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Evil Fluffy
Jul 13, 2009

Scholars are some of the most pompous and pedantic people I've ever had the joy of meeting.

Ragequit posted:

This is no joke. I installed this a day or two after it was released and it's seriously night and day. It will make you fall in love with FFT all over again.

Shame this doesn't help a the iOS versions.

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PunkBoy
Aug 22, 2008

You wanna get through this?
For me personally, any shortcomings with the individual stories of the FF X party members is made up with how they truly did act like a giant family. Auron teasing Yuna about her bed hair was one of my favorite scenes. :3:

Yar The Pirate
Feb 19, 2012

PunkBoy posted:

For me personally, any shortcomings with the individual stories of the FF X party members is made up with how they truly did act like a giant family. Auron teasing Yuna about her bed hair was one of my favorite scenes. :3:

Yeah I got all misty during those parts. The recording Yuna left for Tidus would be another one.

BingeHooligan
Dec 24, 2010
I guess it's my time to list my bad opinions now! Okay, I think the first Final Fantasy game that I really played was FFX. I picked it up when it came out. I'd played FFVII but I didn't really get it. The last Final Fantasy I played was XII. My list goes something like this

:krad:

FFV -- Holy poo poo this game for me. Job systems are really awesome, and the amount of character building stat-wise is great. I didn't really dislike any job in this, other than Time Mage. Had a simple story that wasn't obtrusive but wasn't dumbed down, and Gilgamesh is awesome.

FFIX -- I don't know why I liked this game, I just really loved the dynamic and the world. Disc 3 gets a little weird but eh. The Black Mage Village was cute and sad. The weapon skill system was well done. Blue Magic was again really awesome. Kuja is fabulous.

FFIV -- Storytelling is fantastic, magic twins are awesome, Four Lords of the elements are kickass. That's really about it. Kain was a tad weird though.

Pretty Awesome

FFVIII -- The characters were believable, the Guardian Force system was pretty cool. What really won me over was Triple Triad. Holy poo poo, I spent hours on this game getting cards and turning cards into items. Quistis was a pretty cool character too.

FFVII -- Materia system was pretty cool in terms of customization, but by the end it felt like I had the same characters, essentially. Well except Cait Sith, who I stuck the only filled Enemy Materia on. Story was okay, but I've heard the problems are due to translation issues. Aerith felt heavy handed (Sorry!)

FFIII -- Jobs jobs jobs jobs jobs. The more stat based system was interesting, and killing the Cloud of Darkness with nothing but a bunch of White Mages was fun. That was really about it. Still get the desire to play it randomly.

Okay

FFX -- Should probably be up one level, but for now it stays here. Grid Sphere was pretty good, but really needed a bit of refinement, and International fixed that I think. The environment is amazing and colorful and it makes me feel like I'm REALLY in a fantasy land. Characters were likable for the most part; Tidus, Riku, and Seymour notwithstanding. Overall pretty average, but on the high end for some of the other games

FFVI -- Awesome story, not too enthused with the battles themselves. I think I went in expecting too much from the game, which is hailed as one of the seven wonder of the RPG world. I had a similar experience with Chrono Trigger. The story was dark in a refreshing way, Kefka was brilliant, but overall felt flat somewhere.

FFI -- A classic, but falls flat in terms of gameplay in comparison. Doesn't stop it from being enjoyable. A good, quick game to waste some time on.

Please stop
(I've never finished any game in this category.)

FFXII -- The open world felt empty and overwhelming at the same time, and the battle was rather eh. The gambits were nice, it was just very underdone. Licenses felt confusing until I realized I could max everything in them. Character designs are -okay- but I guess my main complaint is that it tries to be an MMO without really reaching its goals. I haven't played it in three years, so I might give it a go. I really want to play the International Zodiac version, seeing as the license system excites me much more (jobs jobs jobs).

FFII -- just stop

I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO RANK THIS

FFXI -- Pretty cool actually. The races are well designed. The jobs feel unique, even when some are traditionally very similar. Scholars are very different from Red Mages. The World is huge, maybe a bit too huge, and feels empty like FFXII. The experience is overall very good! I don't know how to rank this, especially considering I'm really only delving into the content now. (I picked it up as a friend had revived his account.)


