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The eleventh chapter ofFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth, ‘The Long Shadow of Shinra,’ starts with the party landing in the Nibel region. Despite this region being the home of Cloud and Tifa, this is not going to be a fun and exciting trip down memory lane. The duo haven’t forgotten the Nibelheim incident, and every step will be another painful reminder.
While Cloud initially tries to forget the trauma he’s endured, the truth behind the Nibelheim incident is slowly revealed. This trip down memory lane is full of horrifying memories, a creepy mansion, and a certain former Turk who doesn’t want to be disturbed.
How To Reach Nibelheim
To reach Nibelheim, follow thedirt pathand head toward therobed men. On the way, you’ll pass by the firstRemnawave tower. Activate this tower to reveal where you can obtain this region’s Chocobo, which can use a jet of water to soar through the skies.
Once you arrive at Nibelheim, watch the cutscene, thenchat up your party members around the villageto improve your bond with them. When you’re ready to move on,head over to Hotel Nidhogg and go into the room on the second floor.
“Sounds like something I’d do.”
“Have I helped you get through it at all?”
“Hell yeah, you’re right. Screw them.”
“This isn’t my hometown.”
To the right of Yuffie, closer to a dirt path.
“Yup.”
After heading into the room at Hotel Nidhogg, gomeet your party over at the edge of town, where Yuffie was. Once the cutscene ends,Tifa and Yuffie will accompany youup the mountain.
Mount Nibel’s Mako Reactor
Outside Nibelheim,follow Tifa to the left, she’ll lead you towards the bridgeconnected to mount Nibel. After the cutscene, it’s a prettystraightforward path up the mountain.There aren’t many diverging paths andthe waypoints will guide you if there’s troublealong the way.
When you reach the broken pathway,Yuffie will use her grappling hook to create a pathupwards. Keep moving up the mountain and you’ll come across a series of walls you need to climb up. At the top of the walls, you’llfind a small crawl space to move throughto get to the Mako Distribution Plant.
Climb the walls on the right side to reach apurple chest containing the Igneous Saber for Cloud.This weapon teachesthe Blade Burst ability.
Mako Distribution Plant
Head down the path to the left, and you’ll findthree tubes you’re able to slide down.Some tubescan lead you to treasures, transmutation materials, or enemies.It doesn’t matter which tubes you choose, just keep going through tubes til you reach the bottom.
At the bottom, there will be a locked fence impeding your progress. Head to the left,grab the cart nearby, and pull it in front of the broken part of the fence.Now, you canclimb on top of the cartand hop over the fence.
Keep moving, and you’ll arrive at the Mako Reactor. After the cutscene,rest up and prepare for the upcoming boss fight.
Proportional Damage, Slow, Poison, Silence, Sleep, Stone, Petrify, Morphable Item
Destroying its right arm will pressure it.
While Ice Materia is great to have during this fight, you shouldprioritize ways to combat poison, especially since you canuse Yuffie’s Ice Ninjutsuto hit the weakness. Cleansing Materia is great for curing poison, but you couldequip Star Pendants for full immunity to poison.
When a chunk of the Diabolic Variant’s health is taken out,it will create a clone of itself.The clone is much weaker than the original, so it’s worth taking the time to deal with the copy first.You’ll know if you’re targeting the original if a mini-cutscene playswhen staggering the enemy.
Continue destroying the Diabolic Variant’s right armwhen possible, and victory will be yours.
Shinra Mansion
After the fight with the Diabolic Variant and a short cutscene, you’ll switch control to Cait Sith at Nibelheim. Follow the waypoint with Aerith and Barret to Shinra Mansion. Once inside,head to the left and take the elevator downto the basement.
After the cutscene, you canescape the prison cell by approaching the open vent and holding R2to roll on through. Before you can free the rest of your party, you need to defeat an enemy nearby.
During this chapter,you’ll need to do a lot of fighting as Cait Sith, so it’s a good idea tobrush up on the basics of his combat.
Once the enemy is dealt with,press up on the D-Pad to summon Cait Sith’s moogle.With the moogle,you can pick up boxesand throw themto activate switches.
Step on the nearby panel with footprints to drop extra boxes. TheseProvision Switches will drop more boxesif you ever run out. Take the box andthrow it at the lever on the right side of the cellto rescue your party.
There’s anotherswitch next to a cell with a purple chestinside.Throw another box to hit the switchand the chest is yours. This chestcontains the Golden Megaphone weapon for Cait Sith; it teaches the Moogle Mine ability.
Mako Research Facility
Further along the path, you’ll reach a room witha computer that can call an elevator.However, the elevator won’t come down becausea giant pipe is blockingthe elevator’s path.Throw a box at the cracks in the pipeto knock it out of the way.
After the elevator ride, keep moving through the roomsuntil you reach a doorway blockedwith iron bars.Roll through the vent to the leftof the doorway and deal with the enemies.
To open the door for Aerith and Barret, you need tohit the switch above the red Mako pump.However, pushing the nearby Provision Switchwill send a box crashing into the floorand falling apart. To prevent the boxes from breaking,head into the room left of the Mako pumps and pull out the cartin this room.
Leave the cartbelow the chute where the boxes fall from, then hit the Provision Switch. Any boxes you create will bounce right off the cart instead of shattering. Use these boxes to hit the switch, thenuse the computer by the door to open the pathfor Aerith and Barret.
Keep moving, and you’ll reach another room with another blocked doorway. To open this doorway, you need tothrow two boxes into the basket spinning around the Mako pumps on the left. You also need to use the boxes dropped by the Provision Switch in this room; any other box won’t do the trick.
Once the door is open, continue moving through each roomuntil you reach another computer.This computer will activate the elevator that will take you up to the Ventilation Control Room.
