My Final review

Printable View

10-14-2006, 07:53 PM
Elpizo

My Final review (REVIEW UPDATED!)

Ehm, well, maybe it's stupid to make 2 topics for kinda the same. *unsure*. Eh, well, close this if needed, okay? If I would post this in the other topic, I would double post, which is wrong as well...

So, I've beaten FF V advance! Yup dudes, I've beaten mister Final Boss (SPOILER)NeoExDeath. And I can say, he was HARD. As hard as the original, believe me! Grand Cross kicked my behind many, many times. Oh, and X-Death (yup, it's spelled X-Death in the game, too bad, I liked ExDeath) before mister FB was hard too. Especially on lv 34 (except Lenna, she was 32) and with only 16 elixers! But I did it.

Okay, so what are my Final Thoughts on the maingame? Well eh, what can I say? It IS, believe me, BETTER than the original. I know that sounds a bit unbelievable, but really guys, Square Enix created a master piece! I can't tell enough how great this game is! I understood no gill of the Dialog but the music, the graphics and the atmosphere of the game told me everything. Don't shoot me, but I think SE will really have to try VERY hard with FF VI Advance to make it better than V advance. V Advance IS perfect. Why? Okay, I'll try to review without being too excited!

1) Music:
Did I tell how great the music is? It is my favorite FF Soundtrack of all FF's games I palyed. And that says much. It's better than the original.
Really, if you'll hear tracks like "The Decisive Battle" and "The Final Battle" or "In Search of Light" you'll understand what I mean.
These remade (?) tracks have advanced over their SNES counterparts, maybe "In Search of Light" a bit less, but it was still great.
Take "The Decisive Battle" as an example, in my humble little opinion, the best battle-track of FF V Advance. Played during the most dramatic 2D battle scene in FF history, once you've heard it, you cannot wait until you've beaten the game to get that music player (which is in english, even in the Japanese ROM). What can I say? I'm listening to it right now, I recorded it cause I love it so much!

Lovers of "Clash on the Big Bridge", do not fear, Gilgamesh is back in all his glory, and his music just as much. ;)

Where FF IV Advance music did it's job greatly, I'll have to say V manages to surpass IV Advance. I think the music was remade with great effort, and if it's so, you'll clearly notice it when listening to the music. There was not one track that made me say "Hmm, could have been done better". What I did found a bit less than the SNES counterpart, however, is the soundeffects of spells and such. Outside of battles, soundeffects are great. The cries of Syldra and the Hiryuu are nicely done, but the music of the spells left me wishing for something just a bit better. That's too bad, otherwise, this would have obtained a perfect 10...

So, if I have to give points, the music deserves a 9/10 for immensly great music and battle themes, but the sound effects could perhaps have been done better, but that is my opinion.

2) Graphics:
Hmm, yes, difficult subject we have here. I myself am not the person to want awesome gorgeous graphics. I'm perfectly fine with SNES, or even NES, graphics.

But even the worst graphics whore will have to admit the battle background look simply stunning. I'm sure you could have judged that too, from my screenshots in my former topic. But now that I've completed the main storyline game (and thus I suppose I have seen all backgrounds, even in the new dungeon), I've stumbled upon even more gorgeous backgrounds. Here are some of my personal favorites:

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv206.png

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv223.png

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv127.png

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv120.png

The sprites themselves haven't changed that much from the original, but they look colourful, bright and are pleasant to look at. Maybe you al lexpected something more but I think the sprites are a job well done. Oh yes, those new jobs, I have them, they look nice, but I haven't used them yet. And I have not yet beaten the optional boss so I don't have the necromancer class yet.

Magic spells are impressive, good looking, but feel a bit less 'almighty!' because of the soundeffects. Like Meteor in the original wassed fast and with nice soundeffect, in the advance version the soundeffect isn't much different from the other spells, which takes away of Meteor's 'coolness'.

