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The Official Final Fantasy Series Challenge

Kago

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Banner-dissidia-final-fantasy-4219662-500-60.jpgFinal Fantasy Series ChallengeBanner-2-dissidia-final-fantasy-4219752-500-70.jpg


Rules:



  • This challenge will begin at 12:00:00 AM EST on May 24th, 2013 and run until 11:59:59 AM EST on December 31st, 2013
  • No save states
  • No cheating devices
  • No altering game code
  • No rewinding game time
  • No using New Game+
  • Must play the original versions of the game (Links to ROMs will be provided)
  • Must post evidence to receive credit/points; no evidence = no points

Evidence:

  • Must name first nameable character with the signifying code/mark posted below
  • Must provide screen capture or photo (cell phones have cameras now) of initial start/naming of character (with code/mark) and of the final play time.
    • If capturing the final playtime is not possible physically possible - depending on the game - you must perform this capture using your last save and add the correct time.
  • Must post capture or photo for any and all challenges you complete. If its not possible to catch the killing blow, the text/story/visuals post-defeating the enemy is sufficient

Code/Mark

Place the following mark in the first, namable main character's name:

The CODE is MD

Those two letters must be placed in the name or else the gameplay does not count.



Play times and Scoring:

Two versions of scoring will be tracked based on in game play time using three tiers (meaning, don’t leave your game running if you aren’t playing). Additionally, whoever completes each game with the fastest play time (IG) will receive an additional 200 pts for that game.

Sequential Order Path (SOP)

The following charts outline the play time and scoring for playing the games in sequential number order. If you start down this path but then jump to a different game in the list, you shall only receive the SOP points for the games you completed in order. Even if you return to the correct order AFTER beating a single game out of order, you have lost any rights to the extra points by deviating from the path.

Times (In hours and minutes)




























































































Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
FF1
< 11
11:00 to 18:00
=> 18:01
FF2
< 15
15:00 to 25:00
=> 25:01
FF3
< 25
25:00 to 36:00
=> 36:01
FF4
< 16
16:00 to 26:00
=> 26:01
FF5
< 20
20:00 to 39:00
=> 39:01
FF6
< 23
23:00 to 34:00
=> 34:01
FF7
< 17
17:00 to 38:00
=> 38:01
FF8
< 25
25:00 to 42:00
=> 42:01
FF9
< 27
27:00 to 45:00
=> 45:01
FF10
< 32
32:00 to 51:00
=> 51:01
FF10-2
< 17
17:00 to 37:00
=> 37:01
FF12
< 30
30:00 to 53:00
=> 53:01
FF13
< 26
26:00 to 51:00
=> 51:01
FF13-2
< 18
18:00 to 26:00
=> 26:01



Scoring












Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
400 Pts
275 Pts
150 Pts


Note:
For Final Fantasy XIII-2, defeating Caius/Final Boss and achieving only the "End of Time" ending are the ONLY requirements for considering it beaten. Should you choose to perform other challenges, the new ending time will overwrite your initial time for scoring purposes.


Any Order Path (AOP)


The following charts outline the play time and scoring for playing the games in any order. While you do not receive extra points for completing the games in order, you are allowed the freedom to revisit the games in any order you wish.

Times (In hours and minutes)




























































































Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
FF1
< 11
11:00 to 18:00
=> 18:01
FF2
< 15
15:00 to 25:00
=> 25:01
FF3
< 25
25:00 to 36:00
=> 36:01
FF4
< 16
16:00 to 26:00
=> 26:01
FF5
< 20
20:00 to 39:00
=> 39:01
FF6
< 23
23:00 to 34:00
=> 34:01
FF7
< 17
17:00 to 38:00
=> 38:01
FF8
< 25
25:00 to 42:00
=> 42:01
FF9
< 27
27:00 to 45:00
=> 45:01
FF10
< 32
32:00 to 51:00
=> 51:01
FF10-2
< 17
17:00 to 37:00
=> 37:01
FF12
< 30
30:00 to 53:00
=> 53:01
FF13
< 26
26:00 to 51:00
=> 51:01
FF13-2
< 18
18:00 to 26:00
=> 26:01



Scoring











Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
300 Pts
200 Pts
100 Pts



Note: For Final Fantasy XIII-2, defeating Caius/Final Boss and achieving only the "End of Time" ending are the ONLY requirements for considering it beaten. Should you choose to perform other challenges, the new ending time will overwrite your initial time for scoring purposes.