Wow that was long. On the plus side, Final Fantasy Four Job Fiesta is soon, and I'm so excited. So very, very excited.

Mazed
Oct 23, 2010

:blizz:


Final Fantasy XI had great art in all respects, some pretty good music, a well-done setting with genuinely likeable NPCs (Shantotto, Prishe, and Zeid, you will always be my bros), and a surprisingly decent story (or set of stories).

It also featured the most infuriatingly broken gameplay in the entire series (counting II), balance and game design made by people who actively hate players and want them to suffer as much as possible, and a player community that actively hates fun and wants you to have as little of it as possible. Now find a group and grind for hundreds of hours or get absolutely jack and poo poo from the whole affair.

I've heard it's gotten better, to the point at least where you can play it and not want to punch yourself in the face repeatedly, but speaking as someone who tried to enjoy it for a while in its earlier years, the damage has been done.

Mazed fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Jun 10, 2012

Safari Disco Lion
Jul 21, 2011

Boss, if they make us find seven lost crystals, I'm quitting.

I really tried to like XI but I hated it for two really silly reasons.

1) The Tarutaru and Mithra are the most ridiculous, stupid loving fan service bullshit races they possibly could have done and were COMPLETELY out of place in a Final Fantasy game. There was so much other cool poo poo they could have done, like all the different races you see in IX; the ticket booth guy, the Qu, the Burmecian, whatever Amarant is. But no, they went with a stupidly cute tiny infant thing and a cat girl.

2) The word "Hume" makes me want to vomit.

So yeah, two really dumb reasons, but they were things that really grated the gently caress on me when I tried to play. Then I found out about how much of a ridiculous grind the game is and decided I just didn't have the energy for it. Basically I went in expecting an actual Final Fantasy game with online components and got a weird anime mai waifu kawaii grind for the rest of your life game. Was a pretty big letdown.

Fur20
Nov 14, 2007

すご▞い!
君は働か░い
フ▙▓ズなんだね!

Mazed posted:

and a player community that actively hates fun and wants you to have as little of it as possible. Now find a group and grind for hundreds of hours or get absolutely jack and poo poo from the whole affair.

"What do you mean, you think a Red Mage/Thief is 'cool'? What kind of loving retard are you, do not even play this game or grow the gently caress up and do some professional and mathematically-reviewed builds." gently caress FF11. Of course, gently caress MMOs in general, but still. Fun? No, NO FUN EVER. If you don't have at least as much DPS as me then go gently caress yourself you useless sack of poo poo and I don't even want to see you on my SERVER.

Fur20 fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Jun 10, 2012

Mazed
Oct 23, 2010

:blizz:


Safari Disco Lion posted:

1) The Tarutaru and Mithra are the most ridiculous, stupid loving fan service bullshit races they possibly could have done and were COMPLETELY out of place in a Final Fantasy game. There was so much other cool poo poo they could have done, like all the different races you see in IX; the ticket booth guy, the Qu, the Burmecian, whatever Amarant is. But no, they went with a stupidly cute tiny infant thing and a cat girl.

I disagree with this. The Mithra were actually kind of cool (played for sex appeal, sorta, but not to a particularly obnoxious degree) and had backstory and character animations that sold them fairly well as an asskicking warrior race. And Tarutaru are fine because gently caress off, they're super-wizards and cute. :colbert:

The White Dragon posted:

"What do you mean, you think a Red Mage/Thief is 'cool'? What kind of loving retard are you, do not even play this game or grow the gently caress up and do some professional and mathematically-reviewed builds." gently caress FF11. Of course, gently caress MMOs in general, but still. Fun? No, NO FUN EVER. If you don't have at least as much DPS as me then go gently caress yourself you useless sack of poo poo and I don't even want to see you on my SERVER.

:catstare:: "What the hell do you mean, you want to be a Ninja because you like being a damage-dealer/debuffer with a cool dual-wield style? gently caress you, you're a tank, and you tank by spamming spells that costs you incredibly expensive reagents every time you use them. Oh, wanna be another kind of tank? No, gently caress you, we're only taking Ninja tanks because we don't want to actually cast healing spells."

