Final Fantasy 7 is one of the games that most people will quickly call out as their favorite in the series, and it’s certainly the most recognized of all of the games. That said, there’s certainly more to Final Fantasy 7 than just deep love from fans.
It stands as one of the cornerstones of RPG history. It’s often credited as the game that popularized the JRPG on a worldwide scale. Naturally, there are some features that just don’t need to be changed. For example? Side quests.
There's so much to do in the world of Final Fantasy 7, especially if you slap on some materia and take your time to explore every inch of the map. It can feel a little staggering without help but never fear. We’re going to outline the best-hidden quests in Final Fantasy 7.
Updated September 29, 2021 by Jason Wojnar: Even though Final Fantasy 7 Remake has been out for over a year, plenty of fans are still returning to the original classic that started it all. It is absolutely worth it to go through the PS1 game before future installments in the remake saga come out. Once you reach the end, you might get a little lost when it comes to the side quests and endgame content. With this in mind, we have revisited this list and added more hidden quests for you to take on. These quests add anywhere from 20 to 30 hours onto an already massive JRPG adventure.
14 Emerald Weapon
Once the Weapons are unleashed into the world, you unlock the ability to fight these superbosses. They are all incredibly challenging bouts requiring specific strategies to overcome.
Emerald Weapon waits beneath the sea, so you have to use the submarine to reach it. Arguably the hardest fight in Final Fantasy 7, the reward for beating it is an item that can be traded to the Kalm Traveler for the master summon, master magic, and master command materia.
13 Battle Square
Can you really call a JRPG an RPG if it does not have a colosseum of some sort? In Final Fantasy 7, Cloud goes up against a bunch of threats in the Gold Saucer's Battle Square.
Not only do you fight enemies, but each round adds some random modifier to make the battles more challenging. By amassing enough points you can eventually earn enough to buy Cloud's ultimate weapon and Omnislash, his final Limit Break.
12 Earning Great Gospel
This is one of the few quests that gets locked off about halfway through the campaign. Great Gospel is Aerith's ultimate Limit Break and arguably takes more effort than it's worth to earn. Go to Sleeping Cave east of the center of the world where a sleeping old man counts your battles.
When the last two digits of the fights are 11, 33, 55, 77, or 99, open the chest to earn Mythril. Finally, trade it to a weapon seller slightly southeast of the center of the map.
11 Fort Condor
This quest doesn’t necessarily net you anything you couldn’t obtain elsewhere, but the Magic Comb you get is a pretty solid item all things considered.
Fort Condor is also particularly fun because it has you play what’s really a bit of a tower defense mini-game as you attempt to protect a sacred nature preserve.
All in all, it’s a fun little minigame with a good cause for the in-game characters and aids to drive home some of Final Fantasy 7's more political elements. #GoGreen.
10 The Materia Pickpocket
This side quest appears only if you’ve already got Yuffie in your party when you go to Wutai.
Follow through and you can walk away with a Magic Shuriken, hairpin, MP Absorb Materia, Swift Bolt, Elixir, and a peace ring. You’ll also get a little insight into Yuffie’s character motivations which is always a nice touch in a good sidequest.
9 Pagoda Of The Five Mighty Gods
If you’re the type of gamer that prefers side quests with tough fights, then the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods is one that you'll love.
When you go back to Wutai after the whole “Yuffie stole all of our materia” fiasco, you’ll be able to access this area of Wutai. By challenging the gods in the tower you can receive an x-potion, a turbo ether, an ice ring, an elixir, an All Creation, and the Leviathan summon materia.
8 Chocobo Breeding
A Final Fantasy game is hardly complete without some kind of adorable mascot, and the seventh installment of the series is no different.
Chocobos are important as side quest aids because you can only reach certain areas of the map with Chocobo that are a certain color. You’ll spend time finding, catching, and breeding Chocobo.
While the breeding itself doesn’t necessarily give you any items, the items that become available to you thanks to your choco-breeding skills more than make up for the time spent at the stables.
7 Yuffie’s Recruitment
Final Fantasy 7 is one of the only games where there are optional main party members, which sounds a little crazy when said out loud.
Yuffie can be found in any one of the numerous forests in the game. After a quick beat down and some sweet-talking, the fleet-footed ninja thief will join your party permanently, giving you access to her particular brand of combat strategy and limit breaks.
6 Vincent’s Recruitment
Vincent is another optional character, but he’s worth the effort to obtain.
Recruiting him requires a scavenger hunt through an old mansion in Nibelheim. You’ll need to open a treasure box full of plants, examine a piano, a random spot in the middle of the floor, and an invisible number to unlock the safe that leads you to a boss fight. After which you'll finally find Vincent, sleeping in a coffin in a totally non-cliché way.
5 Unlocking Chaos, Vincent's Last Limit Break
This one is relatively simple, but one requirement might throw some people off. First, head to Lucrecia's Cave behind a waterfall a little west to the center of the map. After a small moment of dialog, leave the place and fight at least ten battles.
Return to see the conclusion to this small quest and earn Chaos, Vincent Valentine's ultimate Limit Break. It goes without saying that you need to first have Vincent in the party.
4 Knights of the Round
Remember earlier when we said you would need to breed your cute little Chocobo in order to reach certain areas and side quests? This is one of them. In order to get this materia, you’ll need a gold Chocobo which is a quest in and of itself, but this summon is worth it.
The best thing about this summon? If you pair it with a “steal as well’ materia, you’ll get thirteen shots at stealing from an enemy. That alone makes them worthy. The fact that they’re arguably the strongest summon in the game is just gravy.
3 Desert Rose
Obtaining this item will give you the bartering power you need to obtain a gold Chocobo from a man in Kalm. Given the difficulty and unpredictability that can come with Chocobo breeding, it’s good to know that there’s a straightforward and foolproof way to get the cherished bird. The downside? To obtain the item you’ll need to defeat the superboss Ruby Weapon.
Ruby Weapon seems to emulate Diglet in that you can find it somewhere in the desert with its head poking out of the sand. Ram it with your airship and prepare to fight for your life.
2 Gelnika Underwater Cache
Gelnika is an aircraft that crashed with some of the military’s strongest classified weapons on board. To access it, you’ll need the submarine. Once you’ve gotten the sub and make your way to the bottom of the sea to find this gold mine, you’ll face some respectably tough fights, including yet another fight with Rude and Reno.
If you rifle through and get all of the treasure chests, in addition to stealing from the bosses, you’ll walk away with a powerful weapon for Yuffie and Cid’s level four limit break: Highwind. You’ll also find the Hades materia and some other high-class weapons, armor, and restorative items.
1 Ultima Weapon
Ultima Weapon is to the Square-Enix world what Excalibur is to Arthurian legend. In fact, Excalibur appears in several Final Fantasy games and is always weaker than Ultima Weapon.
In Final Fantasy 7, Ultima Weapon is wielded by non-other than Cloud. It’s his most powerful weapon in the game and retains its mechanic of dealing more damage the fuller Cloud’s HP bar is.
To get the weapon you’re going to have to defeat another superboss. This time, it’s Ultimate Weapon, and you’re in for a chase. You’ll have to chase it around the world, chipping away at its HP until it’s had enough and finally decides to come to rest and face you head-on. If you can come out of the battle victorious, Ultima Weapon will be yours.