Final Fantasy VII - Part 6

                    Walkthrough by Keeks

@~Continued from last issue

16. Gongaga Town/ Cosmo Canyon

Your next goal should be to head south from the Golden Saucer
across the river to a forested area. Go into the black structure
(it's called Jungle, for some reason). Reno and Rude are here.
After Elena shows up and alerts the other Turks to your presence,
you'll be asked a question. No matter what your answer is, you'll
have to fight Reno and Rude at the same time.

RENO LV: 22 HP: 2000 MP: 80
RUDE LV: 23 HP: 2000 MP: 135

Use Summoning spells to even the odds at the start of the round,
then go after either one. Once you injure one enough times, he'll
leave, then the other one will. It may be better to attack Rude,
since he can heal himself and Reno, but then again, Reno can
inflict more damage. In any case, this fight isn't too hard either
way. You'll get a Fairy Tail and a X Potion should you win the
battle.

After the Turks leave, head northeast, then go north to reach a
pile of scrapped machinery. As you're looking around, Scarlet and
Tseng show up in the Shinra helicopter and talk about 'Huge
Materia' (which you'll learn more about in Disc 2). After they
leave, examine the area where Scarlet was standing and choose the
bottom option to get the 'Summon Titan' materia. Then go back to
the first area and head left. In the second area, there is a
DeathBlow materia near the left path (which returns 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) and get the treasure chests from the inn (X Potion) and
the old man's house (White Megaphone). If you go into the far
right house, you'll meet an old couple who apparently know Cloud
(or someone just like him), and someone else named Zack. When
you're done here, return to the World Map. Head southwest, then
turn toward the river and go over the shallows, and then make your
way up through the mountains to reach Cosmo Canyon. 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't get 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'll just 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 the stairs, talk to the guard and
choose the bottom option to be let into the town (Red 13 will
reappear to make sure you guys get in). If he was in your party,
you'll have the option to make a new team; otherwise, you can look
around town freely. Don't miss the Save Point located in the
Tigerlily 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 Up, and the Full Cure materia orb from the
back room.

Eventually head up to the observatory, where you'll run into Red
13 and Buugen Haagen, an old geezer who knows all kinds of things.
After Red 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 with Buugen Haagen, 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. Buugen Haagen will show up, and you'll
make 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 Buugen Haagen 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.

In the next area, head right and up until you reach the third
hole. * 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'll slide on the oil and hit a spiked wall, reducing
every member's HP by 500 points. Then go south, through the hole,
and head right to reach the Combination materia you couldn't get
in the first area (Additional 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 Megaphone. Then climb back up the stairs and
head to the upper-left to leave this area.


     * If you enter any of the other three holes, you'll be given
     the same option, but if you choose the top choice, you'll be
     attacked.  Doing this doesn't seem to alter the level in any
     way, but you're better off doing this after you've cleared
     the _whole_ area out instead of doing it right now; I'd
     rather be safe than sorry, in my opinion.

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 you touch 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 and walk north to find
another web.  Past it is the exit, but try holding left and Cloud
will go along a passage hidden by the rock that leads to a chest.
There's an Ether Turbo inside.

When you approach the giant face in the next cavern, it begins to
move and you are attacked.

GI*NATATAKU LV: 29 HP: 5500 MP: 200

Don't worry about the Soul Fires this boss has with him; just use
your Summon Materia, then concentrate on attacking and using Limit
Breaks on the big guy himself. If your spell Materia has hit
second level, then Cold and Thunder work nicely on him. You don't
even need to worry about your life much; the boss can be taken
down before any serious damage is done to your party.  You'll get
a Confusion/Wizer Rod should you be successful in battle.

Grab the spell Materia (Gravity) that's left behind and follow
Buugen Haagen up the steps. After the sequence with Red 13 and the
other creature (his father, who was transformed into metal or
something?), make a new party and leave the town. Don't worry, Red
13 will rejoin you when you try to leave. Oh yes, the Buggy will
be working again when you leave Cosmo Canyon.

