The Ancient Forest - FF7 Walkthrough
This dungeon is found on a mountain near Cosmo Canyon and can't be reached by foot until after defeating Ultimate Weapon. After Ultimate Weapon is defeated a large crater will be formed in the ground (shown in the screenshot above) which will allow you access to this dungeon. If you'd like to come to this dungeon sooner than this, you'll need a Green, Black or Gold Chocobo.
The Ancient Forest is a series of puzzles that you will have to figure out for some treasures that you can't find anywhere else. To make things easier for you I have broken this guide up into multiple parts, each screen gets its own explanation on how to find the treasures there.
Before I jump into the guide, let's take a look at some Ancient Forest basics that you should know for solving the upcoming puzzles.
Ancient Forest Quirks:
- At any time press Square to be teleported to the entrance of the dungeon and all puzzles reset (you keep the treasures)
Insects: Place in Pitcher Plants to create a platform or in hollowed trees to lure out frogs
Frogs: Place inside a Pitcher Plant to launch Cloud into the air
Beehive: Throw into a Fly Trap to close it until you leave the area
Stamen: These allow you to swing across gaps
Pitcher Plants: When given an Insect it closes and forms a platform for about 15 - 20 seconds; when given a Frog it'll launch Cloud
For those of you out there who take directions better from watching a video, I have done a complete run through of the Ancient Forest dungeon. The video includes all of the puzzles and all of the treasures without any random encounters (for that reason I had to film it on the Ps1, not on the steam version - so I apologize for the lesser quality).
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First Screen - Supershot ST & Spring Gun Clip
To proceed to the second screen you'll want to pick up Insects around the entrance of the Ancient Forest and drop them in the Pitcher Plants (screenshot on the right above). Grab two Insects and place them on the ground near the Pitcher Plants then grab a third one and throw it inside of the nearest plant. Quickly grab the other two Insects and put them in the other Pitchet Plants to create a bridge for you to cross.
Supershot ST: This treasure is found in the middle of a Fly Trap plant on the right side of the screen. Mash the confirmation button as you run into the middle of the plant and you'll be able to grab the treasure before it eats you.
Spring Gun Clip: After crossing the Pitcher Plants you'll find this treasure just before the next screen
Ancient Forest Supershot ST & Spring Gun Clip Treasures.
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Second Screen - Slash-All Materia
In order to get to the third screen from this one you'll want to grab the insect near where you enter and select 'Yes' when prompted to jump up. Throw the Insect in the Pitcher Plant and jump across both, using the next Stamen to jump back down to ground level.
Pick up the Frog then place it inside the Pitcher Plant on the right (screen shot above). Jump ontop of this Pitcher Plant then use it to launch yourself across the gap.
How to get Slash-All Materia
1. Grab the Insect by where you enter
2. Yes when prompted to Jump
3. Put the Insect in the nearby Pitcher Plant
4. Jump across the Pitcher Plants & return to ground level
5. Pick up the nearby Frog and place it in the nearby Pitcher Plant on the left
6. Use this Pitcher Plant to launch yourself up to a beehive
7. Grab the Beehive and use it on the Fly Trap that has the Slash-All Materia to take it
Note: The treasure you see on the branch in the bag won't be able to be picked up until the next screen.
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Third Screen - Typhoon Materia & Minerva Band
Throw both insects near the entrance of screen 3 into the Pitcher Plants and jump across them to the Stamen which launches you into the tree tops. You'll find yourself on the trunk of a tree in the same spot I am standing in the screen shot above. From this location you'll be able to obtain both treasures as well as proceed to the next and final screen.
To proceed to the next screen go east as if you were goingto Typhon but instead go down before you jump across the three Stamen. Go down the rope back on the third screen and jump down where the hollowed out tree trunk is. You'll find yourself in the same area shown in my screenshot below.
Insect 1 goes into Pitchet Plant 1; Insect 2 into Pitcher Plant 2.
Place Insect 1 into Pitcher Plant 1 then jump up and grab the Beehive. The Beehive gets placed into the Fly Trap to close it then Insect 2 gets put into Pitcher Plant 2. Now you're able to get back to the first part of screen 3. Grab one of the two Insects in this area and place it outside the hole in the tree below the rope we climbed across earlier to get a Frog.
This Frog is going to be used in both of the previous Pitcher Plants (1 and 2) to get across both of them and over to the final screen.
Typhon Materia: From here travel up then east across the tree branch, jump across the 3 Stamen until you find the area with the Typhon Materia.
Minerva Band: From here go down to reach the Minerva Band (we saw this treasure on the previous screen).
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Fourth Screen - Apocalypse & Elixir
There are no puzzles in this room of the Ancient Forest, just two treasure chests out in the open. The exit in the northern part of this room will take you back out to the World Map.
Apocalypse: Chest in the eastern part of the room. No puzzles to reach
Elixir: Chest in the northern part of the room.