The Airship mode, the void devouring towns, world map, it is all done very nicely. Even the falling of the Meteor's looks quite good..

The graphics get a 10/10 from me, sure, sprites look kinda teh same, but what did you want? A complete overhaul? FF V's sprites already looked quite good in the original, there wasn't really much they could improve. That's why it gets a 10 from me. But hey, I'm fine with it if you would give it a 7, for example.

3) Gameplay:
Faithfull to the original. That sums it up. It's exactly the same. Good old world map is back and the ancient formula of exploring dungeons and beating a boss in the end works wonders in this game.

Great dungeons with greatly fitting music make this FF just that: pure fun. Like everybody knows, you'll have those random encounters everybody seems to want to forget in the newer Final Fantasies. Well, they are in this game (duh), but not too often to annoy you. Besides, it's pretty easy to run away from them.
But of course, the thing that makes this FF's battles so interesting would be the jobs, of course. Well, it's good to see them back, it's been a while since I had some fun messing with jobs. (Since, yeah, since I beat FF III NES this summer, and even so, it isn't quite the same.) There are no battle glitches here, or at least none I encountered or noticed. The jobs make the gameplay fun and makes you want to replay the game just for all the challenges you can set up with them. And now with 4 new jobs, what can go wrong? The fun from the past is back with a blast, to put it funny. Oh, and jobs aren't nerfed in any way. It still took me hours of pure battling to get those damn Ability Points. So if you love mastering jobs, this is the game for you.

My score? Well, 10/10 again, I really can't help it. You just don't get tired of playing this game!

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv224.png

4) Difficulty:
When people hear "FF I and II: DoS", they scream: NERFED! Even FF IV Advance wasn't that hard anymore (although Zeromus did screw me more than once). So, how about it, you ask. Do we have to fear for another FF we can rush through with one hand on our back?

Well, in my previous topic, I said it was a bit nerfed. Well, I was WRONG. The first hours of the game are easy, sure thing. Go to the second world and you're in for a surprise. Even the meteor bosses offered quite a challenge.

FF V Advance is a game that should give even the most experienced FF gamers at least a bit of effort. X-Death and the Final Boss will really blow you to bits if you are not prepared. The bosses in the Void are challenging. Be careful when fighting certain enemies. And of course, we still have our 2 nightmares: Omega and Shinryuu. Let me say, Shinryuu still opens with a -8000 Tidal Wave and Omega can still Wave Cannon you to death.

I went in the new, optional dungeon, only the first floor. Guess what? My behind got kicked. Sure, everybody was only lv34, but let me tell you. The first floor of the new dungeon is filled with monsters like in "The Cleft of Dimensions". Want a descent challenge? I'm sure the new dungeon will give it to you. And of course, we'll have that new optional boss. I haven't seen him yet, but I don't think I'll stand a chance. Not even all my party members have HP above 1000. I'm going to train a bit more before even trying to go in that dungeon. Or maybe I'll just wait until the game is out.

10/10 because this game manages to start of easily, yet offers a certain challenge in the end. Like I said, even experienced FF palyers will at least have to put some effort in this one. Good, no?

5) Story/Translation:
I see you all looking like: You're giving a review but can't even tell anything about the thing we all want to see!

Sorry. Guys, every FF V player knows the storyline.

Well, the story was presented nicely because of the great music.
Those character portraits, you'll get used to them so soon that they won't bother you anymore in the end. They didn't bother me. I only didn't like Zeza's portrait.

NOW, THE MOMENT YOU ALL HAVE NOT BEEN WAITING FOR, SINCE YOU'RE ALL PLAYING THE GAME YOURSELVES NOW, THE SCORE OF FFV ADVANCE'S TRANSLATION!

Yup, you pals got it right, I got the english ROM. ;)
And I'm ready for another playthrough. :D

I'm not very far in the game yet but I can say so far, the translation is absolutely beautiful! So richely compared to the fantranslations! So funny even!

