Support NeoGAF

[CorvoSol]

Flawlessly terrible.

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

Incoming Xenoblog

Ahem jokes aside, I am now at "that one boss" in my Xeno adventure that likes to resist any physical damage so how should I go about damaging Aihtirol?

Corvo should know what boss I'm talking about.

So the characters you want to use are Seventh and Melia, as Seventh has a lot of magic-based attacks and a high damage output and Melia is of course the team wizard. I believe I had Sharla in my party because I could never quite figure out how to survive without someone constantly pumping me full of HP. You may consider playing as Melia during this fight and letting her keep the party's buffs going, especially regen, but I believe I played as Seventh because

Spoiler

she

was able to deal damage at a reasonable rate.

No matter what happens, you will wind up in the green vats on the side of the arena, and they will kill your party a whole lot, so avoid them, and run out of them when you do wind up in 'em, as they're way worse than the boss.

But yeah, I hated this fight. I hadn't yet done my end-game grinding, though, which is something I would recommend you get started on now: don't fight her till her name appears in blue or black or whichever instead of red or yellow.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Bit of a tangent, but whatever:

I'm really getting frustrated with the lack of transparency with LR. Now, before you call bull honkey on me, let me explain what I mean.

SE has been really upfront about 3 aspects of the game: It's more open than XIII/XIII-2, the dress sphere/customization, and Lightning is the main protagonist. Great, but what about all of the other parts they were promising the first few months?


-Dungeons (have yet to see a single one, yet they are apparently strewn across the entire game)

-Massively increased environmental interaction (Assassin's Creed level with the way they were talking about it... not just the ability to climb a ladder like shown)

-"Special" missions (back in September, they talked about the "stealth" mission with multiple ways to complete it. The game was supposed to be full of these. Since September/October... nothing).

-Tons of side quests (again, they talk a good talk, but I have yet to see it)


I could go on. The stuff I just mentioned? That's the stuff that interested me back in September. That's the stuff they would have made me say "Day one" not "I'll get it for $20 down the line" cause I could give fuck all about the story at this point and playing dress up might amuse me for an hour or two at most. But they patently refuse to show or even talk about any of it.

My quick thoughts.

Dungeons may supposedly be many but also are likely short and bland.

Environmental? I think it more likely that object oriented interaction is a more apt way to put it.

With Special missions it probably means 2 or 3 ways to achieve the same end goal. While what this actually means is yet to be determined.

Xenoblade had tons of sidequests. I doubt they will be that meaningful especially when Majora's Mask has you on the clock all the time.

All in all the game is low budget and granted you should adjust your expectations to meet that but when you need a trailer solely to focus on "shops" I fear it's a problem.

But Crimson we've been through this before. Me and you among others already have our reservations about this game, which likely means we won't bother with it. But there are others who don't care about the content in the game. Some already will buy it because I guess they like it. Best thing you can do right now is see what the game contains once it is out and if it still looks like it is not worth the hassle then move on to something else. I already have.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Best thing you can do right now is see what the game contains once it is out and if it still looks like it is not worth the hassle then move on to something else.

I'll agree here, my fool loving friend. The game comes out in less then two weeks Crimson and you'll have plenty if time to learn about the game beyond what developers or others have said before it releases outside japan. It'll even be streamed. And we are still learning new things like in the latest interview talked about being able to squire Flare and Ultima. And the next famitsu will have another report in it.

 

[CorvoSol]

Man, with all the unofficial Dissidia DLC floating out there, it still makes me sad nobody ever made a Seven DLC for Lightning.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Man, with all the unofficial Dissidia DLC floating out there, it still makes me sad nobody ever made a Seven DLC for Lightning.

Pretty sure that exists.

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

Xenoblog: Grinding in the Bionis and on the Plains for a bit until I can beat "that one boss".

 

[CorvoSol]

Pretty sure that exists.

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

Xenoblog: Grinding in the Bionis and on the Plains for a bit until I can beat "that one boss".

But as a DLC that I can swap to? Or as actually Seven and not just like a Seven pattern over Lightning's clothing? Could you PM me if you find such a thing?

 

[MagiusNecros]

But as a DLC that I can swap to? Or as actually Seven and not just like a Seven pattern over Lightning's clothing? Could you PM me if you find such a thing?

I could but not right now. Are you familiar with model swapping? Although I long discarded Dissidia despite the modding community, I have no reason to ever go back to that game.

 

[EvilKatarn]

How's the second Dissidia game anyway?

I remember trying the first one many years ago and I couldn't make sense of it. Is the gameplay fun enough to keep someone with merely a fleeting interest in Final Fantasy engaged?

 

[MagiusNecros]

How's the second Dissidia game anyway?

I remember trying the first one many years ago and I couldn't make sense of it. Is the gameplay fun enough to keep someone with merely a fleeting interest in Final Fantasy engaged?

