The Final Fantasy Uber-Mega-Challenge of Doom (Series Playthrough) *Spoilers*

I never defeated the Iron Giant, and I really really hate grinding so I will probably not beat him ever.

There is some RPGs that have bosses that have legit difficulty, FFXII for example has Omega mk.XII (Yiazmat is such a boring boss, he and Hell Wyrm just takes a long time) that did piercing damage of 6999 hp with a ridicolous attack speed, even at level 99 you need some skill to beat him. (Of course some people masters the Lure/Reverse strategy and beats it that way). 

I am not quite sure, but Golden Sun got one superboss named Dullahan. He uses attacks that deactivates your djinnis that makes  so that you must adapt to what spells you have at that exact moment(orevery time he uses Djinni Storm). He has maxed out the health he can have on the game and a ludacris levels of stats, I dont know if it is a grind to win boss though...

Meh, I cant think of any more, and I cant write more either (At school, kinda hard to dodge the teatcher now)

I never defeated the Iron Giant, and I really really hate grinding so I will probably not beat him ever.

There is some RPGs that have bosses that have legit difficulty, FFXII for example has Omega mk.XII (Yiazmat is such a boring boss, he and Hell Wyrm just takes a long time) that did piercing damage of 6999 hp with a ridicolous attack speed, even at level 99 you need some skill to beat him. (Of course some people masters the Lure/Reverse strategy and beats it that way).

I am not quite sure, but Golden Sun got one superboss named Dullahan. He uses attacks that deactivates your djinnis that makes so that you must adapt to what spells you have at that exact moment(orevery time he uses Djinni Storm). He has maxed out the health he can have on the game and a ludacris levels of stats, I dont know if it is a grind to win boss though...

Meh, I cant think of any more, and I cant write more either (At school, kinda hard to dodge the teatcher now)

lordmew

Hey everyone! Less than 24 hours later and I have another update, I completed Final Fantasy Legend III today! Man am I on a roll! I know I hadn't gotten to much done lately with the challenge, but in the last week I've completed three games, so I think I've at least slightly made up for it. As for what I thought of Final Fantasy Legend III... well...  it's hard to explain but.. it's probably the least interesting game in the trilogy when it comes to gameplay concepts, but on the other hand, in my opinion it was the least frustrating and the most enjoyable experience of the three games. Honestly my opinion on the trilogy is rather mixed...  I don't r eally think it holds up anymore, but considering the first FFLegend was the first ever Gameboy RPG and the whole trilogy has such interesting gameplay mechanics, I can't tell you NOT to check it out if you are interested. Like a lot of old school rpgs though... they are pretty much walkthrough games.. and FFLegend I and II take a LOT of grinding...

Anyway, all that aside, there is a much more important anouncement to make.. as of tomorrow.. I am officially starting my playthrough of Final Fantasy IV! I know a lot of you have been waiting for this and I'm rather excited too. Thanks again for all your help everyone, I can't wait to discuss the game with some of you as you play along. See you all later!

Just an updat for you Kares, I beat Rubicante quite a while back, I am now grinding to get reflect to beat Leviathan.lordmew

Wow, it seems you are moving through the game rather quickly as well. Out of curiosity, why  are you getting reflect for Leviathan? I know it's essential for bahamut but I never really used it against Leviathan. 

Hey Everyone! Update time! I just finished (literally just put down my psp) my run of Final Fantasy IV! All that work in the Lunar Ruins and the superboss was a total pushover @.@ Oh well, I'd never done it before and Now I can finally say I have! I plan to have the Interlude completed by the end of the day as well, but I'm not counting that as it's own game, just as part of the after years. I am however counting the After Years as it's own game since.. well it is. Anyway That's all I've really got to say right now, within two weeks time I've checked four games off the list!

Ah well, you beat me to it. I am at Zeromus right now so... I needed Reflect for that retarded healer boss before Leviathan. You are a very quick gamer you know, maybe you can try a low level challenge run that may increase the time.

Oh maybe you can try one of the harder FF challanges, a 122333 FFXII run, basicly a lowerst level FFXII run, via using Firefly accesesory and skipping all enemies you can do this hellhole of a challenge (I tried, it was painful) 

Ah well, you beat me to it. I am at Zeromus right now so... I needed Reflect for that retarded healer boss before Leviathan. You are a very quick gamer you know, maybe you can try a low level challenge run that may increase the time.

Oh maybe you can try one of the harder FF challanges, a 122333 FFXII run, basicly a lowerst level FFXII run, via using Firefly accesesory and skipping all enemies you can do this hellhole of a challenge (I tried, it was painful) 

lordmew

You weren't far behind me (with the exception of the Lunar Ruins which I'd almost argue aren't worth the time.. and this is coming from a huge FFIV fan). I'm not that fast of a gamer.. I just know FFIV really well ^^'. Honestly my gaming goes in spurts, this last couple of weeks I've had a lot of free time so I powered through the last few games, but if you look at my record so far, there were a couple of really LONG gaps (like between FFII and FFIII) so really it just depends. I'm pretty much positive the After Years is going to take me a lot longer than the first game did. (Speaking of which I completed the Interlude.. it's not really that surprising or that big of an accomplishment though since it's only about 2 hours long)

I've played the game through several times, but I realized how good the PSP translation was compared to some of the others, and I've got to say, I have new found respect for Kain... well maybe respect isn't the right word, but if you read between the lines he's easily the most interesting character in the game, if not one of the most in the series (though there's a lot of competition there) I also of course love Cecil, Rydia and the twins... actually FFIV has a really strong cast in general..except perhaps a certain Spoony Bard...

