What Games are you Playing 2017?

[Dark Holy Elf]

Speaking of job system FFs...!


Final Fantasy Dimensions - Twilight part 3

Back to Dusk again. Shops upgrade with Level 7 spells and some new gear. I buy all the L7 black spells. Comet and Quake are both significant improvements in ST and MT damage, though in a cruel twist of fate neither ends up useful in this dungeon. Death is the new status attack though and it is a good time. As in the previous Light dungeon I mostly run Black Mage here since its stats manage to just be good enough and it has an answer to everything in the dungeon.

Mysidia Caverns:
-Caterchipillars: Sometimes use Slow which is annoying. Vulnerable to Break. Mid-high priority.
-Brains: Can use Constrict for paralyse (Gold-Spun Hat blocks it) or Osmose. Vulnerable to Break.
-Desmodontidae: Bats. They can drain for some light damage or occasionally use silence (which is rare but super-annoying, so I do eventually use my accessory to block it, losing some durability). Vulnerable to Break.
-Black Lizards: They hit things. Immune to Break and bulky enough to take a Comet, but vulnerable to Death.
-Zombie Dragons: Hit hard. (Dark Breath does over 1200.) Vulnerable to Break.
-Alchemists: Hit hard with Thundaga. Can take a hit from Comet, immune to Break. Vulnerable to Death.
-Mythril Golems: Benign but bulky. Tornado then poke.
-Gorgimeras: Damaging and bulky. Tornado then poke works. Sometimes they spawn behind another enemy in the back row which is helpful since a lot of their bruising is physical.

I try to run Quake but it takes at least 3 shots to down almost everything (and misses bats) so it's not really worth it. Comet similarly doesn't matter because it can't secure any OHKOs. The Break/Death/Tornado show carves through everything nicely, though, and Stop/Osmose still exists to make sure I don't run out of MP.


Protector (14 resets)

This is it, the final boss of the light path, the guardian of the Light Crystal, the first boss of the game on steroids. He's not too bad normally but he's a real jerk here. 46000 HP is a solid total. He can physical twice for around 700 per swing to the back row (Protect helps), or Thwack for a bit more than that to everyone. He'll often add MT Roar (chance of stun) before Thwack. And he can cast Holy, which does anywhere from 2500 (Red Mage) to 3200 (physical jobs). Reasonable offence but nothing we can't handle.

Below half HP he starts using Soul Despair at periodic intervals, which is MT HP-1. Now fortunately he'll never use Holy the turn right after this, just physicals or turnskips, so that's a big help. Unfortunately it's still hard to heal up fast enough. Also at this point, Holy Breath replaces Thwack, which is about 1800 MT magic damage, and it can still be used after Roar in the same way. He'll also upgrade his double physical to sometimes include Right Arms, which hit about half again as hard.

"Okay," you say, "That sounds pretty competent, but I'm not seeing 14 resets." Yeah, well. The real problem: he sometimes counters magic with Brain Crush. I've seen Brain Crush before, Lufenian Souls used it in the previous Alba dungeon as a death counter. It inflicts confuse and berserk. Alba can block berserk at this point. Dusk... can not. Berserk is absolutely, 100% fatal. Since this is not a short fight, thus, magic is not an option. Including, sadly, Sylph. So we have to do this with physicals, and we have to do it by healing either with white magic or X-Potions. And Soul Despair ensres there will be plenty of healing.


At this point I have a brainwave. Holy is the main problem. How about... Reflect? A quick test later leaves me with a big surprise: Holy isn't reflectable in this game! Flare is, most white magic is. Just not Holy for some reason. Either they wanted the spell to be a bit more badass, or they wanted to make this boss a bit harder to shut down. Anyway without a working Reflect, white mage setups aren't very appealing here. My damage is just too low, and I don't have a good way to restore MP with Osmose potentially countered. I could grind to get White Magic 6 (for Haste/Shell/Regen) on a better job, but that's a crazy amount of AP at this point since I don't have any investment in White Mage yet.

This leaves a physical setup chugging X-Potions, which heal for 2000. The best physical setup is unquestionably Jump: it allows me to be in the back row and do full damage, and the time in the air doesn't matter. A quick trial run shows promise as I reach the limit phase on the first try even with a terribly out-of-date weapon.

