Final Fantasy Hacktics

Some thoughts on the characters and how I used them on this blind run;

Ramza


I loved his skillset and how supportive it was, as I said above I felt it fit his character very well. I had Encourage, Heal, Cheer Up, Yell, and Wish in the final battle.

- Encourage saw a ton of use, especially early on when MP and MP Restoration was not in abundance. But I still used it in the final battle a few times, mostly to fuel Dante the Death Machine.
- Heal I don't think I ever really used. I picked it up when I saw how many monsters could apply statuses with attacks at a 100% rate, but yeah, just never used it. It might have seen more use if it had range? I dunno, in the end statuses weren't as big of a problem as I expected.
- Cheer Up I only used a few times, since I had Ramza as a Priest the group Regen was so much better, it definitely dwarfs this ability.
- Yell was fun as always but with Speed at 6 for most party members it didn't last too long. Still, some good use out of it on Cloud and Dante primarily to increase their DPS/Immobilize options.
- Wish is amazing to me who hoards items [especially in this game with their price], I used it a buttload of times and it was fantastic. Instant, Ranged, 100% hit, pretty fantastic!

- Sturdy also never left him once I grabbed it, great ability on a support character to increase his survivability!

I also had him delve into Priest and he had Cure, Regen, Protect and Shell for the final battle. Once he got some Priest abilities, especially Regen, he was so helpful! The large AOE on the status abilities and the fast cast time was fantastic. Regen was the MVP I'd say, what a great ability now that it also adds MP! Having him as a Priest was instrumental to victory.

Cloud


Cloud's Limit skills were massively useful. I had Braver, Cross-Slash, Blade Beam, and Meteorain in the end. Having no MP cost made the skills amazing, and the fast cast time meant I could usually nail enemies with them without fail.

- Braver was a great damaging skill, when I wanted to make enemies hurt that was the go to.
- Cross Slash was the MVP for sure. Against the big bosses, this couldn't be beat. Stopping them in their tracks at a 100% success rate [if it hits...] was key to beating the toughest battles, for sure. It made the big bads much more predictable as well. Cross Slash = 10/10.
- Blade Beam was situationally great. It synergized really well with his Knight side job and Invigorate! As soon as he would pop back up he could rain some death down on enemies.
- Meteorain unfortunately never really helped me out. I loved the massive AOE but the damage was too low and often I couldn't avoid hitting some allies. I don't think I used it in any tough battles, maybe at all. It was usually better just to wait and save some CT to get closer or to use a Knight skill.

As I said Cloud was a Knight for me as a secondary. He ended up with all abilities EXCEPT Break Helmet/Armor. In the end though, I really only used Invigorate. But boy did I use it! What an ability. I feel it might almost be broken as using it on yourself pretty much heals the entire cost for a free reraise. Even on allies its range and instant cast and 100% success rate was just wonderful. I was using this ability all the time when Cloud wasn't using Braver or Cross Slash. Since he pops back up on Death and its basically free you can chain reraise for quite a while too to try and delay the enemy. Invirogate is top notch.

Okay, I'm running out of typing endurance and I'm still stressed about my job interview tomorrow, so I'll just post a link to the other party members post final battle and maybe I'll come back and post thoughts on them soon!

Link - http://i.imgur.com/aEnBrqc.png
Snake - http://i.imgur.com/GrLppSj.png
Dante - http://i.imgur.com/V48tqKA.png
Agrias - http://i.imgur.com/K8HqUoS.png
Kweh?! - http://i.imgur.com/jBGlVHb.png

I haven't been to FFH in a long time but I've had this mod on my radar for a couple months. I finally decided to dive in a week or two ago and have just finished Chapter 1. I gotta say, it was a huge treat. This is the closest thing to a FFT sequel I've yet to experience and I loved it! I was initially drawn in by the strange concept as all I knew was the fact that Link, Dante, and Snake were joining the game and I just had to see how that worked. I expected it to be kind of a silly lighthearted thing but from the get go I could tell my expectations were going to be surpassed.

I had no previous knowledge going in and I just loved it from the Brave Story Journal on. Meeting these characters again and having them enter the story in an organic way one by one it was like catching up with old friends after so many years! FFT is by far my favourite game ever, I've spent thousands upon thousands hours in the original and in 1.3, I can never truly move on from it but this was the freshest experience of playing FFT I've had in so long, so thank you again!

As for the battles/gameplay itself, I thought it was pretty well balanced. I only ran into two tough spots, Sephiroth and then the final battle of Chapter 1 against the Dorfman. Sephiroth I was feeling was impossible until I realized you just had to damage him a bit to get the other allies to show up, after that it wasn't bad. Poison is so massively helpful against bosses in this game, he was no exception.