Developers: "Not what we intended, but whatever, not gonna change it."

v

Proto_Fan posted:

Although, I do like Tarutaru. They're so adorable and tiny. I know they're kind of uninspired but I can't help it. :ohdear:

/panic :neckbeard:

Mazed fucked around with this message at 01:23 on Jun 10, 2012

BingeHooligan
Dec 24, 2010
I genuinely like the game. The grind is so much better, I leveled to 30 in less than a week. I guess I just found a good group of people to play it with. My linkshell is full of cool people that will genuinely help out anyone and who actually like the game. :unsmith:

Although, I do like Tarutaru. They're so adorable and tiny. I know they're kind of uninspired but I can't help it. :ohdear:

Minera
Sep 26, 2007

All your friends and foes,
they thought they knew ya,
but look who's in your heart now.
The grind is better, but there's not much reason to play FF11 since even FF14 in its "lovely" state blows it out of the water, and the 2.0 revision coming up soon looks really good and will be worth playing if you like Final Fantasies and MMOs at the same time.

NikkolasKing
Apr 3, 2010



Tae posted:

Besides Kimahri and I guess Rikku (because spunk is always hated), I'm not sure what makes the supporting FFX horrible other than their design.

Yeah I don't get that either. I think the leads were the worst thing about FFX's party. Tidus in particular offends me because his role in the story is rather unnecessary.

These are pretty big spoilers here so if you have not played FFX, don't read them.

Tidus is supposed to represent an "outside view" to the native Spirans. It is his influence that helps Yuna gain the confidence to, in the end, reject Yevon and the Final Summoning.

...only this doesn't loving work. Even if you put aside the fact Auron could have told her at any time that the religion and Final Summoning were a sham, all he would have had to was tell Yuna to ask Yunalesca if this would work. As we saw in the game she was very upfront about there being absolutely no way to stop Sin permanently and that the Final Summoning was in fact the method by which Sin would perpetually return.


As such we see only contrived bullshit necessitates Tidus being there. This is really the single greatest flaw I see with the story in the game.

Mazed
Oct 23, 2010

:blizz:


Minrad posted:

The grind is better, but there's not much reason to play FF11 since even FF14 in its "lovely" state blows it out of the water, and the 2.0 revision coming up soon looks really good and will be worth playing if you like Final Fantasies and MMOs at the same time.

If--and this is a really big if--you have a regular group of friends you can always play with, pretty much any MMO is at least tolerable.

FF14, for the very little of it I played, seemed like it would have been good if there'd actually been a game there. If 2.0 actually has readily-accessible content that's more than basically killing stuff for XP, you can significantly advance and see at least a good chunk of stuff playing solo, doesn't have the arbitrary limitations (like the quests-per-day thing), and they've revamped the godawful interface, it might be worth another look.

The one thing I felt truly floored by in that game were the character animations. They put a lot of love and attention into something that in the grand scheme is probably rather minor, but it was still really, really neat.

Pesky Splinter
Feb 16, 2011

A worried pug.
XIV was the really bad one yes? Nice to hear they've improved it somewhat. Not that I'll ever play it or XI.

I did enjoy reading all the stories about how bad it was/is though. :allears:

Minera
Sep 26, 2007

All your friends and foes,
they thought they knew ya,
but look who's in your heart now.
Yeah, it looks like they're taking a much more WoW approach in friendlier UI, questing to level, etc while retaining the core job system and grouping oriented gameplay from 11. Plus it really does look gorgeous to boot; even the UI is one of the best default one I've seen in an MMO with the minimalist style that still presents all the useful information without just being a rip of the WoW one.

And yeah, I never played it during the beta or at release, and from what I understand it was an awful awful clusterfuck and almost everyone involved was fired and they more or less started from scratch using the available art assets they had to make a "good" game.

