DigitalTQ
Chapter Sixteen sees us storm the Shinra Headquarters in search of Aerith. The Belly Of The Beast is one of those long chapters of Final Fantasy VII Remake, so strap in!
- Shinra Building
- Shinra Tour
- 63rd Floor Recreational Facility
- Hojo's Laboratory
- Boss Fight - Specimen H0512
The plan is for Cloud, Tifa and Barret to head in via the rear entrance. You start the Chapter just outside the Shinra HQ on some metal walkway.
Make your way downwards until you come to a Treasure Chest containing 2 Hi-Potions. You can use a Vending Machine and Bench up ahead, along with another Treasure Chest containing a Turbo Ether.
Head down the stairs to the road where the first Treasure Chest was and you'll come to a overhanging bridge. You guys decide to hitch a ride on top of one of the Shinra Convoy Vehicles.
Shinra Building
The mission goes bad from the beginning as you arrive in the Shinra Underground Parking Lot, with the Shinra guards getting rudely interrupted by Barret. Take out the Elite Security Officers and make your way into the parking lot.
This area is filled with Shinra Elite Guards, so take your time taking them out. In the last section of the parking lot is a Treasure Chest containing 2 Mega Potions.
You'll soon arrive at the Shinra Building - Entrance Room. The place is deserted and all the doors leading up are locked out due to requiring a security card. If you head up the stairs and try the door switch in the middle of the room it'll initiate a cut scene.
Tifa thinks she can grab the security key card from the desk by climbing on the lights.
The first round you just need to move across the lights, but Tifa will fall onto a sofa-bed below. You can open a Treasure Chest on the right containing 2,000 Gil.
From the ground, you'll want to climb up onto a car and use it to climb onto those wall mounts. This will bring you to a platform.
Before going up the ladder, use the monkey bars to swing across to a ledge of the left. Here you can find a Treasure Chest containing a Tifa Weapon: Purple Pain.
Head back to the platform, use the ladder to go up and find more Monkey-bars. These will take you back to the lights to swing on.
Tifa will eventually swing on some dangling lights that will require you to press the action button to get a good swing.
You'll then eventually land at the reception desk and acquire the Security Key Card.
Tifa finds out that Aerith is being held on the 65th floor at Hojo's lab. However, you can only get to the 59th floor with your current security key card.
You have two choices: The Stairs or the Elevator. We recommend the Elevator as it's a lot quicker than taking the stairs. The stairs is literally 59 flights of stairs to climb and takes a good 20 minutes of walking/running to get there.
Before you take the Elevator, head to the locked security door on the right to find a Treasure Chest containing an Iron Maiden.
As you ride the Elevator, you'll stop on each floor and get interrupted by Shinra Guards. They're easy enough to take out.
As you arrive at the 59th floor, you'll have a strange cut scene with Scarlet and some experiments going on with Materia.
Shinra Tour
You'll reach Skyview Hall on the 59th floor; head to the reception area with you look out of the glass windows at the Midgar city.
If you go to the reception desk, you can speak to a hologram NPC who will upgrade your security key card so you can do the Shinra Tour.
Head up to the 60th floor on the escalator and a new cut scene will happen with Reeve reacting to the aftermath of the Sector 7 disaster.
Head inside the Museum Hall on the 60th floor and have fun exploring all the things that make up Shinra. There are plenty of visual treats for you to watch and enjoy in this section.
You'll come to a model of Midgar City, and after passing through that room you'll come to the Visual Entertainment Hall.
Here you get to experience a brilliant CGI cut scene, which explains the origins of the Ancients and gives you some insight into what Shinra's ultimate goal is.
Afterwards, a short cut scene happens in which one of Shinra's Board Members gets spooked by someone walking in the hallway...
When you return to Cloud, they get escorted from the Visual Entertainment Hall by a man named Hart. Apparently the Mayor of Midgar wants to speak to you.
You'll come to a place called the Corporate Archives where you'll be taken to room with the Mayor of Midgar. Apparently he has been helping you bypass security in the Shinra HQ and now wants to help you further. He says he can get you to the 64th floor.
He says he has a man on the 63rd floor who can help you get to the 64th floor; you just need to find him.
Leave the Mayor's room and pick up the Treasure Chest in the Corporate Archives containing 3,000 Gil.
