This may be the only time in the game that Weapon is recognized as multiple entities, and even now it’s still just “Weapon” and not “Weapons.” Throughout the rest of the game, the dialogue acts as if there’s only one monster called Weapon, which I always found really odd. In the original Japanese release of the game, the optional WEAPONs (Ruby and Emerald) hadn't been added, which could explain residual dialogue describing only one. I was thinking of that too, but regardless, there were still Diamond, Ultima, and the Weapon that gets its head blown off at Junon. So there were always multiple Weapons.

Some of those images, that other people are posting aren't showing up at all

This may be the only time in the game that Weapon is recognized as multiple entities, and even now it’s still just “Weapon� and not “Weapons.� Throughout the rest of the game, the dialogue acts as if there’s only one monster called Weapon, which I always found really odd. In the original Japanese release of the game, the optional WEAPONs (Ruby and Emerald) hadn't been added, which could explain residual dialogue describing only one. I was thinking of that too, but regardless, there were still Diamond, Ultima, and the Weapon that gets its head blown off at Junon. So there were always multiple Weapons. That's Sapphire WEAPON

Some of those images, that other people are posting aren't showing up at all I'll try and fix mine when I get home from work tomorrow, if I remember. Looks like the site I found them on doesn't like linking to it... ...And I've had a second thought about what Xenogears of Bore said, and I find it slightly hard to believe that the damage overflow crept in solely for the International version (i.e. JP version with US/EU stuff added)... but whatever, I've found a code to put Vincent's kills up to maximum, so I'll test that tomorrow anyway... assuming that my Gelnika save file hasn't fought Emerald already. If it has, I'll most likely have the fun of wading through the debug rooms... ...And yes, even though it's never actually mentioned in-game, Sapphire WEAPON is the one that Rufus and Heidegger go "BOOM HEADSHOT!" to. In fact, I've probably just ruined Adus' next update by typing "BOOM HEADSHOT!"...

excluding those two there's still diamond, Sapphire (even though i never remember it being called such in game. but its the one that is involved in the junon fmv) and Ultima. So that's still 3 weapons in the game. I always assumed Weapon was a title for them as a whole so you could plural it either as Weapon or weapons. I don't know. I haven't played the game in a long time... the only thing i still haven't done in there is beat ruby... but this is from sketchy memory. EDIT: damn you "quick" reply getting beat by like 4 other posts

...And yes, even though it's never actually mentioned in-game, Sapphire WEAPON is the one that Rufus and Heidegger go "BOOM HEADSHOT!" to. In fact, I've probably just ruined Adus' next update by typing "BOOM HEADSHOT!"... Damn, I knew that joke would be too obvious!

Sapphire had the creepiest design of all five.

Fixed the images, for those who couldn't see them. Now, I'm off to see if Xenogears of Bore is right or not... because to be absolutely honest, I've never tried getting the overflow, only heard of it.

Only thing I recall getting from that was underwater breathing materia for fighting emerald. Then I found you could mime Knights of the round and it all became a bit irrelevant. Sigh. That's strange, considering you can only get the Underwater materia from the guy in Kalm, after morphing one of those ship enemies outside the underwater reactor in Junon (or occasionally as Battle #8 in Battle Square)... ...I've played this game too much. Mime is horrendously broken though, since you don't have to pay the MP cost... even if you try to mime a failed spell (e.g. Sneak Attack-KOTR fails because you don't have the MP, but Mime will still result in KOTR being used; a good way of getting away with having low MP characters. Of course, then you take it much further and link as many Mimes with Counters as you can, resulting in Emerald dying the second he decides to attack...). The only things that are even more broken are Barret's Missing Score and Vincent's Death Penalty, since they can kill Emerald in one hit with some extra help. I thought the place you did the thing that got the item you traded with the traveller for underwater was the same as gelnika - if wrong, then I've never been there :p [edited] Not that I have barretts ultimate weapon - i missed the chest and cannae go back.

Just checked it with the help of some level and item codes, which got Barret to level 99, 255 strength, and about 2.5 million AP. After 4 Hero Drinks, Berserk status, and a critical hit, Emerald died, after being hit about 5 times before the critical, so the overflow is still in there.