So I walk out of the dungeon levelling Warrior (for Counter) and Dragoon (for general JL), running Black Magic 5 as my secondary. Break and Tornado are still effective as always, though not having a turn 1 option for enemies I used Death against hurts, as does losing out on blockers. So things get a bit harder now, but fortunately I better know how to deal with and prioritise the enemies, so it's not too bad. I restock on Hi-Potions and buy an Enhancer (best sword/spear available at this point). I take a few more stabs at the fight but still can't win, once because I run out of my supply of 20 X-Potions. So I go out again and by more X-Potions, and also level Dragoon up to JL 10 for a third slot in the process. Both of these ultimately prove unnecessary on the winning run, but improving my odds and having slightly higher stats helps.


Protect is valuable in this fight. The best option is either to run Auto-Protect, or to use another accessory (Dragon Armlet is the best, 2 Spd and a def/eva boost) and cast Protect manually on occasion. HP+20% feels worth not having Red Magic available for sure, but once I hit JL 10 I try to run both. However, needing to recast Protect obviously is some loss of efficiency, and surprisingly, so is what just having Red Magic on my menu does to my timing. See, after using Item one or more times, I want to pick Jump as quickly as possible. If Red Magic is set as a secondary, it forces me to scroll to see Jump, and that splitsecond if valuable. If Red Magic isn't there, Jump will be immediately visible in the top slot after using Item, so I can pick it immediately. This time ends up being worth quite a bit. So my final setup is actually to run no secondary at all, just Dragoon with HP+20%, Counter, and... INT+20% because it has a tiny effect on Holy's damage and really I have nothing better for that third slot, which makes me feel guilty for getting it.


Strategy? Jump. Use X-Potions if my HP drops below 3200, stop if my HP rises above 5400 (I have 7400). Soul Despair will be used after my 10th Jump; anticipate that and no need to heal before it. Use my only Elixir after the first Soul Despair, otherwise use two X-Potions. Hope to be in the air when Soul Despair is used again. If Roar hits, Jumping IMMEDIATELY is helpful since I can barely get that off before his next turn, and then he'll get two turns while I'm in the air. When possible, try to mess with his timing so that he'll get two turns while I'm in the air generally, though this is risky. Pray for as few Holys as possible; fuck that move.

On the winning run I use a mere 14 X-Potions due to having some good luck with his AI and dodging the worst moves while in the air. Go me.

Dusk Level 81 (reached boss at 78)
Black Mage L14
Red Mage L13
Dragoon L10 (reached boss at 6)
Warrior L5
Summoner L4
Bard L2
Monk L1

[LordDirtyBrit]

That sounds eerily accurate, right down to the games being too damn slow for no reason and both having weird hipstery fanbases which will try to tell you the games are totally way better than all those other more popular games.

I've only played Diamond/Pearl but there's no doubt in my mind whatsoever it's the worst mainline Pokemon.

Finally, someone who gets it. Diamond/Pearl is the worst mainline Pokemon, MeepleLard has often described it as a beta and he isn't wrong. Platinum fares a little better, but I don't see why everyone is now saying it's the series' highlight. My guess is that they grew up with them.

As for Final Fantasy IX, not only does the game itself appeal to hipsters, the protagonist does too. I've seen several players nowadays claim that Zidane is the best protagonist because he isn't "angsty" like Cloud or Terra and he isn't "whiny" like Tidus. The thing with the three protagonists I described is that their character development and emotional conflict didn't feel forced unlike that scene in Bran Bal in FFIX. I'll give the game credit for having my favourite villain in the series and a great OST, but boy does it have problems.

[Fenrir]

Where does Job level factor in in OG FF3's damage formula?

Persona 5 sure gets less stylish in the endgame where the generic JRPG plot kicks in. I'm right in front of the final boss. Might not watch the ending once I beat him.

I am going so slowly through P:T and am discovering new things. I'm pretty sure I just rushed through from the lower ward on, I didn't even go into the forge or anything. Here I went to the forge, did a long questline to become a forgedude, then did another long questline inside the forge to betray the forge and become an anarchis punk. I also bought all items for the curio shop and am trying to find an use for them. Hey lady do you sant some... chocolate based mystic item?

I'm super stoked for the new Fire Emblem, which removes all the clutter from new Fire Emblem including like skills and talking and NewAnime art. It's just big ass maps and gorgeous graphics and OldAnime. There's not even the fucking weapon triangle? I'm down for it. They also stole Invisible Inc's retry system which is suuuuper ace.

