[FF7R] How to Clear VS Top Secrets and Make it Look Easy (Guide)

[@ShinyShinryu]

Some notes for this method that the video didn't really cover: - Your weapons do not need to be maxed, but you need at least Weapon Level 6. Recommended upgrades are in the description. - You will want your materia to be maxed. If you want to swap in an Assess for intel, HP Up for safety, or anything else, I would recommend replacing a Refocus or Luck Up. - The Fury Rings are essential to this method. The damage buff they give is huge. - You can use second tier spells (Fira, Blizzara, Thundara) to conserve MP if needed. Bahamut is the only case where it is required to use the top tier spells (Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga) for their interrupts.

[@jeremycheek322]

Shinryu Thanks for the guide. I had a tough go when I started this last week. After farming 2 more fury rings and going through some other parts of the game I missed while leveling up some supporting material, I finally beat this today with a 3:47 time. Thanks for making it look easy, and giving people all the tools to best these guys.

[@projektEnigma]

Your guide got me the challenge done in 5 minutes, got tricky with leviathan near the end and out of MP for pride and joy but your tips made all the difference! Any chance on a sephiroth guide?

[@daniven86]

Hi Shiryu having some issue to maximize the pressure state to fat chocobo having firaga and blizzaga, sometimes works sometimes not, is there any thing to pay attention to in ordere to give a big boost to staggering fat chocobo thanks for an answrer

[@ryankelly9032]

I can't seem to keep bahamut close enough to the arcane ward to get in time to cast enough aga spells to keep him locked down or prevent him from summoning Ifrit.

[@jeremycheek322]

Ryan Kelly The key is doing enough damage to get his health down to the m. I ran into this a few times, but you gotta keep cycling through your characters keeping them in the arcane ward. By the time each person does 3 spells 12 in total take tifa and keep punching the heck out of him until he pressures. Then build atb, and hammer him with everything you got. Timing is key.

[@OddDrummerGaming]

I watched your video many a time to beat it. It was my last trophy to platinum the game. I paused, rewinded, took notes, wrote out an intro, body, and conclusion to prepare my for the battle. After many attempts, I got my first platinum trophy for any game ever. I just realized I never thank you. THANK YOU 🙏

[@lucasmarcoscapasso895]

Xd lol same bro this shit took me forever and i made it thanks to this bro. HE IS THE MEN!!

[@verix4054]

Just started fighting it, am still losing but hopefully I’ll start to memorize the menu so I don’t take forever choosing firaga

[@OddDrummerGaming]

@@verix4054 It was pretty difficult for me. It took a lot of time and patience. Good luck and have fun!

[@verix4054]

@@OddDrummerGaming just skipped ifrit about, moving on to pride and joy wish me luck!!!

[@verix4054]

I’ve done it!! Thanks man for the words of encouragement!!

[@Bayesic]

I really appreciate how "to the point" you made this guide. Not a single second wasted on fluff like so many other guides

[@ShinyShinryu]

I'm glad you liked it; hopefully I can get to making more guides in the near future. Thanks for the super thanks, I really appreciate it.

[@matthewapril3119]

This one took ages, timing plays a bigger role in this method so don't lose focus. But as of 2023 this method is still amazing and I thank this man for his contribution to society

[@adrianbingham7222]

Brov, I had to leave a comment on this. From someone who already completed this challenge after almost a week of trial and error, this is the best guide for those still looking to finish it. Almost every other video is done AFTER the Gottadamarung has been obtained, not before; most people looking for help are trying to complete this challenge for the first time. But on top of that, you provide insight on HOW to fight each round, which is invaluable. The fight system in this game is so layered, and having that kind of knowledge broken down in an easy-to-understand way put this video a few cuts above the rest. Really wish I saw this while I was going through it my first time, but even then this still taught me more. Thank you for this.

[@KT1459]

Agreed!

[@un.uomo.assetato]

Well Said!

[@mrjist1]

On real

[@leandrovieiranascimento2200]

Well done for both . He made everything in simple,easily understandable terms and you recognizes it first for the rest of us.

[@RocKeRGRL1212]

Not smart taking hp ups revival and healing off of everyone thats suicide and its hard enough

[@RasenRendanX]

My mouth was on the floor after seeing how he took down bahamut

[@duperonmusicchannel7918]

He beat his ass so bad that Ifrit didn’t show. He was like “Imma stay here in hell”.

[@shanegoodwin5125]

BRUH!

[@shanegoodwin5125]

Duperon Music Channel 🤣😂☠️

[@fgclash454]

Yeah, just spamming aga spells, no skill, there’s no fun in that

[@AMaidenlessRunt]

Ifrit was so scared to come out he changed his name to ishit

[@lorenzomartin6217]

a couple notes from someone who struggled with this battle: - follow the shiva guide to the T. If she gets off Frost Familiars, just start over. - If Fat Chocobo'a stagger is about to finish, cast a Blizzara & then another Firaga. as long as he's pressured he won't attack. Kweh Kweh is what you want to prevent. Bombs Away is easily avoidable. - BIG NOTE FOR LEVIATHAN. In the beginning Parry to Leviathan with Tifa to avoid the first attack, & after Leviathan will ALWAYS look at your controlled character. Have Cloud go left and Aerith go right & just switch back and forth between them. I experimented with this for like 10 mins straight and he NEVER attacked. You can literally wait till your ATB is filled. use Thundara not aga until he's pressured. you can use aga but ara is quicker and saves MP for Bahamut. Once he's pressured, Focus Strike & Thrust with a Thundaga from Aerith and he'll stagger. His stagger goes QUICK so one focus strike then uppercut & dive kick with ana aga from an arcade ward. he should have no to very little damage but if he starts Tidal Roar don't panic. a few thundara spells should finish him. - follow the bahamut guide here to the T, he's actually not that hard. aga interrupts his patterns. as one person is casting their second aga, the other should be starting their first. if he summons Ifrit, don't panic but finish off Bahamut. after Ifrit is super easy. two blizzagas from aerith should kill him. - Pride & Joy is just a thundaga spree but has always been either really easy or really hard for some reason lol AVOID BEAM CANNON NO MATTER WHAT. take tifa and parry immediately, don't attack. It'll all be worth it when you win just keep practicing and using this guide.

