Games you're playing: The 2009 edition.

[hinode]

Pokemon Platinum: And finished. Started the Elite Four with Level 51 on my entire team, ended in the 52-53 range on everyone. My team consisted of the following

Empoleon (Iceman): Surf, Ice Beam, Grass Knot, Waterfall @ Quick Claw

Prinplup Bubblebeam being lowered from L24 to L19 really helped a lot, as its issues before Bubblebeam are well documented. It honestly didn't feel impressive at any point until it hit stage 3 for me, though a strong overall team likely contributed to that feeling. Empoleon can wall all sorts of stuff with its whopping 12 resists and is an effective cannon for randoms, but it has issues actually dealing with bosses weak to its STAB type; Ground weakness tends to mean OHKO or die against the likes of boss Gliscor or Hippowdon, while Fire neutrality + low speed is problematic against boss Fire types.

Torterra (Iggy Koopa): Earthquake, Wood Hammer, Leech Seed, Rock Climb @ Shell Bell

Traded over a nearly hatched Turtwig egg because I wanted to compare it directly to Piplup line to see which is the better starter. L13 Razor Leaf obviously demolishes the late Bubblebeam and even makes up for the later L2 evo, but it has nothing else remarkable until L32 save for Bite, magnified in importance because you can't get Shadow Ball (or several Dark types) before Fantina here. Early stage 3 evo with three strong moves turbocharged it for a brief period of time. Wood Hammer's recoil is somewhat annoying in-game, but the power gap between it and Razor Leaf is far too much to pass up, and Seed Bomb is aftergame tutor/egg move. A Rock move would've helped with coverage, but given the speed I felt it too risky, plus I needed HM slaving slots.

Overall, I think Turtwig's the slightly better starter of the two. It ranges from comparable to significantly better for every level from 5 to 36. After that, Empoleon is significantly better at beating up randoms thanks to better type coverage + massive resists, but it has issues against bosses. Things weak to its STAB tend to threaten Empoleon significantly offensively, and while it can take on stuff like Spiritomb due to resists, the lack of super effective damage means it'll get worn down over time. Torterra can at least be counted on to beat the vast majority of boss Pokemon weak to its STAB types... with the glaring exception of Fire. More on this later, as it was problematic.

Lucario (Skywalker): Aura Sphere, Dark Pulse, Psychic, Rock Smash @ Choice Specs

SpecsLuke is terrific in-game, getting nearly perfect coverage with just two level-based moves. Psychic completes the coverage, leaving one slot free for HM whoring. Giving up on natural Swords Dance and Close Combat might feel like a bit of a waste, but I've already used something similar in Infernape and Specs results in more immediate damage. Not having to care about Intimidate at all was nice as well.

Lucario is too cool to be stuck playing a Nino role, so I traded over a low level Riolu from another file. It's pretty glass cannonish before evolving, but the early STAB Force Palm lets it pull its share of fighting - at least after getting the second gym badge so it'd obey.

Rotom-Appliance (Omanyd): Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Thunderwave, Overheat/Hydro Pump/Leaf Storm @ Amulet Coin

I wanted to use even regular Rotom in-game before, getting the new improved forms right after gym 2 was borderline broken. It worked out terrifically, with enough defense to take the occasional enemy hit and KO or paralyze troublesome Pokemon reliably. Early on I used the Fan form for PP and a lack of anti-Fighting options elsewhere, besides a Golbat I was phasing out. Later on, I swapped depending on what boss was up next, i.e. Toaster Rotom for the ice gym. Washer form got the nod for the E4 run when I realized the rest of my team had Gliscor issues.

Houndoom (Cerberus): Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Thunderfang, Strength @ Wise Glasses

Nice to actually get to use Houndoom in-game for once, and I even managed to get a Mild one (+SpA, -Def) on the first try. Evolved almost immediately and had really nice special offense. The only downsides were really awful physical defense and more reliance on physical moves for midgame than I'd like, thanks to Fire Blast being limited on PP and Dark Pulse being absent until Victory Road. Thunderfang was mostly filler but did bring down an occasional Wingull and Mantine. Nasty Plot will take that slot instead... eventually.

Giratina (Izanami): Dragon Claw, Shadow Force, Earthquake, Fly

Honestly kinda disappointing for a 680 BST legendary. The offense wasn't very good due to a lack of attack EVs, to the point of 3HKOing Cynthia's Garchomp for instance. The huge HP could take hits, but not forever; if it weren't for Dragon Rush missing twice in a row Giratina would've had to endure the humiliation of being beaten one on one by a Dragon with lesser BST. Earthquake was necessary to cover my glaring Fire weakness, though it again let me down somewhat by failing to OHKO any of Flint's Pokemon, not even Flareon. Fly was there mainly for HM purposes, though I do use it against the occasional Fighting type. Giratina's underwhelming performance was arguably the single biggest factor in the E4 giving me trouble.

Original Form and Griseous Orb look set to fix the offense issues for aftergame, but that didn't help for the E4.

On the whole, it's Diamond/Pearl with a lot more polish, which was badly needed. Faster surf speeds, no more bike dismounting every time you enter a checkpoint, and the removal of various lags make the game more enjoyable to play in general, although encounter rates are still irritatingly high. The additional Pokemon options are really helpful, there's actual variety in Fire and Electric types now as well as a lot of really neat options like Togekiss, Tangrowth, Froslass, and Gallade. Move tutors aren't a huge deal for single player since a lot of the best moves are aftergame, but things like Weavile benefit from elemental punch availability at least.

Aside from the odd occasional breakdown with obscure moves/abilities, the AI for major bosses (randoms are often shakier) generally does a good job with using the correct moves for dealing optimum damage, as well as using things like priority to pick off weakened Pokemon. Support moves are sometimes used quite intelligently, sometimes... less so. Significant step up from DP, at least. Incidentally, this applies to your allied AI partners as well; they're much more aggressive this time and tend to actively contribute instead of dicking around with stuff like Flash all day long.

None of the gym leaders were notable at all in the face of type advantage except Fantina sorta; despite a massively anti-Ghost team by endgame I had nothing better than Grotle's Bite that early on, so her status spamming Haunter and Mismagius were kinda annoying. Cyrus was more competent, but still fell without too much trouble.

The Elite Four, on the other hand, were pretty good for me. The slight level lowerings were more than compensated for by superior AI, Pokemon selection, movesets, and quite possibly EVs/IVs. Aaron was a complete pushover besides the Drapion; swapping out Dustox/Butterfree is a huge upgrade on paper except the new additions got OHKO'd before they could move. Bertha added a Gliscor who could take a hit and do something  and a Rhyperior who... didn't, despite benefitting from sand.

