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FFIX is incredibly good. It is one of the absolutely best presented games I have ever seen, everything everywhere just gels perfectly together to make the atmosphere above and beyond. It's so good that even I as a total gameplay-over-story nerd don't really care that the battle system could use some huge improvements and that the card game is total garbage. FFV is the best Final Fantasy to play, but FFIX takes the cake and eats it as the best Final Fantasy to experience.
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Jul 7, 2015 09:54
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kalonZombie posted:This is the best Final Fantasy. I will fight anyone who says otherwise.  . Seriously though, it's neat that they put it in because you don't get anything substantial from it. To expand on Tetra Master, I know how it ticks (read up on it at GameFAQs, that is), and that takes the edge off the byzantine way it's presented, but the insane randomness really nails that coffin. It's too bad, really, because it could be a fun (if meaningless) diversion; I played it a bunch the first time around as exactly that, but with Save States, because it's utter nonsense without. You will lose your best cards to the lowliest Goblin, there is really never a 100% chance to win outright, afaik (okay, maybe in some extreme cases). It's quite the shame, but again, it ultimately doesn't matter because of how optional it really is.  -bait anyway because of what you have to do to get 100%...
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Jul 7, 2015 14:37
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YggiDee posted:Blank has two-toned skin and stitches. Is he a zombie or a flesh golem or what? How many people did he used to be?
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Jul 7, 2015 15:59
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In the interest of not spoiling literally everything ever, I won't post a link (you can search using words contained in this post), but there is a beautiful document of aspergian insanity called The No Spoiler II Perfect Game Guide (these are those words!). I just want to quote the relevant excerpt:code:I posted a "99 Rosetta Stones by playing cards and extensive RNG manipulation, it will literally take 17 hours" guide in the FF8 LP, these things amuse me; rest assured, the FF9 thing is far, far, far worse. This is what worrying about tiny stat increases on level up leads to, so don't
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Jul 7, 2015 21:34
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Kheldarn posted:You're gonna do that for this game, too? I can't wait!  . Sure, then, I can try to remember which normally completely mundane parts of this game require insane work-arounds to keep the party at the lowest level possible and post excerpts, why not?
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Jul 7, 2015 22:11
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EDIT: Update on the last page! Well, then! code:You should have figured out by now that this particular guide is for beating the game as quickly as possible as well as staying at Level 1 the whole time. This means poo poo like this: code:The Jump Rope Minigame is serious business in a Perfect Game Oh My run, and there are some options for it which I really don't get related to a high score board on it which only really shows up in a Mognet letter which is completely optional and may not even be viewable at the end of the game or something? I am not even going to comprehend the loops of logic required to justify doing that, but even under the serious time constraint this run puts you under, the guide's writer allows you to get 1000 jumps three times "if you want to", of course once is mandatory, this will take 8 minutes. Impressing the nobles... code:code:
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Jul 7, 2015 22:32
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Glad that it resonates! Just to be perfectly fair, then, if I am going to turn this into a feature: Credit goes to Atomos199 for writing this insane piece (ABSOLUTE SUPER SPOILERS) of course! It is, like many video game achievements, certainly impressive, but I do think eminently mockable. If you still like doing challenge runs, then more power to you; depending on your personal level of frustration tolerance and/or craving, I am convinced that doing any kind of self-imposed nonsense is just pure clean fun for you, and that's cool, fun is cool. BUT if you think that doing something of this level is anything but borderline-to-crossing madness, you lack some serious self-awareness, and that is, even in the context of a goddamn Final Fantasy LP on the SA forums, well deserving of ridicule. code:Simply Simon fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Jul 7, 2015 |
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Jul 7, 2015 23:17
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Like Clockwork posted:I've never played it, although I'm aware of some presumably major spoilers and some later characters (and the soundtrack but that's a given). It seems interesting, but hearing about how slow it is makes me reluctant to actually play it myself...
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Jul 8, 2015 09:11
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Doctor Tot kills me because the infamous Worst Doctor Ever Mengele, the concentration camp monster who experimented on people, had the nickname "Doktor Tod" (Doctor Death). Apparently, he's not the only person to have this wonderful moniker, another KZ pseudo-doctor also has that honor. Sorry for ruining everyone's fun! As consolation prize, there is absolutely no ridiculous jumping through hoops and/or over ropes to be had for the super challenge run 3000 in this segment.
