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MagusofStars posted:I've done a challenge with no magic junctioning and no limit abuse (but anything else goes) and it's quite fun. It's fairly difficult since your stats suck, but you have lots of options. As you mentioned, I ended up actually using virtually everything in the game, the things which are otherwise totally ignored - magic, special commands, GF summoning, and items. Has Cool Ghost talked about why that is though? Also, don't all GFs have different base cast times?
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Jan 5, 2015 01:07
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Silegna posted:Has Cool Ghost talked about why that is though? Also, don't all GFs have different base cast times? There's a mechanic where basically there's an affinity level for GFs, the more you use them, the faster they're summoned, and possibly the more damage they do. (Game mechanic spoilers)
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Jan 5, 2015 03:57
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You could probably circumvent the cast time reduction by switching out party members and junctions. Like you could use Rinoa for Ifrit in one boss fight, and next required fight you'd go with Zell. It would be pretty tedious but might help you out in several instances.
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Jan 5, 2015 04:15
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There are mechanics that allow you to lower the statistic that makes summoning a particular GF fast.
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Jan 5, 2015 04:20
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If Voting is still open: Mine goes to Zell
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Jan 5, 2015 04:21
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Hunter Noventa posted:There's a mechanic where basically there's an affinity level for GFs, the more you use them, the faster they're summoned, and possibly the more damage they do. (Game mechanic spoilers) Damage is unaffected by that or any other stat on the character's part. GF damage (for GFs which do damage in the first place) cares about the following: - Which GF it is (all) - What level the GF is (all) - Known SumMag+% abilities (all but 2, one of which is Diabolos) - How high you Boost it (all but 2, one of which is Diabolos) - The target's Spr (all but 4, one of which is, unsurprisingly, Diabolos) - The target's weakness/resistance to the GF's element (the 8 elemental ones) - The target's vulnerability/immunity to gravity/percentage damage (Diabolos only) Basically Diabolos is the only weird one we have right now since he's got a special-case formula. The other weird ones are all very late in the game.
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Jan 5, 2015 05:49
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Vil posted:Damage is unaffected by that or any other stat on the character's part. GF damage (for GFs which do damage in the first place) cares about the following: Ah, so it really only affects the summon time, good to know.
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Jan 5, 2015 12:15
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Hunter Noventa posted:Ah, so it really only affects the summon time, good to know. Which makes them useless as shields after a while. Wait, if you had a no stat junction game....how would you survive later encounters with your piddly HP?
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Jan 5, 2015 18:02
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Leveling up may be useless for many things but it does have a reasonable effect on HP. You end up with ballpark 4000 HP at level 100. Granted, it'll make enemies stronger too, but you can mitigate that by combining low and high level party members so you've got people who can survive and people who are sacrificial lambs to weaken the enemy. (Bonus points if the sacrificial lambs are petrified and can't actually be sacrificed.) Even without mixed-level shenanigans like that, you can very often tank at least one direct hit of a strong attack, and both Selphie and Quistis can apply Protect and Shell, and can heal the party up afterward so long as they themselves are injured. For more extreme scenarios Rinoa's third limit can (albeit unreliably) help you survive - this can be avoided until at least disc 4 and possibly even then. Beyond that it's simply a matter of dishing out damage fast enough for it to be a non-issue. You'd be surprised at the number of bosses that Zell can trivialize with his gravity attack. (It's worth noting that you can use Duel moves before you've "learned" them, so long as you know their button input and in what cycle of other moves they're available. Learning his limits simply makes them show up in the onscreen prompts for what you can do for the next move, but they're usable regardless.)
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Jan 5, 2015 18:21
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Vil posted:Leveling up may be useless for many things but it does have a reasonable effect on HP. You end up with ballpark 4000 HP at level 100. Granted, it'll make enemies stronger too, but you can mitigate that by combining low and high level party members so you've got people who can survive and people who are sacrificial lambs to weaken the enemy. (Bonus points if the sacrificial lambs are petrified and can't actually be sacrificed.) My gods, I need to play FF8 Like this. No Junctions to stats, so I am forced to use Magic and strategy. I loved FF4 DS for this exact reason, as you had to plan out proper boss tactics to win, aside from spamming the best spells and attacks.
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Jan 5, 2015 19:39
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Just so it's clear, voting for the party is now definitely closed, and I'll be taking Selphie to the TV party.
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Jan 5, 2015 21:39
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Silegna posted:My gods, I need to play FF8 Like this. No Junctions to stats, so I am forced to use Magic and strategy. I loved FF4 DS for this exact reason, as you had to plan out proper boss tactics to win, aside from spamming the best spells and attacks. Yep! I love FF4DS and one of the things I loved most about it is status effects are actually useful. Try and just win the damage race against most bosses and you will just get loving clobbered.
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Jan 5, 2015 21:55
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Hell, FF4 DS is awesome because even random encounters are difficult. When I first played I tried mashing A to roll through Imps just outside Baron and I got rolled myself when I wasn't paying attention. That game is unforgiving on your first playthrough. But refreshing given how many jRPGs the "mash A/X" strategy works on
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Jan 6, 2015 01:18
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Attestant posted:The important part about renaming Angelo, is the opportunity to have super juvenile humor with Rinoa's limit break names. Late but one thing I really liked about Leovinus's LP was naming the dog "Vaginal". The limit break "Vaginal Reverse" was especially  and  at the same time.Soricidus posted:Coolghost please rename rinoa to vanille thank you. The dog can be fang. Also late but this is actually kinda brilliant.
