Final Fantasy VII/Corel prison

Costa del Sol
After you get out of the ship and head to Costa del Sol, Rufus shows up, makes it clear he doesn't like what Heidegger is doing, and disappears with a helicopter.

Welcome to the best holiday resort ever! There isn't really that much to do here, though you can pick up a bits and pieces of information and a few handy items, and stock up with various interesting items. This is a place where Yuffie sells materia, Barret seems to show he really liked the navy uniform, Red XIII has fun with a ball, and, whoa, to prove all geek stereotypes so right and so wrong, Hojo is lying on the beach surrounded by hot women and is still clothed in a lab coat. He seems to give you the idea that Sephiroth was seen in the town and fled to another direction.

In the basement of the big house, you can find free items: Motor Drive (weapon for Tifa), Fire Ring, and Power Source. The Fire Ring is a pretty neat accessory, so don't forget that! The locals also seem to suggest you should buy some Softs.

Corel Mountains
There's really only one way to follow after you leave Costa del Sol. Follow it. Once you reach mountains through the zig-zagging paths, you'll end up in a place where a man is resting. He seems to have seen Sephiroth. Press onward, and once you go over that top of the trail, you end up...

...in a big gigantic Mako reactor. Doesn't Shin-Ra leave any place untouched? Apparently not. You may think it's a good time to start exploring now and see where you can get, but I don't recommend that - this place is really dull at this point of the game and most of the monsters in this area will be pretty sweaty to kill. This same advice goes to all of the Corel areas. So, for now, head onward (the tracks leading down).

After this, you come to some place that looks more like a rollercoaster than a credible railroad bridge, but who am I to criticize Square's omniscient graphic designers? Too bad the railroad is in a really bad shape right now. The instructions on the screen will tell what to do. If you want to avoid falling, hit Circle (or the OK key for the PC version); if you fall, you can guide Cloud to either left or right by pushing that way and tapping Circle. There's two item bags you can collect: Wizard Staff (weapon for Aerith) on the left, Star Pendant on the right.

There's a save point along the rails, and on the top of one of the slopes, you can find a chest with a W Machine Gun (weapon for Barret). You can also find a Turbo Ether and a Transform materia.

At the rightmost part of the rollercoaster section, go down, and you'll see that the rest of your gang has found what seems like the only way forward, except that the bridge is up. Backtrack, head up, and go to the booth to switch down the bridge. You can climb to the top to take 10 Phoenix Downs from a bird's nest if you wish. When you head back to the lower bridge to follow your friends, you can take a detour on a railway going left. Follow it down and around the ledge. There will be a hidden cave where you can get a Tent, Mind Source, and a Power Source. And you can talk to a guy on a bulldozer. Then head back and follow your friends.

Then there's one last long bridge. Some Bombs seem to be stalking in this area, and these things have a really annoying habit of exploding on your eyes; dispatch them with Ice2 before they cause too much damage.

North Corel
North Corel doesn't have much to see right now either - aside of Barret getting really sad and all after getting yelled at by some of the locals.

There's shops. Don't use too much money here; one of the guys says that a mysterious guy, with tattoo number 1, and a really cool black cape, headed to Gold Saucer. And Gold Saucer is an amusement park, and amusement parks are damn expensive places. You need at least 3000 gil just to enter there! If you can afford it, you can buy a Force Stealer from North Corel - a nice double-materia-growth sword for Cloud.

If you are low on money, you can go right, which leads to the world map - you can't get much further out yet, though. Or, you can head left to get to North Corel ropeway station. Here, Barret will tell a little bit more of the destruction of Corel town before you get aboard the ropeway car.

Gold Saucer
Gold Saucer! Named so for the plates on which the staff will carry your cash away! The fabled home of Super Dunk! The place that advanced the technological know-how of millions of gamers by forcing them to finally find out how to mute their TV!

At this point, Gold Saucer is really not that fun and there's really not that much to do, but you've still got to pay for the entry. Go ahead, walk about. Get to know the place, you'll probably visit later. You've got to pick who you're going having fun with. Barret isn't around though, obviously irritated by the rampant commercialism and exhortations to participate in the throw-away culture that is in utter conflict with the green values close to his heart. Or maybe it's something more personal?

In Speed Square, you meet Dio, the owner of Gold Saucer. He babbles something about something called Black Materia, and how this tattooed cape guy wanted one. He hints that Battle Square rocks. Regrettably, you can't get there yet.

In Wonder Square, you'll meet another character who wants to join you: Cait Sith. He'll give you some weird fortunes first. (Some say Cait Sith is an useless character, but at least he comes with two cool Materias: Manipulate and an almost leveled-up Transform.)

In Battle Square, you see how this stout guard suddenly flumps down. He's been shot. Sephiroth isn't known for his gun skills. Oh dear, looks like everyone in Battle Square seems shot. Dio isn't very happy, it seems. You try to flee to the Battle Arena but Dio is more clever than that. As the judge, jury and executioner, he does a really quiet-like trial and sends you to the desert prison enjoying a life sentence. What a harsh guy.