Final Fantasy Quest - Time for Dress-Up!

After 80-90ish hours in total, I finally 100% completed Final Fantasy X-2 a few days ago.

Whew, what an experience.

Final Fantasy X: Charlie's Angels Edition?

I think I had heard ABOUT the game previously, such as it being silly or not that great. I didn't realize what I'd be getting myself into. I can't give an award for the story, as much as I may have liked bits and pieces of it. Coming out of the relatively serious tone of Final Fantasy X, X-2 felt a bit like going from the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie to the third one. There are familiar faces, and there seem to be high stakes, but the tone is too lighthearted to take it seriously for very long.

"I guess I have no choice" -Dark Knight Paine

Where FF X-2 succeeds very well is the "job system" in the form of the dresspheres (DSP). Different Garment Grids can equip the DSPs, and provide differing benefits, like stat boosts, passive and active abilities, and new menu commands. Clearly, the coolest DSP is the Dark Knight, and the best ability to spam is their massively effective Darkness. And I suppose the Chemist's ability to pull healing potions out of nowhere is nice too.

Still, bits were odd or off. The "blocking" or certain characters, like Brother and Rikku, features them constantly flailing about or being awkward. I did find enjoyment in the story and characters overall. I suppose I have a weakness for getting into a game and just wanting to find out the mysterious backstories of all the characters.

Mini-games were hit-or-miss, and mostly miss. The "Gunner's Gauntlet" to finish one episode was annoying, and the Cactuar ones relied on reflexes that I didn't have (thankfully, losing them doesn't count against % completion). Sphere Break was fun once I understood it a bit, and I even beat the "harder" version of the match played against Shinra.

For completing it to get the true happy ending, I'd recommend using a guide and exhausting all story options before moving to side quests. I took a painstakingly long time to complete a particular side quest (that involved losing at certain mini-games in a certain location) only to discover three new story bits on the ship that I could probably have done instead.

I don't regret playing the game. My advice is similar to what I said for Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. The best bet is to either get it cheap or get it together with FF X in an HD collection. I'm still playing at it, many hours in, 80+ floors into the 100 floor optional dungeon.

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Image source: finalfantasy.wikia.com

Final Fantasy Quest - Gauntlet of the Past

I thought Final Fantasy IV: The After Years would break free from repetition at some point?

Ha! Wrong.

Now that I'm in the final dungeon(s), I've already seen major bosses and archfiends from FF IV (slightly excusable if the dungeon was different or new - it wasn't) and the elemental fiends from the original Final Fantasy. With the exception of Tiamat, the latter inter-game refights were pushovers.

Reading a little ahead in a walkthrough, I see that there are bosses from subsequent entries in the franchise. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing Gilgamesh, but having to slog through a bunch of others before and after him won't be fun.

Gilgamesh was not a pushover, but I still managed to triumph. After each of the fights, the party muses on who or what they just faced - for Gilgamesh, there is a more sympathetic tone to their thoughts of him. Thankfully, a few of the returning (super)bosses were optional, so I decided to skip them.

I wasn't really stuck on anything until Bahamut showed up. I took grinding a bit too far, maybe, and got 6 of my characters (since Rydia was required for the fight) up to level 99. Even then, the fight was no picnic. After this major hurdle, there were a few more uneventful floors until the final boss.

Taking a page out of Final Fantasy Legend's book, the final boss is "the Creator." However, following SNES FF standards, the fourth (final) form is a Gigeresque mass reminiscent of FF IV's Zeromus and FF V's Exdeath. He too wasn't a pushover, but fell within a few attempts. One escape sequence later, and I was finally finished.

Overall, it was a mixed experience. On the one hand, there were so many repeated story elements, bosses and locations. On the other hand, there were a few interesting story points and amusing moments. The band system was pretty cool, once I got a few to use. (My theory will be that sequel games' redeeming factor is the battle system. I've just beaten Final Fantasy X-2, so corroborating data is coming soon!)

As a standalone game, it's not entirely worth spending the full asking price. However, as part of the PSP collection of Final Fantasy IV, I'd say it's worth it.

Besides, it's the only official FF IV release that lets one play as Golbez!

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Image source: finalfantasy.wikia.com

Final Fantasy Quest - New Stuff???

Yang's Tale featured almost entirely physical fighters, specifically Yang, his daughter Ursula, and several generic Fabul monks. It was a nice break after having to deal with squishy mages and weak dolls.

Palom's Tale returns us to squishy mages; however, both Palom and Leonora come to use some form of black magic, whether a strong Fira or a somewhat helpful Fire spell. Here is a bit of change from the usual repetition - there is some character growth for the brash young Palom helps the young epopt Leonora to train in black magic (in addition to her usual healing white magic).

