[Labadal]

Just got to Bladehorn Boar on Evil Difficulty. At first, I was like "Oh shit, a boss that doesn't just completely cheese you with multiple enemies and OHKO aoes? A boss that actually requires more good dodging than anything else?" But then it started summoning enemies, and I was like "Oh, of fucking course this wild feral boar would have friends. And of course the devs would think that 'we'll just flood them with enemies' is good difficulty." And naturally, of course Hubert/Cheria seem absolutely incapable of evading the boar when it charges yet Sophie is able to. Every single time. EDIT: Turned it down to Hard and the same problem was going on as in Evil; Boar charges, no one evades and gets killed. Boar summons enemies, casters get bum-rushed. Boar gets low on health, boar digs, kills target because target can't dodge. I pretty much had to solo the boss after the pattern of "use life bottle on party member, party member gets immediately killed." It's pretty sad that in prior Tales games, I was actually looking forward to the boss encounters. In this game, I'm dreading how bad the next encounter is going to be.

I had this problem earlier in the game versus a human boss. he didn't summon enemeis, but the A.I. characters would get themselves killed within 10 seconds after every revive. I love the combat in regular encounters and some boss battles have been good, but I shake my head at a lot of the boss battles.

[Dark Schala]

That boss is garbage. We talked about how bad it was on the last page (well, two pages ago now). And when Varion, Disgaeamad and I were talking about bosses in this game, that one was the focus of our discussion, and we were wondering if there would be posts in this thread about how bad it was.

It was very poorly-designed. Much of the talk on the last few pages has been about how poorly-designed some of the bosses in Graces are.

Thanks! This has definitely been the platinum that took the longest at around 140 hours total for me. I got my eleth mixer around 9,000 during my first playthrough and then used the +500 mixer grade shop upgrade. I was able to get the rest by just playing through my NG+ as I normally would.

Man, my FFXIII plat took me that long, lol. When something gets that long, I'm just like, "I don't want to play this ever again." Or I'd probably wait a few years to play it, I dunno.

Yep, that's pretty much what I did for the mixer. That last 999 points are brutal, so it's better to do them with the Mixer bonus.

[grandjedi6]

Annoyingly difficult bosses (on chaos):

• Nova Wolf
• Queen Slime
• Malik
• Cedric
• Parasite
• Veres
• Kurt

After that the bosses were never a much of a challenge. Sure they would do annoying things once in a while (killing field) but it didn't take much to prevent. Even the story's villian was easy whenever or however you faced it. But those above bosses... damn, they were trying. Had to redo them so many times.

[frequency]

I'm sure a large part of it is because I'm terrible at games and my memory is very bad but...

I feel pretty much every 3D Tales has bad boss fights/AI.

If all I got out of Tales was the combat, I'd probably be too frustrated to keep playing them. But I'm one of those weirdos who plays games (even Tales) for story/characters. So I put up with the frustrating parts like AI not moving out of things and dying over and over again.

[Dark Schala]

Annoyingly difficult bosses (on chaos): Nova Wolf Queen Slime Malik Cedric Parasite Veres Kurt After that the bosses were never a much of a challenge. Sure they would do annoying things once in a while (killing field) but it didn't take much to prevent. Even the story's villian was easy whenever or however you faced it. But those above bosses... damn, they were trying. Had to redo them so many times.

I think the difficult bosses on chaos for me on my first time through the game were...

• Chapter 3 spoiler: Cedric
• Champion Boar (or whatever they called it in English; anyway, fuck this thing. Worst boss ever.)
• Chapter 5 spoiler: Kurtz (In the Wii version, this boss's lackeys never came back when you killed them, and he/she was less of a combo addict, so the fight was much easier.)
• Chapter 8 spoiler: Emeraude (I heard this boss was a huge joke in the Wii version)
• Future Arc spoiler: Lilitina
• EX Dungeon spoiler: Solomus

The post-EX dungeon fight (λ Theos) wasn't awful, imo. But by the time you get to it, you're pretty strong already.

Now, outside of Champion Boar, I don't have a huuuge problem with them because I know what they do now (I still have issues, but not as much as I initially did). But I can't deny that Graces needs better strategy options and better-designed bosses for its battle system--which is already stellar--to truly shine.

I'm sure a large part of it is because I'm terrible at games and my memory is very bad but... I feel pretty much every 3D Tales has bad boss fights/AI. If all I got out of Tales was the combat, I'd probably be too frustrated to keep playing them. But I'm one of those weirdos who plays games (even Tales) for story/characters. So I put up with the frustrating parts like AI not moving out of things and dying over and over again.

That's typical of Tales games, I feel. The systems work so well and nicely in normal battles but the boss battles sometimes do something that might make them feel tedious, or might make the mechanics feel like they don't matter much.

I thought having the mindset of playing games for the systems and mechanics was the minority. I thought that in general, many people play RPGs for the story or characters first and foremost. So I think your take on the genre is pretty normal, lol.