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Jan 6, 2015 15:21
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Squall Rinoa Selphia + dog
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Jan 6, 2015 16:05
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Something I've been wondering: is the G-Army the logical extenstion of the G-Unit?
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Jan 7, 2015 08:41
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They're nowhere near as competent as 50 and his crew at murdering everything, but they share the same general lack of respect for other people's autonomy (Dollet, Timber) and authority (Laguna's excellent parking) ... so, maybe?
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Jan 7, 2015 17:39
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Part Eighteen: The Occupied Town Well, our plan to use the Galbadian president as a bargaining chip didn't exactly go off, so we're stuck chasing him to the TV station now.  Squall and Rinoa have to be in the party, and we're taking Selphie since that's who the thread voted for. Who's in your party can make a pretty big difference at some points in the game, but it doesn't really matter here - one line of dialogue is affected.  Let's take a look at Rinoa, now.  Rinoa is very good, stat-wise. In fact, of all the characters in the game, she has the highest base Strength, Magic, and Spirit. Her Vitality is a little low, but that's really her only weakness - even her HP is only 6 points less than Squall's. Much better than you'd expect from an untrained rebel, when compared to the SeeDs.  Rinoa also gives me a chance to talk about another mechanic she's pretty good at, Compatibility. A character's Compatibility with various GFs influences how quickly they can summon those GFs. It ranges from 0 to 1,000; at 0, it takes about 17 seconds to summon a GF, and at 1,000 it takes about 3. If you summon GFs a lot, this can make a bit of difference in battle because it means the GF is around to soak up damage longer, but it's not a huge difference otherwise. You can increase compatibility by summoning a GF, by using various items on characters from the menu, or by casting magic. These all usually have the side-effect of lowering another GF's compatibility, though, so you can't really maintain 1,000 for all GFs if you make heavy use of them. Honestly, though, you can ignore Compatibility completely and do just fine in the game. It's one of the more obscure game mechanics and at least half of the reason I didn't discuss it when we first got GFs is that I forgot it even existed.  Here is an example of an actually useful mechanic: junction exchanging.  From the party menu, I can swap Rinoa's and Zell's junctions with just a few button presses.  Ta-da! Rinoa has now taken Zell's magic and GFs and set them up exactly how he had them. This is very handy for when you want to change your party, because you don't have to futz around in a lot of menus to get your junctions set back up.  Mechanics chat status: done. Forest Owls status: nothing new going on.  Zell status: unable to be called upon. You can't change your party here.  Watts: But the local and transcontinental trains have stopped running, sir... Nothing to worry about, sir! There must be someone in town who knows.  Nothing to do on the train, might as well head out.  Good luck, Watts.  Before we get to run around Timber, we get this scene with some Galbadians. Galbadian Soldier 1: He was asking about the president's stay! I found it strange that a cadet would keep asking about the president. He was very polite and kept addressing me as 'sir'. They're obviously talking about Watts here. Galbadian Soldier 2: I think I know who you're talking about! He was taking care of 3 suspicious looking characters from Balamb! Probably bad news for the SeeDs. Galbadian Soldier 2: I'll go question every teenager in the area!!! That seems, uh...  The Galbadian officer, at least, isn't on board with the plan. Of course, that guy's already run off. Galbadian Officer: Ahem. These are citizens. We can't commit any...  Galbadian Soldier 3: Not only is it disrespectful to the president, but also to us Galbadian soldiers as well! I'll be sure to find'em and throw their sad be-hinds in jail!!! Even if some soldiers are reasonable, though, it seems like most aren't.  The last guy doesn't even say anything, he just salutes and runs off.  Too bad those other guys are so enthusiastic.  Now, back to the story.  Watts: I think the TV Station is located behind a building called Timber Maniacs! Please head in that direction, sir! I hope you find it!  Thanks for the directions, Watts, but you should try not to miss the train.  I'm always, careful, Watts. Now, the train.  Aaand there they go.  Watts: ...I guess you won't be needing it anyway. You're all SeeDs, you'll be fine, right, sir!?   There go the Owls. Real heroes. The Owls would be better, in my opinion, if the game just kept to the characterisation of them as amateurish, with their slapdash base and ragtag membership, rather than occasionally portraying them as being totally incompetent like this. It undercuts the whole "inexperienced but dedicated" thing when they can't even keep all their guys on their train.  But enough about the Owls, the pet shop is open. Also, being a new place, Timber has a new track:    Rinoa got Angelo at this shop. The pet shop sells a lot of GF medicine and items. Pet Houses are the same as Tents, but for GFs, and the Scrolls teach abilities. Of course, all GFs come with Magic, GF, Draw, and Item pre-learned, but there are other items we'll be able to get later on that teach abilities that aren't so common.  Amnesia Greens are used to remove abilities from a GF's list. As you get more GFs, it can be handy to drop some of the basic abilities to grab more support stuff, but it's not really crucial. Anyway, the only things we're buying today are the two volumes of Pet Pals.  