Chapter 1: The Destruction of Mako Reactor 1

Story mode. Written for a first playthrough and kept free of spoilers — it will not tell you what happens here, only what the game is asking of you.

The first hour is a straight line through a reactor, and it is also the game’s combat school. Nothing here can be lost for good, but the route only goes forward, so anything you walk past stays behind for this run.

The station

The opening fight teaches you the basics. Then go up the station stairs for the first chest, and before you leave the area, look in the corner to the left of those stairs, behind the movable construction barriers. There is a second chest back there, and it is the one most people miss.

The breakable Shinra boxes along the way hand out small, random things. Hit them as you pass; they cost you nothing.

Learn two things early

Cloud has two stances. The second one, Punisher mode, counter-attacks automatically when you guard. Against anything that swings at you in melee, switching to it and holding guard does more damage than mashing. Get the habit now; half the game’s fights reward it.

Barret is your answer to anything that flies, hovers or stands out of reach. Switch to him rather than chasing it with Cloud.

Into the reactor

There are no detours worth worrying about, only side pockets. Check the small alley on the left of the fenced area, the exit of the room at the top of the elevator, the locker by the elevator button after the door opens, and, after the laser grids, both the bottom of the stairs and the dead end to the right below them.

The large robot that turns up after the lasers is slow to turn. Stay at its side and use lightning.

The descent

You climb down a series of ladders. After the first one, follow the walkway to its end before you take the stairs. Before the third ladder, a dead end with floating drones over it has a chest at the bottom.

When the game asks how long a timer should run, pick 20 minutes. It is plenty, the clock is paused for the fight that follows, and the shorter time earns you a small gift early in the next chapter.

The fight at the bottom

There is a big machine waiting for you. Put Barret’s lightning to work. It protects itself with a shield generator on its back that Barret can shoot from range, it climbs the walls, and late in the fight it sweeps a beam across the room; hide behind the debris it has knocked down. If it grabs one of your party, switch to the other and hit it until it lets go.

Getting out

The way back is not the way you came. Break the boxes on the escape route, because they refill. Next to the ladder on the bottom floor, on the right, is the last chest of the chapter.

Game Notes

Most games put the tutorial before the story. This one runs them together, and it mostly gets away with it, because the reactor is built as a series of rooms that each ask one thing of you: guard here, switch characters here, keep moving here.

The thing worth learning in this chapter is not any one move; it is that the game expects you to swap between characters constantly. Players who stay on Cloud the whole time find the next few chapters harder than they need to be.

The chests are all ordinary, which is fine. What they are really teaching you is to look into the corner the camera is not pointing at.

How this page was made

Researched across 4 community walkthroughs and written from scratch — no source’s wording appears here.

How we decide what to print

Completionist mode. Full spoilers, in play order, with every permanent loss called out before you reach it. 2 entries below are marked where our sources disagree with each other — we have not picked a winner for you.

Spoilers from here.

Chapter 1 has no side quests, no shops and no music discs. It has ten chests, one decision, one boss, and a route that only goes forward. Nothing here is lost forever: Chapter Select replays the whole chapter after the credits.

The one decision

The bomb timer. After you plant the charge in Mako Storage, the game asks how long to set it for: 20 or 30 minutes. Choose 20. Jessie hands Cloud an Ether and Hi-Potion x2 early in Chapter 2 for it; 30 minutes earns nothing. The escape takes roughly five to ten minutes on Normal, and the clock is stopped while you fight the Scorpion Sentinel, so the shorter timer carries no risk.

Everything, in order

The station. Potion x2 at the top of the station stairs — one guide says a single Potion; it is two. Grenade x2 in the northwest corner, hidden behind the movable construction barriers left of the stairs. Shinra boxes on the balcony walkway drop random small items.

The fenced area. Ether in the alley on the left before the door. The first Guard Dogs are here; they have far more HP than the officers and do not like fire.

Up the elevator. Potion x2 beside the exit once the second group of officers is down. Pull the switch to open the door.

After Biggs opens the door. Cloud clears four officers alone, then the group joins. Phoenix Down on the left by a locker, before the elevator button. Control passes briefly to Barret for turrets and Monodrives.

Following Jessie through the lasers. Potion x2 beside the stairs after the later grids. Down those stairs, turn right to a dead end: Ether. The first Sweeper appears here — stay on its flank, use lightning.

The ladder descent. Phoenix Down at the end of the walkway after the first ladder. Ether at the Monodrive-guarded dead end before the third ladder — one guide lists two Potions here; it is an Ether. Third ladder down, set the bomb, choose the timer, fight the Scorpion Sentinel.

The escape. Debris forces a reroute. Potion x2 to the right of the ladder on the bottom-floor escape route. A second Sweeper, then Shock Troopers with turrets — Cloud for the troopers, Barret for the turrets. The Shinra boxes on this stretch respawn, which makes them free HP and MP. The elevator switch leads into the run with Jessie and Biggs and the end of the chapter.

Boss: Scorpion Sentinel

Weak to lightning. Immune to Poison, Silence, Sleep, Slow, Stop, Berserk and proportional damage. Steal Materia does not arrive until Chapter 8. Around level 7 is comfortable.

• Shield. A Field Generator on its back projects a barrier. Shoot it with Barret or hit it with Fire from range to drop the shield.
• About 75%. It climbs the wall and throws electricity around. Barret’s Overcharge brings it down; stay out of EM Field.
• About 50%. Tail Laser. Hide behind the debris it has knocked loose.
• About 25%. More missiles. Guarding works better than running.
• Near the end it repairs itself. Stagger it and hit both legs. If it grabs a character, switch to the other and attack it until it lets go — freeing an ally this way is the Bonds of Friendship trophy.

Hard mode

One Manuscript, Hard only:

• Sharpshooter’s Companion Vol. IV — the Scorpion Sentinel.

Every Manuscript is given once per save. Win the fight again and it pays a substitute instead.

Game Notes

The original game’s opening reactor was a few screens and a boss. The Remake stretches it to an hour and uses the time well: every room introduces one system — guarding, character swapping, stagger, the ATB bar — and then leaves you alone with it.

The bomb timer is the first instance of something this game does all the way through: a choice that looks like flavour and quietly pays out later. It is small here. It will not always be small, and it is worth getting into the habit of picking the option that sounds slightly braver.

The Scorpion Sentinel is a well-made first boss because it punishes the one mistake new players make, which is playing Cloud alone. Switch to Barret and it is a different fight.

How this page was made

Researched across 8 community walkthroughs and written from scratch — no source’s wording appears here. 2 are marked where sources disagree with each other — we have not picked a winner for you.

How we decide what to print