[ Inside the Gold Saucer ]
o Upon arriving at the entrance of the Gold Saucer, talk to the ticker operator at the front of the entrance. He will explain to you that:
- 3000 gil will get you an admittion ticket for the entire stay.
- 30,000 gil will get you an unlimited gold pass that you can use to come back to the Gold Saucer any time forever.
[!] - You will be given choices:
Top Choice -> Pay 3000 gil.
Middle Choice -> Pay 30,000 gil.
Bottom Choice -> Do not pay.
(If you have the 30,000 gil to spare, it is up to you. Either way, you will have to get inside to proceed on.)
[Tip!] - The ticket operator will then explain that in Gold Saucer land, they have their own type of currency known as "GP". GPs are used for admission in the various rides, events, etc. You can obtain GPs at 2 specific locations in Gold Saucer:
o Wonder Square: An amusement arcadia center, where you can play various video/interactive games to obtain GPs.
o Chocobo Square: A Chocobo racing gambling outlet, where you can place bets on the races to gain GPs, depending on your luck in winning. You can also gain GPs here by entering your own Chocobo in the races as well, but this will come later in your quest...
[Tip!] - You will also notice that there is a save-point flag just by the entrance to the Gold Saucer. HOWEVER, in order to use that flag to access any of the save or menu commands, you need to shell out * 5 GP *!!. So, what this means is that you will first need to go inside, win those GPs, and come back out to save - (pretty devious, no?) (^o^)
[!] - Once you have the 5 GPs, you will be given a choice:
Top Choice -> Do not pay the 5 GPs.
Bottom Choice -> Might as well pay the 5 GPs...
o Upon entering the main "station", Aerith will be trying to cheer up Barrett from his current state of emotional anguish. (But only to succeed in irritating him even more...)
o Now, select a character to accompany you. Head into the Wonder Square - you will encounter Cait Sith! (The name screen will pop up - customize Cait Sith's name to your own preference, or leave as is.)
For a brief while, Cait Sith will be performing fortune telling - he will be trying to guess Sephiroth's current whereabouts... ...but is not convincing, as Cloud is not impressed by the awkward answers he gets back. Cait Sith will then join your party.
o Head towards the Battle Square area - you will discover several dead Shinra guards lying around.....could Sephiroth have done this?! As Cloud examines the bodies, you soon learn from the survivor that a "man with his left arm replaced with a gun" went on a berzerk rampage & had killed everyone......could it have been Barrett??!!
A sequence will take place - as Cloud is mistakenly accused for this very incident, Dio (head of operations at Gold Saucer) will sentence you to the depths of the Corel Prison as punishment.
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[ Corel Prison ]
o Upon arriving there, you will find Barrett there. Barrett will urge you not to follow him & leave him alone - he will tell you that there is something that only he must face alone & deal with...
o Explore around the prison camp - you will notice that there are many.......interesting people here that just enjoy following you around.
o Go to the house located right below the save-point flag. A sequence will follow - as everyone gathers back together, you will soon learn that the "man with his left arm replaced with a gun" who killed the Shinra guards was NOT Barrett. As the conversation follows, Barrett will explain what had happened after the tragic incident had occured 4 years ago at Corel...
(...Barrett & Dayin were the only ones not present at the time when the tragic incident had fallen upon Corel. By the time they had learned of this, some of the Shinra guards had surrounded them, firing at them on the spot. Within moments after, they had found themselves literally holding on to each other for their very lives, only to be separated by the bullet shots that had torn their arms apart - that was the last time Barrett had seen Dayin alive.....As a result, Barrett's right arm was surgically altered into the arsenal you have come to rely upon. It was then that he also learned that another man had undergone a similar surgery in having his left arm replaced with a gun......Dayin. And now, Barrett (in the present time) feels obligated to apologize to Dayin for what had happened...)
o As the character selection screen will shortly pop up, Barrett will now be in your battle party - choose another character or leave as is.
[!] o Go to the trailer mobile where the 2 guards are standing out in front. Talk to Koutsu (in the green suit) - he will ask you if you want to leave the Corel Prison:
Top Choice -> Tell Koutsu that you are not interested.
Bottom Choice -> Tell Koutsu that you want to leave the prison.
o Choose the bottom choice - he will tell you that the only way you can leave the Corel Prison is if you enter & win in a chocobo race.
o Leave the trailer mobile & head back out to the entrance of the Corel Prison camp, where you first entered from. You will notice that the inmate who was guarding the outer gate has been shot dead. Proceed through the gate.
(Note: Try not to wander off to far into the desert, or you will find yourself wandering aimlessly...)
o Upon reaching an automobile junk yard, you will encounter Dayin. A sequence will follow -- In a state of hopeless despair, Dayin speaks of the anguish he has endured for so long....the destruction of Corel...the death of Elenoa (his wife)....and most importantly, Marin.....his daughter...
