The Ancient Forest is an optional dungeon in Final Fantasy 7 that contained a number of powerful items that benefit the entire party. Reaching this location is a bit tricky and the puzzles and enemies found within can be a bit annoying.
Some players may not even be aware of this locations existence and those that are may not be aware of the secrets located within it. For those who are curious about the Ancient Forest and the oddities found there, here are some things you may not have known.
10 Green, Black, Or Gold Chocobo To Enter
In order to reach the Ancient Forest you needed to have the right means of transportation. For the majority of the game the only way to reach it is with a Green, Black, or Gold Chocobo. These creatures are the right size and the right nature to give the player access to the Forest.
However getting your hands on one of these Chocobo is no easy task. If going this route your ultimate goal is to get a Gold Chocobo so you can access every area in the game, but many players were thrilled to get a Green or Black considering the number of catches, battles, and races needed to breed a Gold.
9 Defeat Ultimate Weapon Will Also Work
Alternatively a player can forgo the Chocobo entirely and instead opt to destroy the Ultimate Weapon. Doing so will result in a massive crater that allows any vehicle to traverse and access the Ancient Forest. You’d still need a Gold Chocobo for other areas, but for the Ancient Forest this is certainly an option.
The downside of course is that this event doesn’t happen until later in the game meaning all the items located inside wont provide their benefits sooner. As you’ll see in later entries this can be a bit of a problem.
8 The Enemies Here Are Evading Masters
Many players struggled in the Ancient Forest because of how difficult the enemies were to fight. The problem wasn’t necessarily that they were powerful, they were just really skilled at Evasion. Meaning players would have trouble getting their attacks to connect.
The best way to circumvent this is with magic or to strengthen Nanaki or Yuffie dexterity levels to ensure more of their hits landed. Cloud will still have a rough time, but you’ll have members of the team that can get the work done.
7 Unique Ability To Reset
A unique aspect of the Ancient Forest is that it has the ability to reset the player to the beginning of the dungeon. By pushing square the player’s party is instantly transported to the entrance.
This is incredibly handy considering the multitude of puzzles that can result in the player getting stuck and unable to progress forward. It’s unclear why this is the only area in the game that has this feature, but considering the puzzles it was definitely appreciated.
6 A Person In Bone Village Was Supposed To Give Hints
It turns out that the puzzles in the Ancient Forest would have been much easier to solve according to some unused dialogue in the game’s files. There was meant to be an NPC in the Bone Village who would provide information about the puzzles.
They ranged from simple hints about the mechanics of insects and frogs to ways on how to pacify some of the plants. For whatever reason this never made it to the final game and players were forced to puzzle it out through trial and error.
5 There’s An Exit With No Exit
Originally the Ancient Forest was supposed to be located somewhere else entirely in the world of the game. In the Corel Valley Forest exit area is a cave with a vine leading up to it. The vine is the only one that’s not climbable and even if you use cheats the cave cannot be traversed.
Game files suggest this was originally supposed to be the entrance to the Ancient Forest before it was relocated. Perhaps this was done because of the Ultimate Weapon entrance or for spacing reasons.
4 Ho-Chu Was Supposed To Be Found Here
Another interesting fact about the Ancient Forest is that the Ho-chu. The Ho-chu is a large plant that acts as a mini boss of sorts in Battle Square, the only location it can be found in the game. Files suggest that the Ho-chu was originally meant to act as a random encounter in Ancient Forest before being moved.
Given it’s plant-like nature and Ancient Forest lacks a mini boss of any kind it’s unclear why this creature was removed. Some fans think it could have been developer oversight as someone forgot to include the code in to the Ancient Forest, but this is entirely speculation.
3 The Background Music Is The Same As Mythril Mine
The background music that plays in the Ancient Forest is “In Search Of The Man In Black”. The only other location where this tune can be heard is in the Mythril Mine.
Apart from this same tune there doesn’t seem to be any other connection between the two areas. Some players think there may have been some connection originally intended but it was dropped or forgotten. In reality it’s likely the two areas are separated enough from each other the developers felt comfortable recycling the song.
2 Slash-All Materia Is Great For Grinding
A good reason to visit the Ancient Forest was to obtain the Slash-All Materia. This gives characters the Slash-All ability that lets them attack an entire group of enemies all at once with physical damage. This attack ignores row so the character can be on the back row, which is great for glass cannon types.
Because this move is able to damage all enemies at once it makes it perfect for speeding up grinding. The player simply needs to beef up the character with this ability and can quickly bring the entire opposing team down in a few hits.
1 Apocalypse Is Great For Grinding Materia
While Slash-All is a viable reason for visiting the Ancient Forest, the real prize is Cloud’s Apocalypse sword. It comes with a triple AP growth which is invaluable to players looking to grind Materia as it cuts down on the overall number of battles needed significantly.
Admittedly it’s far from the most powerful weapon in the game so for those not interested in grinding Materia a visit to the Ancient Forest might not be worth it. However, for those who are, getting the Apocalypse and Slash-All can save a tremendous amount of time.
NEXT: Every Enemy Skill In Final Fantasy 7 On PS1 (& How To Get It)