[@HKLpodcast]

Omg I kept dying on Leviathan like 10 times in a row before I saw this and finally.. FINALLY got to Bahamut. Thank you so much.

[@hjk3351]

Dude i almost won but got hit with a beam cannon which killed tifa. I still almost won with aerith and cloud but lost. Leviathan is annoying though

[@Liquid23]

ADDING TO SHIVA: to conserve MP, don’t use firaga after the stagger. Just spam true strike with Tifa, and use Braver with Cloud once she’s almost dead. It’s way quicker, and will save a crap ton of MP. Similar thing with Fat Chocobo: Keep up spells with Aerith, but Only one Aga move from Cloud after stagger. Spam true strike, and use either Infinity’s End, or Braver from Cloud.

[@dragon_defeyes]

im running out of mp on bahamut, cant believe its been 2 years since i gave up and never got to him i can get to him consistently but damn mp

[@Fig11000]

I'm trying to figure out your method for Leviathan, it's not working well at all. I slide towards him with Tifa and have Cloud and Aerith run to the left and right. I try to switch back and forth between the two of them but he still manages to cheese me before I can get the pressure on. This guy's video was luck based how he did it to be honest.

[@se785]

My experience (after about 13 hours and 100 000 gil trying to replicate this guide); 1) Follow the guide VERY closely, a 1 second slip up or wrong action will likely get your characters killed, especially in Leviathan/Bahamut fights 2) For Shiva and Fat Chocobo, pressure them as per the instructions in this guide, then finish them off using just your abilities, don't waste MP (True Strike + Mash triangle when ATB not ready/Cross Slash/Sorc Storm) 3) Leviathan was a horrible fight... carefully follow the guide, he's much easier to beat when he uses the Bellow attack (dodge around with Tifa in an arc - I basically parried to the edge of the map and then just continued parrying along the edge of the map till I got right next to him which is a safety zone 4) If Leviathan uses the barrage attack, I found it's much easier to basically just run centrally towards him rather than from the side (I seemed to always get hit when he uses barrage and I run to him from the side) 5) To easily pressure Leviathan, use 2x Thundaga at the start of the fight (with Cloud/Aerith), hit him a couple of times with Tifa till her ATB is charged, use a Dive Kick, then quickly switch back to Aerith, use ATB boost, hit him with another Thundaga from Aerith and that should be enough to pressure, then focus strike to pressure heaven 6) Bahamut fight is VERY action sensitive, as soon as the fight start, cast Fiiraga, like literally as soon as the fight starts, if you even take a few steps forward with Tifa first, it will ruin the sequence and he'll claw you. Once you cast Firaga, follow the guide, quickly cast Arcane ward with Aerith, then RUN around with Tifa till Firaga is cast. If you dodge around with Tifa rather than run while Firaga is being cast, he will claw you. Once you cast Firaga, follow the guide 100% and you'll be ok 7) Goes without saying, copy the equipment setup, get the fury rings, they're not optional. Hope that saves someone the many hours it took me to get it right!

[@Printzea]

I want to bump this comment while also adding something from my experience. While fighting any of these bosses, you NEED to keep an eye on your mana. Maybe it's better to risk it and try to stagger by using focusing strike rather than another aga spell, because if you run into Bahamut or Pride and Joy without enough mana... You are practically done for.

[@bigbadbanana]

The basic -aga spellchain on Bahamut always has me run out of MP before Bahamut is on the ground the second time, I don't use any spells when he's down like in the video, but somehow Tifa is at 0, Aerith is at around 12 (so no more -aga spells) and Cloud has only one left around 25... I just don't understand. I always keep them in the Ward as well. Leviathan is RNG manip fest, I don't seem to grab the pattern of his various attack range triggers yet. Reading people say "I've beat it first try, naked and with the controller in my mouth while the screen was turned off" makes me wanna turn off the whole Internet sometimes.

[@blackonyx1]

@@bigbadbanana I agree 100% with you. I try so hard to mimic his fight with Leviathan, but it NEVER goes the same way. He gets PRESSURED, falls down, then is up within 2-3 seconds before I get a chance to STAGGER him. It's so frustrating.

[@TheLastSOLDIER87]

I can beat Shiva, Fat Chocobo and Leviathan easily following this guide but I CANNOT beat Bahamut. I've tried at least 30 times so far and he still ends up summoning Ifrit. Bahamut doesnt pressure as easily for me as he does in this video. Smh

[@Samalama724]

@@TheLastSOLDIER87 same and idk how to get him to not summon Ifrit. It keeps happening for me when he’s at about 25% health and pressured, he’ll somehow stand up and summon ifrit and it’s ggs. It’s so frustrating because I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. It looks just what he did in the video, but for some reason I still end up with ifrit.

[@xairis5434]

"That was another easy battle, wasn't it?" ... yeah, nope

[@introvertedwall44]

@Max Cranston Fuck out of here with your shitty ass DS meme.

[@fatalerror7228]

Exactly what I was thinking lol

[@DRIDK-qb2rt]

The shiva and fat chocobo is easy lol

[@MasamuneChad]

@Max Cranston L'chaim!

[@AMaidenlessRunt]

@@introvertedwall44 he's not wrong, anyone can easily beat this game in easy and normal, hard mode requires thinking, and learning patterns and adjusting to such so you can come up with a counter to every semi-boss bosses in the game. In other words, git gud. And yes I've yet to git gud but I'm learning to get there!

[@andrewfranklin3242]

Your tip on holding back for the second pressure phase on Bahamut is what got me through this fight. I couldn't figure out why the second pressure phase was so short. Thanks for the guide!

[@jakenastysnake]

Dude, this is the best guide format for FF7R I've come across. All gear and materia load outs right up front, no rambling commentary, short concise instructions, and best of all you show it actually destroys the challenge from start to finish. Mad respect to you bro.

