Getting Yuffie Kisaragi

You can get Yuffie in your party during any disc. If you're in disc two and are riding around in the Buggy, that will work, too. The two places that she appears most often are the forests beyond the Gold Saucer (in the Gongaga Area), and most forests in the Junon Area. After a few battles, you'll fight Yuffie (seems to be a 1 in 15 chance, if you ask me).

Just attack her, really. Yuffie can use all kinds of cool attacks during this time, but not once she joins you! Yuffie's level, HP and MP vary depending on what level your characters are at.

When the battle ends, you'll be in a plain with Yuffie lying nearby. There's also a save point here. However, if you touch the Save Point, then go to your menu screen to save, Yuffie escapes and steals 200 gil! Don't worry, you can meet her again. You'll have to talk to her several times to get her to join. As she and you converse, she'll ask you several questions, and you can reply in two ways. To get her to join, respond like this:

Reply: Not interested
(talk to her again)
Reply: ......petrified
Reply: Wait a second!
Reply: ......That's right.
Reply: ......Let's hurry on.

Or in other words, choose the bottom reply, then the top one, then the bottom one, and so on. After that, you can name her, and she'll hook up with Cloud and the rest of the gang. Note that if you choose the top answer for the last question she asks, you can name her, but she'll steal 700 gil from you and run away. You'll have to repeat the whole process if you want to get her in your party.

Getting Vincent Valentine

When you enter the Shinra Mansion, there is a room on the left that has a piece of paper lying on the floor. Pick it up and you'll see four clues written on it:

1. Look for the lid of the box with the most oxygen
2. Behind the ivory's short of tea and ray.
3. The creak in the floor near the chair on the second floor. Then to the left five steps, up nine steps, left two steps, and up six steps.
4. (nothing)

For clue 1: On the second floor, turn left, and go to the middle room. In this room check the oxygen tank. It will say, "Right 36".

For clue 2: On the first floor, in the top left room, check behind the piano. It will say, "Left 10".

For clue 3: On the second floor, turn right, and in the hallway, keep walking and pressing O. When you get to the right spot (somewhere in the middle of the hallway) it will say "Right 59".

For clue 4: This clue is written in invisible ink on the piece of paper. To expose the message, select the blank space below clue number 3 (press the down arrow until you select it). It will say "Right 97".

This will be the combo for the safe that is located on the second floor in the left-hand room at the top of the room.

What most people forget when trying to open the safe is that it's just like a real combination lock... so you have to go in more than one direction when inputting the numbers. Furthermore, unless you're fast enough, you'll run out of time if you try any other combination. The code is:

Right to 36, Left to 10, Right to 59, Right to 97

This means that you hold right and scroll through the numbers, then hold left until you reach 10, then hold right for the last two numbers. Don't forget to press circle to verify each entry. When the safe opens, a Summon Materia (Odin) pops out, and you are assaulted by a big goon (how'd he fit into that little safe?)

This boss can be taken out just by attacking and using limit breaks. Magic spells (Fire, Ice, Lighting) that are at level 2 are also okay to use. Heal yourself and use Summon Materia (like Choco/Mog) and you'll win in no time. Aside from physical attacks, all this guy can really do is use a Bolt 2 spell on you, but it only does 400-500 points of damage to one character, so it's nothing to worry about. Rarely, he does a double-fisted hammer punch to one character that averages 2200 points of damage, though, so pack in some Phoenix Downs before trying to tackle him. If you blow off his red half (the one that uses magic) his physical attacks become more aggressive, so keep your HP up. Likewise, if his purple half is destroyed first, the Lost Number will use more mid-level spells, like Quake 2, against your party. It is possible to kill this boss without either part of it dying (by stunning it using the "Choco/Mog" spell).

Not only do you get an item from the boss once you beat it (it's the manual for Red XIII's Level 4 Limit Break, the Cosmo Memory), but there's also a gold key in the safe that you can grab (Key to the Basement). Don't forget to take the Red Materia!

Did the code still not work? Remember, the safe's lock is like a real combination lock. So, when you're turning to 36, you can either land on it or creep up to it, but you can't hit 37 and go back. This applies to the rest of the digits, too; you can't go farther than the number you want. If you do (i.e. you go to 09 when trying to get to 10), you'll have to start all over again.

