Stopping Shinra (From Saving the World)¶

Shinra hasn’t been idle after Junon. Cloud gave the Black Materia to Sephiroth, then they rescued the party from the Promised Land, killed Sapphire Weapon, and now they’re trying to destroy Meteor with a plan that at least seems feasible. Unfortunately, their current plan will harm a giant bird and dispossess some poor people, so naturally that’s an inexcusably high price to pay to possibly save the entire world.

Anyways, you’ll need to recover this Huge Materia from Corel and Fort Condor before Shinra gets their hands on it. Not only will this thwart Shinra in their dastardly attempt to save the world, but it’ll prove massively beneficial to you if you manage to get all of the Huge Materia. With Cid as your leader (as the Captain of the Highwind, he’s the only obvious choice, being the only adult human who hasn’t already proven to be a failure as a leader already) head to the Operations room on the Highwind, assemble your party, equip new toys, then fly to North Corel. Save your game before entering the small shanty town, because it’s possible to under-perform here, which will gimp you for the rest of the game. No pressure, though.

North Corel’s Huge Materia¶

Talk to the townsfolk and most of them will say the same thing; Shinra is messing around near the old reactor, and they seem to be planning on transporting the Huge Materia with a train. If you look at the train tracks running through North Corel, you will see that this is clearly not going to be good for the town. Exit the town to the north and cross the Bomb-covered bridge, then follow the tracks to the reactor. Attempt to enter the reactor and dispatch two Attack Squad soldiers, after which the party will hijack a train.

You have to catch the first train carrying the Huge Materia and stop it before it crashes into North Corel. Of course, Shinra isn’t going to make this easy on you, as each train car is guarded by soldiers. Oh, and the whole event is timed; you’ve got ten minutes to get all this done. First, press [Up] and [Triangle] ([MENU] on PC) to alternate the levers to catch the first train, which can be done in around 30 seconds. One the other train, make your way across the train cars and dispatch the Shinra troops on each one.

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“Aqualung” will do decent damage against the Wolfmeister enemy (left). Steal the unimpressive, but unique Warrior Bangle from the Eagle Gun (right).

The first two cars have Gas Ducters on them, which are push-over foes that shouldn’t take long to defeat. Melee attacks will kill the first one fast enough, and the next pair can killed with area effect magic like “Trine”. On the third train car you’ll have to fight a massive armored figured called Wolfmeister, which has a hefty amount of HP. Two “Lasers” will whittle him down quickly, after which a round of melee attacks should do him in. Failing that, “Aqualung” works as well. In the fourth car you’ll find an Eagle Gun foe, which has even more HP than Wolfmeister. Rob it for a Warrior Bangle (if you have Mug, you can do some damage at the same time) then whittle it down with a round of “Lasers” before finishing it off with “Trine”. In the last care you’ll fight one poor, lone Attack Squad soldier, which you should easily sweep aside.

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Defeat the Shinra guards and stop the train before it crashes into North Corel (left). For doing so you’ll be generously rewarded by the townsfolk (right).

After you’ve taken control of the train you’ll have to slow the train down, which is more complicated than speeding it up. Alternate pressing the [Up] + [Triangle] and [Down] + [X] buttons to slow the train down ([Up] + [MENU] and [Down] + [CANCEL] on PC). If you are successful the train will stop before hitting North Corel, and you’ll end up one Huge Materia richer. If you fail to stop the train, you’ll lose the Huge Materia, which… well, it really, really sucks, to the point where it’s worth reloading and trying again. If you stopped the train successfully you’ll also be given the Ultima Materia as a reward. Rest at the inn, courtesy of the locals, then on your way out of North Corel stop at the house on the the next lower level below the inn. Talk to the lady inside this house and she’ll give you a memento of her husband, which just so happens to be “Catastrophe” , Barret’s ultimate Limit Break.

Loose Cannon

LEarn Catastrophe-Barret's last Limit Break.

Fort Condors Huge Materia¶

Now travel to Fort Condor, where you’ll have to fight your traditional Fort Condor battle… except this time it’s far more lucrative to just throw the fight, don’t deploy any troops, and wait for the baddies to reach your location. You’ll have to fight a beastie called CMD. Grand Horn, which would have been a weak foe a long, long time ago. Now it’s just laughable. It will, however, drop an Imperial Guard piece of armor, which is some of the best armor you can get your hands on, being defensively superior to the Crystal Bangle, but otherwise has the same number (and type) of Materia sockets.

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Throw the Fort Condor mini-game to get into a fight with CMD. Grand Horn, which can be robbed for a piece of Imperial Guard armor (left). After you’re victorious, go search the top of the reactor to find a piece of Phoenix Materia (right).

After the battle the condor’s egg will finally hatch… which… what timing. Could have saved everybody a lot of trouble if it had hatched earlier. Anyways, it’s one egg that condor probably would regret incubating, if it was still capable of regretting anything. Serves it right. At the behest of the defender go outside and see what exactly happened to the condor to find the Phoenix Materia lying on the ground near the remains of the giant egg. After the chick flies away, return to tell the defender, then head downstairs and talk to the old man, who reveals his duplicity, comes up with a weak excuse, and hands up the Huge Materia. Oh well, at least it ended well…