[@setandmatchgaming8943]

This is my favorite vs top secrets first clear guide for two reasons. 1. it is very well put together, providing the build and theory before the fight, unlike most others I have seen, as well as a step by step breakdown of the fights. 2. The step by step breakdown of each fight provides mini objectives for players to strive for. This in turn teaches players not only how to tackle the hardest challenge in the game, but also how to increase the number of effective actions they take per in game second, thus teaching them to be more skilled players in general. This was the biggest joy I got out of testing any of the methods I have seen so far and just wanted to share my gratitude for the experience. When I used this strategy to take out top secrets, my time wasn't as good as yours (I beat it in 5 min). I failed to defeat Leviathan while staggered, but I know that if I had been a bit more efficient I could have. I was also a split second away from having bahamut get back up and summon ifrit which probably would have ended my run, lol. I hope to see more content like this from your channel in the future. You've earned my sub.

[@ivanovalle9764]

I was never able to stop bahamut from summoning ifrit . My atb materias weren’t still all maxed out so I couldn’t cast spells fast enough. On my last try I was lucky enough that bahamut was down to somewhere around 15% HP and I was able to beat him while ignoring ifrit. Although ifrit did kill Aerith, but without bahamut around I was able to get him quickly with just tifa and cloud. Pride and joy was super easy , I pretty much spent most of my MP on bahamut and I beat him mostly on just ability commands on his legs once I ran out of mp on all characters.

[@pigpieds8879]

@J W I care. And congrats for being an actual douchebag. I bet you couldn't follow this method because you're too dumb so trolling made you feel better. smh

[@mxttstrxfe]

After 10 hours of grinding materia and trying over and over again to beat this i final did it. Thanks bro

[@Fzero1453]

The hardest part for this legend was pronouncing "Götterdämmerung" lol

[@jane1975]

@Ferzo: I think its pronounced Ger ter dam er rung, because of that umlaut over the O, I believe its an Opera "Twilight of The Gods" , in this its a trinket to help you with hard mode, as without you basically die, I have only managed Chapters 1-7 on hard, after that I just keep on dying so I need this trinket for the rest of the Chapters to get that Platinum, I don't know why Square thought it was a good idea to do Hard Mode, constantly repeating chapters kind of makes it very boring, no offence to fans of the franchise, but Hard Mode was not necessary imo. Its so memory hungry as well, 90 Gigs is a lot , so I want to remove it when I get the Platinum.

[@Fzero1453]

@@jane1975 it's not really pronounced like that. Translated it means something like 'Dawn of the Gods', often misconcepted as 'Ragnarök', which means more like 'Destiny of the gods'. I don't think hard mode is thaat hard but I'd still agree to some extent.

[@risky5940]

For me it's to pressure leviathan

[@rustyshacklferd1829]

After many attempts at trying it this way i finally did it. Be warned that if you don't get everything perfect you are pretty much screwed. Bahumant got up with one hit left and summoned ifrit right before he died. Just managed to get out of there alive.

[@chrisdaughen5257]

You can replace a few of the stat-raising materia (like luck and Refocus) for revives and prayers if things get a little hairy.

[@atomic_jerry]

BEST GUIDE EVER! After 9 hours, that moment when I got Bahamut down, it was so easy getting this trophy! Thank you so much! What a feeling!

[@user-kb8vg3sm7g]

DUDE. HOW THE HELL DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS?! Are you Soldier 1st Class in real life?

[@JN-bw2wp]

No, but I bet hes an EX-soldier ;)

[@jdeezy_]

He's the real Cloud Strife

[@Paoabarai]

If he's a Soldier, Rufus Shinra would like to know his location.

[@chiefs1645]

My wife is a soldier

[@rigordemonic3191]

Hes not just in soldier he IS SOLDIER

[@setandmatchgaming8943]

This is the pride and joy video a lot of people have been waiting for. Well done.

[@ShinyShinryu]

Thanks, I hope it was worth the wait.

[@nickchrisman8146]

I love how straight to the point you are in a nice, calm manner; no bullshit. Thanks for the help bro!

[@josebermudez3223]

Ok. I am going to admit this. This IS possible even for a 48 yo man like me. I am at awe of how detailed this guide was. And it has to be followed almost to the last command. I tried to be “smarter” doing some tweaks on materia and commands and although it might work the most efficient way is this one. I don’t know how you came up with this strategy but... damn.

[@FinalHideki]

Reading u gave me hope.i just cannot do it.i donno what's is going on, it seems like monsters don't follow any of the patterns shown here.

[@josebermudez3223]

Andree Hide you must be missing something. Did you setup the weapons with the upgrades he indicates? Do you have the materias he uses? Tifas materias are super important. Her ATB bar fills instantaneously and the trick is to attack every time a single slot of her ATB fills up. This won’t give the enemy time to attack and the therefore it won’t matter if they behave different because they won’t have time to attack you. Listen carefully at each attack he performs. Which one is causing you trouble? Just focus on one at a time.

[@FinalHideki]

@@josebermudez3223 just Bahamut, I can easily beat the others in minutes or seconds, but bahamut? Even I I go step by step he just randomly do different things. Sometime it doesn't even follow me when I run to the side. One but kills aerith and stuff like that. I have everything set like he ask. But still no luck.

[@josebermudez3223]

Andree Hide well that means your already there. Once you beat him the final boss is super easy. I even beat him with just aerith after messing up and having tifa and cloud dead. Now for bahamuth it’s 3 parts. First have Cloud Firaga and immediately Aerith cast Arcane Ward on him so Firaga hits twice. Use up both clouds and aeriths atbs with high Firaga and Thundaga from the ward so each hit twice. The purpose is to keep him busy so he does not attack. Priority is to have him hit wit magic repeatedly. After cloud and aeriths atbs are used move in with Tifa. By the time the last spell hits from the ward he should come down and tifa is already hitting him building up atb. Once he’s on his knees part 2 is building full ATB on all 3 because you’ll use all magic attacks on him once he goes back up. Watch as he switches among all 3 hitting until all 3 have full ATB bars. After that just have everyone wait over the arcane ward because once he does the umbral thing you’ll spend all of those atbs on high spells. He keeps switching among all 3 just to keep them on the ward. That’s it. ALL OF THEM SHOULD USE MAGIC until he’s down. If you see him go down a second time just unleash everything.

[@josebermudez3223]

Andree Hide watch my far from perfect run. I did mistakes. But stuck with the strategies and beat it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6mWiJuZo9CchMU&feature=share

[@wrongspellign4320]

you know the guide is really good when other creators take inspiration on this guide.