Additional Point Opportunities (APO)

In addition to points for beating each game in various times, you can receive additional points for various “quests” or “achievements”. Those APO are outlined below:


Beat (Insert Game Here) with ‘100%’ Completion

By meeting the ‘100%’ Completion requirements listed below, you shall receive a bump to the next tier’s points. If you have beaten the game with ‘100%’ completion under tier 1 time, you shall receive an extra 125 pts for Sequential Order Path or an extra 100 pts for Any Order Path.

Example:
Beating FF1 through FF5 + finishing FF5 with all the requirements below with a time of 38:21 = 400 pts

Requirements

FF1

FF1:
NOT APPLICABLE
FF2

FF2:
NOT APPLICABLE
FF3

FF3:
NOT APPLICABLE
FF4

FF4:
NOT APPLICABLE
FF5

FF5:

Collect the 12 Legendary weapons

Collect every spell in the game


FF6

FF6:

Collect every spell in the game

Obtain all Espers

FF7

FF7:

Recruit Vincent

Recruit Yuffie

Obtain all limit breaks (INCLUDING Aerith/Aeris final limit break)

Obtain all Materia

Obtain all Ultimate Weapons

Breed a Gold Chocobo

Obtain at least 1 Master Materia

Purchase the Villa Cloud in Costa del Sol

FF8

FF8:

Obtain all GFs

Obtain all final Limit Breaks

Complete Blue Magic List

Obtain all final weapons

FF9

FF9:

Beat the Treno shop monster challenge/game

Deliver and Read all Mognet Letters

Complete Blue Magic/Quina’s Ability List

Obtain best weapons in the game for each character (minus Excaliber II for Steiner)

Collect all 24 Chocographs

FF10

FF10:

Obtain all Aeons

Collect all Ultimate Weapons

Find all Al Bhed Books

Obtain best Overdrives

Complete one full sphere grid for at least one character


FF10-2

FF10-2:

100% Story Completion / Perfect Ending

FF12

FF12:

Unlock all Quickenings

Obtain all Espers

Complete all 45 Marks/Hunts

Collect the Zodiac Spear

FF13

FF13:

5-Star all Marks

FF13-2

FF13-2:

Defeat the four bosses in Archylte Steppe

Resolve all paradoxes and achieve the 'True' Ending




Beat at least 1 optional boss per game

By completing this challenge, you will receive 500 pts added to your total. Only the games you complete will count towards this APO.

Example: Date of Final Challenge Day passes and you only beat FF5 through FF8. If you defeated at least 1 optional boss in each of those games, you receive the 500 points.

A list of possible optional bosses is displayed below:

FF1

FF1:
NONE
FF2

FF2:
NONE
FF3

FF3:
NONE
FF4

FF4:
NONE
FF5

FF5:
Omega
Shinryu

FF6

FF6:
Deathgaze
FF7

FF7:
Emerald Weapon
Ruby Weapon
FF8

FF8:
Ultima Weapon
Omega Weapon
FF9

FF9:
Ozma
Quale
Tantarian
FF10

FF10:
Ultima Weapon
Omega Weapon

FF10-2

FF10-2:
Trema
Angra Mainyu
FF12

FF12:
Yiazmat
Omega Mark XII
Ultima; Zodiark
FF13

FF13:
Vercingetoix
Long Gui
FF13-2

FF13-2:
Long Gui
Yomi
Raspatil



Hard Mode

Each game will be given a single, difficult challenge to accomplish. Most of these tie into beating the game; however, since you miss out on the "100%" Completion APO for most of these, you'll receive 500 pts for each of these.

