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Doing kind of an interesting LP of FFT: WotL, thought I'd share with you guys!

Started by ArkthePieKing, February 07, 2016, 02:13:11 am

ArkthePieKing

As the title says, I'm doing an LP of WotL, but with some special rules and changes to hopefully make it a bit more dynamic and set it apart from all the other LPs of it. Firstly, I added special characters to my party from the get go. None of the sword skill users (Beowulf doesn't count and you know it). Beowulf, Reis, Balthier, and Rapha. However, I'm setting two fairly major restrictions to the run. Firstly each character gets access to exactly 1 other job they can pull abilities from. So no having 5 abilities from 5 different jobs, or having Auto-Potion on all members or any of that fun stuff. Secondly, grinding is being kept to the bare minimum needed to plow through the game. The rule I set is I have to lose a stage 3 times before I'm allowed even a single random battle, and then only one random battle. After that I can choose to take a random battle after every loss until I've succeeded and then it's back up to 3 times. The class choices are as follows:

Ramza: Dark Knight
Beowulf: White Mage
Reis: Monk
Balthier: Chemist
Rapha: Samurai

((They've all been given access to the classes from the get go to preserve the integrity of the challenge, so Rapha doesn't end up as every class under the sun with temporary access to other skills, Reis doesn't spend time as a knight with knight equipment, etc. This also puts Rapha in an awkward spot as she essentially doesn't have a 2nd class until late chapter 2 when Katanas become available, and I think that's pretty interesting actually.))

This should get me a fairly good mix of offense, defense, and utility while making sure every character has a unique role in the party. The only thing it really truly lacks is a reliable means of aoe damage, with Rapha being the only one to get access outside of Reis's awful Holy Breath and of course Shockwave. Side note, Ramza's getting a special restriction. Dark Knight is only going to be accessed from the 2nd chapter on for story purposes, and to make sure the 1st chapter can't be plowed through *too* easily. On that note, please enjoy the Let's Play, and I'm very welcome of critiques or suggestions! :D

[youtube]4qB-r1uvHvg[youtube]

LastingDawn

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. I even learned a little something about Medieval knights so that's always fun (only Gafgarion's armor is Brown, not Black, but same case I suppose). Your idea for a challenge doesn't really seem like a Tough-As-Nails challenge, but it is definitely a different idea, your commentary was entertaining and your reasoning was sound. I find it difficult to find anyone that will actually discuss the story of FFT in LP's.

I am a little confused though on how the secondary jobs are going to work. I see that you've unlocked up until the point of having those jobs but both jobs are being kept as default. Does that mean that you will be switching between their Main Job and Secondary Job as the playthrough goes on, gathering JP for both? Or does it mean that you will be using the Main Job only and the Secondary Job will be used only for its Skillset?

Overall I am impressed.

"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!

ArkthePieKing

Thanks so much for the encouragement! I'm glad you're enjoying it, that means a lot to me.

So essentially yes, they'll be switching between the two jobs as as I see fit to gain the skills as the game goes on. This means that characters like Rapha and Ramza will be at a slight disadvantage for the first part of the game since I can't get to Katanas, leaving her 2nd job basically useless and my self imposed restriction on young master Beoulve and his 2nd class. This also puts me in a unique position with Beowulf as I'll have to balance how much time he spends in the White Mage class since he can't use his sword magic while he's in it and won't have any access to equip sword. I feel like this will give me some important choices to make for each battle and let's me think about how to handle each given encounter. Balthier and Reis will be much better off for most of the game since their classes aren't dependent on the point in the game I'm at and can actually function in harmony.

I think in the next episode I'm also going to talk about why certain characters didn't make the cut like Alma and Cloud.

LastingDawn

Then I do have to say that sounds like a proper challenge. Beowulf not having access to Spellblade skills is going to be quite interesting on its own. I like the idea of discussing why certain characters were chosen over other (non Swordskillers) characters.

Looking forward to the future of this series then!
"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!

