The Final Fantasy 7 Remake is no exception. Now that the Final Fantasy 7 Remake is much more readily available to fans as one of the four games offered for free to PlayStation Plus subscribers for March 2021 (the fifth game if you count 2016’s Ratchet & Clank), more longtime fans and first-timers will finally have a chance to play through a remade version of the 1997 PlayStation classic. With that said, considering that Final Fantasy 7 was made during a time when boss fights were often purposely made more difficult for the heck of it, it would serve you well to try and review your strategies before jumping headfirst into the remake. In particular, one boss fight we want you to be wary of is the Hell House.
What Is The Hell House in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
The Hell House is the eighth boss in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. You’ll encounter it in Chapter 9 at the Corneo Colosseum, during the Underground Colosseum mission. The said house from hell has 34,128 HP and is a fight that involves three phases. As you whittle down the HP of the Hell House, it will change everything from its strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. This means that you’re essentially fighting three different bosses in a row, which is why we recommend doing some planning beforehand.
Hell House Boss Fight Tips
Phase 1
During Phase 1 the Hell House will appear in its most basic form. In this form, it’s immune to all physical attacks. Specific and alternating elements will also either heal or damage it, which is why it’s important that you pay attention to which kinds of magical and elemental damage does damage to the house or heals it. To tell if the said element is damaging or healing the Hell House, look at the color of the windows closely. For example, if you see the windows colored red, blue, yellow, or green, then this means that the elements Fire, Ice, Lighting, or Wind, respectively, will strengthen it. This also means that you’ll want to use the opposite element to deal the most damage (red does more damage against blue and green does more damage against yellow and so on). Alternatively, you can also equip the “Assess” ability on any one of your party members to use it to confirm the weaknesses and immunities of the Hell House. This spell is particularly useful for players with color blindness. When fighting against the Hell House during Phase 1, you’ll want to be mindful of the house itself as it tends to jump all over the arena. The Hell House will also throw furniture-based projectiles your way as well as suck players in through the door using the “Hospitality” ability to deal both sustained damage and heavy damage, so make sure to keep the affected party member healed all throughout. There are two things to take note of when fighting the Hell House during Phase 1. First, if you can deal enough physical damage equivalent to 1% of its max HP, you can leave the Hell House in a Pressured state for 2 seconds. This gives you a chance to go all out with your attacks, if not leaving it in a Staggered state. Second, the Hell House will occasionally change its elemental affinity by casting Barrier Shift, so make sure to use Assess right after or take note of the color of the windows. Just right around when you get the Hell House to 75% of its max HP, it will use Chair Salvo to target the player-controlled character. The best way to survive this is to block or dodge all projectiles until the Hell House drops back down. You can also use this time to Summon a companion before the Hell House transforms.
Phase 2
Phase 2 will last from when the Hell House only has 75% of its Max HP until you lower it down to around 25%. During this time, the Hell House becomes more aggressive and uses more powerful physical attacks. It will also occasionally use the Housing Rush ability to charge at and deal damage to the player-controlled character. However, the Hell House will also become more vulnerable to physical damage, which is good news. Unfortunately, the Hell House will start to use the Hospitality ability more often in Phase 2. In fact, the Hell House will usually pair the Hospitality ability with Chair Salvo. One way to deal with this is to dodge-roll the Hell House all over the arena and take your time to pick your spots, so you can deal damage safely and with minimal repercussions. In Phase 2, you can leave the Hell House Pressured for as long as 4 seconds by dealing enough physical damage that’s equal to 2% of its max HP. Once the Hell House enters the God House Mode, it’s a sign that it only has 50% health remaining. Unfortunately, this isn’t all good news. During this time, the Hell House will shield itself from most if not all damage. Physical attacks will only bounce back. The Hell House also becomes immune to Pressure and Stagger damage as well. The only solution to this is to wait it out until the Hell House drops the shield and it becomes temporarily more vulnerable to becoming Pressured. You can take advantage of this situation by targeting its arms. If you can destroy it, you can leave the Hell House Pressured for 3 seconds to deal more damage. Just don’t get too careless. It is during this time that the Hell House will use the Rocket Charge ability, which is an unblockable ability that does serious damage unless you can dodge it.
Phase 3
Once you get the Hell House to around 25% of its Max HP, it will use Barrier Shift again to reinstate the same strength/weakness system that the Hell House used in Phase 1. The only difference is that, now, the Hell House will have more powerful attacks. In addition to this, the Hell House will also gain the abilities Heavensward and Hellbound, while occasionally flying all around the Colosseum to launch firecrackers and use Chair Salvo before diving towards the player for an unblockable attack. Just as in Phase 1, you can Pressure the Hell House by dealing magical damage that’s opposite to its affinity while it’s in the air. The best way to approach the fight against the Hell House in Phase 3 is to fight defensively. This way, you can dodge roll your way to avoid the Hell House and its potentially devastating unblockable attacks during this phase. Just keep at it and you’ll have defeated the Hell House.
What Happens If You Defeat the Hell House?
Upon defeating the Hell House, your party will go upstairs where you will have to make a decision regarding the question Don Corneo asked you earlier. Afterwards, the story will advance to the Party Ways mission. Following this battle, players will also finally be able to return to the arena at any time. This will allow players to complete all the Colosseum matches in Final Fantasy 7 Remake and receive subsequent rewards. The Final Fantasy 7 Remake is currently available on the PlayStation 4 with a PS5 edition slated to release in June 2021.
