1 - Walkthrough

1.0 - Controls, Menu, Stats, General Tips

This section covers some important information if you want to ENJOY playing the game. And this is a game to enjoy, so read this.

Normal or Hard Mode

The US Version has the option of playing in Normal or Hard Mode. So what's the difference? Normal Mode is the normal game. All enemies have the stats as they are presented in this Guide. Hard Mode REALLY IS HARD, and veteran gamers have said they are having trouble with beating it when they chose it initially.

It looks like all enemies have new specifically customized boosted stats. I have looked at several enemies, and HP values went up as much as 5x the normal value. The same applies to their other stats. A few bosses I have checked had HP x3.25 or x3.75 their normal value. The same may apply to their other stats as well. Either way, Hard Mode is .. a LOT HARDER than Normal Mode.

Note: You can select Hard Mode in New Game+ also, even if you only beat the game on Normal Mode. This makes Hard Mode easier and more playable.

The Controls

Analog Stick = Move around
D-Pad        = Move around
X            = Cancel
Square       = Evade (in battle), Map (during exploring), Unequip (in menu)
O            = Confirm
Triangle     = Guard (in battle)
START        = PAUSE
SELECT       = Remove(!!) Game Files (at Save Points)
L-button     = Scroll left through commands (in battle)
               Scroll up quickly through menu
R-button     = Scroll right through commands (in battle)
               Scroll down quickly through menu
L-button
+ R-button   = Soft Reset
+ START

The Menu

The menu roughly looks like this:

.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
|MAIN MENU          Shin-Ra Electric Power Company   .--------.   |
|.--------------. .-------------------------------.   \      /    |
||Item          | ||_|  Zack Lv. x   Strength  xx |    \____/     |
||Equipment     | | __  SP/      x   Vitality  xx |               |
||Materia       | ||  | HP/    x/x   Magic     xx |               |
||Materia Fusion| ||__| MP/    x/x   Spirit    xx |               |
||DMW           | |     AP/    x/x   Luck      xx |               |
||Missions      | |LOCATION = Midgar              |               |
||Mail          | |GIL =   xxx |TIME = x:xx:xx    |               |
||Shops         | |DMW = ~~~~                     |               |
|'--------------' |limit = normal| | | | | | |    |               |
|HELP xxxxx       '-------------------------------'               |
'-----------------------------------------------------------------'

• Item

  Here you can use items or sort them out. You can recognize Potions from the HP letters in the help section below, and you can recognize Ethers in the same way by checking for MP. An Elixir also recovers AP and notes all three.

• Equipment

  Here you can equip materia and armor or accessories. You'll start with only 4 materia slots and 2 accessory slots, but these can be expanded. When Zack is promoted to SOLDIER 1st Class in Chapter 4, you'll gain two materia slots. If you complete Missions 7-2-2 and 7-2-5 you'll unlock the two extra accessory slots per mission. These missions can be done at Chapter 5 or later.

• Materia

  Here you can check on your Materia list and Sort it. SP Convert is unlocked when Zack gets promoted to SOLDIER 1st Class in Chapter 4. This converts a Materia into SP (something I rarely do).

• Materia Fusion

  This is unlocked when Zack gets promoted to SOLDIER 1st Class in Chapter 4. You can fuse two materia here so they blend into one. An option for items to be fused into the process is unlocked after Mission 7-2-1. This mission can be done at Chapter 5 or later.

• DMW (Digital Mind Wave)

  This is pretty much the Limit Break part of Crisis Core. The numbers you see here are percentages of how many times a cutscene will pop up during modulation in battle. If you press Triangle you'll get to see how many times you've performed the Limit Break compared to how many times you have to perform it to 'Reach' something I don't know of or what it means. The more you progress in the game, the more people you meet and the more D.M.W's you will unlock. Also check the special D.M.W section of this FAQ for more information.

• Missions (only available at Save Points)

  Here you can do missions. There is only one mandatory mission, which is 1-1-1. Missions can be very rewarding. There are special requirements to unlock missions, mostly to beat other previous missions, or to progress to a new Chapter in the game story-wise.

