[Big Papa Husker]

I saw this thread and am thinking about playing through the FF games I haven't beaten yet.

[DR2K]

Playing through 13-2 again. Bought Sarah's Summon Costume and Noel's Black Mage(which I thought was the only alt he had, but the cool armor ones were not visible when buying). Last time I played my monsters were shitty, but I think I have a better grasp of the system now.

[HiddenWings]

Aw, all of my music links in my Chocobo Racing posts have died. Time to go fixing things...

[Jucksalbe]

For anyone who wants to take a break from Final Fantasy, the (Shin) Megami Tensei anniversary thread is now live.
Please come back later. :)

[Radogol]

I saw this thread and am thinking about playing through the FF games I haven't beaten yet.

Do it!

[Koroviev]

I haven't really played any of the mainline games, save for a small portion of X-2 and XII. What are the best versions of the most highly regarded entries in the franchise?

[Professor Beef]

I haven't really played any of the mainline games, save for a small portion of X-2 and XII. What are the best versions of the most highly regarded entries in the franchise?

FF5: GBA
FF6: GBA for content, Virtual Console for music (I guess)
FF7-9: PSN

[Lumination]

I haven't really played any of the mainline games, save for a small portion of X-2 and XII. What are the best versions of the most highly regarded entries in the franchise?

Wait for the PS3/V versions of FFX. Will be incredible.

[Boogiepop]

I just recently decided to go through the 3D games for the first time, as I've had some copies laying around and Theatrhythm is coming up (and I'm assuming it'll lead to spoilers if I go into it without playing the games first.) I'd only played XII out of the 3D entries before, and it REALLY didn't click with me, just found it all around lackluster after playing through all the 2D games.

Playing through FFVII for the first time is interesting. I've definitely had a number of the big plot points spoiled, and it's the only one of these games that I'd previously played some of (maybe up until you met Aeris? It was a LONG time ago). I've been pleasantly surprised to see it's not quite as "omg serious" as gamers have made it out to be over the years, still retaining the charm of the earlier titles. It definitely has a lot of clear growing pains from being the first 3d title though, such as countless minigames that range from bland to frustrating, and prerendered backgrounds that can be confusing to navigate. Still, I'm having a better time with it than I expected. (Though due to spoilers I've been avoiding using Aeris.) Just finished the part where you can first grab Vincent, so I think I've taken a decent chunk out of the game.

As for the rest of the games, my biggest question is: is VIII still properly balanced if you don't use the rubberbanding to break the game? I know it's apparently a cakewalk if you avoid EXP like crazy, but I'd prefer to play the game normally if that isn't likely to be a huge issue.

Edit: Also, is X-2 worth playing? I don't currently own a copy, but from what I recall it shouldn't be hard to track one down for cheap.

[Dark Schala]

Hey Dark Schala, thanks for playing through Mystic Quest! It brings back some really good memories, and I enjoy the tongue-in-cheek narration! MQ was the very first RPG that I played when I was 6. My cousin gave me his old SNES, and it took me close to 4 years to beat that game, haha. (Couldn't figure out that damn ice block puzzle as a 6-7 year old. Went back and beat the whole damn thing at 10.) To this day, I have fond memories of it, hilarious flaws and all. In fact, all that dumbing down made it possible for me to enjoy in the first place! Mission accomplished? All this XIII theorycrafting has made me want to go back to plat it. I think all I had left to do was grind some Dark Matter and money to upgrade a couple of accessories... Perhaps this weekend?

Thank you; I try to put some LP-esque flavour into it so it isn't just a photo collage, so I'm glad someone's getting something out of it. This is the slowest I've ever gone through MQ since I usually finish it in one weekend if I pick it up per annum/every other year.

Even if I rip on the dialogue and enemy names, and even though it wasn't my first RPG, I really like FFMQ. Not just because of the music, but also because it's something I could pop into the SNES and play whenever. It's fun to turn my brain off and play something very familiar with some music that kicks ass. I rented it a lot when I was younger, and was very happy when I'd finally gotten my own copy of it.