[jsh357]

Where does Job level factor in in OG FF3's damage formula?

You gain new multipliers for both physical and magical hits after accruing x number of Skill points in the class. It's similar to the way gaining levels in FF1 could increase your Agility (or whatever it was) which led to extra hits after every 8 or so points. (Edit: I'm not entirely sure about this bit on status magic. It seems to be the case, but there's no way I'm confirming it) This is also relevant to status magic, just like in FF2. The chance to hit is essentially based on a number of 'attempts' (hits) that increases with each multiplier. As such, for instance, Toad and Mini are great instant death spells in FF3 (not as obscene as in FF2) if you have a high Skill mage, but if you weren't focusing on using them the entire game, you might never find this out. Another wrinkle is that your mages need to use Magic to actually gain a good amount of Skill growth, but smart players are likely to conserve MP and not gain nearly enough Skill. The late-game classes have higher multiplier by default, so Sage and White Wizard are essentially superior to White Mage by default etc, and the difference is made even bigger by the average player not having high Skill in their classes before the change. However, for the longest stretch of the game, including difficult dungeons like the Cave of Darkness where instant death spells are extremely useful, it's critical to have higher Skill levels on your mages if you want magic to be worth anything. Another example is the fight with Salamander at the Fire Crystal. This tends to be a hard fight for new players, but players who have gotten a decent skill level for their mages breeze through it since their Cure2 and Ice3 spells will be so much better. (I didn't know any of this until I watched HCBailly's LP, and I confirmed it in a mechanics FAQ later on IIRC)


Citation (Ctrl F for Skill): https://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/563415-final-fantasy-iii/faqs/29389
5.1) ATTACK MULTIPLIER
5.1.1) BLACK MAGIC ATTACK MULTIPLIER
Note that Black Magic also includes the Terrain command from the Geomancer.

A.M. = (Intellect/16) + (Level/16) + (Skill/32) + 1



In short, this quirk of the battle system is why I stated that I think having Skill levels be tied to jobs is a negative in this game; it discourages experimenting with jobs since your competency in battle depends on sticking with something. This hurts physical classes too, though not as much since they keep getting new weapons to offset the loss in hits. Some classes have better inherent hit rates too (I don't even know why, guessing it has to do with higher base stats or hidden values), like Mystic Knight, so switching over to them and getting immediate results makes it seem like the problem I'm describing isn't that big of a deal, but it's present for much of the game. I would have preferred that hits be tied strictly to Level like they were in FF1, but I don't blame the developers for thinking this was a good idea; it seems natural on paper. In FF5, yes, you get passive benefits for mastering jobs or equipping other abilities, but the raw stat change from switching jobs is the same no matter what your job level, so you can easily change paths any time you want. I think that's a much less tedious, more fun system for this type of game, and hey, Square's developers realized that too.

Re: FF9 discussion,
I personally love Zidane, forced Terra sequences or no. He's one of the high points of FF9 in my book. A much more likeable protagonist than the leads before him. I agree that the lag makes 9 a real slog to replay, though. If it didn't have such slow battles I would rank it much more highly than I do.

[Grefter]

My only inputs to this conversation are that FFV is the bomb, FF3 blows, Pokémon D/P/P snoozes, FF9 is terrible if only because of the slowest battle system in a JRPG I can think of (and 20% slower in PAL on PSX because early 2000s Square regional support was horrible).

Would be cool to see one more mainline Final Fantasy game try the job system again and incorporate improvements from FFT, FFX-2, Bravely Default, etc. Perhaps I should be careful what I wish for...

This from jsh is the most interesting tod bit of an idea. To me, I am happy seeing Bravely Default and spin offs inherit the Job system.  At this rate they have a much higher batting average, FFV is the only good main line one that I think did it well. X-2 is okay, 3 is the template but is completely superseded.  Both Bravely Default games are great, FFT speaks for itself, Dimensions I think is a seriously great sleeper of a game that when it one day gets a port off of phones or a rerelease is going to blow up a bit more.  When the series return to it, it falls flat or feels really different, like notice how no one talked about FFXIII here?  Two of those straight up use a job system in Paradigms, but they are so pared back and defined that they are just combat roles.  Not to slam FFXIII, but specifically as far as interesting Job systems go it is pretty flat.

XI and XIV do fine for MMOs.