• Mail

  Here you can read the emails you will get throughout the game. They give you details story wise and mission wise.

• Shops

  You can ALWAYS shop in Crisis Core, straight from the menu. You don't even need an Call Shop ability from Tonberry like you did in FF8! Also check the Shop List in this FAQ to see what the shops all sell. New shops are unlocked through progressing with the game or doing missions.

The Stats

Zack has a few stats which are the following:

Strength: This is your Physical Attack power. Vitality: This is your defense versus enemy Physical Attacks. Magic: This is your Magical power. Spirit: This is your defense versus enemy Magical Attacks. Luck: The higher your Luck, the more critical hits and better item drop rates. Critical Hit Rate = (Attacker's Luck - Defender's Luck) / 2.56 (%). Attacks from behind are Auto-Critical Hits.

Leveling Up

You will level up if the DMW spins to 777. How does this work? First of all, it's NOT RANDOM. The game has an internal, invisible EXP counter, and Zack needs to reach an amount of EXP in order to level up. Even though the EXP isn't shown in-game, this Guide offers an Enemy Encyclopedia that lists the enemy's EXP values. The chart in section {GEN-2} shows the EXP needed to reach a certain level, along with the fixed natural stats that go with each level.

Zack's Battle Stance

A small detail, but Zack's battle stance and victory pose will differ depending on how much HP Zack has left:

Battle Stance

25%+ HP: Zack stands uptight and moves normally. < 25% HP: Zack drags the Buster Sword around.

Victory Pose

100% HP: Zack swings the Buster Sword in the classic way on his back. 25%-99% HP: Zack puts the Buster Sword normally on his back. < 25% HP: Zack wipes the sweat from his forehead.

General Tips

• Save often. There are many, many Save Points in Crisis Core, so use them.
• Heal after battles in the menu with the Cure Materia. This Materia will be a lighter green than the other magic materia, plus it'd be one of the few, if not the only one you can actually use. Same for the Esuna Materia.
• You can very often AVOID RANDOM ENCOUNTERS by HUGGING THE INNER SIDE of the room or plains that you are trying to cross. Alternatively, if you want to beat the same enemies again, you can run in and out of the room to get many random encounters. Avoiding encounters is particularly useful when doing missions that are (too) hard for you.
• You can escape from a battle by trying to run away from the battle field. Notice how Zack seemingly can't get away, but after a short while you will have escaped the battle. This only applies to most random battles, no bosses.
• Phoenix Downs cast Raise, a spell that will fully revive you when you die in battle. This is a magnificent item, especially because the status lasts as long as you don't die. You can also get the ReRaise status from the Woman at the entrance of the Shinra Building, who will give you a 'Campaign Potion' when you talk to her and select the first option. This can be done in Chapter 3 and later Chapters where you can get to the Shinra Building.
• Do NOT try to rotate the camera during battle! I've had it happen myself a few times, and you can end up using rare Elixirs from your stock because the L and R buttons switch commands in battle!
• If enemies do a Jump attack, don't immediately dodge. Instead, wait a moment and then dodge. You'll learn to evade these attacks quickly this way.
• If you see (M) behind an item, it means it is a Materia.
• The MAX amount of Materia you can hold is 256. If you go past this, any Materia you pick up will be DISCARDED. Later on when doing Missions, you'll likely receive tons of crap materia from enemies. Convert these into SP, or you will end up discarding great Materia from treasure chests!
• To defend from Instant Death later in the game, equip a Safety Bit. You can also equip a Status Ward Materia and a Death Materia to defend from Death. Then there's also the Super Ribbon, but that's much later in the game.
• In Hard Mode, the enemies will have better stats. They are individually increased, and there are no documented lists on these stats. I'll eventually go over all enemies and add their stats.

As an indication expect enemy HP to increase by at least x2, and expect your enemies to hit you harder, while you hit them for less. No additional rewards are given for Hard Mode.. Bragging rights aside..