Marshes (Final Fantasy VII)



The Marshes (湿地帯) is both an area on the World Map and a one-time visit field location in Final Fantasy VII. It is located in the Grasslands Area. The marshes themselves are a portion of area on the World Map separating the majority of the Grasslands Area from the entrance to the Mythril Mine. The marshes are inhabited by the Midgar Zolom, which has prevented workers at the mine from mining.

The Midgar Zolom appears as a long shadow moving through the swamp. It travels in random direction until the player moves close enough when it moves towards the player. The player must cross the marshes, which they can do on foot, albeit a difficult feat. They can also opt to obtain the Chocobo Lure materia from the Chocobo Farm to help catch a Chocobo to cross the marshes without being caught by the Midgar Zolom, since the Chocobo can outrun the Midgar Zolom.

Once the player has crossed the marshes for the first time, they enter a field location, itself entitled "Marshes". The field location is a single screen. When entering, the camera only shows the ground of the marsh, but as the party run up the screen, the camera pans up to show an impaled Midgar Zolom, which the party assumes was defeated by Sephiroth.

After the initial panning of the screen, there are no further scenes with dialogue. Cloud can talk to the other members of the party, who will each offer one line of text. Other than talking to other party members, the only other thing the player can do is exit the screen. After this, the player can never return to this field location.

Dialogue
It should be noted that it is not possible to have Yuffie in the party at this point, since the first forests she can be fought at are beyond the Mythril Mine in the Junon Area. Therefore, the player cannot see her dialogue in a normal playthrough of the game.

Musical themes
In this area in the field, the "Trail Of Blood" (血の跡, Chi no Ato) theme plays.