[Fenrir]

Fuck
That's like FF9 levels or me retrospectively enjoying a game less because of its mechanics

[LordDirtyBrit]

My only inputs to this conversation are that FFV is the bomb, FF3 blows, Pokémon D/P/P snoozes, FF9 is terrible if only because of the slowest battle system in a JRPG I can think of (and 20% slower in PAL on PSX because early 2000s Square regional support was horrible).

Oh shit, I have a PAL copy of the game which I never played thanks to the power of Steam. I could only imagine how slow it would be.

[Grefter]

It is a goddamned nightmare.

PS:T - once Enhanced Editions came out for BG1 I pretty much stopped my replays of this, so it has been well over half a decade since I played this.  It holds up for me.  I was worried it might have fallen from that great height, but especially with the enhancements in the new edition which tighten up the controls and run it at 40 instead of 30 fps for this clock rate (speeding the whole game up, not just a visual thing), yeah it is working for me.  Started it up sort of to help deal with some real life stuff and just the opening music for my emotions all a tumultuous whirlwind.

Pretty standard good guy play through as a Mage though.  Achievements might get me to redo as Evil sometime.

I like that the EE doesn't really try to fill in balance stuff and just leaves Friends as a stackable charisma buff and stuff in.

[Fenrir]

I'm super stoked for the new Fire Emblem, which removes all the clutter from new Fire Emblem including like skills and talking and NewAnime art. It's just big ass maps and gorgeous graphics and OldAnime. There's not even the fucking weapon triangle? I'm down for it. They also stole Invisible Inc's retry system which is suuuuper ace.

45€ for the season pass lol
Nintendo implemented DLC way later than most vidcon companies, but they're one of the most predatory companies about it now

[Hunter Sopko]

I'm super stoked for the new Fire Emblem, which removes all the ... Fire Emblem ... It's just big ass ... fucking ... I'm down for it.

[Grefter]

*shrug*. The price tag is all there up front on that one.  I had to look up what the fuck this new Fire Emblem was.  A super faithful remake of 2(?), keeping its mechanics but jazzing up the plot and graphics?  Right after a pretty successful waifu game and main line waifu sequel?  That seems odd.  45€ worth of DLC for what was originally an NES game sounds even more mind bending though.   Do we know what is in that season pass?

I ask that as someone that bought all the DLC for that previously successful mainline waifu game.


Also sopko post came in as I am typing this.  You did good this time bro.

[Fenrir]

This is like 3 maps + classes per 10€ pack

This FE feels like new SMT non Persona games
"Sorry about all the waifus in the last game. Here is a less waifu-oriented one that will sell way less"

I think they still have to update the mechanics / flow a bit, because FE Gaiden is some ancient shit


I finished Persona 5. Underwhelming final boss. Music blew + I didn't really have to think about it. matarukaja, marakukaja, mediarahan, MT skills + Carrots
Be careful kids: carrots can be used in battle, tomatoes can't

[Grefter]

I figured if anyone would enjoy the Megami Tensei 2 chaos/neutral boss rush as the final dungeon it would be you.  But yeah by the final dungeon I was starting to be checked out.  It isn't as good as the palaces and it isn't as good as like the tower in DDS1 (fuck the sun in DDS2).

[Fenrir]

Yeah I sure liked seeing the four archangels again, but they're over in a second. What I didn't like was the save the world / MUHUHAHAH / power of friendship usual BS. Level architecture is pretty meh too.


I bought FE Echoes, it is what I expected. Everybody in my team is a villager with terrible growth. I go to my orange tree to pick up oranges to use in battles. There are SMT4 dungeons with easy battles but a fatigue system to make things more difficult.
The third map had us fight a bunch of dudes  on one sife while an absolute beast of a regular enemy (2HKO, takes 1 damage from everybody but my one mage) traveled over the mountains to attack us from behind. Fun.

[Fenrir]

Nioh fanbase: " we want female characters"
Nioh : "here you go, free dlc"
Me: "thx wait what it costs 50000 glory? I've been playing for hours and I only have 2000"
Nioh : "Yes"

[Captain K]

P5:  I've been doing new game+ on Merciless, and I got to Kaneshiro dungeon before I realized you can summon anything out of your Persona registry regardless of your level.  So I summoned my endgame Thor with no weaknesses thinking I'd be invincible.  Then I got Dormina'd and technical hit for OHKO.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Job system / FF3 stuff, with bonus Zidane hate:

A.M. = (Intellect/16) + (Level/16) + (Skill/32) + 1

That formula isn't nearly as egregious as you're implying? "Skill/32" means that you need to gain 32 Skill to even see a single multiplier increase, which takes at least 9 rounds per skill point, or 288 rounds per multiplier. That's a very slow increase in a relatively short game like FF3. You bring up Salamander and let's be honest, even gaining one skill mult by him feels kinda unlikely (as you noted you'd have needed to use magic a lot, and MP limits don't make that as possible as you might like). Whether he's an easy boss or not has a lot more to do with eqipping fire resistance then whether you ground up an extra skill mult or no... in other words, being in the right classes. (Red Mage > Black Mage or White Mage there for instance, which supports my argument!)