Galuf and Bartz (yes, it's Bartz now) have maned to make me smile so often even though I'm just at the Pirate's Cave now.

Check:

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/Sephiroth/screen1.png

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/Sephiroth/screen2.png

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/Sephiroth/screen3.png

See? And the first few minutes are full of it! I won't spoil too much and let you all enjoy it for yourselves. Also in the menu and in battle the translation seems nice. But it's mostly the dialog we wanted better, right? Well, the dialog is good, what can I say? Lenna clearly speaks as a princess, Bartz has this care-free attitude, Galuf is the daring old man and Faris is Faris. Oh, no worries, Faris doesn't have a Pirate accent, but she doesn't speak normally all the time, either. Like, she called Lenna 'lass' when introducing Syldra (yup, it's Syldra!). Nothing special, but it sounds a bit more piratey. I like it.

I can say this: If FF V Advance wasn't perfect yet, with this new english translation (correctly this time) it certainly has become so.

Score: 10/10! Way to go Square!
6) Overall:
Well, what can I say? This might as well be the FF game of the year! I know it probably won't be, with FF XII and all, but, excuse me for saying this, you're an idiot if you won't get this game. You can see Square Enix forced themselves to put very much effort in this game, and they have succeeded in creating the perfect FF V port. Everything is great, from music to graphics and extra's. While there will always be room for improvement, I can't think of any great imrpovements they can make in this one.

So, the Final Score is 9.8/10.

Well, very nice, I would say! Hats of for Square Enix, cause they have proven me that they can make excellent ports that can keep you occupied for a long time. And with the new bonus content, translation we'll soon be seeing, improved music, there's no reason for to not get this game unless you don't have a GBA/DS or you're a (forgive me) horrible idiot. Even if you did not like the original, FF V Advance just might change your opinion about a revived masterpiece. :)

Any comments, questions or requests?

PS: I have recorded "The Decisive Battle" and I'm willing to upload it. But I'm not sure if it's allowed to give links so PM me if you want it. It's the best track of the game, IMHO.
10-14-2006, 08:53 PM
Paul

sounds great! can't wait to get the english version. FFV is the only game in the series left that i haven't played.
10-14-2006, 09:05 PM
boys from the dwarf

those screenshots made me lean forwards and nearly glued my eyes to the screen. amazing.

if its as good as you say it is, im definetly looking forwards to it.

i've played the european anthologies version and X-death is called X-death in that one.

i've heard the new normal battle theme but im looking forwards to clash on the big bridge and the last two battles, tunes inperticuarlar. the tune that plays when you fight X-death is awesome, i hope its just as good or better in this version.

have you fought enuo or do you know how and where to fight him?

and whats this i hear about a necromancer. is there anything like that?

sounds amazingly awesome.
10-14-2006, 09:10 PM
Decessus

I just wet my pants in excitement.
10-14-2006, 09:14 PM
Elpizo

Quote:

Originally Posted by boys from the dwarf

those screenshots made me lean forwards and nearly glued my eyes to the screen. amazing.

if its as good as you say it is, im definetly looking forwards to it.

i've played the european anthologies version and X-death is called X-death in that one.

i've heard the new normal battle theme but im looking forwards to clash on the big bridge and the last two battles, tunes inperticuarlar. the tune that plays when you fight X-death is awesome, i hope its just as good or better in this version.

have you fought enuo or do you know how and where to fight him?

and whats this i hear about a necromancer. is there anything like that?

sounds amazingly awesome.

It is really amazing! Really! I just can't say it enough! This game stole my soul! That legendary battle with X-Death vs Galuf, the music, it all came back and now I'm sold forever. Believe me, you have to, buy this and you'll never regret it, and if you do, you can hit me!