FF1

FF1

Four White Mages challenge.

FF2

FF2

- Blank -

FF3

FF3

- Blank -

FF4

FF4

- Blank -

FF5

FF5

- Blank -


FF6

FF6

No Espers and only magic with characters who learn magic naturally

FF7

FF7

Beat the game with Initial Equipment, No Materia, Initial Limit (IE/NM/IL)

FF8

FF8

Beat the game with no junctioning (NJ)


- Meaning, you can only equip GFs for the commands in battle; you can't add magic to any stats, cannot use magic, and cannot summon GFs


FF9

FF9

Excalibur II Challenge (E2)


- Basically, get to the games final dungeon under 12 hours to make Steiner's best weapon appear.


FF10

FF10

No Sphere Grid (NSG)

Self-explanatory; can't use the sphere grid at all


FF10-2

FF10-2

- Blank -

FF12

FF12

No License Board and Low-Level Challenge (NLB/LLC)

- Can't use License Board and must keep characters under level 8
- 2 exceptions:
- Vaan must buy Accessories 1 during the tutorial
- Basch must buy Belias to open the Gigas gate. Belias is not allowed to be summoned in battle until after opening the Gate.

FF13

FF13

No Crystarium Usage (NCU)

Self-explanatory; can't use Crystarium

FF13-2

FF13-2

No Crystarium Usage (NCU)

Self-explanatory; can't use Crystarium




Non-Numbered Games

For those wishing to play games not in the progressive number order, you can beat the ones listed below with their requirements:

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core






Tier 1

< 15
Tier 2

15:00 to 34:00
Tier 3

=> 34:01













Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
300 Pts
200 Pts
100 Pts




Best Generation

Basically, if you beat all the games in a single group below, you will receive an additional 200 pts. You can beat as many groups as you want. (Most possible points for beating all 5 generation groupings is 1000 pts.)

1st Generation (NES)

Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III

2nd Generation (SNES)

Final Fantasy IV (II in NA)
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI (III in NA)

3rd Generation (PS)

Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX

4th Generation (PS2)

Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XII

5th Generation (PS3/Xbox 360)

Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII-2



Rewards

To figure out the winner of the overall challenge, we will examine each point category and tally up the points. The person with the most points will be declared the winner of the challenge and shall receive the reward below:

1st Place: 3000 Kan

2nd Place: 2000 Kan

3rd Place: 1000 Kan
 
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Final Fantasy One
Part One:

It was a dark time in the land of Gaia. Decay had set upon the land, the cold waters staled with bitterness, the wind howled eerie with foreboding and the warmth of the world dying with each passing day. The land of Cornelia was in shock from the recent kidnapping of their lovely and fair Princess Sara by the benevolent king's former Captain of the Guards, Garland the Black Knight. But lo, in the distance four tall shadows cast upon land. Four grand warriors from lands afar walked into the once joyed town.

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The noble Warrior known only by the strange tattoo upon the back of his palm, MD01, with his blazing auburn hair and battleworn blade. The darkly clad Mage of the Black, Zalin, whose name was whispered in the wind as one who would one day be the greatest of archmages. The daring and agile Treasure Acquisition Engineer, Tobi, that gave nod and smile upon every beautiful woman whom they strided past. And last yet never least, the swordsman of the long thought dead order of the Crimson Arcane Swordsmen, Koji. Before going to the lair of the Black Knight, the four soon to be heroes made a stop at a few local distributers of wares for which they required replenishments from their journey to Cornelia.

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Once finished with refilling their supplies, the warriors took to the field again. Onwards to the distant Temple of Fiends. On the way, armies of Imps stood before the heroes intending to stop them from this their first quest. However, before the powers of Zalin and Koji, they never stood a chance.

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Taking off once again after defeating the droves of imps, the companions soon found the very Gods themselves set to challenge them. For no soon than an hour, they were enbattled again. This time by a mad creature, a Brony.

