Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
Very good OP! I especially like the banners for each game and the Amano art. Some of the pieces I've never seen before!

C-Euro posted:

To start us off- I've heard it mention in a few places that oftentimes one's favorite Final Fantasy is the first one they ever played. How many of you are guilty of this? FF6 was the first one I played and it remains one of my favorite games of all time, so I've fallen into that trap.

My first was FF4 (on the SNES as FF2), and while I do like it a lot, my favorite is FF5, which I didn't get to play until the PlayStation re-release of it, followed by FF6, which I also didn't get to play until the PlayStation.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Soylent Heliotrope posted:

e: addendums:

FFIV: There is absolutely no consensus at all among FF nerds which of the many rereleases of this game is the best. Go hog wild.


While it's true there isn't really a concensus about which rerelease is best, we could include a little information about the pros/cons of each:

US SNES version ("FFII"): The original US release, lots of cut content (items, character skills). The script is pretty censored and weird, but was the birthplace of the "you spoony bard!" line. Also very easy: an example of this is that all individual-status-healing items were replaced by Remedies.

PlayStation: A better translated version, which is mostly the same as the Japanese SNES release with some very small differences and FMV cutscenes.

Game Boy Advance: Better graphics, slightly different script from the PS1 version (i think it has some goony references?). Towards the end of the game you can switch your party members around instead of being stuck with the same 5. To compensate for the other characters not normally getting equipment, there is a bonus dungeon for them. There's also a bonus dungeon after you clear the game. This version is pretty glitchy in battles though.

Nintendo DS: This one is all in 3D with voice acting in certain scenes. Unlike the GBA version you can't change your party at the end, but there's a new Augment system that allows you to keep abilities from party members who have left. This version is also hard as poo poo, much harder than any other version of the game. There's also a bunch more sidequests with Namingway that are pretty neat. The extra dungeons from the GBA version don't exist in this version, but there are two extra bonus bosses and a limited New Game+ system.

PSP: Contains everything from the GBA version with graphics that are even better than before. They are similar to the graphics from the PSP versions of FF1 and 2. The script is a bit different, and there are new cutscenes for certain parts of the story. It's also on the same UMD as FF4: The After Years, which is the sequel.

There was also a Wonderswan Color and mobile phone version but I only covered the english releases here. My personal favorite is the PSP version, but for people that have played the game before and want a little more challenge I'd recommend the DS version. Stay away from the GBA one if you can help it!

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Bongo Bill posted:

The EU release, as well as some later printings of the NA release, have fixed the ATB glitches, which were at any rate mostly in the player's favor.

Oops, I forgot about that. My only experience is with the early print US versions.

Surlaw posted:

Most importantly, it contains a fast forward button, making battles with random trash enemies way less obnoxious. The PSP version's great.

Oh man, how did I forget about this? The PSP version is great EVERYONE GET THAT ONE.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

NikkolasKing posted:

Speaking of The Judges, what do people think of their designs?


Like everything else in XII, I thought the villains were the best and their outfits are no exceptions.

The judges are really badass and I was overjoyed when Dissidia came out and Gabranth was in it. Best character.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

TurnipFritter posted:

I was happy with 012 because he has a Basch costume :v:

Yeah! Especially neat since they couldn't get Gabranth's voice actor to come back for whatever reason for the US version of Dissidia, so they had Basch's do it. It works pretty well.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
I'm also registered! I went for normal because I've never done this before. I hope my team is okay.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

ImpAtom posted:

Fanatic's Tower may as well be called "Did you get Moogle Charm? What, why not? Go and get it." It isn't even a fun dungeon, it's just a boring upwards slog even if you have the charm. I love FF6 but that dungeon is the biggest pile of poo poo.

Yeah, I was gonna say, I don't think I have ever done a legitimate run through Fanatic's Tower because of the Moogle Charm.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Hedera Helix posted:

Clearly the answer is to go back and play every Final Fantasy game ever released, in order, including the spin-offs, and write about it.

I did this, minus the writing part, as a way of sort of testing my nostalgia and removing the rose-tinted glasses. Most of the older games are still good though FF4 is a lot shorter than it seemed as a kid. I can probably finish it in a weekend now.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
All this Four Job Fiesta talk has made me decide I want to switch to Hard. I asked RK about it, hopefully he can switch me over. If not I'll just make another account I guess?

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
RK let me register again so I'm officially registered for Hard. What a nice guy.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
I got Knight as my first job! Not bad, since I honestly haven't really used knights much in the past.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
For people starting with White Mage, if you can make it to the ship graveyard (just a boss after getting the first crystal), it's a bit easier there. You'll get a flail that will help you deal damage and there are also mostly undead things there that can be hurt by Cure.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
My second job is Thief but at least I have hi-potions to look forward to. Garula's not really hard for a four-Knight team if you've kept everyone in the newest gear.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Victory!

