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Squeenix Final Fantasy XII remaster

Blaine

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What I really want is Hastega, because casting Haste on more than one person (especially automatically through Gambits) is extraordinarily tedious and makes me want to kill myself even at 2x speed, but I assume I need to get further into the Necrohol to find it

Even worse, it's in the Great Crystal. Can farm the Nabudis Baknamies for Hastega Motes, though. 1 Blizzaga and they're finished! :D

Past those level 60+ bombs guarding switches? Now that's bullshit. Am I supposed to grind levels, or what? I tried doing it at level ~43ish, and I could kill the bombs even though they're very strong, but the timers put paid to that. I'm now level 49 across the board. I've halted main story progress so that I can keep Reddas in my party while I do VII hunts and so on, but there can't be THAT much more left to do, not enough to get all my characters from level 49 to 60+. Next I'll try running in with gambits off to hit the switches, but if there are level 60+ enemies past the gate, that could be a problem.

Yeah, baknamies are easy to kill with Blizzaga, and extremely annoying otherwise. You can steal Remedies and such from them though, so it's not all bad. Almost makes up for this cheating-ass game stealing my MP with Annul so that I have to use Ethers (I have 85 Ethers currently and I've never had to buy any, but still, it's annoying).
 

Hyperion

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Gear matters more than levels, heh. Your level will skyrocket just from struggling through the areas at first. Just make sure you've done the hunts, killed and recruited all the Espers you can get, then have a blast slowly making your way through the back area of Henne Mines, and getting lost for 2 hours in the Great Crystal. Before you know you'll be mid-60's.

I just remembered back in the days of IZJS people really abused the game's RNG system. It's an extensive read, but bunches of people swear by it. I never got it to work, but I think that might be because I played on an emulator. Or I'm retarded. Equal chance. If you do get it to work, please explain to me what you did, because you should be able to fully gear everyone in about 20 minutes. The latter is an algorithm some guy made that follows the same one as the game's RNG system, which lets you see exactly what RNG position you're on.

http://www.fftogether.com/guides/30c226cef86df1fd5989597494c35832.txt

http://markegli.com/ff12/
 

Blaine

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Gear matters more than levels, heh.

I disagree when we're talking about ~20 levels. That's a fair amount of extra stats, something like 7-9 across the board per character, plus HP and so on.

Also, when there are large level disparities, I'm pretty sure the game applies behind-the-scenes maluses as has been the case in many, many RPGs since time immemorial. For example, the ultimate staff and Lordly Robe barely add magick power (+3 total) compared to Cloud Staff and Black Robe, which I have; a Black Mage can annihilate bombs of fairly close to the same level, yet somehow the bombs that are 15-20 levels higher seem to take peanuts for damage instead.
 

Hyperion

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I haven't gotten that far yet, and need to refresh my memory, but I'm getting really excited for it. I still have to go to Giruvegan for the first time, but did all of the available Hunts. I even tried getting some Cerobi Steppe loot the 'real' way. All I got was a Fomalhaut and a Megalixir for an hour of my time. Just gonna do as much of Trial Mode as I can and steal some good loots while enjoying some fun fights. The Gilgamesh fight was a lot more fun than I remembered. He also had way more life than I recalled. And I had Penelo mostly spamming Scathe for close to 20,000 'till he went uber. After killing him, I ran into Disma, some Trophy Rare Game that randomly replaces a Skeleton. That fight was more intense than Gilgamesh. He casts Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Aquaga, Darkra, and Darkga. Darkga hit my whole party for at least 4k. Had to have Fran chain cast Curaja, while I Bubbled with Penelo. Eventually, I had time to cast Shell to take the edge off a bit. Being vulnerable to Oil may have been the only reason I was able to kill him.

And yeah, monsters get stats like Defense as they level, too. Even 5 - 10 points of defense reduces damage by a few hundred, if not a thousand. Fran with 53 Defense got hit by Dark Bones in the Site 11 Lhusu Mines for 2,300. Basch with 70 Defense (Maximillian + Ring of Renewal) and Protect, only took 800. Defense, and more importantly - layering your defense is very big in this game. Against late monsters, it's very advisable to have your entire party Protectga'd, Shellga'd, and Bubble'd at all times, especially if you're in Site 11, Great Crystal, and especially Phase 2. When it comes to offense, you have things like Haste, Berserk and Bravery for your fighters, and Faith for your casters. Keeping your HP at 100% as often as possible to get that Full Life Damage Bonus is another 20% you should take advantage of. Another valid strat is keeping your Genji Glove user in Critical HP, while your tank always has Lure on. The Adrenaline node is YUGE damage bonus, plus the lower your HP, the more likely you are to combo. With a Ninja Sword or Katana, that person can easily get 7+ hit combos regularly.

