Official Final Fantasy VII Strategy Guide

The Official Final Fantasy VII Strategy Guide is an English strategy guide for Final Fantasy VII written by David Cassady and published by BradyGames. A retooled version of the guide was released as Final Fantasy VII Now for the PC Official Strategy Guide (also known as Final Fantasy VII for the PC Strategy Guide). The guide was reformatted a third time with Prima's Final Fantasy Box Set, with its content closer to the original version of the guide.

The guide is infamous for containing errors, and creating the capitalization misconception of Weapon (WEAPON). The BradyGames guide was the only official English guide released for Final Fantasy VII (Piggyback Interactive had not yet been established), and is therefore the wiki's source of various names not otherwise listed in game, such as the Kalm traveler. Though there are no official alternatives, the guide has often been compared to Versus Books The Completely Unauthorized Final Fantasy VII Ultimate Guide.

The PC version of the guide does update the controls, but appears to still be based on the PlayStation version in terms of content as it does not update the screenshots and still uses the PlayStation localization: The instance of the original guide erroneously referring to "Corral Valley Cave" as "Corel Valley Cave" has been changed to "Corral Valley Cave"&mdash;despite the PC version of the game changing the location name from "Corral Valley Cave" to "Corel Valley Cave".

Versions

 * Official Final Fantasy VII Strategy Guide
 * Pages: 224
 * Published on August 28, 1997
 * ISBN 978-1-56686-714-6


 * Final Fantasy VII for the PC Strategy Guide
 * Pages: 320
 * Published on June 12, 1998
 * ISBN 978-1-56686-782-5


 * Final Fantasy Box Set : Final Fantasy VII
 * Pages: ?
 * Published on July 7, 2015
 * ISBN 978-1-1018-9804-8

Contents
This section is structured with preference to the original version of the guide. The Prima rerelease is not covered due to lack of access.

Game Basics

 * PS p.003-005
 * PC p.005-007

Information and tip about how best to play the game. It suggests to avoid back attack damage by tapping the Run buttons to face the enemy, although this trick does not effect damage.

Materia

 * PS p.005-007 ("Materia Combinations")
 * PC p.028-035 ("Making Sense of Materia")

The PS guide lists good combinations utilizing Support Materia and/or Mega-All. It also makes recommendations for Knights of the Round/W-Summon/Mime, and Pre-Emptive/Sneak Attack:Knight of the Round/HP↔MP.

The PC guide also has this section, although it gives many more examples, and gives an exhaustive list for Added Effect combinations. It also features more thorough coverage for Materia in general, going over the types of Materia and growth.

The Characters

 * PS p.008-025
 * PC p.008-027 ("Character Information")

The section gives a brief paragraph for the character's role in the story, their role in the game, and their Limit Breaks. Barret's Limit Break is still listed as "Ungarmax" despite being renamed "Angermax" in PC.

"At age 21, Cloud Strife leads the life of a mercenary for hire. As an ex-member of Shinra's elite squad known as SOLDIER, his fighting skills are in high demand. Cloud joins the rebel group AVALANCHE for their first strike against one of Shinra's huge Mako Reactors that surround the city of Midgar."
 * Cloud Strife

"Barret is the 35-year-old leader of the rebel team known as AVALANCHE. He leads the team in the quest to stop Shinra's Mako Reactors and save the life of the planet. Although he is truly devoted to the team, Barret often regrets having to leave his young daughter, Marlene, alone or in the care of others. Barret's motives are unclear, but most believe that Shinra was somehow responsible for the death of his wife."
 * Barret Wallace

"Tifa and Cloud were childhood friends, but parted ways when Cloud left his hometown of Nibelheim to join SOLDIER. When her parents died, Tifa also left Nibelheim and headed for Midgar. Soon after opening her bar, Tifa's Seventh Heaven, she met Barret and joined his ragtag group of rebels known as AVALANCHE. It's her goal to make sure Cloud remains with AVALANCHE after his first mission with the team."
 * Tifa Lockheart

"A beautiful 22-year-old, Aeris is a bright spot in the middle of a dark and dreary town. While selling flowers near AVALANCHE's first target, Aeris' life was forever altered after a chance meeting with Cloud. Because of her mysterious background, Shirna has pursued her for most of her life. Now she must fight against those who would enslave her and destroy what she holds most dear."
 * Aeris Gainsborough

"Although his fiery red fur may make him look like a wild animal, Red XIII's intellect is well above that of most humans. Not much is known about Red XIII's origin. He's currently being held captive in Shinra's headquarters where he's forced to participate in their twisted experiments."
 * Red XIII

