Party: Cloud, Barret and Cait Sith in one half of the reactor; Tifa, Aerith and Yuffie in the other.
Key unlocks: Cait Sith as a playable character, the forest chocobo, Cid and the Tiny Bronco, and seven weapons: Crystal Sword, Bird of Prey, Red Megaphone, Golden Collar, Tiger Fangs, Resounding Megaphone and Fafnir Rifle, the last from The Pursuit of Perfection.
Watch for: Five conversations in the village feed the date; The Saga of the Seaside Inn can now be finished, which is when Johnny’s inn starts counting.
1. Gongaga
A village that knows Zack, a captain who knew him better, and a jungle.
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1
Cissnei
Follow her up Monument Hill. Then the five conversations around the village: Red XIII, Yuffie, Barret, Tifa, Aerith.
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2
Rest and weapons
Cissnei’s house for the night; Bird of Prey in the inn and the Red Megaphone by the boats are close by.
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3
The region
Twenty-eight intel, four side quests (Fafnir Rifle from The Pursuit of Perfection) — the chapter’s fifth, Missing: Mr. Birdie, is taken from the North Corel board — Kujata, and the Turks’ simulator battles for the protorelic. The forest chocobo bounces off the mushrooms, and the region is built around that.
2. The reactor
Two halves, two bosses.
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1
Cloud’s half
Cloud, Barret and Cait Sith through generators and puzzles to Specimen H1024: weak to ice, interrupt its Mako Ingestion, and Subversion strips the buffs it eats. Crystal Sword is in the freight corridor.
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2
Tifa’s half
Tifa, Aerith and Yuffie on the forest chocobo with the grappling gun. Tiger Fangs in the flooded room past the Chimera Mimics. Crimson Mare Mk. II: lightning, three weapon phases, both arms destroyed exposes Scarlet.
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3
Tifa’s memory
The chase after Scarlet, the fall, and Cloud getting her back.
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4
Cid
The airstrip phone, 1,000 gil, and a flight in his plane, the Tiny Bronco, to Cosmo Canyon. Resounding Megaphone by the phone booth.
3. Bosses
- Specimen H1024: Ice. Interrupt the ingestion; Subversion for the buffs.
- Crimson Mare Mk. II: Lightning. Both arm weapons, then the pilot.
4. Before you leave
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 16 September 2026 and re-checked on 1 October 2026 against the guides of Game8, PowerPyx, Vandal and EliteGuias. What is still unverified is the only thing reading cannot settle — nobody here has played it.