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Jul 8, 2015 19:18
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If you don't shuffle your party completely at every opportunity, I don't know what to tell you.
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Jul 9, 2015 09:30
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MarquiseMindfang posted:There are only three things I would change about FFIX's battle/party system.
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Jul 9, 2015 12:47
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:As much as I love this game, I really feel like this is one of the weakest moments, especially if you've played through before. After a fun, exciting intro, the plot more or less stalls until you get to the first town.
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Jul 12, 2015 00:03
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Manic_Misanthrope posted:Remember how I was complaining about the Silk Shirt? This rear end in a top hat is the reason why. You might think that it's safe to put flammable gear in a dungeon where the gimmick is ice, nope. He has Fire spells, which can make the early part much trickier than first intended. code:I didn't find too much outrageous stuff to post so far, and what was there, OFC already covered it  . I will try and find extra dumb nonsense you have to pull to be quick as well as low level after each low level update!
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Jul 16, 2015 11:31
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I think the difference between "normal" speedruns (that is, of a game that is far more suited to speedruns, like a platformer) is that for platformers, you basically develop the skills to do The One Perfect Run and then do it. After some time-saving techniques, glitches etc. have been discovered, it's mostly about execution. For an RPG, most of what you're doing is managing luck - that is, you know there is a certain (and sometimes considerable) element of randomness to things, but you try to minimize that as well as possible, but ultimately, you do a lot of crossing your fingers and praying. The elegance in that, and what I actually like to read about (it's not like I only checked out the perfect game guide to laugh at it, far from that!), is discovering those minimization strategies. That might not be that fun to watch, however, and for me at least it certainly sounds like absurdly unfun to do - as you don't even improve after a certain point, you just hope for the best. Overall though, I think both types of speedrun might well take the same amount of time, as most skill-based ones take crazy amounts of practice.
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Jul 16, 2015 17:08
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So, I've waited a bit to see what OFS covers in his low-level game, and now I don't need to pussyfoot around the reason for the speedrun part, so let's post so more nonsense! To recap: there is a Perfect Game Guide (heavy spoilers for literally everything, of course!) covering how to stay at Level 1 for those sweet, sweet stat upgrades with the correct equipment on level up, while also being fast enough to get through 99% of the main game in 12 hours, while also not missing anything permanently missable. This requires some insanity far beyond "just" staying at Level 1, and I'd like to share some of the more ridiculous poo poo with you. We know about needing a fight with only 2 Plant Spiders when escaping the Evil Forest, reminder: code:You have been warned. code:Ice Cave, this tidbit: code:Black Waltz and Sealion: code:Dali: code:And finally: code:
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Aug 4, 2015 13:49
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All this Wrist-planning etc. makes me wonder how I'd play the game unspoiled. I only ever did it with a guide, because I had read the other LP beforehand anyway. But there's a lot of poo poo to miss, actually pretty important poo poo - as has just been said, it's entirely possible to go "uh I'll buy this later" and then you lose access to the store...forever. And lose out on a possible synthesis item later. I should get someone who doesn't know the game to replay it with me and make the decisions...
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Aug 7, 2015 22:16
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I also had the "benefit" of a friend who insisted we grind up at the first opportunity cuz it's easy and get all the Abilities available asap, meaning that the difficulty curve shat itself and died horribly from the word go. Really wonder about how it'd go without being grossly overleveled...and overequipped because holy poo poo does Stealing and that one sidequest give you complete nonsense far too early.
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Aug 7, 2015 22:43
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Wait wait guys let me just check the Perfect Game Guide to settle this argument.code:
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Aug 8, 2015 07:31
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Is the insane techno-city in FF8 (Esthar?) evil? They're run by Laguna after all, somehow, but on the other hand they support Dr. Mengele for some reason. I have no idea what to think of them tbqh because holy poo poo FF8's plot at that point in the game.
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Aug 13, 2015 13:10
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Every single noun in German is male, female or neutral. I'm told it's fun to learn. Would probably be equally fun to try and change it, somehow.