As far as your challenges go, thanks for the suggestion, but I have a huge backlog of other games I want to play before spending the countless hundreds of hours it takes for such restrictions. That, and for the most part, I have always been against haveing to force limitations on myself to make a game hard for me (I have a huge arguement about this concerning Final Fantasy VIII, but I will only get into that if you are truly curious). I don't purposefully exploit glitches or anything (well.. unless the game is insanely, and cheaply difficuly) but on the other hand If the developers give me a tool to use I should not have to keep myself from using it. Anyway, back to the challenge you mentioned in particular, I have seen runs of that and it's freakin' insane @.@ not to mention Final Fantasy XII is one of the games I know LEAST about (since I've only beaten it once) and I've yet to do a complete runthrough of it. The game is long enough as it is I really don't want to force even more on myself. I liked FFXII but DAAAAAAAAMN @.@ lol. 

Sorry for the length of the post ^^' guess I had a lot to say.

The after years was the game where Kain redeems himself right?, where he fights his inner self consisting of jealousy and all that stuff?. Out of the characther cast of FFIV my favorites were Yang and Rydia, no fight about that spot at all.

You can try several different challenges on FFXII, OCC(One-Characther-Challenge), OCNLC (One Characther No Licenses Challenge), NIC(No Items Challenge), NLC (No License challenge) and more and more. If you ever need any help with finding rare stuff on XII I will help at once.

The after years was the game where Kain redeems himself right?, where he fights his inner self consisting of jealousy and all that stuff?. Out of the characther cast of FFIV my favorites were Yang and Rydia, no fight about that spot at all.

You can try several different challenges on FFXII, OCC(One-Characther-Challenge), OCNLC (One Characther No Licenses Challenge), NIC(No Items Challenge), NLC (No License challenge) and more and more. If you ever need any help with finding rare stuff on XII I will help at once.

lordmew

Yeah I believe that kind of Happens with Kain in the after years, though technically he already stripped himself of his 'evil' between the interlude and the after years or something? I don't know my memory is pretty foggy on it, This is another game I've only completed once. Either way I was only talking about Kain in the main game, I got the feeling throughout the entire story that Kain wasn't REALLY being brainwashed, I mean yes he was being influenced but a large part of him really wanted to do the things he was being tricked into doing which is what makes him so damn interesting. If you really pay attention to his struggle, to his jealousy of Cecil for having Rosa and being the hero when Kain should be of equal (if not higher) rank. It's a story of always being second best no matter how hard you try and having to come to terms with the way things are, regardless of the sacrifice. Sure Cecil's story of redemption good too, but it's not really moving because as soon as he becomes a paladin he's essentially universaly forgiven by everyone for his past misdeeds. They did a great job of building up to Cecil's redemption, so much so that I almost felt bad for him, but as soon as he turned into a Paladin it was all forgotten and just pushed to the side. There could have been a lot more drama surrounding it that wasn't, while with Kain you see his suffering and trials throughout the entire story, in fact by the end of the game he's STILL not done, he goes off to live alone on Mt. Ordeals to try and find himself and truly come to terms with the way things are.  (I know I'm diving a bit too far into this for a game that was originally on the SNES, but the subtext is CLEARLY there with Kain, and oddly enough the same care wasn't taken with Cecil, don't get me wrong I love both characters and I love this game, It's BECAUSE the game is so good that I'm picking apart what seems to be minute details). Anyway, sorry for the nerd rant ^^' I really wanted to talk about kain lol

Small Update:

So far I've completed both Ceodore and Rydia's tales, while maxing their levels to the level cap and doing their challenge dungeons multiple times. Generally my game time takes about 2 and a half hours to complete the main story of the tales, but by the time I'm done grinding and doing the challenge dungeons over... and over... and over to get all of the items from the dungeons final chest, my game time comes out to about 6 and a half hours... maybe that's enough to show why I'm burning out on this game quickly (even though it's arguably the best direct sequel the FF series has ever had). Anyway that's all for now.

I probably won't play much over this weekend and next week as I have a big weekend planned and next week is thanksgiving and all, so don't plan on seeing to much progress from me. Because I'm getting burned out on the After Years I was also thinking about playing something else at the same time, Perhaps Corpse Party, Jikandia (I know it's not as good, but Half-Minute Hero really left me wanting more, and Jikandia is the closest thing I've found) or one of the games from further in the Challenge like Chocobo Tales on the DS.... anyway, whatever I choose will be fairly short, just to sort of cleanse my pallet, I'm not going to go for a really long RPG or anything, so it Shouldn't put me too off track. Thanks again for all the support.

Hey everyone, small update for you. Today I completed three more tales in FFIV the After Years which means I've completed Ceodore, Rydia, Yang, Palom, and Edge's tales. Yay I'm now half done. My experience with this game I have to admit.. hasn't been the best. Part of it is that I binged through four games in two weeks, but the other part is I have spent more than half of my gametime grinding to the level cap on each tale (Seriously, I complete each tales story in roughly 2 and a 1/2 hours on average, and my end game time after doing the bonus dungeon over... and over and over again to get all the items and then grinding to lvl 40 for every character makes it take anywhere from 5 to 6 hours. All of my personal irritations aside, I would suggest FFIV the after years to anybody who really liked Final Fantasy IV. Yeah they recycle a lot of content so I wouldn't suggest playing the games back to back (like I am) but I do honestly feel that they did a decent job making a game that... kind of lives up to it's prequel. Let me word it differently: it's one of the best direct sequels the final fantasy series has every had (for what little that's worth). I've only really found one minor plot hole so far (when compared to the original game) but then again the same plot hole was already exploited in the first game without any explanation... so I can't really complain about that. Well that's all for now, see you guys later. Happy Late Thanksgiving (to anyone who celebrates it... I celebrate it as I love to stuff my face, but in my opinion calling it a 'holiday' is a bit of a stretch. Really it should just be called the 'Stuff yourself with calories so you have enough energy for black friday shopping' day.