[@ToasterMcKinley]

A year later watching this, and I got them down with this strat in ~7 tries. Lost cloud and aerith to silence on Pride & Joy, but luckily a few uppercuts to divekick finished off a leg and bought me some time. Thanks man! Straight to the point and effective.

[@DavijoBoy]

The quiet monotone voice makes this even more brutal! 😂😂

[@JN-bw2wp]

It sounds like a conspiracy theory doc

[@gommi5992]

Sounds like he’s trying not to wake someone up

[@patrickdoane7]

It’s like he isn’t even trying 😭😭 haha

[@MrWesley7769]

I remember when this guide came out. So many revelations watching it. Changed my gameplay completely from them out. The muscle memory was hard to ingraine at first, and I had to reference the video several times, but you sir gave me the platinum for this game. It's too bad there's not much to do in this game after that. I never wanted to put this game down. Most fun I've had with a video game in decades. The wait for part 2 is gonna feel like a long one.

[@MrRob49815]

Same as. I was more of a attack and build atb and just use abilities or spells and had my party at max health and didn't even consider using any of the other purple materia. Now I'm using the quick L1 L2 and L1 R2 shortcuts

[@56Tyskie]

Part 2 in a few months brother!

[@Modioman69]

@@56TyskieHa! I’m here from the future timeline and just now using this guide, I waited until Rebirth was near release so I could do it all back to back. I was an OG ps1 player so it’s incredible to finally play.

[@evildead7777]

WOHOOOO!! FINALLY!! took me some trial and error but I managed to do it following your guide to the perfect detail. It works!! I had to improvise on pride and joy because aerith got grabbed. But when that happened I just used cloud to carry on with the thundaga and mashed his back legs with tifa and used tifas dive kick to keep his legs crippled! Thanks so much for the guide. You're a god send! Attempting hard mode now for platinum!

[@DAEMONF1RE]

You are a gentleman, a scholar, and a wonderful human being for making this step-by-step guide. Thank you!

[@ShinyShinryu]

Thanks for watching!

[@johnsonle9440]

I wish i seen this guide before clearing it. Would've made my life easier. The true boss of this game is jules

[@Malledeus86]

Hahaha that is funny as hell!

[@johnharrington9735]

One of the 3 trophies I have left to get... Dude falls once and if you fall, it's over

[@stevezero32]

Jules is my bitch! My personal record on pullups is 61! But I still haven't beaten P&J.

[@CapytanCrimp]

So true, I doped him up though and edged him out at 46

[@TechSuma]

I won with 44

[@Yuoaman]

This video was a godsend, your clear instructions were extremely helpful and I really do appreciate you taking the time to do more than just show an unedited run because without someone explaining what the heck is going on on screen it can be a bit difficult to follow videos like this. Thanks again!

[@ethan9435]

This is what i call a tutorial, making something insanely difficult accessible to everyone. Hope to see more guides from you!

[@markmrkc1]

IT'S TRULY AMAZING HOW YOU CAME UP WITH THIS STRATEGY! EASY TO FOLLOW WITH NO DAMAGE! YOU ARE THE BEST!

[@Mlackakao]

It’s almost like listening to Sherlock as he calculates each move to defeat his foes.

[@garintj1547]

Haha, I was thinking that, when he was in the command bar and tifa was running in slow motion I could almost hear "dazed, the opinion will throw a blind haymaker, counter with right block and swift jab to the cheek."

[@zodzecht]

Like a Jojo character lol

[@vinsuncannystash7993]

Still works! Four years later!! Thanks again helped me platinum trophies on PS5. I’m sure you helped me 4 years ago on PS4 as well lol

[@setandmatchgaming8943]

Also, if anyone is wondering how to get the fury rings just replay chapter 14 and head straight to Corneo's mansion. The ring can be found in the main lobby/ reception area beneath the stairs. It's repeatable so just keep replaying that portion until you have all 3.

[@kyleyang4711]

Set and Match Gaming thank you 🤧

[@trevoryong]

Do you mean that you can just collect the ring, cancel out and restart the level and get it again? Or do I need to complete the whole chapter over and over? I need to get the Elemental Materia a second time but I really can’t be bothered doing all of the side missions again :(

[@setandmatchgaming8943]

@@trevoryong yeah, that's what I did for my third ring. I got the first two while playing on normal and hard, but my third one I just played up until I got the ring, saved, and then went straight back to chapter 17

[@coyzmann]

@@trevoryong if you plan to do dress achievement, you will play repeatedly. and this item basically is the last event of the chapter, no more fight if you manage to get this item

[@trevoryong]

@@coyzmann Thanks. Just not sure I care enough to go through that chapter again. I've already played it twice just to complete the Colosseum and it was so painful beating the Hell House.

[@iamravenous_]

I followed this guide step-for-step, pausing the game between crucial timings, and did it on the first try! Awesome guide, thanks!

[@UnKnOvvNPeRsOnA]

You didn't beat it on the first try pinocchio

[@derickito]

2 years later and this guide is still very relevant. Was able to beat this easily after trying for 4 days. Awesome.

[@omensoffate]

Why wouldn’t it be ?

[@ranggaadhi9440]

Wow. And here i am playing defensively with a tiniest bit of luck againts bahamut. Lol. Well done

[@sandrabreacleon_girl]

honestly, I tried the all in magic approach with him and ended up using all my mp and still getting damaged, with none left for curing. I don't know, maybe I needed more luck or something... but I ended up going for a more balanced approach.

[@Giohannesburg]

Best guide ever! It takes a few attempts to learn how to master it, especially for timing and switching character at right time, but it definitely works! Amazing!

[@renizlmao]

Took me 9 days of doing this to beat it and I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without this guide thanks so much man 👍

[@elcesaru]

Hey man, I just got this too and it also took me 9 days!!!!!

[@heisenberg272]

It done take y'all nine days?? What for? it took me 3 hours of suffering but i got it done.

[@Righteous1ist]

This would take a lot of practice since if you mess up you're dead lol. But It's by far the best guide on KZbin since there's a lot of explanation on each boss's attacks and how to beat it.

