Board 8 > Leonhart plays lots of Final Fantasy games! [spoilers] [nostalgia] [squall]

(+) Yeah! (+)

From: mnkboy907 | #247
Hey, having 100 Waters right from the start certainly makes it easier, whether its junctioned to HP or Strength.

The game's easy enough without grinding for magic!

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I like being way too damn overpowered, thank you very much.

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"First time I got punched in the face, I was like "oh no", then I was like "this is a story"."

It doesn't even take that long to get to that point without grinding as long as you learn Refine abilities from Quezacotl, Shiva, Ifrit, and Siren right off the bat!

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"Hold on a minute! That testimony stinks!"
"Witness! You can't just say 'Hello' and expect us to get anywhere! I want you to testify!"

Seriously doing the Card Game is enough to make all difficulty melt away.

Cash in with Card Mod for 100 Holy Wars = end game

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

LOL who uses Holy Wars for anything except Omega

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Just saying you can!

Ultimecia has some dirty tricks that can **** you up if you're cocky too.

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

Well, she has one.

And you should have enough Megalixirs on your own to take care of that.

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Spamming Megalixir is just a step away from spamming Holy War.

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

From: LeonhartFour | #253
It doesn't even take that long to get to that point without grinding as long as you learn Refine abilities from Quezacotl, Shiva, Ifrit, and Siren right off the bat!

Yeah. I only mentioned Water, but I'm pretty sure it's possible to even have 100 Quakes and Tornadoes before even leaving for Dollet, thanks to Card Mod. Probably other strong magics, too.

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"First time I got punched in the face, I was like "oh no", then I was like "this is a story"."

From: pjbasis | #258
Spamming Megalixir is just a step away from spamming Holy War.

Who said anything about spamming?

Just use it after she uses Hell's Judgment. That's like two or three Megalixirs if you do it right, and you can get that without any sort of grinding.

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"But you have been given freedom. Freedom to be...outside."
"I am lightning...the rain transformed."

I mean you said LOL who uses Holy War. But it can just be easy to say LOL who uses Megalixir.

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

Except there are situations where a Megalixir is useful and a good option.

With Holy Wars, unless you're fighting Omega Weapon, it's just going over the top.

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With options like Triple + Curaga and the commands like Recover and Restore, there's never really a need to use Megalixir except to make life easier, much like a Holy War.

And Holy Wars have the tendency to run out when you least expect it!
Temporary invincibility can be more unstable than instant full health.

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

Who uses items or spells that aren't Aura at all. Aura/Critical Health + Mash Triangle -> Renzoukuken/Punch Rush + Booyah spam wins every fight in this game without even trying.

So many ways to break the game open. I'd usually get on a game's case for being so easy to exploit but FF8 almost overdoes it to the point where it adds to the game, I'd say.

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No problem!
This is a cute and pop genocide of love!

They run out when you don't expect it, but you're rarely put into a situation where you get punished harshly for it unless, again, you're fighting Omega.

And Megalixirs essentially perform the same function as Triple Curaga, so it's not like it's something broken like temporary invincibility, which is something you almost never need, unlike times when you occasionally need to cure the entire party quickly.

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Try getting Hell's Judgement'd right before a Holy War, and being on eggshells the entire time because you're invincible party has 1 HP!

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

Not a problem if you have a Megalixir!

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The real solution to any problem involving Hell's Judgment is to remember that Ultima Weapon is the only enemy in the entire game that combines real attacks with an actual speed stat, and so against Ultimecia you can just lazily heal up because it takes her a year to launch her next attack.

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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny

"Plus the beginning takes forever when you decide to grind for cards/magic. >_>"

Optimal time to do that is after you're in SeeD before the Dollet mission, so after the period of time Leon talked about! (Wait until then so you can use the Diablos, Seifer and Zell cards, obviously).

Starting hand of Seifer, Zell, Quistis, Ifrit and Iron Giant is almost unbeatable, throughout the entire game really but particularly when grinding for cards at the start.

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James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism

LeonhartFour posted...
Not a problem if you have a Megalixir!

First it's Holy War is over the top, and now Megalixir is the better item?

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

Gamers with self-respect never use Holy Wars.

Not even against Omega.

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From his looks Magus is Macho Man Randy Savage as an anime zombie. The black wind howls, and one of you will snap into a Slim Jim ooh yeeeah! -sonicblastpunch

The idea of "self-respect" being based on your method of playing single player video games is pretty hilarious. And I don't even use the invincibility items ever because they're so superfluous. Man I love that word, superfluous. That and pedantic.

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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny

Doesn't Omega have an attack that 9999s everyone?

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SuperNiceDog - 1, pjbasis - 0

9998, actually.