Edge's Tale has a unique structure: the player starts as the ninja Edge, but later does four "missions" with students of his. Three of them feature his disciples in disguise in different places, giving one a slightly different perspective on some locations and characters. For instance, Palom half flirts with the "epopt" Izayoi, "dwarf" Zangetsu eventually impresses the real dwarves with a spectacular jump, and Tsukinowa spies on a meeting while turned into a toad.

Eventually, the focus shifts to Edge as he infiltrates Babil Tower again, and his followers slowly rejoin him. After nearly perishing to a Mysterious Girl controlled Ifrit, we meet another mysterious figure, this one called "the Man in Black."

It was a bit odd to enter the same room that exploded and "killed" Yang in the main game, but the presence of a trap door provides a neat explanation for both parties' survival. Despite echoing/repeating the events of the previous game, I still found Edge's Tale's ending in the Tower of Babil to be an interesting, and occasionally amusing, experience.

Edward's Tale was annoying at times, but mostly more repetition. Secretary Harley, noble as she is, (in)conveniently gets desert fever in Kaipo. Naturally, Edward volunteers to grab the cure from the Antlion Cave, way way back past where we started. (Even the people in the house note the number of important sick people they'd cared for.)

I liked how Kain's Tale was done. Play alternates between the evil "Kain," and Ceodore and the Hooded Man. It culminates in discovering that Kain too tried defeating his evil half, but failed. Here, we see his reconciliation with his dark half, and transformation into a Holy Dragoon. (Which means there's even more weak white magic users who are also strong fighters! Huzzah.)

My only regret was accidentally saving over my max-level Edward's Tale. I had to repeat the whole thing, leveling and all. Thankfully, I realized that grinding a solo party member made things faster.

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Image source: finalfantasy.wikia.com

Final Fantasy Quest - A Miniseries of Repetition

With the -Interlude- is out of  the way, I could then focus on the meatier Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. Originally released on mobile phones, then WiiWare, and finally in the PSP collection of Final Fantasy IV, it is a series of episodes/tales that follow various characters from FFIV including favorites such as Cecil and Rydia, and new characters, like Cecil's son Ceodore, and the wonderful secretary Harley.

I started my first attempt on Dolphin emulator, only to be stopped by lag and a tough boss a fair bit in to the game (having completed almost all of the tales available). Now I've finally taken the plunge on the PSP version (via OpenEmu) and restarted at the beginning.

The opening is fairly straight-forward, playing as Cecil, Rosa and Cid. Later, the party becomes centered around Ceodore and his journey to becoming a Red Wing (like his father before him). Chaos ensues, and he ends up travelling with a mysterious Hooded Man. Because the HM is a strong attacker, and Ceodore has decent white magic abilities, playing this section is not too difficult. In fact, over the course of a few hours spent grinding (while watching various Twitch streams and YT videos) I managed to get both of them to the max level available (here, lv. 50).

I just started the next tale, involving Rydia, Luca (a dwarf princess) and the two living dolls, Calca and Brina. It was decidedly more difficult, since Luca and the one doll were weak physical attackers, and Rydia and the other doll were mushy mages. Getting through (or even just getting ready to get through) the dungeons for them proved time-consuming. (There is an auto-battle feature, which made the process faster with Ceodore and co, and better with Rydia and co.)

Thankfully, the next tale features Yang, a decidedly physically strong character.

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Image source: finalfantasy.wikia.com

Final Fantasy Quest - And Then the Wall Attacked ... Again

After months (years even) of delaying, I've finally started back into my long-delayed Final Fantasy marathon. I think I've been prompted by the excellent rhythm game, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call. And now since my PS4 is working again, I can actually get to the most recent entry too!

I had previously started playing Final Fantasy IV: The After Years via Dolphin, using the WiiWare version. However, it suffered from performance issues in certain parts (namely, whenever the "mysterious girl" showed up.) I managed to get a good bit done, but put it aside when I got stuck on a particular boss fight.

I didn't want to try the PSP version because I wanted to get as close to the original as possible. However, after seeing the PSP version of FFIV in a marathon, I decided to take the risk.

This time, I started with the later "installment" in the FFIV series, Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-. Coming off of my time with The After Years (TAY), I knew about what I was getting into - some plot rehash, revisiting old places, and maybe a few new actual developments. (Apologies for no pictures, by the time I thought to take screenshots, I was already done. However, I still have TAY to go!)