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After a long struggle, the Brony did fall. But agile Tobi was injured beyond Koji's skills. Lucky for them a nearby Shrine of Bahamut held the answers to their problem.

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After a quick ritual by the attending cleric, and a small yet annoying mandantory donation, Tobi was back on his feet. Good thing they had a spare potion, cause the shrine brand costs a larger donation, and MD01 refused to pay for the watered down drink. Back to the road, the warrior fought more imps until the evil temple was in close view. Once there, Zalin pointed. "The Black Knight means business, he's sent out Undead."

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With MD01 and Tobi taking the front, Koji and Zalin blazed the undead with spells as support. Rushing forward and into the Temple, they met the nefarious Knight clad in Black. "I am Garland. And I shall knock you down!"

MD01 crossed swords with the knight, while Tobi went for attacks of sneaking. Koji healed the wounds, but it was Zalin's lightning that finished the job. The Black Knight was bested, by a Party of Level Three, something not even Cad could do. Taking Princess Sara back to Cornelia, the King greeting them with congratulations and the Princess in turn rewarded them. "What the hell do we do with a lute?" Koji sighed as the King also declared the finishing of the bridge which had been suspended by the fair Princess's kidnapping.


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Taking back to the road and across the bridge, the heroes were met once more with opposition most foul. This time a Giant and a beast most ugly.

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After felling the monsters, Koji pointed to a mountain most ominous. "Let us try there next." Battle and battles later, they came to the towering range and entering a cave found the lair of the Seer Witch, Montoya. "I have lost my crystal, oh how can I see again?" "How about we go get, we specialize in finding and returning." Tobi laughed as they accepted the job.

Heading for the nearest port city, Zalin heard a thunderous clamour heading their way. From the distance a force of more Bronies came, intending revenge for their fallen comrade.

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"We real need to stop running into these guys." MD01 wiped his brow when the battle was down. Finally to the port, they found the city overrun with pirates galore. Finding the captain, they demanded them to leave. "I be Cap'n Bikke, and I says when we leave. Shiver their timbers, boys, and all that cliche talk."

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"I got these ones." Koji declared with a chuckle. "Here have a light."

Falling like rock of the nonbird kind, the Pirates groaned in pain. "We surrender, we surrender, just let us be on our way. No more pirating for us, take the bloody ship for yourselves!"

"I hear Elfland has knowledge on magical things." Zalin said as they looked over their new prize. "Maybe they know how to find the crystal."

Setting sail to the south, all was well. That is until the deep ones jumped from the waters onboard. Felling the sea beasts, to the warriors' surprise, a strange flying shark came onto the deck.

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When the surprise encounter was finished, they set on the seas again. Tobi placing a foot upon the corpses of the sea monsters. "Who would have thought we'd need to face a shark."
 
Since no one else has posted any evidence yet, I'll go ahead and drop this here.

Final_Fantasy_VII_Front_Page.jpg

I started up FF7 last night and only got to play an hour or so (check http://www.twitchtv.com/lazyguardian for my streaming/video evidence), but I must say I missed this game. Everything about it reminds me of my childhood, but now has a deeper meaning - especially since I fully understand its story through prequels and FF:AC.

But back to the task at hand... Here is my evidence for the beginning of the game:


c7.jpgff7s1.jpg


I will be naming my characters after HD PC's so if I use your name, please don't be mad! kthxbye!


Roster

Kago MD (Cloud)
Ciro (Barrett)
Lilith (Tifa)

Location in Game

Before 2nd Reactor Raid
 
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Let's do this. Right now I'm working on White Mage Challenge on Final Fantasy I. With any luck I can get through the first three games by the end of this contest, but I won't stop there if I manage it. I'm gonna game like my life depended on it man, to prove I'm the best. Or I might just do this in my spare time and prove I'm the average. Anywho, here's my progress below.

Of the Games Progess Below the following games don't seem to track time on their own.

Meticulously tracking my own time on:
Final Fantasy I


With any luck I will do more that one game, so I'll put these in spoilers to conserve space.