The second "optional" (or hidden) character in the game, Vincent can also join your party during any disc. You'll need the gold key from the safe in Nibelheim's Shinra Mansion (see below if you don't know how to open it). Go down to the pink cavern leading to Sephiroth's library (it's in the Shinra Mansion, the entrance is in the stone wall in the eastern wing).

Remember the door to the crypt you couldn't get through? You can now enter it. Stand at the foot of the purple coffin and hit circle. The lid will fly off and Vincent will talk to you. To get him to join you, respond to his questions like so:

Reply: Talk about Sephiroth.

(When the coffin closes, press circle again.)

Reply: Who are you?

Then, try to leave the cavern and he'll join you. Vincent can join you from the first time you reach Nibelheim onwards.

Secret FMV

Go to the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim and go into the basement. Go as far right as you can and enter the room. Cloud will have a flashback.

The Sleeping Man

Get so many wins by fighting battles. To see how many wins you have, get in the Highwind or ride a Green, Blue, Black, or Gold Chocobo ever so slightly south and a little ways to the east of Midgar City, where you'll find a cave surrounded by mountains with a river nearby. Inside the cave is a sleeping fellow who (usually) tells you how many wins you've gotten so far. The last two digits have to be the same (100, 111, 255, 733, etc.)

When you have the correct number of victories, talk to the sleeping man. He'll toss and turn, then give you an item (Mythril). Next, go to the house on the penninsula near the Gold Saucer (you should recognize it since it's full of weapons inside). Talk to the man in the house, and when he gives you a choice, pick the top option. You'll lose the Mythril, but you now have the choice of opening the long wooden chest by the bed to get a Gold Armlet, or examining the metal lid on the upper floor at the end of the walkway to get the manual for Aeris's Level 4 Limit Break.

Note that he may give you an item (Ice Ring or Bolt Ring) instead of giving you a Mythril. Don't worry - just get another set of wins with the last two numbers matching and try again. You can keep earning more Mythril from him as long as you give the piece you have to the weaponsmith near the Gold Saucer.

Piano Trick

Go to Nibelheim during Disc 2 or 3, with Tifa in your party. Nibelheim is the the town by the pointed mountains on the Western Continent. Enter Tifa's house (the second building on the right side) and head upstairs to where her piano is.

Choose the bottom option, then the bottom option again to play it (you can't use the top option if you want the manual). Then, press:

X, Square, Triangle, L1+Triangle, L1+Square, X, Square, Triangle, L1+X, O, X, Square, X*

Tifa will reach for the music sheets and find a letter addressed to her from her mentor, Zangan. She'll also find the limit break manual that he left for her.

*Note that you can also play the "Highwind" them by pressing:

Down, Left, Up, L1+Triangle, L1+Square, Down, Left, Up, L1+X, Right, Down, Left, Down

or you can use a combination of buttons and directions. Playing the music this way doesn't seem to get you anything, though.

Key to Midgar City (Sector 5 Key)

Disc two or three; First talk to the man standing by the doors back at Midgar City. He won't appear until after you've gotten the Highwind and rescued Cloud from Mideel Village. Talk to him, then return to the Bone Village on the Northern Continent. Chat with the man by the door and pick the first option, then the third option. While you could place diggers and hunt for the Key yourself, if you want to cheat, go over to the destroyed plane atop the dinosaur's skull. See the one excavator near the bottom of the screen? Near him is a tiny piece of metal sticking outwards (the nose of the ruined plane); position yourself underneath it and press up so that your character is looking forward, then dig.

You can use the Key to enter the locked gates near Area 7 and look around Midgar City. If you go into the church where you met Aeris, you can see her bending over the flowers; she'll flicker and disappear after a second (in the Japanese version; in the US version she appears for a brief second and vanishes). There's not a lot to do here, but if you go back to the Wall Market and go to the "ITEM" building with the machine gun inside it, you can get Tifa's Ultimate Weapon by examining the computer before the gun fires upon you (you don't need Tifa to get the item). Also, remember the man in the gun shop that you bought the Batteries from to reach the Shinra Building back in Disc 1? The man in the left side of the "Machine & Gun" shop will sell you an accessory (Sneak Glove) for 129,000 gil this time around.

