The amount of Materia in each party member or rain absolute destruction to enemies. Some work well on their own too so don't discount their abilities as they might surprise even the biggest Final Fantasy 7 Remake fan out there.
Summon Materia is inherently useful, so we'll forgo those here and focus purely on the other Materia types as there is a wide variety of them to choose from. Before delving too deep though, a quick mention is that some of the Materia can be well hidden and requires a bit of puzzle-solving to get. All the instructions will be below so finding that missing Materia will be easier than finding a cat in the Slums.
The Magnify Materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Magnify is all about creating AOE attacks and being a helpful Materia is definitely in the wheelhouse here. To activate its AOE attacks, the Materia must be slotted with another Materia linking them together to get the full effect. Getting this Materia is done by going to Chapter 9 and going to a section that has containers that need to be moved around. After some fancy container moving, the Materia is up for grabs and the enemies won't stand a chance.
The Barrier Materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
The Barrier Materia is one Materia that will be useful in the Normal mode of the game and also the Hard mode as well. This is a powerful Materia that can either be gotten by Jessie as a gift in Chapter 4 when attempting to get Cloud's payment or later on in Rocket Town to buy from the shop. The usefulness is amplified when hitting three stars as having a Barrier up will protect against physical and magical damage, very handy when trying to not get one-shotted in Hard mode.
The Time Materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
The Time Materia is a reward for completing the Missing Children's side quest in Sector 5. After defeating the boss, the Materia is acquired and allows for Haste at the star level one, Slow on level two, and Stop on level 3. The Haste skill is invaluable as having full ATB bars, unleashing waves of attacks on the enemies is essential for the later stages of the game. A second location to pick up this ultra-useful Materia is in Shinra HQ at Hojo's Laboratory. There is a large round platform that has some numbered s and this is the location to get the second Time Materia.
The Auto-Cure Materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
In the Slums, during Chapter 3, Chadley is a character that is vital to getting some of the more sought after Materia and the Auto Cure is the first one that can be gotten through him. Completing Battle Intel Report #01 is needed to get this Materia off his hands. Auto-Cure is extremely useful when applying it to a character that is not being controlled as sometimes the AI characters are not that bright and the Auto-Cure can get them out of a jam. Very useful when the action is going haywire and going from character to character becomes a bit much.
The First Strike Materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
This Materia is also gotten from Chadley but the Battle Intel Report to complete is #03. This is one of the trickier ones to do. The simplest way to complete it is to have either Tifa or Barret attack an enemy until they get staggered, use a potion or another item when their ATB meter is at full to drop them to one bar, then strike them with the triangle button to fill the gauge back up, completing one bar. Do this 10 times and the Report will be completed in no time. Staggering, getting the meter up to a full bar while using the triangle attack are the main points to completing the report.
The Elemental Materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
The Elemental Materia is valuable in several instances as it can raise the damage done by weapons by adding an elemental to it. A great example is if a boss that's coming up is weak against fire, pair it up with the Elemental Materia and do weapon damage and fire damage at the same time. Enemies will drop like stones if you can do a quick Assess to find weaknesses, so preparedness is what this Materia is all about. Finding it is at the Sector 4 Plate Interior near the main platform that is asked to be powered up during this mission. This one can be found, along with an MP Up Materia, by beginning from Sun Lamp 2. From the Sun Lamp, go down the ladder, take the floating bridge across, go left twice in a row to another floating bridge. Go right and face the cargo containers. From here, go right and follow the railing until a ladder going down shows up. Go down the ladder and head towards the only path available and it will lead to controls to lower a bridge with the Materia on the other side at the end of the platform.
Hidden Materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
We said that we wouldn't talk about Summon Materia but here, we need to make an exception. There's one Materia that while being a useful Summon, is a bit of an out of the way one to get. That Materia is in Sector 4 at the Plate Interior and it's called the Chocobo & Moogle Summon Materia. To get it, follow the story normally and get the three lights turned off to create the final main bridge. Before going on the bridge, head right up the ladder and into the room with a button . Hit the button and face a room with a few enemies that need to be defeated in less than a minute. Once they're defeated, hit the button at the end of the room and enter the room that had a fan which houses the hidden Materia.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available for Playstation 4.