I also like that the narrative doesn't even try.
"Yep, the crystal's back."
"Ok, but what about that kid who..."

No one clearly gives a damn about anything in this universe.

And hey, if all you have to do is Dark Matter farming, then you're really close to Treasure Hunter. Go for it. I found DMs waaaay easier to get than Traps since the drop % seemed to be higher for some reason.

[CorvoSol]

After reading Bebpo's final impressions in the JP OT, and reading some of Dunan's comments about one theme in the narrative, I'm not looking forward to it that much anymore. It's disappointing since I was very interested in it based on its subject matter, art direction, and the RTS elements (which are apparently not good at all). Plus the second demo was an improvement over the first. I'll still play it, but I'm not that super-hyped for it anymore.

I'm on vacation, and now that I've got all of my compulsory gaming out of the way, I can get back to this. It looks like Heropon beat me to pretty much every game, but I've got a ways to go still. Type-0 was a really big disappointment compared to what I wanted, and the game really fails some very basic game design stuff which makes it frustrating to play in the later stages as well. I still listed it on my game of the year list last year, and it's worth playing, but it's one of those things you should definitely temper your expectations for.

Ah, well, that's sad to hear. I mean, it looks and feels so much like what I've wanted out of the FNC and FF for a long time. I maintain some hope, though, as I consider myself easily pleased in this department. I actually had a lot of fun with XIII, for instance, and I expect I will even enjoy XIII-2 (which I will be starting sometime this week).

Then again, my bar for Square is pretty low these days: If the plot is better than 3rd Birthday, I'm okay, for instance.

[DR2K]

I haven't really played any of the mainline games, save for a small portion of X-2 and XII. What are the best versions of the most highly regarded entries in the franchise?

You're asking a very loaded question. I'm going to go ahead and say FFX, highly regarded critically and in the middle as far as batshit crazy FF fanlisting goes.

[CorvoSol]

So I just beat XIII. I can't help but feel a strange love for it, in spite of all its flaws. Is this what it's like when all those people say they like bad games?

[Dark Schala]

So I just beat XIII. I can't help but feel a strange love for it, in spite of all its flaws. Is this what it's like when all those people say they like bad games?

It's a flawed game. It's not a bad game. These are bad games. Why, oh, why?

However, with that said, I'm pretty indifferent towards it because I find it middle-of-the-road, for the most part.

[jaxword]

So I just beat XIII. I can't help but feel a strange love for it, in spite of all its flaws. Is this what it's like when all those people say they like bad games?

Nah, it's not THAT bad a game. It just has such deep flaws that the good parts aren't able to compensate. To wit: All the other FFs have similar flaws, but often have SOMEthing that stands out and makes the fans love it regardless of said flaw. FF6 is broken and actually not a challenge at all. FF7 is incomprehensible. FF8 is terribly paced. FF9 is...unmemorable. FFx has bad directing in parts. Etc etc etc. But each of those also has something so good that fans have selective memories and erase the bad parts.

[BocoDragon]

Nah, it's not THAT bad a game. It just has such deep flaws that the good parts aren't able to compensate. To wit: All the other FFs have similar flaws, but often have SOMEthing that stands out and makes the fans love it regardless of said flaw. FF6 is broken and actually not a challenge at all. FF7 is incomprehensible. FF8 is terribly paced. FF9 is...unmemorable. FFx has bad directing in parts. Etc etc etc. But each of those also has something so good that fans have selective memories and erase the bad parts.

I don't think FFXIII is so much a bad piece of entertainment software, as much as it is a great failure to match fan expectations of what FF should be. And, it has a legendary debacle of a development cycle to blame for that.

Were it an original game, with no expectations, it would be considered an interesting new branch of RPGs.