Volume 3 contains what is probably Rinoa's most useful Limit Break, Invincible Moon. It makes the party invincible for a while, which is indispensable for certain boss battles later on.  Angelo Reverse I have never seen go off in battle. It works on the hidden "dead time" timer that a few other things are based on, mainly the other passive Angelo abilities, but it also needs a knocked out character to activate. What it boils down to is that, after about 13 seconds, the game does some checks, and there's a 1% chance that Angelo Reverse will activate. It's not exactly reliable.  Invincible Moon is great, though, and you can actually activate it reliably (it's based directly on Rinoa's crisis level; using her limit at crisis level 3 means Invincible Moon is used if you know it), so we're going to learn it right now.  Now it's back to our number one pastime, talking to NPCs.   Someone over here is making fun of Watts.  There are random battles in Timber, but they're all with the same Galbadian soldiers we fought in Dollet. They're still not a threat.   Maybe this guy can help us find the TV station. Timber Guy: Yeah, that's in this town. You wanna know more about it? Maybe the lady next door would know...  Well, we'll get right on that, as soon as we're done checking out Timber Maniacs.  : We just want to look around.Receptionist: Oh, ok. Go right on ahead.  There are a lot of these around.   Squall's a big fan.   I'm sure Zone will be very happy to know that we finally found this porno rag he wanted.  Unlike other magazines, you can't read it in the menu - when you auto-sort items, it's not even kept with them.  This is the only thing of value in this room.  Not really lucrative, though. It also never refills, so these are the only Blizzaga spells we'll ever get in this room.  This is the last stop on the tour of the Timber Maniacs office.  : (I didn't say anything...) Artist: It's a major sell out, and we don't have any in stock. Glad that's working out for you, then. Artist: A lot's happening in Timber, but art is definitely the way to go. Hey, I heard that card games are getting popular. Maybe collections of photographs on cards might sell. This guy isn't really important to the plot or characters, he's just some skeeve who's more interested in money than integrity or Timber's freedom.  This guy (the editor of Timber Maniacs) is mad about the sad state of the modern media.  Well, let's take it from the top.  This is what you get if you ask about Timber Maniacs. Editor: We are a publisher that was started 20 years ago. We used to publish a magazine called Tim Mani, short for Timber Maniacs. I feel like that title sounded better in Japanese than it does in English. Editor: It was a compilation of freelance writing: letters, reports, etc... The majority of the fans wanted to become journalists. I joined the company because I wanted to become an editor for Tim Mani.  This guy talks a lot.  Squall's not a fan (and neither are Selphie, looking out the window; or Rinoa, looking at the floor).  He just doesn't care much for people who get stuck in the past.  This is another one of those oh-so-annoying subtle characterisation things. A whole lot of character stuff and world-building in this game only show up in side conversations, so it's very easy to miss and think things later on are coming out of nowhere.  Editor: A word of advice! You're still young! Don't let your life pass you by! The editor gives us this bit of advice, but we're not quite done in there yet.  First off, we can find another old issue of Timber Maniacs.  And now we can chat with the editor about our dream about Laguna. : Recently, I had a strange dream that I became a Galbadian soldier named Laguna.What a stupid thing to bring up with a stranger. : Actually, it was too realistic to be just a dream. My friends had a similar experience, too.Why would you say this to someone, you dork? Editor: Yeah. Dreams are really strange. This morning I dreamt that...  The question on all of our minds.   Squall isn't a big fan of dreamers, either.  He gives you the same advice after every little chat.  Well, one option left.  Like the artist, the editor isn't very politically engaged. Editor: Back then, we were in the middle of a war against the sorceress. So I kept writing letters to Timber Maniacs stressing how meaningless the war was. I was really happy, even though there was a war going on. It gave me hope about my future.   Editor: Look at the young people these days. They're all so lazy. I don't know what they're thinking...  Squall, of course, isn't interested in the editor's story.  Of course Squall is the kind of guy who thinks adults need to grow up and move on.  Just look at his body language here. He thinks this guy is a moron.  : Nothing. Thanks.Editor: That's too bad. I like talking to young people. Jeez, even when you don't ask him anything the guy talks too much.  We will not.  On my way to the next place to check out, Booyakaga learns Enc-Half, which cuts the encounter rate by half.  This is a very useful quality-of-life ability, and goes on Selphie immediately.  I also finally get around to putting her Curagas on her HP.   This is the house where the guy said we'd be able to learn about the TV station.  : We have no choice. The trains aren't running.Woman: Let's see... There used to be a way through the back alley of this house... The Pub was built around the time they stopped broadcasting. We haven't used the back alley too much since then. Why don't you try looking through the 2F window? You should be able to see the back alley. We should just jump out the window, then. We could have jumped off that cliff earlier, I think a SeeD could take a fall from the second floor.  Thankfully, we can also hear about this person's parents' marriage.   Well, that's enlightening. Let's go upstairs.  This house doesn't have a lot of rooms.  