Topic: Final Fantasy VII, IX, X, X-2 and XII - Now with 80% more FF VIII

Ok, I’m level 24 in Final Fantasy XII. Just made it to the jungle past the Osmone Plain. Starting to deck out my gambits more. Really liking this system.

@RR529
I think you’ll love it. The remaster looks great. FFX, FFX-2 and FFXII hold up very well to modern games.

And the turn based combat is refreshing. I love me a good turn based combat game every now and then. And as you know, FFX is creme de la creme of the turn based JRPG genre.

@JaxonH The system just gets better the further in you get.

Golmore Jungle? Here's an easy way to make a lot of coin, unless they've changed something in this remaster: there should be panthers there that you can kill. Their pelts sell for 400 or so gil a pop. You can respawn them by zoning back through Ozmone Plain and then back into the jungle again.

@Ralizah
On it. I just noticed that too. The Coerls or whatever they’re called (look like those things from Avatar). Also the bridge in Lusu mines is great for leveling up quickly, and the Trial Mode is great for maxing LP quickly.

Have 2 double LP accessories and 1 double XP. Been giving the LP rings to Penelo (white mage) and Ashe (black mage) since the mages typically need more gambits and spells and things of that nature off the license board.

I don't think they really care about FF8 that much. They almost never talk about it.

Rumor has it that one has problems related to its soundtrack.

They even removed the main song, the one with vocals, from final fantasy theathrythm by the time they released the third game in that series.

And the version they have in their distant worlds music collection features no lyrics at all.

@Morpheel
Why don't SquareEnix cover the song of Eyes on Me by another singer ?
Maybe another singer can do better job and SquareEnix can revive the sounds data from PS1 version to be used for Remastered version, unlike PC and Steam version that using crappy MIDI version.

Just finished the section on the Leviathan. This game is WAY easier than I remember. Am I just way better at video games, or have they rebalanced it to be easier?

I think I'm going to slow down a bit once the game opens up more. I really don't feel like I need to rush through this one. This is one of those games I want to really, fully complete. Even moreso than last time. I'm going to kill Yiazmat this go around.

I gotta say, I thought I would completely ignore the 2x speed mode, but I've been leaving it on more often than not. It makes getting through long stretches of nothing so much snappier.

Ya, I leave the 2X speed mode on permanently. For a game like FFX it’s not really needed, since you only ever journey down the linear path. But in a game like FFXII, you do tons of backtracking and tons of exploring. So the speed mode makes a huge difference.

I’ve only used the 4X speed mode twice, to loop circles and recover MP for Ashe/Penelo early game. Aside from that it’s 2X all the way.

Just made it to Mt Bur-Omisace and am now headed through Paramina Rift to the Stilshrine of Miriam (man it’s hard keeping up with these names). Level 29 across the board.

I tell ya, that last boss in the Forest with the spore attack... oh. My. Goodness. Every status effect known to man. Confuse. Blind. Oil. Poison. Sap. On. And on. And on. My whole entourage was in disarray covered in darkness, HP in freefall with these gosh dang squiggle marks above their heads attacking each other, little junior over there is getting KO’d every 15 seconds ... I don’t know how I made it out of that place alive

2x speed is the main reason I bought the FF12 remaster.
It's a massive benefit to the game.

Estersands phoenix down farming is better than ever with 4X speed and this version's substantially reduced load times.

For anyone struggling to figure stealing into their gambit list, try this:

Foe: HP = 100% --> Steal
Foe: HP < 90% --> Attack

Your thief now efficiently steals from enemies at the beginning of a fight, but doesn't keep trying to rob them blind once the fight gets going proper.

Dont even have to do <90%, even attack nearest enemy or party leader target should do. As long as health isn't 100%, it'll skip the steal command.

@JaxonH I made a change so that I keep stealing from enemies with 90% or more HP. Functionally equivalent with normal enemies, but it gives me more opportunities to loot elite marks and bosses with large HP pools.

@Ralizah
Ya I originally tried the > 70% steal and < 70% Attack, but eventually decided on the 100% attack so that my second slot would be Attack Party Leader Target.

It just comes down to preference really. I may give that a try for some bosses though. I hate only trying once and if you fail, that’s it. It’s fine when you’re dealing with normal enemies because sheer numbers are in your favor, but for boss battles not so much. Usually just manually steal for bosses though.

Just reset my license board for Basch, so I could change from Uhlan/Machinist to Uhlan/Knight, so I could assign the second Esper to him and gain Esuna, Curaga, etc. My white mage Penelo was, by chance, also my knight, and already had those spells, so I would have gained nothing by giving the Esper to her.

@JaxonH Life is going to be a lot easier for my Shikari Thief Vaan once I get the thief's cuffs. I'm a bit salty that I missed out on the Wyvern Lord's rare drops, but oh well. I REALLY want to steal an entire Genji Armor set, though.

I'm glad re-classing has been added to this version. It just makes sense, considering how big this game is on customizing and optimization.

I am disappointed that they apparently replaced the Demonsbane Sword in the Tomb of Raithwall, though. It always felt like a cool little reward for being able to kill that first Demon Wall fast enough. It was replaced with a single use mote item. Not nearly as cool.

Are you just going to town on a single party, or keeping levels consistent between your characters? I'm finding the portability very useful for grinding sessions where I level up characters I haven't used in a while.

I wish they'd made FF12 fully open world in the remaster. Shouldn't have been too hard. All those loading screens are annoying nowadays.

@Dezzy
If FF XII = Full Open World without separated Active areas, some enemies like Wraith / Reaper / Ghost will keep chasing you no matter how far you have run.

@Anti-Matter

I feel like enemies are always chasing me anyway. But emotionally.

@Ralizah
I couldn't get that first demon wall. Then again I only tried once. Doesn't seem like I missed much as a result.

Definitely who party. Which, I may be over leveled cause I just took out the Judge up at Mt Bur Ominece without breaking a sweat. Worked on his health bar a bit and a single quickening chain (albeit a good, long one with arc blast at the end) took the remaining 60% of his health bar.

Got my copy of X/X-2 HD in today! Hearing that somber soundtrack during the opening cut scene was such a huge nostalgia kick. It's taking a bit longer to really get into the meat of it than I remember (I just arrived on the Al Bhed ship after they capture Tidas at the ruins), but I'm looking forward to meeting up with the main bulk of the cast soon. Looks really good cleaned up, too.