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Now that you’ve stepped into the wider world, your unknown journey begins in earnest.Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthlets you loose within Kalm and its vast surrounding Grasslands region, with the goal of crossing a deadly swamp to reach the Mythril Mine in pursuit of the black-robed men.
There’s a lot to do along the way, but this guide will focus chiefly on how to advance the story. We’ll link you to guides for every side quest as well as a full-scale deep dive into all the optional fare here in the Grasslands. But for now, buckle up for a trip to those swamps!
Kalm Before The Shinra
At the tail end of FF7 Rebirth’s opening chapter,Cloud will need to meet Tifa on the roof of Kalm’s inn at night. Your dialogue choice here doesn’t seem to impact much, sinceyou’ll be introduced to the affinity system in the morning.
The affinity system is affected byconversation options, the results of side quests that involve a party member,and even increases whenever youactivate a Synergy Skill for the first time.
So, yes! Come morning,exit the inn room and head downstairs, where Brodan, the innkeeper, will hand youa starter set of Queen’s Blood cards. Nice fellow, eh? We’ve got a guide on Queen’s Blood, so hop on over there to learn all about it.
Exit the inn, where Red XIII will officially join the party- certainly a more momentous occasion if you’ve recently replayed Remake. Regardless, it’s time to see the sights!Kalm has numerous shops, Queen’s Blood players,and ambient dialogue galore.
Later, you’ll be able to snag someside questsin Kalm as well. But for now,you’re limited to wandering aroundapart from theobligatory trips to the weapons shop and Baghnata Books.
Eventually, Aerith will pop up and request that Cloud join her on the watchtower. She’ll run ahead;don’t climb up there with her until you’re ready to leave Kalmfor a while, because a sequence will commence in whichthe party must make their escape from the town.
The Shinra
In the ensuing chaos,your goal is to get Cloud and Aerith to safetyamid the townwide panic of Shinra’s brutish arrival. Follow the prompts; soon enough,you’ll bump into Brodan.
Sneaking across the rafterswhile Brodan distracts Shinra may seem like a timed event, but mercifully, it is not. If you stand still for long enough, Brodan’s dialogue with the guard will simply end,so don’t feel rushed during this event.
A couple more instances akin to the one with Brodan occur as Cloud and Aerith carry onward.At the inn, Brodan will fork over the Item Transmuter, which we’vealsogot a guide on.Take the stairs down into the tunnel, where you’ll soon reunite with the rest of the team.
That’s a dubious cough that Brodan’s got, right?Where the Wind Blows, aside questyou can do later, will explain what’s up with this.
One Foot In Front Of The Other
Behold: the open world. Or at least, theGrasslands region. Verdant fields roll forward all to the east, and the wasteland near Midgar lies to the northwest. Butit’s the swamp that we’re concerned with, even if the squad hasn’t spelled it out verbatim just yet.
To get to the swamplands,you’ll travel far to the south. A wall of mountains runs along the central Grasslands. Not far south from where you start off, this mountain range comes into view;for a quick(ish) path to the main objective, run southbound while parallel to the mountains.
There’s not a whole lot else that you can do just yet, thoughyou’ll find Bill, the fellow who gave the party a lift in FF7 Intergrade’s new ending scene,if you venture straight eastbound for a bit. You can also find a fewcaches containing treasure chests.
Necessity De Chocobo
Upon reaching the main quest marker at the foot of the swamplands,the team will realize that chocobos are needed in order to safely cross. That means we’ve got to get ourselves some of Final Fantasy’s famous birds.
Bill’s Chocobo Ranchisfar to the east and slightly northward of the entrance to the swamp, or to put it another way, it’s a good waysouthwest from Kalm. You may well have bumped into it before now, if you (like us) meandered all wide-eyed before following the story.
Get to the Chocobo Ranch, andspeak with Bill, who’s standing on its perimeter. Then,go inside the main building, where you’ll meet Billy and Chloe. Looks likeCloud needs to catch Piko, a chocobo, if we’re to have any hope of making that crossing.
There’sa rest bench, a shop, and a Maghnata Books terminalto your left on the way into the ranch. This shop, like most, has asmall selection of discounted goodsthat you should usually purchase for good measure.
Leave the ranch. Not 50 steps forward, andchocobo tracks will be spotted. You can do as the dialogue dictates and follow the tracks; or you can simplyfollow the quest marker. Amini-game for catching chocobosis revealed here.Here’s how to catch Piko:
Back In Town
You’ve got yourself a chocobo! In-kweh-dible. After the cutscene at the ranch,you’re free to bring Piko and his party-toting pals to the foot of the swampwhenever you’d like. But we advise that youspend time exploring the Grasslands, and certainly go back to Kalm for a bit.
Kalm will now hostseveral side quests, each of which we’ve got covered in one of our guides. One of them starts atOliver’s Farmrather than the town itself, butevery available side quest will be posted to the Community Board, which is marked on your map.
Be advised that once you reach thequest markerat the end of the swamp,you’ll be unable to return to the Grasslands for a few hoursof gameplay time. Since Chadley kindly reintroduced himself back at the ranch,now is a great time to try your hand at World Intelfor a while.
Into The Serpent’s Den
If you’d like to see the sights (such as they are) in the swamp for a bitwithoutprogressing the story,know that you can explore as much of the swamp as you’d like up until roughly 20 meters in front of the quest marker.
There’s acachehere, not to mention aRemnawave Towerand someFiend Intel. In other words, as with every other part of the Grasslands (and, indeed, every FF7 Rebirth region),there’s ample cause to wander for a while.
But know that your wandering will come to a harsh and violent end when you reach your destination. The Chapter 2boss battle against the mighty Midgardsormr commenceswithin moments.
Wrap things up with our comprehensiveMidgardsormr boss guide,and when the bloody water is becalmed,step inside the Mythril Caveat your leisure to finish Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s second chapter!