Kid: Can u believe him! He eats up a wot of r food 2... That's y we're charging a look-see fee... We can't help it. It's the kitty's fault... So this kid's gonna shake us down for money if we look out the window. Whatever, we have money.  The headstanding kid just tells us which window to look out.  Might as well.  Look, there's the alley. All we have to do now is just jump. Jump jump jump.  ...What a baby.  We can spare 10 gil for this kid, sure.  His mother has different ideas, though.  I think we're gonna get to keep that 10 gil. In Trouble: Awwaah...(sob) I...I reduced the pwice from 1,000 Gil, though...(sob) Mother: It's not about the money! I didn't raise you this way!  Uh, okay.  And so, he goes back to headstanding and Squall keeps his 10 gil in his pocket.  If we go back to the train station, we can find this Zone-looking guy.  Somebody has a crush.  I was going to transcribe this one, but I figured everyone would put Zone Wanna-be up as a joke. Zone Wanna-be: I'd be able to actually meet'm. Ya know what I'm sayin'?  This guy has a lot of dialogue for being someone who's never relevant to anything at all, ever. Zone Wanna-be: First time I came to this here city, I was lost as a sheep... Many thanks to the mighty kind lady at the gift store, though. Showed me the Map of Timber and now I'm set. How are seeing the gift store's map and learning the layout of Timber at all related, though?   We can also check out the other platforms. Trains aren't running.  : Usually, the local trains would be running here. A lot of hustle and bustle... Bless you. Sneezy: I'm allergic to cats... My daughter loves them. What am I to do? Just tell your daughter to go pay those other kids to hang out with that cat, and everyone's problems are solved.  The sign on the store doesn't say "tampons", but I always hope it does.    If we tell her we're good, she's very happy.  But, I mean, we're mercenaries, not saints.  Squall is a dog guy, Seifer likes cats. That's important Final Fantasy VIII lore and not a throw-away joke.  Jesus, kid, we're paid to kill people, not to be mean to animals.  Speaking of. Security Guard: ...... : We have to get to the TV Station fast. I can't bear to watch them suffer like this. Galbadian Soldier: Just imagine how much this place would thrive if you were loyal to us. This place is gonna be stuck in the backwoods forever.  Security Guard: So what if we're undeveloped. We're not looking to thrive. All we want is to be able to stand on our own feet; to be independent and live according to what we believe. You guys will probably never understand, having thrown away your pride and dignity. We're not the fools. You are. This guard's got guts.  The Galbadians aren't really feeling like a philosophical debate, though.  Look, man, you're either going to discuss morality civilly, or we're going to kill you.   This is hardly even a fight. The Galbadian army is a huge joke.  No problem, buddy.  This is the town gate, and we still can't leave Timber.  Let's check out the hotel. Even when the game is railroading us, there's a whole bunch of dumb crap we can run around doing.   Like being in people's way.  Or talking about model trains.  Does it matter?  Not even a little. But it's nice that it's here.  There's also this option to be lovely to Rinoa for no reason at all.  It really hurts her feelings! Wow! What a jerk you are for choosing this! : Just kidding...: When someone says they're kidding, it's usually half true...: ...... Squall is very difficult to talk to, because he's so blunt about things and doesn't pay much attention to others' feelings. Rinoa, for example, doesn't really know Squall that well, so she's at a loss here. This is their second conversation that had nothing to do with business, and Squall dissed her out of nowhere. : Oh... Um... It's just a saying, you know, I'm sorry. The lady finds this whole exchange so awkward that she has to walk away.  We can't even stay at the hotel. This sucks.   Well, that's easy enough to solve. : I understand. Thanks, Miss DiMarco.Rinoa takes a more diplomatic approach. Miss DiMarco: Oh, Rinoa. How long have we known each other? Call me Francesca. I'm behind you all the way! Good luck!  If we try to go into the hotel without a room, the gate blocks us.  It doesn't like folks trying to sneak in.  Hey, kid, I'm the LPer around here.  Well, it's back this way.  Towards the pub, there's fuckin' even more people to talk to. Towns in Final Fantasy VIII are generally fairly well-populated.  Maybe we're supposed to go to the pub?  Well, I don't want to go to the pub now.  Not really. I mean, I think people on a date would sit together.  Like that one Galbadian said, pretty much everyone in Timber is a resistance supporter.  Over here is maybe the weirdest response menu in the game.  Thanks for the advice.  Man, Squall's not even 18. That's bad advice to give a child.  Squall is excited about the sky.  Informative Person: I lose sleep when I think of what those beams could do to me. Laser beams will not be a problem for us.  Well, there's only one option we've not seen.  Informative Person: Used to be that we were surrounded by this beautiful forest... Well, at least you've still got the Owls.  Now we finally have the chance to play on the train tracks! Yay!  You and Selphie should be friends, kid.  Probably better than the alternative.  What?    Jesus, kids, buy a soccer ball before you're killed.  It probably wouldn't be as bad if your train platforms were centralised at all. For example, at a train station.  I will spare you from the train itinerary.  Instead, let's talk to the three people in this tiny room. Final Fantasy VIII has enough drat townspeople for two games.  For Christ's sake, old man, I get it about the pub.  Yeah, go tell some other teens about getting wasted.  Of course, the old guy really wants to tell us about beverages.  Beverage Lover: Ahhh, you don't have to hold back. It's just water. Water is pretty great. Thanks, old-timer.  