FFT: Emergence 2 [EN/ES] (PSP) Beta v1.05 (WIP: v1.1 TRUE release)

[SirAdder]

Welp, I waited for this mod to be finished but I guess its one of those abandoned mods by the looks of it. Normally I don't care about these kind of projects but the mod creator had a lot of ambition and very interesting ideas such as adding the new characters and the new jobs. I saw the reviews on this(especially the lil aggressive youtube one lol) and it has many bugs so I kept my expectations low(expected my playthrough to stop completely due to something) but I managed to finished it. Anyways here are the bugs I encountered along the way especially an Argath game breaking bug which nearly ended my run, I would like to note that there maybe more bugs that I just haven't encountered:

1. Buggy text and dialogues, mostly at the start of the game though. Stops happening after Ch2.
2. Elder Simon has Vincent Sprite in Intro and Chapter 2.
3. Some of the academy units has units have have Japanese kanji in their name.
4. According to the fftpatcher, the degenarator tiles have been edited to be other types of trap.
5. Enemies can appear in different coloured uniforms in story battles.
6. Job/Monster/Item's description don't match to what they actually do such as Monk halving Lightning, Revenant absorbs Holy but you can know the item's true property via the Equipment Inventory menu.
7. Archers can't wear any body armor.
8. Abilities' description do not much to the actual abilities at all such as Monk's Breathing Fire, Archer Status Abilities. I am sure there are a lot more.
9. Knight, Archer and Monk have their jobs switched around for job requirements.
10. Job requirements description don't match up to the actual requirements. I will list the actual requirement down here. Wizard - Lv2 Paladin/Priest. Rogue - Lv4 Paladin/Rebel/Priest, Lv3 Geomancer/Merchant/Knight/Archer and Lv5 Monk. Dragon Knight - Lv3 Paladin, Lv4 Knight. Samurai - Lv3 Paladin/Orator/Monk, Lv2 Dragon Knight and Lv4 Knight/Archer/Monk. Rebel - Lv4 Paladin/Archer. Math Conjurer - Lv3 Paladin, Lv2 Wizard, Lv4 Orator/Mystic and Lv5 Merchant/Priest. Dancer - Lv3 Rebel/Orator, Lv1 Mystic and Lv4 Paladin/Merchant/Knight/Archer/Priest. Mime - Lv4 Paladin/Dragon Knight/Rebel, Lv5 Monk/Samurai, Lv6 Knight. Magus - Lv1 Paladin, Lv8 Knight/Wizard, Master Geomancer/Monk + 20 kills.
11. Male Geomancer's Walking Sprite is visually bugged.
12. Choco Cure has the range of Geomancy instead of self.
13. Orran being KO doesn't cause Game Over in Mining Town of Gollund battle and his base job(not current used job) is Death Knight.
14. Orran cutscene sprite is EXTREMELY bugged out and may crash the game whenever he appears.
15. Behemoth's Gore has the range of a short distance spell.
16. Valmafra appears as Llyud in cutscenes.
17. Fran's name is Orran, her gender is Male and once she switches her initial job(Assasin),you can't get it back due to her base job being Astrologer. Fran's job  is based on 0B Duke. Her ability is based on Celia's Throw. You can use the Lion editor to change her name and gender. Getting her actual job requires her to be turned into Goltanna but she will have his sprite. This basically means you have to take the Fran sprite and put it unto Goltanna somehow(I know its possible but it requires the FFTpatcher and I have no idea how to use it). Besides that, Fran's Job skill has Shadow, Tailwind, Seal Evil, Assassination, Hidden Power(Seems bugged out?) and all the Archer skills. So if you can fixed her name and gender, you should just accept not being able to play her actual job and let her take the role of Rogue, Archer or any other jobs, you ain't missing out anyways since she can't even equip Bows and her growth stat on that job is kinda bad compared to other jobs such as Rogue and Geomancer.
18. Ramza can't unlock his two hidden Shadow Blade(Literally no one in Ch4 can teach him this. Normally in Emergence, TGC would have Shadow Blade) and Infernal Blade(Melia can't teach him this, unsure about Gaffgarion) abilities. You can use the Lion editor to get em via ticking all his abilities since its based on ability slot placement. Here is a link for a Lion Editor tutorial (https://youtu.be/Eis6TBPjoG0?si=wN1tvRsITg1l1iLP)
19. Ramza has two same naming Infernal Blade Abilities, the 4 MP and the 30 MP version. These are NOT the same. The 4 MP is supposedly learned from Gaffgarion and absorbs MP while the 30 MP does a strong plus(+) formation attack.
20. EXTREMELY game breaking bug, there is no Argath in his Limberry battle but the condition requires you to defeat him still. This means you are hardlocked from completing the game unless you transfer your save into a normal FFT europe version game and then back into this mod after that one fight.
21. Melia's name is Meliadoul.
22. Llyud's name is Valmafra.
23. Vincent's name is Simon and his base job is named Elder which funnily enough fits lol.
24. Nanoflare's animation is glitched.
25. Treasure Tiles can't display the procured item's name properly.
26. Deep Dungeon Oubliette has a glitch where an enemy(Greater Malboro) may overwrite your unit due to being placed in the unit formation tiles.
27. The new/defunct Holy Dragoon has no abilities as he has no learned assassination skills. He can only attack and can't equip any gear as he is considered a monster.