Flint, on the other hand, did a pretty good job of exploiting my team's fire weakness. Houndoom going first and reducing Empoleon's Surf to 4HKO range and 2HKOing back with Sunny Day was a pretty ugly opening to that fight. I had to lean heavily on Giratina, backed by a bunch of healing items to get through that. Lucian's opening Mr. Mime succeeded in setting up both Light Screen and Reflect before falling, ensuring all of his Pokemon got plenty of turns despite all my Dark and Ghost moves, and they made very good use of said turns. As for Cynthia, she simply threw strong Pokemon after strong Pokemon at me, all with high levels and excellent stats.

One of the reasons I had so much trouble was that I had a ton of almost kills (Houndoom FT vs Bronzong, FT vs Roserade, Torterra EQ vs Lucario, Giratina EQ vs Flareon, Rotom Hydro Pump vs Infernape, etc.) which frequently resulted in dead/near dead Pokemon for me and a chance for the boss to use a Full Restore. Roserade surviving a FT is surprising considering Infernape OHKO'd a higher level one in Pearl for me, despite a lower level, lower base Special Attack and +SpA nature on Houndoom. This is what makes me suspect better IVs/EVs in Platinum. Whatever the reason, it was an Emerald-level performance for the E4 this time around, which I'll give the game credit for.

[TranceHime]

FF1 rom hack by MC50:



I cleaned the first ORB squeaky-squeaky clean.

I see most bosses got a durability upgrade. Except Lich still dies too quickly... Maybe it was because I had FIRB and BURN already by the time I fought him, so his WALL didn't do diddly-squat >> Anyhow, I am rather irked that dragons have virtually 0 absorb, they don't even have unique start-up armor to prevent them from being glass-cannons for about 80% of the game once I can procure the Salamander armor. :V

I'm debating whether to go class-change NOW or go and defeat Kary.

[Clear Tranquil]

Thanks guys =-)

Tal - Yeah you're right, I was being the lazies =-(

Here's what happened. I wasn't able to take another class so I waited till night time to fight the target then deliberately lost the fight. I ended up in the infirmary and there was a scene with Melanie and Vayne. I flunked my grade =D However the game progresses yay.

I've been kind of slack/lazy on synthesis this chapter so far. I made the Quartz Slicer for Flay,  an Aurora Curtain, a Lucifer's Leotard and that's about it. Did a bit of work on making a new weapon for Vayne (Roxis' collar heheh) need to finish that off. Anna needs a new weapon too. Pamela and Roxis are both upgraded to the best current recipes I have available for them. I'm also using Muppy but I question if it's worth bothering about worrying about his offence at all >.> Thanks to him though I didn't find the first Isolde fight particularly difficult since his D support suddenly decided that it actually existed and triggered twice during the battle <.< I'd have probably won anyway though Flaya and Pamela are nuts for damage plus Pamela has Kiss 2 Everyone for use in a pinch, Anna's good for item use support/stuff (plus back up damage with DBC) and Roxis has the ally turn giving enabling Pamela to put more pressure on with the No Bullying.

For my other two classes this chapter I chose to synth the Elixir and Combat: Speed (making an extra save before chosing the class this time >.>) Discovered the target's gimmick, reloaded and went into the battle with Pamela's HP at 1, fed her cheese cake, Raiden Charged Flay then went nuts on the target, overkilling it before it could run away ^_^

Onto free time now and doing jobs.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Thanks guys =-)

Tal - Yeah you're right, I was being the lazies =-(

Here's what happened. I wasn't able to take another class so I waited till night time to fight the target then deliberately lost the fight. I ended up in the infirmary and there was a scene with Melanie and Vayne. I flunked my grade =D However the game progresses yay.

I've been kind of slack/lazy on synthesis this chapter so far. I made the Quartz Slicer for Flay,  an Aurora Curtain, a Lucifer's Leotard and that's about it. Did a bit of work on making a new weapon for Vayne (Roxis' collar heheh) need to finish that off. Anna needs a new weapon too. Pamela and Roxis are both upgraded to the best current recipes I have available for them. I'm also using Muppy but I question if it's worth bothering about worrying about his offence at all >.> Thanks to him though I didn't find the first Isolde fight particularly difficult since his D support suddenly decided that it actually existed and triggered twice during the battle <.< I'd have probably won anyway though Flaya and Pamela are nuts for damage plus Pamela has Kiss 2 Everyone for use in a pinch, Anna's good for item use support/stuff (plus back up damage with DBC) and Roxis has the ally turn giving enabling Pamela to put more pressure on with the No Bullying.

For my other two classes this chapter I chose to synth the Elixir and Combat: Speed (making an extra save before chosing the class this time >.>) Discovered the target's gimmick, reloaded and went into the battle with Pamela's HP at 1, fed her cheese cake, Raiden Charged Flay then went nuts on the target, overkilling it before it could run away ^_^

Onto free time now and doing jobs.

Hm? A/D-Supports are not random, you can trigger them via pressing X when you get attacked. The character highlighted on the support row (you can change the character to swap into with the L1/R1 buttons) will come in front. You probably learned all of the upgraded A-Supports and D-Supports a couple chapters ago, they're unlocked by synthing the Symbol of Uroborus and the Shield of Ajax. Speaking of which, bad CT! Don't slack on syntheses, syntheses make you strong and give you shiny items to abuse the Task Board with! =(

On the subject of Muppy, I found his offense salvageable with two Jade Tablets, which you should be able to synth now. KSMM is your strongest non-physical full MT attack, and it doesn't trigger magical resistance flags either, in spite of running off MGK (although it does hit RES). It does hit fire resistance flags, but Fire is a rarely resisted element, and the magical non-resist hitting damage niche is actually sorta neat. However, you can salvage literally anyone's offense with two Jade Tablets/Megingjorz. <_< I mean, I had JESSICA MINIMUM TORNADO averaging 2k damage per shot. But then, she also had Critical +L.

(Of course, Roxis was dealing 5-6k per full Chrona Drive spread, but that's another story)

By the way: you have the Megingjorz and Jade Tablet recipes, since you fought Isolde 1, and you should have the Megingjorz recipe as well (it's earlier in C9 than the Jade Tablet). Task Board synth at least four of each to distribute to your party, watch your offense go utterly nuts. (Megingjorz raise your Attack by 80 points. Jade Tablets raise your Magic by 80 points. They -stack with each other-. Do the math and cackle in glee).