Over here, we have a very sad girl. Lovelorn Girl: Life is so strange... It's not like anyone teaches you, but why do people end up hurting each other...? If you're Squall, you end up hurting people because you get paid to. Lovelorn Girl: When you're feeling blue and you hear a touching song, doesn't it make you wanna cry...? Squall's just going to tell you about how feelings are stupid.  Well, uh, there's plenty of fish in the sea.  This house is too small for a family of one, yo. Cramped Girl: Mom's working at the pub, grandma's at the gift shop... They don't seem to mind. And grandpa's so stubborn, he refuses to move to a bigger house. I want a BIG, HUGE room to myself! One of these days, I'm gonna get my own place! People are all just livin' their lives. Cramped Girl: People mistake this place for the station office. It's really annoying...  We can also check out the faucet, like the old man said.  : I feel revitalized...Grandpa: How is it? Good?  You may remember that the gift shop told us about the Owl's Tears. Well, here they are. Since we can't stay at the hotel, this is how we get healed in Timber. Grandpa: ...Hahaha, I'm not trying pressing you for money. Don't worry, young lad. Aaaaahhh... You can't beat it! It's natural spring water. It only works the first few times you drink it. I've been drinking it all my life... No effect for me anymore, but oh, it's so good!  There's one other little thing you can do here.  Grandpa:: Say, young lad... ...What on earth are you doing?  You have to be very serious about cupboards to do this. : (It won't open...?)Grandpa: So is that what youngsters are doing nowadays? Opening up people's cupboards? Cramped Girl: That cupboard is kinda stuck. You can open it by BANGING it a little.  Well, there we are.  Well, poo poo. Grandpa: You're quite the strange one, young lad... Is it that fun, opening an empty cupboard? Cramped Girl: (Pssst...Pssst... Grandpa, I remember you hid something there...)  Let's give it one more look, eh?    Finally, we can be a piece of poo poo to a poor old person.  Of course, this isn't a real reward. He also won't let you drink any more tears, so it's not worth it at all.  Now, let's finally get down to the pub.  What are these Galbadian idiots up to now? Galbadian Soldier: Yo, better ease off a little. These Timber hicks hate us enough as it is.  Hey, dunces.   You're gonna die.  Two hits later, I find this Buel card on their dead-rear end corpses.  Then I get paid just for looking at this draw point.  Over on the side of the area is the Timber shop, where I pick up some Tents to give everyone a boost to their Curaga junctions.  Drifter: I came from Dollet to have me a good time. And now... Trains are no longer running... Can't even stay in a hotel because of some stupid official...! Harrassed by Galbadian soldiers... Had my precious card stolen... This hasn't been my day... Great, now we probably have to fix this rear end in a top hat's problems. Drifter: Those jerks... They think they can use brute force to get anything they want. Hell... This town's a good example... Yeah... Everything's jacked up because the resistance tried to kidnap the president.  Not being from around here, the drifter isn't very concerned about Timber's independence. Drifter: Don't they understand I'm the one suffering from their reckless actions!? Stupid, boneheaded, good-for-nothing, resistance! You can just kiss my... : Hey!Rinoa, of course, takes exception.  And so does this guy. Resistance Supporter: The resistance is fighting for Timber's future! They're all doing the best they can. It's the Galbadian soldiers and their leader who are at fault! Drifter: Pshhh...  Owner: Might be a little difficult right now. He's being pretty stubborn. The guy throws a fit when you try to move him from that spot. Christ, what a hassle.  : We need to get through.Drifter: Geez, and now I'm getting dissed by some punk...!? Owner, gimme another drink! Basically, we have to get the drifter to move so that we can reach the back alley and get to the TV station.  To do this, we can either buy him a drink (this is a puzzle, where you have to match the guy's favourite type of booze) or just tell him about the card you got from beating the Galbadians outside.  Long story short, the drink he wants is named after everyone's favourite president, Reagan. The drinks at this pub are all named after the greens you could feed chocobos in Final Fantasy VII. He's very happy to get it. Drifter: I ain't the rude type, either. Here, take some o' this! Ha ha ha...(hic)  Hooray.  The easier way to do this is just to tell the guy about the card you got outside. : Is this your card?Drifter: Huh? ...It is! Why do you have it!? : ......Found it outside.Drifter: Are you serious? ......Okay. Thanks. Know what? I'm feelin' generous! So you can keep that card. And also...this one! I'll move out of the way now.  The Tonberry card is the better reward here, since you can refine it for 30 Death spells (and Death is probably the most important thing to have on status defence), but you can only get 20 Confuses from the Forbidden.   Whichever method you choose, he's out of the way.  And we're finally to the back alley! Cool Ghost fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Mar 31, 2015 |
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Jan 10, 2015 04:09
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I've really been enjoying someone finally giving a sympathetic view to FFVIII, as it's one of my favourite games in the series. Good work on the LP so far!
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Jan 10, 2015 07:56
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Cool Ghost posted:
In case you needed another, less egregious than usual way to break the game, you can Tool-RF these scrolls into Wizard Stones, and from there into your choice of -aga spell (or a few other things). It winds up costing 10,000 gil per 100 -aga spells.