Ventilation Control Room
Here, you need to take care of another blocked-off doorway. There’s a vent near the blue fans, but it’s locked. To open the vent,throw a box at the red switch in the center.
Roll through the vent to reach the second floorof the Ventilation Control Room.On the second floor, roll through the other blue venthere to reach the third floor.
The third floor’s vent is blocked, so youneed to hit the switch back on the first floor.Luckily, there’s a railing here that lets you peek down to the first floor.Throw a box over the railing and hit the switch, then roll on up to the fourth floor.
Materials Storage
On the fourth floor, Materia Storage, there’s a lift at the top of the stairs that won’t come down.Throw three boxes onto the liftto bring it down to your level. Once you’re on the lift,destroy the boxes or toss them off to raise the lift.
In this area,use the computer nearby to open the doorfor Aerith and Barret. Before they join you, you’ll need to defeat an enemy lurking nearby.
Proportional Damage, Stone, Morphable Item
Defeating one of Yin and Yang’s heads will pressure it.
Fire Materia is all you needto handle this fight with ease. Be sure tosummon your moogle when possibleso that Yin and Yang will target the moogle instead of Cait Sith. Once the moogle is on the field,hit Yin and Yang repeatedly with fire spells.
If you’re still having trouble,bring your favorite Summon Materia to the fight to ensure victory.With two additional allies on the field, it’ll be just like fighting with a full party.
Aim For The Crates Minigame
After the fight with Yin and Yang,ride the elevator in the following room.The elevator will eventually stop, and a conveyor belt will start sending out Shinra crates.
You canthrow the boxes at the Shinra crates to destroy them and earn prizes.If you manage to destroy ten crates, you’llobtain the Stuffed Fat Moogle Collector’s item.
The Locked Vault
The elevator will take you up to a room with a locked vault. The vault’s code ison a wall hidden behind the carts on the left sideof the room. Pull the carts backwards andthe vault code will be revealed as 36, 10, 59, 97.
Before opening the vault,use the nearby rest stop and stock up on items.Another boss encounter awaits inside the vault.
Stop, Poison, Silence, Sleep, Petrify
Proportional Damage, Berserk, Slow, Stone, Morphable Item
Forcing it to switch between resistances multiple times will pressure it.
The Forgotten Specimen iscapable of resisting all physical or magical attacksdepending on how you choose to attack.
Dishing out physical damage will eventually force the specimen to develop physical resistance, while magical attacks have the specimen develop magical resistance. When the Fogotten Specimenuses its Metamorphose ability, it switches its resistance.
When the Forgotten Specimenturns red, it resists magic attacks.When the specimenturns blue, it resists physical attacks.
Forcing the Forgotten Specimen to constantly switch resistances will pressure it, allowing your party to hit hard with Synergy Abilities.Keep switching up your strategy when Metamorphose is usedand victory will be yours.
Reunite With Cloud
After defeating the Forgotten Specimen, you’ll reunite with Cloud and the rest of the party. You’ll switch back over to Cloud, butCait Sith is locked to your party until you leave the facility.Fill that last party member slot however you see fit.
To progress,head right and go through the door with the lightsnear it. During the cutscene,your dialogue choice has no effecton what happens. Now,go through the doors with Shinra logos on them, then follow the green tube into the backroom after the cutscene.
Fire, Deprotect, Deshell, Debrave, Defaith
Poison
Proportional Damage, Berserk, Slow, Stop, Silence, Sleep, Petrify, Stone, Morphable Item
Inflicting enough damage will pressure him. Make him flinch during Inner Turmoil or Chaotic Consumption to create an opening.
The Galian Beast is capable of using many powerful attacks andcombos that will keep your character trappeduntil the end of the combo. These attacks are what make Barret and Red XIII excellent party members to bring along,specifically for their Iron Defense Synergy Skill.
This Synergy Skillcalls an ally to their side to blockincoming attacks. This skill can be used to immediately pull an ally to your side,allowing you to pull them out of the Galian Beast’s combos.
Additionally,Barret is capable of hitting the enemy as they zip around the fieldand prepare various attacks. WhileRed XIII can be used to tank these attacksand rapidly build his Vengeance gauge. Ultimately, you can’t go wrong with either of these tanks on your side.
If the Galian Beast is still hitting hard,bring some Disempowerment Materiato decrease the enemy’s attack power with Debrave. Pair these status debuffs with thebuffs gained from Cait Sith’s Roll ‘o’ The Dice abilityto give your party a great advantage.
At half health, the Galian Beast willgain a glowing claw that will extend its combosand strengthen its attacks. It’s imperative that you block or dodge these attacks to avoid getting combo’d.
Strike with powerful abilitieswhen the enemy uses Inner Turmoil or Chaotic Consumptionto make them flinch and pressure them.
Proportional Damage, Slow, Silence, Sleep, Petrify, Stone, Morphable Item
Inflicting damage after he uses his abilities will pressure him.
After defeating the Galian Beast and stepping outside Shinra Mansion, you’re in for another boss fight. This one is a one-on-onefight with Cloud against Roche.
This variation of Rochehas a ton of unblockable abilities, such as Soul Cleave, Dragoon Dive, and Combustion Sword. Dodge these attacks andstrike back against Roche as soon as the attack endsto pressure him.
Normal attacks are ineffective against Roche,he will dodge right through them.Roche isonly vulnerable after using an ability or after you successfully blockone of his basic attacks.
Once he has a quarter of his health left,Roche will remain pressured for the rest of the fight.Take advantage of this weakness to end the fight quickly.
Leaving Nibelheim
Once you’re ready to depart,head back to the landing strip from the beginning of the chapter.Meet up with Cid and head off to the Corel Region to complete this chapter.