I had the most trouble against the first iteration of Ganon in Besrodio's. It took forever to find a starting set up that let me get things going, but once I reconfigured my team and put Item on more people to just bum rush him [and got lucky with Mustadio Paralyzing and the like!] I was able to get it done. The MVPs were Poison from Ranger Snake and Cross Slash Immobilize stopping his Move HP Up. Once I took out his cronies things were smooth sailing.

Only to move on to the next round! I tried it with the same set up and got trounced after Worker 8 showed up. So I reconfigured the team and managed to win after only 1 or 2 attempts, but it was a long hard slog! I couldn't believe when he revived that last time, I was ready to be done with him! Mustadio was largely useless for most of the battle, he would just fly back and forth following Ganon without getting close. Finally he unleashed 'Dispose' in what I think might have been scripted moves as they were key moments in the battle and I can't understand why he wasn't using it earlier if that wasn't the case.

I was also quite surprised that I could bring an extra party member in the final battle - I only had one extra member, a level 8 Chocobo, but it actually ended up being really helpful as I let Cloud ride it, thinking I'd use it to keep him Immobilizing Ganon, but instead it had him Blade Beaming him as Cloud [and everyone else!] was near death for most of the battle.

The MVPs of the final battle I'd say were Invigorate on Dante/Cloud for keeping people popping back up. Gunk Shot on Snake for nailing a couple Oil's on Ganon, and Asura wielding Dante hitting a few 100+ damage attacks capitalizing on Oil. Agrias was largely useless except as a damage sink/distraction, I put Monk secondary on her and she just Chakra'd like crazy, she dealt a total of 0 damage to Ganon. Link was dead most of the time but did hit a few Ice Arrows, no Slow though. Ramza was support with White Magic/Guts, a few Shells, Regens, a Yell here and there, some Wishing/Encouraging. I like Ramza in this support role, it fits his character. Snake was an item bot when not Gunking. I was really hoping I could revive Zelda too and have her be a Guest but she was Teta'd.

I'll post my final team in a second post, levels were 14-16 on the main Five and 8 for both Agrias/Chocobro. Gotta say I loved the new movesets and the diversity in each party member! Maybe I'll make a second post and give some general thoughts on each character too just to avoid this one being so massive.

I loved the side stuff with Alma, when Lavian/Alicia/Rad showed up I thought it was so cool. The old gang still kicking around and taking care of eachother. Loved all the new item types as well, can't wait to see more in the weapon/armor department as things progress! Okay, I just remembered my job interview tomorrow and got all stressed so I'm going to wrap this up and make a second character post but they key thing is;

Thank you to everybody involved in this and those continuing to work on it! It was a real wonderful experience and I'm stoked to see it develop. Kudos especially for taking the wacky premise of these five coming together and blending there worlds into something that feels like a true FFT sequel! Thank you!

After beating FE: RD I'm now working my through Breath of Fire II using the recent translation patch, and it makes the game so much more aesthetically pleasing, I am just loving it.

Quote from: "Kagebunji"It just really pissed me off when character died in battle without means to bring him back, bullshit I say!

I'm more than used to that with Fire Emblem... couple it with an OCD like inability to let anyone die without instantly restarting, and you get some headaches! But I kinda like it, maybe I'm a bit sadistic.

Well that's about as good an apology as you could have given. It's always refreshing to see someone be able to humble themselves a bit and make a real thoughtful apology and admit to what they did wrong. I think it's admirable, because as a somewhat stubborn fellow myself I know god damn hard it can be to admit when you messed something up and just honestly say 'sorry'.

Anyway, I always liked ya Arch. You can be a bit abrasive to some people, who may deserve it, but usually don't cross the line. But in my mind there is no question that you are one of the top contributors to the 'legacy' of FFT hacking and it'd be a shame to lose someone who is willing to put forth a great effort and contribute and spare his time to do so.

So... long story short, definitely should stick around again and everyone will get over this mess unless they already hated you in the first place, in which case you probably will never change those peoples minds.

Wow, that's a beautiful picture. I remember being incredibly impressed by his work on Mercenaries, and he continues to impress.

I finished up Dragon Quest IX, then moved on to and summarily destroyed Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.

I am now working my way through Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

Hah, this is so cool. Really looking forward to it. I have a habit of OCD-style holding on to all initial equips since you can never seem to buy them anywhere, so I love the idea of the Transmigration... I mean they don't have to be super powered ultimate weapons of course, but just comparable/a bit better than what you are getting at the time. Or maybe unique in a way that facilitates that characters style while leaving many other weapon choices open, which I think is what you are leaning towards. I like that one just for novelty sake.