Hey everyone! I have what I consider to be a big update but many of you probably won't... I completed Final Fantasy IV: The AFter Years last night! Why is this exciting you may be asking yourself? Because that means I have officially completed 10 games in the challenge!! Hurray! That means I am roughtly 1/4 of the way through the entire challenge at this point! I've already started on FFV (Am in the Ship Graveyard) and so far it's holding up better than I remember... I wrote a review on it a couple years ago and was pretty harsh, with this playthrough I will see if my opinion has changed. (So far I've found my opinion on some of the games has changed a lot with this challenge, I guess that my tastes have changed perhaps or that I'm just going into things with a different mind set, either way I'm finding it interesting and rather entertaining!) Well I'll see you all later.Xx_Kares_xX

Nice to know you are continuing with the challenge, I havent been able to see anything on this site because of mid-term exams witch I am now done with. I think you need to step up your game, I am now done with the Bridge, better hurry up.

lol I didn't realize it was a race. Did you do a 100% run on the after years as well? That's where all my time went too. I'm about to start up FFV right now and play some more, but after that there's actually going to be a break between FFV and VI, sadly Mystic Quest is what's on my list to be played next.

[QUOTE="Xx_Kares_xX"]Hey everyone! I have what I consider to be a big update but many of you probably won't... I completed Final Fantasy IV: The AFter Years last night! Why is this exciting you may be asking yourself? Because that means I have officially completed 10 games in the challenge!! Hurray! That means I am roughtly 1/4 of the way through the entire challenge at this point! I've already started on FFV (Am in the Ship Graveyard) and so far it's holding up better than I remember... I wrote a review on it a couple years ago and was pretty harsh, with this playthrough I will see if my opinion has changed. (So far I've found my opinion on some of the games has changed a lot with this challenge, I guess that my tastes have changed perhaps or that I'm just going into things with a different mind set, either way I'm finding it interesting and rather entertaining!) Well I'll see you all later.lordmew

Nice to know you are continuing with the challenge, I havent been able to see anything on this site because of mid-term exams witch I am now done with. I think you need to step up your game, I am now done with the Bridge, better hurry up.

Nope, I havent actually played after years at all, but I thought FFV would be more exiting with a second player. I never actually ment it to be a race, but my comment turned around and bit me in the arse.

I have slowed down a bit and I am now at the Atomos boss I think (or Exodus, one of em) so..

I am a bit exited for Squares 25th birthday. TGS is holding a FF6 Marathon for them, some of the members are even going to stay up for the 55+ hours of it, it will be hillarious to see how wrecked they are after it.

I forgot to mention this on my last post, but I didn't think your comment was bad, I was just joking in response, sorry it didn't come off that way. And as for the FFVI marathon, that sounds pretty interesting actually, funnily enough, as much as I love the game, it's one of the FF's I've only beaten once.

Speaking of FF games I've beaten, I spent all day from the time I got up to.. well, now, playing FFV and I am saved right before entering the Rift with all possible sidequests (to this point) completed. I still haven't fought Omega Mk. II or Shinryu, and I may wait to do so until AFTER I've beaten exdeath, but either way I'm on the last stretch, just got the final dungeon and then the sealed cave!

I forgot to mention this on my last post, but I didn't think your comment was bad, I was just joking in response, sorry it didn't come off that way. And as for the FFVI marathon, that sounds pretty interesting actually, funnily enough, as much as I love the game, it's one of the FF's I've only beaten once.

 

Speaking of FF games I've beaten, I spent all day from the time I got up to.. well, now, playing FFV and I am saved right before entering the Rift with all possible sidequests (to this point) completed. I still haven't fought Omega Mk. II or Shinryu, and I may wait to do so until AFTER I've beaten exdeath, but either way I'm on the last stretch, just got the final dungeon and then the sealed cave!

Xx_Kares_xX

Yeah, I am done now (not beaten the superbosses, I am just not in the mood). My set up at that time was Lenna as a Dualcast Fullpowered Whitemage, Bartz a dancer with full dancer gear, Faris were Samurai with full ninja stuff and dual wielding double katanas. Last one was a Black Knight (black mage + Knight) 

[QUOTE="Xx_Kares_xX"]

I forgot to mention this on my last post, but I didn't think your comment was bad, I was just joking in response, sorry it didn't come off that way. And as for the FFVI marathon, that sounds pretty interesting actually, funnily enough, as much as I love the game, it's one of the FF's I've only beaten once.

 

Speaking of FF games I've beaten, I spent all day from the time I got up to.. well, now, playing FFV and I am saved right before entering the Rift with all possible sidequests (to this point) completed. I still haven't fought Omega Mk. II or Shinryu, and I may wait to do so until AFTER I've beaten exdeath, but either way I'm on the last stretch, just got the final dungeon and then the sealed cave!

lordmew

Yeah, I am done now (not beaten the superbosses, I am just not in the mood). My set up at that time was Lenna as a Dualcast Fullpowered Whitemage, Bartz a dancer with full dancer gear, Faris were Samurai with full ninja stuff and dual wielding double katanas. Last one was a Black Knight (black mage + Knight) 

Awesome ^^  my team now is Two Frelancers decked out with legendary weapons and rapidfire/spellblade, and two mimes both with dualcast but one with white magic/summoning and one with black magic/time magic. I forgot how short this game is... I've only put in 20 hours and that was with a sizable amount of grinding. The pacing is amazing until right before you get the tablets.. then the difficult skyrockets for no reason (and by difficulty I mean the need to grind.) I find you can easily beat the main game at about level 40, but to even stand a chance against omega you need to be lvl 60 minimum which means a LOT of time spent grinding.. it's really frustrating in a game who's difficulty curve was so well made up to this point.