Only thing I recall getting from that was underwater breathing materia for fighting emerald. Then I found you could mime Knights of the round and it all became a bit irrelevant. Sigh. That's strange, considering you can only get the Underwater materia from the guy in Kalm, after morphing one of those ship enemies outside the underwater reactor in Junon (or occasionally as Battle #8 in Battle Square)... ...I've played this game too much. Mime is horrendously broken though, since you don't have to pay the MP cost... even if you try to mime a failed spell (e.g. Sneak Attack-KOTR fails because you don't have the MP, but Mime will still result in KOTR being used; a good way of getting away with having low MP characters. Of course, then you take it much further and link as many Mimes with Counters as you can, resulting in Emerald dying the second he decides to attack...). The only things that are even more broken are Barret's Missing Score and Vincent's Death Penalty, since they can kill Emerald in one hit with some extra help. I thought the place you did the thing that got the item you traded with the traveller for underwater was the same as gelnika - if wrong, then I've never been there :p [edited] Not that I have barretts ultimate weapon - i missed the chest and cannae go back. gelinka is a crashed airplane that's in a little cove underwater right next to the desert where the golden saucer is... emerald weapon sometimes hangs out directly in front of it just waiting to f someone up

Part 22: Breaking News: Emus are the Shit Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler We begin with a flashback of our hero found in a wet, dazed stupor in a gutter. For Squall, this is simply called “Tuesday.” Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler (Lockheart runs up to Squall as the train conductor leaves.) Lockheart "Are you all right?" Squall "oo... uh... agh" (She kneels by him and tries to lift him up. The screen flashes electrically white.) Squall "Uh... uh... Lockheart...?" (The screen flashes again.) Squall "Lockheart...?" (Again. He stands.) Squall "Lockheart!" Lockheart "...................?" (She brushes his face.) Lockheart "Oh, Squall!" (Squall raises his sword in an offensive posture.) Squall "That's right. I'm Squall." Lockheart "Is it really you, Squall? I never thought I'd find you here!" Squall "Yeah, it's been a while." Lockheart "What happened to you? You don't look well." Squall "......Yeah? It's nothing. I'm okay." (Lockheart walks a short distance away. The screen flashes again. Squall clutches his head, shaking, for a brief moment. He stops before Lockheart turns around.) Lockheart "How long has it been?" (The screen flashes again. Three times. He grabs his head, in pain, but Lockheart does not seem to notice.) Squall "Five years." Lockheart "............" Squall "What is it?" Lockheart "...It's really been a long time." (The screen darkens, but does not disappear.) Lockheart "Actually, it's been seven years." "You got your wish and joined SOLDIER, quit after the Sephiroth incident, and now you're a mercenary..." "You told me a lot about what happened after you left Nibelheim..." "But..." "...Something's wrong. I felt there was something strange about the things you talked about." "All the things you didn't know that you should. And other things you shouldn't know that you did..." "I wanted to make sure..." "But then I heard... you were going far away..." (The screen finally goes to black.) Lockheart "And I didn't want that..." "I didn't know what to do. So, I thought I needed more time." "And that's why I told you about the AVALANCHE job. I wanted to be with you, watch you." (The screen goes white.) I think it’s pretty obvious what happened. Didn’t make it into the SOLDIER production of West Side Story so he decided to take a ride aboard the smack caboose. ‘Hooray, Hot Pockets are done! …Ah wait, it’s just you... Damnit’ ‘I’m personally crossin’ my fingers for the “super fuckin’ dead” scenario.’ ‘In other words… Take a shower… please…’ ‘Y’all at home can play along wit’ this update! The game is “Count the number of Deus Ex Machina events!’ With a flick of a switch, the blinds open… Oh god. Save us, Ben Affleck. 'Ooo, Donut tester? Castin' director for porn? Oh oh oh, it’s emu rancher, ain't it?! Fuck yeah, I love emus!' 'Oh… Well, uh… Shit.' I guess it is kinda their fault. Mostly Loaf’s. But your whole company still tops the list for stupid shit done. When’s your execution? It’s a moot argument. Lockheart and Loaf are bound and guided out. I’m personally trying to figure out which disguise is worse. FIRE DOG’s soldier outfit, or this morbidly obese reporter that has a cat head. What…? You know, it’s typical to lie to the media, not straight up say “We’re executing people because someone needs to be executed.” It’s not like it would be hard to come up with reasons why these people deserve it. I guess this is it, I mean, how can our heroes escape this dire situation? Really? You know what would be more efficient and foolproof? Bullets. They untie Lockheart’s hands first… The same Lockheart trained in martial arts and who has been progressing through this game by beating the shit out of things with her fists. The only idiocy that surpasses this is: The fact that she doesn’t beat the shit out of them… Then Scarlet up and slaps Lockheart like a man having been found cheatin’ with the ho from the Arby’s drive-thru that smells like roast beef. I wish I could have been the one providing said punishment as she deserves it for not taking advantage of her previous opportunity. Just when you think Shinra really can’t be any more fucking retarded; on the way out they drop the goddamn key. Next to the unattended captive. WHOSE