Final Fantasy I - White Mage Challenge

Current Game Time (hh:mm): 1:41

ffistart.png

6/1/2013
2:40pm - 3:31pm
Figured I would give this White Mage Challenge another go. I tried one years ago and got too frustrated near the end to finish it. I think this time though I can keep the patience and see it though to the end, assuming the final boss dies this time around like a good villain.

So what you see above is the character creations screen. They are going to die a lot so no one but Sorm got a real name, and that was just for further "Hey guys, I'm the one doing this" factor. It'll be nice to have my name on this when it's done.

Figured I would start off with some level grinding and some spell buying, so I grabbed myself some hammers for the poor, soon to be dead over and over again heroes of this tale as well as what cure spells I could afford so they die ever so slightly less. The main goal here is to get to roughly level three with Cure, Ruse, and Harm on all four mages. When I turned off the game, I was at level three on all of them and most of them had the spells they needed. Only ones to die were Sorm and --MD--, though I think Sorm died a couple times. Those damn Grimps and Madponys just wipe the floor with white mages this early. Minor set backs but I don't feel too much time was wasted on this.


ffiwtmage.png

6/2/2013
9:06am - 9:56am

So it occurred to me today that, while it isn't a whole lot of help, it might behoove me to to purchase some cloth armor for these fine fellows. I mean they are only going to dirty it up when they die, but perhaps they will die a tad bit less. So I added those to my list of things to get along with the couple of spells I had left to get. after about fifteen to twenty minutes I was good to go. Each mage had an Iron Hammer, Cloth Armor, and knew the spells Cure, Harm, and Ruse. Rather, for Run1 he learned it Cure, Ruse, and Harm. He always had to be different as a child. His brothers would be all "I want letters in my name," and he would be all "NUMBERS IN A NAME HELP WITH THE IMMERSION!" He liked to yell a lot too.

So, Garland, even for white mages he is a push over. After a Ruse or two he can't even touch you and then you can just start hammering away on him. Almost felt bad for the poor guy. But, then again I've played this game before.

Since --MD-- did such a good job of not dying, more so than his three brothers who didn't die either, I rewarded him with the Cap from the treasure chest off to the south west. Then we picked up the cabin and some drink from the north west chests before returning to the princess and her bats. I assume they are her bats anyway, Garland didn't take them with him and they seem pretty chill. Teleport back to the castle, proving that everything the Light Warriors just did was a waste of time because she could have left whenever, and pick up the Lute.

I decided I would take a side trip over the Matoya's cave and rummage though her personal belongings. Nothing like robbing someone blind! Ba-dum tish. *crickets* ... Moving on.

After all that I made it to Pravoka, with all four mages alive mind you. Last time I did this challenge I lost half my party because I couldn't run from shit. All in all, not shaping up to be a bad run.

 
Final Fantasy One
Part Two: The Evil Elf

Upon entering the Land of the Elves, our mighty Warriors of Light were met by a battalion of Giants. Possessing both size and strength greater than the noble heroes, they rushed to smash like a rampaging Hulk. Zalin, however, had other much fiery ideas.

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Defeating the monsters, Koji peered two castles in the distance. Coming to the closest, they soon found the Prince of the land in a deep trance of slumber. The Witch Matoya, the steward of the Prince explained, is said to hold the herb which can break the spell.

"Is she related to that Montoya chick we met?' the heroes whispered to themselves. "Maybe we should have listened when she gave her name..."

Moving on forward they came to the next castle. There they found what appeared to be the King.

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"Go to the Cave south, that Dark Elf Astos stole it and hid it there!" the King demanded.

"Does he not know who we are?" Koji whispered as they left. "And isn't it strange this kingdom has two Castles?"

Brave trials and horrors to get to the cave, they looted and burned their mark in the drab hole in the ground. Coming to a huge chest marked with a black elf giving a thumbs up, Tobi rushed to open it. The Wizards then teleported in.