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From his looks Magus is Macho Man Randy Savage as an anime zombie. The black wind howls, and one of you will snap into a Slim Jim ooh yeeeah! -sonicblastpunch

From: pjbasis | #270
First it's Holy War is over the top, and now Megalixir is the better item?

To recover from an attack that reduces your HP to 1? Yes.

Well, another Holy War would also work, I guess.

But Panthera's right. Ultimecia takes so long to attack again after using Hell's Judgment that if she kills you with her next attack, it's your own fault.

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"I can set you free, mate."
"My freedom was forfeit long ago!"

Triple Curaga dealt with Hell's Judgement just fine (kinda weird that she lacks Dispel), though I guess Megalixirs work too. Last form of Ultimecia isn't the threatening (well, somewhat threatening) part of the battle anyway.

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The RPG Duelling League: www.rpgdl.com
An unparalleled source for RPG information and discussion

Okay, let's play for a bit.

I think I've decided to do a Draw-free game. Not that it'll make the game any harder, per se, but just to do something different. Well, I'll still use Draw for GFs, but that's it.

And that's just for battles. I'll still use Draw Points in-game and on the world map.

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"I can set you free, mate."
"My freedom was forfeit long ago!"

Boy, am I grateful to whoever told me that you can push triangle to skip tutorials in FFVIII.

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Hmmm...The bad thing about no drawing is that I can't get Scan to keep track of Ifrit's HP so I can kill him with minimal time remaining.

Oh well, not really a big deal, I guess. It's not like there's a big variance in what your beginning SeeD rank is.

I have to say that I hate time limits in video games though. Don't know if I can properly explain why, but I hate them.

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"The great GF...Bahamut."
"...GF? I...? Using my powers...It is you humans...I fear..."

draw-free game where you draw half the time sounds boring!

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I'm no longer a Nadal supporter. Andy Murray is my new favorite player/person. -Princess Anri

Sounds about the same to me!

I can just use it as personal ammunition when people complain about FFVIII forcing you to draw spells to get better!

It's all ulterior motives, you see.

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I see.

Best way to play FFVIII is to break it in half IMO, but I'm sure you've already done that a number of times.

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I'm no longer a Nadal supporter. Andy Murray is my new favorite player/person. -Princess Anri

FFVIII is extremely breakable even without drawing a single spell!

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Speaking of which, just learned T-Mag and I-Mag Refine!

It begins!

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Well yeah, but if you do it you gotta go all the way.

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I'm no longer a Nadal supporter. Andy Murray is my new favorite player/person. -Princess Anri

Very easy to go all the way without drawing a single spell!

Still not getting the complaint here!

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How are you going to power level Seifer to 99 and get -aga spells from the soldiers in Dollet without drawing?!?!

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I'm no longer a Nadal supporter. Andy Murray is my new favorite player/person. -Princess Anri

By getting -aga spells in a way that requires much less time and tedium than that!

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"I can set you free, mate."
"My freedom was forfeit long ago!"

pshaw

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I'm no longer a Nadal supporter. Andy Murray is my new favorite player/person. -Princess Anri

Keep tedium out of my video games.

I don't mind repetition, but tedium no thanks. Grinding is the very epitome of tedium to me.

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less tedious than grinding triple triad ZING

(it only takes like half an hour or so)

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I'm no longer a Nadal supporter. Andy Murray is my new favorite player/person. -Princess Anri

It's not tedious if it's enjoyable!

And I don't grind Triple Triad either. I just play as I go.

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Speaking of Triple Triad, I don't like going first! I'd much rather go second!

I'm the same in other competitive games, too. I never like being the first one to play.

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Aw yeah, MiniMog get!

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Aw yeah, Quistis Card get!

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You know, Quistis has some pretty snarky comments in the early part of the game.

Too bad she doesn't have more of those later on in the game!

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Let's see...Fire Cavern is really easy. Quistis has some interesting lines here, and she shows signs of a charming and witty personality. Unfortunately, this does not last the course of the game. I guess she's mostly trying to flirt with Squall or whatever, so when he shuts her down and she gives up, that part of her personality is lost. A shame, really, because it's interesting, and then she becomes very serious and business-like after Squall tells her to go talk to a wall. Ifrit is an easy fight. It's weird that he thinks he's some amazing warrior when Garden classifies him as a low-level GF. Delusions of grandeur and all that, I guess.

After the battle, you're told to go back to your room and get changed into your cadet uniform for the SeeD Field Exam. I mess around a little bit with cards and manage to build up my deck a bit. As I said before, I do like how Square attempted to make Balamb Garden seem like a more "lively" place, with how NPCs are always moving around. They're not always staying in the same place for the whole game, and the game regularly updates their dialogue. In the end, they're still just random NPCs, but I appreciate the effort all the same.

