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After learning about the Black Materia in the previous chapter of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Cloud and the others found out from one of the black robed figures that they have to return to Nibelheim. Yet when the party gets to Cloud and Tifa's hometown, they find far more than what they were expecting from the outset. This is a longer chapter with many challenges, bosses, and surprises along the way. That said, here is what you can expect as you begin Chapter 11: The Long Shadow of Shinra.
This walkthrough contains spoilers, so players should proceed with caution.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Review
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is an epic-scale adventure with an unforgettable cast of characters that will keep players busy for dozens of hours.
Homecoming
Since you are in a new region, you may want to take this time to activate some towers, gather intel for Chadley, and explore a bit before continuing the story. As you approach the location marked by the blue waypoint, you will notice something strange. Despite what Cloud and Tifa said, Nibelheim is not just burned down ruins.
After the cutscene is over, you'll be able to explore Nibelheim and talk to your allies. To advance the story, go to the hotel. Head upstairs and open the door to trigger a cutscene. Continue talking to your allies and various people around town until you are notified to check in with Cait Sith. Head to the town hall and look to the right to find Cait Sith griping as he searches the database.
Find the Inspector
Unfortunately, Cait Sith had little luck getting the information he needed. The only way to get full access to the database is to get into Shinra Manor, but without a keycard that isn't possible. The guy with the keycard is inspecting the reactor, so you will need to find him.
Once the cutscene is over, Tifa and Yuffie will accompany you. Follow the blue waypoint to reach a bridge that wasn't accessible during the opening chapter of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Once you cross the stone bridge, go to the left and loot the chest that contains a weapon for Tifa. Continue going left across the two sets of bridges. Off to the left after the two bridges is a rest station and some enemies to the right.
Kill the enemies and then go through the cave entrance. As the cave opens up, go southwest down to another area. Here, you will see the natural Materia that you first encountered during the first chapter. From there, go north. You'll eventually come across a rock wall that you can climb. The narrow path you once took to the reactor is now gone, but Yuffie uses her grappling hook to make a new way up.
Every Side Quest in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
There are 36 side quests in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, though not all of them will be available to players right away.
Climb up the rope and go further up the mountain. Eliminate the Zu and continue following the path ahead. You'll soon be in a wide area guarded by two Screamers. Kill them and then climb up the rock wall. Move to your right to reach a platform that contains a chest. Loot the chest to receive a weapon for Cloud. Once you reach the top of the first rock wall, you will encounter another one.
On this rock wall you can go two ways. If you go to the left you can find some materials that you can gather. If you go right you will continue onward to the reactor. As you climb up, look for a small side path to the left that has a chest containing one X-potion. Keep going further up the mountain by following the trail. As you go further up, you will encounter a Dragon that is guarding the entrance to a cave.
This is more of a mini-boss than a full-on boss fight. Hit it with ice damage, as that is what it is weak to. Once the dragon is dead, go through the small hole. In the cave, you will find an inoperable elevator and three pipes. Approach the pipes and go down them. While all the pipes lead to different areas at first, they all eventually meet at another platform with more pipes to go down.
How to Get Past the Locked Fence
Keep going down until you reach an area with a locked fence. In order to get past this point, grab the movable box and push it until the blue symbol appears on top, indicating that it can be climbed. Go along the walkway until you reach an outside area. There is a terminal out here, but it is currently inoperable since you don't have the keycard yet.
Instead, go through the cave and head north. Not much further beyond this point, you will find an elevator that will take you up as Yuffie talks your ear off. Once you reach the top, you will have arrived at the reactor. Make good use of the rest station and vending machines before proceeding. Enter the reactor and use the elevator to go further down, where a boss fight awaits you.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: 8 Hardest Bosses, Ranked
Square Enix's Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has plenty of difficult bosses, and here are the hardest ones in the JRPG.
How to Beat Diabolic Variant
This monstrous creature is weak to ice damage. Blizzara is very useful here, so make sure you have it (or Blizzard) equipped. Right from the start of the fight, Diabolic Variant has a tentacle arm that can be targeted. Destroy it to pressure the boss. Move away when it casts Ensnare, as this ability cannot be blocked. Periodically, Diabolic Variant will cast Firaga. Be ready for this, as this spell hits very hard.
