Game Debate #182: Final Fantasy

[T-Pac | 7,543]

@Gloves - great point! I'm definitely not gonna tackle Final Fantasy this year, but whenever I do I'll be sure to bug you and the rest of VGS (@CMR already here with the strats haha) to help me along and make it an interactive thing.

[T-Pac]

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

10 hours ago, T-Pac said:

I've tried playing Final Fantasy a couple of times, but always got bored or frustrated pretty early-on.

That being said - is there a party-lineup that I could use to steamroll my way through the game? Or are all the combinations pretty similarly balanced?

I want to finish this one someday just for its significance in "classic gaming" (even though I don't like actually playing RPGs haha).

[T-Pac]

You seriously just want to beat the game as quickly and painlessly as possible?  Do this: two fighters and two red mages.  Seriously, you'll rip the game a new one.

More advice; only read this if you want it even easier: make sure both red mages get the spells: FAST (that's haste), FIR2, LIT2, and a bunch of CURE spells, and leave a level one spell slot open until AFTER class change so you can go back to the first town in the game and pick up RUSE for all four party members.  On every boss battle after that, triple RUSE the whole party (this means using the first three turns of the battle casting RUSE) and you'll be 99% unhittable for physical attacks.  Then FAST everyone and watch the bosses fall before you can even finish buffing.  There are a ton of other little tricks, but just knowing the above will get you through the game pretty painlessly... 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Dr. Morbis

[Pojosama | 1]

I gave this game an 8. It opened young me up to a world of great RPG's I love the custom characters and the feel of the game overall. Its not my favorite Final Fantasy but it still stands the test of time in my opinion. 

[T-Pac | 7,543]

10 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

You seriously just want to beat the game as quickly and painlessly as possible?  Do this: two fighters and two red mages.  Seriously, you'll rip the game a new one.

More advice; only read this if you want it even easier: make sure both red mages get the spells: FAST (that's haste), FIR2, LIT2, and a bunch of CURE spells, and leave a level one spell slot open until AFTER class change so you can go back to the first town in the game and pick up RUSE for all four party members.  On every boss battle after that, triple RUSE the whole party (this means using the first three turns of the battle casting RUSE) and you'll be 99% unhittable for physical attacks.  Then FAST everyone and watch the bosses fall before you can even finish buffing.  There are a ton of other little tricks, but just knowing the above will get you through the game pretty painlessly... 

Dude - this sounds like the perfect strategy for me haha. Cheesing the game, but still getting to experience all the content and a bit of the class-system.

I copied this into my notes for future reference. Thanks!

[T-Pac]

[Khromak | 768]

I've beaten it a few times, including some challenges like single class runs. It's got a lot of novel ideas, reasonably interesting story notes, love the graphics and sound, but unfortunately it's just SUPER buggy and horribly balanced. The spell and item systems are just too unwieldy, poorly thought out, and buggy.

Even when compared to its contemporaries, it's just not as good from a combat mechanics perspective (IMO).

I gave it a 6 because I think it's still worth playing and you might even enjoy a couple/few play-throughs, but it's not my favorite game and I don't feel an urge to go back and play it again on a regular basis.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Ehhh I've always stuck to the Fighter, Thief, W and B Mages, just find the whole setup more enjoyable, even if it's not as easy as some builds let alone cheesing it like the post a few up.  The B Belt/Monk is fine, and it speeds it along a bit not needing to buy stuff, but I enjoy the fast rate of the thief, but more so when the guy goes Ninja after the class change.  I've never found much I've liked about the red mage, can't get the best spells which I'm not a fan of, nor can it use the better upper end of the weapon and armor stuffs either.  Both a jack of all trades, but not given they cap out before becoming exceptional at anything.

[RH | 4,903]

On 12/17/2023 at 2:56 AM, Dr. Morbis said:

You seriously just want to beat the game as quickly and painlessly as possible?  Do this: two fighters and two red mages.  Seriously, you'll rip the game a new one.

More advice; only read this if you want it even easier: make sure both red mages get the spells: FAST (that's haste), FIR2, LIT2, and a bunch of CURE spells, and leave a level one spell slot open until AFTER class change so you can go back to the first town in the game and pick up RUSE for all four party members.  On every boss battle after that, triple RUSE the whole party (this means using the first three turns of the battle casting RUSE) and you'll be 99% unhittable for physical attacks.  Then FAST everyone and watch the bosses fall before you can even finish buffing.  There are a ton of other little tricks, but just knowing the above will get you through the game pretty painlessly... 

 Well, if we're going to talk about ways to cheeze through RPGs, you guys got any ways to decimate FF VI.  I just started it up and I am bound and determined to finally play this game and beat it before 2024.

I'm not interested in experiencing everything this game has to offer, which is how I use to try and finish RPGs.  However, I've skipped over, quit and restarted this one too many times to count and it's high time I finally play and beat this game.

EDIT

Note, I'm at the river now and I'm well aware that you can spam the battles to get a bunch of XP.  I figured I'd next/tap through that for a few hours.  I'm going to try and get my team up to 1,000 HP because I want to lightening through this game as much as I can.  I can tap buttons while I work without paying much attention to keep the auto-battles going.

Edited December 18, 2023 by RH

[Reed Rothchild | 9,526]

The biggest cheese is using vanish and X-Zone.  Believe it works against many bosses too.  There's several variations of it too, it's been too long for me to remember the particulars, but I'm sure it's all over the internet.

You can use espers to buff your stats, so I'd focus your efforts on building a superteam that you roll through most of the game with.

You can use a guide to find the best equipment and espers too.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

I remember you can get genji gloves and various items to max out like 9999HP physical damage with a bit of work.  Since everyone can just be a clone of another you can get a short list of buffs coupled with cures to hand around, and then get Ultima and a couple others and just wreck stuff like its no ones business.  Cacatuars the little cactus dudes pop up at this one area fairly constant and they give a lot of points that just boost the job levels the fastest as well to get into those things.