Most Convoluted Customization System?

[Wolf Kanno]

So... shall we all just agree that VIII's Junction system is the most convoluted customization system in the series thus far?

[Ayen]

I can. Never could figure it out. Not that it made much difference since I blew through everything anyway.

[Mirage]

If it is, it's just because others are really simple. Junctioning isn't hard, and if you think it is, the game even has an option to do it for you.

inb4 "but i have to draw and draw forever"
No, only if you want to be more powerful than the game intended you to be. It's just like grinding in other games, except you do a few really long battles instead of extremely many short battles.

[Karifean]

I'd say it is the most convoluted in the series, but it's still not particularly convoluted.

[Colonel Angus]

The only thing complicated is the fact that you have to build a repertoire w/ your GFs, meaning you can't switch them around so easily. The spell stuff is pretty simple. Certain spells raise your stats better than others, ergo, get more of the better spells.

[Uchu]

First playthrough many moons ago i didn't get it. Most recent playthrough I got it... but got bored of it and ended up just auto managing everything. Especially since the game keeps switching party members all the time, and forcing you to change setups over and over again.

[Fox]

Yeah VIII was convoluted but not overly complex. It was mainly just the presentation that let it down. Lots of things spread out over multiple screens, everything abbreviated, lots of stuff greyed out until you unlocked it with the right GF-Abilities...It was a good system though that had a lot of depth. It's just a shame that it discouraged you from using magic so much.

I think X also had some annoying flaws with the Sphere Grid. It wasn't that it was convoluted, just really annoying trying to fill everything in.


Luck Spheres. It was really rare to come across one of these on the grid, and when you did how often did you not have any Fortune Spheres? It was infuriating!
Level 2/3/4 Key Spheres. Getting enough of the ones you needed really sucked.

[Wolf Kanno]

I kind of feel the Sphere Grid just had poor execution personally, since you were extremely limited with customization until you got to the Monster Arena about 5/6th of the way into the plot by which point you had finished most people's section of the grid and needed the Lv. Key Spheres to advance.

[Mirage]

First playthrough many moons ago i didn't get it. Most recent playthrough I got it... but got bored of it and ended up just auto managing everything. Especially since the game keeps switching party members all the time, and forcing you to change setups over and over again.

You could swap the entire setup of one character to another with just like 5 button presses.

Anyway, I went with "auto" most of the time, and just micro managed it when I encountered a difficult boss or area.

[Colonel Angus]

I kind of feel the Sphere Grid just had poor execution personally, since you were extremely limited with customization until you got to the Monster Arena about 5/6th of the way into the plot by which point you had finished most people's section of the grid and needed the Lv. Key Spheres to advance.
I also found having to backtrack to be annoying. & before you mention it, I can't use my Return or Teleport Spheres, because I might need them later.

[Uchu]

First playthrough many moons ago i didn't get it. Most recent playthrough I got it... but got bored of it and ended up just auto managing everything. Especially since the game keeps switching party members all the time, and forcing you to change setups over and over again.

You could swap the entire setup of one character to another with just like 5 button presses.

Anyway, I went with "auto" most of the time, and just micro managed it when I encountered a difficult boss or area.

Yeah... Which is another reason I got bored of it and also part of what I meant in my original post... just switching stuff around and spamming the auto button to get it over even faster instead of thinking of the characters strengths. I am more than aware of how to play the game, thank you.

[Mirage]

You're welcome

[fat_moogle]

Materia in FFVII was pretty self explanatory. Equip it, level it. Same went for weapons. Buy it, use it. Then FFVIII came out and everything seemed really overcomplicated. Quistis' tutorials were pretty daunting.

Also I ALWAYS had crap weapons because I never could find those damn magazines. Or if I did find them I wouldn't have the parts to make them.

If junctioning was more accessible and there were shops to buy weapons without having to find a bloody magazine then I may have enjoyed FFVIII more. It is the system that lets it down for me.

[Shorty]

Junctioning really confused me at first, but after I got the hang of it, I really enjoyed it. It's easy enough after it clicks.

[Fox]

Materia in FFVII was pretty self explanatory. Equip it, level it. Same went for weapons. Buy it, use it. Then FFVIII came out and everything seemed really overcomplicated. Quistis' tutorials were pretty daunting.

Also I ALWAYS had crap weapons because I never could find those damn magazines. Or if I did find them I wouldn't have the parts to make them.

If junctioning was more accessible and there were shops to buy weapons without having to find a bloody magazine then I may have enjoyed FFVIII more. It is the system that lets it down for me.

Fun thing about VII for me: it took about 6 playthroughs and ten years before I realised that when you have 'all' materia combined to a magic materia, you can choose to only affect a single target by pressing R1.

[Uchu]

You're welcome

Oh, dear... one of those people :roll2. Anyway, moving on.

[Markus. D]

i went my first playthrough getting to level 70-90 and not even knowing what the junction system does. it's really just pick and mix socket weapons if we simplify it. i love it.

[Laddy]

Not convoluted, just boring.