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Jan 10, 2015 08:28
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It's also possible to screw up GFs with the Amnesia Greens by deleting important or unique abilities; most Refine abilities are unique, for instance, so if you delete Siren's LF Mag-RF you're going to have to get your Curagas the hard way. Rinoa's battle inexperience also shows up slightly in battle; she recoils a bit from her weapon whenever she attacks.
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Jan 10, 2015 10:56
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This pub always surprises me because for some reason I convince myself that this pub is in FFVII, the one in Wall Market where Cloud cross-dresses. Ironically another example of a supposed elite soldier behaving in a bizarre manner. Edit: quote:Here's the place I'm on about, I suppose they are a little similar, there's also a guy in the toilet at the back that you need to move to continue like in VIII. Also that screen in the corner has a pretty amazing/crazy animation going on where the tiger face morphs into a woman's and then back again. Weavered fucked around with this message at 11:51 on Jan 10, 2015 |
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Jan 10, 2015 11:40
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Adults. They don't understand me. I hate them all. Squall sure is a great character.
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Jan 10, 2015 12:02
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anilEhilated posted:Adults. They don't understand me. I hate them all. Almost as if he's an angsty teenager confused about the world. 
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Jan 10, 2015 14:37
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It's easy to forget just how many details Square crammed into towns and NPCs during this era. FF7-9 all have a huge amount of distinct NPCs with their own problems and unique details that make them stand out. And the towns look great, with each area having its own distinct imagery that meshes well overall with the town. World-building doing this kind of stuff has always been one of Square's hidden strengths in this series.
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Jan 10, 2015 15:55
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bradzilla posted:Almost as if he's an angsty teenager confused about the world. ...who is given combat training, a sword with a gun in it, superpowered magical creatures, and orders to murder any and everything if the money is right. A sound business model.
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Jan 10, 2015 15:56
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bradzilla posted:Almost as if he's an angsty teenager confused about the world. edit: Also, confused angsty elite paramilitary commando. Try saying that five times fast and see if it makes any sense.
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Jan 10, 2015 16:41
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Part Nineteen: Fifteen Minutes of Fame Welcome, one and all, to Timber's famous back alley. Beautiful, ain't it?  Hoo boy, and look at this - we get to talk to a real live drunk guy. Wow. Wasted Guy: ...ose...boxes in the corner... ...They were...alweady...there... I ain't the dwunk that bwought thos here... The other'ns are mine...but not those... Weally... Believe me... Bgwahh... This guy's not talking about anything interesting or relevant, he's just had one too many.  While we're in the alleyway, we can also see this exchange between the kids upstairs.  Presented: children's understanding of our earlier actions. Big Sis: Do you really know what kidnapping is all about...? Big Brother: It's like playin' tag... Little Brother: Mommy said u catch'em and then u give him a spankin'! Big Sis: Well... I guess it's kinda like that. I don't think anything we had planned involved giving the president a spanking. Mother: Cookies are ready! Goddammit, and we're stuck in this alleyway.    At this point, all we have to do is go up those stairs to get to the TV station.  Now, let me talk about going up stairs for three updates.  One important thing about going up stairs is that there's an 85% chance you'll find a TV screen full of red text.  Good eye. : This is creepy... What is it?It's not easy to read in the screens, but the TV is scrolling lines of text, which is what Rinoa is referring to here. The text says "IAMALIVEHERE," "IWILLNEVERLETYOUFORGETABOUTME," and "BRINGMEBACKTHERE," not just random letters and numbers. It seems like it's not just random garbage, but something projected with intention. : This noise is broadcast over most of the frequencies.This is why most people in Final Fantasy VIII aren't fans of radio dramas. : Something has to be done about this before they can broadcast it over the air. : Right on! Oh, hey, Watts. Watts: Too many guards now, so we won't be able to storm the place, sir! : So we can't just rush in...That's what he said. : We've gotta come up with a new plan now!Well, only if you're still set on the whole "taking over the TV station" thing. I think the bar is still open. : If the president leaves, maybe the guards will be gone, too? That's when we do OUR broadcast. It might not be as influential but it's better than nothing, right?I don't think we can just walk into the place and declare independence. : We don't stand a chance if we take 'em head on, right?I dunno, the G-Soldiers haven't exactly been a threat so far. : Don't worry about us. We'll fight your enemies based on your decision. That's our duty.Squall is being kind of an idiot here, since planning and tactics are also going to be their duty. He's not a very good leader, to be honest, because he only ever does what he's told. : Heeey, I'm a SeeD, too. Just want you to know, I'm ready for anything.Selphie's also here. : How sad... Act on my decision? That's your duty? Oh, what an easy life it must be, just to follow orders...Rinoa, being a member of a resistance group, isn't a huge fan of militaries and their attitudes. She also thinks Squall is being a smug rear end in a top hat here, so she's calling him out. A lot of people think that Rinoa is acting spoilt here, but remember that she hired SeeD to help the Owls with their inexperience, and Squall is being a jerk about having to fill that. There are other reasons for her to feel this way, but right here and right now, Squall isn't doing the whole job he was hired for.  