Oh, and in those areas regular enemies routinely spawn with Protect / Shell / Bravery / Faith / Haste / Reflect. Dispel is much more than a gimmick spell in this. Making one of your top priority Gambits Dispelling any enemy with Haste is a decent idea.

Don't forget to look up the Hunt Club, and decide which Trophies go to which Bangaa based on the rewards you like most. Plus, hunting down the Rare Enemies is a surefire way to get yourself some levels. 70+ is recommended for Phase 2.
 

Blaine

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I got a lucky Arcturus in Cerobi Steppe, not really farming anything, but just grabbing treasures with the Diamond Armlet on on my way through. Generally speaking, I'm sorely disappointed with the end-game grind and side quests in XII. My mind must have glossed it over after all these years, except for the Zodiac Spear bullshit which I remember clearly for obvious reasons. It's all very meta and quite clearly designed to sell guides: the completely opaque logic behind treasure farming; the 5% Poach rate for rare materials from uncommon enemies and the need to micromanage Poach, cemented by characters' delayed reactions to Foe HP = <10% Gambits (Poach rates can be higher on rare game, but they must be tediously spawned first); et cetera and so on.

The monster lore entries do give numerous recipe hints when unlocked, but even if you decipher them, you still don't know how many of each item you need, probably don't know where to get them—even if you've found them before—nor can you keep track of what you've already turned in. Hell, you won't even know exactly what kind or tier of reward you're getting. I'm far from against note-taking in games, but the logistics and note-taking overhead required to manage all that is just absurd. Not to mention, if you turn in multiple repeatable Bazaar recipes at once, the extras are all wasted. I did that with Behemoth Steaks.

Additionally, the non sequitur-like, arbitrary, unintuitive design of certain quests (also clearly designed to sell guides) is infuriating. Perhaps the best example is the medallion quest. It firstly requires you to search the entire game world for two nu mou just to begin it, since there are absolutely no hints whatsoever regarding their locations. I thought they were out in the Nabreus Deadlands at first. (I'd actually been to Old Dalan's fairly recently, just before I triggered the quest to start; so wasn't likely to revisit anytime soon, thought Dalan's house was all finished). Then, the Curious Woman with the necklace (who you must simply assume is part of the quest, merely because she wasn't there before) disappears. If you run around talking to people enough, you'll discover she's randomly being sheltered by some children in the lower city. There are no hints to that effect, there's nothing to figure out, it makes no sense, she could be anywhere... she's just there, so you either consult a guide or keep tediously looking until you find her.

Utter shit, clearly the Japanese can't into proper challenging but fair quest design that actually flows logically. Did Prima Guides send over some high-end prostitutes to suck and fuck the guys at Squeenix, or what? They sure seemed to love the guide publishers.

Anyway, I've defeated every Mark prior to Behemoth King and Phase 2 of Gilgamesh, have 5-6 trophy marks (again, these are guide-sellers), I've done most of the side quests, and I'm currently poking around in the Cataract. In my entire game I think I've had one Game Over vs. Zeromus (and haven't been back yet; fuck that gimmicky cunt until I nicely out-level it), and then I had to reload almost right away vs. some Mark or another awhile back. I wasn't even close to defeated, I just knew right away that I should go back and redo my setup. I was worried about Carrot, but actually Basch w/Decoy and Reddas blocked him (piled high with huge amounts of debuffs) while Ashe and Penelo nuked and healed from a distance. I had to seize control of them several times in a panic when they occasionally tried to run forward for no apparent reason. Easiest boss Malboro fight of all time, surely.

Fafnir was a fucking obnoxious giant white twat, but Arise spam made it a cinch.

Oh yeah, Cat-Ear Hoods on everyone + Trial Mode should make for approximately infinity gil as I discovered without a guide for once, so check that out.