[Dark Schala]

I don't think FFXIII is so much a bad piece of entertainment software, as much as it is a great failure to match fan expectations of what FF should be. And, it has a legendary debacle of a development cycle to blame for that. Were it an original game, with no expectations, it would be considered an interesting new branch of RPGs.

Yeah, the hype, hype, and more hype from a lot of people due to the length of the development cycle likely had an impact.

I agree with the original game bit. I'd be interested to see what would've happened if it were not called a Final Fantasy game. Fabula Nova Crystallis could have just been a new IP with "Fabula Nova Crystallis: The Game Where Moms are Tough, HEROES SAVE THE DAY, and Lightning Punches People" leading the pack. It could have been SE's super-cinematic, streamlined RPG line... or something like that. I think FFXIII would've been received better that way.

[BocoDragon]

Yeah, the hype, hype, and more hype from a lot of people due to the length of the development cycle likely had an impact. I agree with the original game bit. I'd be interested to see what would've happened if it were not called a Final Fantasy game. Fabula Nova Crystallis could have just been a new IP with "Fabula Nova Crystallis: The Game Where Moms are Tough, HEROES SAVE THE DAY, and Lightning Punches People" leading the pack. It could have been SE's super-cinematic, streamlined RPG line... or something like that. I think FFXIII would've been received better that way.

Definitely... if it were perceived like a Vagrant Story or a Nier or something, it would have many fans, and far fewer detractors.

[encephalon]

So I just beat XIII. I can't help but feel a strange love for it, in spite of all its flaws. Is this what it's like when all those people say they like bad games?

I'm fond of it too.

[jaxword]

I don't think FFXIII is so much a bad piece of entertainment software, as much as it is a great failure to match fan expectations of what FF should be. And, it has a legendary debacle of a development cycle to blame for that. Were it an original game, with no expectations, it would be considered an interesting new branch of RPGs.

Part of it was also that the characters weren't as relatable to the target audience--young males.

Lightning wasn't a guy after the girl. Snow, while he WAS a guy after the girl, was also the big, popular jock that beat you up in gym. And he was already engaged. Sazh was older and black AND a single father. Hope was whiny and annoying. None of those were escapist dreams of your typical Final Fantasy target demographic. My favorite character was Sazh, but that's because he was the voice of reason, and I fully see why he wouldn't be the most popular. Who dreams "Yeah, I wish I could live in a magical world and be a responsible adult while the others party with tossing fireballs and riding dragons" ?

Take Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Tidus, Zack, et cetera. Despite being very different in personality, they all have one thing in common: they're a young guy who wants to win the girl at some point (and they do). I think that's a blunt, but ultimately key aspect to why certain heroes just "click" better with the players, the majority of which are young guys.

[Dark Schala]

Definitely... if it were perceived like a Vagrant Story or a Nier or something, it would have many fans, and far fewer detractors.

...which makes me wonder why they didn't make FNC its own IP, then, rather than a subseries in FF? Ivalice Alliance is its own thing (though that had its own installment as FFXII).

Unless they wanted to replicate the success of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

The style of FFXIII isn't bad. It's flawed, but it isn't bad, and it's enough to merit its own interesting streamlined story-centred brand of RPG. I'm one of those oddballs who kind of liked how Chapters 5-8 progressed in terms of pacing, so games with that sort of sequence probably wouldn't be bad, just as long as you could backtrack to those places later on. It's an approach to the RPG that casual RPG players can probably get into, or for people who don't spend an incredible amount of time playing games, since they can easily progress through the game and get a lot out of the story or combat.

FFXIII has its fans who clearly like the way the game is set up, or how it progresses. It's just divisive, much like previous Final Fantasy games were, but I guess the amount of detractors seems more obvious this time. Likely would've been better had FNC been its own thing.

Part of it was also that the characters weren't as relatable to the target audience--young males.

I didn't relate much to the characters either. The character who I was supposed to identify with the most, Lightning (as I was 21 at the time FFXIII was released in Japan, and I'm very much in the same position as her family-wise), was one of my least-favourite characters because I didn't agree with her methods (especially with regards to relating to others), and felt she was incredibly childish. And when her character evolved, I still didn't like her much.