ArkthePieKing

And episode 2 is up! I had some technical difficulties towards the end, and the sheer amount of cutscenes the game makes you sit through at during the beginning of the game pretty much made me only be able to get through one battle, but it's coming along nicely I think. I'm coming up on the first truly difficult battle at Dorter and I'm both dreading it and looking forward to it. I think the craziest thing is realizing that JP Boost isn't going to be the A tier ability it usually is since I have so few abilities to get in the first place.

[youtube]DfE4IMCubNQ[youtube]

LastingDawn

Hmm, Blind really is the most worthless status in FFT. What does it do? Decrease the afflicted's chance to hit by 50% of the character they're attempting to hit's Evasion (Concentration also ignores it all together) as I recall? That doesn't scream "Blind" to me. That says to me, "slightly blurry".

As you've mentioned I find the story of FFT to be a masterfully crafted tale. It feels mature and has a volume of political machinations that no other strategy game has really matched (aside from Tactics Ogre, but... same man at the helm). The way I think of FFT is "Da Vinci Code, before the Da Vinci Code".

In terms of names, I do have to agree that War of the Lions went too much in translating s/th as th... at every turn. They missed some clear references in names that even the addled original translation included such as Algus and Golagros.

Algus in Latin means "Cold" or "Chilliness" which fits the character to a T. As you can imagine Argath itself looks to be a corruption of the greek name Argus which may have been intended his name, but I still feel Algus fits the character best due to the aforementioned meaning.

Balbanes is another case. Barbaneth sounds too... well barbaric. Balbanes (if pronounced as I always have Bal-bane-es) sounds like a high and noble name (mainly due to the "es" at the end, it lends itself well to majesty.)

I do like that the translator must have been given a list of names Not to Touch! And this would include Ramza, Delita, Wiegraf, Meliadoul. Wiegraf, while an Awesome name is no doubt a mistranslation of Wiglaf since he and Beowulf share a similar sprite.

Dorter at Level 1 should be interesting with this team. Those mages can wreak some early havoc. I imagine Sweegy (Siedge) won't be any trouble for you though.
"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!

ArkthePieKing

Episode 3 is up! Things went roughly how I expected, not a lot interesting to report. I'm already feeling the hurt from not having the levels and abilities I'm used to. Early game mages are so painful, and most of the secondary classes I picked are squishy, and the two that I aren't are locked away until chapter 2 so it's a pretty dangerous game I'm playing here. I mean I guess Monk isn't THAT squishy, but it's not really tanky either. Either way this was my first loss, and I expect many more!

[youtube]ZfVr9qlEW8w[youtube]

LastingDawn

Things escalated quickly, but it is Dorter, the first battle in FFT where one has to think carefully about their every action and likely have a couple levels under their belt. It will be interesting to see how luck carries on in the next attempt.
"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!

ArkthePieKing

Yeah Dorter's interesting. From a game design perspective I actually think it's kind of poorly made. It's still very early in the game, and it's the first time the game introduces 3 fairly dangerous concepts.

-It's the first stage where the enemy has a significant high ground advantage
-It's the first stage where the enemy has reliable, high damage ranged attacks
-It's the first stage where the enemy has reliable, high damage AoE

I honestly think those concepts should have been staggered a bit more instead of all introduced at once. It's a lot of new problems to try and face all at once. A stage more similar to Sand Rat Sietch would have been more apporpriate for that stage in my opinion.

LastingDawn

That is an astute observation. I would also argue it's the first time that an enemy will have a fair amount of HP AND this guy has Item.

It is sort of strange they didn't stagger it out as you mentioned. I think Dorter could have worked as an intro to AoE damage and the strong Knight archetype where the Sand Rat's Cellar/Sietch could have introduced the high ground advantage (starting the player in the ruins and giving the Archers the hills).

"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!

ArkthePieKing

And we're up to episode 4! I enjoyed this one. It really goes to show you the power of careful planning and learning from your mistakes, which are the hallmarks of a good game and challenge I think.

[youtube]EnpQ6HOcUxw[youtube]

LastingDawn

Shopping! I knew those HP Values seemed a bit low! All in all that was a pretty good battle, Rafa's stars all aligned for half of the kills though. I'm surprised Balthier didn't get enough for Phoenix down, but then again it is Level 1 Chemist, JP takes a while to accumulate. What surprised me the most was using Ramza purely for Tailwind (and a well placed Chant, good thinking on that) instead of using his fairly decent damage to weed out some of the stragglers.
"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!