Actually, what I'm doing now is playing Tactics A2 so I can play a game with a real job system. :lol: Once I finish repairing my gaming PC, I'll probably fire up the PSX emu and play original Tactics with the War of the Lions text and dialogue fan patch, which surely is the definitive edition of Tactics, lacking both the Engrish of the original and the slowdowns/horrible sound downgrades of PSP War of the Lions.
 

LESS T_T

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Codex 2014
PC version is coming next month!:



Following the resounding success of over a million units of FINAL FANTASY® XII THE ZODIAC AGE™ shipped last year for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Square Enix Ltd., today announced that players can visit the wondrous world of Ivalice on PC from 1st February 2018.

FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE on STEAM® will include all of the modern advancements and features available in the PlayStation®4 version, such as latest-generation visuals, a remastered soundtrack, new Speed and Trial modes, fast forward function, and many other enhanced features. The following new features will also be added for PC users:
  • 60FPS - Ivalice will look better than ever with the game running at 60FPS
  • Compatible with 21:9 ultra-wide monitors - Up to three HD monitors can be used for a potential 48(16x3):9 experience
  • New Game Plus and New Game Minus - Post-game content modes are now accessible from the beginning of the game
  • Three background music options – The original, re-orchestrated and soundtrack versions are now available from the beginning of the game
  • Maximized License Points and Gil - New functionality added to grant players max License Points and Gil from the configuration screen
  • Full controller support, Steam Trading Cards and more to optimize the PC player experience
To celebrate the launch of the game, fans can learn more about the new features the PC version has to offer during a special launch programme on 2nd February at 08:00GMT / 09:00CET, where Producer Hiroaki Kato and Director Takashi Katano will answer questions received from FINAL FANTASY fans on Twitter. Viewers can tune into the programme, complete with English subtitles, on the SQUARE ENIX YouTube channel.

Steam page:

 
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Sigourn

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YES YES YES YES THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just hope it isn't too demanding.

EDIT:

Recommended Specs said:
Graphics: nVidia GTX 980 or AMD equivalent w/ 4GB VRAM

:negative:
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
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Codex 2014
A bit about keyboard/mouse support: http://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantas...ill-feature-new-game-plus-and-new-game-minus/

We have put in some additional features that are only possible for the PC version to enhance the experience, including wide screen display up to 48:9 in the exploration sections, 60fps support and keyboard + mouse controls. You do need a fairly high spec machine to take advantage of all of them though. To make sure the game can be played on as broad a range of PCs as possible, it also supports low resolutions such as 1280 x 720 etc, so we hope that many people will enjoy it.

[...]

We have also added key assignation via the onscreen HUD, so players who are most comfortable with mouse and keyboard can play with their preferred control configuration.
 

Sigourn

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I may as well say this: FINAL FANTASY XII HAD UNIRONICALLY THE BEST IMPLEMENTATION OF WHAT A MODERN INFINITY ENGINE GAME WOULD PLAY LIKE. But unlike the IE games, this one had bearable and actually enjoyable RtwP because Gambits were pretty fucking useful.
 

Cross

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I may as well say this: FINAL FANTASY XII HAD UNIRONICALLY THE BEST IMPLEMENTATION OF WHAT A MODERN INFINITY ENGINE GAME WOULD PLAY LIKE. But unlike the IE games, this one had bearable and actually enjoyable RtwP because Gambits were pretty fucking useful.
:retarded:

You're talking about an RTwP game where you can't even order multiple characters to move. You could argue the level of AI scripting the Gambit system allows is impressive, but the reason it exists is precisely because FFXII's interface and controls are horrible for controlling a party, i.e. actually playing the game.

The spells/abilities in FFXII are nowhere near as interesting as those in D&D, either.

Whatever the merits of RTwP, FFXII is a terrible argument for it.
 
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Hobo Elf

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The gambit system exists so you don't have to have a more complex UI and controls to control your party. I wish IE games had better AI scripting for your party so you wouldn't have to babysit them entirely, though luckily with the kb + m interface it isn't that big of an issue.

But I agree with Sigourn. FF12 had the most exciting RTwP combat I played. It's the only game where I enjoyed this kind of combat, due to the fuckery they did with some of the encounter design.
 

