Support NeoGAF

[The_Darkest_Red]

Im going to start this today, im so hyped. Im going in completely blind! All i kno is that fft is similar to it.

Awesome, I think going in blind is a good way to approach it honestly. Learn what you need from the game and if you are curious about more you can always search out the info.

 

[Alexios]

So, does anyone know what translation is better/more faithful etc? This official one or the one by Aeon Genesis?

Also, is this game better than The Knight of Lodis? That one bored me. I loved FFT though.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

So, does anyone know what translation is better/more faithful etc? This official one or the one by Aeon Genesis?

Also, is this game better than The Knight of Lodis? That one bored me. I loved FFT though.

Are you comparing the Aeon Genesis one to the PS1 port? I'm not sure about either of those but I've really enjoyed the PSP translation, very eloquent but not to the point of irritation.

 

[Basileus777]

That's just Atlus' PSX translation put into the SNES game. The new translation is better than the PSX one.

 

[Alexios]

Oh, I misread and thought AG always write their own stuff since they have games that weren't translated before them like Cave Story. What version of this game is the best then? And is it better than The Knight of Lodis?

 

[Peff]

Oh, I misread and thought AG always write their own stuff since they have games that weren't translated before them like Cave Story. What version of this game is the best then? And is it better than The Knight of Lodis?

This version of the game has a couple of unfortunate design decisions like crafting, but I still think it's the best one, especially for people who never played the original back then as it could lead certain players to grind too much. Here the streamlining for the most part it's pretty well done, so it's not an issue anymore as long as you understand that the more units of X class you use, the faster they'll level up.

And yes, it's better than TKoL.

 

[Jerk]

Hmm, I retract my previous comments about Catiua, she is very good.

Thus far, I am liking the Princess much more than the Priest. While the loss of Major Heal/Exorcism is keenly felt, Meditate, The Lobber and Drakonic magic is makes it all worth it.

 

[Urban Scholar]

Hanging gardens? I believe overly drawn out gardens would fit instead.

 

[Jerk]

Hanging gardens? I believe overly drawn out gardens would fit instead.

Only about 10 required battles. Not that bad.

 

[Urban Scholar]

Only about 10 required battles. Not that bad.

Feels longer than that....

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Only about 10 required battles. Not that bad.

I'm not there yet but to be completely honest 10 straight battles sounds fantastic to me.

 

[TheFightingFish]

Alright, I'm in. $40 for not only a portable game, but $40 for a digital portable game was a little bit hard to swallow. But I think I'm going to love this and I wanted the possibility to play on NGP especially since I'm turning into pretty much just a portable gamer these days

Spoiler

A little bit of SSFIV or MvC3 excepted

.

Like the poster a little bit above I'm going to try to go in as blind as possible, it's always fun on the first playthrough to try to work out the system and than try to break it on a second go around. I'll admit that I am a bit worried about running into a Wiegraf or Roof of Riovanes, but I guess that I can always just Chariot it up if that happens. Are there any really out of the blue difficulty spikes in this game as well?

 

[Basileus777]

I'm not there yet but to be completely honest 10 straight battles sounds fantastic to me.

How does 60 battles in a row in the Palace of the Dead sound then?

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

How does 60 battles in a row in the Palace of the Dead sound then?

Time consuming and a little less inviting. The place sounds appropriately named after hearing that, though.

Spoiler

My initial reaction: GEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAW

 

[charlequin]

Oh, I misread and thought AG always write their own stuff since they have games that weren't translated before them like Cave Story.

They generally do; TO was a special case.

 

[Atolm]

To be honest, low drop rates on books and endgame weapons & armor can be a true pain in the ass. You need to exploit the Chariot Tarot in order to get the items reasonably quick, else you can spend dozens of battles without getting the item you want. I've killed tons of archers equipped with the Tempest Bow but yet I've to see a single drop...I don't want to think how Palace of the Dead is going to be...

 

[Unknown One]

I only went through Palace of the Dead once, but I'm prepping my group for another round. This time I'll have the A.I do the battles for me, I'll only play maps filled with +6 zombies since A.I doesn't get rid of stilled ones.

 

[Masaki_]

To be honest, low drop rates on books and endgame weapons & armor can be a true pain in the ass. You need to exploit the Chariot Tarot in order to get the items reasonably quick, else you can spend dozens of battles without getting the item you want. I've killed tons of archers equipped with the Tempest Bow but yet I've to see a single drop...I don't want to think how Palace of the Dead is going to be...

The best way to get equipment from enemies is to recruit them, grab all the equipment and then dismiss the units.

Of course, the best equipment in the game can only be acquired through drops in the Palace of the Dead and San Bronsa and you need to know exactly who drops what to exploit the Chariot and get the loot you want. Which sucks indeed.