You can pay 10,000 Gil to Hart for information on what the informant looks like, which is useless, but he will also give you a weapon for Barret: EKG Cannon.
Exit the Corporate Archives and head up the escalator to the 63rd floor. You'll then have a cut scene with Professor Hojo speaking to Aerith in his lab.
63rd Floor Recreational Facility
On the 63rd floor, you'll find Shinra Workers at their desks. You're looking for a contact to help you get to the 64th floor.
He can be found next to a strange dome known as the Shinra Combat Simulator.
He says he will give you access if you can prove yourself in the simulator.
Go inside the Combat Simulator and select the only option titled: Three-person Team Vs Mayor Is The Best.
You'll have a battle against two Cutter mobs; remember they're weak to Lightning attacks so just blast them away.
Once the fight is over, speak to the Collaborator outside and he'll give you the keycard to access the 64th floor. He also tells you of a meeting taking place between the Shinra big-wigs and says you can spy on it by heading to the men's room and climb into the air vent.
You'll have now unlocked the Shinra Combat Simulator. Here you can take on more simulated fights for better rewards, including an EXP Up Materia.
You also can speak to Chadley for more Battle Intel Research.
You can also pick up Music Disc #31 - Scarlett's Theme from the Jukebox on this floor.
As you go down the stairs on the 63rd floor, Cloud runs into a Shinra Guard he once knew.
Head down to the door that takes you back to the stairs and you will see President Shinra and Heidegger heading to the meeting.
Head up the escalator to the 64th floor where you'll come to more Shinra workers in conference rooms.
Head to the bathroom at the back of the 64th floor and you can find the air vent in one of the toilets.
Cloud can climb up; as you crawl through the shaft you can pick up some HP UP Materia. You'll eventually come to the Shinra Board Meeting.
Among the things discussed in the meeting is Hojo's plan to produce an offspring of Aerith so as to keep the Ancient bloodline going.
Afterwards, Cloud, Barret and Tifa plan to follow Hojo as he leaves the meeting.
If you exit the conference floor and back to the stairs, you'll come across Hojo walking. Follow him into his laboratory.
Hojo's Laboratory
Inside Hojo's Laboratory you can find a Treasure Chest containing 2 Antidotes, a Vending Machine and Rest Bench.
You can also find a Treasure Chest containing 2 vials of celeris. As you move into the room with the green tanks, you can find another Treasure Chest with 2 Remedies.
Follow Hojo up the stairs and you'll eventually accost him and get access to Hojo's Laboratory: Sublevel.
Boss Fight - Specimen H0512
The main tactic of taking down the Specimen H0512 Boss is to destroy his left claw. Each time you cripple the Left Claw, it'll get begin the next phase of the fight.
He is surrounded by little minions called H0512-OPT that will constantly attack you, so if you want an easier time of a fight, you should work on reducing those between phases of this boss.
In the first phase, he uses Noxious Explosion to deliver Poison on the ground to anyone who gets caught in it. He also has a bind ability called Seize, so you should switch characters when he grabs one.
In the second phase he regenerates his arm and the mobs get a little stronger too. Watch out for Regurgitate attacks and rush skill called Rake.
In the third phase, he uses Mako Expulsion and spreads poison all over the arena. The mobs can also use Self-Destruct, so make sure you start paying attention to them. Tifa is great at handling the mobs as she has the best mobility out of the party.
Reward: Talisman
After the fight, you chase after Hojo. You can use the bench in the room you're just in to heal up.
Take the Elevator up to the 66th floor, where you'll be greeted by some of Hojo's security team.
Take them out and watch as Hojo gets carried away by those hooded ghost figures.
As Barret busts Aerith out of jail, two more mobs show up. These are called Armored Shock Troopers; they're weak to Lightning attacks and will eject from their suits once they take enough damage.
After the right, a red dog that had been imprisoned by Hojo jumps down to you and breaks out. Aerith runs after it so follow on.
Here you'll eventually meet Red XIII, who doesn't give much information away about who he is.
Cloud then has a vision which causes him to collapse.
And that wraps up Chapter Sixteen of Final Fantasy VII Remake! That was a pretty long chapter, but also very interesting to get a glimpse at the world of Shinra. The penultimate chapter awaits...
Discussion