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Beating the evil mages, they opened the mighty box. Inside was the crown and not really anything else.

"Astos is a prick, wasting that much of a treasure chest with a small crown." Tobi sighed as he also found a small note which outloud he began to read. "If you are reading this...please leave the crown. It is enough our noble guardian Wizards are now dead. The Evil that is Astos must not get this crown. Whatever he has offered you, it is most likely a lie."

Shrugging his shoulders in confusion, he left with his companions to return to the King.

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"Morons, I am Astos. Thanks for being henchmen, now you die!"

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"Fira!" Zalin yelled as the black elf pulled off his Elf King flesh mask. The Sub-par boss going down for the count.

"Hey look!" MD01 said as he picked up a crystal eye. "This must belong to that witch seer whatever her name is."

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Rushing back to the Witch's cave, they quickly made a deal for some herb.

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Back to Elfland, their ship starting to look like it needed some work, they gave the herb away tot eh Prince. Up and awake, the Prince said legend demanded he give away his special key.

"I hope this lets us get more loot." Tobi said as he put it in his pocket.

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Returning to Cornelia, they remembered a treasury they forgot to take some reward from. Inside they found great weapons. But most importantly, they found some TNT. On the way out of the town, they heard whispers of super swords in the Temple of Fiends. Making haste to the shabby lair formerly of the pitiful knight Garland, they did indeed frind the swords, as well as living Gargoyles.

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Taking out what seemed like an army of them, the Heroes decided to head west to the Land of the Dwarves.

Inside a Mountain Kingdom, they met a legendary Blacksmith claiming to be able to give them a legendary sword. All he would need would be the right ore.

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Heading further in, they met the mining foreman.

"I smell TNT, give it here boys. I'll make your lives easier, and open a sea canal!"

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Lighting the explosives, the crazed Dwarf covered his ears and let the TNT do it work. In mere minutes and a cave in, the Warriors exited to find the land south, now a canal.

"When in Rome, guys..." Koji shrugged as they headed back to their ship and sailed further through the canal.

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View attachment 861

My rendition will probably be a little boring, but here's a quick update on my progress. By update, I mean "mostly screenshots."

I've been half-hearted about renaming my characters, so most are the defaults.

Like Kago, this game... it really hits a nostalgic sweet spot. This was the first non-handheld videogame I actually owned. My NES was a hand-me-down/borrowed from my cousin, and most of the games were also borrowed or rented from Blockbuster. I had an original Gameboy with 4 games (Metroid II, Link's Awakening, Mortal Kombat 2, and Tetris). So when I got a Playstation for my birthday at 13, with Ridge Racer and FF7, I was psyched. So psyched that I played FF7 for like 6 hours straight despite the fact that my parents hadn't realized I needed a memory card, too (I knew it, but just figured I'd 'try it out a little bit').

FF7 is one of those love-it-or-hate-it deals. I think a lot of the hate is artificial ("It's popular, therefore I will hate it to avoid being sheeple!") and some of it is probably based on bad encounters with overly rabid fans, which is a shame. I can concede that it's not a game for everyone regardless. That said, even admitting to nostalgia playing a big part, I still hold this up as the best Final Fantasy experience I've had. The dismal attitude of Advent Children, the angsty drama of Dirge of Cerberus, and even the stellar-yet-relentlessly-depressing Crisis Core can really compare with the story-telling of the original game which knows when to be serious, when to be silly, how far to stretch credulity, and even when to make fun of itself.

But enough analysis, time for Will's Nostalgia Trip: Disc One

Oh! Also, since I've heard some people commenting that the Zack twist comes out of left field, I'm going to include a section at the bottom of this post specifically for all the Zack hintings thus far.

Roster

Cloud MD (Cloud)
Barrett
Ho (Tifa)
Aerith
Red XIII
Kyuto (Yuffie)
Cait Sith
Cid
Vincent

Location in Game

Disc Two (Frozen North)



"I will also accept Dr. Cloud."



First save, after figuring out how to add a memory card on the emulator. Woo.