And what do you know, I was right? The story linked FFIV to TAY, but didn't really go anywhere in and of itself. Rosa "got sick" again, we explored a few familiar locations again, certain characters were useless again. It did show certain main character's children coming to be, such as Yang's daughter Ursula, and the announcement of Cecil and Rosa's kid (only at the very end.)

As it is shorter, the repeated events are not as obvious - the big example being the demon wall fought in the sealed cave (hence my title). Players are only allowed to go to certain areas, and the airships are even controlled by the AI to ensure this. Because of this, it feels chained to the events of the original game in a repetitive way, new characters and events notwithstanding.

Overall, a pretty short run, mostly satisfying for someone who's a strong fan of Final Fantasy and/or FFIV in particular. Nothing ground-breaking happens. It's definitely a just a bonus treat in the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection.

(And it showed "Secretary-in-Training" Harley at King Edward, so it can't be all bad.)

Final Fantasy Quest - The Best Final Fantasy Game Ever Made (Legit, 100%)

Instead of finishing the repetitive Final Fantasy IV: The After Years or the farcical Final Fantasy V, I opted to play the superior Final Fantasy game. No, not VI, VII or even awkward-laughing X. I mean, of course, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Released in the US on October 5, 1992, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was not at all given to us because the developers thought we sucked at JRPGs and need a basic game to train with. Rather, it is the true pinnacle which all true Final Fantasies strive for.

Mah boi!

It is the epic tale of Benjamin (most likely an orphan) and his quest to save the four elemental crystals. Like any Final Fantasy protagonist is wont to do. To cut out the fussiness of managing 5 players at a time, the player is given no more than 2 characters to control at any time. And unlike a certain other game, the game is not automatically over if the main character gets KO'd!

Ahem.

In all seriousness, FFMQ is at best decent, and at worst mediocre. The preceding year saw the release of Final Fantasy IV with its epic scope and (relative to a lot of other games at the time) intricate plot of friendship, betrayal and battle. Enemies didn't wait for your turn and bosses were tough. Surely the next game in the series would kick everything up to an 11? (Or, at least, a V).

Enter Mystic Quest. Few would consider this a worthy follow up to IV, or any entry in the series, for that matter. Gameplay was oversimplified and almost nothing like that of the "superior" entries in the series. To my knowledge, there hasn't been a remake of it like the other games.

And yet.

Perhaps time has afforded a more balanced perspective. Mystic Quest, despite not being the amazing V, is still worth considering. For instance, you can jump. There's tools that affect the world map, like a claw-shot or axe. Partners can either be automatic or controlled manually. While I won't apologize for the game's deficiencies, it's unfair to vilify the game merely because it's not IV or V.

What were the things I liked? One notable example is the Focus Tower. The game has no over world in the traditional sense, but the Focus Tower serves as a hub for the different areas to which Benjamin goes. Inside, there are several doors. These doors are unlocked as the game progresses. I admit, it was fun to wonder where each door would lead, and then finally unlock it.

One of the first doors seen, but the last unlocked

Another cool feature are the battle sprites of the enemies. Even in the glorious oeuvre that is Final Fantasy VI, very few enemies have more than one battle sprite. Not so in MQ. Almost all enemies have two sprites, one normal and one battle-damaged. Bosses have more, anywhere between 3-4.

Good thing ol' Flamey had a few spare ribs, eh?

Where's Interceptor?

I wouldn't recommend it before V or VI, but if you have the time and are so inclined, go ahead and give Mystic Quest a shot.

I win again again

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Whew! This article had been sitting around unfinished for a while! In the meantime, I tried to get a little further in The After Years, but I'm still stuck before a particular encounter with the Mysterious Girl on the moon. At least I get more time to play as Golbez! And I started into VI and Crisis Core.

But enough rambling, I'm off to play that free demo of Final Fantasy XV!

Final Fantasy Quest - The Search for Silly

It's hard to believe the amount of expressions that can be expressed in 16-bit form.

Until you play Final Fantasy V (FFV) for the first time.

Long story short, my favorite aspect of FFV are the characters. Coming off the heels of the played-straight serious FFIV, the zany hijinks of Bartz and crew are a nice change. Yes, sad stuff happens in the game, but the overall tone is more light-hearted. This game is the birthplace of Final Fantasy's best recurring character, Gilgamesh. (Also, heavy spoilers to follow after these lovely pictures).

Haha! It's not like I wanted you to show up, or anything...

*gasp!* The fiend!?!

If you're familiar with this game, what I say next will be no surprise. The job system is pretty rad. A dramatic improvement over the system in FFIII (more on that in a future article, hopefully) the job system in FFV allows a player to assign characters to whatever jobs they want. Skills mastered can be added to other jobs, so you can have a white mage that can brawl, or a monk that can heal everyone. Plus, once a job is fully mastered, it passes abilities on to the "Normal" class that you began as.