"Cid is an expert pilot and mechanic who dreams of one day becoming the first man in space. His dream would have been fulfilled, but he aborted a launch in order to save the life of one of his crew. Now he spends his time trying to repair his inoperable rocket in the hopes that Shinra may one day reinstate its space program, giving him another chance at fulfilling his dream."
 * Cid Highwind

"This 16-year-old ninja spent most of her time preying on helpless travelers until she met up with Cloud's party. Although she is reluctant to join AVALANCHE, her ulterior motives give her reason to tag along, if only temporarily. Her clever wit and ninja skills coupled with her selfish ways will either make her a powerful ally or a serious pain in the neck."
 * Yuffie Kisaragi

"Although Cait Sith's fortune telling ability may not impress you, his fighting skills are a sight to be witnessed. The party first bumps into this joker while wandering around the Gold Saucer. Cait Sith eagerly joins the group to see if his predictions prove to be true."
 * Cait Sith

"Talk about a dark presence, Vincent sends chills down the toughest person's spine. Although he may look evil at first, there's a good soul trapped beneath his dark exterior. Vincent's plight is yet another example of Shinra's warped experimentation; however there's more to this story than just bungled scientific research."
 * Vincent Valentine

Choco Bill's Complete Guide to Chocobos

 * PS p.180-183 ("Chocobo Breeding and Racing")
 * PC p.036-051

This section started as part of the "Side Areas" section in the PS guide, but was thoroughly expanded for the PC guide. In the PC guide the chocobos are referred to by their ability as they are in-game (e.g. Mountain-and-River Chocobo) as opposed to their color. The guides do not themselves mention that they grant access to the Ancient Forest and Lucrecia's Cave earlier than they otherwise could (although the sections for those locations state you can get to them with gold chocobos, despite green/mountain chocobos being adequate).

Walkthrough

 * PS p.026-175
 * PC p.052-214

In the PS guide, each section lists the items and basic info about enemies except bosses (taken varbatim from the Bestiary section), shops, and inns. In the PC guide, items and enemies including bosses are listed (without stats). Boss drops are included in the items list where they were not in the PS guide, and boss details are displayed with the boss strategy in the PC guide. In the Raid on Sector 5 Reactor section of the PS guide, the enemy details for Rocket Launcher display the Junon stats, including "Area&mdash;Junon".

The PS guide relies on displaying annotated maps of the areas, while the PC version does not (these maps have been moved to the Level Maps section of its guide). The PC guide therefore puts less emphasis on the placement of items and asks the player to keep an eye out, offering the more obscure ones in "item tips". The PS guide also explains the story events, while the PC version does not bother and just explains the general series of events. To illustrate, the PS guide spends an entire page detailing the series of events that take place in the Seventh Heaven, the PC guide sums it up by saying Catch up with the rest of the team at Tifa's bar, Tifa's Seventh Heaven. After speaking with everyone and learning about your next assignment (bombing Shinra's No. 5 Mako Reactor), you'll get the opportunity to do a little "slumming." .

Side Areas

 * PS p.176-193
 * PC p.190-206 ("A Few More Things To Do"; "Gold Saucer")

In the PC walkthrough this section is covered within the main guide prior to the Disc 3 content. The section outlines sidequests such as where to obtain ultimate weapnons, Level 4 Limit Breaks, and gives a thorough guide to Ancient Forest and things to do at the Gold Saucer.

Bestiary

 * PS p.194-211
 * PC p.254-272

The bestiary covers the enemies of the game. It features the enemy's name; area where it is found; level, HP, MP, EXP, Gil, AP; elemental affinity for the main nine elements; immunity to the statuses Sleep, "Return"(?), Confusion, Silence, Slow, Darkness, Transform (Frog and Small), Stop, Berserk, Poison, "Paralysis" (Paralyzed), Stone, "Slowly stone" (Slow-numb), Manipulate, Death, and "Impossible to fight" (?); morph and steal items; and its attacks used, with additional special notes for enemy skills. In the PS guide bosses are highlighted in a yellow box.

In the PC guide the bestiary is moved to after the item lists.

For the PS guide, a page on their gave an index for the page each enemy was covered on.

Weapons

 * PS p.212-214
 * PC p.218-227

Lists weapons divided by character. Features data for name, buy price if applicable, Atk, Atk%, Materia slots and linked status, Materia growth multiplier, and where found. Some weapons have additional notes about increasing effectiveness (e.g. Yoshiyuki Sword is used when ally is down ), while others are absent (e.g. Ultima Weapon does not mention damage is relative to HP). The PS guide lists numbers of linked/unlinked slots, while the PC guide shows a visualization. The PC guide also uses the official weapon artworks.

The Rising Sun is not listed.