I remember this scorpion mech being a lot harder. Taking advantage of the long-range, front-row/back-row mechanics, as well as the knowledge that conservation of MP wasn't a huge necessity, this thing dropped like a rock.



Ho joins the party. No, I don't like Tifa. No, you can't make me.



The first of many Zack hints, seen again below.

I regret not taking more screenshots during the whole Wall Market affair. I got all the fanciest items, so Cloud MD became Cloud-hime and got an invitation into Don Corneo's bedroom.

I actually forgot about screenshots for a long stretch here without realizing it. Cloud MD's an indecisive rebel. When assaulting Shinra tower, he went up the back way to sneakily grab that Elixir... and then said, "To hell with it all," and ran back down the 65 flights of stairs to bust in the front door. Bring it on!

Nabbed a Hardedge, added a tigerwolflion to the party -- Red XIII, lazy on nicknames again -- snagged all the hidden chests and goodies.



Eat it, Rufus.



Found out I kinda suck at the bike combat during the escape, so my party entered into that final boss battle at half-health. Made up for it by handily blowing that sucker away.

My party leaving Midgar:





Again, I left out the screenshots for a while. Kalm and the chocobo farm were uneventful. I grabbed Enemy Skills where I could -- Matra Magic, L4 Suicide, Chocobuckle -- including the awesome, can't-live-without, Beta. Elemental->Fire on Cloud's armor and it's off to face the Midgar Zolom! This was actually a frustration for an unexpected reason. I had not done any real farming or grinding at this point. I was wondering how much trouble I would have surviving the Zolom. Instead, I found myself continually killing it before it would use Beta!

So anyone who wants to know how to kill the Zolom: poison it. Poison that thing and then defend/heal yourself and let it waste sadly away. I eventually persevered by throwing potions and Cure spells at it until it hit me with Beta. Success!

I never did bother catching a chocobo. Even when I don't want to fight the zolom, it is pretty easy to run across the sand when he's on the south side of the swamp. Much easier than catching chocobos. And yet... I kept my Chocobo Lure equipped long enough to level it up to 3 stars. For later.

On through the Mithril Mines, picking up Flamethrower E-Skill and a Long-range Materia (seriously, love this thing, explanations later). Kyuto (Yuffie) joins the party and immediately replaces Barret as my long-range partner of choice.

Why long-range? My favored party setup is to have Cloud in the front row. He's the lead damage dealer... but not the tank. He's up front so he can dish out more damage to the enemies up front. My tank, usually Red XIII, is equipped with Cover and Long-Range, and situated on the back row. Summons and magic materia tend to decrease HP, but Red seems to have plenty to spare. Because he has a Cover materia, he takes the most hits, jumping in front of Cloud MD and Kyuto to protect them. In brilliant video-game logic, because he's on the back row, he takes reduced damage from melee attacks even when he jumps in front of Cloud, on the front row.

With the Long-range materia, I can keep my tank dealing full damage to all enemies. Since he's on the back row, he takes reduced damage. Win-win.

I prefer a pure long-range char for the third spot (Yuffie Kyuto, Vincent, Barret in a pinch) for similar reasons: I want them to deal full damage and take reduced damage.

This particular setup extends the survivability of my group, meaning less healing required and thus more hurting dished out.

Oh, remember how I mentioned not grinding up to that point?













I'm not ashamed.

...

Maybe a little.

Did the first Condor battle, went through Junon (parade was pretty lame, but I did the personal show for Rufus successfully and earned the Force Stealer sword). Zoom zoom zoom through Costa Del Sol, Corel, and the Gold Saucer. Haet Cait Sith. So much that I wouldn't rename him. I wouldn't insult anyone by doing such a thing.

In the prison, I usually have lots of trouble in the duel. Apparently my efforts to obtain all the LVL 3 Limits had an unintended side benefit. Barret vs Dyne, an epic battle of the ages that usually takes 5-10 minutes, was over in a single barrage of Ungarmax!

Farewell, crazy man.