Well everyone, I completed FFV last night.. and my god did the bonus dungeon sour my opinion of the entire game. Let me just put this out there for anyone who likes to be overly complete with their games; The bonus dungeon to FFV is not fun... it is not well constructed, it has the highest encounter rate I've seen in a long time, the area is the size of about ten normal dungeons put together (and it's all mazelike) most of the bosses aren't a challenge and the two that are, are just completely cheap. I will NEVER complete this bonus dungeon again...

Anyway, all negativity aside, the main game is extremely fun, but make sure you are going into FFV for the gamplay, this game is completely devoid of the storytelling or character development that the rest of the series is known for. In fact, the characters are more annoying to me than silent protagonists, and I HATE silent protagonists in games (seriously.. stop making them... it's not a good idea so we can 'project' ourselves onto a character.. it's just being lazy so you don't have to make a backstory or personality for the character). The music in the game is rather good (as usual for the series) and the gameplay is topnotched. In fact until the last 3 or 4 dungeons the game has some of the best difficulty pacing in the series.

Well all that ranting and raving done, it's time to move on to FINAL FANTASY MYSTIC QUEST!!! ... just as soon as I finish decorating my room and wrapping presents for the holidays <<...>> see you all later ^^.

Hey again everybody Just checking in again to say that I completed Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. I've gotta  say I STILL don't see why this game has the bad rep that it does. Is it a good game? No... not particularly, but it's not nearly as bad as everyone says it is either. It's a short and sweet little RPG with some kick ass music.  The combat isn't very complex but I thought some of the dungeon layouts were actually pretty well put together, in fact for as much complaining as people do about this game, I'd say it had some better dungeon layouts than a few games in the main ff series. Let me put it perspective now so that my opinion on the game is more clear. I probably won't pick it up and play it again, but if you go in with an open mind it could be enjoyable enough to keep you busy for a few hours.

Anyway far more important than me completing mystic quest is that tomorrow I get to start on the legendary class Final Fantasy VI! WOOOOOOT! I want to try and take my time with this one because of how much I love the game (Celes being my favorite Final Fantasy character of all time) but seeing my track record lately, who knows what's going to happen. I DO have the feeling that it will slow down considerably soonish... whether it be from me needing a break from the series, the holidays, or me finally getting a damn job, but the challenge is still going strong. See you all later!

Hmm, I wont be joining you in the beginning because I am already at the end :P. my characthers are level 55 now (with the exeption of lvl 77 Sabin, lvl 68 Terra and a lvl 64 Cyan). I am taking my time with the game and just grinding slowly. My favorite all time is friggin Terra, her story is so more complex than all of the others.  I really didnt like Celes as much as everybody else, it seemed like everyone liked Celes and Locke above Terra and Shadow. Shadows story is also a very very deep one. God damn the hole game is so deep its scary. I hope you will enjoy the game as much as I have done every time.

Hint for you, Celestrial + Soul of Thamasa + max SP = 18999, then mimic with Gogo, and what did you lose on that; 2 MP. Its also better having the Ragnarok Esper over the blade (you can steal Ragnarok from Kefka at the end which you can turn into the Lightbringer later). Oh and if you havent done it yet, when Ganon asks you to be the last ray of hope, say no trice, it will give you a Genji Glove, helps you out much (double gloves)

Sorry for the late answer. I was going to answer earlier, but my scedule for this week is filled with gradesetting tests.

Now I might have overanalysed the game but at least this is how my thoughts on the characthers are. Terra is a very interesting characther if you look deep into what the characthers may be thinking while wandering around. Terra is special since she does not have any spesific reason to fight at all, rather the opposite, she got many reasons for why she shouldnt fight. Terra was from a young age raised brainwashed, and when she finaly snaps out of it she remembers all the stuff she was put through. Each time she fights she might remember all the pain she has caused in the first place. This might be why she keeps all the power in her away until the Elder sets it free. Once you find her in the World of Ruin she will have found that thing to fight for and the reason to fight, making her a stronger person.

In the same way Cyan is an interesting characther. Cyan fights for his kingdom until his family dies. You then go on without knowing his reason to fight at all. Until you meet him in WoR. In ruin you find out his reasons, namely to fight for those that have suffered and lost someone during the war.

Basicly, I am facinated by the fact that all of the characthers have such a special reason for everything and their different psyches, there are a backstory for everything. Sabin and Edgar have their story, with Edgar sacrificing himself and his life to give Sabin his life in return. I think Strago is just there for the fillerup, as an adult in Relms life. Shadow knows for the beginning that Relm is his daugther and probably Relm knows this too. Mog and Umaro`s story is obvious and so is Gau`s. Celes and Locke is favorites for most people since their background and story is an obvious love story (Not hating on those two, their story is good and my favorite scene is the opera scene.)

