Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade · walkthrough

Chapter 16: The Belly of the Beast

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.

You start with Cloud, Tifa and Barret at the edge of a very large building, and for once the game is in no hurry. Most of this chapter is walking, reading and looking around. Do the looking. Two characters get their last weapons here, and both are easy to walk past.

Before you go in

Check your wallet. Somewhere on the library floors a man will offer Barret’s best gun for 10,000 gil, and there is nowhere to earn money quickly once you are inside. If you are short, the fights on the way up will close some of the gap, and so will the chests.

The garage

The fights in the garage are the biggest of the chapter: waves of security officers, guard dogs and troopers. Fire handles most of them, and Magnify on it makes short work of the crowds.

On the way down from the walkway there is a bench, a vending machine and a chest beside it, and another chest where the path splits by the stairs. Past the second security gate, look in the back corner of the room. Before the doors into the building, check the corner one more time.

The lobby

You need a keycard, and getting it is Tifa’s job. While she climbs, look at everything off to the sides. When she drops down to the lower level there is a chest at the end of a narrow corridor, and on the way back up, across the lighting frames, there is a purple chest. That is her weapon. Do not skip it.

Once you have the card, go into the Exhibition Hall on the right before you use the middle door. There is a chest on the far wall. You will not come back down here.

Elevator or stairs — it does not matter. Same destination, no chests either way. Pick whichever conversation you would rather hear.

The tourist floors

The next few floors are a museum and a cinema, and the game wants you to take the tour. There is nothing to pick up. Enjoy the exhibits.

On the library floor, look for a chest on the upper walkway around the ring, and listen to the man who wants to sell you information. Pay him. The information is worthless and the gun he hands Barret afterwards is the best he will get.

The 63rd floor

This is the floor to linger on. It has a coffee shop that sells good armour, a jukebox upstairs in the back corner with the last music disc in the game, and a combat simulator you have to clear to move on.

The required challenge is two machines; Lightning helps. You cannot use items in any simulator fight, so set up healing materia before you start. After it, the other challenges open, and Chadley arrives. The challenges pay in armour and two very good support materia — EXP Up and Gil Up — and they are short. Do them.

Chadley matters more than he seems to here. This is the last time you will see him on this playthrough. Hand in every Battle Intel report you can, buy the materia you want, and fight whatever summons he is offering now.

The 64th floor

You end up in an air duct. At the second fork, go left for a materia. Once you are in the duct, the 63rd floor is behind you.

Upstairs

The next stretch has a bench and a vending machine, three chests and then a boss. Rest before you follow the path up. The boss has small helpers that do a lot of damage: kill them first, then go for its arm. Lightning and steady counters work well. After it, two armoured troopers want Lightning too.

Game Notes

The pacing here is deliberate. After a run of chapters that never stop moving, the game puts you in an office building and asks you to read plaques. Some players hate it. The tour is doing a job, though: it is the calm before a long stretch that does not let up, and it gives you one last place to shop, train and tidy your materia.

Take the time. The 63rd floor is the last comfortable room you will be in for a while, and the simulator rewards are the kind of thing you feel for the rest of the game.

Worth doing on a first run

Purple PainweaponTifa's last weapon, in a purple chest during her climb to the reception desk. From the car by the bike, cross the purple sculptures to the ladder pillar, walk to the end of the first lighting frame and cross the second.
EKG Cannon (Hart, 10,000 gil)weaponBarret's last weapon. Hart, the man who stops you after the film on the 61st floor, sells "information" for 10,000 gil. The information is useless; the gun he throws in is not. Arrive with the money.
Music Disc: 31. Scarlet's ThemecollectibleThe jukebox upstairs on the 63rd floor, in the back corner by a bench near the combat simulator. The last disc in the game; if you have every other one, this pops Disc Jockey.
Simulator: Two-Person Team vs. High Flyers (Gil Up Materia)materia400 gil. Helitroopers and grenadiers; bring Lightning and someone who can shoot.
Simulator: Three-Person Team vs. Team Ragbag (EXP Up Materia)materia400 gil. The most useful reward on the floor.
Chadley: last Battle Intel hand-in on a first runreferenceHe appears in the simulator lounge after your first challenge. Hand in every report you can and buy any materia you want from him now; he does not turn up again in this playthrough.
HP Up Materia (64th-floor air duct)materiaIn the men's bathroom, last stall, up into the duct. At the second fork go left. It is lying in the duct, not in a chest.

