The Gold Saucer is the best (and
only) theme park in the world. Except the fact that a theme park
doesn't really do it justice, since it is a giant golden structure
sprouting up towards the sky like a beanstalk. Although you are
only required to visit it twice during the game, it houses many
secrets and great items that make it a very important place in
Final Fantasy 7. The following section will tell you everything
you possibly need to know about the Gold Saucer.
Location
The Gold Saucer is in the middle of a desert near Corel. It can
only be accessed by using the ropeway (a large blue structure that
moves along two wires.
Founder
It was founded by a man named Dio, an odd looking man who doesn't
seem to be able to find a shirt. Dio decided to not only build the
Gold Saucer, but a Desert Prison below it as well.
Desert Prison
Any criminals or thefts found in the Gold Saucer will be taken
down to the Desert Prison, where few return. Not only that, but
because of the endless desert and sandstorms, escape is
practically impossible. The only way to get out of the prison is
to have Mr. Coates, the head of the prison, give consent for you
to have a Chocobo race for your freedom.
Entrance
To get into the Gold Saucer, you must either pay 3,000 Gil for a
lifetime pass, or 30,000 Gil for a lifetime pass (the latter is
strongly recommended, as you'll probably come here very often).
Either way, after paying (or showing your lifetime pass), you are
allowed inside. From here, you can look at a monitor that tells
you a little bit about each attraction in the Gold Saucer. After
that, you can jump into one of the holes that will take you to the
location listed above it. There are different attractions in the
Gold Saucer: Battle Arena, Gondola Ride, Event Square, Wonder
Square, Chocobo Racing, Ghost Hotel, and Speed Arena. Whichever
one you go to will have all of the other places accessible by more
tunnels and holes, and an additional one called Station that will
take you back to the entrance.
Currency
The Gold Saucer does not use regular Gil for money (except for
Wonder Square), but BP and GP. BP (battle points) can be won in
Battle Arena and then used to buy some items there. GP can be won
is several different ways. One way is to find a man at the
entrance of the Gold Saucer hidden in the corner. He randomly
appears, and if you keep resetting the screen you'll find him. He
will exchange some GP, but charges 100 Gil per GP. GP can also be
won in Wonder Square and Chocobo Racing (more on that later). GP
can buy many items in Gold Saucer, and used to ride certain
attractions too.
Cloud's first visit (Mild
Spoilers included).
After coming upon Corel, Cloud and his gang take a trip to the
Gold Saucer. Have Cloud pick anyone for his partner (except for
Barret) and check out the sights. After you're done with that, go
to Wonder Square where Cait Sith will join your party. Then go to
Battle Square, where you will wind up in the Desert Prison. After
exploring and finding Barret again, go northwest through the
entrance in the gate. Go past the man in the desert, and through
the car wrecks to find Dyne. After fighting him you will be able
to try a Chocobo race in exchange for your freedom. Make sure you
find the Ramuh materia before entering the race, it is in the room
with all of the Chocobo jockeys. If you hold down all of the
shoulder buttons and the circle button during the race, you'll win
easily. The team will get a full pardon, and a really spiffy buggy
as a gift.
Cloud's second visit (Mild
Spoilers included).
Go to the Battle Arena and look at Dio's amazingly boring museum.
Make sure that a character has a Ribbon as one of their
accessories, and the very best materia. After looking at the
Keystone, Dio says he'll give it to you if you show off you skills
in the arena. Agree with him and pick the character that has all
the good magic and accessories on him (Cloud is usually the best).
It's no big deal if you don't win, you'll still get the keystone,
but if you defeat all of the opponents you get a Protect Vest and
a Choco Feather. Afterwards go back to the entrance, and you will
find out the ropeway is out of order. Go to the Ghost Hotel and
you will find a date interrupting your sleep. It will either be
Aeris, Tifa, Yuffie, or...Barret?! Which one it will be will
depend on how you have treated those four characters during your
adventure so far, and who you have had in your party a lot. After
going through the whole date (it pretty much does it by itself),
you will discover a shocking plot twist about a certain character.
After meeting up and talking, you will head to the Temple of the
Ancients.
Battle
Square
The Battle Arena is one of the main things you'll be doing at the
Gold Saucer, and there is some great stuff to be won. Here's how
it works: you go up to the lady at the counter and give her 10 GP
to enter. You then pick a character and he/she enters the battle
arena. After defeating an enemy, a little slot will start
spinning, and you stop it on a certain effect. Although almost all
of them are negative (like Toad), one or two actually help you
instead of hurt you (like Cure). Keep in mind that the worse the
effect you choose, the more BP you will get if you keep going. So
getting all Cures and Lucky 7s may make it easy, but you'll get
practically no BP for winning all eight battles. After picking it,
you choose if you want to face another, harder, enemy, or quit now
before you lost all of your BP. So at the last fight (the eighth
one), you will have 7 handicaps and will be facing a very hard
monster. Try to level up a lot and get all of that person's limit
breaks before entering Battle Arena, it will make things much
easier. Getting a bunch of good materia, weapons, armor, and
accessories helps too. You can spend your BP on items, materia,
and other things at the other counter, but keep in mind that for
some dumb reason you lost all of your BP if you leave. Since there
isn't a save point in the arena, make sure you'll be at your
Playstation for a long time if you want to get the better items.