I can't remember what my breaking point was, but before that, I did play RPGs for the story or characters first and foremost. After whatever game it was, I stopped caring so much about story/characters and my interest in games' mechanics rose.

[BassForever]

This is the only 3D Tales game I really feel like it has bad bosses, mostly because I feel like they were designed for a Symphonia/Abyss/Vesperia/Xillia style engine but put into Graces f. The engine works well when you're fighting a lot of enemies who you can easily stun but because they're all over the place you have to constantly time your dodges and attacks well. Most of the bosses however are just solo dudes who either you stun lock to death and they can barely move, or their evasion is so high you can never stun lock which to kill you pretty much have to pot shot them out of existence.

It's funny cause normally I hate generic "lets take a common enemy add some parts to it, recolor it, and call it a boss" yet minus that stupid boar most of these fights are better and far more enjoyable then the story boss characters thanks to the engine. Honestly the boar fight wouldn't be a problem if he didn't get that stupid dive into the ground attack. Even then if your allies were half decent at dodging it would be okay, except they just stand their like idiots and die.

I just finished the secret dungeon and found the final boss there to be mostly easy, yet he demonstrates my point perfectly. He can stun lock you to death if he hits you, but most of the fight you can just spam something like Scarlet Salvo or Infernal Torrent to stun him and just wail on him for massive combos. Half way though the fight I pretty much just started button mashing because it was easier then putting any real effort into things. Half way though the fight he splits into multiple targets and the fight actually became enjoyable simply because I actually had to think, dodge, and control. Once they were all dead though the fight sadly got boring again.

Anyways, now that I've finished the secret dungeon, beat the Cameo battle and the rockgagong, all I have left to do is beat Lambda's secret form and then go back into the f arc and Beat the final boss in under 60 seconds and beat Poisson then I can stop having fun work on the grind tastic titles like inn request and eleth mixer... yaaay!

[frequency]

It seems hard to do bosses with the more action-y combat. During normal fights, you can get through it taking like no damage and doing very impressive combos. But in a boss fight, I guess they feel they have to make it hard somehow. So they have the bosses unstunnable or breaking combos at low numbers or locking you or whatever.

I'm not sure what the solution is. If you could fight the bosses like normal enemies where you can get really high combos and dodge all attacks and stuff, then it would just be like a normal fight but with more HP. Which would be annoying in a different way.

The boss fights here remind me of bosses in fighting games. You get through arcade or story mode or whatever easily then the boss is super cheap and breaks mechanics in an attempt to add challenge.

I thought having the mindset of playing games for the systems and mechanics was the minority. I thought that in general, many people play RPGs for the story or characters first and foremost. So I think your take on the genre is pretty normal, lol. I can't remember what my breaking point was, but before that, I did play RPGs for the story or characters first and foremost. After whatever game it was, I stopped caring so much about story/characters and my interest in games' mechanics rose.

Maybe. It's just that "LOL GAME STORY" seems to be a very common opinion here on GAF. But maybe that's mostly from the non-RPG players.

There are some games I play mainly for mechanics, but it's a minority. Ys, Star Ocean, Disgaea, and Kingdom Hearts come to mind.

I think a lot of people outgrow game stories. Especially for JRPGs. So maybe it wasn't really a breaking point so much as you just grew up.

I never grew up and I like the same things I liked when I was like 15. Kind of sad I guess.

[nintendoman58]

While on the subject of bosses...

[FSLink]

It seems hard to do bosses with the more action-y combat. During normal fights, you can get through it taking like no damage and doing very impressive combos. But in a boss fight, I guess they feel they have to make it hard somehow. So they have the bosses unstunnable or breaking combos at low numbers or locking you or whatever.

They honestly just need to make the enemy AI smarter. I'd have much more fun if the human enemies attempted to dodge some moves, and also if they did around the same damage I did instead of instant shotting me as soon as they touch me. The enemies still feel like the battle system is 2D.

[IntelliHeath]

how can I accessed to floor 10 for Z-Cage.

I already have Dreamer's Flange +1, 3 stones from Dragon, 1-9 floors beaten, etc.

Edited:

NVM. I figured it out myself. I had to tempered my weapon in order to make it +2.

[Dedication Through Light]

That chart is true, I go about that entire cycle every bossfight, though I guess it needs a section for lower difficulty and retry.

I still dont understand how people beat the bosses in under a minute, even on Moderate I still cant do it.

[barrin87]

Man, my FFXIII plat took me that long, lol. When something gets that long, I'm just like, "I don't want to play this ever again." Or I'd probably wait a few years to play it, I dunno. Yep, that's pretty much what I did for the mixer. That last 999 points are brutal, so it's better to do them with the Mixer bonus.

I never went for the FFXIII but I wish I had. I got the plat for FFXIII-2 but that didn't take nearly as long. I think I spent around 80 hours on that plat.

[PandaPandaPanda]

That chart is true, I go about that entire cycle every bossfight, though I guess it needs a section for lower difficulty and retry. I still dont understand how people beat the bosses in under a minute, even on Moderate I still cant do it.