Now, granted, the spiky nature of this increase is kinda bad (the boost I just described, whenever it occurs, will likely up your multiplier from 3 to 4 and yeah that's quite a bit when it happens), similar to the problem FF1 had. But I don't think tying it to JL is as bad as you seem to think, especially when FF3 manifestly does not reward you for sticking with a job a lot otherwise since there are no skills to learn and constant upgrades of "you just got this new job which uses much better equipment/spells than your previous job".

Most job system FFs do have job level matter a bit for job performance; in Bravely Default and FF3DS it's more important than in FF3o for sure, while in Bravely Second and FFD the effect isn't as potent but very much there. Job system games in this regard are often about competing between the effects of switching jobs for immediate usefulness (or as soon as you get some great skill to port out of the job) and building up job level, with job level granting either more powerful skills or making the job a better carrier. FF5 eschewed the latter but it's very big into the former.

I personally love Zidane, forced Terra sequences or no. He's one of the high points of FF9 in my book. A much more likeable protagonist than the leads before him.

I never liked Zidane back in 2000 but he's gotten way worse the older I get; I was stunned how badly he came off when I watched the game a couple years ago, especially after a similar adult rewatch of FF8 convinced me I'd been a bit too hard on some of its weaker castmates as a teenager. But Zidane just seems to have scene after scene where he acts like a total dipshit. I think for instance of the scene in which he beats up a guard of the castle in which he is a guest so he can go talk to Garnet because violence to NPCs is funny. Or the scene where he mocks all his friends behind their backs when sending them to the elemental pillars. The Terra stuff is forced as Brit says and I'm not a huge fan as such but at least it involves him in a moment of vulnerability instead of acting like an asshole; I suspect some people just hate on it because it's being "emo" or whatever they decided they hated Squall for.

I'll give the game credit for having my favourite villain in the series and a great OST, but boy does it have problems.

This is pretty much my exact opinion of FF9 these days, yeah. Not sure who my favourite villain in the series is but Kuja certainly belongs in the discussion. Both genomes are self-absorbed brats but at least the game recognises it with Kuja!

These fans really seem to dislike XY due to its rather poor narrative.

I'm not here to defend XY's narrative (and question how much one should use plot to compare Pokemon games) but uh do people really think DP is any better? I don't remember any plot except that Team Galactic had a plan as stupid as "expand the landmass/seas!" but the game took it more seriously. (I could really do without the Evil Teams having stupid grandiose JRPG plans, they don't fit Pokemon at all. Team Rocket had small-potatoes goals but those fit the setting much better IMO.)

[MasterLemon]

With Pokemon SM's narrative there were two evil teams where one's motives were small-potatoes and the other's motives were more grandiose. Meaning it kinda makes both camps happy (the former is brought up more amongst the fanbase). And you raise a good point about people using plots to compare Pokemon games. You could count the above average plots in the series on one hand and still have room to spare. Pokemon plots pale very strongly in comparison to other RPGs. I've seen people say Colosseum is a high point in the series due to how it has one of the deeper plots. For me, the game was so dull that it was one of two Pokemon games which I couldn't finish, along with Pokemon Ranger.

Also, I'm pretty sure that people hate on Squall because Spoony told them to. I've never played VIII and I only know bits and pieces of its plot, but I should probably go into this one with an open mind; especially when looking at how they do Squall as a character.

[LordDirtyBrit]

I never liked Zidane back in 2000 but he's gotten way worse the older I get; I was stunned how badly he came off when I watched the game a couple years ago, especially after a similar adult rewatch of FF8 convinced me I'd been a bit too hard on some of its weaker castmates as a teenager. But Zidane just seems to have scene after scene where he acts like a total dipshit. I think for instance of the scene in which he beats up a guard of the castle in which he is a guest so he can go talk to Garnet because violence to NPCs is funny. Or the scene where he mocks all his friends behind their backs when sending them to the elemental pillars. The Terra stuff is forced as Brit says and I'm not a huge fan as such but at least it involves him in a moment of vulnerability instead of acting like an asshole; I suspect some people just hate on it because it's being "emo" or whatever they decided they hated Squall for.