Here are all of the effects that can be chosen
between fights (going from best to worst, in my humble opinion):
Cure: The fighter's HP is completely healed at the beginning
of the next fight.
Lucky 7: The fighter does not get any handicap.
5 Levels Down: The character drops five levels, which hurts
their statistics (lower HP, strength, etc).
10 Levels Down: The character drops 10 levels, hurting their
stats even more.
Poison: The character gets the Poison status.
Time x30 Damage: The fighter's time in the time bar at the
end of the last battle is multiplied by 30 to determine how much
damage he/she will receive. This cannot kill the character.
Support Materia Broken: The character's Support (blue)
Materia is broken and is no longer effective.
Zero MP: The fighter's MP (not the maximum MP, just the MP)
goes down to 0.
Accessory Broken: The fighter's accessories are disabled.
MP: The fighter's maximum MP is cut in half.
Item Command Sealed: The person can no longer use any items.
Speed: The fighter's speed is cut in half.
Independent Materia Broken: All of the
character's Independent (yellow) Materia is disabled.
Mini: The fighter gets the Mini status.
Frog: The character is turned into a frog.
Armor Broken: The character's armor is broken and no longer
effective.
Sword Broken: The fighter's sword/weapon is broken and
physical attacks are practically useless.
Summon Materia Broken: None of the character's Summon (red)
Materia can be used.
HP and MP: The fighter's HP and MP are cut in half.
Magic Materia Broken: All of the fighter's
Magic (green) Materia can not be used anymore.
All Materia Broken: All Materia are completely disabled -
ouch!
If you want mega BP, try to get some of the really
bad ones a lot, getting all good ones won't get you anywhere. Here are
the items that can be bought with BP:
I T E M
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B P
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Remedy
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100 BP
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Enemy Lure Materia
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200 BP
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Right Arm
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500 BP
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Pre-Emptive Materia
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1,000 BP
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Regen Greens
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2,000 BP
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Speed Plus Materia
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4,000 BP
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Stardust
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8,000 BP
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Championship Belt
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16,000 BP
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Omnislash
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32,000 BP
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W-Summon Materia
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64,000 BP
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After getting 64,000 BP, talk to the
woman behind the counter and she'll invite you to enter the special
battles (but you have to of already purchased the Omnislash and
W-Summon Materia). If you win all eight battles, with a Proud Clod as
the final challenge, you can get the fabled Final Attack Materia (or
some other items that have no use whatsoever).
Chocobo Square
Basically, Chocobo racing is needed to breed a Gold Chocobo and to get
some rare Materia and accessories. To win some good items, you can
either bet on Chocobo in the center of the room, or race your own to
the left. Winning is simple, just hold down all of the shoulder
buttons and circle, and you'll win every time in the lower ranks. When
you finally get to S-rank, you can get some really good and rare
items, or sell them for a ton of GP. To ensure wins in the harder
races, max out your Chocobo's stats by feeding him every kind of green
in the ChocoBill's stables until won't eat any more of that kind. Do
that with each grass to assure your Chocobo a win every time. This is
THE place to get GP. Just get to S-Class and race with a good Chocobo.
You'll win every time, and you can sell the items instead of keeping
them for absurd amounts of GP. Screw Wonder Square, this is where you
want to go if you need some fast GP.
Ghost Square
This is just a simple hotel, but with a Halloween theme 24/7. You can
find a Turtle's Paradies newsletter here, and you have to spend the
night when the ropeway broke, but that's about it. If you really want
to know, there's an Elixir hidden in Cloud's dresser.
Speed Square
Speed Arena could be thought of as an interactive roller coaster.
Basically, after paying 10 GP, you go on a roller coaster with a gun
attached. As you go (it will move automatically), you try to shoot as
many targets as possible. All targets are either 30-70 points each if
you shoot them down, with two exceptions. There giant UFO which is a
worth a whopping 1,000, and a yellow boulder on top of the canyon wall
worth an incredible 2,000 points. Shooting down these two things are
absolutely essential if you want to get a good score. If you do well,
you will get a good item that varies, depending on which disk you are
on.
Event Square
Event Square is basically just a theater where you can get
entertained. Unfortunately, the only time you get to do anything there
is with your date. I won't spoil it for you, but it can be pretty
funny.
Wonder Square
Wonder Square is a giant arcade that has a ton of things to play and
do. First of all, the games all require Gil to play, and give you GP
if you do well. There is a woman in the front whom you can buy some
great stuff from (if you have enough GP).
Potion - 1 GP
Ether - 20 GP
X-Potion - 80 GP
Turbo Ether - 100 GP
Gold Ticket - 300 GP
Carob Nut - 500 GP
Gil Plus Materia - 1000
GP EXP Plus Materia - 2000 GP
The Exp. Plus Materia and Gil Plus Materia are
definitely worth your while, they double the Exp. points and Gil that
you win in battle, respectively. This is some great Materia that you
should definitely try and get. The Gold Ticket is also great, it gives
you a lifetime pass to the Gold Saucer, instead of having to buy it
for 30,000.
