LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
Hoard your potions and ethers.
ForceStealer
Double Growth
^You will be swimming in potions and ethers and even elixirs. Use them with abandon. Don't become like old RPG players, lol.
cold_spirit
he/him
- AKA
- Alex T
There's some optional cutscenes in disc 2 (and 3) that help bring the narrative together. Let us know if you want their locations when you get there.
LicoriceAllsorts
Donator
You never know when you might need that ether and then you'll regret that you used it earlier.
Cloud XVII
Rookie Adventurer
Always have restore + all on someone, that's your lifeline
Sit back and enjoy.
There is lots going on beneath the surface that you really don't notice until a second playthrough, so take note of what people say, and do. The soul of this game really lies in what all the characters are going through internally in my opinion, so making sure you're attentive of what you are being told, and how people behave, really helps give you an enjoyable "OH! now I get it" moment when things come together. Both the plot, and all the characters and their interactions, are pretty layered and the game does a good job at peeling back those layers little by little instead of just spelling it out for you.
Also, the "enemy skill" Materia is GREAT, so don't sit on that one, it can give you a bunch of amazing spells while only taking up one materia slot, so it's great if you want to have a character have some varied magic while still reserving your materia spots for other abilities.
To get the skills though the character with enemy skill equipped needs to be hit by it (and survive), so getting them all is quite hard if you don't know where they are. Whether you think that's worth looking up is up to you.
There are optional scenes based on your behavior and choices as well, so if you really want to understand the full story, you may have to look up some stuff afterwards, or otherwise ask us to clarify, or for advice on if there's something you should do if there is a part of the story you're particularly interested in.
Oh yeah, and like people have said, there are optional characters that it's probably best if we just tell you how to get, or at least give a general idea about, but that's up to you.
Erotic Materia
[CONFUSED SCREAMING]
Yes, the machine is broken. Come back later.
D
Deleted member 13557
Guest
Just unlocked two new limit breaks, pretty much back-to-back. One was a secondary lvl 1 limit break and another was a lvl 2. I'd assume lvl 2 is stronger? Is there any point in using lvl 1 limit breaks, or do they still have a purpose?
ForceStealer
Double Growth
The majority of the time, the higher-level limit breaks are always going to be better. There are a few exceptions, but probably not this early 
Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
The exception are the Limit Breaks that are merely one single hit/HP damage dump.
The game caps damage at 9999 and unlike later Final Fantasies, you can't raise the limit in FFVII.
So at high levels, the limit breaks that deal multiple hits will always deal more damage, even when they're not the ultimate level 4 limit breaks. This specifically applies to 3 characters.
This is assuming your stats are up and you're high level. If you're not, and you haven't hit that point where hitting 9999 damage is a regular occurrence, then the ultimate level 4 limit breaks are for you. However, provided you keep playing... You'll eventually hit the ceiling of your abilities and will have to actually consider sticking with level 3 for certain characters
The game caps damage at 9999 and unlike later Final Fantasies, you can't raise the limit in FFVII.
So at high levels, the limit breaks that deal multiple hits will always deal more damage, even when they're not the ultimate level 4 limit breaks. This specifically applies to 3 characters.
Yuffie's Doom of the Living will deal more damage than All Creation
Red XIII's Earth Rave deals more damage overall than Cosmo Memory
Vincent's Hellmasker's Splatter Combo deals more damage than Chaos' Satan Slam
Red XIII's Earth Rave deals more damage overall than Cosmo Memory
Vincent's Hellmasker's Splatter Combo deals more damage than Chaos' Satan Slam
This is assuming your stats are up and you're high level. If you're not, and you haven't hit that point where hitting 9999 damage is a regular occurrence, then the ultimate level 4 limit breaks are for you. However, provided you keep playing... You'll eventually hit the ceiling of your abilities and will have to actually consider sticking with level 3 for certain characters
Ite
Save your valediction (she/her)
- AKA
- Ite
Welcome to the forums!
