Ancient Forest (Walkthrough)
WARNING: This page contains SPOILERS for Final Fantasy VII, especially the Ancient Forest part of the game.
Ancient Forest (Walkthrough)
The Ancient Forest is the small green gelatin-looking mound on a cliff near Cosmo Canyon. To access the Ancient Forest, you will need a Green (or better) Chocobo, or you must have defeated Ultimate WEAPON. After defeating it, it will fall to the ground and make a make-shift ramp up to the forest from the canyon. Simply walk up to the forest to enter it.
The forest is sort of a puzzle. There are five main areas, and each area contains different objects. They should all seem self explanatory, but I'll give a basic rundown.
Small Things: Well, they're small green thingies. They jump up and down on the screen.
Plants: They're green sack things. Some of them can automatically be jumped over. The deflated ones, however, must have a Small Thing or a Frog placed in them before you can jump onto them. They will digest the Small Things after awhile, which results in the Small Thing being gone from the screen until you leave and come back. They will regurgitate the Frogs after awhile, which results in your characters being propelled across the screen.
Frogs: They're big green things that hop. They're primary purpose is to launch your characters over gaps.
Flytrap Things: It looks like a Venus Flytrap. You're characters will be injured if you walk into an open one, so try to avoid doing so.
Pink Things: They're pink vines. Your characters can use them to swing across gaps and propel themselves upwards.
Gray Things: These are...gray things. They're used to make a Flytrap Thing close. Toss a Gray Thing into a Flytrap Thing, and you'll be able to walk on it without taking any damage.
Small Things, Frogs, and Gray Things can all be picked up and moved by the characters using the Confirm button. Press it once to pick up the object, and then press it again to drop the object when you want to. If you ever find yourself in a position where you can no longer continue into the forest, press the Square button. This will take you back to the entrance of the forest. So be careful that you don't press it accidentally. And now, the WALKTHROUGH:
SCREEN ONE
First, collect two of the Small Things and drop them next to the Plants on the other side of the log (you’ll have to go under the log to get to the Plants). Now grab the third Small Thing. Run back to the Plants and chuck the Small Things into the Plants one by one until you get to the other side (you have to be quick or the Plants will eat the things and you’ll have to start over). Once you’re on the right side of the Plants, head down towards the Flytrap Thing. Walk up to it slowly and press Confirm. You should be able to get the Supershot without being hurt (much, anyway). If you do get hurt, make sure you remember to heal yourself before you enter a battle, or you’ll find yourself starting over. Now run to the right and Cloud will automatically jump across the gap by using the Pink Thing above it. See the item above your current position? Walk around the tree and grab it. It’s Red’s Spring Gun Clip. Now exit this area to the right and enter screen two.
SCREEN TWO
Grab the Small Thing in front of you. Now run to the right and it should give you the choice of jumping or staying. Select Jump. Now throw the thing into this Plant and jump across until you fall to the lower area. Grab the Frog and run to the right. See the two Plants above you? Run up between them and then throw the Frog into the left Plant. Now jump on the Plant and stay there. Make sure Cloud is facing Left, and the Plant will eventually puke the Frog back out. Cloud will be propelled through the air. Grab the Gray Thing next to you and then jump straight down off of the pink spot you’re on. Now walk over to the Flytrap Thing on your left and toss the Gray Thing into it. It should close permanently and allow you to grab the Slash All materia. Now pick the Frog back up, and this time throw it into the right Plant. Jump on the Plant. Make sure you’re facing Right when it spews the Frog out and you’ll end up near the exit of this area. Head right and enter area three.
SCREEN THREE (and the upper screen four)
You’ll see a Small Thing in front of you. Farther to the right are two Plants and a Pink Thing. First off, head to the right across the bottom and grab the second Small Thing. Head back to the left and throw it into the first Plant. Now throw the second Small Thing into the second Plant and jump up the Pink Thing. Head left and then down (use your select button to see the red triangle). Grab the Minerva Band and then exit the area like before.
Repeat the process that you did before to get to the upper area. This time, head left, then up, then as far to the right as you can. When you come to a stop, head down a little bit. Your select button will show a red triangle towards the bottom-right. Instead of going to it, head up to the piece of wood that’s pointing up to the right at about a forty-five degree angle. When you get to the top, Cloud will jump all the way over to the right. Grab the materia you see there, and then head up and to the left to make Cloud jump back. Now use that red triangle exit that goes down.
Grab a Small Thing, toss him into the open Plant, and then jump up to the Gray Thing. Grab it and then jump off of the pink area. Chuck the Gray Thing into the Flytrap Thing. Grab the second Small Thing and use it to jump across the far-left Plant. Run to the left until you see a Small Thing. Grab it. Now run to the top tree trunk to the right of where you got the Small Thing and dump him in the black hole spot on the front of the tree. A Frog should come out of the hole and eat the Small Thing. Grab the Frog and head over to the Plant on the right. Toss the Frog into the Plant (if it's already eaten the Small Thing. If it hasn't, just skip this and jump over it like normal). Wait for a while and it will propel you and the Frog over to the right side. Grab the Frog again and use it in the Plant on the right. Face to the right and wait to be launched to the other side. Exit this area to the right.
SCREEN FIVE
This room’s easy. Grab the Apocalypse and the Elixir and then exit the area at the top of the screen. Congratulations, you're done with the Ancient Forest.