I guess the other character would've been Fang, but she generally came off as one-dimensional. Her backstory isn't expanded upon much, despite being Lightning's foil.

[BocoDragon]

...which makes me wonder why they didn't make FNC its own IP, then, rather than a subseries in FF? Ivalice Alliance is its own thing (though that had its own installment as FFXII). Unless they wanted to replicate the success of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

It's a marketing move.

Put simply and obviously: if you connect different games, the games will cross-promote each other, and people might be compelled to buy all of them.

I can see how it would have seemed like a great way to boost sales, in the rosy days of planning the next mainline FF games.

But the irony is that FFXIII might actually drag down the reputation of future FNC games. :P

[Dark Schala]

It's a marketing move. Put simply and obviously: if you connect different games, the games will cross-promote each other, and people might be compelled to buy all of them. I can see how it would have seemed like a great way to boost sales, in the rosy days of planning the next mainline FF games. But the irony is that FFXIII might actually drag down the reputation of future FNC games. :P

I wonder if that was successful for FFXII and its associated games, then, since that game was also quite divisive and still has its share of detractors.

They've already "promoted" Type-0 and made it its own thing. I almost want them to do it with Versus now to dissociate it from FFXII since, as you said, FNC's reputation isn't as rosy as it previously was at the moment. FNC could just be limited to the FFXIII games while the original two go on to become their own games or IP.

But then you have some people saying that Versus is the 'real Final Fantasy XIII' still, so I dunno...

[BocoDragon]

I wonder if that was successful for FFXII and its associated games, then, since that game was also quite divisive and still has its share of detractors.

I feel that Ivalice Alliance was a marketing afterthought to link games that were already in development.

Things like Matsuno developing XII, a port of FFT, a sequel to FFT Advance, and a cheap spinoff of XII were all things that were probably happening anyway.. they just applied the label of "Ivalice Alliance" to cross-promote them. None of these games were conceived of as extensions to a bigger Ivalice world.. they were already in development, accidentally contained connection to Ivalice, and given that marketing label much later on towards release.

I suspect it had no effect on sales. It was trivial.

If you had games with storyline hooks to other games, released in a timely manner, then I think you'd see what developers actually want out of polymorphic content. The "halo effect"... where people feel compelled to buy the other titles to see more of the story/world. Square Enix has thusfar done it wrong. They haven't yet done it as well as, say, the Matrix content of 2003 (and that was critically decired in retrospect.. but people did play Enter the Matrix and bought The Animatrix just to see the whole Matrix story).

[encephalon]

...which makes me wonder why they didn't make FNC its own IP, then, rather than a subseries in FF? Ivalice Alliance is its own thing (though that had its own installment as FFXII). Unless they wanted to replicate the success of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. The style of FFXIII isn't bad. It's flawed, but it isn't bad, and it's enough to merit its own interesting streamlined story-centred brand of RPG. I'm one of those oddballs who kind of liked how Chapters 5-8 progressed in terms of pacing, so games with that sort of sequence probably wouldn't be bad, just as long as you could backtrack to those places later on. It's an approach to the RPG that casual RPG players can probably get into, or for people who don't spend an incredible amount of time playing games, since they can easily progress through the game and get a lot out of the story or combat. FFXIII has its fans who clearly like the way the game is set up, or how it progresses. It's just divisive, much like previous Final Fantasy games were, but I guess the amount of detractors seems more obvious this time. Likely would've been better had FNC been its own thing. I didn't relate much to the characters either. The character who I was supposed to identify with the most, Lightning (as I was 21 at the time FFXIII was released in Japan, and I'm very much in the same position as her family-wise), was one of my least-favourite characters because I didn't agree with her methods (especially with regards to relating to others), and felt she was incredibly childish. And when her character evolved, I still didn't like her much. I guess the other character would've been Fang, but she generally came off as one-dimensional. Her backstory isn't expanded upon much, despite being Lightning's foil.

