Gami
FINAL FANTASY VII cover
FINAL FANTASY VII
Developer:Square Enix
Publisher:Square Enix
Platform:PS4
Genre:Adventure, JRPG, RPG

Join Cloud Strife and the rebel group AVALANCHE in a fight against the powerful Shinra corporation. Explore the vast world of Gaia, master the Materia battle system, summon legendary creatures, and confront the mysterious Sephiroth in one of gaming's most iconic RPG adventures.

Main Story30 Hrs
Platinum40 Hrs
Difficulty3/10
Playthroughs1 Playthrough
Platinum1
Gold5
Silver13
Bronze13

FINAL FANTASY VII Trophy Roadmap

EARLY GAME

Welcome to Midgar, where an enormous corporation is draining the planet, your sword is larger than most refrigerators, and Cloud has absolutely no interest in discussing his feelings. Begin by progressing through the story while learning the Active Time Battle system, equipping Materia, and experimenting with Limit Breaks. The PS4 version includes three optional boosters: L3 activates triple speed, R3 enables Battle Boost, and L3 + R3 disables random encounters. These do not disable trophies, so use them whenever you want to speed things up. Keep multiple save files throughout your journey, especially before major story events.

Your biggest concern from the beginning is Best Bromance, which requires Cloud to go on a date with Barret at the Gold Saucer. The game secretly tracks relationship points through dialogue choices, and Barret starts with the lowest affection score. Follow a dedicated Barret date walkthrough from the opening hours, favor his responses, and avoid unnecessarily increasing affection with Aeris, Tifa, or Yuffie. During the Wall Market sequence, obtain the best outfit items for Cloud so Don Corneo chooses him for Consummate Cross-dresser. You'll want the Silk Dress, Blonde Wig, Sexy Cologne, Diamond Tiara, and appropriate Honey Bee Inn clothing. Apparently saving the planet begins with winning a fashion competition.

After leaving Midgar, recruit Yuffie from the forests near Junon and Vincent from the basement of Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim. Both characters have trophies tied to their recruitment and additional abilities. When you reach the Gold Saucer, complete Barret's date before progressing further. Most importantly, prepare Aeris's final Limit Break, Great Gospel, before entering the Temple of the Ancients. You'll need to unlock her earlier Limit Breaks, obtain Mythril from the sleeping man near Junon, and exchange it for the manual at the weapon seller's house. During the Temple, pick up the Bahamut Materia after defeating the Red Dragon. These opportunities are easy to overlook and can force a restart if you don't have an earlier save.

MID GAME

Continue through the story while strengthening your party, upgrading equipment, and collecting useful Materia. Focus on learning Limit Breaks for the characters you use most often, as several trophies require unlocking their final techniques. Some Limit Break manuals come from optional bosses or sidequests, while others require minigames or hidden locations. Red XIII's Cosmo Memory comes from the Shinra Mansion safe boss, Yuffie's All Creation comes from completing the Wutai Pagoda, and Cloud's Omnislash is purchased with Battle Points at the Gold Saucer. Don't worry about finishing every Limit Break immediately; most can be completed during endgame cleanup.

As the story progresses into the Huge Materia missions, start making separate saves before each major objective. Secure the Huge Materia from North Corel, Fort Condor, the underwater reactor operation, and Rocket Town. Save the Corel train to preserve the straightforward route to Barret's Catastrophe manual, and don't forget to collect Neo Bahamut Materia in the Whirlwind Maze. Once you've secured the Huge Materia, visit Bugenhagen at Cosmo Canyon and interact with the blue Huge Materia to obtain Bahamut ZERO, provided you also collected Bahamut and Neo Bahamut. Missing these items can make the trophy considerably more troublesome. Shinra has enough questionable management decisions already; there's no need to contribute another one.

When the submarine becomes available, explore the underwater areas for valuable equipment and late-game Limit Break items. Visit Lucrecia's waterfall cave with Vincent in your party, then return after additional battles to obtain Chaos. Explore the Sunken Gelnika for Cid's Highwind manual and useful Materia, but be prepared for powerful enemies. During the return to Midgar, collect W-Item Materia from the Sector 8 Tunnel, as its duplication trick will make the upcoming gil and leveling grind much more manageable. Continue the story until the Northern Cavern becomes accessible, but keep a separate save before entering the final dungeon.

