Final Fantasy

[Rich]

It amuses me that as far as I know, no-one else has faced by far the most bastardly boss yet, if you think any of them are tough, you are in for a horrid, disgusting and mean surprise.

What chapter?

[Benji]

It's when you get to a place called... (I won't name chapters in this spoiler, just in case you're name-curious)...

... the Fifth Ark.

The best part is, the boss battle is tough, but there's still half the chapter after it and a load of the tougher enemies there can be a bitch if you dive in unprepared.

[Rich]

It's when you get to a place called... (I won't name chapters in this spoiler, just in case you're name-curious)...

... the Fifth Ark.

The best part is, the boss battle is tough, but there's still half the chapter after it and a load of the tougher enemies there can be a bitch if you dive in unprepared.

I am not very far from these battles at all then...

[Benji]

I've basically started grinding after that area, the enemies were a wake up call and it's allowing others to catch up so I can enjoy it alongside everyone else

[Rich]

I've basically started grinding after that area, the enemies were a wake up call and it's allowing others to catch up so I can enjoy it alongside everyone else

I have been busy watching too much sport on tv this weekend, and I recieved the guide through the post so I am not as far along as I might have been even so I am looking forward to reaching...

MAY BE SPOILERS HERE GUYS:

Gran Pulse and grinding while doing the marks, by the look of the guide it looks like there will be some fights where you can gain a shit ton of CP {like about 25000) when you defeat them, so a good hour of grinding can really make a massive difference

But thats by glancing at the guide's side bits, not the story walk through

[Kaney]

Okay, this is starting to be a bit more awesome, and more like a FF game. Lightning just got a summon:

OOOOOOODIN. Gestalt mode is strange but after recently playing FFVIII, and marking out when Odin randomly appeared there, actually being able to have Lightning ride the horse and perform Zantetsuken is fucking fantastic.

Is it just me or do the in-battle interactions change as you go on? I swear up to this point Lightning and Hope were fairly silent during battle, but after the scene where she says she'll look after him, everytime he takes damage she shouts "Hang in Hope!" etc A pretty cool touch if it's not something I'm just imagining >_>

[Benji]

Yeah, the second thing does happen, a couple slip in before the events, but they do get more and more as the game goes on.

[Sousa]

I'm going to start teasing mundane spoilers and then giving away giant game-changing shit in every thread.

Like if I mention that the little ball thing in Aeris's hair is

actually a Materia, but you don't learn that it's the world-saving Holy Materia until after SEPHIROTH KILLS HER RAWR

[tenaciousg]

I'm going to start teasing mundane spoilers and then giving away giant game-changing shit in every thread.

Like if I mention that the little ball thing in Aeris's hair is

actually a Materia, but you don't learn that it's the world-saving Holy Materia until after SEPHIROTH KILLS HER RAWR

No! Sousa, you jerk! I just started a game of FF7 yesterday!

Now it's ruined. I hope you're happy... I had gotten to the part where she talks about her useless materia and everything...

[Kaney]

Okay Sahz is fucking awesome. His gun-kate fancy-pants poses when he attacks always cracks me up. Easily the coolest character so far.

[probablyoliver]

So I'm on chapter 6 now, and I'm going to put things in spoiler tags and you shouldn't read them if you're not at chapter 6.

Dajh! Sazh! Chocobo Chick! Seriously, Sazh just became my favourite character. Vanille is still a cunt and I don't want her in my game anymore. The Lightning/Hope partnership is all kinds of badass, and Hope is genuinely one of the most interesting FF characters in a long, long while. He's very much the Vivi of XIII, but a badass one. I look forward to them catching up with Snow again, because now he has all the confidence in the world, I expect that to be wonderful. Snow is still awesome in every sense of the world, but the lass on the Lindblum with the l'Cie mark on her, she also has that really annoying British/Australian voice thing going on and I want her to stop it before I punch my TV.

In non-spoiler news, this game is so wonderful, and I'm starting to come around to the battle/paradigm system. It's not my favourite FF battle system, and I don't really like the leveling up system with the crystarium or whatever it's called, but it's simple enough to be bearable and I look forward to getting some freedom with it later on. I don't like 'upgrading' weapons, it's an alright method, but it seems to be quite poorly executed.