Also, using the AI auto-grinding method, I was able to get the initally awful Lament of the Dead Terror Knight skill to rank 8 on one of my units, which now is guaranteed to inflict Frighten on most enemies... and yet Terror Knights still suck ass thanks to their stupidly high RT and low attack and defense. They did such a poor job balancing the classes, only Archers and classes who can double attack deal any damage to enemies - and Dragoons against dragons/beasts.

Just look at this artwork:

Why is a class that looks this cool so bad, Squeenix?

 

[Unknown One]

I wish there was a definite drop guide, detailed to the fraction, Route, height, and class for the enemy that drops the certain item.

I'm not bothering with drops until then except for craftbooks.

 

[Basileus777]

I wish there was a definite drop guide, detailed to the fraction, Route, height, and class for the enemy that drops the certain item.

I'm not bothering with drops until then except for craftbooks.

There's one here for the Palace of the Dead.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Ugh, I'm getting slaughtered by

Spoiler

Vyce in the one on one battle

in Chapter 2 (Chaos). There's no way to beat him with my current level. Have to grind it out and redo the previous battle again. God, I wish there was a load function in battle, another stupid oversight.

 

[Unknown One]

Oh man that's a overwhelming list hahaahaha. I'll wait until I get all the unique weapons first before I do my last story playthrough on Law.

 

[mistuhcahlos]

I just beat the game at 76 hours doing the Chaos path. Do I have to worry about my units jumping ship while working my way through Law?

 

[Basileus777]

I just beat the game at 76 hours doing the Chaos path. Do I have to worry about my units jumping ship while working my way through Law?

Nope, your units are there to stay.

 

[Masaki_]

I just beat the game at 76 hours doing the Chaos path. Do I have to worry about my units jumping ship while working my way through Law?

I don't think this count as spoilers, but I'll spoiler-tag it anyway, just to be safe:

If you have Arycelle in your party,

Spoiler

and you choose to rejoin the Duke at the end of Chapter 2, thus entering Chapter 3 Neutral, her loyalty will immediately drop to 10 and that happens even if you're on a second playthrough using WORLD. If she leaves, you can recruit her again, but her stats will be reset.

 

[Shuusui]

So, cursed weapons are perfect for my little method. Apparently they only do 1 dmg without the snapdragon ability -- which I have no idea how to use.

 

[Augemitbutter]

How does 60 battles in a row in the Palace of the Dead sound then?

is there a checkpoint halfway through, where you can return to whenever you want? i've heard the palace had 100+ floors.

 

[Basileus777]

is there a checkpoint halfway through, where you can return to whenever you want? i've heard the palace had 100+ floors.

You don't need to fight on every floor, but if you leave you have to start from the beginning again. At least until you beat it once, then you can use items called guides to skip through parts of it.

 

[Mr.Fresh]

I played for around and hour (then got side tracked by dissidia) but from what I played I loved it. I can't wait to play more tomorrow.

 

[Jefklak]

I could use some general tips here. I just got to chapter 2, and I'm having a tough time surviving in battles in general. The second battle in chapter 2 with the octopus (2) in the cave, they pack a punch and kill my guys before I can do some decent damage. Most of my guys are lvl 7. This is my party setup:

Hero - warrior lvl7 rapier/shield + bow, does decent dmg (20 to armored foes?)
Knight morning star, has trouble hitting stuff (no increase melee acc. skill yet) but does good dmg
2 archers with longbows, increased accuracy and tremendous shot - they're great but die fast once the enemy reaches 'em
1 wizard with dark/wind magic - mostly used = word of pain (bland?)
2 clerics which spend 50% of their time idling and the rest healing
1 berzeker which totally sucks, little damage dies fast and has trouble hitting.
canopus with a crossbow is awesome for picking targets
1 rune fencer with a fire spell and a pike - dies fast and does moderate dmg

My archers and canopus are by far the best fighters I have, the knight and my hero are OK too (they can tank) but the rest is mostly worthless. The healers don't have attack spells, the wizard is cool but dies too fast and sometimes my chars are badly positioned so I cant cast shit or miss (terrain height). The runefencer isn't great either.

What am I missing? I have the feeling I need another good damage disher, especially against well-armored foes, so that'll be a magic user, but I have trouble protecting them. I guess I need another wizard, and maybe another knight and ditch the berzeker?

I haven't tried a beastmaster yet, and I'm still eagerly waiting for the thief class to unlock (when??)


My archers both have the ranged evade skill, and lately I've given my front fighters the strength I skill which adds a little bit of dmg. What skills are essential? Should I ditch one cleric? (My sister as a guest is also a healer, and the knight is also able to heal!)

 

[Augemitbutter]

so many sidequest open up when you finish the game, it's sick.

Spoiler

just entered san brosa ruins. but why am i getting shitty exp and sp in here?