It was like, 10 or 15 bucks on Amazon a month or so ago. It might still be on sale if anyone's interested in trying it; assuming the sale is still going right now and you want to play in 2.0 you won't have to buy it for full price later this year when 2.0 hits.

zedprime
Jun 9, 2007

yospos

NikkolasKing posted:

Yeah I don't get that either. I think the leads were the worst thing about FFX's party. Tidus in particular offends me because his role in the story is rather unnecessary.

These are pretty big spoilers here so if you have not played FFX, don't read them.

Tidus is supposed to represent an "outside view" to the native Spirans. It is his influence that helps Yuna gain the confidence to, in the end, reject Yevon and the Final Summoning.

...only this doesn't loving work. Even if you put aside the fact Auron could have told her at any time that the religion and Final Summoning were a sham, all he would have had to was tell Yuna to ask Yunalesca if this would work. As we saw in the game she was very upfront about there being absolutely no way to stop Sin permanently and that the Final Summoning was in fact the method by which Sin would perpetually return.


As such we see only contrived bullshit necessitates Tidus being there. This is really the single greatest flaw I see with the story in the game.
I don't know, Auron was just a tired old alcoholic living out his glory days by doing a repeat with his best bud's daughter. Every other summoner went into the final summoning knowing Sin is coming back, but it took the peppy outsider to come along and suggest that when a problem comes around, you must whip it.

NikkolasKing
Apr 3, 2010



Well it was supposed to be a gamble. Remember what Braska said to Auron?

quote:

Auron: Sin always comes back. It comes back after the Calm every time! The cycle will continue and your deaths will mean nothing!

Braska: But there's always a chance it won't come back this time "It's worth trying.

I think Wakka's and Lulu's reactions to what Yunalesca said are evidence enough that the Pilgrimage is supposed to stop Sin eventually. They all had hope it would someday be over and that someday the Final Summoning would really work. Yet Yunalesca dashed their hopes by explaining the Final Summoning is exactly how Sin is reborn each time.

I think Yuna would have refused simply because of that knowledge. If Yuna accepted it would mean that she was personally responsible for Sin's return.

zedprime
Jun 9, 2007

yospos

NikkolasKing posted:

Well it was supposed to be a gamble. Remember what Braska said to Auron?


I think Wakka's and Lulu's reactions to what Yunalesca said are evidence enough that the Pilgrimage is supposed to stop Sin eventually. They all had hope it would someday be over and that someday the Final Summoning would really work. Yet Yunalesca dashed their hopes by explaining the Final Summoning is exactly how Sin is reborn each time.

I think Yuna would have refused simply because of that knowledge. If Yuna accepted it would mean that she was personally responsible for Sin's return.
That doesn't really discount that they all knew going into it. Its perfectly natural wishful thinking to go to the final summoning, all of that in mind, and convince yourself "this time will be different, because this time it is my best friend who will be the aeon that fights off the essence of Sin." A direct assault on Sin would never even be on anyone's radar since the governing body leads purposeful suicide attacks once a generation to dissuade research into machina and keep the uppity depressed peasants in line.

Yar The Pirate
Feb 19, 2012

NikkolasKing posted:

Yeah I don't get that either. I think the leads were the worst thing about FFX's party. Tidus in particular offends me because his role in the story is rather unnecessary.

These are pretty big spoilers here so if you have not played FFX, don't read them.

Tidus is supposed to represent an "outside view" to the native Spirans. It is his influence that helps Yuna gain the confidence to, in the end, reject Yevon and the Final Summoning.

...only this doesn't loving work. Even if you put aside the fact Auron could have told her at any time that the religion and Final Summoning were a sham, all he would have had to was tell Yuna to ask Yunalesca if this would work. As we saw in the game she was very upfront about there being absolutely no way to stop Sin permanently and that the Final Summoning was in fact the method by which Sin would perpetually return.


As such we see only contrived bullshit necessitates Tidus being there. This is really the single greatest flaw I see with the story in the game.

Wouldn't Tidus be necessary because of his ties to Sin? Maybe not 100% necessary but his connection with it could have been the reason Auron brought him back.

