Final Fantasy VII/Walkthrough/0001 - Midgar: Sector 1 - Bombing Run


 * Note: This walkthrough assumes that you're immediately familiar with the controls and terminology for this game.

Final Fantasy VII opens with an FMV sequence, before granting you control of the main character, Cloud Strife, as he jumps off the train onto the Sector 1 Station train platform. Search either both of the fallen soldier's bodies or search one twice for a maximum of two Potions. Make your way to the exit at the furthest end of the screen on the left, and the game throws you straight into a (relatively easy) fight.

Cloud, for the moment, has access to two Magic spells; Bolt and Ice. Don't use these yet, as the enemies here aren't strong enough to warrant using them. On the next screen, advance north to catch up with the group as they open the gate. Another person joins your party, named Barret Wallace. Barret has no magic at the moment, but he does have a long-range weapon equipped. As soon as you regain control, switch Barret to the back row to minimize the damage he takes from physical attacks; his long-range weapon will still do full damage.

Once you're in the main complex, speak with Biggs and Jessie (in that order) to open the doors for you. While you're here, there is a Phoenix Down that can be looted from a chest in the room to the south. Speak to Jessie again to open the elevator door. Head into the elevator, and press the button on the right. Once at your destination, make your way down the structure, and enter the door on the bottom left. Follow Jessie, and talk to her for a brief explanation on how ladders work. The blue object glistening in the light is a Potion. Grab it, and make your way down the pipes. There is a Save Point here, and it is recommended that you use it.

Move to the bottom of the screen, and pick up the Restore Materia; advance to the reactor at the top of the screen, and Cloud will set the timer for the bomb. An alarm klaxon will sound, and you will encounter the first boss of the game, the Guard Scorpion.

With the boss dispatched, you have ten minutes to evacuate the building; this timer does not stop when you open the menu! To pause the timer, you need to physically pause the game. Next, enter the menu and quickly equip Barrett with the Assault Gun that dropped from the boss, and then go back the way you came, stopping to free Jessie (who has trapped her foot in the scaffolding). Once Jessie is free, retrace your steps back up to the elevator; once back in the first series of rooms, talk to Jessie and Biggs (in that order) to open the doors to the exit. As you run toward the exit, the party joins you, and the evacuation completes with a spectacular FMV of the Sector 1 Mako Reactor exploding.

After the FMV, make your way up the stairs; you'll encounter the same flower girl that you saw in the game's intro FMV.

Once you've finished speaking with the flower girl, head south, stopping to pick up the potion near the exit before continuing. On the next screen, you have the choice of fleeing or fighting up to three groups of Shinra Guards. If you don't decide soon enough, however, the game will choose the option you left the cursor on when the guards get to you. Eventually, Cloud will be outnumbered, and an FMV will play of Cloud jumping onto a train, before watching it disappear into a tunnel. After you reunite with your friends and talk for a while, follow Jessie and jump over the crates. In the next cabin, talk to Jessie again, and she'll show you how the trains in Midgar operate. Talk to Barrett afterwards. After you depart, talk to Barret again for a quick debriefing. After talking to the train man, you have two choices - exit to the left, or to the right. If you go right, you can fight some monsters that you'd normally have to wait until later to battle. But, with only Cloud in your party, it is advisable to wait until later for grinding here to be worth it.

Run after the others to the left of the train station to enter Sector 7.