You don't need to fight on every floor, but if you leave you have to start from the beginning again. At least until you beat it once, then you can use items called guides to skip through parts of it.

that doesn't sound too bad. you really have to love the game to go through so many floors though.

 

[Totakeke]

I'm on my second new playthrough and man do I feel cheated about these other classes and weapons I didn't use in the first playthrough.

Terror Knights never gets really good to the beginning of chapter 4. Other than sleep, there's no spells really worth it. Even I don't see drain TP making up for their weak defense and basically being a huge target. Also never ever use an Axe Terror Knight because they can't use 1h Axes ever. So mine is at level 18 but still stuck using a level 10 axe. Great.

Juggernauts suck too. They have high move to go to back lines and kill casters/healers, but their skills suck compared to ninjas with low hit chance, no idea why I'm using them instead of ninjas.

Dragoons are meh. I suppose crossbow dragoons would solve the problem, but they're just relegated to battles with beasts and dragoons. But since I'm already using hammer units this time around, they never feel crucial.

Spears suck until this point too. They may be better in some situations, but in general they don't measure up to other weapons.

 

[krYlon]

OK, this game isn't as easy as I thought. Just got wiped out by Hektor and his cronies. Going to have to change my tactics!

 

[Onagi]

Sometimes I feel like I'm single handedly propping up the PSP in America because I keep buying games for it.

I'm going in mostly blind. I listened to the Active Time Babble where Jeremy Parish gushed about the game and learned that archers at elevation can shoot outside of their range, and have been using that. Other than that I know nothing about the game except that I'm enjoying it so far.

 

[Varth]

Is there any trick I'm missing about Ninjutsu? My Kunoichi seems to be getting finally useful at level 13, but her magic deals 1 point even on the most feeble of enemies.

 

[TheRagnCajun]

I'm on my second new playthrough and man do I feel cheated about these other classes and weapons I didn't use in the first playthrough.

Terror Knights never gets really good to the beginning of chapter 4. Other than sleep, there's no spells really worth it. Even I don't see drain TP making up for their weak defense and basically being a huge target. Also never ever use an Axe Terror Knight because they can't use 1h Axes ever. So mine is at level 18 but still stuck using a level 10 axe. Great.

Juggernauts suck too. They have high move to go to back lines and kill casters/healers, but their skills suck compared to ninjas with low hit chance, no idea why I'm using them instead of ninjas.

Dragoons are meh. I suppose crossbow dragoons would solve the problem, but they're just relegated to battles with beasts and dragoons. But since I'm already using hammer units this time around, they never feel crucial.

Spears suck until this point too. They may be better in some situations, but in general they don't measure up to other weapons.

Terror knights kick ass man. equip the spell accuracy ability and paralyitic wave will hit most of the time. The fear strike is a serious debuff, and they have an innate debuff ability I think. I use a hammer with my terror knight, and with decent armour he's no push-over.

 

[John Harker]

OK, this game isn't as easy as I thought. Just got wiped out by Hektor and his cronies. Going to have to change my tactics!

Best fight in the game so far, heh.
Took me maybe 4 attempts to beat him, and I never even had a character lose a heart before that battle. That's the one you really have to think about positioning, as the enemy finally takes advantage of the terrain. Also Hektor heals himself and Phalanx's like a bitch.

Finally beat him last night (haven't played the game in a couple weeks).
The key is: don't move. Got to let him come to you. Otherwise, all the ranged enemies up top pick you off.

 

[Totakeke]

Terror knights kick ass man. equip the spell accuracy ability and paralyitic wave will hit most of the time. The fear strike is a serious debuff, and they have an innate debuff ability I think. I use a hammer with my terror knight, and with decent armour he's no push-over.

Fear is nice, but that's all they got. Even with equipped spell accuracy ability (I think it's still level 1), I get like 50% on sleep at max and that's only on certain enemy units in a battlefield. Paralytic wave/stun is not reliable enough for me to keep wasting turns on it.

The big downsides of terror knights is that they're so slow, and they're such big "hit me" targets that doesn't tank so well and cannot move away easily in your battlefield so you waste like 1-3 moves healing them up. I'd rather put a knight up front which are much more versatile and can survive on their own if needed.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Sometimes I feel like I'm single handedly propping up the PSP in America because I keep buying games for it.

I'm going in mostly blind. I listened to the Active Time Babble where Jeremy Parish gushed about the game and learned that archers at elevation can shoot outside of their range, and have been using that. Other than that I know nothing about the game except that I'm enjoying it so far.

That's how I went into it and I haven't done anything that I've regretted so far. The game does an excellent job of teaching you about the mechanics if you take the time to read everything.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Best fight in the game so far, heh.
Took me maybe 4 attempts to beat him, and I never even had a character lose a heart before that battle. That's the one you really have to think about positioning, as the enemy finally takes advantage of the terrain. Also Hektor heals himself and Phalanx's like a bitch.