Turtles' Paradise Flyers

There are six of these flyers scattered throughout the world. You can find them in the following locations:

Flyer No. 1: Midgar City... the town next to Aeris' house. Go to the second floor of the southeastern building and look at the papers taped to the wall by the stairwell.

Flyer No. 2: Shinra HQ... on the first floor, check out the board with the papers on it near the elevators. The only time you can read this flyer is at the beginning of the game or when you raid Midgar in Disc 2.

Flyer No. 3: Gold Saucer... go to the Ghost Square and enter the hotel. Read the sign that says "SHOP" next to the shop entrance.

Flyer No. 4: Cosmo Canyon... check the left wood post of the Tigerlily Arms Shop.

Flyer No. 5: Cosmo Canyon... the gold paper by the door on the second floor of the inn (the entrance is behind some hanging cloth near the bonfire).

Flyer No. 6: Wutai... the bottom floor of Yuffie's house; it's the wall scroll to the right of the doorway. You can't get there unless you've done the sub-quest (refer to the "Bonus Areas" section).

You don't have to find the flyers (they look like pieces of paper) in order. Whenever you have read all six of them, go to the restaurant in Wutai (the large building in the southwestern corner of town). Talk to the barkeep and you'll get a Power Source, Guard Source, Magic Source, Mind Source, Speed Source, Luck Source, and a Megalixir.

All 7 Fever

As easy as this trick sounds, it's harder to perform than you might think. One of your characters has to have a current HP of 7777. This can be done by getting injured, equipping materia, or raising levels. When that particular character enters a battle, the message All 7 Fever will appear. It will show up every time the "fevered" character attacks, too.

During this time, the person affected by the "All 7 Fever" will make one _normal_ attack against each enemy when their time bar is filled, even if you have materia such as Slash-All or Mega All equipped. However, assuming they don't miss, that person will always strike for 7777 damage, even if an enemy has special defenses. Furthermore, that person behaves as if he/she was berserked (i.e. you can't select commands for them since they will do nothing but attack), and can take no other action (even if you're wearing a Counter Attack materia). They can still lose HP or be affected by enemy abilities/magic/etc.

There are two major drawbacks to this trick; your current HP drops to 1 point after the battle (it can be healed by normal means), and you can't repeat the trick unless you have 7777 HP exactly.

FMV Viewing Trick

If you do this cheat too many times, it will damage your Playstation reader.

All you FF7 owners out there should try this! Go to any point in the game with an FMV sequence (such as starting a new game - the part where Cloud runs up to the Mako furnace). Open your PSX and put in another disc. When you continue playing (the game won't crash) the FMV sequence will be replaced with one from the disc! (Using the last example, put in disc three and you'll see the sequence with the stone pillars rising from the center of the last level; it's the same bit you see after killing Jenova Synthesis before fighting Sephiroth for the last time.)

What's really weird is that you can keep playing the game with another disc in your system! I beat the whole first part of the game and the CD would load up the various levels! I don't know for sure, but I guess that means that the ENTIRE game is written on each disc (barring the FMV, obviously)! If you want to verify this, try starting up a save file from disc three and replace it with, say, the first disc. You can do the submarine/snowboard sequences, or go to any place you couldn't go to in the first disc - and all the data loads up!

Going back to the trick, though, you can try this anywhere, and you usually get cool results. For instance, near the end of disc two, the Weapon monster rises up from the sea and attacks Midgar City--and gets decapitated by the Mako Cannon. I switched to the first disc before viewing the FMV and saw parts of the intro, and some parts from the FMV during/after Aeris's death! If you're fast, try switching the discs during the opening FMV when you start a new game; with Disc 2 inserted, it showed some more FMV of Aeris (this is when you return with Bugenhagen to the Ancient City).

Even stranger is the fact that you can still see text/graphics over the FMV in some cases, such as Cloud and the Avalanche member running offscreen just after the furnace explodes near the start of the first disc, or Cid talking to Cloud on his phone during the part where the Weapon attacks Midgar City (of course, this is over the FMV from the disc you've chosen). And as I mentioned before, you can play normally after the FMV is over, even with the other disc in your PSX!