I actually thought that in some ways the way 5-6 unfolded was pretty clever. Most of the scenes in Chapter 5 aren't a minute long let alone 30 seconds. But it's these short brief interactions that help develop the characters and push the story forward and it all comes together in Chapter 7. That was cool, even if the dungeon design could have been more robust and the dialogue in these scenes much better (especially in English).

What happened once they got onto Gran Pulse, however, was a whole lot of nothing and then the game ended, feeling a lot like FFXII in that regard.

[jaxword]

I didn't relate much to the characters either. The character who I was supposed to identify with the most, Lightning (as I was 21 at the time FFXIII was released in Japan, and I'm very much in the same position as her family-wise), was one of my least-favourite characters because I didn't agree with her methods (especially with regards to relating to others), and felt she was incredibly childish. And when her character evolved, I still didn't like her much. I guess the other character would've been Fang, but she generally came off as one-dimensional. Her backstory isn't expanded upon much, despite being Lightning's foil.

Personally, I think Vanille was the most fleshed-out character. She seemed like a real person in attitude and motivations. Her guilt, awkwardness around her domineering girlfriend, attempts to make people happy while she's miserable inside, they all seemed like something a real life submissive type would do.

And, in a way, Hope was also one of the more realistic characters. The kid's *14*.

EVERYONE here at 14 was a whiny brat.

If we were middle-class kid, one day complaining about school and video games with their dad and then suddenly they're in a warzone and their mother died in front of them? We'd probably cry, piss ourselves in fear, and have a nervous breakdown at the same time.

I think that's the real reason Hope was so hated. He was TOO real and too similar to what real 14 year olds are like. Most anime 14 year olds are already heroic ship captains and super space warriors able to kill God.

[TheSeks]

Well, to be fair: Fabula Nova Crystalis/FFXIII's whole "merger" stuff (Agito/Type 0, Versus, XIII, XIII-2...) was just as useless.

[Kaori's Babydaddy]

This game makes me mad. I should've known that the one room was giving me way too many treasures. Before this fight my Arc was a thief so his MP was set to 0 which I hate that this game does. I think if I had all my MP I could beat these guys. What are my options now?

[DR2K]

So I just beat XIII. I can't help but feel a strange love for it, in spite of all its flaws. Is this what it's like when all those people say they like bad games?

I liked it, but the game take far too long to open up. The game did not let go of your hand until 20 hours in.

[led4lyfe]

as somone who regularly starts and quits FF games without finishing this thread has made me want to finish all my old saves. From memory:

FF: origins version, had just gotten the class upgrades.

FF 4: multiple saves on different systems, eventually finished a snes file after 12+ years of picking at it. Would love to get it on my psp for another play through.

FF 5: thanks to job fiesta back in 09 I finished the game(blue Mage bard dragoon mystic knight) love the game, but don't really want to touch this for another 10 years.

FF 6: Have a GBA save right before kefka's tower. For some reason I never finished and abandoned it(too easy?) I've finished my snes play through back when I rented it.

FF 7: Multiple files, I think the most well rounded file was the one where I just finished beating yuffies dad. I've had files as far as ruby weapon, but they weren't really good.

FF 8: I have save files of this all over the place but I think the only one I have on me is right at the beginning on my first SEED mission.

FF 9: Finished multiple times. adored.

FF 10: Save right after Lady Yunalesca boss fight.

FF12: Right after 5 mandragoras.

FF13-2: Couple hours in, defeated Atlas (I think that was the bosses name)


I want to finish all these games. I just need to organize in what order to do it in so I don't slack off and forget about it. I think I'll take care of FF6 soon, it pretty much done as it is and will take very little time.

[HiddenWings]

So... this is a recent development.

Along with an accompanying Tweet.

Is RK around to hype up his own event?

Edit: and because why not, here's last year's infographic.