FEET ARE NOT BOUND. I suppose she’s not totally unattended. The screens on the left show the gas chamber, however this sudden alarm signaling Weapon attack is going to prove an effective and incredibly convenient distraction. Gasp! WHO COULD IT BE?! Alright. I guess Not A Spy is slightly less of a douchebagel now. Unfortunately we soon discover the door is sealed shut. Meanwhile in the office of Dumb and Dumber… Alright, I should admit error from one of my earlier comments. Seems the Junon cannon can be aimed, however it looks to have a limit of like, 20 degrees on either side… All you’d have to do is come at the place on an angle… Blammo! Take that, water monster that happens to be made of water and looks exactly like the ocean! Yet the alarm continues… This is Sapphire Weapon. Though the name is never stated anywhere in the game. And it’s headed right for us!! The gas has begun. Loaf tries to buy some time with some expert advice. Not A Spy and Loaf exit the room in order to try and find another way in… which I’m not exactly sure where they expected to find this mystical second entrance that would just happen to be unlocked, but I guess it is Shinra so anything is possible. NAS suggests… going to the airport instead. Goddamn it, Loaf, there's no time! Sacrifices must be made! Why do you keep saying “trust me” when you are the last person on the planet that should be trusted? You’re pretty fucking lucky Loaf still has no idea you kidnapped Marlene or else you’d be Swiss-cheese cat by now. Oh my, this reporter certainly has quite a vibe of sexy going on… She knows! I don’t really get the bottom dialogue thing in that screenshot, by the way. My best guess is “defensive ninja noise” but why it’s not in a dialogue box is the more confusing part. Oh Squall, why must you be absent for this? Surely you’d say something like “Perhaps you could report the story on the big cannon… in my pants. It requires some real hands on journalism…” Anyways, we continue on and make it to the airport. Huzzah! Wait, what are we doing here, again? Congratulations. You’ve been promoted back to full douchebagel. You’ll receive your complimentary ass-fucking within 6-8 weeks. Fucking titties! This looks dooming. This could be bad. Fwoom! Right, so, Sapphire Weapon shows what happens when you miss the Planetary Defense Orientation where the first presentation is “Don’t put your face in front of a fucking cannon.” Lockheart managed to grasp the key with her feet, perform some very enticing moves with her mouth, and unlock herself. She then proceeds to find the patented Shinra “gas off” button, and look at this! A fresh, new, incredibly convenient hole thanks to our buddy Sapphire Weapon! Scarlet finally comes to and tries to head in after Lockheart with a couple of her lackeys. You can spot one here falling to his death! Okay, so after escaping a death chamber, your first instinct is to run to the end of a giant cannon? What if Weapon isn’t dead and they fire again? Then not only is it a dead end, you’d probably be melted. At the very least, deafened. Scarlet following doesn’t make it any safer. I’m fairly sure Heidegger would be happy to melt her, too. Despite this, her comment here is fairly accurate. Scarlet: ‘This is for having bigger tits than me!’ Why are you slapping her back? You have fists of steel. You beat up dragons and… Jenova and shit… I mean damn, even the slap should be knocking Scarlet’s head off. Oh no, those expendable blue reinforcements. Whatever should she do? Well, this works. Rufus finally gets his airship working, and we just fucking hijack it. If this isn’t awesome, I don’t know what is. Thanks for letting us know your plan after we’ve already escaped, Dickwad. I suppose that makes sense, though. The only reason he wasn’t captive like the others was because they thought he was still on their side. So I guess this makes him officially a triple agent now. Hold on a second, why wasn’t Jailbait captive, too? Or Dr. Acula? Or Banana? I doubt Shinra just decided to exclude them, and I highly doubt they all escaped on their own (okay given what we saw, I don’t doubt it that much). But… I mean, Jailbait couldn’t even escape from Don Fucking Corneo. That would mean Don Corneo had better ways of keeping people secure than the biggest company on the planet… ‘Made for MEN by me with my own sweat and blood. You just being on it is making me want to vomit. Which is something MEN do. I’m going to have to douse the walls in semen as soon as you’re gone just to get the testosterone levels back up to standard.’ Strong enough? No. Smart enough? …I think we’ll manage. Yeah, fine like in the Temple of the Ancients. Fine like in the Forgotten City. Fine like in the Northern Crater. All of that was just fine. Indeed, he definitely stood like a cock. I’m not sure. When did time begin? Well that’s nice. Pretty sure he hated the shit out of you, though. These opinions of yours may be the key to why. Not that I disagree… In fact, I wish you had more dialogue. Then you could write the updates for me. What? Please, enlighten us. Sadly he doesn’t. Well, that’s a shame. God damn, is it Earth or not? Stop confusing me! Alright well, shit. We begin the semi-Squall-less section of the game. This kinda sucks since I made more of a character out of him than anyone else. Oh well. If this section is any indicator, there will be plenty to comment on without having to write goofy, non-sequitor lines! So, the good news is we have an aircraft that isn’t being used as a boat. The bad news is Lockheart appears to be our makeshift leader for reasons unexplained. I want a revote… Also italics, because this update just didn't have enough. Next time on Final Fantasy VII: The Horrors of Heroin Detox.