Sigourn

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I may as well say this: FINAL FANTASY XII HAD UNIRONICALLY THE BEST IMPLEMENTATION OF WHAT A MODERN INFINITY ENGINE GAME WOULD PLAY LIKE. But unlike the IE games, this one had bearable and actually enjoyable RtwP because Gambits were pretty fucking useful.
:retarded:

You're talking about an RTwP game where you can't even order multiple characters to move. You could argue the level of AI scripting the Gambit system allows is impressive, but the reason it exists is precisely because FFXII's interface and controls are horrible for controlling a party, i.e. actually playing the game.

Hmm, yes, it's true. I didn't remember that (one user in 4chan mentioned you couldn't position your characters). Though I could see that actually being very easy to achieve with a simple "overhead" interface that lets you move characters.
 

Jinn

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Excited for the PC release of this! I've heard that The Zodiac Age is far too easy compared to the prior releases however. For anyone who has played it, is there truth to this statement?
 

Hobo Elf

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It's definitely not easier than the first release of FF12, but it is probably easier than the IZJS version because characters can have two boards / classes instead of one.
 

Hyperion

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Excited for the PC release of this! I've heard that The Zodiac Age is far too easy compared to the prior releases however. For anyone who has played it, is there truth to this statement?
Beginning is easier because you get access to your class's HP licenses pretty early on. Late-game is a lot more interesting because characters are specialized, so using all 6 characters for different purposes is something you wanna do, instead of 3 all-purpose demigods.

Knight / Bushi and Black Mage / Monk are are ludicrously powerful combinations. The former is incredible from start to finish, the latter is a bit of a late-bloomer due to spell availability.
 

Tehdagah

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Is the Zodiac Age any worth? I never tried it because vanilla FF12 was one of the most regrettable games I've ever played. I don't want to spend 40+ hours watching my characters kill repetitive minions again.
 

OracleX

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Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2
YES YES YES YES THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just hope it isn't too demanding.

EDIT:

Recommended Specs said:
Graphics: nVidia GTX 980 or AMD equivalent w/ 4GB VRAM

:negative:
Was waiting for the PC release but I assumed it needed a similar rig like ffx/x-2 but that isn't the case then? Im playing the games on the GPD win handheld so I wonder xii will be playable. X/x-2 run just fine actually.
 
Unwanted

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Japanese devs will never optimize their shit for PC, will they?

with the sole exception of MGS V
 

Matador

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Codex+ Now Streaming!
I may as well say this: FINAL FANTASY XII HAD UNIRONICALLY THE BEST IMPLEMENTATION OF WHAT A MODERN INFINITY ENGINE GAME WOULD PLAY LIKE. But unlike the IE games, this one had bearable and actually enjoyable RtwP because Gambits were pretty fucking useful.

Yeah, best RTWP combat implementation ever. The only big flaw was the small party size. You increase this and the game would go from very good to excellent.
 

Sigourn

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I may as well say this: FINAL FANTASY XII HAD UNIRONICALLY THE BEST IMPLEMENTATION OF WHAT A MODERN INFINITY ENGINE GAME WOULD PLAY LIKE. But unlike the IE games, this one had bearable and actually enjoyable RtwP because Gambits were pretty fucking useful.

Yeah, best RTWP combat implementation ever. The only big flaw was the small party size. You increase this and the game would go from very good to excellent.

True, true. There are a lot of things I didn't take into account (it's been many years since I last played FFXII). Yesterday I booted the game and (aside from its piss easy difficulty in the tutorial) I really liked how combat flowed.
 

Cross

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The gambit system exists so you don't have to have a more complex UI and controls to control your party.
But as I pointed out in my previous post, even with the Gambit system, FFXII doesn't even allow you to perform the most basic and common type of action that you can do in any PC RTwP game. No, the reason why the Gambit exists is for the same reason that playing an RTS game on a console isn't particularly fun. You simply can't adequately micromanage a party and respond to threats efficiently. This is despite the fact that the party size in FFXII is only three characters while the party size in say, the Infinity Engine games is double that + potentially a bunch of summons.

I am not the biggest fan of RTwP, but presumably the thing it has going for it over other combat systems is the simultaneous conflict resolution, i.e. encounters where the key to victory is predicting and responding to the real-time flow of combat. How can a game that automates that process and largely takes it out of your hands be the best RTwP game ever? To say nothing of the fact that there's something self-defeating about playing a game that relies so strongly on AI scripting that the primary challenge essentially consists of the artificial intelligence fighting against...itself.
 
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