- Difficulty
- Pick Dynamic. Hard is not offered until you finish.
- Remake save
- A Remake save on the same account gives the Leviathan summoning materia; the opening recap is enough if you did not play it.
- The Grasslands
- Climb the Remnawave tower, hand Chadley his data, fix the chocobo stops, and learn Queen’s Blood in Kalm.
- Ignore until chapter 12
- Perfect region completion, minigame high scores, weapon upgrades as a chore and hard-mode planning.
The three choices at the start
What the Grasslands are actually for
Climb the tower, then the rest appears
Every region has Remnawave towers (Activation Intel). Climbing one marks that district's intel on the map: fiend intel, lifesprings, summon crystals, dig sites, moogle emporiums, protorelic sites. Towers first, always — the Grasslands' six are the tutorial for that.
Give Chadley his data
Every piece of world intel is worth 10 Regional Data points, and Chadley turns points into materia you cannot buy, the region's development set; Enemy Skill and the summons come from his simulator instead. Spend before leaving a region, or spend later; nothing expires.
Fix the chocobo stops
Repairing a stop (they cost nothing but a walk) makes it a fast-travel point. Bill's Ranch in the Grasslands hands you the first chocobo; each later region has its own breed with its own traversal trick.
Learn Queen's Blood in Kalm
The card game is optional and the second-best thing in the game. The tutorial, the first cards and the first opponents are in Kalm, and the chapter-5 tournament is easier if you have been playing since here.
Do the five side quests before the swamp
The Grasslands' side quests raise party relationships and hand out materia and gil at the point where both matter most. They stay available later, but they are also faster now.
What to ignore until chapter 12
- Perfect completion of any region: chapter 12 reopens all six with their extra quests, and chapter select after the credits reopens everything again.
- Minigame high scores. Johnny's Treasure Trove and the platinum want them, but the first pass does not.
- Weapon upgrades as a chore: weapons level with the character now, so the only decision is which ability you are trying to master.
- Hard mode planning. Play once for the story; hard mode is a second playthrough with chapter select and everything carried over.
Who joins when
| Character | Playable from | What only they do |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud | Chapter 1 | Operator and Punisher stances; the party's all-rounder |
| Barret | Chapter 2 | Overcharge, Lifesaver, and the only ranged tank |
| Tifa | Chapter 1 as guide, chapter 2 for good | Unbridled Strength chi levels; the stagger specialist |
| Aerith | Chapter 2 | Wards and the strongest magic |
| Red XIII | Chapter 2 | Vengeance gauge built by blocking |
| Yuffie | Chapter 6 | Elemental ninjutsu and Doppelganger |
| Cait Sith | Met at the Gold Saucer in chapter 8, playable from chapter 9 | The moogle mount and the dice |