A Shocking Reunion

A Shocking Reunion is the twenty-eighth chapter of Final Fantasy VII, and the second chapter of the third act, "Turmoil". After escaping execution at Junon, Tifa Lockhart and the party seized control of the Highwind, now commandeered by Cid Highwind. The party place Tifa in charge, though with the impending destruction of the Planet at the hands of Meteor, Tifa is unable to think of how to proceed and can only suggest looking to find Cloud Strife.
== Walkthrough ==
=== Highwind ===
The chapter begins after a series of dialogue scenes. Following this, Tifa is the party leader and the player can commandeer the Highwind by talking to the pilot.
With the Highwind unlocked, a number of sidequests can be completed now (though the player can choose to wait until Cloud returns as leader). It may be prudent to obtain the rare items and new weapons from Mideel first.
The sidequests available are:
* Condor War Battle #19 for three Elixirs if the player did all previous battles. This is the final optional Condor War skirmish.
* Chocobo breeding to obtain Chocobo that can reach places otherwise unreachable by the Highwind. The Chocobo Lure Materia becomes available at the Chocobo Farm, and most significantly, the player gains the ability to buy stables at the farm. However, the Chocobos cannot be raced at Gold Saucer yet, meaning that the chance of breeding colored offspring is low. Breeding better Chocobos grants access to:
** Materia Caves. This grants access to four of the most powerful Materia in the game: Mime, which allows the user to use the Mime command that copies the last ability the party performed; Quadra Magic, which allows the paired Materia to be cast four times in a row (with reduced power each time); HP↔MP, which switches the character's HP and MP max; and Knights of Round, an immensely powerful Summon Materia. 
** Ancient Forest, a bonus dungeon with a number of rare and powerful items, notably including Slash-All Materia that allows an attack to hit all enemies, the Apocalypse weapon for Cloud that grants triple AP growth, and the Minerva Band, an extremely powerful armor piece for Tifa and Yuffie, which nullifies many elements, has strong stats, and six Materia slots in three linked pairs.
* Visiting Cactus Island for farming AP, and morphing the Cactuer for Tetra Elemental.
* Visiting Goblin Islands and stealing Zeio Nuts from the Goblin and receive their Goblin Punch enemy skill.
* Visiting Chocobo Sage's House for his shop and the final Enemy Skill Materia. This is the earliest time for players to collect skills to master all four Materia at once if the player chooses (though there is no benefit other than having four Materia with all skills). Doing this means that Godo cannot have been defeated at Wutai until now.
Many sidequests previously available—such as recruiting Yuffie and Vincent, Fort Condor, and "Homecoming of a Miserable Daughter"—can now be done as Tifa (though "Gongaga, the Village of Sadness" is no longer available). In these sidequests, Tifa as the leader has slightly different dialogue to Cloud. Most of the options are the same, though in Fort Condor, Tifa will automatically help them and has no option to refuse.
In addition, changes have occurred at a few areas:
*Most of the shops in Under Junon, Upper Junon, Fort Condor, Costa del Sol, and Rocket Town get new wares.
*The back of the Cosmo Canyon Item Store opens up access to the Full Cure Materia and a Magic Source.
The following occur while Tifa is leader (but will revert when Cloud returns):
*The Great Glacier cannot be entered, and the player cannot snowboard at the Icicle Inn.
*The Gold Saucer cannot be entered, and the Ropeway Station's save point disappears. Since the player cannot race Chocobos, breeding the better Chocobos at this time requires luck with or manipulation of RNG.
*In Nibelheim, if Cloud "jammed on" the piano during "The Tragedy of Five Years Ago", Tifa can play the piano for an Elemental Materia.
=== Mideel ===
Mideel is located on a southern island on the world map. The Mideel Area is the best level grinding spot before the final dungeon; however, while grinding can make the game easier, it is not required even for superboss encounters. The objective in Mideel is to find Cloud, but there are two items the player can obtain in the village before doing that:
*A Curse Ring can be obtained in a small sidequest. Examining the door at the back of the weapon shop makes the "Beat-Up Useless Old Key" available on a wooden pathway outside the accessory shop (found where a screechy sound effect plays while stepping on it). Using the key on the back door of the weapon shop and selecting "Tell them the truth!" earns the Curse Ring.
*A white chocobo is found following a busy shopper in all shops. Giving it Mimett Greens (can be bought from the Chocobo Farm) earns a Contain Materia.
The weapon shop also sells an upgrade on weapons for all party members. These are the best weapons available through shops.
For the story objective, Cloud is found by running up to the top-right end of the village to encounter a dog and then overhear two villagers talk about Cloud, leading to the clinic. A story sequence leads into the next quest, "Struggle for the Huge Materia".
== Behind the scenes ==
When spoken to in his delirious state, Cloud will mutter about Xenogears, another RPG that was in development at the same time as Final Fantasy VII. Xenogears also includes a reference to Final Fantasy VII by displaying a poster of Tifa in one of the in-game areas.
== Citations ==
Category:Chapters in Final Fantasy VII