If you still haven't gotten it... I used to have trouble with the Rathalos/Rathian... I went to the training arena and kept gettin wooped by it and eventually got better... I'd advise doing that if you can... also a few tips on killin it with longsword...

firstly, never run at it head on... I'd advise against that for almost every monster, but that can leave you open to it's charge/fire attacks/spinning attack...

start by running round the sides of it... go in at a good angle, you wanna be able to draw hit, then roll at a 45 degree angle to be right out the way of it's spinning... never try to stay in there for more hits... if you do... it may work, but more often than not you'll be on a one way trip to base camp via the kitty cart.

I'd advise going for it's tail, gettin rid of that means less getting hit by it's tail, if you can roll out the way. once it's tails gone aim for it's legs, keep hitting and rolling out, I'd say no more than 2 straight hits before moving... mainly 1... if it flinches take another... if it falls charge up on it's head or tail if it's not off yet.

this is the best bit... when it flys up in the air... stand right under it's shadow and once it's done it's attacking start a charge attack... as it comes down ***SMACK!!*** then once again roll out asap, if you're too slow it can blast you with fire while diving back.

some say it's cheap to use traps and flashbangs... I agree, it's more fun to take it out without them... but when you're having trouble with something it's usefull to use traps... shock traps are great against rathalos... get it to run onto them (watch out for it blasting fire when you're stood infront of it!) once it's in there it's tail is in the perfect place for you to charge attack it off... you can get a few more attacks in after as well... when it breaks out you wanna off out to one side of it... might scream/blast fire... god knows what it'll do... but if someone slapped you with a sword in a trap, you'd be pretty pissed too, lol.

As for flashbangs... my personal advise is, only use it to stall the monster and keep it in one place... use it to sharpen your sword, or if you've taken a lot of damage and need to heal up fast... using them over and over makes it very boring and also makes them very unpredictable/dangerous.

one last thing... if you're in the right place when it blasts the fireball straight on, run to it's head from the side... you can draw attack and roll straight on out the way.

Main thing is not to be greedy/careless... never carve the tail untill it moves area... only take meds/use items if you know you have enough time... if not then just dodge it's attacks untill you have got time. learn it's attacks and you can learn to avoid them... block it's scream if you have your weapon out... if not dive out the way.

... hope this helps... also I find it more fun to play online... PS3 + Adhoc party = pure win.

I want this and Crisis Core on my PSP, just as soon as I get a job... which it appears is more easily said than done... 4 months later and still nothing... well I may get an interview if someone would stop messing me around on the phone telling me they'll call me back later... grrrr!!!

but yeah the PSP is great and I still got GTA to keep me going...

there are a lot of great games on the PSP... I'd die without it, lol... but yeah the new PSP slim has some pretty nifty features... so after buying a car... & a PS3... I may try to get a new PSP... depends on how things go...

I love FFVIII, 'tis my favurate game!!! so yeah the draw system was a little strange, but ya get used to it and the stories great... I like Nomura's 'generic style' as you seem to call it... personally I havn't noticed that many characters that look the same, okay there are set roles that are repeated, but thats just like, the hero, the 'Selphie' character, lol... but his styles pretty darn great... he makes a better character designer than Amano, but Amano has some pretty great artisitic talent, I especially like his FFX work... if you ask me I'd say that FFXII was very Final Fantasy, I liked it, but the story was a little simple, but I guess thats what happens when Sakaguchi isn't there anymore... lol found it funny that they put his name in the credits even though he claims to despise FFXII... lol.

anywho, FFVIII FTW!!!

yeah very exited about FFXIII!!! and the whole series... I really like the whole FFVII compilation thing, so this'll be interesting to see how they actually link them together (I have a feeling that there will be more than just common mythos.) but yeah on the whole arguement, Uematsu is the best composer in my oppinion, some of the FFXII soundtrack was pretty good I especially liked the Salikawood music... but on a whole there were a few rather naff ones on there, I mean they totally screwed the chocobo music... best track ever is the Black mages version of 'Force your way' I'm currently trying to learn that on guitar... Uematsu has allways been there and it's a real shame to see him not there anymore, but the same goes for Sakaguchi leaving, I guess we just have to move on and hope for some good games... oh and who said that a good story doesn't make a good game??!! 'cos although true, the Final Fantasy series is all about the advanced story, the first FF was amazing for it's time and is still fun to play. Sakaguchi himself said that he didn't think he could make a good action game, so he created the amazing stories instead! so far I've only found one FF I didn't like and that was X-2... it had it's qualities, but A> it ignored the prequel and B> the visual style was pretty naff, I mean Rikku has to put on extra clothes to go for a swim!?!?!?! that tells you theres something wrong... I prefered the FFX designs... anywho nice talking to ya'all!

FFVIII rules!!! love stories FTW!!!

lol, groovy idea, the screenshot looked quite funny, and I think you should definately keep those battle commands, hehe... but yeah, have you thought about maybe having flashbacks into clouds past (I know there were some, but I mean go into more depth like Crisis Core style, lol) and thats where you could put sephiroth in as a playable character...

as for the remake though, have you gotten permission from Square Enix saying that you can steal their ideas, because if you havn't then they can sue you... nice idea though, if ya want some 3d cinimatics for this game I can use 3ds Max, if you can put the viedeos togather...

First FF... X

Fave FF... VIII (loved the story and the charcters)

although all FF seems to do these days is make people argue, but I like all of them :)