The tune when you fight X-Death I've recorded it, it's in a RAR file about 12.5 MB, quite much yeah, but it's an awesome track. I wanna upload it and PM you the link, if you want.
Believe me, that track when you fight X-Death ("The Decisive Battle") is the best from the game.
"Clash on the Big Bridge" is nicely done as well. (But I'm really sold to "The Decisive Battle", obsessed, yeah. :D )

I know where Enuo is, or at least I think I know. You know in the third world, that forest with Mirage Town in it? Take your submarine to south of it and in the area around it, you'll see bubbles on the water surface. Dive and you'll find a sea trench. That's the new dungeon! Once you enter it, you also find crystal shards with Prophet, Gladiator and Cannoneer. Then you can enter the dungeon, but it's very hard! At lv 34, you're screwed!

And I think in that dungeon, you fight Enuo. And when you beat him, you get the Necromancer class. Or so I heard, but I'm pretty sure it's true.

Bless the day SE decided to port this to GBA... :D
Maybe I sound too excited and you guys can't take me serious... Well eh... wait until you've played the game and we'll be over-excited together. ;)

EDIT: Necromancer scan, enjoy!
http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/ffscan.jpg
10-15-2006, 11:27 AM
boys from the dwarf

thats cool. good luck on enuo. im looking forwards to the english version so i can play it and understand it.
10-15-2006, 06:35 PM
Zeromus_X

The debate is finally over! Oh thank god!

Yay! That was my favorite version of his name! Yes!

And those backgrounds do look gorgeous.
10-17-2006, 09:44 PM
Sefie1999AD

I'm glad you enjoyed the game. I'm not sure if Exdeath will be changed from X-Death to Exdeath in the English version because the Japanese version you played still hadn't been translated yet. It's good if the music is even better than in the original version. By the way, what's so dangerous about Grand Cross? I've fought and defeated Neo-Exdeath several times, and I think it has only once messed up my party, and even then I still won the battle. It's not like it casts Death on 3 characters and a 10-second Doom countdown on the 4th member like it sometimes does in FFIX.
10-18-2006, 12:36 AM
Zeromus_X

It can be pretty nasty without Ribbons/Angel Rings on. But I would agree that FFIX's Grand Cross is much more lethal.
10-18-2006, 01:05 AM
Evastio

Wow. :D

You mind explaining what the 4 new classes are like stat-wise?
10-18-2006, 06:48 AM
Elpizo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sephiroth1999AD

I'm glad you enjoyed the game. I'm not sure if Exdeath will be changed from X-Death to Exdeath in the English version because the Japanese version you played still hadn't been translated yet. It's good if the music is even better than in the original version. By the way, what's so dangerous about Grand Cross? I've fought and defeated Neo-Exdeath several times, and I think it has only once messed up my party, and even then I still won the battle. It's not like it casts Death on 3 characters and a 10-second Doom countdown on the 4th member like it sometimes does in FFIX.

What was dangerous is that in Japanese, I couldn't always find the right medicines to cure it's effects. Gets even worse if your white magic caster becomes zombified and you can't heal her. I had Lenna stunned, Butz zombified and Faris sentenced to death, Krile had nothing... Fun. <_< Oh, did I say already that the Grand Cross looks godly in this one? I don't know if it differs from the original version, it's hard to see, but when Neo uses Grand cross, the screens becomes pure white first, then you can see a Shadow appearing from below, moving fastly upwards again and again until Neo's standing still in front of you again. Nifty. :)
The second time I tried Neo, I killed his Grand Cross part before he even could use Grand Cross. I was lucky. *sighs relieved*
Yeah, IX's Grand Cross is even more nasty, but don't underestimate V's when you're playing in Japanese, not at very high levels and don't have many elixers... You know, it was actually fun to lose to Neo the first time. :D He really is quite a challenge. Zeromus Advance hard? Try Neo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evastio

Wow. :D

You mind explaining what the 4 new classes are like stat-wise?