ArkthePieKing

Episode 5 is up! This one went fairly smoothly. Enemies died, people were rescued, potions were wasted, overall it was a good time.

Quick question: Should the menu/shopping stuff be included? I personally like it when Let's Players leave that stuff in. It gives some insight into their train of thought and reasoning, plus it shows a certain transparency for challenge runs like this, but I also get that it's not super exciting. It's my personal preference to leave it in, but I'm also open to feedback.

[youtube]8FEWXRxUiqU[youtube]


LastingDawn

I don't see any problem with leaving in the party management. It's not all that long and it's good to know what the person is going in with and lends an air of credibility to it. I say go for it! Looks like the rest of Chapter 1 will probably be pretty easy now with only Assassination Missions left. Then again with your party reaching that point may be difficult.
"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!

ArkthePieKing

Yeah, with Rapha's ridiculous sniping abilities I'd be inclined to agree with you. I wonder when I'm going to start getting back to back misfires.

Anyway, episode 6 is up! More cutscenes, and a single battle. Everything is definitely coming to a head, and I'm nowhere near where I want to be as far as learning skills. It's good fun! I'm really enjoying not having the skills I want. It makes for some fun decision making.



[youtube]UZsbUJexuf0[youtube]

LastingDawn

You handled that all well! I'm sort of split between "Soft-hearted friend" and "spoiled rotten boy" personally. I think soft-hearted better displays that he views Ramza as being too kind. While spoiled rotten is a nastier sentiment but it's meaning is vague and at best general. Is he referring to Ramza as spoiled because... he always expects to get his way? Because his coddled world doesn't show the world for what it is? It's a good line and is more demeaning, but its meaning isn't clear.

I fully agree with you with "Will endeavor grant me an army?!" As being a poignant line and the use of the chapter's name of "The Meager" in "Tis my meager lot in this life..." which lends itself to Delita's next actions after his life in turn collapses. I had always wondered if Delita was approached in the same manner as Wiegraf by Rofel/Loffrey.

"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!

ArkthePieKing

Episode 7 is up! First battle had a couple of smaller hiccups but went smoothly. Second battle was intense, and I only just barely scraped by because of some laughably poor decision making on my end. But it all ended up working out thankfully. But this means we're onto chapter 2! Ramza will be spending some considerable time in the Dark Knight class now, and eventually Rapha will get access to her Katanas and become even more of a juggernaut than she has been. I'm really quite excited.

I can't embed it today since I have to get to work but here's the link to the video for when it's done. Youtube is taking its sweet time processing this one!

https://youtu.be/0xHGJT_ig9A

LastingDawn

Yet another gripping video. The odds of success swing so quickly in late Chapter 1 if you don't have any revival capability since it becomes a massive race against time and even then, things can get dicey as Zeakden showed.

Unfortunately you did miss getting your permanents Brave boost from Zeakden because Ramza went down so quickly. If you let the battle carry on long enough and you choose "Save Argath" at Mandalia then you get a +2 Brave Boost. If you had chosen to "Defeat All Enemies" at Mandalia and you let this battle carry on you lose that +2 Brave Boost from Mandalia.
"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!

ArkthePieKing

Yeah, but I'm not super worried about the brave boosts. I've always got the option of using Ramza's Steel for raising brave in the distant future when I actually have spare JP to learn it.

On that note, episode 8 is up! Tons of small technical errors. Misclicks, bringing the wrong people, bringing the wrong people AFTER I explicitly said I'm not bringing them as I selected them, I'm not sure where my brain was today! But all in all it was a smooth ride, but then again it's really hard for things not to go smoothly when you've got Gaff and Agrias mowing everything down with extreme prejudice.

[youtube]tyq7UiLJPHA[youtube]

LastingDawn

That was a weird video. A lot of odd choices from the AI and the player, it's a bit difficult to lose when you have Agrias and Gaffgarion in your party though. Zirekile could be interesting if you don't strip Gafgarion.
"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!