[OblivionKnight]

Mass Kitty Ears are the way to go. 

I benched Vayne and Nicole during my game, both last time and during the current (stalled) replay.  Muppy's support is wonderful, and, as Snow mentioned, he has frue MT which is nice.  Granted, the balance in general is good, so anyone's salvagable.

[Rozalia]

Red alert 3 - Mission 5 for soviets I believe I'm up to. Giles cleaned my clock with his aircraft carriers is all I have to say.

Persona 4 - Beat the castle area. Great game thus far.

Mana Khemia SA - Loading screens everywhere make it hard to enjoy the game.

Quick question for anyone who can answer. What is better to play with a friend over Ad-Hoc ? DW strikeforce or Phantasy star portable?

[OblivionKnight]

Ah, Red Alert 3.  Interesting game - the AI is far better than in the previous installments, and the addition of co-commanders is interesting (though they use up your resources more often than not).  Still, there are some areas where it didn't perform up to my expectations, but it's a good game nonetheless. 

Soviet 5 was the one where you're trying to sneak attack Giles, and you start with 2 allies, but lose one of them (who takes your resources early on), right? 

[superaielman]

MK- Finished. Final time was 63ish hours.

8/10 game. It starts slowly on all fronts. Some of this is understandable (Gameplay), but the plot's due to the weak cast at first. Jessica barely exists as a character and Nikki is as bad as you'd expect a fanservicey catgirl to be. Flay's annoying at first too.

Cast really comes into it's own when Roxis and Anna joins. It gives you much better interaction and the character quests get better. I ended up liking most of the cast, Nikki expected. Even she had her moments in Muppy's CQ's.

Spoilers ahoy.

Plot: It's a school setting. You spend about half the game dealing with the various minor dramas and fights of school- building a team, rivals, etc. It works, thanks to the supporting cast and the cool setting. Tony and Renee having good reason for the rivalry with Vayne is a nice touch. There are some plot holes with the later arcs, but no serious complaints. The end boss makes perfect sense. Who else would you fight at the end?

Vayne- Well done. He was extremely consistent, which is a plus. Just a random nice guy who is too depressed to really argue with anyone. He plays the straight man in the party interactions in general, and it works. His serious stuff was done far better than I expected. The game pulls off the' main 'betrays' you' angle far better than certain deplorable titles set in the future. Fuck you, XS. I got the ending with Anna, which was amusing. Probably the MVP overall. He lags in the early and mid chapters, but he is dominating once he gets his big moves in the mid to later chapters.

Jessica- Her interaction with Vayne didn't work. It was a nice try to tie her into Vayne's dad that way, but it mostly got a shrug out of me. Their dynamic as a couple didn't work at all. Vayne had better chemistry wtih literally everyone else in the party.  Good healer/character for the first seven chapters, then falls off a cliff. Once I synthed Heal All I never used her in the active party again. Her offense never really recovers, and Healing Omega or whatever happens too late and isn't that useful. MK boss fights aren't long enough at that point to make her worth using just for that.

Nikki- Funny later on at points, but insufferable beyond belief in her CQs and her serious plot. Really? "Hey guys, let's give her this excuse to be as slutty as possible PS SHE SINGS!!!" Yeah. MVP of the early chapters, but trails off once her SP moves aren't as uber. It's not worth keeping her animal moves filled up, especially with how fast you burn through resources in game.  Probably my LVP from C9 onward. 

Flay- Obnoxious at first, then gets better when it isn't him just pushing around Vayne and co. His CQ's weren't at all surprising but were amusing; like Vayne, you couldn't help but laugh at the entire thing. Did a good job keeping the Vayne mess from blowing up in the later chapters as well. As a PC? Starts slow. He's another one who picks up past midgame. Excellent ST damage is nice. He is one of your best boss fighters, and great against durable randoms as well.

Pamela- Neutral opinion as a character. Some annoying early on, but isn't bad once she fades into the backround some.  Likely the LVP as a PC. She is pretty terrible until C8-9. Her damage techs are ST and aren't as strong as some of the others. Seeker is extremely useful on a couple of bosses (C9 final chapter boss!) and some tough minibosses, but that's it. The SP/MP means she makes a better healer than Jessica for the mid and later game, though is eclipsed when Healing Omega finally shows up.

Roxis- Good CQ's, and generally worked as a voice of reason. The humor was good, even if the Mana of Light needs to be punched in the face. Awful, awful PC out of the gate. Like Guido in Grandia level bad. Purification gets good later on, but more important is Roxis getting his skillset in C7. Chrona Drive and Trick Card way overshadow Pamela/Jessica/Muppy as straight magical damage dealers. The crappy durability was an issue once I equipped him for magic.

Anna- Funny and has some good serious lines. It's nice to see someone get after Flay for being such a slacker, and she does the job well.  Good front row PC. Quick and damaging, and makes a good mage as well. Always had her in the main party once I got her caught up.

Muppy- Better than I expected, both as a character and PC. He's better than Pamela/Nikki/Jessica once he gets his techs and D support. Fills a nice niche with the hard to resist MT damage. Donno how I feel about Change in the DL. In game it was useful if you couldn't avoid a random and just wanted to skip. Avoided being LVP just by a strong endgame.

Very balanced cast on the whole. There's not a massive gap anywhere, with the exception of Vayne's lategame and points when characters lag.

Can you cure the final boss's healing immunity gimmick? I just blitzed him instead of trying to figure that out.

Pokemon gen 3 next, along with some persona 4. Mental note, harass Sage about getting the rom/file with the starters.

[Talaysen]

Can you cure the final boss's healing immunity gimmick? I just blitzed him instead of trying to figure that out.

No.  It's a field effect, not a status (Curse is the status that does the same thing, but the final boss's blocks revival as well).

[Rozalia]

Soviet 5 was the one where you're trying to sneak attack Giles, and you start with 2 allies, but lose one of them (who takes your resources early on), right? 

Yeah thats the one. The problem I have it I can't beat any one of the enemies fast enough, because after a while Giles finds the brokeness that is aircraft carriers and destroys my co - commander instantly. The other problem is the base location on the map.

I've tried Kirov rushs and massed twinblades but they can't seem to get the job done.

[Meeplelard]

Star Ocean 4 Abridged:

NOTE: I am skipping PAs from here on in cause they're hard to parody, given their nature, so yeah, only doing plot scenes.

Episode 8 - They Don't Make Planets Like They Use Too.

