Look, let’s be real. If you’re booting up a walkthrough Final Fantasy VII for the first time in 2026, you’re probably either a retro enthusiast or someone who got tired of waiting for the third part of the Remake trilogy. It’s a massive game. It’s weird. It’s full of blocks and polygons that look like LEGOs, but the systems underneath? They’re surprisingly dense. Most people start off thinking they can just mash the "Attack" command until they reach Sephiroth. You can't. Not really.
You’re going to get stuck. Maybe it’s the Midgar Zolom. Maybe it’s that one specific puzzle in the Temple of the Ancients that makes absolutely no sense. Whatever it is, the original FF7 doesn't hold your hand. It slaps it away.
The Midgar Trap and Why Speed Matters
Most people spend way too much time in Midgar. I get it. The atmosphere is incredible. The music hits just right. But honestly, the first six to seven hours of the game are basically a glorified tutorial. You’re trapped in a linear steel city, and while the story is peak 1997 storytelling, you aren't playing the real game yet.
You’ve got to get to the World Map. That’s where the actual walkthrough Final Fantasy VII experience begins to breathe. Once you escape the Shinra Building—after that chaotic motorcycle chase—the world opens up. Suddenly, you realize that the Materia system isn't just about putting "Fire" on your sword.
Here is the thing about Materia: it’s all about the blue slots. You’ll see these linked slots on your equipment. If you put a green Magic Materia in one and a blue Support Materia (like "All") in the other, your spells hit every enemy. It sounds simple. It’s actually the backbone of every viable strategy in the game. Without "All" linked to "Restore," you are going to spend every boss fight manually healing one character at a time while the others die. It’s a nightmare. Don't do that to yourself.
Don't Ignore the Fort Condor Minigame
A lot of players skip the side stuff. They want the plot. They want to know what's up with Cloud’s headaches. But if you skip the Fort Condor RTS-lite minigame, you miss out on some of the best early-game rewards. You don't have to win every single time, but checking in there periodically pays off.
The Difficulty Spikes in a Walkthrough Final Fantasy VII
You’ll be breezing through, feeling like a god, and then you’ll hit a wall. Usually, that wall is the Materia Keeper in Mount Nibel or the Red Dragon later on. These aren't "grind more levels" problems. They are "you don't understand your equipment" problems.
The game rewards experimentation. Take the "Enemy Skill" Materia. It’s the most broken thing in the game. If you have it equipped and an enemy hits you with a specific move—like "Big Guard" or "White Wind"—you learn it. Permanently. "Big Guard" grants Haste, Barrier, and M-Barrier to your entire party for a tiny MP cost. It makes the hardest bosses in the game look like complete jokes. If you aren't using Enemy Skill, you're playing the game on Hard Mode without meaning to.
Dealing With the Midgar Zolom
Right after you leave Kalm, you’ll see a giant shadow circling a swamp. That’s the Zolom. It will kill you. It is meant to kill you. The game wants you to go catch a Chocobo to outrun it.
But if you’re stubborn? You can kill it. You need the "Elemental" Materia linked with "Fire" on your armor to survive its Beta attack. If you manage to survive Beta and you have Enemy Skill equipped, you learn one of the strongest fire spells in the game before you've even finished the first disc. It’s a total game-changer.
The Missable Stuff That Actually Matters
FF7 is notorious for "point of no return" moments. There are items you can never get back if you miss them. The "Morph" Materia is one. The "Double Cut" Materia in the Sunken Gelnika is another.
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Wait, let's talk about the Gelnika. It’s an optional crashed plane underwater. The enemies there are terrifying. They look like weird mutated blobs, and they hit like freight trains. But the loot? It’s arguably better than anything in the final dungeon. You get Cloud’s "Heaven’s Cloud" weapon and the "Hades" Materia.
