Final Fantasy VII owned by Square Enix.
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Part Twenty-Three: Gaea's Cliff and the Crater

Junon Harbor

- Jump to an area you probably haven’t visited in a long time. A cut scene will get you caught up on current events, and once it’s done you’ll be running around as Barret. You don’t have much choice as to your destination, however. Save as you descend.

- A few cut scenes later you’ll have to fight some soldiers as Barret and Cait Sith. No big deal. Try to open the door in the south of the conference room after taking them out and you’ll trigger more cut scenes.

- Back to Barret. Leave the room by talking to Cait Sith, then take a right after getting locked out. There are enemies in the area; the ones to look out for in particular are SOLDIER 2nds, as they’ll drop very valuable X-Potions. Once you’re outside you may see a reporter in the foreground; this is, assuming you’ve recruited her, Yuffie. 


- You automatically jump to the airport next. Use the elevator on the left, then run for the airship to the east. Barret’s done for now.

- Jump to Tifa, who’s being held in a gas chamber. You need to get her out of here. You can do this by manipulating her arms, legs, and head. Use her legs twice to grab at the key on the floor, her head once to get back to a normal position, her head and her legs simultaneously to get the key into her mouth,  her head and her left arm to free that arm, and her left arm to free her right arm. Now freed, press the orange button to the left of the chair to stop the gas.


- Try the door and it won’t open. Fortunately, a rather timely beam attack from outside will open a hole in Tifa’s cell. Climb out and across the massive cannon. At the far end you’ll get into a slapping match with Scarlet. Careful timing is needed to win, though… you really don’t have to. (Damn is it satisfying to win.) Another cut scene follows, and, hey, Tifa escapes.

The Highwind

You now have your own ship! The Highwind is Cid’s pride and joy. The Highwind is primarily a transport, allowing you to zip all over the world. It can only land on grassy spots, somewhat limiting the Highwind’s versatility, but you can’t question the airship’s usefulness. If you check the Operation room after speaking to everyone on the bridge you can set up a party to accompany team leader Tifa, and if you capture any chocobos in the field you can take them back to the Highwind for transport and use later. More on this in another article.

With the Highwind at your command, you can now visit, and revisit, most of the locations in the game. This opens up a large number of opportunities for collecting new items, as well as more stuff you may already have. Speaking to NPCs is fun in and of itself, since most of them now have new things to say. Ultimately, though, your next destination is a small island chain in the southeast corner of the map, and a town that sits in the midst of a jungle…


Mideel

- What a humble village. There’s an item shop near the entrance, and if you check upstairs you’ll find a weapon shop. Across the bridge from the weapon shop is what appears to be a house, but the woman at the counter inside sells accessories - and some very good ones, at that. Back on the ground and a short walk northeast of the item shop you’ll find a materia shop.

- Try to head north and you’ll hit several cut scenes. Once they’re done, Tifa will leave the party for a while, and Cid will take over. You have some Shinra operations to stop.

- (Once you get a chance, visit the last house in Mideel, the one the cut scene forced you to skip, to find an Elixir.)

Part Twenty-Five: Fort Condor and North Corel