What are materia?

[nub]

I just picked up the restore materia and I don't know what they do.

[spy]

equip it to your equipmant. materia is intense mako energy.

[didymos1120]

Did you skip the tutorial on it or something? They allow you to use magic.

[McNasty]

Nub. haha fitting.

[Tomberry Blue]

If he just picked it up it's before the tutorial and before he can equip it. Just keep playing you'll get an explanation from the game itself.

[Thaco]

It will eventually allow you to heal your party members. There are a lot of really good guides going over a decade back that you can find that will help you understand the game if you're the sort of person who needs to have a big picture of it all before you begin. Enjoy!

[TheCrazyCanuck]

The planet's life energy is absorbed into crystals called Materia. They have a property like "heal", "fire", etc... You equip them to your weapons and armor which customizes your character to have those magic properties. My recommendation is use a few "All" and "Restore" materia, and some summons. Every time you see a circle on the screen walk up to it and hit the action/investigate button to pick it up.

[Daenoxiis]

Lore-wise, where magic comes from.
Gameplay-wise, where magic comes from.

If you're going for the achievement:

Materia is equipped to slots in the equipment accessed through the materia menu from the menu when you pull it up.
It should be noted that not all equipment has materia slots. Although, most do.
Materia growth is also different per equipment, so keep an eye on that as well.
Normal
Double
Triple
Are the materia growth types.

It should also be noted that you can also only have so many materia in your inventory or on your party at one time before it becomes problematic.

Finally, some materia can be lost forever/missed in that if you do not get it in that exact moment than you are just screwed out of getting the achievement on this playthrough of the game.

So, use a guide to save yourself the time and trouble if you are going for the achievement.

[Josith]

Cloud will tell you in the morning, just run more