Knight/Thief/Berserker/Blue Mage. I was worried up until the fourth crystal, but blue mage makes everything easy. I have a new appreciation for Knight, but even moreso for Berserker. It's not really as bad as most people think, as long as you know what you're doing. Death Sickle definitely helps Berserkers shine for most of the game.

I still don't have much of a strong opinion about Thief but I just stuck !Blue on it as soon as possible so it was like a second, faster Blue Mage.

Now I just have to provide moral support for my non-goon friend who is the other guy that got Knight and 3 Berserkers.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
Apparently after your victory is processed you can just #reg or #reghard again as of today. Neat!

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
I started a google doc here, everyone should contribute with the stuff they found useful so far so that more people can finish this thing. I've added a little about the four jobs I used and some general tips but it'd be nice if others contributed!

edit: it's actually editable now.

heartcatcher fucked around with this message at 02:51 on Jun 21, 2012

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
Alright, since our guide seems to have slowed down with the edits, I've locked it and sent it off to RK and gilgabot so that other people can see it. If anyone wants to add anything just post your email here or in the IRC chat so I can give you permission to edit again.

edit: I am apparently the worst at google doc permissions but now it's viewable by everyone with the link, editable only by people I give permission to

heartcatcher fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Jun 21, 2012

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
Yeah, all the best blue magics can be gotten through confuse. You can get Mighty Guard and White Wind that way, and those are the only ones that you really need to do that for.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
Posting to confirm that the game is indeed lots of fun even though I'm not a fan of the title or art style of the game. The music has always been a strong point for the series so I'm glad they have made a game focusing on it.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Winks posted:

Obviously false because fang owns.

Well it probably works in reverse too. Take the important stuff out of Vanille's character and give it to Fang, either way's fine.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Himuro posted:

The best ps2 rpg series (that's not SMT, of course) is the Dark Cloud series. :colbert: Yeah, I said it.

I would kill for someone make a Dark Cloud clone.

Finally someone knows what they're talking about. Dark Cloud 2 is my favorite video game of all time. I really want another one but Level-5 seems to be putting out a bunch of other (still cool) stuff all the time instead.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Safari Disco Lion posted:

Yeah, this. Catoblepas is the sixth summon, the third (Odin) will instakill I think the rear section. Bahamut, Leviathan, and Syldra all do tons of multi target damage along the way, and Golem and Carbuncle give useful buffs.

I just used this plan to beat my second Fiesta run! Even though Catoblepas didn't actually work on the bottom right part (maybe it targeted the wrong thing? I dunno how Catoblepas works).

Second run thoughts (Knight/Thief/Knight/Monk): Monk is terrible ugh gross I never want to use a Monk again. They're really good until like halfway through the second world but from then on they just feel like a waste of space. Also I'm tired of Thieves because they are kind of hard to make good unless you get the chicken knife, which I didn't because I had knights again.

This was my first time using the Brave Blade, and while not running from any fights ever is a bit of a pain, it's really strong. I like it. No regrets.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
To further build on the Magic Lamp discussion, it goes from Bahamut to: Leviathan, Odin, Syldra, Carbuncle, Catoblepas, Golem, Titan, Ifrit, Ramuh, Shiva, Remora, Sylph, and ends with Chocobo forever. At that point you have to go recharge it.

The first seven are total lifesavers for Fiesta runs. Free magic damage of varying elements (that can be boosted by rods!)from most of them, free instant kill on one part of Neo Exdeath (as well as anything not immune to Instant Death) from Odin, free Reflect from Carbuncle, free Petrify from Catoblepas, and free physical attack resistance from Golem.

Long story short the Magic Lamp owns so go get it.

heartcatcher fucked around with this message at 11:07 on Jul 18, 2012

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Tolth posted:

Ok, having never given FFV a chance I figured I'd take a shot at the fiesta. Unfortunately my first two jobs ended up as White Mage and Time Mage. Does anyone have any suggestions on making it to the fire crystal, because right now my damage is pretty terrible and short of some serious grinding I ain't sure how to bridge the gap.

Time Mages can equip rods and break them ("use" them out of the person's hands when in battle, you can get to their equipped weapon/shield by pressing up at the top of the item list) so do that for elemental spells. You can buy lots of rods in Karnak which is right before the fire crystal dungeon. Also poke around in here, it has lots of good tips from the people here, including in-depth stuff relating to each job.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
That's some bad news about Dimensions, I was excited for it... I guess I'll have to wait and see if people decide it's worth the price.

For those that signed up for the Fiesta and haven't yet finished, you have until the 31st to finish and be officially counted! Don't forget about the awesome guide that everyone worked on if you are stuck!

