10. Final Fantasy VII The City of the Ancients

Temple of the Ancients

As the group arrives, Aeris will listen to the Planet. Inside is Tseng, who will say that Sephiroth isn't actually looking for the Promised Land. He'll give you the keystone so you can place it on the altar behind him. Once the keystone gives you passage to the first real room of the temple, you may be confused with all of the pathways strewn about. Try to follow the paths around until you get to a very tall set of vines; there's a room at the top with a man who can heal you and sell you items, as well as a Silver Rifle for Vincent. Because he can also save your game, you can also grind here if you feel like it.

When you get to a room with rolling rocks, you should notice that there are gaps for Cloud to stand in without getting squished. Make sure you're not running the game at 3x speed so you can actually get through this hallway. Once through, Aeris will have the group turn back to the purple pool of water halfway through the hall so she can listen to the consciousness within.

The next room is a clock with an hour, minute, and second hand. The only rooms you need to go into are IV, V, and VII before continuing on. Make sure you also drop off the clock for a battle by getting hit with the second hand as it passes by, as this rewards you with a strong but Materia-less weapon for Cloud. Depending on whether you want to continue enhancing your currently equipped Materia, consider holding onto this weapon for later use. In IV is the Princess Guard, Aeris's strongest weapon. V leads you to the chest outside in the large, path-y room, which has a ribbon in it. There aren't a whole lot of these in the game because of its powerful effect: It protects the wearer against all negative effects. Put it on Cloud for now. VII leads to a Trumpet Shell weapon for Cait Sith; even though you probably don't like him very much right now, he'll be sticking around for a while.

The next room is a set of tunnels with another purple creature running around it. Run through the same tunnels he does, and when he drops to a lower level, do the same so you can continue after him. Pay attention to which hole leads to which: The hole he comes out of depends on which hole he enters from. If you find that the creature has jumped up a level and you're on the bottom floor, enter the hole on the far left to catch him for good. After that, have it heal you, save, and enter the hole on the far right to return to the newly opened door. Make sure nobody has any fire element effects on their weapons.

The upcoming chamber contains the hieroglyphs Sephiroth was looking at before. Progress down the hall as he comes and goes, then speak to him at the end as he reveals what he really wants to do. In order to injure the Planet severely enough for Sephiroth to gather the energy used to heal it, he needs to use the magical spell to summon a meteor, simply called Meteor. As you finish reading this, a red dragon inside the temple will attack.

Any kind of fire attack will heal the dragon. Use powerful attacks and summons to defeat it, but don't summon Ifrit; his fire will only heal the dragon. You'll get a Dragon Armlet for winning; put it on Cloud for now.

Approach the floating thing, the Black Materia, on the right and learn about how it works. Since it kills anyone who manages to shrink it down, Cait Sith will offer his toy body to do the work without anyone actually being killed. Return to the temple entrance when you're ready for another fight. Equipping the Bahamut Materia and summoning it in battle would be a wise choice against the upcoming boss, and so would placing everyone in the back row so you take less damage. Granted, you'd be dealing less damage too, but that's a fair tradeoff for staying alive.

Cait Sith will shrink the temple down into the Black Materia, and with it in Cloud's possession, Sephiroth won't be able to finish his plan. Of course, that all changes when Sephiroth shows up (and Cait Sith's new body). After Sephiroth takes his leave, Aeris will head to the City of the Ancients to protect the Planet the only way her people can.

Gongaga Village

Cloud will wake up in Gongaga Village. Leave and use the Tiny Bronco south of here.

World Map

You're going to have to sail all the way around the east continent until you get to the southern shore of the north continent so you can reach your next destination. Be careful, as the enemy encounters on the north continent can be wildly powerful.

Bone Village

You can buy some Diamond Bangles here at the store by the village entrance. The same man will offer to let you dig for the Lunar Harp, which you need to get through the forest and chase after Aeris and Sephiroth. Once he gives you a staff marker, run up to the top of the village and set the marker down to the left of the digger's hut's smoke. Once you have the harp, enter the forest at the top of the village.

Sleeping Forest

The Lunar Harp will allow you to reach the other side of the forest, entering Corel Valley.

Corel Valley

It may not be apparent to some people how to proceed through this first area. Head up the slope to the left of the dead, red tree on the left as soon as you enter. After that, continue to the next few areas until you enter a circular object, which is actually the City of the Ancients.

Forgotten Capital

There are three paths you can take when you first reach the capital. Take the left path first for a save point, a Magic Source, and an Aurora Amulet if you keep moving to a circular hall. Return to the start and take the right path for even more items; there's also an Enemy Skill Materia behind the beds in one of the houses. Take the north path from the start to enter the city.

Forgotten City

At the top of the house, you'll find a Comet Materia. To proceed further, look for some blue stairs near the base of the house. These stairs take you to the actual City of the Ancients. When on these stairs, prepare your party for a battle against a water-based foe; put a Water Ring on someone if you have one and arrange your Materia accordingly.

Save at the save point you come across next, then go downstairs to find Aeris. Cloud will act up a bit in front of Aeris before Sephiroth comes to sharply interject himself into the moment. Up next is a boss battle against another form of Jenova, Jenova-Life. Where does Sephiroth get these things?

Jenova has a lot of HP, so make sure you're able to deal some heavy hits with whatever you've got. Once you've defeated this form, Jenova will call cloud a puppet before dying. There'll be a bit more dialogue before this part of the game, previously Disc 1 of the original release, ends.