In earlier versions of this FAQ, I said that there was "hidden" FMV of a silver car rotating around. Several people e-mailed me and informed me that you can normally view this in the Shinra HQ during Disc One. What's interesting, though, is that when I saw this FMV by using the trick above, I had switched disc one with disc three (at the FMV with the bridge collapsing in Cloud's flashback). This means that it's on at least two of the three discs. Why it's there is another story. Also, the scene with the planets in Bugenhagen's observatory (which is only in Disc 1) will also be partially displayed if you switch it with Disc 2 or 3.

Exchange Gil for GP

When you arrive at the Golden Saucer, there will be a man standing near the back of the screen (past the Save Point), who appears there about 1/60th of the time. If you talk to him, he will sell you one GP for 100 gil. You can buy up to 100 GP from him.

An easy way to find him is to enter the Saucer and leave, then enter again, but you'd better have a Gold Ticket or plenty of spare gil otherwise!

Always Run from Battles

Interestingly enough, you will instantly flee a battle if at least one character is petrified, stopped, or paralyzed while in the "running" pose. So as long as you are not fighting a boss or have been ambushed, you can always escape simply by letting the enemy do one of the above attacks to you, or by doing it to yourself (via Spell Materia)!

This is also useful if all your members are paralyzed, stopped, or whatever, and your last character is about to suffer a similar fate. Simply try to run away (even if you can't), and you'll escape the moment you are hit by the attack. The only exception to this trick is that if you are petrified and your other teammates are dead or petrified, then you will always lose. This doesn't work on boss battles, by the way.

Uncharted Isles

Head due south from Cosmo Canyon in the Highwind, then go a little to the west. You'll see an island that's part dirt, part grass, with a smaller grassy island nearby. This isle doesn't appear on the Map, but if you land the Highwind on the grassy plain and run around in the dirt long enough, you can fight Cactuars! If you use Morph on these enemies, they turn into Tetra-Elemental, a really good accessory (it drains all magic attacks). Actually, the name of this island is 'Cactuar Island' so it makes sense to find them here.

To get to the second isle, head for the two islands near to each other on the northeastern edge of the map. Then go north (and a little more to the east), and you'll come across an oval-shaped island surrounded by mountains. There's a cave entrance here, but you can't land there in the Highwind. You need a Gold Chocobo to get into this cave, and this is where the Knights of the Round Summon materia is kept. The name of this place is "Round Island".

Bonus Materia

WESTERNMOST CAVE (Wutai Area)

Location: Cave lying to the east of a mountain in the bridge- covered region of the Westernmost Continent.

How to get there: Use a Green, Black, or Gold Chocobo to climb over the mountain. Dismount and enter the cave.

Items to get: Mime materia.

There's nothing in here but a glowing yellow light. Try to touch it, and you'll get a yellow materia (Mime). Notice how there's still a glow after you've taken the Materia? :)

WESTERN CAVE (North Corel Area)

Location: Cave next to a mountain lying on a square of brown land. There's a river running nearby. It's beyond the mountain footpath by the shallow part of the river near the Gold Saucer, on the Western Continent--there's another cave entrance by the river you need to cross.

How to get there: Use a Blue, Black, or Gold Chocobo to cross the river to the patch of land where the cave is.

Items to get: HP<->MP materia.

Inside this icy blue cave is a twinkling purple materia (HP<->MP).

SOUTHERNMOST CAVE (Mideel Area)

Location: Cave lying at the end of a penninsula on the north stretch of land on the Southernmost Continent.

How to get there: If you have a Blue Chocobo, land the Highwind on the patch of grass on the thin island near Mideel. Then use the shallows connecting the peninsulas to reach the area where the cave is. If you have a Black or Gold Chocobo, simply land on the grassy area near the cave and keep walking down the cliff and out to where the cave entrance is. If you have the Gold Chocobo, you can just walk southeast from the Chocobo Farm across the water to the penninsula where the cave is.

Items to get: Quadra Magic materia.

This sandy cave is empty, save for a blue pyramid-shaped object. If you examine it, you'll get a blue materia (Quadra Magic).

NORTHWEST ISLAND (Round Island)

Location: Oval-shaped island surrounded by mountains and trees that is in the northwestern part of the world. It is one of the Uncharted Isles (it doesn't show up on the map).

