest; it's your choice).
Pop into the Highwind and fly back to the blue tower with the big gold
bird on it (read section 3l if you don't remember where it was). Enter
it, and climb to the top of the tower. Talk to the man in the room with
the locked door. Choose the middle option, and you'll get to play a
mini-game. For instructions/strategies, please refer to the 'Having Fun'
bit in section 7.
When you win, you can open the sealed door. On the rooftop is a red
materia (Summon Phoenix), and if you talk to the man in white wearing
the large hat in the lower room, you get a Huge Materia. For a condor's
baby, that bird sure looks like a Chocobo if you ask me....
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i n s i d e c l o u d ' s h e a d
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Head back to the village on the Southern Continent where you left Tifa
and Cloud behind. When you talk to Tifa, the screen will start to
shake. Go outside, and you'll be attacked by a huge black dragon.
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BOSS TIPS: ARUTEMAUEPON (you can't see his stats.)
This boss has only two attacks, Quega, and the Ultima Beam. He's pretty
easy to beat, so just keep summoning your best monsters and use physical
attacks to deal out damage. After you've injured it enough, it will fly
away.
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The next scene with Tifa and Cloud is so funny! They're puffy and
Shotgundeformed, and well let's just say any sense of danger or
surprise at this sudden attack is forgotten once you see their wide-
eyed faces as they escape the crumbling village.
After Tifa and Cloud take a dive, you'll find yourself playing with
Tifa, who's in a strange world filled with Cloud's memories. First,
talk to the northmost Cloud. You'll head into his memories of the
trip he took to that one town near the Jenova plant with Sephiroth.
When Cloud shows up, speak to him again. When you reach the 'center'
of Cloud's mind again, speak to the Cloud on the left. Once you're in
control of Tifa, converse with the Cloud sitting on the steps to the
right (near the 'kid' Cloud).
Then talk to the 'kid' Cloud and look in the window. When you can
move Tifa, talk to the 'shadow' Cloud. Once you're back in Cloud's
mind talk to the 'real' Cloud and go back to the town area again.
Everything else unfolds by itself (you can go to the Main Menu
during the burning of Nivelheim--again!) At the end, speak with Cloud
one last time, and you'll return to the 'real' world.
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1 0 0 l e a g u e s u n d e r t h e s e a
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ITEMS IN THIS AREA: Contain materia, God's Hand, Battle Trumpet, x ryuu
x getsutou, Suishin x no Uroko (it's a Key Item, but
since you don't have to get it, I'm listing it up
here.)
Back at the airship, prepare a new team and take control of the Highwind.
You can buy goods that weren't available before back in Mideel, and
you'll want to get the Contain materia orb at some point. To get it,
climb up the slope on the west side of town to where the hyperactive kid
is running around (remember him?) Talk to his White Chocobo and pick the
first option (make sure you have at least one Mimetto Greens on you).
When a list of six options appear, pick the fifth one from the top. The
chocobo will then reveal the Contain materia, which you can take.
Furthermore, if you went into each store in Mideel and talked to the
hyperactive kid in each one, he will now be selling all the items that
you could normally buy there! However, if you didn't go into any of
the shops, or only talked to him in one shop or two shops, then he will
only be selling items from those stores or will be selling nothing at
all.
Also, at this point in the game, the man who lost his keys will appear
outside Midgar City, enabling you to get the Key to Midgar City, among
other things. You might want to take some time now to breed Chocobos,
do some shopping, or maybe have some fun at the Gold Saucer (since you
can now get in with Cloud in your party).
Whenever you're ready to proceed with the game, head to Junon Town for
the third Huge Materia quest (you can't do the fourth one until later).
Head into the center of Junon, and go down the main road (you'll see a
scene with Cloud inspecting the damage that the Weapon inflicted on the
town earlier). Keep walking until you arrive at the gray underpassage
where a commander is drilling his men. He will order his men to run
away when he sees you. Continue down the passage until you see a door
labeled '1' against the left wall. Enter it, and you'll find yourself
in an elevator. Two guards in here will attack you; dispatch them and
let the lady take you down to the bottom of the elevator shaft.
When you step out, you'll be attacked by more Shinra soldiers. Ignore
the dog and go down the slope, then through the door. In the next room,
head down the set of stairs until you reach another door. Past it is
yet another set of stairs, and at the bottom is a Save Point. Go through
the door here to reach a second lift which takes you to the bottom of
the sea floor. Head north unil you reach the underwater tunnel, and
follow it until you arrive at the Makoro plant. Inside, examine the red
light on the far wall to pump water out of the chamber. Step outside
and you'll find yourself in a huge undersea dock where several submarines
are sitting. Go along the walkway--it leads to a hall with a Save Point.
Walk north from here to arrive at a room filled with guards.
If you talk to the guard who's walking around, he'll attack you. You'll
then fight the two other guards by the opening in a second battle. If
you don't talk to the walking guard, then all three will ambush you.
