SSS is all critical with no equipment I think.

All Critical with no equipment for an SSS.

Gonna take a while to get all characters to 99 with no Experience boosting abilities.

No wonder it's taking me so long. I didn't even realise I had all these experience scrolls in my inventory. haha I'm still roughly level 50 for the default characters.

I have Warrior of Light, Cecil, Terra, Cloud, Rydia, Aerith, Vivi and Cosmos on 99.
Currently got Kain on 27, Sephiroth on 26 and both Yuna and Ashe on 25.
That means I still have like 17 characters on level 1 I think. D:

Aww I want Kain so bad. What colour is his crystal? I don't think I've seen a silhouette that looks like him yet.

I unlocked my first secret character last night (I spend most of my time in challenge mode). It's so funny how Cid has no weapon and punches things instead. His tripping and victory animation cracks me up as well.

Thanks! and I never used experience scrolls either o.o I have one character at Level 99 so far. I've been rotating them fairly often.

@cc-plus Kain is Navy shards.
I found those to be the hardest to find.

I've only found them from a couple of really tough dark notes.
That means you need a strong, well set up party to make sure you have enough agility to make it to Boss #3 and that you're strong enough to kill the boss in time to get an item.

@Millenia: I rotate everyone because I don't want to leave anyone behind. I'm fond of my Firion, Terra, Cloud and Shantotto party though. I haven't played FFII or FFXI before but they're adorable! Firion's stats are really nice.

@BenAV: I thought the rainbow shards would be hardest but I've found 2 of those and no navy shard. Rainbow sounds more special lol. Looks like I'll have to play more chaos shrine with a set party. I swap a lot so sometimes I go in with a really weak party that's mainly useful for FMS. XD

I think the rotation allows for a more diverse experience. I've never played FFXII (I own it though!) but Vaan has definitely been in my party the longest xD Love him! I think I'll try FFXII out tomorrow. This game has had me interested in playing FF games, ones old to me and ones new to me. I just bought FF1 for PSP actually and I'm really enjoying it. I wish you could change it to NES sound though! D:

@cc-plus I found a note that gave Rainbow shards pretty early so I unlocked Cosmos pretty early.
Navy and Black are the tough ones it seems.

It really helps to have a good level 99 party for the harder dark notes.
You only need one character with good agility I'm pretty sure, then you can just set them as your leader and it makes the FMS part easy as long as you don't miss.
Then when you get to the battle stages it seems to help to have characters with a lot of Strength (moves like Strength Up work great).
Just make sure you don't end up with a character using Strength Up in FMS because it means they have terrible agility.

@Millenia: Funny thing is, I bought a PS2 from a classified ad recently just to play FFXII! I've heard all sorts of good things about it and I'm high on political stories after finishing Radiant Historia. I've only played 5 hours but it feels very different from previous FF games. I've always loved the world of Ivalice in the FF Tactics games.

This is the first time I've listened to the original NES and SNES sounds. It feels like a whole new experience since I started off with the GBA ports.

@BenAV: Thanks for the tips! I keep the high agility leader for FMS already but I should have realised I'd get better shards after getting the 'Beat 7+ enemies in one BMS' trophy last night.

@cc-plus You've heard good things about it? I didn't know that people liked it! I know that people HATED FF13 so I thought the same about 12. I'd like to try 13 for myself some day, The Sunleth Waterscape is definitely my favorite track to play, and I've never even played FF13! I just love it. I've only completed 3, 4, and 7 D: So I need to get into the series a bit more.

Actually it's not my first time hearing the NES music, I've just ever been exposed to 1 and 2 at all! I have listened to its music before though. The fan translation of FF3 (NES) was the first game I ever emulated on a computer. This was before FF3 DS was even announced! I have really special memories with FF3 so it's my favorite. :3 I definitely prefer the NES music over the DS music for sure.

@Millenia: It depends on who you talk to. Some people hate everything after 10 while others hated 10 and thought 12 was a step in the right direction. 13 seems to be unanimously hated though but it has nice music and I'd like to give it a try. 'Blinded by Light' is my favourite so far. You should really try FF6! You'll feel right at home having experienced FF4 and FF7. It's one of the more story-driven FFs and has one of the most well-loved soundtracks.

I should hunt down FF3 DS then, it's been a while since I've played an FF with a job system.

@cc-plus: Oh I see, so fans are pretty divided huh? I need to experience the other titles to form my own opinions. FF6 is definitely considered one of the best so I'm going to look into that really soon. Right now I'm concentrating on FF1 for PSP! I really like "Blinded by Light" as well! Definitely look into FF3! The story isn't that elaborate due to it originating as an NES game, but the job system is a lot of fun!

Stupid EMS, I always seem to struggle with my timing on them for some reason and it makes it really tough to get all critical.

Just managed to get my first SSS on a series though (although just a basic course).

I've put at least 15 hours into this game, and yet Vivi still feels so far away.

Some seriously great DLC tracks coming this week. Including my favourite FF1 tune

@RevolverLink Just find one easy dark note that gives away the right shards and just do it over and over again until you get enough.
It usually doesn't take too long to get all eight I find.

What's the selection this week?

I finally have a party consisting of Locke, Vivi, and Faris. Now I just need Minwu....