That is an extremely interesting analysis of Terra and this is why I like talking to people about this stuff, so thank you for making this interesting. Let me rephrase what I mean about Terra (though the more I play the more I'm remembering and feel bad for dismissing her as MERELY a plot device, though that's what she is for the first half of the game. For the first half it's all about whoever holds Terra hold the power, she could easily be switched out with ANY weapon, she could be a nuclear bomb or the worlds first gun (there aren't any guns in FFVI right? I can't remember) Anyway, except for a couple lines of whiney dialogue she could just as easily be replaced with an inanimate object and the story would be EXACTLY the same. And I hate to pull the 'I don't like a character because they are whiney' because I hear that complaint ALL THE TIME about JRPGs and anime and most of the time I don't think it's justified. Granted Terra has a reason to whine and I get that she's struggling with the fact that she doesn't seem to fit in with other humans and so on, but their portrayal of making her mysterious really just makes her unrelatable to me, and I think that completely misses the mark they were aiming for.

Celes on the other hand nailed it perfectly. Of course I'm a sap for the 'love story' between her and Locke (as many other people are) but Celes is just an amazingly  built character from the ground up. She had a very similar upbringing to Terra, but her brainwashing wasn't literal, it was all by propoganda and just  being born on the wrong side of the border. She WASN'T being controlled which means all of her actions were her own fault. She has slaughtered thousands of people before finally realizing what she was doing wrong. Despite being rescued by Locke when you first meet her she is more than able to stand up for herself, and everytime she shows weakness it's on and understandable emotional level.Being raised as a child soldier has left her emotionally scarred, when she finally gets affection from the returners (especially locke) she doesn't quite know how to handle it, but she know she craves it, but once everyone is ripped away from her as they enter the world of ruin (and she has her extremely memorable and moving scene which I won't spoil) there's actually weight and reason too it, While in Terra's case it's far more 'oh boo hoo why don't people understand me? Why don't I feel love? Teenage angst angst angst!' The worst part is, Terra has been literally a lifeless machine since she was captured she shouldn't know what emotions ARE, at this point you'd think she doesn't even have an intelligence of her own. I think she would have been a far more interesting character if she'd literally been found as a weapon who could barely even speak and she slowly evolved throughout the story to become a... 'person'. They KIND of did this but didn't really succeed, I understand at the end when she does the whole titanic thing on the airship that it's supposed to be the representation of her freedom, but I highly doubt she'd know what to do with herself outside of being a war machine. ...All that ranting aside I don't hate Terra at all. I do think she's a great character, but I really nitpick with things I like <<...>> that and I love this conversation, I've never gotten this far into a character analysis of FFVI lol

I agree with your analysis of all the other characters which is why people love the game so much, the cou[ple of exceptions being Cyan has a reason to fight from the beginning, yes he wants to keep other people from suffering but he has the obvious base desire of revenge since everyone from doma was killed in the name of the empire. I also don't think relm knew about shadow, I think she was far too young when he left and has no idea, and I prefer things this way because it means far less pain to her as she is what... 8 to 10 years old in the game?

 Locke I like... and I like his back story, but I feel he is a bit too 'perfect of a character if you know what I mean. I love my main characters to have flaws and Locke really doesn't have one, in fact you could argue his whole back story wasn't even his fault to begin with, so yes he has to come to terms with his guilt but he doesn't really have a reason to feel guilty in the first place (it's survivors guilt). Despite being a thief (excuse me, 'treasure hunter') when it comes to the plot he only steals when it's absolutely necessary, and usually it's as a means of helping others, not for his own gain.

Well this might spark a long argument about if Celes or Terra is the most "scarred one"

I think I need to write about how I ment with Cyan and Relm first so that I can focus on Terra and Celes afterwards. Now Cyan got that reason to fight in the beginning (Family, kingdom and all that stuff), but if you remember what happens then it is not really much left of his reasons afterwards, and after Phantom Train it is all washed away. That is why you dont really understand his motivation until the later part of the game in ZoZo (where eveyone lies, I hope you got the Chainsaw the legal way :D). Relm deffinatly knows, even if she is that young. You know why, Inteceptor, thats why. She has a bond between her and her dog (which is now Shadows dog), so even if she is that young I for my part think that she understands that during the story, and for my part it makes the story more sad in the end, but still more fullfilling.(Strago on the other hand is a blind fool that doesnt get anything).

Now to the bigger matter at hand, Celes and Terra. Now I see how you understand Terra, an object or weapon not as a characther. Its understandable, but if you then think about it a little more and give her "whining" a less "whining" tone, you might understand that she is not in fact whining, but is confused about it all. She was born outside of the "normal" world, just like Gau, and then removed from all communication with the outher world. She simply does not know anything. Its not "Buu Huu why dont people understand me, I dont feel love Buu Huu" its more like "!?! Why is that, and Why does everyone have something they desire, but not me?". It is actually a kinda ironic thing, you look at Terra like all the NPC`s and people in the game with a few exceptions. Banon, Kefka, Gesthal, sometimes Edgar, and in the end it is only those not interested in the war or her powers that understand her. The basic knowledge she got of the world is from the one person in the empire that understood the poor soul, Leo, and Celes did also look at her like she was a weapon. If you take a close look at the differences between WoB Terra and WoR Terra you see that Terra has got alot more spirit and life back to her. By learning what she should have had learned in the first place, she finaly then understands things. If you still insists that she is only an object and a weapon then think about a few things, During WoR she denies to join her friends to be used as a weapon against Kefka even if this would defend her village (Even so, she joins them after the Village talks her into it), during the hole game she makes the question : Why me!, which indicates she does not see herself as a weapon at all. Just try to look at her as a person without the basic knowledge about feelings and the world, instead of making her have the mind of a 16 year old B*tch on MTV :P