New game + and a combination of the damage bonuses you can purchase at the grade shop/setting the difficulty to easy

[Dedication Through Light]

New game + and a combination of the damage bonuses you can purchase at the grade shop/setting the difficulty to easy

I thought people were getting it on their first playthrough. Guess Ill just try to do that on the new game+ then and not worry about it anymore, up to end of chp 3 I am.

[Sagitario]

I have been getting the 60s trophies on my first playthrough.
The first Richard fight trophy was a bitch to get.

[cress2000]

New game + and a combination of the damage bonuses you can purchase at the grade shop/setting the difficulty to easy

Yeah, you can beat the main story in around five hours doing this with 10x damage and skipping all cutscenes. I still had to combine the damage-halving titles with the damage-halving book to survive the final boss though. I probably should have set Arcane Bottles to the mixer too, but I didn't think to for some reason...

[BassForever]

Finally finished all the inn request, never will I ever do that side quest ever again Until my next playthough. Now Lambda Theos, 60 second Fodra queen, and max eleth mixer (currently at 7600 with 13 slots) is all I need for the plat should probably have it done thursday (tomorrow I have to take my car into the repair shop and work). Not required for the plat but required for my own personal achievement is getting every title and beating the f arc tournament.

Also was it just me or was I the only person who found Gentlemen easier then The fish gentlemen boss in Zhonecage I even fought the first on Chaos and the latter on Evil. Yeah I was slightly higher leveled with slightly better gear, but his attacks never seemed as annoying. The attack where the latter boss slithers around the ground for 10 seconds drove me up the wall.

[MechaX]

Another boss that likes to just summon waves of enemies?

Game, this isn't funny.

At least I was able to beat this one on Evil without much difficulties. Too bad it involved spamming like two moves from Asbel.

[Dark Schala]

Also was it just me or was I the only person who found Gentlemen easier then The fish gentlemen boss in Zhonecage I even fought the first on Chaos and the latter on Evil. Yeah I was slightly higher leveled with slightly better gear, but his attacks never seemed as annoying. The attack where the latter boss slithers around the ground for 10 seconds drove me up the wall.

Nope. That boss was an absolute joke in comparison to the other boss you mentioned in the Zone Cage for the exact reason you stated at the end.

I thought people were getting it on their first playthrough. Guess Ill just try to do that on the new game+ then and not worry about it anymore, up to end of chp 3 I am.

I did that; it's entirely possible. Both times I did the plat, I did it on Easy to Moderate mode depending on the boss, get the trophy, and then reloaded to beat the boss legitimately on a harder difficulty.

I never went for the FFXIII but I wish I had. I got the plat for FFXIII-2 but that didn't take nearly as long. I think I spent around 80 hours on that plat.

Nah. I don't think it's worth it. By the end of it, you'll feel like Shredder since you've killed enough turtles to make a strong batch of turtle soup.

FFXIII-2 plat took 56-ish hours, I think? I know towards the end of it, I was complaining a lot in the OT over everything having to do with the casino.

Maybe. It's just that "LOL GAME STORY" seems to be a very common opinion here on GAF. But maybe that's mostly from the non-RPG players. There are some games I play mainly for mechanics, but it's a minority. Ys, Star Ocean, Disgaea, and Kingdom Hearts come to mind. I think a lot of people outgrow game stories. Especially for JRPGs. So maybe it wasn't really a breaking point so much as you just grew up. I never grew up and I like the same things I liked when I was like 15. Kind of sad I guess.

No, noooo. I don't want to feel like I grew up, though I guess you're kinda right. :lol

Maybe it's a case of a changing taste, or it was a period of playing games which had narratives I wasn't too hot about, and it built up to a tipping point. I recall that at the time, I started to complain to other people that I didn't want to watch the game or watch a ton of cutscenes; I just wanted to play the game and/or read the dialogue at my normal reading speed (but sometimes what I'd experienced from the story/dialogue wasn't to my liking).

I think the 'lol, all game stories are garbage' mentality might come from people who haven't really given certain games a chance to see what they offer... or they might be expecting award-winning movie/novel-calibre storytelling. There are examples of good storytelling out there (ex: (in my opinion, of course) Mother 3, Silent Hill 2, Matsuno stuff in general helped by a good localization, Planescape Torment, Majora's Mask, Seisen no Keifu, etc.). I didn't mention any Genso Suikoden games because I don't know if my rationale behind the mentions is unbiased or not, lol.

[Abylim]

Will grabbing 10x damage from grade shop screw me out of sidequests?
I'm keen to start my ng+ but want to make sure it wont make anything impossible

[barrin87]

Nope. That boss was an absolute joke in comparison to the other boss you mentioned in the Zone Cage for the exact reason you stated at the end. Nah. I don't think it's worth it. By the end of it, you'll feel like Shredder since you've killed enough turtles to make a strong batch of turtle soup. FFXIII-2 plat took 56-ish hours, I think? I know towards the end of it, I was complaining a lot in the OT over everything having to do with the casino.

