Gongaga

Gongaga (ゴンガガ) is a foothill town in Final Fantasy VII, located south of Gold Saucer. Due to a disaster, the town has been badly damaged. As a visitor enters, they will see a fork in the road. The left path leads to the town, but the right leads to the burned-out Mako Reactor. In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, the village path leads farther, going into some houses on the outskirts, and eventually to a mountain-side path that ends in a cliff overtop the village. The entire village and the remains of the reactor are all visible from the cliff.

Story
Gongaga was the hometown of several characters from Final Fantasy VII, including Zack Fair, as well as one of the playable Turks from Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, Katana (Male), at which time the village was home to one of Shinra's Mako Reactors. After Zack and Cloud escape from Nibelheim after their four-year imprisonment during Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, they are able to pick up a motorcycle from Cissnei. Taking random highways throughout the continent, trying to avoid the Turks, the Shinra army, and the Genesis Copies who are all pursuing them, Zack stumbles upon his hometown, most of which had been destroyed by the Mako Reactor explosion.

Despite realizing the likelihood of a trap in his hometown, Zack's concern for his parents is overwhelming and he enters the town, leaving Cloud in the motorcycle on the reactor outskirts. Cissnei intercepts him, as the Turks had sent her to Gongaga to wait for him. She lets him go, but Zack does not leave, as he sees what he thinks is Angeal Hewley back from the dead. It turns out to be Lazard who has become an Angeal Copy, and was protecting them from Genesis and Hollander. Zack kills Hollander and chases off Genesis before either are able to harm Cloud.

During Final Fantasy VII, the player learns the Mako Reactor explosion killed most of the townsfolk. The explosion was said to be caused by the original AVALANCHE.

When the party enters Gongaga in Final Fantasy VII, they encounter the Turks, Reno and Rude. While the resulting battle with them is typically optional, Cloud and the party members currently with him will realize that since there was no hint of anyone following them to tip off the Turks to their arrival, there must be a traitor among them who tipped them off instead. Cloud will, however, refuse to believe that there is a spy, saying that he trusts everyone currently in AVALANCHE. This may serve as a small foreshadowing of the eventual reveal of Cait Sith as a spy for the Shinra. If he is in the party, he will try and divert attention from himself, expressing his hopes that Cloud will not blame him just because he is (at the moment) the new member of the party.

Later, the party also overhears the first mention of the Huge Materia during a conversation between Scarlet and Tseng. The party can go to Zack's house and meet his parents. If Aeris is with the party, it is revealed she used to be Zack's girlfriend. On the other hand, if Tifa is in the party, she runs out of the house and refuses to say anything to Cloud, instead asking him about his decisions to join SOLDIER. Talking to the women afterwards earns the player affection points toward them, but ignoring them reduces them.

Items Found

 * Titan Materia - In the destroyed reactor
 * White M-Phone - Upper right house
 * X-Potion - In the inn
 * Deathblow Materia - On the left hand path leading out of the village

Shops
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="left" width="480px"
 * valign="top" width="50%"|

Weapon Shop

 * valign="top" width="50%"|

Accessory Shop

 * }

Jungle - South

 * Kimara Bug
 * Touch Me
 * Kimara Bug x2
 * Touch Me x2 (Back attack)

Jungle - North

 * Flower Prong
 * Touch Me
 * Kimara Bug
 * Kimara Bug x2

Reactor

 * Heavy Tank

Grassland

 * Gagighandi x2
 * Gagighandi x3 (Ambush)
 * Grand Horn
 * Grand Horn (Back attack)
 * Grand Horn x2

Forest

 * Gagighandi, Touch Me x2
 * Gagighandi x2
 * Gagighandi x3
 * Mystery Ninja
 * Touch Me x6 (Ambush)

Beach

 * Beachplug, Beachplug x2
 * Beachplug x3
 * Beachplug x4
 * Grangalan (Grangalan Jr., (Grangalan Jr. Jr.))

Skies

 * Ultimate Weapon (Boss)

Dummied Content
Originally Final Fantasy VII was going to contain a traveling salesman as part of a sidequest, who would appear in Gongaga. The salesman would give two key items to the player, one titled "Letter to a Daughter", and another, "Letter to a Wife". While cut from the final version, the script for the character was still written and translated and exists in the game's data. The salesman also says, "I came because I heard near this village was Materia strong enough to shake the earth", which would supply the player with knowledge of the Titan Materia's existence, and likely the reason the Materia was moved from Kalm.

The travelling salesman also has some unused lines in Rocket Town, but only in the Japanese game.

A developer who worked in the Final Fantasy VII project at Squaresoft has said that the travelling salesman's Gongaga lines were created to inform the player of the Materia in the ruins of the Mako Reactor and the reason it wasn't used was because the staff only had five months to implement the data in the game. This wasn't enough time to link it to the event it connected to, so it was cut.

Musical Themes
The background music in Gongaga Village, like in Nibelheim, is "Heart of Anxiety" (不安な心 Fuan na Kokoro).