Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier starter's guide - Tips and tricks for new players

Jumpstart your Soldier Candidacy by mastering these basics

Square Enix has finally entered the battle royale scene with Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. For decades, the ever-popular Final Fantasy VII RPG has seen prequels, sequels, spin-offs, and reimaginations in its universe. Fortunately, we can bank on Square Enix to pull out the big guns to ensure Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier reaps enough success to run for years.

At first glance, one may think Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier comes off as some sort of PUBG clone wearing a Final Fantasy dressing. However, key differences ensure The First Soldier stands on its own two legs amongst its battle royale competition. And so, we've created a guide to prepare new players for their first drops into Midgar. Topics covered include a getting started summary for creating your Soldier Candidate (your playable character), recommended in-game settings to ease your playing experience, details on battle basics, and a few tips/tricks to build consistency to secure your wins.

Getting started

Creating your Soldier Candidate

As a player, you're provided the option to personify your in-game character with a Final Fantasy flourish. You can choose between male and female characters with a couple of pre-sets to determine your base appearance.

Next up, you can select your hairstyle, eye, and eyebrow style. If you wish to create a more anime-esque character, these options come in various colors. Additionally, shades of brown/blonde/red are offered if you prefer to stick to something a little more realistic.

The final two customization options are your mouth/nose and voice type (how squeaky or mature your character's voice lines sound).

You'll finish the process after entering your Candidate name, which is your character's displayed in-game name.

In-game settings

Change your preferences anytime under Settings.

Recommended in-game settings to ease your playing experience:

• Shooting Mode: Auto Fire.

  
• Controls: Automatically open doors (on) and Auto Pickup (on).

• Layout UI: Uncluttered/no button overlaps (needed space to maneuver the camera).

  

• Graphics: Low (Graphics Quality) and Medium/High (Framerate).

  
• Sounds: Environment Sounds (volume at 100).

The above settings have been chosen for stable performance while reducing manual input needed; less manual input ensures you can pay attention to your surroundings while running and gunning. Considering battle royales require a faster pace of play, having less to do means you can spend more time planning your strategy.

Note: Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier also offers controller support alongside its touch controls. Stick to using a lower sensitivity under the controller settings to get the most consistent performance.

Learning the battle basics

Thankfully you're not dropped straight into a match to learn the battle basics on your own. Instead, the game holds your hand in the training range until you've completed every tutorial.

Before you hop into matchmaking, let's break down some battle basics to gain the upper hand in your matches.

Movement

You can run, jump, crouch, combat roll (double tap crouch), and parkour (climb walls).

Tip: Long-pressing jump against a wall allows you to climb up the wall. Abuse this to gain height on buildings for better vantage points.

Outside the helicopter during drop-off and respawns, Chocobos and motorcycles are your primary mode of transportation.

The screenshot above contains an example of a Chocobo's appearance in-game.

Tip: Chocobos are more reliable for transportation as they are agile and quiet. Chocobos can perform a melee kick if you need some offensive support while riding.

Materia

Materia is your equipped magic, and these skills require MP (magic points) for their use. Soldier Candidates can slot three pieces of Materia at once. Furthermore, Materia can be upgraded during a match by finding duplicates. Materia is divided by type: Magic and Summoning.

Magic Materia is further divided into offensive magic, casting Materia damage to anyone in range (remember, friendly fire and self-infliction are possible). Supportive Materia, such as Cure and Raise, can heal HP or revive teammates in range. Utility-based Materia provides offensive and defensive edges while playing. Offensive examples include traps that can diminish sightlines or slow down your opponent. Defensive (team-based) utilities, such as Teleport, offer an easy way to help your teammates quickly move from one place to another.

Summoning Materia is a little different. There's no guarantee you'll find/obtain a Summon during a match. Summons (Ifrit, Shiva, and Bahamut) appear as bosses on the battlefield. Defeating them grants you access to their powers.

Equipping Styles

Final Fantasy fans will recognize Styles as the franchise's well-known 'Job' or 'Class' system. Equipped Styles add unique traits (can't be swapped), abilities, and skills to your characters. Your melee weapon changes based on the Style you select. Note: Try to stick with one Style at a time so that you can master it.

List of styles

• Dragoon: Jump from high above to glide or perform a divebomb attack. Recommended for those who prefer a staged strategy for taking out opponents – spears also offer a wide melee range.

• Monk: Reduces some damage taken. The triggered passive allows HP recovery, critical hits on melee attacks, and a boost in movement speed. It is recommended for defensive players looking to survive their way to victory.

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• Ninja: You gain the ability to double jump and jump when falling during a parkour movement. Recommended for those who want to be sneaky and scout out Soldier Candidate opponents.

• Ranger: Let's you hold more ammo and find more ammo. Reload time and falloff damage is decreased. Recommended for those looking just a more vanilla gunplay experience.

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• Sorcerer: Potential to increase Magic Materia (Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder) damage and recovers MP faster. Recommended for those who enjoy using Materia offensively to get the upper edge.

• Warrior: Distance increased for melee weapon range and protects you from incoming damage while moving/using the Rush ability. Recommended for those more comfortable using melee weapons over guns/Materia.

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Tips and tricks

As a beginner, don't stress if you feel you need to learn everything at once. Focus on understanding how to maneuver around Midgar, get used to the parkour movement style of your character, and experiment with Materia, Styles, and weapons. Also, check out these additional tips and tricks to help get you started.

• Practice in a Standard Match to get used to the game's mechanics and map before jumping into Ranked. Additionally, select the Practice Mode to study Materia range/cast times and guns.

  
• Materia (offensive Magic) can inflict friendly fire, so be aware of where you use it!
• Arm yourself with Potions (HP and MP) and supportive Materia: Raise can bring a teammate back to life.

• Call a Chocobo for transportation. Use this method to escape when the map zones start shrinking.

  
• Melee weapons offer a smooth combat experience, so utilize your weapon if you're in range!
• Defeat monsters to get items, level up and strengthen your equipment. Gaining any edge is important.

• Collect Gil (money) to spend at vending machines for ammo, items, and equipment upgrades.

  
• Be sneaky. Walk slowly and crouch to prevent enemy units from hearing you.

First Soldier is constantly evolving

Season 2 is already kicking off on a high note with lots of exciting new content. Square Enix is bringing updates to the table to add new Styles, Materia, Summons, weapons, and cosmetics. But the addition of more content means you'll have to cook up new strategies to keep you at the top of your game.

If you're a Final Fantasy fan looking for an experience out of the RPG norm, The First Soldier might be right up your alley. Also, if you're already a fan of battle royales, there's no reason to avoid checking this title out, so go ahead and grab the game through the Play Store widget below to begin your first drop.