[Cyan]

So... this is a recent development. Along with an accompanying Tweet. Is RK around to hype up his own event? Edit: and because why not, here's last year's infographic.

Oh shit, that's coming up! Can't wait.

[CorvoSol]

It's a flawed game. It's not a bad game. These are bad games. Why, oh, why? However, with that said, I'm pretty indifferent towards it because I find it middle-of-the-road, for the most part.

Fair point. It's not a bad game, it's just flawed combined with the mother of all hype backlash. I still have a soft spot for it. I honestly put the controller down when running around Pulse the other day and just thought to myself "I actually love this." The Gran Pulse section of the game feels so right to me. Everything from there till the end of Oerba is solid.

Nah, it's not THAT bad a game. It just has such deep flaws that the good parts aren't able to compensate. To wit: All the other FFs have similar flaws, but often have SOMEthing that stands out and makes the fans love it regardless of said flaw. FF6 is broken and actually not a challenge at all. FF7 is incomprehensible. FF8 is terribly paced. FF9 is...unmemorable. FFx has bad directing in parts. Etc etc etc. But each of those also has something so good that fans have selective memories and erase the bad parts.

True. To be fair, I think XIII's greatest sin is that it made a world I really wanted to explore, then forbade me from doing that. The environments are beautiful. When I first stumbled on Paddra, I was stoked to wander around it like in Chrono Cross' Dead Sea, but alas, no such luck.

I don't think FFXIII is so much a bad piece of entertainment software, as much as it is a great failure to match fan expectations of what FF should be. And, it has a legendary debacle of a development cycle to blame for that. Were it an original game, with no expectations, it would be considered an interesting new branch of RPGs.

I think that, too. As a matter of fact, I think that's been a problem the FF brand's been up against for awhile now. 13 and 14 haven't done it any favors, and people seem to hype themselves too much for FF games. I hope they take a good, long look at themselves before releasing 15. I also hope that, by all that is Holy, they never let Toriyama write another game's story. After 3rd Birthday his name alone gives me a bad taste in my mouth.

I'm fond of it too.

I just don't know what it is about the game that I really like. I can't stand Hope and Snow for most of the game, Team NORA is the most annoying resistance movement in the series and all-around terrible characters, the game builds you up to things like a fight with Jihl then blue-balls you, it rarely stops to explain itself (I swear I still would not know what a fal'Cie was if I hadn't looked it up) and the ending is full of holes. But somewhere, underneath all that, I still have fun playing as Lightning and her friends running around Pulse killing monsters.

[JCV]

YESSSS, I'm done with FF5! :D

Neo Exdeath was a bitch at first, but then I found out that Quick was an amazing spell, and then I pretty much destroyed him.

Only FF2 & FF3 left.

[Boogiepop]

Just played a lot of FFVII, finally hit the second disk. Jeez, this game REALLY likes its pointless, halfbaked minigames. The snowboarding sequence just kind of went on and on and on and on. Still, making some progress, so that's good. (Also, it feels all kinds of wrong just being handed Bahamut. You're supposed to EARN your high-level summons. ESPECIALLY that one!)

[Entropia]

Those screengrabs of FF8 really bring back memories. I absolutely loved the overworld in that game. I continued with my FF7 playthrough this weekend. I'm at the temple of the ancients, about to face the demonwall. My party so far has mostly been Cloud, Tifa and Red XIII.

Alrighty, I'm onto the Frosty Northern area in FF7. I'm at the part where I'm in the snow field and can find the Alexander materia. I got the dude's hut by accident, so I'll have to wander back out to find that.



@Boogiepop: Yeah, I just did the Snowboarding part as well, and fuck, that went on waaaaaaay longer than I remembered it.

[TxdoHawk]

Having never beaten a FF game and inspired by this thread, I started FFVII on my PSP. Way too tiny on a Go, though, so I think I am going to swap my save over to the PS3 and work on it there, since apparently you can do that with the PSN releases of PS1 games (hooray!).