I agree that the fish boss was SOOOOO annoying. He did nothing but the slithering move about halfway through fighting him which took the battle forever to beat.

I only knew a couple people that got the FFXIII plat but they said it took them around 120 hours. I only spent 60 hours in comparison which was beating the main game and some of the hunts and grinding.

I probably could have at least shaved off a good 10 or more hours off of FFXIII-2. There were only 2 things I really found annoying in the game. The casino and the damned fragment to get 7,777 coins at the slots was completely ridiculous. I had to leave my game on overnight to get it. The other was the paradox ending involving Serah and Caius. That battle was completely ridiculous and was the only battle in the entire game where I had to lower the game down to easy to defeat it.

[BassForever]

Will grabbing 10x damage from grade shop screw me out of sidequests? I'm keen to start my ng+ but want to make sure it wont make anything impossible

It doesn't make anything impossible, though you might want to be able to inherit skills, titles, books, eleth mixer, and 10x exp so that you can quickly get so powerful while using your 50% damage reduction titles and 50% damage reduction book to survive while spamming infernal wave for long range instant kills.

[MechaX]

Oh man, the party always loves to do things the hard way. *Fender Tower Spoilers* So basically we traveled all the way up this tower with the most boring music possible, just so we can tell this guy Kurt that his research could potentially nuke the city, and the party just gives up trying to persuade him otherwise? All Kurt is like "oh, we have made modifications to the research, there is no danger." All that had to be done was to be like "What kind of modifications are we talking about? Well, it wouldn't hurt to have Pascal look over these new modifications just to be sure, since she kinda founded this research in the first place. Hell, it could be a solution that she overlooked." But the party is just like "welp, there is no choice, we must fight him eventually."

Edit: Just got to Kurt. The game expects me to fight this guy with his Dragon Age 2 "ANOTHER WAVE" esque sniper grunts.



Doesn't help that most of the "advice" on GameFAQs is mostly "I don't know what people are talking about, I beat Kurt on Evil/Chaos on my first try! *smugface*"

[Esura]

While I can't say I've beaten any boss the first try on harder difficulties but I did defeat Kurt my first time on normal though. I personally thought he was easy but what did you have problems with?

[MechaX]

While I can't say I've beaten any boss the first try on harder difficulties but I did defeat Kurt my first time on normal though. I personally thought he was easy but what did you have problems with?

I'm currently playing on Evil. My main problem is that the boss himself is just quite off-the-chain; ridiculous super armor, combos that can be 2500 damage minimum, wide range where he can at times hit party members behind him, and constantly respawning soldiers that love to snipe from all the way across the field. I try to switch party members whenever he gets close to a caster, but either his wide-range knicks the member in the middle of dodging for huge damage, or another party member rushes in close and then tries to cast a long arte before I can really get a grasp on what is going on and the boss demolishes said party member.

[Mikhal]

I can't go back to the F-Arc once I beat the boss, correct? What is miss-able there besides the Nariki Dolls? Should I get the Soul Orbs of all the F-Arc enemies or will Zhonecage help me with that?

[barrin87]

I can't go back to the F-Arc once I beat the boss, correct? What is miss-able there besides the Nariki Dolls? Should I get the Soul Orbs of all the F-Arc enemies or will Zhonecage help me with that?

You can go back to the Future Arc but you will have to start from the beginning again if you didn't get everything the first time.

You need to get the dolls during the Future Arc. There are new enemies that are only in the F Arc as well so if you want their soul orbs you should make sure you get them on the first try. The Tales weapons are only found in the F Arc as well. Beyond skits I am not sure what else you would want to get while there.

[SatelliteOfLove]

I'm currently playing on Evil. My main problem is that the boss himself is just quite off-the-chain; ridiculous super armor, combos that can be 2500 damage minimum, wide range where he can at times hit party members behind him, and constantly respawning soldiers that love to snipe from all the way across the field. I try to switch party members whenever he gets close to a caster, but either his wide-range knicks the member in the middle of dodging for huge damage, or another party member rushes in close and then tries to cast a long arte before I can really get a grasp on what is going on and the boss demolishes said party member.

My favorite is stepping on the lateral slashes of his 10-string and he STOPS COLD. Step and attack? Fuck you, here's sah-words to the face! Endure the combo with blocking? He'll backstep then do it all over again, as his min CC is like 60 or something. Then there's those 10-foot radius 360 cleaves you mentioned. Evasion was I estimate 2000. He's the M'uru of ToGf bosses on Hard and up: everything you'd seen before cranked to 11 and it never lets up.

[MechaX]

My favorite is stepping on the lateral slashes of his 10-string and he STOPS COLD. Step and attack? Fuck you, here's sah-words to the face! Endure the combo with blocking? He'll backstep then do it all over again, as his min CC is like 60 or something. Then there's those 10-foot radius 360 cleaves you mentioned. Evasion was I estimate 2000. He's the M'uru of ToGf bosses on Hard and up: everything you'd seen before cranked to 11 and it never lets up.