NikkolasKing
Apr 3, 2010



zedprime posted:

That doesn't really discount that they all knew going into it. Its perfectly natural wishful thinking to go to the final summoning, all of that in mind, and convince yourself "this time will be different, because this time it is my best friend who will be the aeon that fights off the essence of Sin." A direct assault on Sin would never even be on anyone's radar since the governing body leads purposeful suicide attacks once a generation to dissuade research into machina and keep the uppity depressed peasants in line.

I really doubt that Yuna would risk the lives of everyone on Spira just due to "wishful thinking". Yunalesca says in no uncertain terms that your friend will be the next Sin.

I mean really, I can't see the Summoners who are willing to die for the people of Spira having any response other than "gently caress you" when Yunalesca tells them that they will be inflicting eternal suffering on said people.

Yar The Pirate posted:

Wouldn't Tidus be necessary because of his ties to Sin? Maybe not 100% necessary but his connection with it could have been the reason Auron brought him back.

Well maybe he could be there but not in the main role that he was given. His being a fish out of water helps exposition make more sense but it really should be Yuna's story I think.

NikkolasKing fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Jun 10, 2012

Fur20
Nov 14, 2007

すご▞い!
君は働か░い
フ▙▓ズなんだね!

NikkolasKing posted:

Well maybe he could be there but not in the main role that he was given. His being a fish out of water helps exposition make more sense but it really should be Yuna's story I think.

poo poo, Tidus in a support role would've been really interesting. You get all the cool character exposition with none of the "I'm the main character so you must care about me" focus.

Yar The Pirate
Feb 19, 2012

The White Dragon posted:

poo poo, Tidus in a support role would've been really interesting. You get all the cool character exposition with none of the "I'm the main character so you must care about me" focus.

That's the feeling I got while playing the game honestly. It was really about Yuna but we were seeing it through Tidus' eyes since he was telling it by that campfire.

Tae
Oct 24, 2010

Hello? Can you hear me? ...Perhaps if I shout? AAAAAAAAAH!
Without Tidus, they wouldn't defeat Sin. His connection with his dad halted Sin long enough for the Al Bheds (Also wouldn't be fighting along unless Tidus was there) to fly up and fight inside him to stop the cycle.

Also without Tidus, there's a high possibility Sin would end up being controlled by Seymour and loving poo poo up even more.

Support role or not, the world does not change without his meddling.

Open Marriage Night
Sep 18, 2009

"Do you want to talk to a spider, Peter?"


My roommate and I are playing FFIX, and I'm so happy that it's even better than I remember. I was fifteen when it came out, and was expecting some of the shine to have worn off, but we're having a great time.

Maybe I just don't explore the depths of the internet enough, but it seems like FFIX doesn't have the weird fanbase that a lot of the other FF's do. I have no problem with this.

Yar The Pirate
Feb 19, 2012

Tae posted:

Without Tidus, they wouldn't defeat Sin. His connection with his dad halted Sin long enough for the Al Bheds (Also wouldn't be fighting along unless Tidus was there) to fly up and fight inside him to stop the cycle.

Also without Tidus, there's a high possibility Sin would end up being controlled by Seymour and loving poo poo up even more.

Support role or not, the world does not change without his meddling.

The thing I never got about Seymour was that he somehow thought that because he would become Sin he could destroy Spira? Wouldn't that have happened already if someone else had a powerful Final Aeon? What makes him think that he was so special? Especially since him and Yuna wouldn't have a very powerful connection in the first place.

NikkolasKing
Apr 3, 2010



Tae posted:

Without Tidus, they wouldn't defeat Sin. His connection with his dad halted Sin long enough for the Al Bheds (Also wouldn't be fighting along unless Tidus was there) to fly up and fight inside him to stop the cycle.

Also without Tidus, there's a high possibility Sin would end up being controlled by Seymour and loving poo poo up even more.

Support role or not, the world does not change without his meddling.

Those are some good points I hadn't thought of. I guess Tidus is more necessary than I thought.

Yar The Pirate posted:

The thing I never got about Seymour was that he somehow thought that because he would become Sin he could destroy Spira? Wouldn't that have happened already if someone else had a powerful Final Aeon? What makes him think that he was so special? Especially since him and Yuna wouldn't have a very powerful connection in the first place.