[@blyth4253]

Took me 1 hour to finally make it. Its kinda hard to keep the atb up all the time, but its doable. Only the pride and joy went a little worse, as he grabbed cloud, so aerith ran out of mana. But its possible!

[@Righteous1ist]

@@blyth4253 If you practiced a lot of times before finding this guide then it's faster. Because after finding this guide and then getting all the materia and gear needed, I was able to beat it in about an hour too.

[@Righteous1ist]

It's by far the best guide on KZbin.

[@blyth4253]

@@Righteous1ist yeah, it was the same for me, its really nice once you see it working

[@shinjinanahara]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I finally got this trophy now. This almost broke me and I kept getting stuck on Leviathan. When I did finally get past it, I killed Bahamut first time even though I made a mistake and allowed him to summon Ifrit (then I killed Ifrit with Blizzaga) and Tifa died right at the start of the Pride & Joy fight, because I forgot how to parry. Still managed to kill it first time with just Cloud and Aerith. Cast the arcane ward and then kept casting thunder type spells on the legs and building up ATB by striking the enemy in between. Great video. Thanks again.

[@jsoucy420]

By heart was pumping so hard while doing all this, but his voice is so calm and comforting haha

[@duestahaha]

Wow! Finally got this done after 2 days of trying. As others have mentioned, you have to follow this exactly.. down to the weapon core upgrades, and the materia as well. I questioned some of the materia choices and tried to mix it up slightly and got nowhere, so I finally took the time to AP grind the materia used here and followed the specs exactly and got it done in about 3-4 goes

[@maxl9021]

This guide helped me to get my platinum trophy, thank you so much :) I just gave Aerith the magnify materia+heal (saved me during the Bahamut fight)

[@NinetyNineNo]

Excellent guide. At times it was a bit inconsistent (depending on either RNG or minute differences in positioning and timing compared to this video), but the strategy is undoubtedly effective and help me clear this challenge, which might have just killed my soul played normally. Much appreciated.

[@itsSmiv]

This is a perfect guide! I can't wait to use this and obliterate top secrets. You're a lifesaver, thank you.

[@ShinyShinryu]

I don't know about perfect, but I do hope it helps.

[@itsSmiv]

@@ShinyShinryu it definitely helped! worked like a charm, in fact. my VERY first attempt at top secrets was a success and I beat it in 3:32. All thanks to this guide!

[@vontay77]

This is what I've been looking for. I've struggled with this 1. After losing about a dozen times I just started playing the chapters on hard. I was waiting on a guide like this

[@vontay77]

You just earned a new subscriber!

[@ShinyShinryu]

@@vontay77 Thanks!

[@coolkyle9000]

This took me many many hours until I came across this video and oh my god, it looked so easy! Literally spent 4 hours just grinding AP to attempt this method and after a few tries I finally got the platinum! Bro, you're Literally a godsend 🎉

[@carolpfaff764]

I can confirm that this works! It took me two entire days of trying though, a lot of frustration but it DOES work lol thank you so much!

[@ShinyShinryu]

Grats on the clear

[@ninjatunez9178]

Agree it took me 4 hours but learning the pattern and the patients for it well fucking worth it 👍👍

[@RocKeRGRL1212]

2 days i dont have 2 days i have things to do in real life lol

[@riggitystorm7331]

Been on this longer than 2 days and can't get part bahamut. I also need 2 more fury rings

[@dylanseychell2699]

This is the hardest part yet and i still need to do chapter 18 :(

[@jamespenman7105]

Just another person who managed to finish this fight thanks to this guide. You're the real SOLDIER.

[@CarterMack]

After 100+ tries i got it!!! It was so difficult but i could not have done it without this guide. Thank you!

[@ShinyShinryu]

Congrats!

[@Spawnus]

I know it's been over a year since you did this video but thank you so much! I finally got this fight done and the platinum trophy! Thank you for the guide.

[@easynow1337]

This is a great tutorial, but it can be inconsistent, I have ran shiva like 15 times to get the muscle memory down, and have done the fight identical every time, sometimes she gets to stagger, other times shes one hit away and flys off and does diamond dust. I think this is by far the best tutorial, it just sucks when you get to bahamut and the inconsistency factors can kick in. I'm sure if you have run it hundreds of times those inconsistencies will be a tiny fraction of a chance, its frustrating lol. My best so far after playing for like 2 hours testing it, is bahamut 1/3rd health, unable to keep him from attacking even if I hit him with aga spells. I think they have to be timed apart from each other and not spammed, which is something people should think about. Spamming them constantly seems to not hold him down long enough

[@ShinyShinryu]

Yeah, that's definitely an aspect that's difficult for me to gauge. Because I've done this challenge countless times, my perception is skewed a bit, and things that I don't think of as threats can actually be pretty dangerous without that same experience. For Bahamut, yeah, there's definitely some timing required. You don't want to do it too quickly because you'll leave a gap for him to recover, but going too slowly will also leave a gap.

[@sakonan4883]

I found the same thing I think it depends on how much damage you’re dealing too with the aga spells because the spells don’t deal consistent damage I did this simulation several times using this strategy. The first time this strategy worked for me, I managed to beat Bahamut without letting him summon. But sometimes when my damage output isn’t high enough, I won’t beat him fast enough and he will get to summon. The two magic ups I had on Aerith were only leveled 3/5. But thankfully, his HP is very low at that point and I beat him around the time he summons Ifrit

[@mattmaldonado182]