Also, I think my major gripe with this game is the fact that square haven't really taken any kind of risks as far as landscape style goes. If you ask me, it looks almost exactly the same as XII which looked almost exactly the same as XI which looked almost exactly the same as X. It's good to know they've found something that works (and it truly does), but if you look back at the stylized changes between VII, VIII and IX, it's insane to think they were made by the same company. My favourite thing about Final Fantasies past was that every game looked, sounded, acted and generally felt like you were on a different planet from the last time. Now, not so much. It's just less interesting when aesthetically, it's exactly the same as the last three games.

[Ruki]

Chapter 7 spoilers!

Man, when Snow came back....that was awesome. Best entrance ever!!! And I was happy to see I had 13k points to upgrade him with.

Also....anyone wanna help me use a Sentinel? Not really a defensive type of person, what is the best way to use the class?

[TKz]

Chapter 7 spoilers!

Man, when Snow came back....that was awesome. Best entrance ever!!! And I was happy to see I had 13k points to upgrade him with.

Also....anyone wanna help me use a Sentinel? Not really a defensive type of person, what is the best way to use the class?

I find it's best used when you need to heal Hope. Other than that, it's also half decent if you're trying to sabotage your opponent with someone else.

[tenaciousg]

Yeah - basically, when you need a meat shield to get hit while you heal your weaker party members, use a sentinel.

[Clawson]

Or if you're facing 4 or more enemies. Throw in a sentinel with two people who can attack (Commando or Ravager) and knock a couple out before going to your normal tactics.

Edited March 14, 2010 by Clawson

[Ruki]

Holyshitfuck Chapter 7 still

Vanille and Fang were crystal, and woke up?!

[TKz]

The Promise may be my favourite FF track since Balamb Garden or To Zanarkand.

[Clawson]

So far (up til Chapter 10), Daddy's Got The Blues is my favourite piece of music. And it seems weird coming out of a Final Fantasy but man is it epic.

[Kaney]

I love the chapter 5 boss. I killed it first time, but it came close to killing me a few times.

Commando/Ravager builds his stagger gauge really steadily, switching to Commando/Medic when needed. Ignored the element changes since Hopes CPU can deal with it. Got it staggered and took off like, 50k HP. Launch is immense once you realise how to time it so you finish your attacks just as Hope starts his. It was still a lot of fun though, I'm starting to get the hang of the the combat, so the strategy was a lot more fun.

I don't think I've gotten the hang of summons yet though. I know the Eidolon basically acts as your teammate for the battle and fights on his own, and Gestalt mode means you drive him and choose which attacks he uses, but it doesn't seem to do much.

With Odin, I had like, 19 points to use at once point. Used a few of the direction+X moves, used the O move and then Triangle for Zantetsuken, but when Odin left the boss didn't seem to have lost much, if any HP. Are Eidolons only useful for building the stagger gauge? Seems a bit of a let down, but still.

I really can't wait to see how the Limit Breaks work out, hoping for something more awesome than summons.

[Rich]

I love the chapter 5 boss. I killed it first time, but it came close to killing me a few times.

Commando/Ravager builds his stagger gauge really steadily, switching to Commando/Medic when needed. Ignored the element changes since Hopes CPU can deal with it. Got it staggered and took off like, 50k HP. Launch is immense once you realise how to time it so you finish your attacks just as Hope starts his. It was still a lot of fun though, I'm starting to get the hang of the the combat, so the strategy was a lot more fun.

I don't think I've gotten the hang of summons yet though. I know the Eidolon basically acts as your teammate for the battle and fights on his own, and Gestalt mode means you drive him and choose which attacks he uses, but it doesn't seem to do much.

With Odin, I had like, 19 points to use at once point. Used a few of the direction+X moves, used the O move and then Triangle for Zantetsuken, but when Odin left the boss didn't seem to have lost much, if any HP. Are Eidolons only useful for building the stagger gauge? Seems a bit of a let down, but still.

I really can't wait to see how the Limit Breaks work out, hoping for something more awesome than summons.

Erm Kaney...

About Limit Breaks:

Hate to break the news, but there aren't any... Stagger is the closest thing to a limit break...