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Sep 1, 2015 15:09
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It's been a while since I posted stuff from the Insane Guide, because it's been rather tame mostly with all the story-heavy scenes. With the exception of the Festival of the Hunt, of course; there the recommendation to be As Perfect As Possible is to have Zidane win (though it doesn't matter, item-wise) with exactly 100 points. Problem is, Zhagnol gives a random amount, so the guide recommends to leave as many monsters on the way as possible alive with creative dodging to give you options later, fight Zhagnol (with a calculator handy, no less, to keep track of his HP for the finishing blow), then go back to the monsters you spared to add up the 100 points needed. code:But what about the Level 1 speedrun? code:Then, it's time to have some fun. code:
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Sep 28, 2015 19:21
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The maximum is 303 points, the guide says it's not humanly possible; I very much believe that, as I also believe that there were hours spent on trying. 100 is indeed the minimum, and it'll show up on a letter later I think, which will be readable always (much like the jump rope scoreboard), so it needs to be neat.
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Sep 28, 2015 19:59
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Orange Fluffy Sheep posted:Specifically I'm making a joke because why are you people discussing the level 1 run in the final dungeon? (yes, Mega has spoken of it. I paid special attention because it saves me a lot of spoiler tags)
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Sep 30, 2015 16:25
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Phantasium posted:It was probably intended less as a reward for speedrunning and more a crutch for people who rushed through the game so fast that they might have lovely characters and equipment. So, if you ditched for example just the Level 1 part you could speedrun the game pretty easily probably, at the very least concerning resets numbering in the high thousands, if that is not far too conservative. Meaning that Excalibur 2 is not a challenge that only a few people can ever do, if you'd really want to, you could probably do it yourself without missing much (or anything), the Perfect Game Guide just makes it seem ludicrous because of all its other self-imposed restrictions. Though your failsafe idea is neat, and it might well also be the case. I don't remember the Excalibur 2 scene though (I haven't done it myself, but I've seen pictures), it might be "hey cool you are a master player", but it might also be "are you loving insane? Okay have a weapon geeze" and anything in between .
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Sep 30, 2015 17:18
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I think I heard that particular bit of nonsense (and other assorted bits of obscure stupidity) are entirely due to one dude who had a serious boner for that kinda stuff. His reasoning was that the game experience would by improved by practically forcing a large community of players to work together figuring out this crap. Basically, like FEZ or Binding of Isaac, but not as Indie. This guy also added all of that stuff very, very late in development because he was brought in as replacement for the main director who worked himself into hospital trying to finish the game. IZJS added even more obscure bullshit (invisible weapons in invisible chests!) but mostly to make fun of that dude.
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Sep 30, 2015 22:07
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Fister Roboto posted:To be fair that's kind of the philosophy behind Dark Souls, and it works well for that.
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Oct 1, 2015 08:29
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In between playthroughs of FF9, I played like all other FFs and especially FF5 a lot. When you're just starting out and killing things and having a good time, it's not that slow. When you realize that you can totally kill bosses underleveled without even breaking a sweat because Slow is good and you know of his Fire weakness and got all the Blue Magic so whatever, just running away from a lot of encounters becomes attractive, and makes a game you've played before indeed flow nicer. However, in FF5 this is a matter of half a second for each battle, in FF9 it can take up to 30 seconds or even a minute, depending on where you're playing it. When all you're doing is running away anyway, that becomes grating very fast.
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Oct 3, 2015 23:14
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Lindblum is also a German word ("gentle flower", poetic) and Lindbulm is not.
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Oct 5, 2015 12:28
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There are random encounters in FF8?
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Oct 18, 2015 10:47
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The adjective for Schadenfreude is schadenfreudig, plural (and female) schadenfreudige.FeyerbrandX posted:If only there was some sort of guide back then to help him through it. Gonna preface from now on to prevent possible confusion: I'm quoting from the Excalibur 2 Perfect Game Guide! This is how not to only beat the game at low level, but to also make a speedrun of it, and how to also not miss any missable items! It's elaborate as hell and maybe slightly insane! There is actually nothing for this part I can offer which wasn't covered by the LP and OFS, as it's pretty straightforward. The guide of course gets all missable items and does everything really quickly, but nothing stands out as particularly extreme compared to a "normal" Level 1 game (though of course you are expected to save halfway to locations, reload to reset the encounter rate, and reload again whenever you still do get an encounter). So I'll leave you with boss strategies we've seen as written by the guide because I think it's actually pretty funny (and in Beatrix' case, informative). Also, that formating, man! Gizamaluke: code:code:Oh, one thing about the Bells: code:
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Oct 22, 2015 15:15
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Fabulousvillain posted:Kuja's design has gone 200% David Bowie because he is truly Amano's legacy.