Well, I only have 3 of the 4 new classes and I haven't used them yet or looked at their stats. If I wanted the necromancer I would have to go through the Bonus dungeon and beat Enuo. And I ratehr keep that until the english version fits in my DS. ;)
10-18-2006, 09:48 AM
Paul

i thought exdeath was going to be translated as exoddus

exdeath sounds like a really cheesy 80s bad guy name from an action movie. this from the company that references ancient mythology for almost any enemy. its forgivable since its japanese, but i hope it changes for a real translation.
10-18-2006, 01:44 PM
Elpizo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

i thought exdeath was going to be translated as exoddus

exdeath sounds like a really cheesy 80s bad guy name from an action movie. this from the company that references ancient mythology for almost any enemy. its forgivable since its japanese, but i hope it changes for a real translation.

Don't count on it. It probably will be translated as X-Death, like it stands in the music player. Besides, Exodus is cheesy as well, a reference to some religious book, nice...
10-18-2006, 07:07 PM
Paul

yeah but it's better than "HAY HOW ABOUT X FOR EXTREME, AND DEATH FOR... DEATH?!? EXTREME DEATH MAN THIS TOTALLY RULES I AM A SURFER FROM CALIFORNIA"
10-18-2006, 08:45 PM
boys from the dwarf

fair point but X-death is a good enough name and it suits the game without being totally cheesy.
10-19-2006, 06:41 AM
Elpizo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

yeah but it's better than "HAY HOW ABOUT X FOR EXTREME, AND DEATH FOR... DEATH?!? EXTREME DEATH MAN THIS TOTALLY RULES I AM A SURFER FROM CALIFORNIA"

I always saw him as 'Exceeding Death', but that was before he was called X-Death, which is also why I prefer ExDeath. ANd even so, X-Death is a kick-ass villain, one of the best, and the complaining about his name is getting...
10-19-2006, 07:16 AM
boys from the dwarf

yeah. his names fine. and criticising it is being ignorant of some other names.

E.G.

chaos. so plain and normal but still cool and it works like X-death.
the emperor. thats it. no name. no nothing, just "the emeror" but at least it worked.

i always thought zeromus sounded a little cheesy but its an amazing final boss and X-death is just as good a name as any of these.
10-19-2006, 09:08 AM
Paul

i'm not saying he isn't a cool villain, i haven't even played FFV so i can't say... i just thought he had a bad name. chaos and the emperor, while generic, are a lot cooler sounding.

i remember when i was about 8 and i used to invent my own cartoon characters. i had the big enemy bad guy called "dark death".

when i think back to that now, it makes me cringe immensely. but ExDeath is only very slightly a better name.

it's not a big deal so don't get all defensive, i'm just stating my opinion.
10-23-2006, 03:07 PM
boys from the dwarf

meh. i wont get into a big debate, seems as video games are littered with names that some people could just easily make up on the spot without thinking.

i think X-death suits the game fine. its not a great name but at least it works.

anyway.

elpizo. how are you doing on the optional dungeon? i look forwards to hearing about the fight with enuo and the necromancer job class.

EDIT: i've found some videos on youtube that show all the GBA boss fights. im listening to the GBA big bridge tune and plan to listen to the X-death tune and final boss tune.

sounds good. im not sure if i like anthologies music or GBA better right now.

im sure the script will be fine. i noticed on the first gilgamesh fight the lines have been changed from.

"your combined powers...too strong...NOT!"

to

"i was wrong... i cant fight four people... did you actually believe me?!"

i prefer the "NOT!" but its cool. i wont criticise the game for its script.
10-23-2006, 08:34 PM
Paul

Quote:

Originally Posted by boys from the dwarf

meh. i wont get into a big debate, seems as video games are littered with names that some people could just easily make up on the spot without thinking.

i think X-death suits the game fine. its not a great name but at least it works.

like i say it's not a big deal, only one characters name. i just expect better from square because usually they are good with this stuff.
10-23-2006, 09:15 PM
Reine

ExDeath is former Death and X-Death is extra death. Get it right!