Edge: So, Arumat, is the Grigori in-...
Arumat: Yes.
Edge: And we have to...
Arumat: Yes.
Reimi: Ok, so how are we going to...
Arumat: I didn't come along to smack you all for saying that a mission isn't time for idle banther.
Reimi: Well, EXCUSE ME.
*After exploring the dungeon, beaitng up a bunch of bugs, getting eaten by quicksand a few times, among other shit that you don't need to know about*
Lymle: Look at the giant bug. Is it sleeping?
Myuria: Its not asleep, its dead...
Arumat: Can we stop talking about the useless bug and actually pay attention to the huge glowing rock near it pulsating with evil energy?
Edge: In Otherwords, the Grigori is right there?
Bacchus: Censors would indicate that this is indeed the case.
Egde: Well, what are we waiting for? Lets destroy it!
*the bug turns all red, turns to life, gets possessed by the Grigori...actually, you don't quite understand what's happening, since its quite surreal*
Large Fucking Bug (LFB): We are One! All is one! One is all! WE WILL CHANGE THIS UNIVERSE! OBLIVION!
Edge: Shit! I'm hearing voices in my head! I can't go insane yet!
Reimi: No, its not just you Edge...I HEAR THEM TOO!
Lymle: My head is hurting...
LFB: You will all SUBMIT!!!! to the Darkness! ...er...I mean...wait, crap, wrong thing.  Hang on a moment...
*LFB checks script*
LFB: Ah, there we go. ACCEPT! ACCEPT! ACCEPT!!!! Embrace...NOTHINGNESS!
Everyone but Arumat: Yes, we will join the-...
*Arumat stabs ground with Scythe*
Edge: Huh, zuh?  I feel like I was just a zombie...
Arumat: Hmph, you can't trick me with that crap. I'm too bad ass for that!  ...also, it may have something to do with the fact that I remember all my fallen comrades you destroyed, but I'm going to stick with the bad ass excuse.
Lymle: Mattie saved us, 'kay!
Arumat: I didn't do that to save you, I did it cause you guys would be a nuisance if you all died.
Myuria: Do you even listen to yourself sometimes?
Arumat: Why should I? I'm a veteran ass kcking machine and you're just a bunch of amateurs!
LFB: SILENCE!!! I WILL NOT BE IGNORED!
*boss fight is initiated*
Arumat: Damn it! My attacks that normally do ridiculous damage are doing like 1/10th their normal damage...
Bacchus: It seems like all other Grigori Bosses, this one has a weak spot we must exploit.  By which I mean this is going to get annoying.
Edge: Great, anything else we should worry about?
Myuria: Well, it does seem to have an infinite number of offspring that can hit us with Silence and Poison status...
LFB: Nothingness...IS ETERNAL!!!
Myuria: Also, seems to be a Nobody Reject...
LFB: YOU WILL NEVER WIN!  Open your-...wait, crap, wrong line again!
Arumat: Fuck this *pulls a blind side, smacks guy, it takes 8000 damage* I think I just found this atrocities weak point...
Edge: Alright guys! HIT ITS WEAK FOR POINT MASSIVE-...
Arumat: And its dead.
Edge: ...damage...

*Grigori explodes*
Arumat: There, our mission is complete.
Edge: Alright, on to En II! You're all coming with me, right?
Everyone but Arumat: Right!
Lymle: You're coming too, right Mattie?
Arumat: No.
Lymle: But you're our friend now, 'kay? You saved us.
Arumat: No.
Lymle: But friends are people you don't want to die.
Myuria: Lymle, despite being an Eldarian, he's the polar opposite of Faize...which does explain why you seem to actually like him, thinking on it...
Arumat: You're just a naive amateur who rides on luck.  How long do you think that will last?
Edge: I'll take you up on that bet! I bet you we can ride on this luck forever!
Arumat: ...you said the same thing he did.  How Capricious.  Well then, lets go!
Sarah: That's right! Now we must go find the Grogori!
Myuria: That's Grigori...
Sarah: Right! The Gregory!
Entire Team : *Facepalm*
NOTE: She actually makes that mistake in game.


*Scene shift TO SPACE, Phantom Ships are shooting Eldarian Refugees*
Random Dude: Carrier has arrived.
Crowe: Keep firing! Damn it, I need more men! I'll order all these ships!
Random Dude: You have not enough minerals! You require more vespene gas!
Crowe: CRAP! How are the ships holding up?
Different Guy: Most have been shot down...BUT 3 HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ESCAPED!
Crowe: Well, shit, we can't let those bastards win!
Faize: Even though I'm right here, I CAN'T DO ANYTHING! MY BRETHREN ARE BEING SLAUGHTERED!  I'm...I'M USELESS! NO! I...WON'T LET THEM DIE!!!!
*Faize leaves the bridge, their ship gets hit*
Crowe: STATUS REPORT!
Oblique 3rd guy: Our engine has been hit! We lost some thrust power!
Crowe: Get it repaired ASAP!  Faize, I need you to...Faize? Where'd you go?
Random Dude: Air Hatch Has Been Open!
Crowe: Ok, that's not a Starcraft line, so you're fired! That said...SHIT! He wouldn't dare...
*the Sol leaves the ship*
Faize: I'll protect them all.  I'll save everyone single handedly with this little meager ship that shouldn't be armed but is.  I'LL PROTECT MY ENTIRE RACE!!!  THIS IS SOMETHING I CAN DO BUT EDGE CAN'T! YOU'LL SEE!
*eyes turn evil red again*
Faize: DIE FUCKING PHANTOM BASTARD SCUM YOU PIECE OF SHIT ^*^*@)(^
*Faize gets engulfed in big shiny glorious light*
Crowe: Faize! Are you alright? Faize? FAIZE!? FAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

*back with Edge and Co.*
Edge: Finally, back to the Calnus...OFF TO En II WE GO! BACCHUS! SET THE CO-ORDINATES!
Bacchus: Affirmative!
Reimi: Say, Edge, I just remembered something...
Edge: Hm?
Reimi: Haven't we...deviated from our ordres, and gone against them to get the Grigori?
Edge: Yeah...
Reimi: We have to report back to the SRF eventually, you know, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS!?
Edge: ...we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Reiimi: Yeah, but...well, I'm sure we can find a way around it...but what about Crowe? They'll juts dismiss the Grigori thing, maybe, but Crowe...HE'S SCREWED IF WE MENTION HIM!
Edge: ...you had to tell me that, didn't you? *Sigh*  Alright, everyone. we're about to go to En II.  We have to learn the SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE.  So you need to make sure you wanna-...
Reimi: I'm in.
Bacchus: Affirmative.
Myuria: Yep.
Meracle: Ditto, Meow!
Lymle: 'kay.
Arumat: Whatever.
Sarah: I can't fly, so I'm stuck anyway!
Edge: ...well, that makes everything easier.  Off to En II we go!