How to get there: Use a Gold Chocobo to fly to the island and climb over the mountains. Dismount and enter the cave mouth that's at the edge of the forest.

Items to get: Summon Knights of Round materia.

This may be another empty area, but the red pyramid lying by the tree trunks is none other than the Knights of Round summon materia--the most damaging summon spell in the entire game. Simply examine it to pick it up.

Date Yuffie

Everyone likes Yuffie, the 14 year old ninja with spunk. Finally, you can do the ultimate (clean) fantasy - you can date Yuffie! But then half the fun of slaving through the guide is the fact that you can kick dirt in Aeris and Tifa's face, call them worthless, irresponsible and ugly, and they'll STILL like you in the end! So here we go:

Always try to have Red 13 and Barret in your party before getting Yuffie. After getting Yuffie, make sure she's always the second character, unless specified otherwise, (like when a character insists on joining you). The third character can be anybody but one of the girls (unless specified otherwise).

When you talk to allies, always talk to Yuffie first.

If you're in doubt when making choices, remember the object is of getting Tifa/Aeris's favour of you down (that is, be nasty to them), and getting Yuffie's favour of you up.

Finally, make sure the Cover materia is always equipped on Cloud when Yuffie's in your party, so that he can protect her.

Below is what choices you need to make to date Yuffie - don't be daunted by the number of instructions. And note that skipping out on a minor choice or two is fine, but watch for the major ones. Good luck dating Yuffie!

When you first meet Aeris after the bombing mission and she asks, 'What happened?', tell her, 'Nothing has. Listen..'

Then 'Nevermind.'

When she asks if Cloud would like a flower, say 'Forget it.'

Talk to Jessie in the train a few times, then choose 'I'll be waiting'.

In front of 7th Heaven, don't talk to Barret a second time.

When Tifa asks 'Did you fight with Barret?' say 'Not this time'.

Talk to Biggs. When he comments about the food, say 'Yeah, why not.'

Talk to Wedge, and choose to drink with him.

When you talk to Tifa at the bar, say 'I don't feel like talking.'

In the Avalanche hideout, after talking to Barret and then talking to Tifa, choose '....sorry.'

Then, when Tifa asks, 'Did you sleep well?' say 'Barret's snoring kept me up.'

When Barret asks about using materia, say 'Okay, I'll explain it.'

In Johnny's house, when you talk to his father a third time and he asks about Cloud's hometown, say 'Who cares!' not 'Nibelheim..'

When you're in the train to attack the second mako reactor, Jessie asks 'Do I look good in Shinra uniform?' say, 'Yeah..'

When falling from bridge, say to Tifa, 'I mightn't be able to make it,' not 'I don't think I can hold on.'

When Aeris asks 'do you remember me?', say 'Never seen you before.'

When Aeris says 'I've got a lot of things to tell you,' don't say 'Okay, I'll listen,' instead say, 'there's nothing to talk about.

When Reno enters and Aeris says, 'Ignore him,' talk to Reno.

When Aeris is attacked, and she says 'Cloud, help me,' say, 'Wait a minute', and drop all the wrong barrels.

At Aeris's house, when Aeris asks if Tifa is your girlfriend, say, 'Yes, that's right'.

At the park, when Aeris says, 'I don't want to go home,' say 'I'll take you to 7th Heaven'.

Don't go to the Honey Inn in the wall market, and try to make Aeris be chosen (only three dress-up items).

When in Don Corneo's house, say when you save Tifa, 'We've gotta save Aeris!'

In the sewer after the boss, talk to Aeris then Tifa.

When you talk to Marlene at Aeris's house, and she asks, 'Is Aeris your girlfriend?' say 'I don't know.'

In front of the Shinra building, say, 'Let's bust on in!'

At the 61st floor, talk to the guy who has keycard to the 62nd floor, and say first, 'Where's Aeris?' then, '....'.

At 68th floor, when you first save Aeris and you get to choose who takes Aeris away, say 'Tifa, I'm counting on you.'

In jail, talk to Red XIII first, then talk to Barret, then talk to Aeris, then talk to Tifa. When Tifa says, 'Can you get us out of here,' don't choose 'Leave it to me,' choose 'It'll be difficult.'

