Materia orbs
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	Final Fantasy VII radically departs from the standard offensive and defensive formats of previous Final Fantasy games.  To begin with, there are no pieces of armor!  No shields, no gauntlets, no helmets ... instead, defense is handled through the new system of Materia orbs.

	Materia orbs have all the features of armor, weapons, relics, and Espers -- so you can understand how vitally important they will be in this new game!  The translucent, spherical Materia orb is crystalized Makoro energy.  (The reactor Cloud, Barret and Aeris destroy in the demo was how Shinra Company harvested this vast energy source.)   Weapons have small indentations that these orbs are placed into; each character can also equip a wristband with several indentations for Materia orbs (Aeris' bracelet has eight of these orb-shaped notches!)  You can mix and match orbs within weapons and wristbands, just as you could relics in Final Fantasy III.  Certain combinations will work better than others!  Materia orbs are purchased in shops, stolen from enemies, and found in treasure chests

There are five basic types of Materia orbs:

	Direct Materia have direct effects on your characters.  For example, the Mateia orb "HP Up" increases your character's HP, "Agility" increases you character's agility, and so forth.

	Inderect Materia don't have direct effects, but can still be very useful.  "Repel Enemies" and "Attract Enemies" do just what they say.  "HP Magic" lets you use your Hit Points as Magic Points!  Other orbs include "Counter," "First Strike," Absorb HP," and "Absorb MP."

	Command Materia add commands your character can use in battle.  These are familiar abilities such as "Throw," "Steal," "Metamorph," (think the Esper Ragnarok in Final Fantasy III), "Cover," Control," and "Jump."

	Magic Materia give the characters spells. Fire, Ice, Thunder, Cure, Life, Poison ... these spells all have their respective Materia orbs.  Equip a specific orb long enough, and you just might learn more powerful spells!

	Summon Materia let the characters summon monsters. For example, Equipping "Leviathan" can will let you summon Leviathan, who was seen in the demo.  Other known Summoned Monsters are Bahamut, Shiva, Ifrit, and a monster with an unknown name ... that is more powerful than even Bahamut!

	Many other orbs have been identified in screen shots.  These orbs are "Magic," "EXP up," "GP up, "Attract Chocobo," "Extra Attack," "Extra Steal," "Quadra Slam," "Quadra Magic," "Attract," "Rule," "Long Range Attack," "Attack All," "Magic All," "Consecutive Attack," and "Poison."

	Without armor, helmets, and shields, how will you defend yourself?  Two Materia orbs, "Barrier" and "Magic Barrier," provide the answer.  If you've played the demo, then you probably noticed the two gauges labeled "BARRIER" beside each character's name.  These two orbs let you cast "Barrier" and "Magic Barrier," which fill the two gauges and increase your defense.  The Barrier gauges will soon drop down, so refill them often!  The Barrier gauge most likely will *not* carry on to the next battle, and will need to be refilled anew each fight.

	Hope you enjoyed reading about the new Materia orb system of game play!  It sounds promising, and if executed properly, holds a lot of potential for RPG veterans and newcomers alike.

Copyright 1996 Yukiyoshi Ike Sato. All Rights Reserved.
Modified for the UnOfficial Squaresoft Home Page by Andrew Vestal (but Sato did all the research)