FFVII - Walkthrough - 4.1 Ancient Forest
| Location | How to get there | Items to get |
| On a cliff near Cosmo Canyon on the Western Continent. | Use a Green, Black, or Gold Chocobo. Or, climb past the crater that's left behind when you kill the Ultimate Weapon in Disc 3--it destroys part of the cliff. | Supershot ST, Spring Gun Clip, Slash-All materia, Typoon materia, Apocalypse, Elixir. |
You can grab items (frogs, big frogs, wasp nests, etc.) by pressing the O button. When you grab a frog for the first time, you get a message informing you that if you press the S button, the _entire_ area will reset, returning all the items to their proper place. However, it also returns you to the very start of the area, no matter how many screens you've worked your way through. If you mess up on an area (you run out of frogs to use for transportation), you can cheat by leaving the area and returning (if it's possible to leave given your current location). But if you're really stuck, you have no choice but to reset the whole level by pressing S. You will keep all items and materia orbs you've collected so far, though. Also, when you hear a frog croaking, look for a place where you can let go of a small frog you might be carrying as it'll be replaced with a big frog.
In the first area, pick up three frogs and go beneath the earth bridge. Put them near the three bags hanging from the trees. Now, quickly take the frogs and press the O button to make them hop into the bags; repeat this until all three bags are full by standing on a bag and pressing O to put a frog into the next bag. When they're all full, hop to the other side of the gap. Once on the other side, go down the slope and _carefully_ inch towards the center of the large snapping plant. Press O to grab the bag (which contains the Supershot ST gun). If you get too close, the plant will close and you'll lose almost all your HP. You can make as many attempts as you want, but it's best to try and not touch the center of the plant in the first place. Continue to the right when you're finished here and Cloud will automatically use the pink vine to reach the other side. Go past the tree and nab the item bag on the hill (there's a Spring Gun Clip inside), and head right to reach the next part of the forest.
In the second area, pick up one frog and approach the pink vine. Choose the top option to leap to the ledge. If you leave the frog on the ledge, it'll be switched with a big frog (or you can just use your small frog). From here, you can put the frog in the bag and leap across to the second (already-full) bag. You'll automatically use the pink vine to jump to the ground. Now, pick up a frog and climb on top of the green ledge to your right; let it go and it will leap into the left bag. If you wait long enough, you'll be sent flying to the ledge above when the frog escapes (you have to use a big one). Once on the ledge, take the wasp nest. Jump back down. Stand near the small snapping plant and press O to release the nest; if you're at the right distance, the nest will fly backward and land in the plant, which will snap it up. Take the yellow materia (Slash-All). Pick up the big frog again. Climb to the green ledge one more time and let the frog jump into the right bag. Jump atop it and wait until you are thrust onto the opposite side of the huge snapping plant. Run to the right to reach the next zone.
In the third area, pick up two frogs, toss them into the bags, and leap across to the pink vine. You'll be lifted into the treetops. Go left, then down the trunk to reach the big bag you saw back in the second area. A Minerva Band is inside. If you go too far down the trunk, you'll jump down to the ground, so return to the treetops after grabbing the bag. If for some reason you can't, just hop back down repeat the last few steps to get across the plant, get into the next screen, and return to the treetops.
Once you're back in the trees, climb to the upmost branch and head right, then make your way towards the broken branch; Cloud will vault across three of the pink vines and land on another branch. Go south to get yet another item bag holding a red materia (Typoon). Now, go back across the vines, and take the lower branch that leads behind the leaves to the ground level (look for a path leading right). Once on the ground, grab a frog. There are two bags to your right; look for a high ledge beneath them, stand on it, and toss the frog into the bag. Then, hop onto it and make your way over to the second bag, then to the ledge with the wasp's nest. Take it and drop to the ground, then approach the snapping plant and press O to release the nest. If you are positioned correctly, you'll toss the nest into the plant, which will close up.
Pick up a small frog and move past the plant. Stand on the left ledge, and let go of the frog; it will jump into the nearby bag. Hop across the bag and onto the ground. Run to the left and grab a frog. Put it in the hollow in the tree next to you and a big frog will jump out. Take it and go back the way you came (put the big frog in the bag, jump to the other side, and wait for it to land by your feet). Grab it again, go to the far right ledge, and release it into the bag. Now, stand on the bag and wait for the frog to escape. Doing this sends you flying across the gap to a cave entrance.
In the cave, walk to the right to find a chest with the Apocalypse sword lying within. Head to the north, then go east to find another chest (there's an Elixir in it). Finally, exit through the opening to your left. You're back outside! Yup, there are no bosses to fight in this area (which is a good thing in case you had a hard time dealing with the snapping plants).