Vincent and Yuffie: They aren't mandatory. You can beat the entire game without ever meeting them. But why would you? Yuffie is found in random forests. Vincent is locked in a basement in Nibelheim. You need to find the key in the safe. The combination is Right 36, Left 10, Right 59, Right 97. Don't go past the numbers. Just land on them. It’s finicky.
The Huge Materia Quest: Later in the game, you’re tasked with stopping Shinra from using Huge Materia to blow up a meteor. If you fail these mini-games, you lose the Materia. You want that Materia. It’s what allows you to create "Master Materia," which gives you every single spell or command in the game in a single slot.
Understanding Cloud’s Mental State
The story isn't just about "save the world." It’s a psychological mess. A walkthrough Final Fantasy VII isn't just about where to go; it's about what’s actually happening. Cloud is an unreliable narrator. When you get to the Mideel sequence and Tifa enters Cloud’s subconscious, pay attention to the colors and the dialogue. Square was doing things with narrative structure in 1997 that most modern RPGs still struggle to replicate.
Cloud isn't who he thinks he is. He’s a failed soldier who took on the persona of his dead best friend, Zack. This isn't just fluff; it affects how the characters interact. If you bring certain characters to certain places—like bringing Aerith to the Gongaga village—you get extra dialogue that fills in these gaps. It’s these small touches that make the game a masterpiece.
Breeding the Gold Chocobo (The Long Way)
You want Knights of the Round. It’s the ultimate summon. It hits thirteen times. It bypasses defense. It’s the only way most people beat the Emerald and Ruby Weapons.
To get it, you need a Gold Chocobo. This involves a tedious process of catching, feeding, and racing Chocobos at the Gold Saucer.
- Catch a Great Chocobo near Mideel.
- Catch a Good Chocobo near the Gold Saucer.
- Breed them using a Carob Nut to get a Blue or Green one.
- Keep going until you get a Black one.
- Breed the Black one with a Wonderful Chocobo (from the Icicle area) using a Zeio Nut.
It takes hours. Is it worth it? Yes. Because watching a three-minute summon animation while you go make a sandwich is a rite of passage.
The End Game: Northern Cave
When you finally descend into the North Crater, the game lets you split your party. This is a trap for the unprepared. If you haven't leveled up your B-team, they’re going to get shredded.
There’s a specific spot in the swamp area of the crater where "Magic Pots" appear. They ask for Elixirs. If you give them one, they grant a massive amount of AP and XP. This is where you master your Materia. This is where you prepare for the final confrontation.
The final boss, Safer Sephiroth, actually changes his stats based on how you played. If you used Knights of the Round on the previous boss (Jenova Synthesis), Sephiroth gets more HP. If you have level 99 characters, he gets stronger. The game tracks your power and tries to match it. It’s a clever bit of coding that keeps the finale from being a complete pushover, though if you have the right setup, nothing can really stop you.
Taking Action: Your Post-Game Checklist
Once you've seen the credits roll and realized that "One-Winged Angel" is the greatest boss theme ever written, you aren't actually done. The true test of a walkthrough Final Fantasy VII fan lies in the "Weapons."
- Defeat Emerald Weapon: It’s underwater. It has a timer. It has one million HP. Use the "Underwater" Materia to remove the timer. Avoid having too many Materia equipped, or its "Aire Tam Storm" (Materia spelled backward) will do 1111 damage for every orb you have on you.
- Defeat Ruby Weapon: It’s in the desert. It’s immune to almost everything. The trick? Go into the fight with two characters dead. It forces Ruby to reveal its "claws," making it vulnerable.
- Master Every Materia: Get those three Master Materia orbs from the traveler in Kalm after giving him the Earth Harp and Desert Rose.
The beauty of this game isn't just the ending. It's the fact that 30 years later, people are still finding new ways to break the combat system. Go back to your save file. Check the forests near Rocket Town for the Yuffie encounter if you haven't. Find the hidden Lucrecia’s Cave with Vincent. There is always one more secret tucked away in those pre-rendered backgrounds.