Anyway, from your review, youve hyped me up for it even more
10-24-2006, 01:30 PM
boys from the dwarf

o.k. that video i watched on you-tube wasn't of the GBA battle so i still dont know what the music or script will be like for a lot of this stuff but im really looking forwards to it.

how are you doing on the optional dungeon?
10-24-2006, 03:01 PM
Elpizo

Quote:

Originally Posted by boys from the dwarf

o.k. that video i watched on you-tube wasn't of the GBA battle so i still dont know what the music or script will be like for a lot of this stuff but im really looking forwards to it.

how are you doing on the optional dungeon?

I shall be honest, I'm still in the beginning. I'm quite busy tehse days And haven't had time to play any games at all. :mad:
Also, I went in it the day I finished the game and got my @$$ handed to me on the first floor. That says something: a) I'm underleveled (lv 34 with everybody) or b) The bonus dungeon is HARD or c)Both.
I've heard soemthing about a boss-battle-thingie or something, like you could fight former bosses from the game (not Enuo or Neo-X-Death, I believe). I'm not sure, anybody knows more?

Alright, I'll see if I can dive in the bonus dungeon, but I can't make any promisses. It's hard (the dungeon) and it's hard (to get playing, I'm quite busy).
10-26-2006, 10:29 AM
boys from the dwarf

i guess you've just got to remember to use the huge amounts of AP in the final floors and get a good job setup. good luck and tell us when you've done it.
11-08-2006, 11:38 AM
Elpizo

NOW, THE MOMENT YOU ALL HAVE NOT BEEN WAITING FOR, SINCE YOU'RE ALL PLAYING THE GAME YOURSELVES NOW, THE SCORE OF FFV ADVANCE'S TRANSLATION!

Yup, you pals got it right, I got the english ROM. ;)
And I'm ready for another playthrough. :D

I'm not very far in the game yet but I can say so far, the translation is absolutely beautiful! So richely compared to the fantranslations! So funny even!

Galuf and Bartz (yes, it's Bartz now) have maned to make me smile so often even though I'm just at the Pirate's Cave now.

Check:

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/Sephiroth/screen1.png

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/Sephiroth/screen2.png

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/Sephiroth/screen3.png

See? And the first few minutes are full of it! I won't spoil too much and let you all enjoy it for yourselves. Also in the menu and in battle the translation seems nice. But it's mostly the dialog we wanted better, right? Well, the dialog is good, what can I say? Lenna clearly speaks as a princess, Bartz has this care-free attitude, Galuf is the daring old man and Faris is Faris. Oh, no worries, Faris doesn't have a Pirate accent, but she doesn't speak normally all the time, either. Like, she called Lenna 'lass' when introducing Syldra (yup, it's Syldra!). Nothing special, but it sounds a bit more piratey. I like it.

I can say this: If FF V Advance wasn't perfect yet, with this new english translation (correctly this time) it certainly has become so.

Score: 10/10! Way to go Square!

EDIT: On topic of ExDeath's name, the official name of ExDeath is from now on Exdeath, thank you for your attention.
11-10-2006, 04:11 PM
Sefie1999AD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elpizo

Galuf and Bartz (yes, it's Bartz now) have maned to make me smile so often even though I'm just at the Pirate's Cave now.

Can't you name Butz anymore when he meets Lenna? I still think the character portraits look bad, and Butz's portrait looks so much different from his sprite, so without the text box mentioning the names, I have a hard time recognizing Butz from the portrait. The line "Whoa! You're pretty gutsy for an old-timer" is taken directly from FFV Anthology, IIRC.