When I was leveling up titles to get a few new artes, I unlocked Chaos and was like "Well fuck, this can't help me, but I wonder..." and tried the boss on Chaos. No party member was safe anywhere with his long combo strings and reach and his teleporting Mystic Arte that guaranteed a OHKO. The asswhooping dealt on Chaos by the boss was almost biblical.

Managed to beat him on Evil by using a tactic that I thought was probably the most cheesiest thing I have ever done in a Tales game (seen from a youtube vid at that); Sophie is on constant heal, Pascal constantly casts Bloodflamme, Malik constantly casts Burning Hearts and nothing else. I controlled Asbel spamming Gale Maw and Infernal Torrent (usually using Infernal Torrent and hoping that Asbel's invincibility frames can outlast the boss's crazy combos). Not fun in the least, but it got the fucker down to half health on Chaos and managed to bring him down on Evil.

Well, its Chaos to the end now. But with my luck, every boss after this will try to top Kurt in terms of making me pull my hair out.

[Sagitario]

Dat Malik crotch!

Also:


:D
I still have VP2 in my backlog :(

This game has made me laugh a few times. Can't wait to try the ƒ to laugh a bit more :P


--------------------------------------------------------------

How hard would be to do this Hubert's 108 hits combo? (why does it only say 23 hits at the end?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4mqBZn99Vc

I just remembered there are titles for 100 hits.
I have only done a 100 hits combo once [2 nights ago, previous record was 94].

I watched the video several times now:
1. WOW
2. The player is using the dolls
3. I love Mystic Artes
4. I don't think I will be able to perform any of that (ever)
5. Asbel humanoid?
6. I want to try Accel Mode ASAP to see exactly what it consists of.

[Dedication Through Light]

The games difficulty is at times all over the place. The enemies in the Rockagong devastated me on hard and then even on Moderate.

[Sagitario]

The games difficulty is at times all over the place. The enemies in the Rockagong devastated me on hard and then even on Moderate.

Wait until the boss fight. You will cry! :P

[Mikhal]

You can go back to the Future Arc but you will have to start from the beginning again if you didn't get everything the first time. You need to get the dolls during the Future Arc. There are new enemies that are only in the F Arc as well so if you want their soul orbs you should make sure you get them on the first try. The Tales weapons are only found in the F Arc as well. Beyond skits I am not sure what else you would want to get while there.

Thanks! How about Richard's Titles? Using the dolls wouldn't let me get those in the main arc, correct?

[Sagitario]

FINALLY DID IT! Defeated the final boss on Chaos (level 81). Best Mother's Day Ever! :P


What a weak ending/finale.

Lambda: I will obliterate your mind from your body.
Asbel: Let me show you the world first.
Lambda: Mebbeh.
Asbel: Please.
Lambda: OK. But one day I will resurface.
Asbel: No problem.
Lambda: I feel so tired because of all this talk. I will sleep. You are free.
Asbel: DON'T SLEEP PLEASE! COME WITH ME! I BEG YOU!
...
Sophie: This Lambda doesn't need to be eliminated.

YAY HIBERNATION! ¬¬

The ƒ arc doesn't explain adult Sophie and what I assume is Asbel and Cheria's son, right? If it does... poor Wii only owners in Japan :(

Also, poor Cheria and Hubert, they got no ending, final purpose or resolution at all:
Cheria: Hi Richard, I was just passing by healing people... OK, bye.
Hubert: Malik, you did a great job as new ambassador... let's view the camera zooming out.

Anyway, here are some screens:




I hate when final bosses don't give experience or money (or when their final forms have nothing to do with their previous/original look).

I got only 2017 grade :(

What do you guys recommend: Ex dungeon first or ƒ arc*?

*At what levels did you finish the ƒ arc? I remember Dark Schala having trouble getting the 60 seconds trophy of the ƒ arc final boss, so perhaps the Ex dungeon exp would me more helpful.

[frequency]

The ƒ arc doesn't explain adult Sophie

It kind of does. But it's really dumb.

[barrin87]

FINALLY DID IT! Defeated the final boss on Chaos (level 81). Best Mother's Day Ever! :P What a weak ending/finale. Lambda: I will obliterate your mind from your body. Asbel: Let me show you the world first. Lambda: Mebbeh. Asbel: Please. Lambda: OK. But one day I will resurface. Asbel: No problem. Lambda: I feel so tired because of all this talk. I will sleep. You are free. Asbel: DON'T SLEEP PLEASE! COME WITH ME! I BEG YOU! ... Sophie: This Lambda doesn't need to be eliminated. YAY HIBERNATION! ¬¬ The ƒ arc doesn't explain adult Sophie and what I assume is Asbel and Cheria's son, right? If it does... poor Wii only owners in Japan :( Also, poor Cheria and Hubert, they got no ending, final purpose or resolution at all: Cheria: Hi Richard, I was just passing by healing people... OK, bye. Hubert: Malik, you did a great job as new ambassador... let's view the camera zooming out. I hate when final bosses don't give experience or money (or when their final forms have nothing to do with their previous/original look). I got only 2017 grade :( What do you guys recommend: Ex dungeon first or ƒ arc*? *At what levels did you finish the ƒ arc? I remember Dark Schala having trouble getting the 60 seconds trophy of the ƒ arc final boss, so perhaps the Ex dungeon exp would me more helpful.