The Games:
Super Dunk: 200 Gil
Gil Super Dunk just like a basketball game you find in the arcades
here, you put in some money and try to make the basketball go in the
basket. To score, you must hold down the circle button, and then
release at the right time (a little less than a second). You get 1 GP
for each basket you make, and when you miss the game ends. If you make
10 baskets in a row, you get a special mode called Double Chance. In
this mode of play, every time you make another basket, your GP
doubles, but if you miss it goes all the way back to 1 and the game is
over. If you are really good at this game, you can make some SERIOUS
GP. A tricky method I discovered to improve your odds of making a
bunch in a row is using a metronome. If you have one, try a setting
where it clicks every second, if not a little faster. Then, when the
metronome beeps, press the circle button, and release when it beeps
again. If it goes in, than the metronome is at the right speed. If it
doesn't, try it again at a slightly different speed. I know this
sounds odd, but once you get it at the right speed you can't miss!
Arm Wrestling Mega Sumo: 100 Gil
This is the expected game where you just repeatedly tap a button. I
hate these kind of games, they make your finger hurt and involve no
skill. Basically, you either pick the Sumo or the Wrestler, and than
press the circle button like mad to win. You get a mere 1 GP for
beating the Sumo and 2 GP for the Wrestler. Don't even bother playing
this, it's a waste of time and your finger.
Wonder Catcher: 100 Gil
This is another game that involves no skill. Plop 100 Gil into the
slot, and you will either get a Potion, a few GP, or nothing. This is
just as worthless as the Arm Wrestling game.
Fortune Telling: 50 Gil
Although you don't get any prizes, the Fortune Telling machine can
predict some interesting things that foreshadow what will happen late.
You just put in 50 Gil and it will tell you your future. This will
change as you progress through Final Fantasy 7, but it will say the
same thing if you use it twice in the same visit, you have to get
further in the actual game first for it to say something new.
3D Battler: 200 Gil
This is yet another game that is all luck. It's basically a more
interesting version of rock, paper, scissors. You and you virtual
opponent each pick an attack. If your attack beats the opponent's, the
opponent gets a hit, and vice versa. If you pick the same move,
nothing happens. The first one to 10 wins, and then a harder opponent
comes out. Upper body attacks beat Lower and lost to Middles. Middle
body attacks beat High and lose to Low. Lower attacks beat Mid and
lose to High.
Mog House: 100 Gil
This is an easy and moderately entertaining way to earn GP, but you
can only do it once. It is simple to beat, keep feeding the Mog Kupo
nuts until he makes a sound that is different from the ones he was
making previously. Do the same thing later and you win. After winning,
talk to the guy behind you and you'll get 30 GP. After that, you can
still play it, but you won't get any GP.
G Bike: 200 Gil
Does this look familiar? It should. As you already know, circle makes
you attack to your right, and square makes you attack to your left.
You need to protect yourself and the truck by defeating the
motorcyclists as soon as possible. You can kill them in 3 ways:
hitting them with your sword, repeatedly banging into them (not
recommended, this hurts you too), and knocking down a motorcyclist and
having another one trip over it. What you may not know is that the
Orange Bikers are the dumb ones, who just drive right up to the truck
and start banging into it, and the Red Bikers try to draw you away
from truck so the other can hit it while you are going after him. Try
to stay close to the Truck, never leave it to go after a motorcyclist
when there are more behind you. If you do really well, you'll not only
get some GP, but an item too.
Snow Game: 200 Gil
This should also look familiar. First off, pick your course. Then
snowboard all the way to the finish, and you will be judged on three
things. How many points you got (red balloons are one, blue are three,
and green are five), how fast you did it, and technique (how many
times you hit the walls or obstacles). Try to do well in all three by
going slow enough to control your board, so you can avoid the walls
and also get the balloons. If you do good on the easy, it will unlock
the medium. Do good on that to unlock the hard course. Note that you
can't do this game until you do it in real life. A good performance
will give you some GP and an item.
Torpedo Attack: 200 Gil
This is the third mini game that you will have already played in the
actual game. It is actually quite simple, if you do it right. The
object is to take down the red submarine, but the mines and the yellow
subs will make that goal a lot harder. There is an easy way to do it,
though. As soon as the game starts, just stay right behind the red sub
(by speeding up and slowing down when you have to) and just keep
firing. If you do it right, it will go down in about 10 or 15 seconds.
There are five levels, and each one gets a bit tougher. Unfortunately,
you don't get more GP by doing the harder ones. Do well and you'll get
some GP and an item.
Round Square
Does anyone besides me thing this name is funny?
Round Square...okay. Anyway, this is just a Gondola Ride. Except for
the date, you have to pay 10 GP to get in. Basically, you just ride
around the Gold Saucer, and are treated to some cool FMVs (you have to
look out the window to see them). If you come back after the date, you
will see some more FMVs that weren't there before.
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