Final Fantasy VII owned by Square Enix.
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Part Twenty-Eight: Midgar

Having reached the third disc of Final Fantasy VII, you’ve also reached, essentially, the end of the game. Most of the plot is said and done, leaving only the final battle with Sephiroth… as well as a few loose ends. Ultimate Weapon is one of those loose ends.

Ultimate Weapon

Ever since its attack on Mideel, Ultimate Weapon has been roving the airwaves, wreaking havoc. You can, if you wish, bring its attacks to an end - though you’ll have to face the thing multiple times to do so.

Ultimate Weapon is a powerful boss. It possesses a wide-range of magically-based moves, hitting single and multiple targets for at least 1,500 HP. MBarrier is a good choice for protecting yourself, as is boosting your Spirit via accessories. One character should always be on healing duty to keep your party alive, preferably with an All-Restore combo. It’s quite important to keep at least two characters alive throughout the battle, as Ultimate Weapon will use its Shadow Flare attack as it dies. This will probably murder its target rather thoroughly.


Sadly, you will not get off fighting Ultimate Weapon just once. Ultimate Weapon is a roamer, and after roughly three rounds of attacks it will flee the battle and move somewhere else on the world map. You need to chase it down and smash it with the Highwind until it settles over a new location, then reengage it for a few more rounds. Sometimes it will be on the ground; sometimes it’ll be flying. If Ultimate Weapon is in the air you’ll only be able to hit it with long range attacks, magic, Summons, and Limit Breaks. Ultimate Weapon always appears first over the watery crater near Fort Condor and Junon Harbor, and may return here from time to time.

The multi-battle format here can get annoying, but it’s important to note that Ultimate Weapon will gain a new item to Steal each time you face it. Fight Ultimate Weapon on the ground and you can Steal a Reflect Ring; fight it in the air and you can Steal a Circlet. There is, unfortunately, no way to choose where Ultimate Weapon will end up.

Ultimate Weapon’s health does not rejuvenate between battles, and eventually you’ll force it into a final confrontation at Cosmo Canyon. Defeat it here and it will crash into the ground. This will earn you the Ultima Weapon, Cloud’s ultimate weapon, and open the way to a brand new area.


Ancient Forest

- Once Ultimate Weapon goes down it will take a substantial chunk out of the land. You can walk through this crater to reach a section of jungle that was previously inaccessible. The Ancient Forest appears here as a rock jutting out of the trees.

- This area is populated by a variety of enemies that are quite evasive, but otherwise aren’t that amazingly powerful. Characters with high accuracy (Vincent is a good example most of the time) and magic in general make the best weapons here. On the plus side, the enemies aren’t terribly powerful beyond their evasiveness.


- The Ancient Forest is a giant puzzle that consists largely of picking up and transporting frogs and insects. You need to use both to navigate the area, and, typically, to get at extra treasures. You can only hold one animal at a time. If you decide that the puzzle has become unsolvable, hit the square button to reset the Ancient Forest.

- Start by crossing the arched bridge to the right of the entrance. On the other side is a venus fly trap-esque creature, upon which sits a Supershot ST. Edge onto the plant to grab it, but don’t walk too close to the centre - it will clap shut, and you’ll take damage.

- Return to the entrance. Begin picking up, shuttling, and dropping the insects and frog near the entrance beneath the bridge and over to the three blue, hanging plants on your right. Toss one insect into one of the plants to create a platform. Grab another insect, hop onto the first plant, and toss the next insect. Repeat until you’ve created a three-plant bridge to the area on the right. Grab the frog and quickly make your way across, as the plants will digest their insects and turn back to normal after about a minute. 


- Bounce over the gap on the east side of this screen. There’s a large tree to your right; slide around it to find a Spring Gun Clip. Then head right and off to another screen.

- Grab one of the two insects near the first hanging tongue on the right, then jump up on the tongue. Use the insect on the blue plant to your right. This will allow you to hop safely across the fly trap plant below. Grab the nearby frog, then look for a grassy slope on your right. It leads to two more blue plants. Throw the frog in the left plant, then hop atop it and wait for the plant to burst open. It will send you flying up to a beehive. Pick up the beehive and place it on the fly trap to your left. This will allow you to grab the Slash-All materia beside the fly trap.

- Grab the frog again and pop it into the blue plant on the right. Stand on it and you’ll be launched to the right side of the screen. In the next section you’ll see two hanging blue plants beside a tongue; use the two bugs hopping near here to get up to the tongue. You’ll be launched up into the trees. Go down the tree on the left to receive a Minerva Band, then check up the tree and to the right to find a line of tongues. They’ll take you to Typoon materia.


- Hop back to the previous screen using a semi-hidden ramp near the log that leads up to the tongues. This will take you to a length of rope stretching pass the next fly trap. Use one of the two bugs out here to hop up to the beehive above the fly trap, then hop down and toss the beehive into the trap to close it. 

- Grab the second bug, but don’t use it on the right blue plant. Instead, use it to backtrack to the left and look for a tree trunk with a large hollow at the base. Grab one of the bugs on the far left and use it in the hollow to make a frog appear. Use the frog to make your way back to the right, then pop it into this far plant and face right. You’ll be launched onto the ledge to the right. (Note that a bug won’t suffice here; you have to use the frog.)

- Puzzles done. In this cave you’ll find two chests containing an Elixir and an Apocalypse. Go through the doorway in the rear and you’ll be zipped back to the world map.

Part Thirty: The Other Stuff