Basically i attempted for about 1-2 hours without every materia maxed, couldn't get past bahamut. Grinded ap for about 2 hours, maxed out everything, then managed to do exactly the same as this video here in like, 20-30 minutes trying. Remembering: the rings aren't optional, they are a must have! Shiva: she is always 100% staggered, and even if somehow you don't manage to stagger her(maybe you didnt have materias maxed out or perhaps while choosing to cast stop you didn't press l1 to cast it single target, but i don't know if this really matters at all), you're still fine. You should just spam fire (not, fira or firaga) with cloud and aerith, both at the same time, untill she is pressured again. Otherwise you will never be able to hit her due to she being able to recast her ice-barrier thing before fira or firaga goes off thus being virtually invincible... So i'd say she is fail proof. Fat chobo: i dont know how the fight goes if you dont kill it in the first stagger, he's pretty easy... Can even save some aerith mp casting ra spells instead of ga spells while he is staggered, i would still use ga spells on cloud, but it's up to you to say how much mp u can save by payin attention to the chobos hp bar.Tifa spam true strike nonstop while staggered and its done. Leviathan: even if it gets up you can still easily win, since it seems that even with everything maxed and following the guide there's an RNG factor in this fight. If it gets up, you just keep spaming thundaga and dodging whatever you can, since he is not tanky at all.I think out of about the 10 times or so i attempted, once or twice i felt like restarting... the HP of your characters doesnt matter at all here, if you get past with 1 hp it's all, just be sure to try to save aerith some mp with ra spells if possible, cloud has lesser mp consumption on this equipment/materia set, so if you feel like using ga spells for dmg, use him. Bahamut: I did the same strat as the video, but he got up and managed to summon ifrit when he was with about 5% hp left. I think the key is how far he gets pressured from the arcane ward so you don't have to walk that far your characters to the ward and losing a bit of time.But even if he does summon ifrit, If bahamut dies as soon after that and before unleashing any attack it's still ok since ifrit is really weak.... You can kill ifrit spammin blizzara with aerith in the arcane ward and using tifa and cloud to build stagger. Pride and Joy: it goes exaclty as the video depicts, way easier than the bahamut fight. If you got that, this one is not gonna be a problem for you. Hope it gave a little bit more of an insight to anyone who's still struggling with this. And thanks for the awesome video with this dope strat!!

[@Drewbie___]

The way I do it is kinda the same as Shinryu. I start off with using the firaga's with Cloud and Aerith, run up to her with Tifa, build my atb, use stop, switch to Aerith, build up her atb, use arcane ward on Cloud, switch to Clould, use firaga's, switch back to Tifa, build up atb again, use stop again, switch to Aerith again, use one more firaga, switch back to tifa, use punches, use starshower, and finish her off with punches. Works every time

[@mattapplegate7830]

Anyone willing to shareplay this?? 😭

[@MarcoSilva-om9sy]

Got some error on my coment its not here, let me Try again... what I wanna say this was such an amasing guide. I just beat this challenge after 3 days Trying omg! And I did not have the materia maxed out but it worked, it was incredible thank you for this guide, people it really works. I was so lucky on the final boss because I didn't had more mp but I got trought! Thank you

[@MalevolentMinun]

Dude that was fantastic! Turned a 45 minute fight into less than 10, it was incredible to watch the strategies in action 💪👍

[@mikkelbertholdhansen2276]

I know I'm 3 years late, but this guide really helped me. Everything worked fine and dandy, until i fucked up against Bahamut. Bastard managed to summon Ifrit before the last thundaga hit him... So I had to fight Him, too. I got the Trophy and I can now continue on with Hard mode! Once again, thank you so much!

[@HartDynastyHD]

I love you for this, especially the Bahamut bit was incredibly useful

[@rayggron]

When FF7R Intergrade came out I bought it, beat the game and tried to go for the platinum. This was literally the only thing stopping me from getting it. I watched so many video guides on it back then, even this one, but to no avail, so I shelved the game thinking I'd never be able to beat it. Finally, after picking the game back up again today to see if I could beat it, I do it on my second attempt following this guide. Thank you!!! Felt like damn ages the amount of time I spent on this.

[@bigmickrafferty1261]

Absolutely amazing guide, don’t expect it to work first time as you’ll need to get used to the play style and also get the muscle memory down for what to do and when to do it. You’ll get further and further each time just keep following it!

[@joaovitorcruz5133]

This guide is incredible, after testing it with all the rings and materia on (the materia wasn't even upgraded to max lol) i beat it on the third time! Thanks a lot, made my platinum a breeze.

[@larissabordt4238]

Thank you so so much, just before I defeated Bahamut he summoned Ifrit and I was sure i couldnt do it, but then I defeated Bahamut with one last Thundaga and then i just hitted Ifrit with everything i could. I was so happy about finally beating Bahamut I dont even know anymore how i beat Pride and Joy. Thank you so so much.

[@masumiru]

My hat is off for you, kind sir. My goodness I was left speechless and laughed after every summon got defeated. By far the best “guide” in terms of efficiency and explanation. Thank you kindly for this magnificent gift to us.

[@Syberchance]

This was clutch, totally cleared it after a few tries, Bahamut doesn’t leave any room for error! Thanks for the great help man

[@ShinyShinryu]

Glad it helped, grats on your clear

[@iang.101]

Thank you for this. Straight, to the point. Tried other FAQs and videos, yours was the easiest to understand and duplicate. Couldn’t believe some other guys had Götterdämmerung equipped in their videos, as if it was readily available to most of us… smh. Thank you for not doing this. It took about 15 attempts to get it “close to right”. I had so little MP left after finally beating Bahamut (I wasn’t nearly as efficient as you), I barely beat the Pride and Joy Prototype. Tifa and Cloud were KOd and Aerith had to Soul Drain to squeak out 3 Thunders to win. LOL. Did it though, all thanks to you. Cheers!

[@jamessultan2252]

To the person who sees this comment, you got this! It took me quite a few tries, and I even died at the Pride and Joy once. You're in good hands with this method, even though you'll have to practice it multiple times

[@pixelbatz]

Oh god just started this process and I literally want to cry 😅 it's my last thing I need to do in the game

[@JD_13]

Hey James from 7 months ago. I jsut want to say I was giving up when I read a few comments like yours and decided to keep going. Finally got it done. Ifrit was summoned and cloud died, but I clutched the win. Cheers mate.

[@jamessultan2252]

@@JD_13 congratulations! I'm super glad you didn't give up and I'm glad the encouragement worked!

[@JD_13]

@@jamessultan2252 haha it absolutely did. I thought this video was possibly a fluke dependant on rng, but you reminded me that practice and dying many times was the way to get it done hahaha. Have a good one

[@VincentVaIentine]

playing a single match without heals/revival/any defensive materia gives me anxiety the whole game.