Oh and the reason that she doesnt feel like she would fit in with the others are a very easy explanation, 1. She knows Magic and nobody else does, and those that know what magic is has been fed lies by the empire over the years that makes everyone belive she is dangerous. 2. EVERYONE THAT MEANS SOMETHING (else than Leo) THINKS SHE IS A WEAPON. I hope that clears it. (Oh and FFVI would not be as good if the main characther is a living gun *hint*hint*)

You make a valid point about Celes, I never liked those "love, love, love" stories. I am more of someone that really likes to deepdive into the psych to everyone. Celes is indeed a interesting individual, but I dont think I can make it more deep than you have already done. (On the other hand, I would rather have Leo Cristophe than Celes Chere in my party, his awsomeness climbs close to freeman level)

Locke I must agree with you totaly one, he was just a to "I wanna be an action hero" type of guy. He does not have any flaws, and the few is just anger over his Girlfriend. Peh.... I wish I understood why people have him as their favorite all the time.

Well that is my rant, I hope it changed a little bit of your view of Terra and FFVI. Sorry if the language becomes horrible, my main language is Norwegian and not English. 

Oh interesting, I didn't know you are Norwegian, and no the language was fine. I should point out that as much as I love this game I've only beaten it once, so I'm taking everything you say into account and trying to view it a different way, I'm very open minded abou these things and I LOVE arguements like this (well not really an arguement it's been civil and there for more interesting and intelligently spoken). I actually saved and stopped playing last night RIGHT before I entered Zozo, and I'm actually going to play through it right after writing this ^^'. I do remember cyan later on hiding in a cave and writing letters to that one girl in the name of her dead boyfriend, so I guess that does play into the whole 'just doesn't want people to suffer' thing.

Though I can agree with a lot of your arguements (or at least see where you are coming from) I STILL don't think Relm knew about Shadow, and in fact I feel the opposite, that Strago DID know (in fact there was cut dialogue left in the code that proves this, a scene where Strago forces shadow to take off his mask) From what I remember, shadow left Relm before she was old enough to even walk (though I may be incorrect I don't remember his dream scenes very well) and though relm has an immediate bond with interceptor who MAY remember HER, I don't feel that relm remembers the dog or her father, or really has an interest in knowing who her father is to begin with. I don't feel she ever knew any other life besides living with Strago.

I can now understand more where you're coming from with Terra, and looking back on what I've seen in this playthrough it does make sense (one of the only sad things about text based dialogue is you can't hear the inflection, as you pointed out I was reading her words incorrectly) Celes still remains my favorite, I don't think that will change, but I do think I need to pay more attention to Terra this time and give her a view with the new perspective.

As for Locke... again I find him extremely likable, he's a great inspiration and a fun character to be around, and I personally like him BECAUSE he's Celes' Counterpart (which is probably why a lot of people like him). He's a good balance and is the optimism to Celes' Pessemism and all that, but as a stand alone character he's not all that...interesting. I think that's  the right word.

Hey guys! Small update (and also a little bit of excited bragging). Today I went out and bought myself my own wii which means too immediate things when it comes to this challenge; The first is that I will be able to play all of the wii Final Fantasy Games once the time comes without having to worry about borrowing the system from someone else or other such nonsense, and it also means once I can find a way to pull 100 dollars out of my arse (ridiculous I know) I can afford the Crhystal Chronicles games My life as King and My Life as a dark lord for the challenge so they are in fact, finally confirmed. On the downside however... I have a wii now, and my playing of Final Fantasy VI tonight got stalled as my hands were buried in someones chest cavity as I removed glass to save their lives... in other words I was busy playing Trauma center... a series in which I am now only missing the final installment (Trauma Team). Luckily they are fairly short games so they won't take away from the challenge too much, but well.. you know how it can be when you get your hands on a new toy ^^' It doesn't help that the game becomes twice as immersive when they say YOUR name while performing surgery (Doctor Stiles... my last name is Stiles... even spelled the same way lol what a coincidence right?)

So annnnyway challenge is still going strong, in FFVI  I have just completed the magitech facility (love that dungeon) and am doing all the miscelaneous side quest stuff before going to the land of the espers to unseal the gate. So that's all for now, if any of you have any good wii game suggestions for me please let me know, any genre is good. I already have the basics like Super Mario Galaxy, Bros, Kart and Brawl. I also have No More Heros 1 and 2, Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles (well I will tomorrow anyway!) Madworld, Red Steel, Tales of Symphonia 2 annnndof course all of the FF games for the system besides the download only ones, but any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated ^^

Wow, for a moment there I though you actually were a Trauma Surgeon. Then you turned it around and said it was a game, damn I knew I fell for the trap then. Sorry for no reply to the last post, I had to finish my finals in the renaissance and the Baroque.

First things first, I think most of the disscussion about the characthers are finished. We do understand eachothers points and there are now not that much to discuss. I do have to ask though, did you take Edgar and Sabin with you to the Opera. I really hope you did, they have an unique scene there and if you havent seen it, then it might shred some light on their past. Another thing is that you should bring Celes and Cyan with you to the Vector peace dinner. Leo will speak some lines dirctly to Cyan and Celes which would give some info on how Leo thinks the Empire really is (in which he is mistaken, and later pays for it and in my eyes it might be one of the saddest moments in the game). One last thing is that on the Floating Continent, WAIT UNTIL THE LAST SECOUNDS, I just cannot press that enough (even though you probably already know why, but since you only played through it once....). I found out what happens if you wait on accident, I was basicly very very late for the end, and I reached the airsship whe it was 8 secs left, but my reactions took over 3 secs.