Never notices these moments with Zidane until now. They've lowered my opinion on him even further, that's for sure. As for Bran Bal, I'd like the scene more if Zidane's emotional crisis had some build up like Cloud's did. I couldn't care less if a character has an 'emo' moment near the end of the second act. The point of the second act is to bring the characters to their lowest point so it only feels natural that a JRPG would have a moment like this for their main protagonist.

Speaking of JRPG casts, a lot of people criticise FF8's characters for falling out of focus throughout the story (from my understanding). FF9's cast doesn't fare much better. By disc 3; only Zidane, Garnet and Vivi matter. Sure; Eiko gets a DiD moment at the end of the Desert Palace, but after that she is irrelevant to the rest of the plot along with the others.

I'm not here to defend XY's narrative (and question how much one should use plot to compare Pokemon games) but uh do people really think DP is any better? I don't remember any plot except that Team Galactic had a plan as stupid as "expand the landmass/seas!" but the game took it more seriously. (I could really do without the Evil Teams having stupid grandiose JRPG plans, they don't fit Pokemon at all. Team Rocket had small-potatoes goals but those fit the setting much better IMO.)

Yeah, Diamond/Pearl's plot is pretty stupid. A lot of the game's fanbase (4chan and GameFAQs kids) like to defend the narrative of the Sinnoh games because Platinum 'improved it'. First off, you should not have to wait for the deluxe version in order to receive the complete experience. Secondly; Platinum does not improve Diamond/Pearl's plot, it adds an area between the Galactic Admin double battle and Cyrus which basically gives him the same conclusion he had in Sinnoh mk1. No added backstory, no depth towards his motivations, just more "I'll create a new universe".

[Dark Holy Elf]

Final Fantasy Dimensions - Twilight part 4

Alba again, L7 spells shop upgrade is go. However, I don't really have White or Black Magic on my plate at the moment; my current goal is getting Magic Blade which means I'm still running Red Mage with Ninjutsu. Fortunately that works pretty well for the time being. Anyway, I magically gain the ability to speak a lost NPC language then it's off to the Lufenia Ruins. I pass through Barrier Grove on the way there; it's a small dungeon with pretty much the same randoms as the world map.

Quite a few status attacks get used here but the Chouchou accessory can cover most of them, so I end up using that. Cursed Gold likes curse and is weak to Blitz/Thundara. Malboros use Bad Breath to inflict lots of things, Break works on them. Grand Mummies have paralysis and are weak to Flame/Fira. Lamia Queens can slap for confuse and are vulnerable to Break. Black Flans die to MT magic quickly due to their bad HP. Lufenian Souls return from the previous dungeon and are still fire-weak though use Brain Crush for confuse/berserk. Vampires can be petrified. Abaddons can cast Dark for relatively good damage but can also be petrified. Overall this dungeon isn't really too hard since most enemies don't have overwhelming damage and the status is all blocked, although I do warp back out a couple times due to running low on MP; there's a restore point at the start. Fortunately the dungeon is structured such that I don't lose much progress this way.

There are some fixed encouters with on-map enemies at a few points, including flames which seek you out (and are Lufenian Souls) and soldiers which are Giant Soldiers who are kinda damaging/badass overall, Protect and Healing Pills do for them though, while slowly taking them down for lightning. Fortunately the soldiers are pretty easy to avoid.


And then I get Magic Blade. Yay! Magic Blade is pretty great; I switch over to Ninja with Magic Blade and things get notably easier. The elemental slashes cost 8 MP to do 1.5x damage and make your attack elemental (so 2.25x against a weakness) which wrecks all the fire- and lightning-weak enemies here. Stoning Slash, Muted Slash, and Drowsy Slash inflict their statuses with perfect accuracy. Draining Slash... isn't very good but it's there. Curative Slash on the other hand is surprisingly solid; it can miss sometimes which is a bummer for a healing move but in a ninja's hands it restores more than Sylph possibly can at this point. And finallly there's Osmotic Slash, which far outpaces Osmose on the MP restoration front; one use restores roughly half my MP at this point. Best of all, the moves all have low MP costs and no charge times. Anyway Stoning Slash and overwhelming damage from the elemental slashes largely makes short work of randoms though being in the front row for funsies does add some tension.