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Oct 22, 2015 18:23
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ZiegeDame posted:I don't know what you're all talking about with Quina being disposable. Quina is the only character besides Zidane that this game never forgets about.
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Oct 22, 2015 19:09
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Maybe it's padded in the back and metal in the front because the last time she got hit there it really hurt, so she's doing all she can to prevent it from happening again!
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Oct 31, 2015 10:48
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:The Treno theme is one of my favorite compositions. There's not a lot I can listen to on repeat for more than 10 minutes or so but it's just so well done and relaxing. I love the piano in it. I can play it on piano and it's even more fun then!
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Jun 14, 2016 09:08
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Kheldarn posted:LP is back, OFS is ready with another Level 1 update, and we've seen Dr. Tot. Now we just need Simply Simon to return with the Perfect Game Guide, and we're back in full swing! quote:Gonna preface from now on to prevent possible confusion: I'm quoting from the Excalibur 2 Perfect Game Guide! This is how not to only beat the game at low level, but to also make a speedrun of it, and how to also not miss any missable items! It's elaborate as hell and maybe slightly insane! First, shopping lists: code:You can absolutely do the Griffin with an untrained Steiner, OFS: code:We'll skip auction instructions, that's mostly about getting the items you need to show up and resetting, which is not particularly out there as far as this challenge goes. Though this is a somewhat significant branch for one decision you have to make even in a guide as micromanaged as this one: someone has to absorb EXP at a certain point in the future, and depending on your choices of which party member it is (remember, equipment gives tiny stat boni on level up!), you have to have certain equipment at hand once that EXP gain occurs. So if you choose to have Freya absorb EXP, you need to get a Pearl Rouge now. No, I won't look up what stats it conveys, that work has been done for me and everyone else already. In the many tiny in-town steps, one shows up which I don't get: code:Anyway, even with a bunch of Gil already made by that point (see: 100k left after the shopping list, admittedly before auctions), and with time constraints, it's still not enough money, so the guide has a mandatory trip back to Dali to buy even more Wrists at this point! Next time: no hours of grinding up Marcus, either!
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Jun 27, 2016 14:10
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Orange Fluffy Sheep posted:It never crossed my mind because the reward is not worth 800 gil. I've consistently gotten bad Tonberry cards from this and I suspect that Tonberry just does not spawn with more than 3 arrows.
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Jun 28, 2016 13:30
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I also have piano notes for Eternal Harvest. It's great fun playing the triplets, but the middle part with less melody kills me. It's really hard. Treno is far more mellow and a lot more fun overall. In general, though, I just don't practice enough. Eternal Harvest itself is one of my absolute favourites from the game, though, short as it is.
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Jul 6, 2016 09:57
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quote:Gonna preface from now on to prevent possible confusion: I'm quoting from the Excalibur 2 Perfect Game Guide! This is how not to only beat the game at low level, but to also make a speedrun of it, and how to also not miss any missable items! It's elaborate as hell and maybe slightly insane! I want to point out now that the guide does not fail to include equipment setups for pretty much every fight you have to do, for example like this for Antlion: code:Contrary to how OFS did it, the guide does not recommend getting Auto-Life, in fact it curiously seems to completely omit getting Blue Magic spells; for how thorough it is, that strikes me as odd. I suspect they all can be gotten at the very end of the game, are completely useless for the challenge at hand and would slow you down immensely trying to obtain them. So the Antlion strategy: code:
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Jul 18, 2016 20:04
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Lavender menace posted:What does the insane speedrun strategy have to say about it? But I guess I can peek ahead for this: code:There is another fascinating tidbit afterwards, but I'll wait for that when OFS has posted his.
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Jul 30, 2016 19:31
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Hobgoblin2099 posted:Can we all agree the dwarves in this game have the most badass names ever?
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Jul 30, 2016 19:48
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