When Diabolic Variant casts Enshadow, the whole area will be covered in dark, poisonous mist. The boss will then split into two different versions of itself. Focus on the one that either has less health on its arm, or the one that has more pressure. Once one of them is staggered, focus on it and damage it until it is destroyed. While another copy of Diabolic Variant will spawn soon after, it also staggers when the original is staggered.
Onward and Downward
After the boss is dead, go through the door. Climb down the ladder. Before long, you will find the room where Sephiroth found Jenova. Approach the open doorway to find the keycard. After the cutscene is over, you will switch to Cait Sith, Barret, and Aerith.
Head north to Shinra Manor. If you need to restock, there is a rest station and vending machines placed conveniently right outside the gate to Shinra Manor. When you are ready, go through the gate and head into the manor. Take a left to enter the room with the elevator in it. Use the elevator to go down to the basement. Of course, the plan to find the terminal soon goes awry.
Cait Sith to the Rescue
The entire group ends up trapped in a cell, except for Cait Sith who can go through the nearby air duct. Approach the air duct and press R2 to roll through it. Enter the next room and kill the enemy guarding the prison cell. Once that is done, you will get a tutorial for summoning the moogle and using it to move boxes and other tasks that are too much for Cait Sith.
Pick up one of the nearby boxes and aim it at the small electric box above the jail cell to the right. The switch on the floor just spawns more boxes if you mess up and run out of boxes. Once Aerith and Barret are free, pick up another box and throw it at the box on the left side of the room. This opens a door that grants you access to a chest with a weapon for Cait Sith.
Go down the hallway and deal with the group of enemies lurking here. Enter the next area where there is a console that activates the elevator. Naturally, the elevator gets stuck and won't come all the way down. To fix this, grab a nearby box and aim for the broken pipe under the elevator. Once the pipe breaks off, the elevator will be available for use. Take the elevator up and enter the next area.
In the room beyond this one, there will be a couple of monsters you will need to deal with first. After that, go through the air duct on the ground. One of the machines on the wall has a glowing red spot on it. Unfortunately, the device that distributes boxes is too high up in the air. Any box you call down will instantly break. To remedy this situation, go into the side room with the chest and pull the crate with bags on it out into the previous room.
Place it so that it is directly below the chute that boxes drop from. This will keep the boxes from breaking. Aim a box at that spot and throw it to "fix" the machine and the door will open. Go east and enter the next room.
One of the generators has failed. In order to fix this, grab one of the blue boxes and throw it so that it falls into the red cup that is rotating around the generator. Once you've managed to make this throw twice, the door will open. Beyond this gate is another elevator that will take you up. Once again, you'll find another obstacle blocking your path: a generator that is (once again) out of power.
There is a blue air duct nearby, but it is currently closed. Use the nearby switch to open it and then go inside the air duct. On the second floor, you'll find a few monsters, a chest containing dry ether, and a duct that will take you to the third floor. On the third floor, there will be a red duct and a blue duct. You will also be able to see the switch on the first floor that opens/closes the red and blue ducts.
Pick up a box and aim it at the switch. Go through the red duct to get up to the fourth floor. There are two Adjudicators in this room. Take them out and then operate the terminal to activate the elevator. Before the elevator will move, you will have to throw some boxes onto it.
To be more specific, you will need to throw three boxes onto the elevator. Next, get onto the elevator and destroy the boxes. Get off the elevator and operate the nearby terminal.
How to Beat Yin & Yang
Unfortunately, before you can proceed, you will have to fight a giant monster named Yin & Yang. The problem is that you only have one party member, which makes this fight tricky. Fortunately, your lack of manpower is compensated by the fact that Yin & Yang is much easier to build up pressure on and then stagger. Once Yin & Yang has been staggered, it will be much easier to damage. Using Moogle Magic to bring out Cait Sith's equipped Summon can take out most (if not all) of Yin & Yang's health.
Once the boss is dead, go through the doorway and use the elevator. Halfway up, you are interrupted by a mini-game. You have a limited amount of time to destroy all the boxes on the other side of the elevator shaft. Each one you destroy gives you various materials that you can use. You do not have to destroy all the boxes to progress the story. Once the elevator stops, you will enter a hallway with a rest station and vending machines. Once you are ready to proceed, activate the terminal to trigger a cutscene.