Well presumably everyone who became Sin in the past was a good person like Jecht and they didn't want to destroy the world. They probably did everything in their limited capacity as Yu Yevon's host to stop him from killing.

With Seymour, it be the complete opposite. He would do everything in his power to make sure Sin killed as many people as possible.

As for his relation to Yuna and the whole "your bond determined the Final Aeon's power", I think Seymour is a complete psychopath by the time of the game. He doesn't really understand love or emotions and he just thinks that the bond of marriage will be sufficient enough.

e:

Die Laughing posted:

My roommate and I are playing FFIX, and I'm so happy that it's even better than I remember. I was fifteen when it came out, and was expecting some of the shine to have worn off, but we're having a great time.

Maybe I just don't explore the depths of the internet enough, but it seems like FFIX doesn't have the weird fanbase that a lot of the other FF's do. I have no problem with this.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "weird." FFIX's limited popularity has certainly ensured that it doesn't have as much....fan material as FFVII or X but for me that's not even the problem with the individual game fanbases.

I find the furries and weird porn lovers much less annoying than the obnoxious 'my game is so great" fans. I used to be one myself, always saying FFIX was underrated while VII was overrated garbage. FF9 definitely has its share of those kinds of fans.

NikkolasKing fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Jun 10, 2012

Mazed
Oct 23, 2010

:blizz:


Minrad posted:

Yeah, it looks like they're taking a much more WoW approach in friendlier UI, questing to level, etc while retaining the core job system and grouping oriented gameplay from 11. Plus it really does look gorgeous to boot; even the UI is one of the best default one I've seen in an MMO with the minimalist style that still presents all the useful information without just being a rip of the WoW one.

Well now. :aaa: That UI shows some promise. I may actually have to bother reading over the full breadth of changes, as I honestly would like to enjoy an FF in MMO-form if they can actually get their poo poo together. If they did allow for solo-style gameplay, that'd also be great, but group-play would be acceptable if, and only if, the classes were all balanced enough to where you weren't obligated to be min/maxed in every possible way (loving FFXI classes...)

I see they're getting the Miqo'te men in; are they planning on letting you play female Roegadyn and Highlanders, as well? The latter in particular, if they're ripped and badass-looking as the males are, I'd roll in an instant.

Though if they still kept the Highlanders only to males, I suppose there'd be a certain amusing irony in having an FF MMO with a MANLY MAN ONLY race.

Azure_Horizon
Mar 27, 2010

by Reene

Die Laughing posted:

My roommate and I are playing FFIX, and I'm so happy that it's even better than I remember. I was fifteen when it came out, and was expecting some of the shine to have worn off, but we're having a great time.

Maybe I just don't explore the depths of the internet enough, but it seems like FFIX doesn't have the weird fanbase that a lot of the other FF's do. I have no problem with this.

It could be that what FFIX does is so far above the rest that it's difficult to appreciate it or talk about it in the same way. It's just a gem of a game.

Barudak
May 7, 2007

Mazed posted:

Well now. :aaa: That UI shows some promise. I may actually have to bother reading over the full breadth of changes, as I honestly would like to enjoy an FF in MMO-form if they can actually get their poo poo together. If they did allow for solo-style gameplay, that'd also be great, but group-play would be acceptable if, and only if, the classes were all balanced enough to where you weren't obligated to be min/maxed in every possible way (loving FFXI classes...)

I see they're getting the Miqo'te men in; are they planning on letting you play female Roegadyn and Highlanders, as well? The latter in particular, if they're ripped and badass-looking as the males are, I'd roll in an instant.

Though if they still kept the Highlanders only to males, I suppose there'd be a certain amusing irony in having an FF MMO with a MANLY MAN ONLY race.

Unlike FFXI, in FFXIV you can solo rather well. Its nowhere near as fast as grouping with other people of course, but its not like FFXI where it was basically impossible. Female Roegadyn are coming with 2.0, and if you sign up before 2.0 launches you will get a free character redesign/server transfer when 2.0 goes live.