Lots of great advice here. A helpful tip on materia that I didn’t know at first: if you want to cast a spell without using its linked All materia (e.g, if you want to use Restore on just one wounded ally and save your Restore-All for later in the fight) you can toggle the All effect by pressing R1 (not sure which key that is on PC) — that way you don’t use up your limited uses of All.
In the materia menu, you can move your cursor to the left of your weapon slots to access a popup that allows you to choose between “Arrange, Exchange” etc. Arrange is handy, but Exchange is invaluable. The more familiar you are with the Exchange sub menu, the more badass you will feel. You can’t see all the stat details of each materia in the Exchange menu, but I find you don’t need to worry too much — the general rule is that the more green materia you have equipped, the more “mage-like” (lower defense, higher magic power) you will be in battle.
Good luck! If you want to hoard potions, it’s your god-given right.
Edit: oh, and this game is old enough that people are pretty loose with its spoilers. I recommend not googling the game until you finish it.
Lots of great advice here. A helpful tip on materia that I didn’t know at first: if you want to cast a spell without using its linked All materia (e.g, if you want to use Restore on just one wounded ally and save your Restore-All for later in the fight) you can toggle the All effect by pressing R1 (not sure which key that is on PC) — that way you don’t use up your limited uses of All.
In the materia menu, you can move your cursor to the left of your weapon slots to access a popup that allows you to choose between “Arrange, Exchange” etc. Arrange is handy, but Exchange is invaluable. The more familiar you are with the Exchange sub menu, the more badass you will feel. You can’t see all the stat details of each materia in the Exchange menu, but I find you don’t need to worry too much — the general rule is that the more green materia you have equipped, the more “mage-like” (lower defense, higher magic power) you will be in battle.
Good luck! If you want to hoard potions, it’s your god-given right.
Edit: oh, and this game is old enough that people are pretty loose with its spoilers. I recommend not googling the game until you finish it.
ForceStealer
Double Growth
Certainly true, but it is amazing how much easier RPGs became once I got over that
In FF7 specifically, just since I'm so intimately familiar with it, I'll use megalixirs sometimes simply because it's more convenient than healing normally
D
Deleted member 13557
Guest
"Returned to the planet".
Huh. I understand that essentially means that someone's died, but returned to the planet as what, exactly? Mako, maybe? Does the game explain this later or am I just being dense lol
Huh. I understand that essentially means that someone's died, but returned to the planet as what, exactly? Mako, maybe? Does the game explain this later or am I just being dense lol
D
Deleted member 13557
Guest
Also Aeris / Aerith is such a great character. Probably my favourite in the game so far.
ForceStealer
Double Growth
Not really in VII, you can buy Ethers. Turbo Ethers are a fairly rare though
D
Deleted member 13557
Guest
I shall take... the stairs!
Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
You're making fast progress lol good
Erotic Materia
[CONFUSED SCREAMING]
Damn, he's already at the stairs? He's hauling ASS.
Don't feel like you need to rush, take your time to explore and interact.
Don't feel like you need to rush, take your time to explore and interact.
Most stuff you don't understand will be explained/given context at some point. You shouldn't need to go digging (and I wouldn't, in order to avoid spoilers).
AllGoodInMyHood
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- TomTom
You're sooo horrible.
D
Deleted member 13557
Guest
I've been taking my time, I swear. Been actively searching for stuff and the like.
Erotic Materia
[CONFUSED SCREAMING]
I guess maybe I'm projecting a bit; it took me literally months to get to that point... Partially because I'm an idiot, but also I didn't know about strategy guides/walkthroughs back in the day, so I got stuck in the junkyard for a LOOOOOONG time.
D
Deleted member 13557
Guest
Don't worry, when I climbed the wall I was searching for the plug for a good 10 minutes before I eventually thought "maybe I should look in a store"
Erotic Materia
[CONFUSED SCREAMING]
One thing to note here: Generally speaking, higher level limit breaks are more powerful. However, the higher the level, the longer it takes to fill the limit gauge. So bear that in mind. That being said, I personally think it's usually best to have your characters with their highest limit break most of the time. More dramatic action, if less frequent.