Same game, slightly altered, with a new game breaking gimmick, more stages, more characters, and more bad writing.

It has GILGAMESH though. So I just had to have it.

 

[CorvoSol]

I could but not right now. Are you familiar with model swapping? Although I long discarded Dissidia despite the modding community, I have no reason to ever go back to that game.

All I know about model swapping is "copy these files and paste them into that folder."

How's the second Dissidia game anyway?

I remember trying the first one many years ago and I couldn't make sense of it. Is the gameplay fun enough to keep someone with merely a fleeting interest in Final Fantasy engaged?

It's a fun game. I really liked it, and every once in awhile I boot it up to play it. The fact that PSP doesn't do online for squat really means you won't have a chance to play other people, but the game is still pretty fun.

 

[holdthephone]

Boom, Final Fantasy X review finished. Four more left: I, II, III, and XII. Trying to get this whole series beaten and reviewed before the year ends!

X seems to be now leading the pack though, in terms of my favorites so far.

 

[CorvoSol]

Boom, Final Fantasy X review finished. Four more left: I, II, III, and XII. Trying to get this whole series beaten and reviewed before the year ends!

X seems to be now leading the pack though, in terms of my favorites so far.

I started replaying the Final Fantasy series in, what was it, last year? I am still not done. X, X-2 and XIII are left.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

It's a fun game. I really liked it, and every once in awhile I boot it up to play it. The fact that PSP doesn't do online for squat really means you won't have a chance to play other people, but the game is still pretty fun.

Who do you main? Maybe we should play one day. Haha

 

[CorvoSol]

Who do you main? Maybe we should play one day. Haha

Terra and Golbez. Even though Terra got hit by the nerf hammer in the 2nd game.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Terra and Golbez. Even though Terra got hit by the nerf hammer in the 2nd game.

Same bullshit happened to my Kefka, I still use main him though.

 

[MagiusNecros]

It's okay people. ExDeath is still awesome.

 

[CorvoSol]

It's okay people. ExDeath is still awesome.

SEND ME THE SEVEN MODEL INFO PLZ

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

How bad of nerfs for Terra and Kefka are we talkin' bout here? Captain Falcon nerfing?

 

[CorvoSol]

How bad of nerfs for Terra and Kefka are we talkin' bout here? Captain Falcon nerfing?

In the first game you could combo Meteor and Holy Combo (which means you made Terra stun someone with Meteor, then lobbed Holy Combo, then Flare, then Ultima, then EX-Burst) and Holy Combo had great tracking. In the 2nd game there's too much of a cooldown to call it a combo, and Holy Combo has way, way worse tracking. The trade is you get Firaga, which can be pretty awesome when you surprise someone with Fire-Firaga, even if it doesn't beat a combo that was so long you could max her brave out and kill your enemy in one hit as long as you successfully set it up. And it wasn't that hard to set up.

 

[injurai]

Boom, Final Fantasy X review finished. Four more left: I, II, III, and XII. Trying to get this whole series beaten and reviewed before the year ends!

X seems to be now leading the pack though, in terms of my favorites so far.

Wow, quite the impressive mission there. I'm taking my sweet time to beat the first game. Those old ones are tough to get through.

 

[holdthephone]

Wow, quite the impressive mission there. I'm taking my sweet time to beat the first game. Those old ones are tough to get through.

Are the NES games as long as later installments? That'd be rough.

 

[injurai]

Are the NES games as long as later installments? That'd be rough.

I'd advise using walkthroughs for the old games. I would also just play III on the DS. While I'm giving advice I'd also hold off to see if we get an HD XII.

1 and 2 aren't necessarily as long, but they are seriously amongst the most tedious and unhelpful when it comes to getting you through the world. I think I'm probably going to skip over II as well.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

How bad of nerfs for Terra and Kefka are we talkin' bout here? Captain Falcon nerfing?

Well in Kefka's case I recall being able to hold hyperdrive as long as I wanted in Dissidia 1.

 

[Ultratech]

Are the NES games as long as later installments? That'd be rough.

The NES games generally aren't THAT long.

II is likely to give you hell because of its obtuse mechanics, but I & III should be fairly manageable.

(FYI, I really recommend playing the NES/Famicom version of FFIII.)

 

[injurai]

The NES games generally aren't THAT long.

II is likely to give you hell because of its obtuse mechanics, but I & III should be fairly manageable.

(FYI, I really recommend playing the NES/Famicom version of FFIII.)

I'm of the opposite opinion but I'm the last person to consult for this stuff. I'm curious as to why?

 

[CorvoSol]

I'm of the opposite opinion but I'm the last person to consult for this stuff. I'm curious as to why?

Because some people preferred III's stupid difficulty on NES to all of its other bonuses on DS.