This game desperately needed a Chrono Trigger-esque 'clear the game without Cloud' path. Also, no soldiers running from Sapphire image? That's my favorite part of that FMV. The two look at each other then just high tail it.

So wait. There's no battle with Sapphire? Or does it happen later. Also, I'm confused about the Cloud/Squall story stuff. I suppose that train sequence at the beginning is a flashback? Maybe it's party because we're missing some shots, but I find this story really REALLY confusing. As if it wasn't completely finished/fleshed out when the game went to print...

Sapphire's toast. You only fight the other four.

Sapphire's toast. You only fight the other four. Lame.

So wait. There's no battle with Sapphire? Or does it happen later. Also, I'm confused about the Cloud/Squall story stuff. I suppose that train sequence at the beginning is a flashback? Maybe it's party because we're missing some shots, but I find this story really REALLY confusing. As if it wasn't completely finished/fleshed out when the game went to print... No battle with Sapphire. And I didn't get a screenshot of the guys running from him for some reason. I wanted it in there. Anyways, Yes, it's a flashback. The dialogue describes it as right before the beginning of the game and the first reactor sequence. Yes, it's confusing, but what I believe it's implying Squall is a failed Sephiroth clone who somehow made his way to Sector 7 Midgar and messed up Lockheart's memories, taking parts of them for his own and making a personality for himself. She's confused because he knows things he shouldn't, and doesn't know things he should. The "Sephiroth clone" aspect of story is mostly explained and resolved in a very long sequence coming up soon that I'll do my best to summarize.

I never really understood or believed it, but I was told sometimes ago that the giant crater in the bottom of the ocean was supposed to be where sapphire died. Sorta like how Ultima makes a giant crater when he dies. The problem with this though, is that the underwater crater is on the other side of the ocean (sea?). Closer to Gold Saucer than Junon.

Thanks for the explanations...since I've never played the game and don't have a Playstation, I'm pretty much playing through this LP...Enjoy the updates!

Blitz's Obligatory Post For The Update : ShinRa are retards. That is all. I will say one thing though... they never explain why the forest near Fort Condor is replaced by a crater. I guess you could argue that Sapphire's beam hit ground there, but watching the cutscene, it hits nothing but Junon. That said, Heidegger and Scarlet probably just nuked it on a whim.