However, the best part about the job system is this:

Pirate ninja princess.

I'll say it again: pirate ninja princess. The pirate captain Faris, who is the best and most badass character in the party, can be a ninja too.

Plus, Square did the "pirate captain who is secretly a princess" thing a good ten years before Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Not such hot stuff anymore, huh!?

Story-wise, the game is somewhat predictable. The main focus, again, is trying to keep the four elemental crystals intact (and failing miserably). As I said above, the characters are the best part of FFV; namely, how they interact and react to people and events. They may be simple 16-bit sprite, but they are able to express a wide array of emotions.

What even is that pose, Faris?

There are even a number of optional spells and espers, like a few of the Bard's songs, some blue magic and the summons Shiva or Carbuncle. And unlike a few of FFIV's harder-to-get summons, these ones are actually worth finding.

Overall, this is one of the better entries in the series, and it is definitely a viable entry point for newcomers to the series. Even with the myriad of jobs, it is manageable to keep your party powerful, as all playable characters remain in the party, and which jobs you master depends on your particular play-style.

In the Faris screenshot, you could see that I had mastered all the jobs (barring Mime class). This is not a task I would advise someone to do, as it took hours of grinding to accomplish.

Anyway, I'm close to finishing it, having made a good bit of progress in World 3 (out of 3). Apologies for not getting to The After Years, I got stuck and put it aside for a bit. Because I know I love FFVI, I might pause before moving on to that entry.

Until next time, later guys!

Gaming Chronicles - The Final Fantasy Quest

(Please note, there will be heavy spoilers for Final Fantasy IV [and a bit for VI] ahead. I know it's 20+ years old, but I just wanted to be courteous!)

One reason I got into composing and music in general is because of the tuneful work of Nobuo Uematsu. Additionally, Square is even now working on the Final Fantasy VII remake and Final Fantasy XV. What better time to begin a play through of the whole main series? It'd be a fun quest, I thought.

Rather than begin at the beginning, like most would, I began with the fourth entry in the series, Final Fantasy IV. (And it was partly inspired by the GDQ speed run of it at the recent GDQ.)

AKA Final Fantasy IV

I had attempted the game before, on my old Toshiba laptop, but had only gotten so far before quitting for some reason (it was college, so it might have been finals, leaving for the summer, etc...). I had played through 90% of Final Fantasy VI, so who knows.

Released in 1991, FFIV was the earliest Final Fantasy to give the characters ... well, actual character. In prior entries, the playable people were merely blank slates for the player to choose and name at will. However, in FFIV, each character has a defined identity, such as Dark Knight Cecil or his girlfriend Rosa. There's even a spoony bard!

Am I?

One of the things that I liked the most about FFIV is the character arc of Cecil, the main character. In the beginning, he is the Dark Knight, and does the dirty deeds of the Baron Kingdom. Well, we only see one, namely, the theft of the water crystal. Despite this, a few members of the Red Wings (the air force of Baron) object to the deed they had just done. Eventually, Cecil questions the king himself.

An interesting side note: in the original Japanese release, Cecil had a powerful attack called "Dark" or "Dar Wave" that damaged opponents at the cost of some HP. Although removed in the English release, it points to development in his character. As a Dark Knight, his ability is to take damage in order to harm others. Once he became a Paladin, however, his special ability is "Cover," which sacrifices HP to protect another from harm.

However, Cecil's redemption story arc is a bit shorter than it could have been. Even with the unintentional destruction of Mist, most of his arc is completed fairly early in the game. (Or, it felt early on to me.) Without getting too far ahead of myself, I'd just comment that Final Fantasy VI does a bit better job dealing with a lead character struggling with identity. (Both Cecil and Terra are half-human, half something else. Both initially death with being manipulated by a villainous force. Etc...)

What is this HR Giger doing in my Final Fantasy?

Overall, I had a nice time with the game. There were a few annoyances, though. For one, the encounter rate felt really high at times - especially in certain caves. The overall party was a mixed bag. It was cool to be able to use all sorts of characters, but a lot of them dropped out of the party, seemingly without warning. At least it wasn't Final Fantasy II in THAT regard, amiright?

This place was the WORST

For me, I had to do a bit of grinding in the later phases of the game. I didn't manage to acquire all the top weapons (in the final dungeon) but I did get all the major summons and most of the top-tier weapons. Overall, it's a pretty good game, but not a Final Fantasy title I'd start off with.

Tune in next time (hopefully) for a look at Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, an episodic sequel to this game released on mobile platforms.

I win!!