And then go to sleep.

Before the bike race, in your party to fight that bulldozer boss, have Red and Barret in your party.

Talk to Red first when you escape.

Then talk to Barret, and say 'I'm not sure.'

Then when talking to Tifa and Aeris, say 'The journey's going to be dangerous, are you sure you still want to go?'

Now have Red and Barret in your party until past the Mithril cave.

In the Kalm flashblack, say you did go into Tifa's house.

Say you did go into Tifa's room,

Say you looked at Tifa's letter on desk

Say you read it.

Say you remember it very well.

Look at the drawers, and then say 'Yes, I really did look in your drawers.'

After the flashback, when you talk to Barret about him wanting to go off and fight now, say 'Is that all?'

After going through Mythril mine, go and get Yuffie straight away (before going to Junon). It helps if you're at a high level, and remember, this is based on luck, so use any Luck Sources you may have.

In front of the Fort Condor, with PHS, make the members of the party, Aeris and Tifa.

After going inside, talk to the sitting guy, say 'Not interested' twice.

Go outside, and with PHS, make Yuffie and Red members. Then go in, talk to the same guy and say, 'Well, lets do it.'

After someone says in Fort Condor, 'Are you going to rest?' say 'I want to rest'.

In Junon, if you don't have any 'Tranquilizer', buy some.

In the cargo ship, talk to Yuffie, and she talks about 'Tranquilizers', say, 'I'll use it.'

When Aeris says, 'The Airship is wonderful, isn't it?' say 'I dunno,' not 'I'll let you on one day.'

Tifa says, 'I wish war'd disappear. Right, Cloud?', say 'I dunno.'

When you make up a party to fight first Jenova boss, use Yuffie and Red.

When you go to Costa del Sol, go to the beach and say, 'Hey, look at that girl in the bikini!', don't say, 'Hey that's Hojo!'

In the inn, talk to Aeris lying in her bed and when she says, 'What do you think of me?' say, 'Nothing much.'

Go house next to bar, talk to Tifa who's talking to Johnny, when she says, 'Don't worry', say 'I'm not worried.'

Talk to the person on Corel path.

At the save point on the Correl railway, with PHS, make members Tifa and Aeris.

Investigate the birds nest and say, 'Take the treasure.'

Straight away in North Correl, make a member change to Yuffie and Red.

In the talk before going on Ropeway to Gold Saucer, choose 'Let's get on.'

In the Gold Saucer, just talk to Yuffie and make her a part of the team.

In prison, because Barret must be in your party, make the party with Barret and Yuffie.

After the escape from prison, make the party Yuffie and Cait Sith.

At Gongaga, when with Reno and Rude, don't say 'Get outta my way,' say 'Sector 7?'

Listen to Scarlet and Tseng's conversation.

Go outside and change members to Aeris and Tifa.

Go to Zack's house, and when Aeris and Tifa leave you, ignore them and leave.

After out of Gongaga, make the party Yuffie and Red.

At Cosmo Canyon, talk to Yuffie (she's in the materia shop, surprise, surprise!)

In the Planetarium, put Yuffie and Cait Sith into the party.

When you're around the Cosmo Candle, talk in this order: Yuffie, Barret, Aeris, Tifa, Red.

In Gi clan's cave, make the party as Yuffie and Red.

At Nibelheim, make Vincent part of your party, and then talk to Sephiroth.

In the Rocket Town, when you get the Tiny Bronco, listen to Yuffie when she says, 'Lets go to the west (to Wutai).'

At Wutai, Yuffie takes your materia. At this time, although there'll be less members, do not replace Yuffie before she runs off.

After the battle with the Shinra Soldiers, choose your party between Vincent, Cait Sith, Cid, and Red.

At Wutai, when you've caught Yuffie, pull the left lever as she says.

Finish the Wutai events.

Try and beat the Pagoda. I managed to beat the four-face boss by using the ???? enemy skill, maxing her with HP Plus materia and keeping Yuffie just high enough so that she survives if he uses Beast Sword.

Then go to Gold Saucer, get the Keystone, and watch the date sequence begin!

Congratulations! You should now date Yuffie! And remember, say SOMETHING! :)