I barely started, anyway. I think when I played this way back when, I made it to the Shinra Building before my young ADD-ridden brain decided it was time to stop for some reason (a really tough battle, perhaps?) Not even at that point yet.

[pikablu]

Here are some pics from my first playthrough of Final Fantasy IX. I'm really excited and determined to beat it.













I'm thinking about leveling up all my characters to around 25 before the next portion of the game.

[Heropon]

Now that we have the number of the lost student, we can enter the mansion. If Rinoa lives here, she could have done something to skip that stupid quest.



The general appears and the party leaves the building so the man can do weird things while he explains the mission.



The group has to split (like Barret would have wanted) in two. Squall becomes the leader (If he wasn't already). Why does everyone trust him so much? Rinoa has another rushed plan to defeat the witch, but she is scolded by Quistis.



The team that has to trap the witch is led by Quistis and she has the brilliant idea of apologizing to Rinoa.



But when they return to the mansion, she's gone and they get locked in a room.



Meanwhile, Rinoa tries to give the Odine bracelet to the witch.



But Edea isn't an idiot and controls Rinoa.



Edea says a lot of stupid things in her speech and kills the president. The crowd doesn't care thanks to the power of witchcraft.



Edea keeps delivering and revives some statues to attack Rinoa.



Meanwhile, the second group has to escape from the general's home. Quistis is so clever that she discovers a secret exit. Strange but useful.



The parade begins Thriller's choreography.



Oh surprise! Seifer is alive. If it weren't enough, we have to climb these crates again (ugh).



Boss time, Iguion x2: They can do some damage and cause gradual petrification. The most important thing to do is to draw Carbuncle.



New G.F. and future girlfriend rescued!



It's time to feed that witch with a little of plumber. Irvine is less brave than I thought, huh?



Second group's sewer adventures continue and they have to beat some abandoned pets.



Even giant abandoned pets.



Just in time, phew!



And that evil Edea is trapped. Now it's the time to shoot her.



It seems that Irvine is going to try...



His accuracy isn't bad, but the witch has some defensive proficiency.



Plan B, direct attack!



First, Squall has to settle things with Edea's lap-dog.



He likes to play with fire, but it's easy to defeat him.



Edea is the next in the queue. Rinoa and Irvine come to help with the slaughter.



She likes doing -aga spells, but they're pretty tame. It's a good time to draw some Curas.



Edea gets a little tired and cools the ambient.



Ouch, Squall's wasted. GAME OVER



Oh yes, there are more discs. Well, this isn't the first game where the protagonist dies.

[CorvoSol]

So I just started XIII-2 today. It's . . . actually not that bad. The framerate is pretty dang choppy, and I have no expectations for the plot, but really, it seems to be a pretty okay game so far.

On a related note, when is the soonest I can reasonably expect to win the Lightning & Amodar fight? I want those two for as long as I can have them.

Oh, and according to the DLC menu, I can get Lightning as a PC after beating her scenario? Does anybody know if that Lightning differs from the Colosseum one?

[HiddenWings]

Hey, someone here might know. Is there a good solution for PS2 emulation? I may see about getting FFX-2 in if a good option is available (after the Job Fiesta, of course).

[led4lyfe]

I beat 6 today. Discovered that all of my characters had ultima and curaga so kefkas tower was a cake walk.

Just booted up my FF7 file. I'm on CD1 and this is where I'm at






Almost everyone has limit break levels of 3, some even 4(yuffie, Aeris, red xiii). Haven't played this save since around 2006 so I'm having memory problems on where I need to be main story wise....I can't remove Aeris from party so I'm thinking temple of ancients??

[Professor Beef]

Seems like it. I don't remember Aeris being locked in your party during any other time around the Gold Saucer stuff.

[Jucksalbe]

I can't remove Aeris from party so I'm thinking temple of ancients??

Yes, as far as I remember, that's the only situation where you have the plane and Aerith is still in your party.