LATE GAME

Now comes the part where Final Fantasy VII politely stops pretending its optional content is reasonable. Your biggest challenges are Ruby Weapon and Emerald Weapon, two superbosses designed to punish anyone who thought Sephiroth was intimidating enough. Before facing them, obtain powerful equipment, defensive accessories, and useful Materia such as Knights of the Round, Mime, W-Summon, and HP Plus. Knights of the Round is hidden in a cave accessible with a Gold Chocobo. You can breed one through the Chocobo Farm, or defeat Ruby Weapon and exchange its Desert Rose with the Kalm Traveler for a Gold Chocobo. The second route avoids the breeding grind, provided you're prepared to defeat Ruby without the summon.

Ruby Weapon appears in the desert around the Gold Saucer after Ultimate Weapon has been defeated. Its enormous defenses and ability to remove party members make preparation important. Entering with only one living character can help trigger its tentacle phase, after which you can revive your teammates. Dazers or Hades can temporarily paralyze Ruby, providing openings for powerful summons and Limit Breaks. Emerald Weapon lurks underwater and normally imposes a 20-minute battle timer unless you equip Underwater Materia. Be cautious with its Aire Tam attack, which deals damage based on how many Materia each character has equipped. Battle Boost helps enormously, but it doesn't prevent every form of instant defeat. These Weapons are still perfectly capable of reminding you who's boss.

Defeating Emerald Weapon rewards you with the Earth Harp, which can be exchanged with the Kalm Traveler for Master Summon Materia and Transcendant Convoker. Finish collecting remaining Limit Breaks, including Tifa's Final Heaven from her piano in Nibelheim and Cait Sith's Slots through enemy kills. Complete Yuffie's Wutai Pagoda challenge to obtain Leviathan, and revisit the Gold Saucer for Omnislash and the G-Bike minigame if necessary. Aim for at least 10,050 points in G-Bike by destroying enemy motorcycles quickly while protecting the truck. Once you're satisfied with your equipment, sidequests, and optional bosses, you're ready for the final cleanup before confronting Sephiroth.

TROPHY CLEANUP AND EXTRA TIPS

Your largest remaining grinds will likely be Liege of Leveling, which requires one character to reach level 99, and Coming Up All Nines, which requires holding 99,999,999 gil simultaneously. Both can be tackled efficiently in the Northern Cavern, particularly in the swamp area containing Magic Pots and Movers. Magic Pots provide excellent experience and Ability Points once you feed them an Elixir, while Movers are especially valuable for Materia growth. Use equipment with double or triple Materia growth, and master as many All Materia as possible. Each mastered All Materia can be sold for 1,400,000 gil. W-Item duplication can provide the Elixirs needed for repeated Magic Pot encounters, while triple speed dramatically reduces the time spent grinding. Even an RPG hero has better things to do than spend an entire weekend feeding magical jars.

Check that you've earned the remaining miscellaneous trophies before committing to the final battle. Materia Mastermind requires raising a Materia to level 5, while Fledgling Summoner only requires using a summon in battle. Failure IS an Option requires your entire party to fall in battle, so deliberately earn it if you've somehow survived every encounter. Keep an earlier save before reaching level 99 if you'd prefer to avoid the final boss's stronger high-level variation. Also, be cautious when placing the Save Crystal inside the Northern Cavern, as older versions have reports of save-related problems. Save regularly and maintain a separate file outside the dungeon whenever possible.

There is no traditional Chapter Select, and a second playthrough should not be necessary if you've protected the missable trophies. Before finishing, confirm you've earned Best Bromance, Consummate Cross-dresser, See the Light, and Waiting in the Wings, along with the recruitment and important Materia trophies. If you missed a permanent opportunity, reload an earlier save rather than restarting the entire adventure whenever possible. After completing your remaining challenges, descend into the Northern Cavern and finish the story for A Feat of Meteoric Proportions. With all 31 other trophies earned, Gaia's Guardian will unlock. Congratulations: you've saved the planet, defeated its most terrifying monsters, and become wealthy enough to buy Shinra. Probably best not to.