The visual cutscene bugs don't matter to me all that much so I don't mind if the mod creator went all in and used all those complete but only used on cutscene characters as extra units. So with all the bugs I listed down, the game is fully beatable except the Limberry Argath fight. Unsure about the Multiplayer fights though I fear anything that involves Orran.

Anyways here are the things that I really like and had fun with the mod:

1. Agrias gets a class upgrade when you actually get her.
2. The only mod with Fran, Vincent, Llyud and a Succubus(Melia). Fran herself is an amazing addition and I wished for a long time she was available to pair up with Baltheir. I am shocked this is literally the only mod with her.
3. The ability changes on jobs makes em pretty fun, lots of options.
4. The new job sprites are pretty neat such as the Mentalist and Rogue.
5. The new jobs that come with Melia, Llyud and Vincent are really interesting and strong. Moreso than TGC who remains somewhat unchanged in this mod.
6. The new abilities in jobs(Paladin, Rogue, Mentalist, Master Paladin, Sky Pirate) are much more fun and interesting than in the OG Emergence mod.
7. A byproduct of the Emergence mod but I love how Males can use all but one female equipment. Unsure Minerva Bustier since you only obtained it in multiplayer.
8. Unsure if its a bug but I don't mind if its a feature to add difficulty, I like how Byblos is an enemy, a scary one at that too. Feels like taming a beast while you defeat his master.
9. Not entirely sure if its the Emergence mod or this mod but I like how Final Boss Gauntlets' bosses got buffed in their HP, nothing too crazy to handle though if you are like LV99.
10. Using the Onion Knight job as a way to get more abilities is really smart.

Though there are some non-bug criticisms about this mod though:

1. Though I did say Paladin is fun, it doesn't feel like a paladin as it doesn't have any swordplay abilities. The Paladin in the Path of the Hero mod is the best example of a paladin in an FFT mod.
2. I feel Fran's and Llyud's initial gear should have been special. My suggestion would be that Fran have Sagittarius Bow, Ribbon, Rubber Suit and Chantage while Llyud comes with Gungnir, Lambent Hat, Ninja Gear and some random armlet(Empyreal Armlet?).
3. If Fran gets fixed, I hope she gets to use bows as part of her base job. Maybe poles too.

For anyone wanting to play these mod and want to be hearing some tips, here ya go:

1. Geomancer is the best job to level up if you aren't a mage. Mystic is the best if you are a mage except for Agrias as her base job is literally the best MA/MP growth in the game with decent overall stats.
2. Males can wear Hair Adornments(depends on the job, even females suffer this issue too) and all perfumes EXCEPT for Tynar Rouge which is still female exclusive. Unsure about Minerva Bustier.
3. Ch3 Orbanne Wiegraf has early Crystal Helm and Diamond Sword.
4. Aegis Shield is very rare for a time. Its on one of the knights of Lesalia and a knight on the Orbanne Wiegraf battle and one on Melia when she joins. It becomes available at the shop at the end of the game.
5. Luso battle is a loot fiasco if you use Poach on the behemoths.
6. With everyone having reequip, you can obtain Delita's Save The Queen in Ch3. Also the fight isn't mindless.
7. Chantage is super rare as its no longer obtained through pigs so steal from Meliadoul, entice the Rogue in her fight, steal from the Mystic in Bremondt's fight and one of the dragoons in Deep Dungeon Catacombs.
8. In Ch4, Zeirchele Falls from Besselat fort may net you a Magus with Lordly Robes but with Safeguard, you can entice this Magus.
9. Geomancer with Vehemence is OP due to their innate ability being Attack Boost.
10. Lots of loot at Mullonde Chapel especially Loffrey.
11. Lots of loot at Gollund and Ch4 Lionel Castle Interior
12. Nevelesta Temple comes with a free Treasure Hunter Guest Unit who can fly so no need to bring a big monster and a treasure hunter unit.
13. Fran comes at around LV35, Melia, Llyud and CLOUD follows your party's overall level and Vincent comes around LV45.
14. Deep Dungeon Crevase may have a battle that has a Magus with Chaos Blade and Grand Helm but with Safeguard, entice him. Along there, some of his Knights have rare shields.
15. Deep Dungeon Hollow may have a bunch of Paladins with Rubber Suits and some of em have rare weapons.
16. Deep Dungeon Catacombs may have a bunch of Dragoons who have rare loot such as Javelin 2, Genji Gear, Escutcheon 2 and CHANTAGE. All dragoons have safeguard so either Entice em or abuse savestates so they drop their treasure chest and drop the gear that you want.
17. Byblos is an enemy who is extremely dangerous as he can turn your units into Traitors. However, you also need him alive so you can recruit him at the end of the battle. Any Disable/Stop abilities is your friend here.
18. If you want more or some specific info, you definitely need the FFTpatcher to check for details.

Final Assessment: If you ignore the bugs and don't mind the non-vanilla FFT feel, this is probably the BEST FFT PSP mod, maybe even the best FFT mod if the new characters really add that much value for you. This mod actually solve the issue I had about the Emergence mod with its jobs being kinda boring despite the various changes. Along with that, all the new features are all interesting and fun. This mod isn't really a difficulty mod like Path of the Hero or FFT Omega if thats what you are looking for. The real downer of this mod are the huge lists of bugs. I had PLENTY OF FUN especially with the new units.

If the mod creator is reading this, I suggest you just polishing up the bugs and just releasing the mod with the features as it is if adding the Holy Dragoon or any new units is too hard. However if you do plan to add, just use cutscene used characters like Goltana as long as they don't break/crash the game like Orran.

Edit: Just some additional stuff that I want to input about this mod. I will go through the multiplayer section.

- An ILL Wind is part of the top 2 hardest due to mod's change to the gears. All the Argaths(Orran Sprite) will have Reraise, Regen, Protect and Shell along with that Ramza's Infernal Strike and Vampire. You need to be faster than em and one shot em. Ribbons are definitely needed if the fight is prolonged in anyway.
- Guarded Temple is part of the top 2 hardest as all the Constructs can revive their buddies by 600 HP. The strategy is still the same as vanilla FFT but you will need to get rid most of em quickly before they can revive each other.
- Brave Story is long as usual and kinda the same. There are some new difficulties such as the Onion Knights being immortal now and the enemies having the new abilities. The Dark Paladins at the end are just meat shields and don't cast any magick. Also Orran's sprite is actually working here.
- Chocobo Defense is pretty hard as the Paladin's Embrace can fully 1hit KO the chocobos.
- The rest are more or less the same.

Reis and Agrias are OP if you level their base job. Getting 5 star in Redevous is possible especially when using the Earthquake skill but can be very hard in some battles.

Additional Bug observations:

1. OK can't use ALL of their skills, primarily the ones below Squeal.
2. Rare battles such as Dugeura Pass and Lenalian Plateau have buggy units if recruited.
3. Geomancer requires Lv5 Wizard, Lv3 Paladin/Mystic and Lv2 Merchant/Monk/Archer.

Interesting Rare Battles
1. Lake Poescas North Entrance - Recruitable enemy units that have ??? in their HP and MP but lose those.
2. Dugeura Pass West Entrance - Lots of Master OKs. If recruited, they are buggy in the Party Roster with their sprite(line), game sounds bug out when doing their job wheel and the game crashes if you try to change their jobs. DO NOT recruit them.
3. Grogh Heights South Entrance - Only 7 monks this time
4. Zeklaus Desert South Entrance - 6 Samurais instead
5. Lenalian Plateau South Entrance - Lots of Master OKs. If recruited, they will DESTROY your sprites. DO NOT recruit them.
6. Mandalia Plains South Entrance - No gear Squire and Dragon Knights.