Hmm, Wii games that are good... You can try Punch Out, it got great music at least. You already have most of the games that is good to the Wii anyways right now (Brawl, NMH1 and 2) 

 Sorry for not posting the last couple of days, I've been pretty busy.. on the other hand though I'm on the home stretch of Final Fantasy VI. (I'm in the WoR and have re-recruited all of the characters, All I'm doing now is collecting the last few pieces of magicite, getting some good equipment from the coloseum, doing the last few siequests and preparing for the FINAL SHOWDOWN!!!)

 Contrary to what I have listed I will not be playing Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales next...basically just because I don't want to yet ^^' especially since I have a whole series of chocobo games to get to eventually. Instead I'm jumping right into Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII which begins the long process of me sitting through the hours upon hours of story whether it be in a game, on film or even written in a novel. Honestly (with the exception of Ehergeiz) I don't think I'm going to be playing any spinoffs during this section of the challenge because I just want to get through all of the FFVII compilation as quickly as I can to see how it all stacks up, that and the gameplay/non gameplay of all the content in the compilation is so varied that I shouldn't get to bored from game to game.

Well now that I've spent almost my entire day trying to navigate my way through the damn Dragon's Den and then the seemingly endless monster gauntlet that is the Soul Shrine, I've finally finished with my complete run of Final Fantasy VI Advance. I'm sure this comes as little surprise to most of you, but of course I found FFVI to be near perfection. If you REALLY want me to nitpick I can point out that with the right party the game becomes extremely easy, and as soon as you get Ultima the rest of the game is completely pointless because of how abusive it is. I can also point out that the second half of the game doesn't have much focus (which I don't tend to like as much if I'm going to be honest) but it was structured that way on purpose and because it was intentionally designed it still flows fairly well if you know what you're doing. Of course there's a bunch more I could talk about but why? All you need to know is that if you are a part of this union and haven't played the game then you should be ashamed of yourself.

Starting tomorrow I'm moving onto the massive Final Fantasy VII Compilation, where I will be taking part in every aspect that has been released in english, starting with Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII since I'm playing the games in chronological story order. Here is where I have to point something out to anyone who hasn't played FFVII yet; I am almost ALWAYS an advocate of playing games in story order, but you will be doing yourself a HUGE diservice if you play Crisis Core before the original Final Fantasy VII. Crisis Core holds a lot of spoilers that ruin a good majority of some characters from the original release, not to mention you will find Crisis Core (in my opinion the far more emotional of the two games) much more moving after playing the original release. Anyway that's all for now.

Edit: Oh, just a side note for those that care, I complete the Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystal anime (a sequel to Final Fantasy V) a couple days ago... and honestly? It wasn't... terrible... I mean, it was a million times better than Final Fantasy Unlimited (then again it was only 1/6th the length of that anime). The music was well done though, and actually had a few orchestrated tracks from Final Fantasy V which I thought was a nice touch. That being said I would probably never pick it up again.

Oh, so you are starting on FFVII now. I am happy there are some others than me enjoying FFVI, FFVI actually reached spot number two just under LoL at Twitch.tv`s most watched game ATM because of the Square anneversary thingy. This might come as a surprise, but I think many of those in this union havent enjoyed the games before FFVII amazingly enough, but I cant remembeer who played what.

You will probably catch up to me on FFVII, I am going at snail paste since its my first time going through it since the release of the game. I am currently at the Temple of the Ancients, the game is good, but not as good as FFVI though. 

I'm actually playing Crisis Core First so I don't know if I will be catching up to you. You are about 1/3 of the way through the game if I remember correctly, the first disc is about twice as long as the 2nd and the third pretty much only contains the final dungeon. Considering every game I've done so far has been a complete run (well, my version of complete anyway) I'm really going to try to make Crisis Core a complete run too which is going to be really difficult because of all the extra missions.

I'm actually playing Crisis Core First so I don't know if I will be catching up to you. You are about 1/3 of the way through the game if I remember correctly, the first disc is about twice as long as the 2nd and the third pretty much only contains the final dungeon. Considering every game I've done so far has been a complete run (well, my version of complete anyway) I'm really going to try to make Crisis Core a complete run too which is going to be really difficult because of all the extra missions.

Xx_Kares_xX

Crisis Core ending was heartbreaking :cry:

[QUOTE="Xx_Kares_xX"]

I'm actually playing Crisis Core First so I don't know if I will be catching up to you. You are about 1/3 of the way through the game if I remember correctly, the first disc is about twice as long as the 2nd and the third pretty much only contains the final dungeon. Considering every game I've done so far has been a complete run (well, my version of complete anyway) I'm really going to try to make Crisis Core a complete run too which is going to be really difficult because of all the extra missions.

angelbless

Crisis Core ending was heartbreaking :cry:

I agree... which is amazing considering anyone who played FFVII already KNEW how Crisis Core was going to end, I teared up at crisis cores ending.. something I can't even say when Aerith died (oh c'mon.. if that is still a spoiler than that's pathetic). 

[QUOTE="angelbless"][QUOTE="Xx_Kares_xX"]

I'm actually playing Crisis Core First so I don't know if I will be catching up to you. You are about 1/3 of the way through the game if I remember correctly, the first disc is about twice as long as the 2nd and the third pretty much only contains the final dungeon. Considering every game I've done so far has been a complete run (well, my version of complete anyway) I'm really going to try to make Crisis Core a complete run too which is going to be really difficult because of all the extra missions.

Xx_Kares_xX

Crisis Core ending was heartbreaking :cry:

I agree... which is amazing considering anyone who played FFVII already KNEW how Crisis Core was going to end, I teared up at crisis cores ending.. something I can't even say when Aerith died (oh c'mon.. if that is still a spoiler than that's pathetic). 