In order to get past the locked door, you must find and enter the password. According to Hojo, the password is in the room somewhere. Look for the carts with the bags on top of them and pull the second and third one back to reveal the following numbers:
36 10 59 97
Enter this number into the door and it will open. Of course, Hojo can't be trusted. The moment you go through that door, another boss fight awaits you.
How to Beat Forgotten Specimen
This large monster relies on heavy hitting physical attacks. In addition to melee attacks, it will also periodically spew out mako at your party. Not long into the fight, Forgotten Specimen will mutate and will use spells like Biora. This can't be dodged, so be ready to cure the targeted party member with an antidote or cast Poisona. On top of poison, Forgotten Specimen will also use sleep on one party member.
Once Forgotten Speciment has reached 50%, the second phase of the battle will begin. At the start, it will cast reflect, which sends back any damage you try to inflict on it. The boss will also drop a large green pool in the middle of the arena, so make sure to stay out of it. As the fight progresses, Forgotten Specimen will leave more of these pools around the arena, leaving you with less space to fight in. The arm and the tentacle will become targetable during this phase. The tentacle is weak to physical damage while the arm is weak to magic.
Destroy both of these parts and then focus on the boss once it has been staggered. If you can keep the party health (and awake), you should have no trouble defeating this monstrous experiment.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: 6 Best Limit Breaks
Limit Breaks return in Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, and some of these hard-earned abilities can be almost game-breaking with how powerful they are.
The Coffin
Once the cutscene is over, go through the door that just opened. Use the elevator to go back up and get back to searching for the terminal. Before long, you will see the rest of the party that has caught up by this point. In this room, you will find a set of double wooden doors to the left. Open them to enter a room with a coffin in it. When Vincent Valentine emerges, tell him that your enemy is Sephiroth when prompted.
Following that cutscene, leave the room and approach the door marked with the Shinra logo. Once you enter this room, Cait Sith will begin searching the terminal. Look for an open door with a glowing pipe on the ground. Enter this room and you will enter a first-person perspective. Move the left stick, and Cloud will slowly stumble along toward the machines in this room. Be ready for a fight though, as Vincent takes exception to you going into that room.
How to Beat Galian Beast
Vincent goes berserk and transforms. In his Galian Beast form, Vincent hits very hard. He's weak to fire, so hit him with Fire or Fira as much as possible. Galian Beast will occassionally pick up random objects around the room and throw them at you, so be ready for that. When Galian Beast stops moving, it is easier to hit him and begin to build pressure. Upon staggering him, unleash any Limit Breaks and Synergy Abilities you may have ready.
When Galian Beast reaches 50% health, he will began to attack faster and hit harder. Block and evade what you can to reduce incoming damage, and keep hitting him with fire damage to bring him down. Once you have beaten Galian Beast, enter the elevator and use it to go back up to the first floor. Leave the manor to trigger a cutscene, and then head back down to the village. While you may have a new destination, you are not done with this chapter yet.
How to Beat Roche
Seemingly not satisfied with their previous battle in the fourth chapter, Roche tracks Cloud down for a rematch. Just like before, this battle is a one on one. Roche is significantly tougher this time, and it is not easy to land attacks on him. Attack him after he uses one of his special attacks to build pressure on him.
Save your stronger abilities like Cross-Slash for when Roche is staggered, as that take out a significant portion of his HP. At 20% health, Roche becomes pressured for the rest of the fight, making it even easier to stagger him. Keep hitting him after he uses a special attack, and he will fall soon after.
Investigate the Smoke
After a series of cutscenes, you will be back in Nibelheim. While the objective is to go investigate the smoke coming from the airstrip, there is still plenty to do if you are not ready to go to the next chapter yet. There is also a new side quest available at the board called My White-Haired Angel.
Once you are ready to proceed, go to the airstrip and talk to Cid. Unfortunately, this flight is not as smooth as the previous ones and the airplane makes an unintended water landing as the twelfth chapter begins.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5
- Released
- February 29, 2024
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
