Whirlwind Maze & Junon - FF7 Walkthrough
Early on in this area you will be forced to take Tifa into your party - when you do be sure to equip her with the best Materia/equipment you can. Shortly after Tifa joins you, in the same area as the save point (also pictured above) you'll find the Neo Bahamut Materia. This is a missable item and you're going to regret it a lot if you do miss it.
In the area where you have to cross while the wind isn't blowing, be sure to examine both of the people wearing black robes. You'll get a Hi-Potion as well as an Ether from them. Further down the path (shortly after the wind part) you'll find a treasure chest on the right side of the screen with a Kaiser Knuckle inside, a weapon for Tifa.
Neo Bahamut Materia
Hi-Potion
Ether
Kaiser Knuckle
If your characters are under leveled I would recommend equipping any gear you have that absorbs or dampens fire based attacks. The boss we're about to face exclusively attacks you with fire - so you can completely cheese the fight by using the right equipment.
After the boss fight pick up the MP Turbo Materia on the ground and continue north where you'll find a chest with a Poison Ring inside of it. All that's left of this dungeon is a few more areas where you have to dodge some weather elements and cross at the right time like before. Once you finish the dungeon you'll have an extremely long story segment.
MP Turbo
Poison Ring
During the scenes that happen you will want to talk to Tifa/Sephiroth to advance the story forward. Once you regain control of your characters you will be back in Junon with Tifa in the lead of your team. Shortly after the lead will switch to Barret and you'll want to follow the Shinra Guard and Tifa down into the press conference room. During this time it's recommended you equip the best gear possible onto Barret and any Materia you can. Unless you've been using him recently he'll need it.
After a few more story scenes the alarm will sound and Barret + Cait Sith will be thrown into a fight against some Shinra Guards. Once that is done you'll want to try and open the door to the gas chamber with Barret but fail. There will be a few more scenes before you're in control of Tifa inside the gas chamber.
In order to bring the key up to Tifa's mouth you'll want to press the combination of buttons shown below... Once you successfully free Tifa, turn off the gas (glowing panel in the corner) then inspect the door for yet another scene.
X 2 Times
Triangle
X + Triangle
Triangle + Square
Circle
When the scene is over there will now be a gaping hole in the ceiling, go through it with Tifa and climb down the side of the Junon canons. Continue by running out onto one of the canon barrels until Scarlet corners you. You'll face off against Scarlet in a slapping contest before finally being picked up by the Highwind in one of the coolest moments of the game. It's moments like these that I think really make FF7 stand out as the great game it is. Yuffie dressed up as a TV anchor takes the cake too =)
Once you regain control of your characters you'll be on the Highwind - there are some story steps you need to complete before being able to fly this bad boy around though.... The story steps are listed below.
1. Speak with Red XIII
2. Speak with Cid
3. Speak with the Co-pilot near Cid at the wheel
4. Go to the Operation Room & Speak with the guy inside to form your party
5. Speak with the Co-pilot again
With that, you'll now be in control of the Highwind! There's a butt load of Side Quests you can do right now but I would recommend advancing the story forward instead until we get Cloud back. Our next stop if we're going to be continuing with the story is Mideel.
Continue to Mideel Walkthrough
Return to Gaea's Cliff Walkthrough