 

[injurai]

Because some people preferred III's stupid difficulty on NES to all of its other bonuses on DS.

I thought the DS version was harder. Or was that IV? I know one of the games gets harder it it's remakes.

 

[Noi]

I never liked FF3DS because of the Job Adjustment nonsense. My favorite part of that job system is being able to swap between whatever job I want at any time I want, so getting penalized for doing so never felt right to me.

Never played the NES version, but I feel like I'd like the capacity system a lot more (although I'd rather just play FF5 and have no limit at all).

 

[MagiusNecros]

FF3 has that thing where there are no saves after entering the Crystal Tower or whatever. And then you have to fight 5 bosses almost in a row.

 

[ULTROS!]

I'm playing FFVII (again).

I feel like I'm going to play only till the Midgar section (again). For some reason the game peaks only at Midgar, the rest becomes kinda meh.

I wish FFXVI will be something like 100% Midgar.

 

[holdthephone]

But bro! There's that serpent thing, protect-the-condor mission, Shinra's parade, haunted mansion at Nibelheim, caves in cosmo canyon, temple of the ancients, rocket town, Junon harbor, Wutang city, Northern Continent, snowboarding, and all that submarine shit. And don't forget Costa Del Sol!

I think the only insufferable parts of FFVII are Barret's story arc with Dyne and anything involving Cait Sith.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Edit: I need to take my own advice and just stay away from anything XIII related. I'm too grumpy. I'm a grumpy bear. Rawr motha' lova'


This, is me:

Soon to be starring in the live action adaptation of Banjo & Kazooie:

Yo Corvo, if I paint you red, would you want to take the starring role of Kazooie?

 

[ULTROS!]

I dunno, Cait Shit didn't seem so bad compared to Vanille.

Are the NES games as long as later installments? That'd be rough.

FFI - If it's anything similar to the PSP version, it's going to be really fast, like 10 hours completion time. But if it's the NES version, I'm going to assume it's twice as long because the battles are molasses.
FFII - Slightly longer than the FFI PSP version, around 15 or so hours. Give or take 25+ hours for the NES version?
FFIII - I played the NES version and I assumed it took me around 20+ hours. The game has terrible save states especially in the final dungeon so you'll probably be repeating that stage a lot of times.

 

[holdthephone]

I enjoyed Vanille, just not her monologues between chapters. Toriyama was trying to do what he did with Tidus and she just wasn't a good candidate for that.

 

[CorvoSol]

I thought the DS version was harder. Or was that IV? I know one of the games gets harder it it's remakes.

That's IV. IVDS is the superior version of the game. It isn't as pretty as IVCC, but in terms of mechanics you can't beat it. The Augment System is the only way to be now.

I never liked FF3DS because of the Job Adjustment nonsense. My favorite part of that job system is being able to swap between whatever job I want at any time I want, so getting penalized for doing so never felt right to me.

Never played the NES version, but I feel like I'd like the capacity system a lot more (although I'd rather just play FF5 and have no limit at all).

IIINES has the same thing, just that you have to earn and spend points to change classes. IIIDS handles it a lot better, really.

I enjoyed Vanille, just not her monologues between chapters. Toriyama was trying to do what he did with Tidus and she just wasn't a good candidate for that.

I only really enjoyed Vanille when she was with Sazh.

 

[EvilKatarn]

I threw XIII-2 into my 360 and saw that the DLC-s have fallen in price, I think.

The Lightning campaign (not the bossfight) is less than 2€ and stuff. Check it.

So, booted it up, read up on the story of XIII and didn't understand a thing. The prerendered intro cinematic looked so good. I'm expecting XV to look like that.
I really really enjoyed the beginning. Those ingame visuals were amazing and honestly I just want more of that. Crazy acrobatics with QTEs. It was like a prettier Asura's Wrath. Is the Lightning DLC more of that because I might get that then.

Also I'm playing on easy mode because of my experiences with XIII.

 

[Perfo]

So, booted it up, read up on the story of XIII and didn't understand a thing. The prerendered intro cinematic looked so good. IThose ingame visuals were amazing and honestly I just want more of that. Crazy acrobatics with QTEs. It was like a prettier Asura's Wrath. Is the Lightning DLC more of that because I might get that then.

XIII-2's opening was really good for me, setting up the stage in style with cool protagonists, battle and landscape behind them. Unfortunately together with the ending parts is also the best you're going to see as far as cutscenes are involved. The rest is clearly more rushed than the start and ending of the game. Still it's worth. Clearly not an AAA FF that is.

 

[holdthephone]

XIII was very difficult, at least by franchise standards. I know a few people who dropped the game because of the Barthandelus encounters.

XIII-2, though, you would have been fine on regular difficulty. The game is 100x more open than XIII, both with the environments and in character progression, but as a result it's not balanced or paced properly at all. I literally didn't touch the Medic role until the final string of boss fights.

