In Chapter 16 of Final Fantasy 7 Remake: The Belly of the Beast, players are faced with a choice: do they want to take the stairs or the elevator to the 59th floor of the Shinra building? While some of you may dive right into one of these two options, others may want to know a bit more before making their selection, and this guide will offer full details on the choice of stairs or elevator in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Updated on January 24, 2026: With the release of FF7 Remake Intergrade on Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S, we've updated this "stairs or elevator" choice guide with extra information and images. Players won't reach this decision until the final chapters of the story, however.
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Should You Take the Elevator or the Stairs in Final Fantasy 7 Remake? (Shinra Electric Power Company)
To put things simply, deciding between Final Fantasy 7 Remake's stairs and elevator really comes down to a player's preference. This is because the end result of either choice is the same: Cloud, Tifa, and Barret eventually reach floor 59, and it is just the process of getting there that differs. There are no special items you can get from picking either travel method, and there are also no trophies or achievements for picking one over the other.
Specific details on these differences are as follows
- Stairs: If a player selects to take the stairs in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, they will need to do the climbing for themselves. Indeed, there is no cutscene when this option is picked, and fans will be in full control as Cloud and company scale the significant stairwell. While some players may find this a bit boring, there is some humorous banter between the party to be found when choosing stairs. However, this will take a couple of minutes longer than taking the elevator.
- Elevator: If a player instead picks the elevator in FF7 Remake, they will witness a cutscene that sees Cloud, Tifa, and Barret encounter several NPCs as they ascend. This cutscene offers a little more insight into Shinra, but it is interrupted twice by quick battles with not-so-scary Elite Security Officers. This takes only 3–4 minutes, while the staircase might take most people about 6-7 minutes to complete.
|
Feature |
Elevator |
Stairs |
|---|---|---|
|
Combat? |
No |
Two fights |
|
Rewards? |
No |
No |
|
Dialogue Tone |
More serious |
Lighter/comedic |
|
Length |
Four-ish minutes |
6-7ish minutes |
While Final Fantasy 7 Remake's stairs or elevator choice may not be quite as exciting or impactful as some of the decisions that are found earlier in the game, such as the coin toss choice that occurs in Chapter 9, there is still some fun to be had here. Additionally, players who have already made this decision can rest easy knowing that it has very little impact on the game overall.
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 86 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- June 10, 2021
- ESRB
- Teen / Violence, Blood, Suggestive Themes, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
