Final Fantasy VII owned by Square Enix.
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Part Seventeen: Nibelheim

Mt. Nibel

- Welcome to the most nightmarish mountain range in Final Fantasy history. (Pretty high up there, anyway.) The enemies here are more nuisances than outright threats, the only exceptions being the powerful Dragons found in the area’s optional caves. Unfortunately, Dragons are worth fighting, as you can Steal Gold Armlets from the beasts. Stay on the strict defensive ’til you nab one, then go to town with strong magic and Limits.

- Follow the path until you see a slope leading up to a spire. At the top is a chest containing a Rune Blade. Return to the main path and continue west until you’re just about to cross the bridge, then take the northbound path on the nearby split. It leads up Mt. Nibel’s largest peak, and, eventually, to a Plus Barrette.


- Cross the bridge in the west. You’ll arrive at a series of pipes. You can step into these pipes and get shuttled down to lower areas. First, though, climb down the ladder near the pipes and wander to another ladder on the left. Kicking it down will allow you to access the pipes again much more easily. Back up to the pipes:
  • The ‘1’ pipe leads to a save point, as well as the area boss. There’s more to see, so unless you want to use a Tent, don’t bother with this pipe.
  • The ‘2’ pipe leads to a Powersoul, and then down to the drop point of the first pipe.
  • The ‘3’ and ‘5’ pipes drop you down one level. Useless.
  • The ‘4’ pipe drops you to a chest containing an All materia. Here you can leap over to the boss…

- … though you should take the southern route near the boss first. From here you can drop down into the cave system that weaves through Mt. Nibel. The western path leads to a dead end, so go through the nearest tunnel.


- Head north through the initial tunnel until you reach the exit, then worm your way through the scenery to reach the dark tunnel on the left. Go through it to reach a chest to the south containing an Elixir. Backtrack and go north to find the Mako spring from an earlier cut scene; check the left side of the spring for an Elemental materia.

- Head through the rear tunnel from the spring and take a right in the next area. Once you’re in the north, go left at the divide to find a Sniper CR, then head back right to find an exit. 

- Back outside. The path splits; go left and up the mountain. (The right is a dead end. Balls.) This winding path will eventually take you up to the local Mako reactor. You can pop inside if you wish, and it’s an enemy-free area, but there’s nothing new to see. A door to the right of the reactor leads back to the area with the pipes. Which means…


Materia Keeper

A hefty, powerful creature. Materia Keeper goes at you with a combination of physical and magic attacks, tending toward the latter as you do more damage. At first it will smack you around with some painful swipes, but once it’s cut down a bit it will start to Cure 2 itself - and then unleash its all-hitting attack, Trine. Trine inflicts a fair chunk of damage, and should always be healed away. (Having an Enemy Skill materia equipped is a good idea, as you can learn Trine - and then use it on Materia Keeper for around 500 HP per use.) Smack Materia Keeper with your strongest attacks, so long as they’re aren’t fire-elemental (it snacks on fire to restore HP), and it’ll go down in time. If you have trouble keeping up with Trine’s healing, have Barret use Mindblow a few times to wipe out its MP. That’ll make the battle much easier. You’ll get a Jem Ring for beating Materia Keeper.

- After picking up a piece of Counter materia the Materia Keeper leaves behind you’ll be back on the world map. Head north along the mountain range and, soon enough, you’ll find a new location.


Rocket Town

- Lookin’ classy, Rocket Town. There’s a weapon / accessory shop on your immediate left here, and an inn on your right. In the north, by an old man, is an item / materia shop. Speak to the old man twice to look at the rocket and he’ll give you a Yoshiyuki. You’ll find a Drill Arm in the northern house and a Power Source in the house on the far right.

- Poke into the back yard of the northern house by going through the house. A cut scene follows, and you’ll be directed to the rocket. Head there and look inside the rocket to meet the ‘Captain’, by default Cid. You can chat with him about a few things, but eventually he just gets depressed. Head back to his house (the northern house) to trigger more cut scenes (‘Sit your ass down in that chair and drink your goddamn TEA!’), and, eventually, after poking your head outside, you’ll be told to check the back yard again.


Palmer

This guy is a boss? Ooooookay. Palmer’s about as difficult as he looks. His Mako Gun inflicts an admirable amount of damage to one character, and he becomes more evasive after smacking his bottom, but… that’s all. Meh. Use magic to negate the advantage of his evasiveness, then keep beating on him and healing until Palmer meets an unfortunate, unpredicted end. Wham. Palmer drops an Edincoat upon defeat.

- Stuff will happen, and your team will flee. Long story short, you now have the Tiny Bronco, a twin-engine plane that… can’t fly. You can use the Tiny Bronco to navigate the shallows and land at beaches, and you won’t run into enemies while aboard, so it’s not all bad. You’ll also gain Cid as a party member, who is for all intents and purposes a slightly-not-as-good-but-still-pretty-damn-good version of Cloud.


- With the Tiny Bronco you should now be embarking on a mission to the Temple of the Ancients. There’s a side area you might want to check out first, though, if you’ve recruited Yuffie… and, lookit that, you’re right beside it after crashing…

Part Nineteen: Wutai