[@thaboiinblue]

Ngl. It took me a HOT minute to do it… 😭😭 But with your help I DEFINITELY improved DRAMATICALLY very quickly! I was able to slice through the first two like butter consistently almost the whole time! Had a lot of trouble with the third but eventually started making that one easy too. Fourth was a B*TCH, lmao. But eventually I got him once ai realized I needed to redo my weapon upgrades (I didn't check the description at first 😭). THEN I CLAPPED THEM ALL IN NO TIME!!! Mostly I needed to adjust my weapon stats and follow the tips and I was GOLDEN!!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 Thank you!!! 😄😄😄

[@taizuke]

I saw this guide a week ago and thought to myself "there's no way I can do this" and just kept playing on Hard. Eventually though I got to the point where I was powerful enough to try this challenge only for Bahamut to Megaflare me back to this video. Playing like the video suggests made me feel like a god because I was the one dealing the punishment and not the other way around. I never comment on videos but this truly deserves more than just a "like". Thank you, Shinryu.

[@nek5519]

I literally just completed, this guide worked perfectly I couldn’t be happier. Definitely takes a few tries but if you’re an experienced player you can get it done! Amazing guide thank you

[@LW1773]

Man Pride and Joy is a CAKEWALK compared to Bahamut. After about an hour of using this walkthrough I finally got platinum. Thank you

[@Sagekun]

Thank you for the guide! Took me a while to get it done since I got the reflexes of a tree... Leviathan kept attacking before I could pressure it and Bahamut managed to summon Ifrit a basic attack before I could kill it but it worked out in the end! Appreciate the help!

[@MomoSu88]

I enjoyed fighting them without guide and got the adrenaline pumps during it.. the excitement after beating it was so marvelous.. nice guide.. edit: and it took me around 20+ minutes to defeat them for first time..lol

[@ShinyShinryu]

For a lot of things, I think going in blind is the most fun way to experience it for sure.

[@jaunzftw]

Excellent guide, thank you. Had to use thundara instead of thundaga on the last phase myself, kept running out of MP and getting wiped out with the boss on 10% HP

[@VapourXY]

On the last 20% of its health... My Tifa got grabbed, Aerith has been silenced so she can’t do anything really, and Cloud was out of MP. So it was up to Cloud’s brute force ATB attacks for me. And that was the most intense situation I’ve ever overcome in any Final Fantasy T-T

[@Righteous1ist]

LOL WTF almost the same thing happened to me just now but mine was even more intense. Tifa was grabbed because I couldn't keep up with having enough ATB for continuous Thundaga to put PnJ on it's knees. Aerith is dead. Cloud is the only one standing with 10% hp while PnJ has 15% hp left. I ran around PnJ within his grabbing range while attacking him from behind and trying to build enough ATP to use Triple Slash. I did this intense cycle repeatedly till I was left with about 2% hp and used about 4 Triple Slashes and finally beat him. CHEERS ALL. THANK YOU Shinryu. You have my sub bro.

[@TechSuma]

I nearly had the same intense but failed 😅

[@FelipeKlussmann]

The same, and also failed

[@legomenjj]

Watching this after the under 2 min vid is just crazy. even with this it gonna take me forever

[@flyingeagle2883]

so i tried this tutorial atleast 50 times and i finay got it. i was mostly getting things wrong for Bahamut as he would most certainly call Ifrit everytime,even when i got it he was gonna summon ifrit when i got him from tifa. come pride and joy prototype tifa fell from the first beam he hits and i had to use cloud for magic and physical defense too,he was low on hp and i was out of mp too,used cloud for triple slash and soul drain from aerith got the job done. Thanks for this guide. you the man.

[@scottreed4513]

Sadly, even with this, I still can't beat top secrets. I've got all but 3 manuals. The 2 in chapter 18, and the chapter 15 one. All other chapters are completed in hard. My timing is the issue I'm sure.. I'll keep trying this method, as the video, instructions, and breakdown is extremely well explained. Amazing job. Thanks for this

[@ShinyShinryu]

Some of the timing can be pretty finicky, Leviathan especially. Timing the spells on Bahamut may take a few tries too, but it's consistent once you get it down.

[@scottreed4513]

@@ShinyShinryu with some modifications and luck..I finally did it..thank you.

[@ShinyShinryu]

Grats on the clear

[@FeroleSquare]

This guide is so awesome, I had trouble executing the Bahamut part so I removed 1 materia per character to get 1 resurect and 2 heal just in case, it saved me and I completly destroyed this challenge in less than 4 minutes. Many thanks

[@ShinyShinryu]

Grats on the clear!

[@ajimafiq8]

Which materia did u removed?

[@legendaryseph9406]

Azim Afiq probably a refocus and luck up, it says in the description those would be the best to replace

[@ajimafiq8]

@@legendaryseph9406 Well i already platinum the game thnks to this vid tho

[@legendaryseph9406]

Azim Afiq I don’t and I’ve tried so many times, I’m 3 trophies from the platinum and I want beat pride and joy before I beat the game on hard mode, but most of the UP materia that I have isn’t maxed and I can’t get the timing right for bahamut and I keep dying and it’s just...sigh

[@fatboykoby8858]

I’m 3 years late but this guide helped a lot. I still had trouble with ifrit getting summoned but was able to cheese him with Tifas dodge. After that pride and joy was cake even after running out of MP. Thanks for the help man hope to see you make videos on rebirth

[@homerlandon8767]

This guide is amazing. I still can’t execute the plan as well. I die at either Bahamut or leviathan

[@lennyreed9831]

Keep on at it the same was happening for me but I got there in the end, with leviathan make sure you change party members to pause his actions!

[@caio14brasil]

Yeah, Leviathan should be easier to kill after some time of training (Bahamut never gets easy for me lol). Even if u can't defeat it on the first stagger, it's kinda safe to finish it when it start flying around. Be sure to have nice magic stats and abuse thundaga

[@annoyingmish]

I rarely like KZbin videos but this one deserved it because your guide is the only reason I was able to beat this challenge! Thank you!

[@skyler7305]

Thank you, with your guide I was able to do it. There was a struggle but obviously that's just timing and skill issues on my part. After a week of trying I have accomplished the pride and joy fight.

