Final Fantasy IV: Free Enterprise--Five Edward Fiesta!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Final Fantasy IV: Free Enterprise--Five Edward Fiesta!

Hirayuki: Mar 28, 2010

It's Eblan(a), not Elban(a). There are even on-screen labels!

Thanks for this playthrough; FFIV was my first FF and is probably still my favorite, warts and all. It's what inspired me to become a translator (surprisingly, not because of the wonky translation) and sparked my dream of working for Square Enix, which did eventually come true. I'm torn now between playing my own randomized game and just playing the vanilla game through yet again; the more I see of your playthrough, though, the closer I inch to a random run. :cheers:

# ¿ Jan 24, 2020 16:03

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 05:37

Hirayuki: Mar 28, 2010

I looked up the effect of Cry on a Japanese wiki. The original battle message mentioned confusing the enemy, but the wiki notes that they don't seem to be Confused (with a capital C: fighting one another). A strategy guide suggests it unsettles the enemy so they're more likely to run; not only does this seem to be false, it doesn't make it easier for you to run, either. There's a theory that it temporarily lowers the enemy level, in effect, which would make them more likely to run, but since enemies don't flee when there's a big level gap between the two sides, the author suspects that the mention of getting confused/flustered may be a relic of a feature that went unused in the end. Or it's there to carry on the tradition of Fear and Scare in earlier FF titles, if in name only.

The wiki then mentions a site that took a deep dive into the SFC game's code. There they discovered that Cry slightly increases the success rate of Edge's Steal command. There's a hidden parameter used only during battle that's set to [level + 10] for each enemy at battle start. Using Cry lowers this parameter by 5 and makes Steal 5 percent more likely to succeed. (The base success rate for Steal is [(Edge's level + 50 - target's hidden parameter value) / 99].)

The kicker? There's no way for both Porom and Edge to be in the same party in old-school vanilla FFIV. :iiam:

# ¿ Jan 25, 2020 01:58

Hirayuki: Mar 28, 2010

Kheldarn posted:

Say his name right: Sess-ul, not Cease-ul.

I mean, there was "Beanie and Cecil" where it's pronounced CEASE-uhl; it's an acceptable pronunciation. (But it's SESS-uhl per the Japanese. And RID-ee-uh.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgh59Bdckj8

# ¿ Jan 27, 2020 02:17

Hirayuki: Mar 28, 2010

I'm still catching up and am on the last video of the previous Fiends run. I noticed a couple sparklies in the Tower of Bab-il after defeating the Antlion/Rubicant and as soon as you arrive in the Giant; could those have been Fiends? I don't think they would be, but then again, those sparklies have only ever been boss-level enemies, right?

Tower:

Giant:

# ¿ Feb 17, 2020 23:10

Hirayuki: Mar 28, 2010

Dewgy posted:

If I remember right, those sparklies are only there in Free Enterprise, and are return points for what are otherwise points of no return.

Ah, cool! Thanks. I didn't think there was anything there in the vanilla game.

AngryRobotsInc posted:

2) Dark Matter does absolutely nothing in the original versions, and is just for bragging rights pretty much. In the 3D remake, it unlocks a super boss on NG+.

The Japanese wiki with all that inside info on Cry has this to say:

quote:

Despite rumors that stealing Dark Matter would reduce the damage dealt by Big Bang, in practice Stealing any number of Dark Matters has absolutely no effect on Big Bang's power. Big Bang's magic attack count (which is not displayed) starts out at 10, but if it [Big Bang?] is used immediately after a counter Flare, the count drops to 6. Hence the fluctuations in Big Bang's damage. [Stealing Dark Matter] is essential for specialized playthroughs, like a low-level clear.
[snip]
Even though possession of Dark Matter has nothing to do with it, there are situations where Stealing can effectively reduce Big Bang's damage, which only kept the rumor alive and spread it further. Because performing the Steal action triggers a counter attack, and because Big Bang's magic attack count goes down in tandem with the counter's attack count, what's important is not the Dark Matter itself but rather Stealing (+ the counter attack).
[but what looks like another editor notes:]
Since you can steal Dark Matter from Zeromus before using the crystal, triggering the counter attack is also irrelevant.

I love how complicated this old-rear end game is. :allears:

Hirayuki fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Feb 18, 2020

# ¿ Feb 17, 2020 23:34

Hirayuki: Mar 28, 2010

Kheldarn posted:

Also, you should have named them Inky, Pinky, Blinky, Clyde, and Stinky.

I was half expecting Ed, Edd, n Eddy.

Thank goodness the J items are in the mix!

# ¿ Mar 9, 2020 01:02

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 05:37

Hirayuki: Mar 28, 2010

I think a lot of us (myself included) saw you find sweet gear and items costing nothing at easily accessible shops early in the game and thought:

(I couldn't find one with an apostrophe

)

Edit to avoid a doublepost: I started a DkMatter hunt and discovered that the Carrot patches in chocobo forests are included in the shuffle, if you're running out of places to check (for DkMatter or for regular items).

Hirayuki fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Mar 11, 2020

# ¿ Mar 10, 2020 04:41

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Final Fantasy IV: Free Enterprise--Five Edward Fiesta!