The F Arc ending explains the other characters a little better.

I think you actually have to complete the F Arc before the Zhonecage can even be unlocked.

[Sagitario]

I guess ƒ arc it is then.

The F Arc ending explains the other characters a little better.

So... that was the only conclusion Wii owners got in Japan? Damn!
Like I said, such a weak and empty finale.

It kind of does. But it's really dumb.

Doesn't surprise me at all.





Anyway, I decided to include Hubert just to change formation and get the rest of the difficulty trophies: he dies so easily. After the third time he died, I decide to switch from Asbel to Hubert and... OMG SO FUN! He's a joy to control and battle. I even got a 250 hits combo in the final boss battle... I felt like a boss! :P

[Dark Schala]

Thanks! How about Richard's Titles? Using the dolls wouldn't let me get those in the main arc, correct?

You'll have to do that character's titles in the Future Arc, yes. Luckily the number is smaller than that of the other characters'. Just take control of him/her and whack away (B-skills are recommended). You can also do this while grinding the Eleth Mixer while controlling that character and having all the other characters as passive.

FINALLY DID IT! Defeated the final boss on Chaos (level 81). Best Mother's Day Ever! :P

Congrats!

lol, you kept almost everyone in their swimsuits.

The ƒ arc doesn't explain adult Sophie and what I assume is Asbel and Cheria's son, right? If it does... poor Wii only owners in Japan :(

It certainly does. Kind of. I think the future arc's ending is much better than the vanilla game's ending, tbh.

What do you guys recommend: Ex dungeon first or ƒ arc*? *At what levels did you finish the ƒ arc? I remember Dark Schala having trouble getting the 60 seconds trophy of the ƒ arc final boss, so perhaps the Ex dungeon exp would me more helpful.

Future Arc first. You get Accel Mode, which helps a ton against the bosses in the Zone Cage. Plus you can get more titles (mostly the Narikiri titles, which help out a lot, imo).

I finished the final boss of the Future Arc at... Level... something. I don't remember, lol, but it wasn't that high (but it was more than 95, since that's what I beat the main arc boss with). I just remember finishing it with the timer at 1.25, which was annoying, so I ended up replaying the Arc to get it. I was at Lv 120-ish (some characters a little under, some characters a little over) when I got the trophy, but you can do it at Lv 115 on Easy easily if you do some pre-prep work. You don't even need the Narikiri titles if you've levelled up enough, and got some foods, titles, and books that you can use to your advantage.

Just know that for the Future Arc boss, he/she has a shield at first that you must have your spellcasters target. Melee won't do a thing. Then when it changes its appearance (it'll get a large sword), you can then attack with normal attacks. What I did for the 60 seconds trophy is right here, if you want to try to get it on one playthrough of the Future Arc. Just make everyone keep attacking and don't let up.

The EX-dungeon gives out XP like candy, especially if you bump-up the difficulty (and you should because that affects the quality of shards you get, and the quality of the treasures you find in treasure chests... but only do this when you're comfortable with beating monsters in there while their strengths go up while you're running around on the floors).

The F Arc ending explains the other characters a little better. I think you actually have to complete the F Arc before the Zhonecage can even be unlocked.

Nope. All you need is a finished clear game file to start the Zone Cage. You don't have to do Future Arc.

I probably could have at least shaved off a good 10 or more hours off of FFXIII-2. There were only 2 things I really found annoying in the game. The casino and the damned fragment to get 7,777 coins at the slots was completely ridiculous. I had to leave my game on overnight to get it. The other was the paradox ending involving Serah and Caius. That battle was completely ridiculous and was the only battle in the entire game where I had to lower the game down to easy to defeat it.

That was the only battle where I had to use a monster, since I didn't use monsters at all in other battles (outside of the ones where I had to get the Feral Link trophy). I just ended up picking a SEN and having Serah do all the work. The casino was the damn trophy that took SO MANY HOURS to get.

God, I hate that trophy so much. :/

[Sagitario]

You'll have to do that character's titles in the Future Arc, yes. Luckily the number is smaller than that of the other characters'. Just take control of him/her and whack away (B-skills are recommended). You can also do this while grinding the Eleth Mixer while controlling that character and having all the other characters as passive.

What about arte usage?

Congrats! lol, you kept almost everyone in their swimsuits.

Thanks. And yes, outside of Asbel and Sophie... SWIMSUITS FOR EVERYBODY! :D

It certainly does. Kind of. I think the future arc's ending is much better than the vanilla game's ending, tbh.