*on the way to En II*
Lymle: Mattie...
Arumat: Yes?
Lymle: You're sitting in Faize's seat, 'kay?
Arumat: Oh, I'll leave when he gets back, don't worry.  For now, though, he's not here, and I want to be comfortable.
Meracle: You miss Faize, don't you Lymle?
Lymle: I don't care for Faize at all, 'kay?
Sarah: You're face says different.
Lymle: Faize can be gone forever, I don't care.
Bacchus: Sorry to break the mood, but my censors tell us there's an energy source coming at us...fast...
Edge: Can you make out what they are?
Bacchus: Yes, they are...ANCIENT EGYPTIAN LASER BEAMS.
Edge: ...WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!
*Ship takes hit*
Edge: Status report!
Reimi: Damage minimal! By which I mean half the ship is blown apart...
Edge: Oh, so nothing big, ok.
Bacchus: I sense two ships in front of us, putting visual on now.
*two Phantom Ships appear*
Edge: Umm...ok, this is bad.
Arumat: Put the gun controls over here, I'll take 'em down if you don't mind! I'm good at this stuff!
Myuria: While I agree that would be a good idea...this ship is only equipped with Nerf slingshots.
Arumat: Oh...well...scratch that idea.
Edge: IN that case...RETREA-...
*Ship gets hit again*
Edge: Ok, that's not going to work, ENERGY SHIELDS NO-...
*Shields get hit*
Reimi: Only 40% of them are left!  We can't survive another volley!
Edge: ...WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!
Bacchus: My censors indicate there's a 3rd ship of unknown signature behind us.
Edge: Well, it was good while it lasted...say Reimi, can you survive in space with your special powers?
Reimi: I...don't know?
*The Phantom Ships get blasted in half by two well placed lasers*
Reimi: Oh, good, now I won't have to find out!
Edge: Better yet, we're going to live! Say, who saved us? Is that a Morphus ship?
Bacchus: Negative.  It seems more like an Earth ship.  
Voice: SRF-003 Calnus, open contact! We are not your enemy!
Edge: Ok, so they're from Earth.  Patch them through!

*Commander Lightspeed Kenni appears*
Edge: OMG! ITS LIGHTSPEED KENNI! We're not worthy! We're not worthy!
Myuria: Whose he?
Reimi: Oh, first human to ever break Lightspeed.  He's a big hero, and the guy who pioneered space exploration.  I think Edge is getting a bit over his head...
Reimi's thoughts: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! ITS REALLY HIM! AND HE'S SO SEXY!
Kenni: Ah, Captain Edge Maverick I presume.
Edge: *breaks out of fanboy mode* Uh, yes, that's me.
Kenni: Good to see your alive, SRF-003 Calnus.   As you already know, I am Commander Kenni.
Edge: Captain Edge Maverick of the Calnus, sir!
Reimi: First Officer Reimi Sayonji (SP?), sir!
Meracle: I'm Meracle, meow!
Lymle: Hello.
Myuria: Now's not the time you guys
*Drags both away*
Sarah: Oh my, I'm Sarah, and I'm of the Featherfolk, and I can't fly!
Bacchus: This would be an inappropriate moment for such things.
*Bacchus carries Sarah off*
Kenni: Quite a crew you have...
Edge: Uh, yeah, sorry we have a bunch of aliens you've never heard of.
Kenni: No, its fine; a Captain is allowed to use whoever he sees fit.
Edge: So...uh...yeah, about that report...
Kenni: Ah, yes, please tell me in excruciating detail!
Edge: Will do!  You see, it all started when I was 5 and...

*screen turns blank for a second*
Edge: And that's my life story until this exact moment!
Kenni: *is sleeping*
Reimi: Um...Edge...you were suppose to tell him only the stuff related to the mission...
Edge: Oh...uhh...oops...say, WAKE UP!
Kenni: What? Zuh? Oh, I'm sorry.  You're quite enthuisaistic Edge.  To think you've went through all that without breaking, truly a remarkable man indeed!
Edge: Sweet! I got praised by THE LIGHTSPEED KENN!I
Kenni: Which pains me to say we're going to blow up the Calnus.
Edge: Swee-...wait WHAT?
Kenni: Oh, don't worry, we aren't going to blow it up with YOU in it.  We'll just forcefully pull you off the ship to ours and...
Edge: ...why?
Kenni: Oh, I should probably explain the current scenario.  You see, Eldarian ships were sighted outside of Mars on a basic investigation...a bunch of them.  Naturally, Earth extended an open arm to help the only extraterrestrials we've confirmed existing...
Edge: Yeah, well, I just confirmed at least 3 other races exist besides them...
Kenni: Yes, I'm aware.  Anyway, the Eldarians however blamed Earth for the destruction of Eldar!
Edge: But...the Phantoms did that...
Kenni: Yes, yes they did.  But the Eldarians just saw our ships blowing them up so they came to their own conclusions.  Oh, don't worry, their Commander Gaghan argued on our behalf...but to no avail.
Edge: So...uh...are we at war with the Eldarians?
Kenni: Oh, no.  The USTA simply just pretended the SRF doesn't exist, and we have to destroy all evidence that it does, thereby proving its a physical impossibility for us to have destroyed them.  THIS MEANS ALL EVIDENCE MUST GO!
Edge: That's just a charrade though...
Kenni: IT is, but to make sure it works, they have officially disbanded the SRF...and I'm suppose to help make that a reality by blowing up all traces of it.  You know, wipe a clean slate?
Edge: WELL YOU CAN SUCK IT.
Kenni: Huh?
Edge: You're not taking the Calnus!  Is that what the SRF stood for? Fuck, I'm not giving up my ship! I'm leaving whether you like it or not!
Kenni: You'll be branded a traitor...
Edge: That's better than following those stupid orders, right guys?
Reimi: I'm in.
Bacchus: Affirmative.
Myuria: Yep.
Meracle: Ditto, Meow!
Lymle: 'kay.
Arumat: Whatever.
Sarah: Goodness Gracious!
Kenni: Well, if that's how it is, so be it!  Don't forget that resolve boy!  I won't do anything, but know that since you defied our commands, the USTA can't help you out and you probably won't be allowed back on Earth.  Again, I am not trying to sound like a douche, just indicating that bad things MAY occur.
Edge: Yeah, well, we're not going back to Earth anytime soon.
Kenni: Very well, God Speed young one!