Buggy time! This means backtracking to the eastern continent to get some Mythril and a Bolt Ring. Also snagged Big Guard and Healing Wind (thank you, Manipulate) E-Skills. And Aqualung. When I get Reflect, I will have so much fun with you.



I don't care if it makes sense, this is sadder than that other scene everyone else cries over. u.u

Quick trip back to Gongaga for more Zack spoilers. Also Odin.



Onward to Nibelheim! Ghosts and flying furniture and a safe with a terrifying mo-- oh, no, he went down pretty easy actually. Yay back-row strategy and Healing Wind.

Thus Red gets the first level 4 limit! Vincent joins the team. I was going to rename him, but when I thought about it, Vincent's most-common quote is "..." -- so really, who else could I name him after? Some interesting Zack spoilers in the basement that I never caught before.



Rocket Town, and the final teammate joins up. This was the opposite of Cait. I like this guy too much to rename him. So ultimately, I fail at making funny names.

Peace out, mid-continent!







Seems legit.



... Yeah okay, we'll go with that.



Nope, not at all. Watch all this not caring.



Still not caring. I'm just going to rescue you for the materia. It's not as if I like you or anything.





I feel like this is a quote from Naruto. Or maybe Naruto quoted Yuffie?



Not sure what's creepier: Corneo deciding on the 16-year-old girl over the blonde woman, or Yuffie adding the "you don't even have any materia!" complaint.



"I say this, and then I 'accidentally' hit you with a cure spell in our battle."



Whew. Thank you Doom of the Living, aka Omnislash Lite.

Helloo, All Creation, aka Hiryuugekizokushintenraihou.







I may have quoted this in my writing. Possibly. Maybe.

Ok, Cosmo Memory and All Creation in the bag, time to hand over that Mythril and get Great Gospel:



Then back to the Gold Saucer. After a set of frustrating but ultimately successful bouts at Rock-Paper-Scissors... I mean, the 3D Game Fighter, followed by less frustrating but still tedious basketball (and maybe a little Mog-housing and G-Biking), I walked out of the Wonder Square with about 650 GP.

I was prepared to spend all afternoon in the battle arena to get my Omnislash. The first, plot-match went without a hitch. With these handicaps, who could lose?

Lucky 7s, Cure, Cure, Cure, Cure, Cure, Lucky 7s -- I almost feel like the game's insulting my prowess here >.>'

After the plot match, the real matches had more real handicaps. Still, with some judicious use of Beta, Trine, Healing Wind, and X-potions (even downed a couple Elixirs), I actually cleared 5 full tournaments without dying, which took significantly less time than "a whole afternoon." Now with 53,000 BP at my disposal, I snagged the crown jewel of Limit Breaks:



*insert guitar riff*

On to the date. I'm a little disappointed here. I usually try to avoid the 'defaults' of Tifa or Aerith. I messed up somewhere, though, and was a little too nice to Aerith or maybe not nice enough to Yuffie and Barret. Then I realized, I've never actually seen the Aerith date, so it works out. And what do you know, more Zack spoilers.



Off to the Temple of the Ancients.



I just... I'm sorry, am I the only one that reads this now and hears this it in Firelord Ozai's voice?




You held a 4-year-old hostage to make us agree to this...



Wut.



I... I don't even...



I said I don't care about your feelings, woman!

Zack Hints





Aerith mentions the Mako glow in Cloud's eyes.



Aerith's foster mom mentions Aerith getting hurt again by a SOLDIER.













No subtlety there. "You remind me of my former boyfriend who was also a First class SOLDIER."



The first time we hear Zack's name.









Again, the similarities. Tifa also wigs out here (because she recognizes Zack as the SOLDIER who came to Nibelheim, but who Cloud seems to think he is).



Dammit, Cloud



In the Shinra mansion in Nibelheim. I missed screenshotting the first one, sorry.









Aside from one being blonde and the other raven-haired, sure. Close enough.









Aerith seems to recognize that Cloud isn't himself.
 
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