As for classes the current metagame is absurdly broken by Black Mages. An optimal party is Warrior/White Mage/4 Black Mages with maybe a bard or additional white mage. This isn't to say other classes aren't functional, its just that Black Mage is that completely broken.

Well, gladiator/paladin is broken because it can't do its job and it can't do anything else either. This is probably why the paladin gets the skill Spirits Within and the default FF character for the class in screenshots is Delita Heiral.

VagueRant
May 24, 2012
FFIX is not pleasant to play. I hate the amount of lengthy, boring dungeons, I hate most of the gameplay design, the battle system is boring, the encounter rate is ridiculous...

On the other hand, the music is good, the story is enjoyable, the characters are fantastic and you can tell there was a lot of heart behind it. So I feel bad for hating it, but god, I really do hate that gameplay.

Yay for Let's Plays.

TurnipFritter
Apr 21, 2010
10,000 POSTS ON TALKING TIME

FFXII Replay Trip Report:
Made it to Raithwall's Tomb. I'm trying to run characters I didn't bother with in my first playthrough, so Penelo's my main and rocking Maces, Staves and Magic (Dark is super useful because it's the only multi-target attack magic I have). I was using Gunner Fran for a long time, but she's... she's not a very good character. Guns aren't so hot either.

It feels like magic would be a lot more useful as a whole if it were easier to regen MP. Allies are basically worthless as casters because they don't move around enough to keep them from burning through their MP. Too bad there's no "Self MP < 30% : Don't Stop Moving" gambit setup.

...apparently you can speed combat up? I, um, don't think I knew that. At least now I won't have to wait forever to pre-buff the party before boss fights. :v:

I didn't remember the Nam-Yensa Sandsea at all. It's kind of a nice change of pace from the Ogir-Yensa Copy Paste Sea. It's amazing what a little bit of greenery will do for an environment.

NikkolasKing
Apr 3, 2010



There are plenty of Licenses later that pretty much ensure you won't run out of MP that fast. At this point I think the best thing to do is focus on getting Quickenings since they give awesome MP bonuses.

I used magic a lot in the game because I never used Bows, Crossbows or Guns and I needed something to hit flying enemies with. Plus Buffs are pretty drat useful.

Fur20
Nov 14, 2007

すご▞い!
君は働か░い
フ▙▓ズなんだね!

VagueRant posted:

FFIX is not pleasant to play. I hate the amount of lengthy, boring dungeons, I hate most of the gameplay design, the battle system is boring, the encounter rate is ridiculous...

The dungeons are actually really short and only give the visual illusion of being long (not to mention first-time-through syndrome where everything feels overwhelming and you're not sure what you need to do to progress). Even Oelivert, which seems gigantic, is like a ten-minute jog if you know what you're doing; it's only six or seven screens large, and that's counting both the room with the Moogle and the boss room. Memoria is, what, ten or twelve of varying length, plus four really short ones in the Crystal World. The encounter rate is a lot lower than you're suggesting, too, and you'll normally only get one or two encounters running from one end of a screen to the other unless you're thoroughly exploring an area.

Azure_Horizon
Mar 27, 2010

by Reene

The White Dragon posted:

The dungeons are actually really short and only give the visual illusion of being long (not to mention first-time-through syndrome where everything feels overwhelming and you're not sure what you need to do to progress). Even Oelivert, which seems gigantic, is like a ten-minute jog if you know what you're doing; it's only six or seven screens large, and that's counting both the room with the Moogle and the boss room. Memoria is, what, ten or twelve of varying length, plus four really short ones in the Crystal World. The encounter rate is a lot lower than you're suggesting, too, and you'll normally only get one or two encounters running from one end of a screen to the other unless you're thoroughly exploring an area.

Yeah FFIX's encounter rate is about the same if not as bad as FFVII's or VIII's. VIII has an absolutely absurd encounter rate, which can be subverted with Enc-None, thankfully.

Except for that Deep Sea Research Center puzzle. gently caress that poo poo.