That said, I've also heard it depends on what time gates you decide to take. You can either end up completely over leveled all the time, or set yourself up for a very tough campaign.

 

[Wazzy]

I enjoyed Vanille, just not her monologues between chapters. Toriyama was trying to do what he did with Tidus and she just wasn't a good candidate for that.

I actually really enjoyed her monologues. Her voice acting was much better in them.

 

[EvilKatarn]

So far I'm really impressed with the fact that they had the brains to make Paradigm Shifts happen fast. Just beat the first boss and you could easily get a few more hits in when he telegraphs his attack, switching to a defensive Paradigm just as his attack is about to hit.

I smacked my head against the wall every time when in XIII the first Paradigm Shift in any battle took long enough to get you killed.

I still need to see if my other huge problem with the XIII battle system is remedied in this - the way how AI positions itself on the battlefield.

 

[CorvoSol]

Edit: I need to take my own advice and just stay away from anything XIII related. I'm too grumpy. I'm a grumpy bear. Rawr motha' lova'


This, is me:

Soon to be starring in the live action adaptation of Banjo & Kazooie:

Yo Corvo, if I paint you red, would you want to take the starring role of Kazooie?

I am terrible at cross-dressing.

 

[holdthephone]

alright, no. not doing this. the original Final Fantasy is just...unplayable.

maybe ill seek out the PSP versions.

 

[injurai]

alright, no. not doing this. the original Final Fantasy is just...unplayable.

maybe ill seek out the PSP versions.

What?! You can do it!

just use this http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/522595-final-fantasy/faqs/25809

 

[MagiusNecros]

alright, no. not doing this. the original Final Fantasy is just...unplayable.

If Magius can do it you can do it. You kid's have it easy these days. Back in my day we didn't have MANA POINTS. We had SPELL STOCKS. And WE LIKED IT!

Don't get me started on WarMech. Pain in the ass if he showed up. Even moreso if you even survived! You wouldn't know a hard unbalanced game if it hit you in the face.

 

[Noi]

I like FF1 with spell stocks more than MP. I feel like the game is balanced around those and the latter makes the game way too easy.

...Wish I could keep the global inventory over carrying limited items per character though.

 

[MagiusNecros]

I like FF1 with spell stocks more than MP. I feel like the game is balanced around those and the latter makes the game way too easy.

...Wish I could keep the global inventory over carrying limited items per character though.

FF back in the day adhered to the days of DnD where Wizards and Clerics had to select the number of spells they wanted to use. Hence stocks.

 

[Ultratech]

I thought the DS version was harder. Or was that IV? I know one of the games gets harder it it's remakes.

Remakes of III/IV are more difficult.
IV in particular really screws with you if you've played through the original games.

FF3 has that thing where there are no saves after entering the Crystal Tower or whatever. And then you have to fight 5 bosses almost in a row.

6 Bosses actually.

Spoiler

Xande
4 Crystal Bosses
Final Boss

alright, no. not doing this. the original Final Fantasy is just...unplayable.

maybe ill seek out the PSP versions.

Nah, don't do that!

That's the easy mode version!
(No really, it kinda makes the game a joke.)

 

[Wazzy]

It's funny how much I dislike LR and yet I want to see how the series ends. I don't really care about Lightning. Scratch that, I don't care about Lightning at all but some of the other characters I do want to see where their story leads. Paticularly Vanille, Fang and Sazh.

 

[CorvoSol]

It's funny how much I dislike LR and yet I want to see how the series ends. I don't really care about Lightning. Scratch that, I don't care about Lightning at all but some of the other characters I do want to see where their story leads. Paticularly Vanille, Fang and Sazh.

You know, I would care, except the ending of FFXIII-2 is enormous, hilarious, stinking bullshit. I tell you that as bad as XIII and XIII-2 were, I enjoyed them until that moment. That ending poisoned everything and retroactively ruined the games that lead up to it. My hatred for that ending is such that I really don't care what happens in LR. That train wreck of stupid, idiotic, insulting bullshit is beyond my ken to this day.

As in I do not know how people who liked XIII and XIII-2 weren't as insulted by that ending as I was, because it was a massive "FUCK YOU" to the player. "Did you spend two games and 80 hours of your life trying to save Cocoon from falling? FUCK YOU. It falls anyway. How? FUCK IF WE KNOW IT JUST DOES."

Fuck that game and fuck the Lightning Saga for it. If I receive LR, sure, then I'll play, but just thinking about that ending puts me off of paying the discount 9 bucks for the game, let alone these poor people who are paying full price for this noise.

We could've had Type-0 instead.

 

[MagiusNecros]

It's funny how much I dislike LR and yet I want to see how the series ends.

It's probably a "so bad I need to see what happens next" effect.

We could've had Type-0 instead.

I heard that game was terrible.