However, if you let yourself get ambushed, you won't have to fight the
second set of soldiers by the other opening. Decide what you want to do
(fun, isn't it?) and fight the guards accordingly. Then go through the
opening to your right to find a chamber full of machinery. Cloud will
automatically stop in front of one of the machines as you walk past it.
When you can control him again, head to the right to see the Red Huge
Materia being loaded onto a Shinra subMarlenee. Reno of the Turks is
here, and he'll summon a mechanical freak to take you out while he makes
a hasty retreat.
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BOSS TIPS: KARIIAAMAA LV: 45 HP: 24000 MP: 200
MIGIUDE LV: 45 HP: 10000 MP: 100
SAUDE LV: 45 HP: 10000 MP: 200
(all weak vs. lightning)
This boss is composed of three parts. It can imprison two of your
characters in his arms, and they recieve 1/3 the amount of damage that
it receives from your attacks. However, since it has three parts, if
you're making an attack that hits more than once, your ally gets struck
twice or even three times! Furthermore, if the third character is
killed while the other two are imprisoned, the battle is instantly lost.
Destroying it's arms should be your top priority, but the arms rotate
and switch sides when they are hit, so adjust your attacks accordingly.
Summoning spells and enemy skills work well here. The boss' attacks are
not so strong, but they come quickly. The worst one is the Lapis Laser
that strikes all members for +1600 damage. BTW, the only way to free a
character is to destroy the arm that's holding them, or have him or her
die. This makes the Phoenix summon very useful if you just freed a
friend and want to revive and attack at the same time. You'll get the
God's Hand weapon when you kill it and both arms.
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With the Carry Armor out of the way, head to the left to find a chest
with the Battle Trumpet inside it. Then go back to the right and run
along the pier until you reach gray submarine. Open the chest by the
stairs to get the Scimitar. To the left of that chest is a
chest holding a Key Item: the Suishin x no Uroko (Fire Extinguisher).
You'll need it later so be sure to pick it up. Go up the stairs to
find a bunch of soldiers running around in place (ha!) who will fight
you. Cloud will then enter the submarine and be ambushed by three
soldiers. You may win a set of 'Shinra Relaxed Form Defense Tool'
armor from the guards, but it's not that great. Anyway, there's a Save
Point here, and when you're done using it, head through the northern
door to reach the bridge of the submarine.
Here, you'll meet two guards and their scared-as-hell commander. You
can either choose the bottom option and let them live, or you can pick
the top option and kill them. You can steal the 'Shinra Armor Type
Defend Tool Reform' (_very_ strong armor) from the captain if you
choose to fight. Whatever your choice, examine the captain's seat when
you're able to and you'll be given three options. Pick the second one
to climb into the chair. From there, pick the top option to see a
description of the sub controls, or the bottom option to start up the
sub and enter the submarine mini-game (explained below).
Your controls on the submarine are:
S Shoot torpedoes (only when you're near an enemy craft)
X Backward thrust
T Forward thrust
Pad Move left/right or descend/raise
R1 Switch between close-up or bird's eye view
R2 Switch between near, overhead, or cockpit view
Start Pause; show control screen
The walls of the ocean floor are shown in blue, and there are diamond-
shaped mines that are invisible until you get close. You can tell how
far they are from the floor by the red columns beneath them. The
purpose of this 'mini-game' is to destroy the the main Shinra sub (red)
in the time allotted, although you can kill some of the ten yellow
submarines if you want to. During the mission, the following warnings
will appear:
WARNING When an enemy sub is approaching
ALERT When an enemy sub is firing
MINE You are about to run into a mine
CONFLICT The sub cannot move because you are
steering it against/along a rock face
You lose the game if one of two things happen; time runs out (you have
10 minutes to destroy the submarine), or if your life bar (which is
represented by the red/green bar at the bottom of the screen) is
depleted as a result of being hit by missiles, crashing into the walls
or floor once too often, or ramming another sub. If you win, then the
submarine you're in is automatically piloted to shore. If you mess up,
your characters will jettison themselves from the sub. Either way,
you'll learn that a Huge Materia is being transported from the Junon
Airport. You can go there (it's the same place where the Highwind was
docked) to see some FMV of the plane taking off, or not (it's optional).
At this point in the game, you have two options available to you. You
can either sneak back into Junon and get yourself another submarine,
or you can go to Rocket Town and do the fourth and final Huge Materia
quest. If you already have a submarine, then you can do some underwater
exploring or do the last Huge Materia quest (refer to section 3j for
the former and section 3k for the latter). If you need to get a second
submarine, then keep reading.
Go back into the main part of Junon Town and work your way back to the
gray hallway, down the elevator with the woman, and to the room with the
guards, a dog, and the sloping floor. Beat the guards and examine the
dog. When he moves aside, follow him and examine him again. Choose the
top option, and you'll enter the red Shinra submarine. When the guards
show up, choose the top option to let them go, or the bottom option to
fight them. In the cockpit room, choose the top option to save the
commander, or the bottom option to fight him and his men. Either way,
you still get to pilot the sub. Note that if you got the gray sub, you
can't go through here and get the red sub.