*Calnus warps off*
Heinz: Sir, was that the right thing to do?
Kenni: Shh! I'm lost in thought, I need to flashback so I can get some actual screen time and development!
Heinz: My apologies!
*Flashback*
Kenni: What do you mean you're disbanning the SRF?
Shimada: Ah, yes, I'm doing it cause it'll make me look better in front of Eldarians.  You know, it'll help my political career if I get not only people of our planet, but aliens to vote for me as well!
Shimada's Bitches: Yes, brilliant idea sir! WELL SAID!
Kenni: But...what about exploring space so we can leave Earth before it completely decays and we die?
Shimada: HA! The Earth isn't going to die tomorrow!
Shimada's Bitches: Yes, brilliant idea sir! WELL SAID!
Kenni: So we're just going to throw away all the dreams of those young kids? Throw away all the aspirations of Earth?  Have you even considered just asking Gaghan, whose a very reasonable guy and even shown he knows we didn't do it, to try and speak on Earth's behalf?
Shimada: You ignobles are so naive! I must do this so I look better and GET A PROMOTION!
Shimada's Bitches: Yes, brilliant idea sir! WELL SAID!
Shimada: You think your hero status matters more than MY DEPUTY COMMANDER RANK!? NO!? Good, know that you're just selfish in MY presence!
Kenni: Yes, yes its so selfish to want to perserve mankind's fate, compared to furthering space exploration for your own political career. </obvious confrontational sarcasm>
Shimada: I'm glad you understand!
*Flashback ends*
Heinz: Hello! Boss! Earth to guy who is the ancestor of a Star Ocean 1 Archer/Mage and the Main Character of Star Ocean 2!
Kenni: Huh? What? Oh, sorry, I was just reminiscing about how easily I accepted these stupid orders.  How will we tell them we let the Calnus go I wonder...
Heinz: Well, sir, actually, the orders were...ah...kind of vague enough that I know a way!
Kenni: Oh?
Heinz: He said "Destroy all SRF Ships", but well lets analyze this.  The SRF is suppose to not exist anymore, and was suppose to never exist.  Therefor, how can we run into a ship from a non-existent federation?
Kenni: In Other Words, a loop hole, so we can tell the "truth" and not feel guilty?
Heinz: Pretty much.
Kenni: Isn't that a total charade?
Heinz: Well, you are countering ANOTHER charade with it.
Kenni: ...touche...

*back at the Calnus*
Bacchus: Its going to take a while til we reach En II.  This would be a good moment to sleep, and do PAs.
Edge: Alright, later all, I'm going to take a nap.
*One Nap later*
Edge: AAAH! That was good...ok, time to head to the Bri-...
*Insert Disc 3*
Edge: Wait WHAT? AGAIN!?
*Edge changes discs since Meracle isn't around to bitch slap into doing it*
Edge: Ok, NOW onto the Bridge!
Reimi: Um...Edge...we're at En II but...I can't see it...but the Co-ordinates are...
Myuria: If you knew you were being watched, wouldn't YOU try to hide?
Reimi: Oh, is that all there is?
*Huge fucking Pyramid appears out of nowhere*
Edge: WHOA! I didn't see that there before! It appeared out of nowhere! How does that even work?
Myuria: Edge, Bacchus has been using Cloaking Devices on himself and on the Ship for quite a while now, don't you think that Nedian Morphus technology MAY be advanced enough for such things?
Voice: Welcome, comrades.
Edge: ...you two never told me the Morphus were communists,
Arumat: Great, just what I need; a bunch of ancient high tech commis...
Voice: We are ready to welcome you aboard.  There are urgent matters so small talk won't do.  Please, come in.
*Calnus lands in the "planet"*
Bacchus: Edge, I must take my leave for about 5 minutes.  I am going to install HIGH TECH WEAPONRY onto the Calnus, if that's alright.
Edge: So you're going to turn an Exploration ship into a Warship?
Bacchus: Precisely.
Edge: ...LETS DO IT!
Voice: Outsiders, please, go meet "Ex"
Reimi: Whose "Ex"?
Myuria: He's...ah...well...you see...oh screw it, its just easier to show you when we get there.
*team goes to where "Ex" is*
Edge: So are you "Ex"?
Guy: No, I'm Giotto.  You are all my new Comrades too.
Edge: I...see? Anyway, hi, I'm Edge Maverick. Everyone, introduce yourselves!
*they all do*
Edge: Now, Shake my hand will you?
Giotto: ....
Edge: Uh, is that such an odd request?
<actual lines of dialog>
Giotto: Oh, I'm sorry.  I was just thinking the proper way to address you.  325 different ways came to mind but I couldn't think of the proper way to formulate it.
Edge: You...put a lot of thought into this?
Myuria: Giotto's not what one would call a people person.
Sarah: Yes, there's lots of people like that around!
</actual lines of dialog>
Edge: Well, a simple Hi and a handshake would work!
Giotto: Anyway, its time you meet "Ex"
*Giotto turns on computer*
Cyril: YES! SOON US! GOD'S 10 WISE MEN SHALL BE-...
Giotto: Oh, wait, wrong button...
Cyril: NO! I haven't finished speak-
*Computer shifts*
Edge: What was that about?
Giotto: Something not part of THIS story, I can assure you.  Anyway, here is "Ex"
"Ex": GREETINGS! I AM THE ALL AND POWERFUL "EX". I KNOW EVERYTHING! I AM THE WILL OF THE NEDIANS  MORPHUS!
Edge: Um, hi there?
"Ex": NOW I WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING ABOUT THE GRIGORI AND PHANTOMS.  THEY SEEK TO FURTHER EVOLUTION FOR THE MISSING PROCEDURE, AND THUS DESTROY EVERYTHING TO CREATE A NEW UNIVERSE! ONE DEVOID OF LIFE! THIS IS THE NATURAL WAY OF THE UNIVERSE WHEN IT RESPONDS TO EVOLUTION!
Edge: Wait...so by evolving, we further the destruction of the universe? So by EXISTING, we're not different than Grigori?  WELL FUCK. Doesn't that throw some horrible philosophical bullshit into all of this.  I mean, learning that ALL LIFE harms the universe?  Geez, so the answer to the "meaning of life" is "everything is insipid poison to destroy existence."  Great thing to learn.
"Ex": IT IS TRUE THAT YOU ARE NOT ENTIRELY GUITLESS, BUT YOUR PURE HEARTS!!! OFFSET ALL THAT!! CAUSE YOUR EVOLUTION IS NATURAL, YOU CAN EVOLVE WITHOUT HARMING THE UNIVERSE!!!
Arumat: Ok, I think I've finally lost my mind.  A FUCKING COMPUTER is telling us that the universe is going to be destroyed, but cause we have PURE HEARTS, we can save it? WHO THE FUCK MADE THIS GUY RULER OF EN II?
Myuria: Hey, don't look at me.  I voted for "Ziroh".
"Ex": YOU MUST STOP THE GRIGORI BEFORE THE MISSING PROCEDURE KILLS EVERYONE! THAT IS THE NATURE OF LIFE ENERGY AND EVOLUTION! THIS EVIL EXTERNAL FORCE THAT WISHES TO DESTROY ALL LIFE SO THAT THERE IS A STATIC UNIVERSE THAT FOLLOWS UP MUST BE STOPPED!
Arumat: In otherwords, we destroy the missing procedure, and all is good? Sounds simple enough.
Edge: I don't think its that easy...
Giotto: The Missing Procedure cannot be destroyed.  It is infinite.
Reimi: So...all is lost, and everything is futile?
Giotto: Oh, you can't DESTROY the Missing Procedure, but you can STOP IT, and halt its progress, and isn't that good enough?
Edge: I...guess?
"Ex": I HAVE CONFIRMED A WAY THAT WILL WORK! ALL YOU NEED TO...OH NO.  IT SEEMS THE EN II IS UNDER ATTACK BY OUR ENEMIES THE PHANTOMS AND A GRIGORI!  WE WILL GET A DEFENSIVE SQUAD REA-...
Edge: We'll do it! We've beat up so many Grigori, we're experts at it, right?
"Ex":BWAHAAHHAAH! SUCH VIGOROUS YOUTH! VERY WELL.  YOU UNDERDEVELOPED SPECIES BY OUR STANDARDS SHALL GO AND DESTROY IT! GO SAVE THE UNIVERSE, YOUNG ONES!
*"Ex" shuts off*
Myuria: You know, all this time, I didn't know "Ex" was capable of laughter.
Giotto: Nor did I.  I guess you guys must have hit a nerve somewhere.
Arumat: Wait, are you saying that computer has ACTUAL EMOTIONS AND PERSONALITY?
Giotto: Yes, is that really so odd?
Arumat: where do you want me to start?
Edge: We don't have time for that! Where's the Grigori?
Giotto: It seems to be in the sanctuary.
Bacchus: Yes, then we shall proceed to that very location!