I honestly can't imagine it being worse :P

Future Arc first. You get Accel Mode, which helps a ton against the bosses in the Zone Cage. Plus you can get more titles (mostly the Narikiri titles, which help out a lot, imo). I finished the final boss of the Future Arc at... Level... something. I don't remember, lol, but it wasn't that high (but it was more than 95, since that's what I beat the main arc boss with). I just remember finishing it with the timer at 1.25, which was annoying, so I ended up replaying the Arc to get it. I was at Lv 120-ish (some characters a little under, some characters a little over) when I got the trophy, but you can do it at Lv 115 on Easy easily if you do some pre-prep work. You don't even need the Narikiri titles if you've levelled up enough, and got some foods, titles, and books that you can use to your advantage. Just know that for the Future Arc boss, he/she has a shield at first that you must have your spellcasters target. Melee won't do a thing. Then when it changes its appearance (it'll get a large sword), you can then attack with normal attacks. What I did for the 60 seconds trophy is right here, if you want to try to get it on one playthrough of the Future Arc. Just make everyone keep attacking and don't let up. The EX-dungeon gives out XP like candy, especially if you bump-up the difficulty (and you should because that affects the quality of shards you get, and the quality of the treasures you find in treasure chests... but only do this when you're comfortable with beating monsters in there while their strengths go up while you're running around on the floors).

I will keep a note of your strategy.
WTF @ 95?! HOW? :O
The exp [and gald, I suppose] was the main reason I wanted to do the extra dungeon first.

[Sagitario]

Started the ƒ arc.

It always starts with increased monsters appearances and attacks, doesn't it? Freaking unconsidered monsters! :P

Judging by Asbel reaction when he saw Cheria (1 year without seeing each other... seriously?), I can tell this is going to be a little bit more funny.

Edit:
Just finished playing (almost 5am... WOW!)
Got Accel Mode. No idea what it does besides getting an orange screen :P

And finally some funny/good skits. Such an improvement they make.
"Cheria, let's make out!" :P

[barrin87]

Nope. All you need is a finished clear game file to start the Zone Cage. You don't have to do Future Arc. That was the only battle where I had to use a monster, since I didn't use monsters at all in other battles (outside of the ones where I had to get the Feral Link trophy). I just ended up picking a SEN and having Serah do all the work. The casino was the damn trophy that took SO MANY HOURS to get. God, I hate that trophy so much. :/

Oh really? I just assumed you had to finish the F Arc since my game never mentioned anything about the Zhonecage until I came back after the F Arc. I had been to Lhant multiple times as well and there was never a mention about it. Although I don't know why people would ever want to go to the Zhonecage first since Accel Mode was nice.

Wow, you didn't use monsters at all? I thought they were fun to use except in regular battles since I had over leveled my group of Chocobos. I tried a SEN monster with Serah and it still wouldn't work for me on normal. Max levels and he would still knock Serah out after a couple minutes. That was the only battle where I seriously got pissed off at the game.

[Dark Schala]

What about arte usage? WTF @ 95?! HOW? :O

Arte usage counts, definitely, so if you really wanted to, you could turn all four characters into the one character for levelling up the artes. For that character in the F Arc, I think you have to wait until he/she gets back into your party so that the trophy can pop.

Judging by Asbel reaction when he saw Cheria (1 year without seeing each other... seriously?), I can tell this is going to be a little bit more funny. Got Accel Mode. No idea what it does besides getting an orange screen :P And finally some funny/good skits. Such an improvement they make. "Cheria, let's make out!" :P

Gosh, I wonder what he wanted to hide from her when he sidestepped away? ;P

Accel Mode has different effects for each character when it's activated, but for all characters, it gets rid of statuses, saves from near-death, etc (so it's best to activate it when you're about to die or when you have lots of status effects on you... that is, if it's at 50%). So for Asbel, it surrounds him with a purple flame that hits enemies that surround him. For Cheria, it acts as an hourglass. For Pascal, it surrounds her (and allies around her) in a barrier where enemies' attacks do no damage. Hubert - he's engulfed in a field of arrows and it's a really easy way to build up hits. And so on...

If you get the gauge at max, and obtain the characters' level 4 blast calibers, while in Accel Mode, if you hold L1, they'll use that blast caliber. You have to do quests for the level 4 blast calibers, though.

And Richard makes all of the skits better in the Future Arc, lol.

Oh really? I just assumed you had to finish the F Arc since my game never mentioned anything about the Zhonecage until I came back after the F Arc. I had been to Lhant multiple times as well and there was never a mention about it. Although I don't know why people would ever want to go to the Zhonecage first since Accel Mode was nice. Wow, you didn't use monsters at all? I thought they were fun to use except in regular battles since I had over leveled my group of Chocobos. I tried a SEN monster with Serah and it still wouldn't work for me on normal. Max levels and he would still knock Serah out after a couple minutes. That was the only battle where I seriously got pissed off at the game.

There's a skit you had to activate when you came back to initiate the quest. You can do the Zone Cage first, though. It takes after the Wii version that way.

Yep. No monsters outside of uh... the Sentinel Robot that you get in Bresha (during the first solo Caius battle, and the thing with the shell that I infused with the robot to give it mediguard and then it just became an absolute tank during the paradox ending for that. Honestly, use the SEN monsters as bait, and the bosses will be provoked into hitting them instead (except for the Behemoth in the last dungeon which was irritating).