Squall's not impressed by her. : All we want is for you to achieve your goal using our help.Note: this is a lie. Squall, and even Selphie and Zell, don't care about the Owls. SeeDs don't care about their client, because their job isn't to give a gently caress. : I find it hard to believe that you can do it, though...Squall, being a mature professional, gets lovely after Rinoa calls him out on his attitude.  As the player, you get the choice here to be aggressive or passive-aggressive. It doesn't make a big difference which you choose.  That said, it's more like Squall to be passive-aggressive about it. : You started it. The least you can do is finish it. Come on, what's on your mind?: ...Just forget it.: ...Tell me. This is an order. An order from your client!Squall doesn't take the Owls seriously at all, and he's acting superior here, which Rinoa doesn't like. Rinoa is very clear and honest about what she's doing, but Squall always talks around his feelings and hides things. (Oh, by the way, this is where the two dialogue options meet up.) : How serious are you...? Really...? The 3 of you plop down on the floor to discuss strategy? On top of that, you can't make a decision without our input, right? How do you think we feel, working for such an organization?Squall's not exactly wrong about the Owls here, because they are pretty rough and unprofessional, but he's not quite getting the intention of hiring SeeD, and he's not being a pro, either. Squall's not a very good leader.  This is another choice that doesn't really matter.  Again, though, one choice is a little more "Squall" than the other.  If you choose to leave it, Squall doesn't say another word.  If you choose to follow up, he apologises.  Rinoa's not quite done, though. : Maybe this was all a big mistake. I thought everything would work out fine once SeeD came to help us. But, I guess it's not that easy. You were all hired. It's not like you're one of us.Now she just wants him to gently caress off. : Um, let's see... We'll cancel the plan, and we'll disperse for now. We don't stand a chance if we take 'em head on, right? Before she leaves, though, Rinoa has some parting words for Squall. : ...Well, it's not! We're serious. So serious...it hurts.This is something we've seen before, and Rinoa's just not very eloquent about it - the Owls are willing to go as far as they need to for Timber's independence, including spending a lot of money (for them) on SeeD.  Oh, there's Zell.  Hey Zell, don't worry. The client's just running away because Squall insulted her.   At this point, the words on the screen are replaced with static.   Looks like it's working.  Announcer: Ohhhh! P-People of the world! Can you see me!? Can you hear me!? This game doesn't have voice acting, buddy. It does have music, though, and you can listen to the Galbadian national anthem:   Announcer: Yes, it's been 17 years since a live broadcast has been possible! I wonder what people in Final Fantasy VIII's world do for fun, since there's no anime on.  Announcer: We would like to present to you today a message from the lifelong President of Galbadia, Vinzer Deling.  Great, 17 years of broadcast silence and then it's the fuckin' state of the union address.  So has everyone just had TVs on for 17 years? Is that the assumption here? President Deling: We the people of this world have the power to end all wars. : See, see! It's a peace proposal to the world. I knew it!I think this is more a "submit to Galbadia" proposal than a peace proposal.   Everyone who's ever negotiated with a dictator has definitely got a fair deal. That's just history 101.   : Man! All this just to introduce an ambassador. Yeah, I'm sure that's gonna be a popular decision, after the Sorceress Wars. : ...The Sorceress?Yeah, that's what he said. Let's let him explain, though.  So much for explanation.    Trying to contain Seifer doesn't really go well for the Galbadians.  Oh, look, he's got the president. I guess we can all go home now.  : Squall, what are we gonna do!? Well, whatever it is, we better do it quick. : ...Nothing. Our job is to assist the Owls. It's none of our business.Ah, the classic tactic of "sit on our asses cuz it's not our turn to give a gently caress."  I think it was just established that that's all we're doing, Ms. Trepe.  : Get over here right now!You're not the boss of us anymore, Quistis.  : You HAVE permission! I need your help!Should have thought of that before you got fired, eh? Squall has a client to belittle.  Zell and Selphie aren't 100% on board for the "let Seifer execute Deling on live TV" plan.  They cut the broadcast at that point, so it's back to creepy red text while we run to the station.  Ah, yes, the propaganda tower. I wonder what they do there.  Instead of the regular fade to black, the scene transition when entering the TV station is a fade to static.  Nah, I think Seifer's got him. : What do you think you're doing?Baking a cake. Seifer's a real mess in the kitchen.  : It's obvious, ain't it!? What are you planning to do with this guy?You'd have to ask Rinoa, since Squall can't actually make tactical decisions. : ...Planning to do? : I get it! You're Rinoa's... Nobody ever says what Seifer was to Rinoa, but it's pretty well implied that they were dating. : He broke out of the disciplinary room, injuring many in the process.Seifer? He always seemed so restrained. Wow. : YOU STUPID IDIOT! Squall knows that Zell's a risk in a high-tension situation like this. : Be quiet.He might be an immature rear end in a top hat with zero emotional intelligence, but Squall's ability to keep a level head in a crisis is a major asset. : Instructor, I know!It is not one Zell possesses.   Squall takes just a little longer than normal to interrupt here, since Zell catches him on his back foot. President Deling: I see... So you're all from Garden. Should anything happen to me, the entire Galbadian military will undoubtedly crush Garden. Well, it could have gone worse. President Deling: You can let go of me now. : Nice going, Chicken-wuss! You can see Zell covering his mouth here. He knows he hosed up.   Alright, sure, see ya.  Quistis runs off after Seifer, leaving the B Team to stand awkwardly around.  We might as well follow them, right?  Weird lighting back here.   Oh, hey, strange woman who came out of a wall. What's goin' on? When she enters, this starts playing:  : Stay away from me!Strange Woman: Such a confused little boy. Are you going to step forward? Retreat? You have to decide. : Stay back! Quistis runs in, and the strange woman pulls out a strange light.  It stops Quistis dead in her tracks. Is this woman a wizard? Is there any sort of word for a female wizard? Witchy Woman: You can't make up your mind. You don't know the right answer. You want help, don't you? You want to be saved from this predicament. : Shut up!Witchy Woman: Don't be ashamed to ask for help. Besides, you're only a little boy. : I'm not... Stop calling me a boy.Witchy Woman: You don't want to be a boy anymore? : I am not a BOY! Listening to this woman speak, Seifer lets the president go.  Oh, ya goin' somewhere, Seifer?   Jesus, if you don't want Squall to come, just say so. There's no need for the magical wall.   Hm. Well. That went poorly. Cool Ghost fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Mar 31, 2015 |