The boss is optional, but hey I'm smarting from the fact that I didn't beat the last two eidolon bosses on the dark route. Time to remedy that.


Diabolos (1 reset) - He can double physical for around 800 per hit (twice that to the front row). Below half HP one of those may be a Binding Attack for paralysis. He can also use Dark, Dark Breath, Evil Messenger (all dark attacks) which do 1500-2000, with Comet hitting slightly harder still, around 2500. Not bad, but no real tricks. Unfortunately, my first run with Ninja ends as a loss because the physicals just hit much too hard and I basically spend almost all my time healing.

Second try I run Ranger with Backliner and Magic Blade and take the fight apart. Backliner (or a back row weapon) is absolutely necessary to make Curative Slash work in the back row, since otherwise its damage is quartered. I use those whenever I start to worry about my HP. The rest of the time I use Quick Shot which is the usual 4x recharge slightly weaker physical. He occasionally counters with Mind Blast for paralysis (blocked by Red Shoes) and Sap, not a big deal. Osmotic Slash if I'm worried about my MP. But now that he does nothing which hits harder than 2600, and I'm significantly faster than him, he's no threat really.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to when Ninja hits JL10 and can also use Backliner Magic Blade.

Alba Level 85
Red Mage L16
Ranger L13
Dark Knight L7
Summoner L7
Warrior L5
Black Mage L5
Ninja L4
White Mage L1

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Persona 5 - Currently at the third Palace. The new PC is seriously good - nice stat spread, nuclear damage, better ST healing than what my dedicated healers have. Nothing to complain about. The character is also -really- good, the character work they did up to the point where she joins is some hot shit and I can't wait to see how her Confidant link pans out. Imposter Syndrome the character indeed, I also fucking -love- the symbolism with her Persona and Arcana. Very nice take on the High Priestess archetype.

[Fenrir]

Fire Emblem Gaiden Remake:

Finished Chapter 1. Got the ridiculous item for beating the baron early on.

Promotion is weird and good - When you promote your stats raise to the minimum stats for the current class. Meaning if you have 0 defense and upgrade to tank you'll get like 10 def immediately. This encourages early promotions, which are very much needed - you can't go very far with just your shitty villagers. The characters are reasonably balanced so far, my MVP would be Lukas because he got an early general promotion and cannot possibly die. He feels like Oswin.

Mila's turnwheel is the best addition possible to Fire Emblem (it rewinds time back to whenever you want) but maybe it's too powerful? You start with three uses / battle and then you can upgrade it.

The game's approach to maps is... FE4like? - Here is a big open field, 136 cavaliers are homing to your position, good luck. It handles this way better than FE4 though. Enemies are reasonably durable, and the lack of a weapon triangle simplifies things. There seems to be a bigger focus on positioning and defense than usual. Bows have 1-4 range but are extra weak. Yes.

The battle animations are fantastic but I turned them off during the second battle.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  The story has been pleasantly minor too. So far I like this game quite a lot.

[Lord Ephraim]

Mila's turnwheel is the best addition possible to Fire Emblem (it rewinds time back to whenever you want) but maybe it's too powerful? You start with three uses / battle and then you can upgrade it.

You get 10 or so uses late in the game.  It's suppose to be balanced around the fact that it doesn't recharge in dungeons, but dungeons are actually the easiest part of the game. 
Echoes is a little bit too faithful to Gaiden, which can be good or bad the way you want it.  They nerfed the Angel/Speed rings and Falcon Knight's bonus damage to monsters but kept all the wacky magic including a character that can now sing/dance/rescue all in one.
There's one new character in Echoes not in Gaiden who's sole purpose is to get cucked. Seriously.

[Dark Holy Elf]

I have also started FE2r. The first hour was almost entirely plot; the only battle I fought was essentially a cinematic. Is this really Fire Emblem?

[Fenrir]

Mila's turnwheel is the best addition possible to Fire Emblem (it rewinds time back to whenever you want) but maybe it's too powerful? You start with three uses / battle and then you can upgrade it.

There's one new character in Echoes not in Gaiden who's sole purpose is to get cucked. Seriously.

Eph
Having unrequited love =/= being cucked
Don't let insecure alt right memesters take over your language