Armor

 * PS p.215
 * PC p.228-229

Lists armor, and features data for name, buy price if applicable, Def, Def%, MDef, MDef%, Materia slots and linked status, Materia growth multiplier, and where found. Some armor have additional notes about elemental affinities and equip conditions. The PS guide lists numbers of linked/unlinked slots, while the PC guide shows a visualization. The PC guide also uses the official weapon artworks.

Accessories

 * PS p.216
 * PC p.230-231

Lists accessories, and features data for name, buy price if applicable, stated effect, and where found. The PS guide lists numbers of linked/unlinked slots, while the PC guide shows a visualization.

Items

 * PS p.217
 * PC p.215-217 ("Items"; "Rare Items")

Lists regular items and their effects. Lists key items (referred to as "Rare Items" in the PS guide) and when they are found.

The PC guide lists regular and key items before Weapons.

Materia

 * PS p.218-221
 * PC p.232-249

Lists Materia, where they are found, AP to master, and stat modifiers. For each ability, lists name, AP required, and MP. For Command Materia, the abilities effect is described.

The PC guide lists AP for each level for Support, Independent, and Summon Materia, while the PS guide only lists the AP to master. The PC guide is specific at what things do for each level (e.g. for Elemental) while the PS guide does not (e.g. Elemental Adds Materia element to equipped weapon or armor ). The PC guide features images for each Magic and Summon ability. The associated elements and statuses are not listed, except for Summon Materia in the PC guide, although it is not clear that this is what it refers to, and Kjata's element is listed as "All".

Enemy Skills

 * PC p.250-253

This section did not exist in the PS version, however in its absence a page on their website was dedicated to it.

The enemy skills are listed with their effect, and from what enemy they can be earned and where they are located, although it makes no advice on whether to use Manipulate, or the single use of Pandora's Box. Chocobuckle's method of obtaining is explained in "Choco Bill's Complete Guide to Chocobos", but not mentioned at all in the PS guide.

Level Maps

 * PC p.272-317

In the original PS guide, maps are included throughout the walkthrough, where they have been collected here in their own section. Shows maps for every area, item locations, where the entrances and exits are, where the shops are and what are sold in them, and where the player can rest and at what price.

World Map

 * PS p.222-223
 * PC p.318-319

A map of the world annotated with the accessible areas. The PC guide uses a more legible font.

Naming inconsistencies
Below is a list of location names used to refer to places in the guide, particularly in section headers, the bestiary section, and item lists. The first listed and linked name prior to the colon is the wiki's name for the location. Various areas are given as "Midgar" without being more specific. Some sub-area names are sometimes given (e.g. "Shinra Tower Balcony") but not listed here for brevity.