When you get to the front gate, Quistis introduces you to the rest of your team. You're part of Squad B, and your fellow squadmate is Zell Dincht. Quistis says he's a lively fellow, but Squall says he's just loud. After Zell shows off his mad skills and bro-smile and thumbs up in a short FMV, he seems stunned to be in the same squad as Squall. He offers to shake hands, but Squall's not having any of it. Zell decides to look for a common bond between them, and he decides that common bond is their seemingly mutual disdain for Seifer. He says he heard that Seifer whooped him pretty bad, but Squall insists that it was just training, not a real fight, though Zell doubts Seifer sees it that way.

Quistis interrupts them by letting them know that this Seifer dude is their squad leader. I'm not sure why anyone thinks appointing Seifer as the squad leader is a good idea. He's already failed multiple SeeD Field Exams because he has no cooperative spirit, so yeah, sure, make the guy the leader this time. Good plan! Surely a guy who refuses to cooperate with anyone will make an excellent leader! The weird thing is that one of the guys at Balamb before you load onto the boat calls them the problem squad, and he guesses it can't be helped with a rookie instructor. Like, are these squad assignments just decided by random draw or something? If this has "disaster" written all over it to you guys, why are you letting this happen?

But anyway, Squall notes that Fujin and Raijin are tagging along as usual. Seifer acts all boastful about being the Squad Leader, and he says "Teamwork means staying out of my way! It's a Squad B rule! Don't forget it!" Once again, excellent decision making appointing this guy as the leader. Quistis wishes Seifer luck, and he replies that he detests people wishing him luck. She should save those words for a bad student who needs them. Quistis excellently replies by wishing him luck once again, which prompts Seifer into telling Raijin and Fujin to add her to "The List," whatever that may be.

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"I can set you free, mate."
"My freedom was forfeit long ago!"

Before they can argue further, Headmaster Cid shows up to debrief them and give them a pep talk. "SeeD" is a really boring song, by the way. It disappoints me when they replace "Silence and Motion" with this song in Esthar after all the Lunatic Pandora stuff. Replace an excellent song with a boring one, good choice. Cid basically tells them not to worry if they screw up because SeeD is more than competent enough to take care of the job if they can't. That's one less worry on your mind, I guess.

Afterward, we load into the car, which is a LOT roomier inside than it appears to be on the outside. It even has enough room for Zell to stand up and do some shadow boxing, which prompts Seifer to tell him to stop because it's annoying, and we get our first mention of "Chicken-wuss" in the game. I wonder what the original translation for this insult is since FFVIII's translation team took some liberties in their work, from what I understand. Of course, being the hotheaded and quick-tempered guy he is, Zell gets upset, which gives great delight to Seifer. Seifer would make a great Board 8 troll because this board is full of Zells who can't resist a trolling attempt, even if it's not that great. Anyway, Zell also tries to pester Squall into showing him his gunblade, but Squall just ignores him. It's just not Zell's day, I guess. Squall asks Quistis who the girl in the infirmary was this morning, but she doesn't remember seeing anyone else in there. This leads Seifer to comment that he's got a Chicken-Wuss and a guy who just reached puberty in his squad. I like these brief interactions between the party, even if there's not much to them. I enjoy the "casual" feel of them, makes them seem "normal."

When you get to Balamb, you load on to the vessel, where Xu briefs you on the mission. It's interesting to note how Squall rises up to show Xu respect as a superior officer with the SeeD salute and a "Pleased to meet you," while Seifer just casually remains seated with his feet propped up on the table. You can see the difference between their attitudes regarding authority figures in this, and also in the fact that Squall wears his cadet uniform while Seifer wears his normal outfit. Squall thrives on discipline, authority, and living by the rules, while Seifer despises all three. Even when he's given authority, he despises it and relishes abusing it for his own personal entertainment and satisfaction (such as telling Squall to see what's going on outside and laughing about it being "MY order"). He won't even show proper respect for Xu when speaking to her. He basically wants to know what they're doing, and when their orders don't satisfy him, he comments on how boring it all is and how they're making them do all the little dirty work.

Squall goes outside to check on things, and we're thrown into a really cool FMV featuring one of the better songs in the game, "The Landing." I like the zoomed in look of Squall's face right before you land, how focused and intense it looks. Cool moment.

Anyway, we'll tackle the Field Exam proper tomorrow.

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As much as I criticize the FFVIII soundtrack for largely being bland and dull (and I stand by that criticism!), The Landing is really good, one of the handful of stand out tracks from this game.

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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.

FFVIII's soundtrack has some not-so-good tracks on it (SeeD, Fear, Jailed, Junction, Martial Law, etc.) just like any other soundtrack with 70+ songs on it, but it probably has the highest number of songs I really like on it.

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