Barudak
May 7, 2007

Azure_Horizon posted:

Yeah FFIX's encounter rate is about the same if not as bad as FFVII's or VIII's. VIII has an absolutely absurd encounter rate, which can be subverted with Enc-None, thankfully.

Except for that Deep Sea Research Center puzzle. gently caress that poo poo.

Take Zell out of your party.

Enc-None is the greatest ability in any FF game ever and its why FFVIII is the best. You can turn off all of the garbage in the game and focus on the series best feature; its coherent, well thought out, and emotionally touching card game.

NikkolasKing
Apr 3, 2010



I thought the Desert Palace was long but it's been years since I played the game and I was even dumber then than I am now so I'd probably find it easier upon a replay.

Regardless of length, most of the dungeons were beautiful and had great music so I didn't care.

I do agree with VagueRant that the game isn't very fun to play however. I just don't like the battle system.

NikkolasKing fucked around with this message at 06:16 on Jun 10, 2012

Soylent Heliotrope
Jan 27, 2009

I just beat 6 again after not playing it for a couple years, and I actually completed all of the endgame sidequests for the first time. Most of the game was a lot more fun than I remembered, but part of this playthrough involved actually doing the Cultists' Tower without using the Moogle Charm to get around all the random encounters. That place is a horrible slog of a dungeon and I can't imagine who thought it would be fun to play. First off, there are no save points, even though the random battles are dangerous (enemies can cast Meteor and Quake on your party) and take forever if you decided to tackle the dungeon without Ultima. Second, its level design reeks of :effort:. Going through the same screen repeated over and over again- especially when you have to do the trek twice- is dull as hell and is exactly what soured me on 8. Third, restricting the player to only magic is uninteresting game design if it comes at a point in the game where all of your characters (and especially the mage-oriented ones) aren't going to have a lot of differences between their spell pools.

Really though I'm just frustrated that that dungeon took me an hour longer to beat than Kefka's Tower did. :smith:

Hedera Helix
Sep 2, 2011

The laws of the fiesta mean nothing!

Barudak posted:

Take Zell out of your party.

Enc-None is the greatest ability in any FF game ever and its why FFVIII is the best. You can turn off all of the garbage in the game and focus on the series best feature; its coherent, well thought out, and emotionally touching card game.

The Moogle Charm from 6 was good to have for this very reason, although it would have been nice if people other than Mog could equip it.

edit: beaten

Azure_Horizon
Mar 27, 2010

by Reene

Barudak posted:

Take Zell out of your party.

Enc-None is the greatest ability in any FF game ever and its why FFVIII is the best. You can turn off all of the garbage in the game and focus on the series best feature; its coherent, well thought out, and emotionally touching card game.

Bahaha, I like you. That's literally the only reason to ever even touch FF8. The rest can suck a turd.

W.T. Fits
Apr 21, 2010

Ready to Poyozo Dance all over your face.

Soylent Heliotrope posted:

I just beat 6 again after not playing it for a couple years, and I actually completed all of the endgame sidequests for the first time. Most of the game was a lot more fun than I remembered, but part of this playthrough involved actually doing the Cultists' Tower without using the Moogle Charm to get around all the random encounters. That place is a horrible slog of a dungeon and I can't imagine who thought it would be fun to play. First off, there are no save points, even though the random battles are dangerous (enemies can cast Meteor and Quake on your party) and take forever if you decided to tackle the dungeon without Ultima. Second, its level design reeks of :effort:. Going through the same screen repeated over and over again- especially when you have to do the trek twice- is dull as hell and is exactly what soured me on 8. Third, restricting the player to only magic is uninteresting game design if it comes at a point in the game where all of your characters (and especially the mage-oriented ones) aren't going to have a lot of differences between their spell pools.

Really though I'm just frustrated that that dungeon took me an hour longer to beat than Kefka's Tower did. :smith:

Take Umaro with you the next time you run the Fanatics' Tower. Umaro gives no fucks about the "magic only" rule. Granted, it's not like he's insanely overpowered/broken in there, but it's still nice to be able to give that dungeon the finger by ignoring its gimmick on at least one character. v:shobon:v

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ImpAtom
May 24, 2007

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.

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