----

Arumat: So, I think as the Eldarian that replaced Faize, its my duty to figure out what's going on right now.
Myuria: Hm?
Arumat: Basically, some external source thinks we're evolving too fast, right?
Myuria: Apparently.
Arumat: And said source believes it to be a god, and wants to destroy our universe, replacing it with one that doesn't evolve but stays static, right?
Myuria: Yeah, is this going anywhere?
Arumat: Yes.  Do you think its possible that we're nothing more than a Massive Multiplayer Online RPG for some people in a different dimension, and we've somehow grown our own personalities, and now they're trying to delete us through some really lame attempts?
Myuria: What? That's nonsense! Of course the Phantoms aren't something like that! They're just some pricks who want to destroy the universe and came out of nowhere!
Arumat: Yeah, I guess when you put it that way, my theory doesn't make much sense; this is why I stick more to fighting than thinking.  I mean,  what are the chances that it could be true?

[OblivionKnight]

Soviet 5 was the one where you're trying to sneak attack Giles, and you start with 2 allies, but lose one of them (who takes your resources early on), right? 

Yeah thats the one. The problem I have it I can't beat any one of the enemies fast enough, because after a while Giles finds the brokeness that is aircraft carriers and destroys my co - commander instantly. The other problem is the base location on the map.

I've tried Kirov rushs and massed twinblades but they can't seem to get the job done.

Ah, yeah, that one was the first challenging mission, I found.  You have the advantage of about 5 free minutes to do stuff, and a shitload of resources to work with for 2 of them.  

General suggestions: Build hard.  Build fast.  When you have those resources, build as much as you can - if you do it fast enough (or have enough in transit production before-hand), you can spend a good 50k or so easily, which will help a lot.  Twin-blades are very good for fast response against ground units, but I'd also suggest some air defense (MIGs are probably best, to take down marauding Kirovs, but Bullfrogs are cool, and don't inhibit your Twinblade production) as well.  I find air works very well on that map.  Take what you initially have (I don't remember what in particular you start with - just build lots more), and, once the Purple opponent appears on the map, cripple them.  Hit their naval yard, unit production facilities, and Bullfrogs, Kirovs, and Twinblades, and Construction Yard if you can.  Do this WHILE HE IS ALLIED WITH YOU.  He won't fight back.  To the southwest of the map is a resource center you should try to set up and defend during this time.  

The map is much easier once one of them is crippled, and the easiest way is to do what I said.  Makes the map loads easier.  Then you can use whatever else you want to crush Giles - Twinblades are great for smashing carriers.  

If you don't want to do it the easy way, the way I did it "legit" was to focus on air defense (MIGs) to stop Kirovs (with Twinblades to protect against ground units), and pound Giles with a navy (Stingrays and Bullfrogs - they work great in numbers).  But yeah, the co-commander is practically useless on that map - mostly sits and defends, and builds ground units heavily (ON A MOSTLY WATER MAP!!!  YES!!!!).  You need to move fast and hard in those 5 minutes when you have shitloads of resources to build up as best you can.  Taking one of them out makes a huge difference.

If you haven't noticed by now, all the commanders have a specific focus of units - Giles loves air power (which includes Carriers and fucking Century Bombers), as you've seen.  The Carrier planes can be shot down pretty quickly with a large number of ground-based flak, but that's way too defensive, and bullfrogs (since Flak Cannons can't move!) don't do much else but air defense and troop transport.

Be careful with placement of defensive buildings if you use them - the initial resource centres you have are not defensible, and hard to cover.  You might need several to protect them properly.

Any other thoughts, let me know!  Probably the only 2 people here who played it >_>

[Pyro]

Legend of Heroes 3:

Plot: Generic RPG. Combat: Generic *easy* RPG. localization: Sub-par due to countless grammatical errors.

Well, at least the game remembers that the PCs are a group of performing musicians, as performing is exactly what they do in every town they visit. I also just got a set of very nice new abilities for the team, including full-healing, a Geno-Boost clone, a long ranged perfect paralysis attack, and (another) perfect evade move.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

S3 - Geddoe 1. Okay, so I forgot about the whole Niu-bait Joker/Ace dynamics there.