OH MAH GAWD! the spoilers they buuurn. Nah I have always known that, and I dont think it is the sadest moment in FF history (Celes got the first place on that one). I know the ending in Crisis Core and that was heartbreaking, I told my friend about it yesterday that I thought it was heartbreaking. He told me to get away from the subject since he was playing it at that moment and he didnt want any spoilers :( 

I didn't really get to play much yesterday, but I'm starting up Crisis Core Today. Instead of doing new game plus on hard mode I decided to start over completely on Normal mode aince hard mode doesn't seem to add anything to the experience except more grinding x.@. I actually think that Crisis Core may have one of the most moving stories in video games in general.

Hey guys, I'm just leaving an update about my progress in Crisis Core. At this point I am in Junon (which is chapter 7 of the 11 total story chapters) and I have completed roughly 1/3 of the bonus missions in the game. Though I haven't found myself getting bored or irritated with the bonus missions in this game, I do still think there are WAY too many of them. For an example, I happened to have an old save file of Crisis Core on my memory stick where I saved in Junon (exactly the location I am now) I only have about 10% of the bonus missions in the game completed, and I'd gotten to this point in about 8 hours of game time. For my location where I am now I have put in 24 hours worth of gametime. The main story of crisis core is easily completed in about 10 to 15 hours if you know what you're doing, and at the rate I'm going I will have a file over 50 hours before I complete everything the game has to offer. This creates the problem of really bad gameflow and a LOT of pointless filler. Yes I know it's all optional but they could have EASILY cut this 300 missions (which contain no story elements, all take place on the same 5 maps, and contain all the same enemies you fight in the main story with VERY few exceptions) into 100 or less, if not 50 or less. It's actually kind of disapointing me a little if I'm going to be honest, not because I'm bored (because I'm not) but because it's really breaking up the flow of the story and diminishing the immense emotional impact it was liable to have on me, not to mention it is far too easy to become over powered just by doing a small number of missions in this game. (I Killed a very 'important' boss in the last area of the game with only 4 hits, and it was supposed to be a challenging fight at that point in the game.

Anyway, slight complaints aside, I still think it's an amazing game that honestly holds more emotional weight than the game that spawned it in the first place. I'm really loving how this challenge is giving me a new perspective on these games. I'm purposefully going into them with an open mind, trying to push my bias to the side and it's really making me notice new things (from a critical aspect as well as an appreciative one).

Hey guys, I have yet another update for you. I'm currently watching the end credits of Crisis Core, this is my third time through the game since it's release and the ending still moved me to tears (well almost... I teared up, didn't cry.. cause I'm a manly man... okay I'm a wuss but that's not the point). This should easily be considered one of the best video game endings of all time. Anyway, despite having completed the main quest I'm still far from being finished with the game as a whole, I've only completed 60% of the bonus missions, which means I'm going to be busy for quite a while trying to complete the rest x.x.

Well everyone, as far as I'm concerned I am done with Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. I did not complete all 300 bonus missions, but I obtained all the genji equipment and defeated Minerva (the games super boss) considering I am pretty much invincible and I already defeated the hardest fight in the game, completing the rest of the missions would just be hours of completely wasted time, which I'd much rather put towards starting Final Fantasy VII. So starting... about 10 minutes from now I will have officially started playing Final Fantasy VII! Yet another game down for this behemoth of a challenge.

Hey everyone, I have some updates for you guys. Because of christmas I was able to purchase both of the Download only Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicle Games for my wii, meaning that I now have access to pretty much every game I'd planned on playing in the challenge (with the exception of Theaterythmn... but that's jsut going to have to wait until I get a lot of money x.x).

Aside from that I've been slowly making progress in FFVII, I'm only at the gold saucer (the first time you get there) and I'm having a lot of fun with it as usual. Anyway, I'd say more but am extremely tired... so I'm going to get some rest. I hope you all are having a merry christmas/new year/ happy holiday!

Hey everyone, I've got another small update. My progress with FFVII has been kind of slow, I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm actually finding myself kind of broed playing it. I'm taking this as a sign that I need a break from RPGs for a bit, so I'm going to pause on FFVII and play through a shorter game to cleanse the pallete, probably Trauma Center, No More Heroes, Corpse Party or Arcana Hearts, just something kind of more fast paced and fun (with the exception of corpse party, but a friend has been badgering me to play it and it sounds kind of appealing right now). So yeah, that's where I am at the moment. Challenge is still going strong.

Oh another note, when I added Ehergeiz to the challenge I forgot that it contained an 'adventure mode' Eventually I do want to play this, but I won't be playing it as part of the challenge, instead I will only be including the arcade mode because, as far as I know, that is where the FFVII characters lie, and that's the only reason I included it in the first place.

Anyway that's it for now, see you all later. Happy almost new years!

You are not the only one that plays games at a snail speed when other games show up, I have just managed to make the PS1 emulator to run, so finaly I can play Symphony of the Night again (although on my pc).

Just continue, now that I got my emu running, I will join you in FF8 (I have only played that game once, I wonder why actually). FFX/FFXII I will also join in on. FF9 can take a hike though. Only game I can discuss any is FFXII, FFX got more fans in this union, I have my hopes up that some of the others will join in.

awesome ^^ I'm actually playing Final Fantasy VII right now, I only needed a couple hour break apparently. I'm sad to hear you don't like Final Fantasy IX, it's one of my favorites... FFVIII on the other hand... I'm not looking forward too at all x.x.