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

NikkolasKing posted:

I think Shadow was somewhere around but I got him way back in Sabin's scenario and then he just left randomly. What's the point of even having him in your party if he just takes off like that?

He's just really good, that's why you'd use him. He avoids physical attacks half the time because of his dog. Plus you can get him permanently later on.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
Like FFIII before it, the DS version of FFIV is being ported to iOS devices. Apparently it has selectable difficulty levels but I dunno if it has anything else changed. I thought the DS version was a little too hard so being able to make it a bit easier would be nice. I've already bought this game a bunch of times so I'll probably pass on this one.

http://operationrainfall.com/final-fantasy-iv-mobile-devices/

vvv: oh, yeah, oops, it's iOS only.

heartcatcher fucked around with this message at 10:13 on Dec 8, 2012

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
I love FFV for a lot of reasons, the soundtrack is one of them:
Four Valiant Hearts (first overworld theme)
The Four Warriors of Dawn is a song that goes really well with some of Galuf's badass moments in the game.
In Search of Light, the final dungeon theme. The airship theme from FF7 uses part of this.
And of course, Clash on the Big Bridge, Gilgamesh's theme which has been remixed many times. One of my favorite songs in the entire series.

Another favorite of mine is FF2's Rebel Army theme which was posted earlier, I'm really glad it was in Theatrhythm, even if it was as one of the dumb event mode songs.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
The plot of FF4: The After Years was pretty dumb but I still thought the game was pretty fun. The characters all have set roles like in FF4 but you have a lot more of them to choose from and you can make your party whatever you want it to be. You don't even have to use Cecil or Ceodore if you don't want to, and that's really cool to me.

It was pretty lazy to reuse most of FF4 instead of doing new maps, though. I have a hard time recommending it to people unless you really liked FF4, but I don't regret playing it, although it's not something I'd replay incredibly often.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
For that PSN sale, I'd recommend picking up FF4 Complete Collection and Dissidia 012. They're both really good deals at $10, and that's my favorite version of FF4 (so far, I guess).

Get FF Tactics if you don't have it already somehow, and look into patching it to get rid of the slowdown. I think you can do it even without custom firmware.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Dr Pepper posted:

Deathgaze stuff

That's really weird! The only thing I can think is that his HP comes back if you change floors. If it's not that, I have no idea.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
I feel like FFV is still a way better game than Dimensions due to the way it gave you new jobs in groups instead of one-by-one with really long gaps between. It also suits itself way more to replayability because of that.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
I know we had two people that got Knight/3 Berserkers last year but I feel like Thief/3 Berserkers would be much worse :ohdear: I wonder if that'll happen this year? Or what other gimmicks there will be instead of (in addition to?) Berserker Risk... I'm excited for June!

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
Gilgabot has asked for art help for the upcoming 4 Job Fiesta. I thought I'd pass it along here since I've seen some good artists in this thread.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
Looks good to me! Obviously it would just need to be updated with all of this year's information (new hashtags, gimmicks, IRC channel). I'm pretty excited for this one! :toot:

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Hit or miss Clitoris posted:

Wait, is the Fork Tower optional? I thought you had to complete it, even though the only reward is, what, I want to say Meteo and Holy?

By the way, Trasson, how did you beat Shinryu? I got lucky and having a white mage I cast blink on the whole party and I think berserked it, but I can't think of anyway to survive that with your party except a solid 99 elixers and RNG manipulation on the Dancing Dagger.

What level did you finish at, anyway? I would have been so grind-happy with that team, I may never have left the basement of Bal with all the Object d'Arts.

Anything that can be Berserked can be cheesed by a team with a Knight: Just make every party member except the Knight be at critical health, then have the Knight use Guard. Guard makes them immune to physical attacks, and Berserk forces the enemy to use their physical attack.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:

Hit or miss Clitoris posted:

:aaa: Seriously? Guard makes you IMMUNE to damage? I figured it would work like Cover and just have your knight take the hit for the other guy, I had NO idea it would work like that. Now I want a Knight in my next run so I can play with that, and not have to cast Blink or !Image every other round

Yep, Cover still happens even while the knight is Guarding, so any time anyone is attacked, they'll cover and nullify the physical attack. Just beware monster skills that appear to be physical since I'm not sure those count. Maybe someone else can clarify?

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
Aaaaah what is the No 750 Run? There's a little symbol there next to the name of his run sort of like the Berserker symbol and hard mode symbol from last year.

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
#FF5Fiesta sounds fine to me! Let's get this thing rolling. :clint: That way we aren't eating up the main thread before the thing even starts.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

heartcatcher
Oct 6, 2007

:patriot: woof :patriot:
I personally miss when final bosses were just giant masses of weird poo poo stuck together.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply