Cornelia and Chaos Shrine
Your four Warriors of Light begin south of Cornelia with 12 bestiary entries and 3 chests to collect in this chapter. Don’t engage in any fights just yet. Walk east or west into town first.
Cornelia Town
Shops
You start with 500 Gil. Visit each shop and buy what you need. Cure in the White Magic Shop is a must, and Fire in the Black Magic Shop for your mages. Pick up Thunder here too. You’ll want it for the sea enemies later. If you’re running a Monk, unequip their weapon as unarmed damage grows stronger with each level.
Once you’ve geared up, go north and speak with the Guard. You’ll be taken to see the King of Cornelia.
The King tasks you with rescuing Princess Sarah from Garland, a rogue knight holding her hostage at the Chaos Shrine north of Cornelia.
There are several locked doors within Cornelia Castle but you can’t open them yet. You’ll need the Mystic Key, which you’ll find later in the game. Exit the castle.
Leveling Outside Cornelia
Before you begin, a few things to note about this Final Fantasy 1 Pixel Remaster walkthrough:
- This guide covers 100% completion on PlayStation 5, including all trophies. Trophies are achievable with Boost mode on.
- Boost mode increases EXP and Gil up to 4x. Access it via Triangle > Configuration > Boost. You can also toggle encounters on/off with R3.
- We track all 128 enemies and 249 chests throughout. Under each section, enemies are listed where we first encountered them and all chest locations are noted. There are no missable areas in this game. See our Bestiary for full location details.
New Enemies
Time to level up before the Chaos Shrine. Outside Cornelia you’ll run into Goblins, Goblin Guards and Wolves. They go down fast. Use your spells freely; the Inn restores MP for 30 Gil. Aim for level 4 to comfortably take on the first boss.
Crazy Horse can appear just north of Cornelia, closer to the Chaos Shrine. Fight one to grab the bestiary entry while you level. Once you’re ready, rest at the Inn and stock up on Potions.
From Cornelia, go all the way north. You’ll see a large gray shrine. Turn on No Encounters (R3) to conserve your HP/MP on the way.
Chaos Shrine
The Chaos Shrine is a single floor with 5 rooms and 3 treasure chests we can grab now. You only need the bottom left and top left rooms. The top right and bottom right rooms are locked behind the Mystic Key; we’ll come back for those later. The central room is where Garland is, but let’s loot first.
New Enemies
Save your MP for Garland. You can always run back to Cornelia’s Inn if you need to. Enter the bottom left room and grab the Leather Cap from the chest. Then go north to the top left room for a Potion and Tent.
That’s all the loot for now. If you’re low on HP/MP, toggle No Encounters (R3) and run back to Cornelia to rest.
Time to face your first boss. Enter the central room and speak to Garland.
How to Beat Garland
Rescuing Princess Sarah
After the fight, Sarah teleports your party back to Cornelia Castle. The King orders the bridge north of town rebuilt, and Sarah gives you the Lute, a key item we’ll be using much later in the game.
Approach the bridge, this will trigger a cutscene. Our next stops are Matoya’s Cave and Pravoka.