Quote:

See? And the first few minutes are full of it! I won't spoil too much and let you all enjoy it for yourselves. Also in the menu and in battle the translation seems nice. But it's mostly the dialog we wanted better, right? Well, the dialog is good, what can I say? Lenna clearly speaks as a princess, Bartz has this care-free attitude, Galuf is the daring old man and Faris is Faris. Oh, no worries, Faris doesn't have a Pirate accent, but she doesn't speak normally all the time, either. Like, she called Lenna 'lass' when introducing Syldra (yup, it's Syldra!). Nothing special, but it sounds a bit more piratey. I like it.

I can say this: If FF V Advance wasn't perfect yet, with this new english translation (correctly this time) it certainly has become so.

Score: 10/10! Way to go Square!

EDIT: On topic of ExDeath's name, the official name of ExDeath is from now on Exdeath, thank you for your attention.

Those are good news (Syldra and Exdeath). Hopefully Cara will be something better than Vile-Krile and that Sarisa won't be Salsa. By the way, how do you know it's Exdeath? Are you that far already? You were only in the Pirates' cave when you first sent that post of yours.
11-10-2006, 05:13 PM
LostAmy

Yep, I've been to Tycoon Castle and it's defenitely Sarisa. :D

Another one of my favorite changes so far is that the spell's aren't numered anymore like Fire 2, Fire 3 etc but instead they use the names from FFX like Fira, Firega etc...
11-10-2006, 07:58 PM
Elpizo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sephiroth1999AD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elpizo

Galuf and Bartz (yes, it's Bartz now) have maned to make me smile so often even though I'm just at the Pirate's Cave now.

Can't you name Butz anymore when he meets Lenna? I still think the character portraits look bad, and Butz's portrait looks so much different from his sprite, so without the text box mentioning the names, I have a hard time recognizing Butz from the portrait. The line "Whoa! You're pretty gutsy for an old-timer" is taken directly from FFV Anthology, IIRC.

Quote:

See? And the first few minutes are full of it! I won't spoil too much and let you all enjoy it for yourselves. Also in the menu and in battle the translation seems nice. But it's mostly the dialog we wanted better, right? Well, the dialog is good, what can I say? Lenna clearly speaks as a princess, Bartz has this care-free attitude, Galuf is the daring old man and Faris is Faris. Oh, no worries, Faris doesn't have a Pirate accent, but she doesn't speak normally all the time, either. Like, she called Lenna 'lass' when introducing Syldra (yup, it's Syldra!). Nothing special, but it sounds a bit more piratey. I like it.

I can say this: If FF V Advance wasn't perfect yet, with this new english translation (correctly this time) it certainly has become so.

Score: 10/10! Way to go Square!

EDIT: On topic of ExDeath's name, the official name of ExDeath is from now on Exdeath, thank you for your attention.

Those are good news (Syldra and Exdeath). Hopefully Cara will be something better than Vile-Krile and that Sarisa won't be Salsa. By the way, how do you know it's Exdeath? Are you that far already? You were only in the Pirates' cave when you first sent that post of yours.

You can still name him. But standard name is Bartz. Cara is Krile, which is good. And Faris is Sarisa.

Well, I editted my post later, ya know. On the first day I was playing this, I already got to world 2. ;) Now I'm just in Bal Castle's basement training jobs before going to sage Ghido.

And no, the character portatraits are not horrible. Well, in my opinion. I can't understand how people can't recognize the portraits and the sprites they represent. They fit so smoothly in the dialogue, you're gonna love em. ;)

I never played anthology, but this translation is still great and better.
11-11-2006, 04:58 AM
LostAmy

So is there any new stuff to get in world 1? Because I'm almost dione with it and wanted to make sure I got everything before going on.
11-11-2006, 08:52 AM
Elpizo

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostAmy

So is there any new stuff to get in world 1? Because I'm almost dione with it and wanted to make sure I got everything before going on.

No new stuff in world 1 I'm afraid. Just getting Shiva and stuff. In world 3 however, you can get the new jobs (before you finish the game) Prophet, Gladiator and Cannoneer (or whatever their correct names are). And later, I'm not sure if it is after you finished the game or not, you can enter the HARD new dungeon and try to beat your way to the new superboss and the final new jobclass: Necromancer.