17. Return of Sephiroth

Get in the buggy and continue past Cosmo Canyon. Head north to
find a river with a shallow ford you can cross. Past it, the
mountains are of a different type than what you usually see. Near
them is a small town, Nivelheim. Look familiar? It's the same one
Sephiroth and Cloud went to in Cloud's flashback.

First, go into the inn. Talk to the black creature in the back to
get a Luck Up. You can get an Elixir from another one of the
creatures in the Item Shop, and a second Luck Up 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 an Turbo Ether if you talk to the creatures
here.  There's a piano in Tifa's room that you can fool around
with to get Tifa's level 4 Limit Break Manual(more details later).

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
Annihilation materia unless you get it from him during the first
disc (see later for details).

Now, go into the large mansion at the edge of town. Left of the
entrance is a piece of paper written by the Turks (?). 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 choosing
the blank space beneath the first three tips.

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 of another room. There's a chest here, with a Silver
Megaphone inside. Go back out and go into the northern door
beneath the staircase. In the adjoining hall, head right and up to
find a chest with a Twin Viper in it. To the left is a room with a
broken piano (which you could have also reached by looking for the
opening near the left staircase 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 room except
for a locked safe -- you'll need the right combination in order to
open it (see section 14 if you don't know how). If you want to try
your luck, examine it 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 Up
inside. Then go into the lower room and examine the curved wall to
open a secret passage. Go down the spiralling walkway, and then
head right. If you got the gold key from the safe, you can open
the northern door. (More on this later). Continue to the right to
find a library. Then go north and you'll run into none other 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 Nivelheim from the northern
entrance and continue 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 original path. 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 when it curves south, take that path
instead of continuing in the same direction. The path curves
several times, but eventually you'll make it to the top of the
mountain, where you can find a chest with a Platinum Baretta. 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 seem to get any
further, press in other directions (like down) to scale the back
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 be
able 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 use
of the Save Point, then climb back to the top of the area. Enter
the pipe labelled '2' to end up on a rocky ledge. There's an item
bag here with an Powersoul inside; get it and then press down to
jump down to a lower ledge, then press down again to reach the
floor.  Climb back up one last time and go into the pipe labelled
'4' in order to reach the treasure chest on the bottom ledge
below; there's an Affect All materia lying within. Walk against
the right edge of the ledge to drop down to 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'll drop down to the lower ledge. Following the path here leads
to a dead end, so enter the cave instead and take the righthand
path once you're inside. 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, then down 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 of crystalized Materia is an Attribute
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.
Then go 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 visited in 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 and you'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
and you 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.

Materia Keeper LV: 38 HP: 8400 MP: 300

Don't use Fire-related attacks; it'll only heal him. Red 13's
Limit Break B1/1 works well, as does Cloud's B2/1 Limit Break. I'd
also suggest using the 'Chocobo and Moogle' materia as much as you
can -- its ability to stun this boss is very useful. Physical
attacks should do the trick if you have good weapons; save your
MPs for healing yourselves. Cure and Affect All Materia are a good
combination (remember to link them when selecting holders) if you
want to stay alive, since the boss can inflict 300-800 points of
damage with its stabbing/mauling attacks. Also, he can heal
himself (around 1000 HPs worth), and use the damaging Flame skill,
which causes about 500 points of damage to all those still alive.
If Red's learned his B1/2 break or someone knows Haste, it would
be a wise idea to use it at the start of the round. Since the
Materia Keeper is one of the few enemies that can use Tryne, it
comes highly recommended that you have a Enemy Skill materia
equipped so that you can learn this enemy technique. You'll get a
Jewel Ring should you be victorious.

After the battle is over, examine the purple materia that is left
behind in order to take it (Counter). Then follow the path
outside -- it leads back to the World Map.

@~And we'll go there next issue
                              - o -