[Niu]

Meep, a NPC in ENII is seriously discussing over the existence of 4D world if you repeatedly talks to him.

Missing Procedure is a Vaccine-Program that maintains the order of universe. It's primary is to eliminate the unfitting and over populated life form and evens out the population of the universe to so universe can function smoothly.
It automatically eliminates life form that is over evolved. As inter galactic communications and travel become so easy, the level of civilization and technology can rise very quick, which means more primitive planets can easily be influenced by advance planet and skip many steps of development but the same time got stripped of its own possibility to advance on their own (aka, universe is acting dysfunctional as the steps of evolution are being skipped). And Missing Procedure responded by forced evolution to evolve all being into a same and equal state of being so everything can work smoothly again from an even ground.

To put it simple word, it is a game balance device.

[Xeroma]

Endless Frontier - This translation is quote-tacular. Having fun, Party is L16ish. Just past the dungeon where I got Reiji and Xiaomu.

[Meeplelard]

Meep, a NPC in ENII is seriously discussing over the existence of 4D world if you repeatedly talks to him.

Missing Procedure is a Vaccine-Program that maintains the order of universe. It's primary is to eliminate the unfitting and over populated life form and evens out the population of the universe to so universe can function smoothly.
It automatically eliminates life form that is over evolved. As inter galactic communications and travel become so easy, the level of civilization and technology can rise very quick, which means more primitive planets can easily be influenced by advance planet and skip many steps of development but the same time got stripped of its own possibility to advance on their own (aka, universe is acting dysfunctional as the steps of evolution are being skipped). And Missing Procedure responded by forced evolution to evolve all being into a same and equal state of being so everything can work smoothly again from an even ground.

To put it simple word, it is a game balance device.

I figured as such.  I just couldn't miss the opportunity for someone to break the 4th wall and prod at the 4D Plot Twist of SO3 some cause the way SO4 words the Missing Procedure, its so obvious they were feeding off that idea.

[Twilkitri]

Pokémon Diamond - Elite Four/Champion beaten. Party at the end was L49 Torterra, L48 Gastrodon, L49 Lucario, L49 Luxray, L49 Staraptor. Also an L34 Gastrodon which was along for the experience.

I guess now it's collecting time (alternately getting-back-to-bof5 time) until EF arrives. There is always the island to go to but for some reason I am wary that won't be especially enthralling. Don't think I'm going to bother with contests and the like since they appear to be more annoying than Sapphire's from what I've read ingame.

It might just be that it's been ages since I played Pokémon last, but it seems like the rate of running into battles was jacked up far too high. This is especially annoying when you're trying to do tricky bike jumps and keep ending up in battles in the 5-odd squares it takes to set up. The fact that you can trigger battles just by turning around makes me wonder whether the system is bugged and is checking multiple times per square.

[TranceHime]

FF1 romhack by MC50:

Okay, everyone's at L17, I got the Airship with... relatively little trouble. Okay, so TWO of my teammates were stoned because now the AYE (EYE) has Petrify to his attacks instead of RUB, which is harder to deal with because petrify rarely hits me ever until now =_=

Okay, so everything's dandy, I get the BERSRK (101 ATK) staff for AAA so that his damage gets pumped up, while sacrificing some Hit. I also get L6 spells for Sage. The Edge sword is very very powerful at this point of the game.

Well, I don't know. I tried the Castle of Ordeals, and that's when things fell apart.

you fight ZomSATANs in there. They have ID attached to their attacks. They're faster than you. They're bastards and a half to kill, with more HP than VanillaFF1!Lich AND you fight them in groups of 3.

I can escape, but nearly everyone's dead. I CANNOT handle that place at my level, and I refuse to fight Kary until I've class changed.

My problem is... Where the hell do I grind, I refuse to grind in places where there are SATANs or ZomSATANs, those enemies have 666 HP and I cannot afford to waste my time with those.

[Hunter Sopko]

VC- Up to Chapter 6. Enjoying the game. It's doing a pretty good job of storytelling so far and I like it's style.

Yeah, scouts are uber. Keeping the Edelweiss upgraded seems comical at this point considering I've yet to use more than 3 people in any given mission, but I know it'll come in handy eventually. Plus I've A-Ranked everything so far, so keeping everything in tip-top shape isn't hard.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

FF1 romhack by MC50:

Okay, everyone's at L17, I got the Airship with... relatively little trouble. Okay, so TWO of my teammates were stoned because now the AYE (EYE) has Petrify to his attacks instead of RUB, which is harder to deal with because petrify rarely hits me ever until now =_=

Okay, so everything's dandy, I get the BERSRK (101 ATK) staff for AAA so that his damage gets pumped up, while sacrificing some Hit. I also get L6 spells for Sage. The Edge sword is very very powerful at this point of the game.

Well, I don't know. I tried the Castle of Ordeals, and that's when things fell apart.

you fight ZomSATANs in there. They have ID attached to their attacks. They're faster than you. They're bastards and a half to kill, with more HP than VanillaFF1!Lich AND you fight them in groups of 3.

I can escape, but nearly everyone's dead. I CANNOT handle that place at my level, and I refuse to fight Kary until I've class changed.

My problem is... Where the hell do I grind, I refuse to grind in places where there are SATANs or ZomSATANs, those enemies have 666 HP and I cannot afford to waste my time with those.

Delete, play better game seems like your best option.

[Excal]

Uhhh, but Fire Cave is supposed to be before Castle of Ordeals.  Unless things got twisted around in this hack, it sounds like they just simply decided to enforce that idea.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Trance refuses to do the game in the sane order and wants to grind for promotions before Kary.

[Excal]

Well, sure.  But it's no comment on the quality of the game if you try to change the terms its on and fail.

[MC50]

Alright, I'm reading what you're talking about, and I've made a couple of changes.

- There is a 7 defense armor that Dragons can equip. (It replaces W.Mitts, so it should be buyable in one of the early towns. The plain Mitts have been increased to be as good as the W. Mitts were.)
- SATAN and ZomSATAN have their HP halved, ZomSATAN's also hit less times, so they should have a lower chance of inflicting instant death.
- Some other monsters have had their stats lowered a bit.

I've uploaded a new patch. Thanks for playing it though, I like to know what you think about it. I know it's not exactly balanced, I mostly just made it for fun for some friends, but I don't want it to be incredibly annoying or anything. (Though, it is still FF1. Not the least annoying game ever.)

I don't think ZomSATAN's are too common in the castle of ordeals, though (I didn't even know they were in there) And I can't blame you for promoting first.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XTUL3280

Your same savestates/save files should still work.