(Yes, you learn that Dayin is Marin's true biological father - when Dayin had fallen during the incident 4 years ago, he was assumed to have perished, thus Barrett since then had taken care of Marin as his own...)
Upon learning of Marin being alive, Dayin replies to Barrett that now there is no other choice but to fight him to the finish -- he states that Elenoa (his wife) is probably in sorrow for being all alone in the afterlife and that he must soon take Marin to her... (meaning that he will even go to extent of killing his own daughter)
o Prepare to battle against Dayin with only Barrett. (Upon defeating him, Dayin will ask you to give his wife's pendant to Marin & take good care of her. After his final words, Dayin leaps to his bitter end...)
o Back at the trailer mobile, Koutsu, seeing the pendant that Dayin had so preciously kept with him, will allow you to enter the chocobo race - Cloud will be chosen to ride the chocobo. The young girl, Esto, will enter the scene - she will be your manager for the chocobo race.
[!] In the elevator, Esto will ask you if you need instructions in riding the chocobo in the race. You will be given a choice:
Top Choice -> Yes, ask for the instructions.
Bottom Choice -> No, you do not need any instructions.
[Tip!] - Here are controls to operate:
o Use the directional pad to maneuver/control the chocobo.
o Press [select] to switch between automatic & manual control, as you ride the chocobo.
o Press [square] button to Speedup.
o Press [X] button to Slowdown.
o Press [circle] button to whip the chocobo, which will give you a burst of speed temporarily. However, this will also decrease your chocobo's stamina level even more.
o Keep an eye on your stamina gauge - If your chocobo is continuously speeding up, its stamina will decrease rapidly. Once the stamina gauge has depleated, your chocobo will temporarily rest in order to regain its strength. So, be sure to slow down at certain points of the race to give your chocobo some energy to last.
o Pressing the [start] button will allow you to forfeit the current race & engage in another race immediately.
o Note that the default control setting is on AUTOMATIC. So, if you notice your chocobo is starting to depleat on its stamina level, switch to MANUAL controls & you can slow down to regain some strength.
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[ Back in Gold Saucer ]
[!] o Upon arriving back in Gold Saucer, talk to the other racers. The race will begin shortly. Head towards the exit of the room - Esto will enter the scene once more, asking you if you need to hear the instructions for the controls once more. You will be given choices:
Top Choice -> Ask Esto to explain the controls once more.
Bottom Choice -> Do not explain the instructions any more.
(Also, make sure not to forget to pick up the Ramuh Summoning Materia orb that is lying around in the room)
o Go & prepare yourself to race! (If you lose the first time, Esto will find you a faster chocobo to ride. Since I have never been able to win the 1st race, I am not sure if there is a bonus prize for winning the first time around though...)
o Upon winning the race, you will soon learn that your character party has been released from the Corel Prison, and Dio has even offered you a Buggie Mobile, which will allow you to travel through the desert & even over rivers! It also comes to your attention that Sephiroth has been seen heading across the river, towards the Gongaga Area...
o The character selection screen will pop up - go ahead & change your character preferences or leave as is.
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[ Gongaga Area ]
o Your task here in Gold Saucer is done....for now. Riding the Buggie Mobile, cross the river & head towards the Gongaga Area.
o Upon arriving in the Gongaga Area, you will encounter the Taaks (remember them?). Prepare to battle against the Taaks.
o Follow the various paths/trails - one of the trails leads to a small rural village. Another will lead to a destroyed Makoro site, where a sequence will follow.
In the sequence at the destroyed makoro site, Scarlet (one of the head officials of Shinra corp) will enter the scene, only to pity the worthlessness of the mako materia energy of this site - she will even briefly speak of the "Large" & "Huge" Materia orbs that will power a weapon of unimaginable destructive potential...
o After the helicopter leaves the scene, be sure to pick up the "worthless" materia that Scarlet did not even bother to pick up. It is the "Titan" Summoning Materia orb, one of more graphically impressive summoning spells in the game (IMO of course).
o Leave the area - head to the small rural village, if you have not already done so. There, go to the little hut located on the lower right of the village - a little sequence will follow.
In the sequence, the old folks will speak of their child, Zacks, whom they have not seen or heard from since 10 years ago... Although Tifa will deny knowing a person by the name "Zacks", her physical response suspiciously may tell otherwise...
[!] o Leave the hut & talk to Tifa. In the course of the conversation, she will oddly complement Cloud for accomplishing his dreams of becoming a "Soldier"...
You can respond to Tifa:
Top Choice -> Tell her you were only lucky.
Bottom Choice -> Tell her it was only because you struggled hard to become a "Soldier"
(Tifa is seemingly holding something back....)
o Your task here is done - leave the Gongaga area. Head off to the Cosmo Cannon, Red XIII's home. It is located towards the mountainous cannon range, crossing the river from the Gongaga area. You will find that the path within the mountainous cannon range is rather twisty & curvy.