How this page was made

Researched across 5 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 16 is the Shinra Building, and the party is Cloud, Tifa and Barret — Aerith is Hojo’s prisoner upstairs, and getting her back is the whole chapter. Three things in it close behind you, and one of them is bigger than it looks.

The deadlines

Leaving the lobby for the 59th floor closes the garage, the lobby and the Exhibition Hall, which is eight chests including Purple Pain and the Iron Maiden.

Climbing into the 64th-floor air duct closes the 63rd floor: the shop, the Scarlet’s Theme jukebox, the five optional simulator challenges and Chadley. That last one is the big one. Chadley does not appear again on a first playthrough — the Chapter 17 simulator only exists on Chapter Select — so this is your final chance to hand in Battle Intel, buy his materia and fight his VR summons until the credits.

Taking the elevator up after Specimen H0512 closes the three lab chests.

Everything returns on Chapter Select.

Everything, in order

Parking garage. Turbo Ether by the bench and vending machine on the north side of the lower level, Hi-Potion x2 at the split by the stairs. After the service truck, the fights get big: gate one is Elite Security Officers and two 3-C SOLDIER Operators, gate two four officers and three Guard Dogs, and under the shutter a mixed wave of dogs, Elite Riot Troopers and SOLDIER Operators. Almost all of it is weak to fire; ice works on the dogs. Molotov Cocktail in the back-right corner of the room past gate two, Mega-Potion x2 just before the lobby doors — guides disagree on the compass label for that corner, but there is only one chest there.

Lobby. Moogle Medal by the planters in the southwest corner. Tifa’s light fixture climb drops her on the third light into a lower area: 2,000 gil down the narrow east corridor, then Purple Pain, Tifa’s last weapon, in the purple chest across the second lighting frame. She gets the Shinra Keycard at the reception desk.

Exhibition Hall. Before you use the card on the middle door, the hall on the right has the Iron Maiden on its north wall. Miss it and you can still steal one from the M.O.T.H. Unit in the Drum next chapter.

Elevator or stairs. Purely conversation. The elevator has two short fights.

59th to 61st floors. Skyview Hall, the Memorial Museum and the Visual Entertainment Hall each update the keycard. No chests. After the film, Hart stops you.

62nd floor, Corporate Archives. Mayor Domino’s password scene, which upgrades the card to the 63rd floor. Hart will sell you “information” for 10,000 gil and then give Barret the EKG Cannon, his last weapon — the only place it comes from. Most guides put Hart here; one puts him in the 63rd-floor library. 3,000 gil on the upper walkway on the north side of the ring.

63rd floor. The coffee-shop Item Shop sells the four late armours — Cog Bangle (4,000 gil), Geometric Bracelet, Supreme Bracer and Rune Armlet (6,400 each) — plus a second chance at weapons you may have missed: Nail Bat, Hardedge, Mythril Saber, Big Bertha, Wrecking Ball, Sonic Strikers, Feathered Gloves, Arcane Scepter and Mythril Rod. The jukebox upstairs in the back corner by a bench gives 31. Scarlet’s Theme, the last disc; with the other thirty it completes Disc Jockey.

64th floor. The Shinra Executive Keycard opens it. Men’s bathroom, last stall, into the duct. Second fork, left: HP Up Materia. Crawl to the boardroom vent and listen. Do not poke at the first vent you pass; players on launch builds reported getting stuck there.

Hojo’s lab. A bench and a vending machine with discounted Mega-Potions, Ethers and Phoenix Downs. Antidote x2 near the bench, Celeris x2 across the hall, Remedy x2 on the right in the green tank room. Then Specimen H0512, an elevator, six security officers, and the shock troopers guarding Aerith.

Shinra Combat Simulator (63rd floor)

The story makes you clear one challenge; the rest open afterwards. Items are disabled in every simulator fight.

Challenge	Fee	Party	First-clear reward
Three-Person Team vs. Mayor Is Best	free	pick 3	Mega-Potion (required)
Cloud vs. SOLDIER Trainees	400	Cloud solo	Cog Bangle
Barret vs. SOLDIER Trainees	400	Barret solo	Supreme Bracer
Tifa vs. SOLDIER Trainees	400	Tifa solo	Rune Armlet
Two-Person Team vs. High Flyers	400	pick 2	Gil Up Materia
Three-Person Team vs. Team Ragbag	400	pick 3	EXP Up Materia

Mayor Is Best is two Cutters; Lightning on an elemental weapon does it. Clearing it gets you the Shinra Executive Keycard from Domino’s collaborator.