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Jan 16, 2015 04:57
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This scene is where Zell deserves a lot of disdain. Sure, one of your own is in a hostage situation and you blurt out where he is from? Smart move guy
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Jan 16, 2015 05:31
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Now I understand why Selphie has so much support from the thread. She's the best character by process of elimination. Seriously, everyone else in this update comes off looking like a terrible rear end in a top hat. I guess Rinoa expected that the Owls would hire SeeD and they'd be enjoying independence by supper. Squall's leadership amounts to "point me at things so I can gunblade them" and offers nothing else to his client. Zell is... well, Zell. Not even sure what bullshit Quists is pulling with Seifer (it's been forever since I played this game). Anyway in summation everyone is terrible, but at least Selphie hasn't done anything too stupid since the train song.
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Jan 16, 2015 05:35
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Cool Ghost posted:
I'm guessing the second screenshot here is supposed to be a Rinoa headshot instead. And yeah, this is a big dumbass moment for Zell. Even he himself gets that as soon the words leave his mouth.
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Jan 16, 2015 05:41
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Vil posted:I'm guessing the second screenshot here is supposed to be a Rinoa headshot instead. Whoops, yes, fixed. Thank you.
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Jan 16, 2015 05:44
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Cool Ghost posted:When she enters, this starts playing: This is one of my favourite tracks in this game. Definitely sets the mood.
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Jan 16, 2015 06:09
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This might actually be Seifer at his best. He has the president in his hands, can take down an army to get to him, he probably could have changed the world right there. Except that Quistis was preoccupied with throwing him back in the brig (I think?), Squall didn't have any ideas, and Rinoa - probably the one person who could have seized this opportunity - was absent.
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Jan 16, 2015 06:11
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MightyPretenders posted:This might actually be Seifer at his best. He has the president in his hands, can take down an army to get to him, he probably could have changed the world right there. Quistis was running damage control, just trying to stop Seifer from hurting anyone, but yeah, if Zell hadn't blurted out that they were from Garden, Seifer probably would have offed Deling right there.
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Jan 16, 2015 06:23
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Seifer just proved why he should be the hero of the story.
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Jan 16, 2015 06:30
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I'd forgotten Rinoa isn't there - I agree, she might have been able to really turn this to her advantage. So many lost opportunities. It's a painful scene if you like (or you're hoping to come to like) any of the protagonists. Then the Witchy Woman shows up and things get very weird. "Boy wants to come, the Man doesn't" - sure, makes sense. Then that gets inverted as she says to come with her to not be a boy, and after this moment I'm not sure understand Seifer anymore except if he's under a spell. Hopefully this LP gives me more insights! It already has shown me a few new ways to look at the events/dialog; much appreciated, Cool Ghost!
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Jan 16, 2015 06:38
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This update and the next is actually Quistis at her best. She's thinking logically, and explicitly tells Squall on-screen that they do have permission, because she knows that Squall would just stick to the rules otherwise and go, 'We don't have permission to help him, we can't leave our position, wahhh'. The problem is she's not nearly as proficient at handling hotheads like Seifer. You can also imagine that Quistis is here alone because of the urgency of the situation - Seifer JUST broke out of the disciplinary room and was about to go take the president hostage, or worse; they probably didn't have time to assemble a proper 3-man squad and just sent someone they believed was trained enough to handle protocol. Quistis being Seifer's instructor probably had them hope she would be able to reason with him.
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Jan 16, 2015 06:47
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So he busted out of detention and she chased him. Then they caught a train under the ocean together, after which she chased him all the way to the TV studio?
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Jan 16, 2015 07:08
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| # ? Jun 7, 2024 16:40 |
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I don't particularly like FFVIII's mechanics or the game in general, but I have to give it credit in being the funniest game in the series, period. There's a lot of really funny scenes such as the Galbadian commander insisting they can't just harass every teenager on the street. Spelling Mitsake posted:So he busted out of detention and she chased him. Then they caught a train under the ocean together, after which she chased him all the way to the TV studio? She chased him across to the train, obviously.
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Jan 16, 2015 07:11
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