Previous Weapon attacks? They do say they've been rampaging around for a week by then.

Strange realization/question: If the planet essentially lives on its lifeforce/mako, and the weapons exist to defend the planet, what sense does it make for them to run around pot-marking the globe with giant craters? That seems like "This man has lost a lot of blood from being stabbed in the heart. Quick, nurse! Get me a scalpel so I can stab him a few times to help him get better." The only explanation I can come up with is that each living creature has an independent lifestream that the planet absorbs highlander-style whenever something dies. This would provide a reason for the weapons to rampage about, killing all who stand before them in an attempt to get the planet more mako...but that's a pretty douche-y thing for the planet to do. Tangentially: how's the planet going to die anyway (crack apart randomly?)? The black materia summons meteor, but it seemed to be in danger of dying well before Sephiroth comes around (I think there's something about Sephiroth finding the gaping wound at the North Crater and sitting himself between the heart of the planet and the stream of mako coming in so he can deify himself or something, but I don't remember where that huge initial wound came from). I should probably note that I haven't played FF7 since ... around 2000...maybe... So my memory may simply have some lapses as to the rationale behind all of that.

It doesn't make sense for them to just make holes in the planet, but you could argue they were the result of battles with Weapon, rather than Weapon just deciding to do some planetary Feng Seui. It was in danger of dying due to Shinra sucking up all the Mako energy. Sephiroth certainly isn't helping by summoning Meteor, but I think it's safe to say if he became the god he planned on being, Shinra wouldn't be around much longer to continue to kill the planet. Then again, the rest of the population may not be either. He's pretty much just insane. There isn't a lot of logic behind his actions other than making a world for him and "mother" to live in with them as gods. It's implied that if all the energy is sucked out of the planet, then yeah, it would pretty much just crack apart. At least that's what happens in Bugenhagen's simulation. It could have just been an exaggeration to prove the point, but at the very least, it would stop supporting life. The Northern Crater is a result of Jenova's landing on the planet. Jenova is an alien being mistaken for an Ancient. The planet is constantly trying to heal the wound, but according to Ifalna in Gast's report, it can never fully heal until Jenova is defeated.

If I remember right, Weapon considers Shinra the most dire threat to the planet, so they make blowing up all their locations priority one.

So wait. There's no battle with Sapphire? Or does it happen later. Also, I'm confused about the Cloud/Squall story stuff. I suppose that train sequence at the beginning is a flashback? Maybe it's party because we're missing some shots, but I find this story really REALLY confusing. As if it wasn't completely finished/fleshed out when the game went to print... No battle with Sapphire. And I didn't get a screenshot of the guys running from him for some reason. I wanted it in there. Anyways, Yes, it's a flashback. The dialogue describes it as right before the beginning of the game and the first reactor sequence. Yes, it's confusing, but what I believe it's implying Squall is a failed Sephiroth clone who somehow made his way to Sector 7 Midgar and messed up Lockheart's memories, taking parts of them for his own and making a personality for himself. She's confused because he knows things he shouldn't, and doesn't know things he should. The "Sephiroth clone" aspect of story is mostly explained and resolved in a very long sequence coming up soon that I'll do my best to summarize. Theory on the memory confusion (can't remember if we've seen these parts yet in this LP): Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler After the Nibelheim incident, Zack and Cloud travel together for a while, and I think it's during this time that Zack tells Cloud stories about his life up to this point. Since Cloud is pretty screwed up and impressionable, he internalizes many of Zack's memories as his own, including all the stuff that happened when Tifa and Zack fought with Sephirothon at the N. reactor, with Cloud watching in the military outfit. This explains why Cloud knows things he shouldn't (he learned from and watched Zack while in uniform), and why he doesn't know things he should (his own screwed up memory prevents him from remembering things as they really went down for him). I think Tifa's memories are all fully intact, and she's just questioning them because they don't match with Cloud's. A bunch of the above is explained in a flashback when you go back to the Nibelheim mansion during Disc 3. I got a refresher from the plot analysis here.