The solo trainee courses run Sahagin Prince, Phantom, Grungy Bandit, 3-C SOLDIER Operator and Cutter. Aerith vs. SOLDIER Trainees (Geometric Bracelet) is not here — she is not in the party — and only exists in the Chapter 17 simulator on Chapter Select, which also repeats all of the above.

Repeat clears pay a random grab-bag.

Chadley

He shows up in the simulator lounge after your first challenge, with Battle Intel hand-ins, his shop and his VR summons — Shiva, Fat Chocobo, Leviathan, and Bahamut once reports 01 to 19 are done. After this floor he is gone for the rest of the run. Anything you have not finished waits for the Chapter 17 simulator on Chapter Select.

Bosses

Specimen H0512 (Cloud, Tifa, Barret). Guides disagree on its weakness: one says Lightning, three list none. Immune to Poison, Slow and proportional damage. Kill the H0512-OPT minions first (Triple Slash, Maximum Fury), break the Left Claw, then work the body. Rake is a fast dash — guard it or catch it with Punisher. When it drinks from the mako tank, hit it hard to interrupt. Phase two leans on physical attacks; phase three makes the minions explode on death (Apoptosis), so get away from them. 1,300 EXP, 10 AP, 1,300 gil; drops a Talisman, steal a Timeworn Talisman.

Armored Shock Troopers (two, plus an Enhanced Shock Trooper). Physical damage barely moves them; Lightning does. The suit blows up when the pilot ejects. Fire for the Enhanced one.

Hard mode

The Art of Swordplay Vol. XII — defeat Specimen H0512 on Hard. On Hard, Magnify-Cure on Barret works well, since he stays at range.

Game Notes

Chapter 16 is a dungeon pretending to be a museum, and it is better than it gets credit for. The tourist floors are the Remake taking the original’s long Shinra Building climb and letting it breathe: you read about the company in the company’s own voice before you start breaking its things.

The practical point is the one most players miss. Chadley’s farewell here is silent. Nothing tells you that the simulator lounge is the last time he will appear until the credits, and a player who has been putting off Battle Intel will find out the hard way. Treat the 63rd floor as the end of a hub, not a waiting room.

Everything in this area

Parking garage

Turbo Ether (garage, by the vending machine)Copy missableitemDown the stairs and ladders from the walkway, on the north side of the lower level, next to the bench and the vending machine.Lost after: Leaving the lobby for the 59th floor.Get another: Chapter Select. A replay gives a plain Ether from this chest.
Hi-Potion x2 (garage, at the split)Copy missableitemOn the west branch by the stairs down, before you cross the bridge to the service truck.Lost after: Leaving the lobby for the 59th floor.Get another: Chapter Select.
Molotov Cocktail (garage, past the second gate)Copy missableitemIn the room past the second security gate, in the back corner on the right.Lost after: Leaving the lobby for the 59th floor.Get another: Chapter Select.
Mega-Potion x2 (garage, before the lobby doors)Copy missableitemAfter the big mixed wave under the shutter, in the corner of the last stretch before the doors into the building.Lost after: Leaving the lobby for the 59th floor.Get another: Chapter Select.

The lobby

Moogle Medal (lobby)Copy missablecollectibleBy the planters in the southwest corner of the ground floor, past the glass door. There is no Moogle Emporium you can reach from here; it keeps until you replay a chapter that has one.Lost after: Leaving the lobby for the 59th floor.Get another: Chapter Select.
2,000 gil (lobby, lower area)Copy missableitemTifa drops to a lower area on the third light fixture. The chest is down the narrow corridor on the east side.Lost after: Leaving the lobby for the 59th floor.Get another: Chapter Select.
Purple PainCopy missableweaponTifa's last weapon, in a purple chest during her climb to the reception desk. From the car by the bike, cross the purple sculptures to the ladder pillar, walk to the end of the first lighting frame and cross the second.Lost after: Leaving the lobby for the 59th floor.Get another: Chapter Select. Once you own it, the chest gives a Potion instead.
Iron Maiden (Exhibition Hall)Copy missableaccessoryWith the keycard in hand, go into the Exhibition Hall on the right before you use the middle door. The chest is on the north wall, upper left.Lost after: Leaving the lobby for the 59th floor.Get another: Chapter Select, or steal one from the M.O.T.H. Unit in Chapter 17. On a replay the chest gives a Potion.
Choice: elevator or emergency stairwellreferenceBoth reach the 59th floor and neither has a chest. The elevator stops for two short fights; the stairs are a long climb with conversation. Only the banter differs.