[@evilfishstick4488]

THANK YOU!!! I FINALLY BEAT THIS AFTER WEEKS OF FAILURE! I followed this guide to a tee and managed to scrape by just barely! I beat the first three bosses pretty easily but when it came to Bahamut, I ALMOST let him summon Ifrit. He was a split second away from being summoned but I managed to kill him just in time! And it also helped that Pride and Joy was a complete pushover. I can finally sleep at night! Thanks again and you've earned yourself a new subscriber!

[@lambo2655]

Fantastic strategy, didn't think it was possible to skip Ifirit showing up. Wow I bet you just owned hard mode.

[@treelo11]

I think if its only possible because of mp recovery in the battle simulation. Not sure how sustainable it is in normal gameplay.

[@SnakeDoctorSilver]

Thanks for the guide! I struggled for a bit because I put the right perks on mythril rod but forgot to equip it and was using a different weapon with over 120+ unspent skillpoints lol...also if anyone is having a hard time on Bahamut I would reccomend taking off one of tifas luck materias and putting an MP up on tifa which will allow you to more consistently pressure Bahamut to either delay or prevent ifrit from spawning at all. Before I switched I felt like I didn't have enough mp with tifa to help keep up the pressure.

[@rkm1091]

Wow. After a week of leveling up all the materia needed and attempting this dozens of times, I did it! I had to fight Ifrit and actually beat pride and joy first try even after losing Cloud and Tifa. If it wasn't for this guide I couldn't have done it! Thank you so much!!!

[@ShinyShinryu]

Congrats!

[@tsmiletiev]

Great tutorial! I've been trying like six hours to beat them... finally did it! Thanks

[@eao89]

A bit of trouble with leviathan taking out half everyone’s health before getting pressured and melting away. Bahamut is easy peasy with this method thanks for that. Ran out of mp near the end of P&J since I’m not good with arcane ward setups but Aerith took down that last sliver of health for the win. This was the first time I beat Bahamut and managed to win it. Thanks a billion for the guide! Now for the Hard Mode run

[@rafami690]

Thank you, dude. I managed to keep my sanity in check thanks to this guide 🙏

[@ShinyShinryu]

Thank you, I'm glad it was helpful

[@omegagilgamesh]

Wow. Just wow. I knew the community would come up with strategies to make this right easier, but goddamn this is above and beyond. I better do this before SquareEnix gets wind and patches it to make this strategy not work or something.

[@irvintang2751]

Have you tried it? It’s still not easy. Some of the fights leaves zero room for error and if you missed a command for half a second, team wipe.

[@chasejackson7248]

You can't patch out gameplay that legitimate.

[@YuukiBrS]

I have held off the platinum trophy because of this, always got stuck at leviathan. This method got me through the whole mission i’m a breeze, although i had to practice the bahamut fight. Thank you for your service!

[@YuukiBrS]

@@ludfrey5279 ps5

[@vinceunknown1935]

Been looking for a proper strat for this, other videos have like 20mins on this just barely getting by which is hardly any help but you just destroy it like nothing well done!

[@swtboiPnoiX]

I rarely comment on any KZbin video, but this was incredible!

[@TheBalanceOfficial]

I finally did it, thank you so much, I had a little hiccup with leviathan and ifrit but I got it done. Also a huge shout out to the guy in the comments noting that switching helps with that damn sea serpent

[@jobete1]

Great video! Man it helped me finally beat bahamut and pride and joy prototype! Thanks!

[@jeremycheek322]

Makes it look easy for sure, once I get to leviathan it’s game over for me.

[@cwmiller80]

He literally NEVER reacts this way for me. Takes way more hits to pressure him and he starts moving and using his blast immediately.

[@jeremycheek322]

chris miller There’s video of him using tifas limit break which I could see it get him staggered but how do you get the limit break that high that quick?

[@cwmiller80]

@@jeremycheek322 he would have the ultimate accessory if it's a subsequent run which gives you limit break. I wonder if the luck stuff has anything to do with it? I can wipe the first 2 bosses in about a minute combined but then the enemy behavior never matches and 4-5 thunder casts (at max level) doesn't pressure him.

[@Fool-arxana]

Same with me. After two thundagas he used an aoe attack and tail whip. Question though, if I play in hard and choose Levi in Charley's VR, is it the same or not? I think I want to practice first to get my timing's right.

[@sauce-mahoney1114]

I can't even get pass fat chocobo. Let alone i'm one slot short for each weapon to fit all the materia he suggested and only have one fury ring. Its pretty obvious to do this setup that some time has to be invested on hard in chapter 14 to get 2 more fury rings, manuscripts, and practice before pulling off this MIRACLE. Fml.

[@edgyman-fk]

Thank you. It took some practice but I managed to beat this in around 10 tries after following your guide. Compare that to the hundreds of attempts I made before with varying success, you saved me a lot of time and frustration. You're a hero, man. lol

[@cmwhite2421]

Leviathan is the most inconsistent part of this fight for me. My party loves to just avoid the Arcane Ward I put down and Leviathan likes to move around the map right before staggering. Edit: Restarted my game and Leviathan was behaving normally. Spooky shit. Awesome strategy, brother.

[@MisterCoswel]

Don’t bother with the ward just cast 4 or 5 Thundagas as fast as you can good luck with Bahamut tho you have to follow the guide to a tee if you wanna beat him with this set up

[@StoicEver]

Leviathan seems to move more when you directly control a character within melee range. I use barret and shhot from a distance and use the shoulder buttons to use atb on the others.

[@sarumes]

Awesome run, very straightforward and no nonsense. Loved it

[@heinthiha662]

Finally did it. Without a guide, I wouldn’t survive past round 3. Haha. Even with one, I had to try like 40times to get it right. Thanks a lot man!

[@1992mattyowen]

I'm gonna use this next time I try the fight, I managed to get to Bahamut but he used Megaflare and 1 shot my whole party, even when they were max health, 9999 damage 🤷‍♂️😭

[@ThisNerdyKid]

Amazing tutorial dude. I had almost none of the Materia maxed up and spent all day grinding for it and I needed to run through chapter 9 twice for the Fury Rings but I just beat this on my 2nd try. Awesome work

[@ShinyShinryu]

Grats on the clear

[@danryder3865]

You can get them easier on ch 14

[@milk-el8vq]

@@danryder3865 nah chapter 16 up until the glass door out of the garage on easy with a magic build using magnify firaga