Sprite thing would be great if done well and subtle. Could be a nice touch.

Job Upgrades would be text change only right? If it fits a character it would be cool, like Terra, while some others may not really have a proper job to change too I'd presume?

And new Bosses, hell new Bosses are always good!

Ok I know I don't come around here as often but I thought I kept up on most things, but what the heck is FFTIA? I haven't seen anything about it on the forums, is it only being discussed on IRC or what have you? This topic/Arch's banning is unfortunate, but well, I have no idea what the real problem was since I've never even heard of this mod/hack that was causing so much trouble.

Some awesome underrated ones missing;


Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans (Pretty damn fun, short and to the point straight up JRPG in the Dragon Ball world up to the fight with Vegeta. I definitely dug this game and I'm not a huge DBZ guy)

Laevatien Tactics (Probably spelled that wrong - really fun SRPG on the DS that nobody talks about, and it has some serious challenge at times! It is much more strategic than many Strategy RPGs nowadays and can be unforgiving, but not too hard if you know what you are doing - definitely a fun game)

Then for other amazing but really not underrated or lesser known games that weren't mentioned;

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (OMG I love Dragon Quest - can't get better classic JRPG feelings then these)
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (OMG I love Dragon Quest - can't get better classic JRPG feelings then these)
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (OMG I love Dragon Quest - can't get better classic JRPG feelings then these)
Kirby: Canvas Curse (Fun game, original concept and a great use of Touch screen controls which is RARE)
Kirby Super Star: Ultra (Gotta love old school Kirby)
Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (Partners on Time but even better!)
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time (SMRPG sequel in essence - not QUITE as good, but these games rule)
New Super Mario Bros (Old school fun)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Really fun puzzle game)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (Amazing SRPG that I played through like 3 times - seriously. It is awesome)
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (Fantastic JRPG)
Suikoden: Tierkreis (Pretty solid but not up to Suikoden standards)

I especially recommend the DQ games, and SMT games, they are phenomenal and the M+L ones too.

Ah man I wish I wish I wish it was a new Tactics Ogre game, such a great series. But this is still very exciting and I will DEFINITELY be getting this! At least it's more of a 'remake' than a straight port. That's always nice.

I was just coming here to ask if there were any small updates and I see I don't have to! Good stuff. Looking forward to reading the rest.

I've already clocked almost 40 hours into Dragon Quest IX. Man, this series is arguably my favourite at the moment. If Suikoden was still making games they might win, and Final Fantasy is hard to top based on their history of gems, but Dragon Quest is still making the games I absolutely love. They feel so old school without sacrificing anything... I will never get tired of them if they don't go for some dramatic change, like other RPG series think is so important. Maybe a lot of people disagree, but I LIKE the traditional JRPG and they are getting harder to find. Thankfully Dragon Quest can always be relied upon!

On the side I am working on Skies of Arcadia, was loving it until DQIX came out and I have since been treating it like an abandoned puppy >_>

I'll take it all please. I trust you to do things like this right, because you are a massive final fantasy nerd (I say that with more jealousy than anything else!) so I know you will do things justice. And I'd be curious to see some semi-legit canon material added in that I missed out on in some ways. But I just want to see whatever you come up with, so I am way too easy, heh.

Wait, you changed Cyan's speech?! Ah well, count me out then! (totally kidding! I did like his dialogue though, especially when he was made fun of for it )

Heh, alright I may do that. Although I found I can open a TCP/IP game... so if I just go on with my laptop I may able to join the game I started on my desktop. That'd be easy, if it works!

a downloaded copy of the game? I keep finding items that'd be perfect for my other class characters and I just wanna to the old drop and switch but I am wondering if it is even possible. I keep getting a 'CD key is intended for another product' error and I can't find any legit way around it. Save for the buying the game, but I have enough trouble buying food to consider that option.

Thanks for any suggestions, though I presume it's not possible?

Looking good man, the changes are certainly more pronounced. Again I feel some people may not like that, but as someone who has played through VI enough I am excited to play something that will feel similar and yet very unique as well. Cannot wait to give it a whirl, and always excited to see an update

Philsov
LD
Eternal

I just like their attitudes. Obviously passionate about the game, dedicated to working on it in a variety of ways, and just seem like nice, intelligent posters willing to help out anybody in a generally friendly manner. My favourite kind of posters!

I would love to read more updates on your progress, but I totally understand that this is a slow board and so feedback wouldn't be coming hard and heavy, it can feel like nobody is reading, yadda yadda yadda, so it's up to you. But I would definitely read them!