[Toth]

So I just started XIII-2 today. It's . . . actually not that bad. The framerate is pretty dang choppy, and I have no expectations for the plot, but really, it seems to be a pretty okay game so far. On a related note, when is the soonest I can reasonably expect to win the Lightning & Amodar fight? I want those two for as long as I can have them. Oh, and according to the DLC menu, I can get Lightning as a PC after beating her scenario? Does anybody know if that Lightning differs from the Colosseum one?

Do not touch the Lightning DLC scenario until after you beat the game as it spoils a ton. You really do not need that Lightning until post game anyway.

As for the other Lightning and Amodar, they are really only feasible at chapter 4 or 5. Just pick monsters you are comfortable with and enjoy the game :D

[rhfb]

Hey, someone here might know. Is there a good solution for PS2 emulation? I may see about getting FFX-2 in if a good option is available (after the Job Fiesta, of course).

http://pcsx2.net/

No idea if X-2 works well with it, but XII is GREAT (how I'm going to be playing it finally when my GPU arrives).

Now if I could just get epsxe working :| Might be because I tried it on my integrated GPU but man nothing worked (same for my friend on his laptop with integrated GPU, but his laptop is a POS so I can understand stuff not working on that :p )

Here are some pics from my first playthrough of Final Fantasy IX. I'm really excited and determined to beat it. I'm thinking about leveling up all my characters to around 25 before the next portion of the game.

That time played can't be right? Or maybe I just grind levels/abilities way too much when I play IX :p

[led4lyfe]

Yes, as far as I remember, that's the only situation where you have the plane and Aerith is still in your party.

Seems like it. I don't remember Aeris being locked in your party during any other time around the Gold Saucer stuff.

Turns out it is. When I was a kid I could never get passed that part of the game on my own, red dragon always beat me. Can't wait to get my revenge, this is 15 years in the making. Im pretty sure back in 2006 I started a new file and grinded as much as I could, all for one purpose: Embarassing Red Dragon

[CorvoSol]

Do not touch the Lightning DLC scenario until after you beat the game as it spoils a ton. You really do not need that Lightning until post game anyway. As for the other Lightning and Amodar, they are really only feasible at chapter 4 or 5. Just pick monsters you are comfortable with and enjoy the game :D

Yeah, I figured it was spoilers, so I won't mess with it. I just wanted to know if the two Lightnings are different at all.

I guess I'll plug away at the story till chapter 4, then, but dang, I really want to get Lightning as fast as I can.

Also: How does the Crystarium work in this game? Like, if I chose to level Serah up to level 10 as a Commando, would I miss anything as a Ravager or Sentinel because I neglected those? As in, can I max out every class evenly and get every ability, or are some missable?

[Professor Beef]

Turns out it is. When I was a kid I could never get passed that part of the game on my own, red dragon always beat me. Can't wait to get my revenge, this is 15 years in the making. Im pretty sure back in 2006 I started a new file and grinded as much as I could, all for one purpose: Embarassing Red Dragon

Don't forget to steal from him!

[Forceatowulf]

You know what... back in my gaming prime the thought of giving up on a game when I've spent so much time with it was out of the question. Absolutely not an option. But the fact of the matter is, I am not that guy anymore. I'm just not...

Aaaand.. I think I'm done with FF9. The end boss is ridiculous. Just ridiculous. I've read the faqs online to prepare for that battle over and over and have also read all the horror stories along with it, and I think I'm fucking done. Up until this point the boss battles have been relatively easy or moderately difficult.. and then the game suddenly decides to pulls this epic road block out of it's ass.

I've fought him 5 times now and it's not even worth it anymore. If I have to watch my team get auto-death'd by Grand Cross followed up by a Neutron Ring again I'm gonna break something. And like I said it's not even worth it.

I think I'm just gonna watch the ending on youtube after dinner and be done with it. What a sour way to end such a good game too, that's the most frustrating thing abut all of this. What in the fuck were they thinking... =/