Finally beat him last night (haven't played the game in a couple weeks).
The key is: don't move. Got to let him come to you. Otherwise, all the ranged enemies up top pick you off.

I must have gotten lucky, I don't think Hektor used Phalanx at all when I fought him. Then again, that could just be because my Ninja Denam didn't give him a chance.

Ninjas are definitely my favorite class so far (I'm towards the end of Chapter 3 I think). Two Baldur Dagger +1's and I have yet to meet an enemy that I can't kill in one turn, with the exception of Dragons, Octopi, etc. Right now Denam is doing around 120 damage per dagger. My general strategy on every map has been send Denam straight out to meet the enemy head-on and let everyone else keep up as best they can.

 

[commish]

I'm sure this is answered elsewhere, but I run CFW on my PSP. I have the retail TO on its way to me. Am I going to have issues running it? I googled a bit, saw some folks had issues, others didn't.

 

[krYlon]

Is it just me or are Dragons impossible to tame? I desperately want one, but even when they are low on HP I get a 0% prediction using a Beastmaster with tame and draconology.

What am I doing wrong? Does it depend on what type of dragon it is? Does it have to be a random battle instead of a story battle?

 

[Augemitbutter]

Is it just me or are Dragons impossible to tame? I desperately want one, but even when they are low on HP I get a 0% prediction using a Beastmaster with tame and draconology.

What am I doing wrong? Does it depend on what type of dragon it is? Does it have to be a random battle instead of a story battle?

do you stand next to them when taming? long range taming is almost impossible.

 

[John Harker]

I must have gotten lucky, I don't think Hektor used Phalanx at all when I fought him. Then again, that could just be because my Ninja Denam didn't give him a chance.

Ninjas are definitely my favorite class so far (I'm towards the end of Chapter 3 I think). Two Baldur Dagger +1's and I have yet to meet an enemy that I can't kill in one turn, with the exception of Dragons, Octopi, etc. Right now Denam is doing around 120 damage per dagger. My general strategy on every map has been send Denam straight out to meet the enemy head-on and let everyone else keep up as best they can.

Damn, what level are you that anyone hits for 120?

I have Denam still on Warrior and I'm not entirely sure why I refuse to change him.
My Ninja is probably level 11 right now, so maybe it's safe to swap.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Is it just me or are Dragons impossible to tame? I desperately want one, but even when they are low on HP I get a 0% prediction using a Beastmaster with tame and draconology.

What am I doing wrong? Does it depend on what type of dragon it is? Does it have to be a random battle instead of a story battle?

I haven't spent much time trying to recruit them but I am 2 for 2 in my attempts so far (at 74% and 50%). Health below 10%, standing right next to them, draconology, and low loyalty are the key factors.

 

[krYlon]

do you stand next to them when taming? long range taming is almost impossible.

hmm, maybe that's the problem, I'll see if I can get right next to them.

 

[Minsc]

I'm sure this is answered elsewhere, but I run CFW on my PSP. I have the retail TO on its way to me. Am I going to have issues running it? I googled a bit, saw some folks had issues, others didn't.

There's a step-by-step solution outlined somewhere towards the end of the CFW thread for the US version. If you have the Euro version you can find a patching program to do the work for you.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Is it just me or are Dragons impossible to tame? I desperately want one, but even when they are low on HP I get a 0% prediction using a Beastmaster with tame and draconology.

What am I doing wrong? Does it depend on what type of dragon it is? Does it have to be a random battle instead of a story battle?

If you try to yell at them from far away your chances are significantly lower.

You have to walk right up to it.

And yes, you can recruit story people as long as they aren't enemy leaders.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Damn, what level are you that anyone hits for 120?

I have Denam still on Warrior and I'm not entirely sure why I refuse to change him.
My Ninja is probably level 11 right now, so maybe it's safe to swap.

I'm level 18 or so now but I was doing +100 damage ever since getting the Baldur Dagger +1's, which was probably around level 15~16. Equip two of those on Denam and you are looking at 200+ damage per turn. Even at lower levels a Ninja Denam will do twice as much damage as anyone else in your party, at least from my experience. I also have a ring equipped that boosts my strength, and Strengthen II.

 

[krYlon]

I'm level 18 or so now but I was doing +100 damage ever since getting the Baldur Dagger +1's, which was probably around level 15~16. Equip two of those on Denam and you are looking at 200+ damage per turn. Even at lower levels a Ninja Denam will do twice as much damage as anyone else in your party, at least from my experience. I also have a ring equipped that boosts my strength, and Strengthen II.

Wow, you're on level 18 in chapter 3??
I'm only on 12. Maybe I should be doing more levelling up.