The upper floors

EKG Cannon (Hart, 10,000 gil)Copy missableSources disagreeweaponBarret's last weapon. Hart, the man who stops you after the film on the 61st floor, sells "information" for 10,000 gil. The information is useless; the gun he throws in is not. Arrive with the money.Lost after: Climbing into the air duct on the 64th floor.Get another: Chapter Select. If you already own it, he hands over a Potion.Sources disagree: Two guides put Hart on the 62nd floor, in the Corporate Archives; one puts him in the library on the 63rd. Most agree on the 62nd.
3,000 gil (Corporate Archives walkway)Copy missableitemOn the upper walkway around the library ring, on its north side.Lost after: Climbing into the air duct on the 64th floor.Get another: Chapter Select.
Music Disc: 31. Scarlet's ThemeCopy missablecollectibleThe jukebox upstairs on the 63rd floor, in the back corner by a bench near the combat simulator. The last disc in the game; if you have every other one, this pops Disc Jockey.Lost after: Climbing into the air duct on the 64th floor.Get another: Chapter Select.
Simulator: Three-Person Team vs. Mayor Is BestprogressionThe required challenge on the 63rd floor. Two Cutters; Lightning works, and you cannot use items in any simulator fight. First clear pays a Mega-Potion, and the mayor's collaborator hands over the Shinra Executive Keycard.
Simulator: Cloud vs. SOLDIER Trainees (Cog Bangle)Copy missablearmour400 gil to enter, solo, no items. Unlocks after Mayor Is Best.Lost after: Climbing into the air duct on the 64th floor.Get another: Chapter Select, here or in the Chapter 17 simulator.
Simulator: Barret vs. SOLDIER Trainees (Supreme Bracer)Copy missablearmour400 gil, solo, no items.Lost after: Climbing into the air duct on the 64th floor.Get another: Chapter Select, here or in the Chapter 17 simulator.
Simulator: Tifa vs. SOLDIER Trainees (Rune Armlet)Copy missablearmour400 gil, solo, no items.Lost after: Climbing into the air duct on the 64th floor.Get another: Chapter Select, here or in the Chapter 17 simulator.
Simulator: Two-Person Team vs. High Flyers (Gil Up Materia)Copy missablemateria400 gil. Helitroopers and grenadiers; bring Lightning and someone who can shoot.Lost after: Climbing into the air duct on the 64th floor.Get another: Chapter Select, here or in the Chapter 17 simulator.
Simulator: Three-Person Team vs. Team Ragbag (EXP Up Materia)Copy missablemateria400 gil. The most useful reward on the floor.Lost after: Climbing into the air duct on the 64th floor.Get another: Chapter Select, here or in the Chapter 17 simulator.
Chadley: last Battle Intel hand-in on a first runCopy missablereferenceHe appears in the simulator lounge after your first challenge. Hand in every report you can and buy any materia you want from him now; he does not turn up again in this playthrough.Lost after: Climbing into the air duct on the 64th floor.Get another: Chapter Select. He is in the Chapter 17 simulator lounge on any replay, with the rest of his reports and VR fights.

The 64th floor

HP Up Materia (64th-floor air duct)Copy missablemateriaIn the men's bathroom, last stall, up into the duct. At the second fork go left. It is lying in the duct, not in a chest.Lost after: Reaching the boardroom vent.Get another: Chapter Select.

The lab

Antidote x2 (lab passage, by the bench)Copy missableitemNear the bench and vending machine at the start of the lab passage.Lost after: Taking the elevator up after the boss in the lab.Get another: Chapter Select.
Celeris x2 (lab passage)Copy missableitemAcross the hall from the bench.Lost after: Taking the elevator up after the boss in the lab.Get another: Chapter Select.
Remedy x2 (tank room)Copy missableitemOn the right in the room of green-fluid tanks.Lost after: Taking the elevator up after the boss in the lab.Get another: Chapter Select.
Boss: Specimen H0512Sources disagreebossKill the H0512-OPT minions first, then break the Left Claw, then the body. Guard or counter Rake; interrupt it when it drinks from the mako tank. In the last phase the minions explode — stay clear. Steal Timeworn Talisman; drops a Talisman; 1,300 gil.Sources disagree: One guide lists Lightning as its weakness; three others list none.

Hard mode only

The Art of Swordplay Vol. XII (Hard)key-itemDefeat Specimen H0512 on Hard.

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