I remember after the Japanese release looking up Japanese wiki info for a good Kichu build, and it turned out that I never needed it because the game in general was pretty easy in comparison to FFXIII (and this ended up being a large reason for my dissatisfaction with the game).

[barrin87]

There's a skit you had to activate when you came back to initiate the quest. You can do the Zone Cage first, though. It takes after the Wii version that way. Yep. No monsters outside of uh... the Sentinel Robot that you get in Bresha (during the first solo Caius battle, and the thing with the shell that I infused with the robot to give it mediguard and then it just became an absolute tank during the paradox ending for that. Honestly, use the SEN monsters as bait, and the bosses will be provoked into hitting them instead (except for the Behemoth in the last dungeon which was irritating). I remember after the Japanese release looking up Japanese wiki info for a good Kichu build, and it turned out that I never needed it because the game in general was pretty easy in comparison to FFXIII (and this ended up being a large reason for my dissatisfaction with the game).

Interesting, I never had any skits come up for me while I was there.

Having a great SEN monster didn't work for everyone though. I created the highest leveled SEN I could and the boss would still ignore him after a while. My game really hated me on that battle.

[Zabuza]

Looking to get back into this next month. I've got F arc to beat and then I'll be going for the platinum.

[Labadal]

I think I played for six hours today. I'm on my way to Fendel territory. I've been going back and forth, trying to do as many subevents as possible. Also doing inn requests to gain some SP. Was surprised to find a certain someone in Orlen Woods. That was the most challenging boss fight so far. I died the first time, but I won on my second try, using Asbel, Malik, Cheria and Pascal. This seems to be the best party setup for me, since they don't get killed every five seconds. I'm controlling Hubert for now, so he can gain more titles, but I swap him out when it's boss battle time. Cheria was also my controlled character for a while, because she wasn't gaining titles fast enough, so I had to manually take care of that. I feel that Hubert is a real party pooper and I actually dislike him. Lighten up, I want my silly post battle skits, damn you. (He is great for comboing, got a 50 hit combo with him so far.) I like the skits, but then again, I enjoy the skits in all Tales games.

I spent a LOT of time dualizing today. Of the six hours I played, I think 2 hours were spent on dualizing. I unlocked a store in Yu Liberte, but I don't know what it does. Gave her one of my gems to polish, I'll be back and grab it later. It was really fun playing, because I haven't had the time to properly play it. But I'm pregressing nicely. Finally got 50 titles for Asbel.

Looking forward to playing more tomorrow. Anyone know how much I have left?

[Sagitario]

Hubert, why do you have great/amazing A-artes yet you are so weak and die so easily? WHY IS LIFE SO UNFAIR?

And Richard makes all of the skits better in the Future Arc, lol.

Yes, him + Malik = :D

[Sagitario]

Malik and Richard skits :D
Loving the trolling :P

Got Cheria's Accel Mode and Malik's 4th Mystic Arte.
Monsters are dying too quickly on chaos, they don't even last 10 seconds.


This thread is dead :(

[Dark Schala]

Interesting, I never had any skits come up for me while I was there. Having a great SEN monster didn't work for everyone though. I created the highest leveled SEN I could and the boss would still ignore him after a while. My game really hated me on that battle.

Probably not. I just used those two monsters for the two fights I talked about, so I'm not sure how they work with other bosses, lol. Provoke seems to be really broken in this game, though, since the times when I had the monsters in my party for the Feral Link trophy at the end of my platinum run, they just targetted the monsters and Noel just took everything out with one Blitz.

Anyway, Noel > all, is what I'm trying to say. It's not that I have a girlcrush on Noel like what some people in the OT kinda guessed at, but I think his complexity as a character was nicely expanded upon in Chapter 5 of that game.

Looking forward to playing more tomorrow. Anyone know how much I have left?

Since you're just starting Chapter 5 out of 8, you have quite a bit to go. Chapter 6 is very short, but Chapters 7 and 8 can be long if you take your time with it. 8, especially, if you do all of the sidequests. It really depends on how you pace yourself, though.

Malik and Richard skits :D Loving the trolling :P This thread is dead :(

He is the best, seriously. Graces honestly needed more of him since he is a good character and that comes out in the skits and end-battle stuff.

Yep, this thread is certainly dead. It tends to happen to threads in Community, unless they're a Community thread a la the PokeGAF thread or the SonicGAF thread. Wonder what we're going to do when this game comes out in Europe. Maybe a new thread? I just want to post the Google docs and the pastebin thing that people have come up with, and other stuff if someone decides to make a new thread. Stupid that Namco's taking so long to release it in Europe.

[scy]

This thread is dead :(

I still check the thread but not often enough to get a response in before someone else gets to it :x That and Diablo 3 and Disgaea 3 threads being my more frequented ones currently.

[Sagitario]

Well, I will continue posting as long as I keep playing (and maybe even more).

Probably taking some funny pics of the game here and there :P