 * No.1 Reactor: Mako Reactor No. 1: Reactor, Shinra Reactor, Reactor #1
 * Sector 8: The Getaway, Streets
 * Sector 7: Sector 7 Slums, Sector 7
 * Sector 4 - Tunnels: Subway
 * Sector 4: Basement
 * No.5 Reactor: Sector 5 Reactor, Reactor, Reactor2, Reactor 2
 * Sector 5: Sector 5 Slums
 * Sector 5 Church: Church
 * Sector 6: Sector 6, Slums
 * Wall Market: Wall Market, Sector 6 Slums
 * Corneo Hall: Don Corneo's Mansion, Brothel, Corneo's Mansion
 * Sewer: Sewers
 * Train Graveyard: Train Graveyard, Trainyard
 * Sector 7 Slums - Plate Support: The Pillar Assault, Tower
 * Sector 6 - Plate: Sector 7 Wreckage
 * Shinra Building: Shinra's Headquarters, Shinra Tower, Shinra Corporate Tower, Shinra Corporate HQ, Shinra HQ, Shinra Headquarters (Floor N, Nth Floor, Level N)
 * Midgar Highway
 * Kalm: Kalm, Kalm Town
 * Chocobo Farm: Chocobo Ranch, Chocobo Farm, CF
 * Mythril Mine: Mythril Mine, Mythril Caves, Mythril Cave, Mithril Caves
 * Marshes: CF Swamp, Mythril Swamp
 * Fort Condor: Fort Condor, Condor Mts, Ft. Condor
 * Under Junon: Junon Harbor, Junon Village
 * Junon: Junon, Lower Junon
 * Cargo Ship: Shinra Boat
 * Costa del Sol: Costa del Sol, Costa Del Sol
 * Mt. Corel: Mt. Corel
 * North Corel: North Corel
 * Gold Saucer: Gold Saucer, Golden Saucer
 * Corel Prison: Corel Prison, GS Prison
 * Gongaga: Gongaga Village, Gongaga Town
 * Cosmo Canyon: Cosmo Canyon, CC
 * Cave of the Gi: Gi Cave, Cave of the Gi, CC Caves, Cosmo Canyon Caves
 * Nibelheim: Nibelheim
 * Shinra Mansion: Shinra Mansion, Nibelheim Mansion, ShinRa Mansion
 * Shinra Mansion - Basement: Mansion Basement, Basement
 * Mt. Nibel: Mt. Nibel, Nibel Mountains, Nibelheim Mts, Nibelheim Mountains, Nibelheim Mountians, Nibel Mts., Nible Mountains, Nibleheim Mts
 * Rocket Town: Rocket Town
 * Wutai: Wutai, Wutai Village
 * Wutai - Godo's Pagoda: Wutai Pagoda, Pagoda of the Five Gods, Pagoda of Five Gods
 * Da-chao Statue: Da-chao Statue, Da-chao Mountains, Wutai Mountains, Da-chao
 * Weapon Seller: Weapon Seller
 * Temple of the Ancients: Temple of the Ancients, City of Ancients (PC enemy lists), Temple of Ancients, Setora Shrine, Certa Shrine, Cetra Shrine
 * Bone Village: Bone Village
 * Sleeping Forest: Sleeping Forest
 * Corel Valley: Corral Valley, Bone/Shell Village, Coral Valley, Bone Village
 * Forgotten City: City of the Ancients, City of Ancients, Forgotten City Shrine, Forgotten City, Ancient City
 * Corel Valley Cave: Corral Valley Cave, Corral Valley Caves, Corel Valley Cave
 * Icicle Inn: Icicle Inn
 * Great Glacier: Great Glacier
 * Gaea's Cliff: Gaea Cliffs, Gaea's Cliff
 * Whirlwind Maze: Whirlwind Maze
 * Mideel: Mideel
 * Coal Train: Runaway Train, Coal Train
 * Junon Path - Underwater Tunnel: Water Tunnel
 * Underwater Reactor: Underwater Reactor
 * Shinra No. 26: Shinra No. 26, Cid's Rocket
 * Sector 8 - Underground/Tunnel: Midgar Subway, Underneath Midgar, Sector 8 Underground, Midgar Sector 8
 * Ancient Forest: Ancient Forest, Frog Forest
 * Gelnika: Crashed Gelnika, Downed Plane, Downed Shinra Plane, Sunken Shinra Air Ship, Sunken Shinra Sub, Gelnika, Sunken Gelnika
 * Round Island: NE Island, Knight's Island
 * Chocobo Sage's House: Chocobo Sage, Sensei's House
 * Old Man's House: Sleeping Man, Eastern Continent Cave
 * ???: Waterfall Cave, Lucrecia's Cave
 * Round Island Materia Cave: Materia Cave 1, NE Island Cave, Knight's Island Materia Cave, Knights Cave
 * Mideel Area Materia Cave: Materia Cave 2, Cave South of Wutai, Mideel Materia Cave, Mideel Area Cave
 * Wutai Area Materia Cave: Materia Cave 3, Cave South of Wutai, Wutai, Wutai Area Cave
 * North Corel Area Materia Cave: Materia Cave 4, Cave North of North Corel, Mt. Corel Materia Cave, Corel Area Cave
 * Goblin Island: Goblin Island
 * Cactus Island: Cactuar Island
 * North Crater: Crater, The Crater, Final Dungeon, Northern Crator

Brady Staff

 * Publisher
 * Lynn Zingraf


 * Editor in Chief
 * H. Leigh Davis


 * Title/Licensing Manager
 * David Waybright


 * Marketing Manager
 * Janet Cadoff


 * Acquisitions Editor
 * Debra McBride

Credits

 * Development Editor
 * David Cassady


 * Project Editor
 * Tim Cox


 * Screenshot Editor
 * Michael Owen


 * Creative Director
 * Jean Bisesi (PS)
 * Scott Watanabe (PC)


 * Book Designer
 * Jean Bisesi (PS)
 * Carol Stamile (PC)
 * Scott Watanabe (PC)


 * Production Designer
 * Dan Caparo
 * Max Adamson

Author Acknowledgements
This has been adapted from prose written by Cassady in the "Special Thanks" section in the PS book and the Author Acknowledgements in the PC book.


 * List creation
 * Dan Dunham


 * Square Quality Assurance Department
 * Rick Thompson
 * Fernando Bustamante
 * And the rest


 * Squaresoft support
 * Kenji Mimura
 * Kyoko Yamashita
 * Kiomi Murazeki
 * Jun Iwasaki


 * Sony support
 * David Bamberger


 * Eidos support (PC)
 * Frank Horn
 * Gary Keith


 * Support mechanisms and sometimes alarm clocks
 * Heather Moseman
 * Carole Cassady