I'm doing well, I think ^^ In Bal Castle's Basement, I had Lenna master 4 jobs, Galuf master 3 jobs, Faris Master 3 Jobs and Bartz master 3 jobs. Took a loooong time, but it was worth it, at least I have 3 Freelancers now with good equipment and abilities that will get me through without any problems. I also discovered that I Karnak castle, there's a ribbon to get. You probably knew, but just be sure you get it.

Now, I'm past the Elder Tree in Moore forest, Krile just joined. The dialog between Galuf and Exdeath during their fight, well, I've seen it so many times before, but now actually being fully translated and correctly, I can say it touched me.

Oh well, on to Exdeath's castle. ^^

As a side-note, everybody seems to have problems with that Twin Tania boss in the Cleft of Dimensions... But, you can kill it with lv5 Death when it charges for that stronger version of Megaflare, right? At least, that's what the bestiary told me. You guys knew this, didn't you? Correct me if I'm wrong.
11-11-2006, 09:23 AM
Martyr

Are you serious? Killing Tania is THAT easy?
11-11-2006, 11:07 AM
Elpizo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martyr

Are you serious? Killing Tania is THAT easy?

I'm not very sure...

*Checks Japanese Bestiary*

Yeah! It seems Twin tania has 2 forms. One form with lv39 and one with lv30. And a monster with lv 30 is good to Lv-5 Doom. I don't know when his lv is 30, but I think it's when he charges for that Gigaflare (?). After all, that book in the Cleft said somethign about him being weak when he charges, no?

So yeah, I think you can lv5-Doom him.
11-11-2006, 11:18 PM
Sefie1999AD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elpizo

And no, the character portatraits are not horrible. Well, in my opinion. I can't understand how people can't recognize the portraits and the sprites they represent. They fit so smoothly in the dialogue, you're gonna love em. ;)

I never played anthology, but this translation is still great and better.

I played the game yesterday a bit, and it seems the menus and the user interface have been improved a bit. The character portraits are appropriate for the dialogues, but I still think they look confusing, especially when the hair colors in the portraits don't match the hair colors of the sprites at all.

The translation has been pretty good and has had its funny parts, although I'm not too fond of Galuf's somewhat stereotypical "old man" accent. Oh well, "What a sweet-talker! As if you don't just have the hots for the little missy" (GBA) is still better than "Whatta buncha crap! You know it's just 'cause you got the hots for her!" (PSX). I'll comment about Faris's dialogue later when I decide to play the game again, and reach the Pirates' cave.
11-12-2006, 07:59 AM
Elpizo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sephiroth1999AD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elpizo

And no, the character portatraits are not horrible. Well, in my opinion. I can't understand how people can't recognize the portraits and the sprites they represent. They fit so smoothly in the dialogue, you're gonna love em. ;)

I never played anthology, but this translation is still great and better.

I played the game yesterday a bit, and it seems the menus and the user interface have been improved a bit. The character portraits are appropriate for the dialogues, but I still think they look confusing, especially when the hair colors in the portraits don't match the hair colors of the sprites at all.

The translation has been pretty good and has had its funny parts, although I'm not too fond of Galuf's somewhat stereotypical "old man" accent. Oh well, "What a sweet-talker! As if you don't just have the hots for the little missy" (GBA) is still better than "Whatta buncha crap! You know it's just 'cause you got the hots for her!" (PSX). I'll comment about Faris's dialogue later when I decide to play the game again, and reach the Pirates' cave.

I found Galuf a bit weird too in the beginning, especially after playing the SNES translation, but, I got used to it pretty quick. I find his lines when he fights Exdeath just about legendary, but, that's probably because it's the most epic scene in any FF, at least for me.

I wanted to say, about the character portraits. I'm not going to tell you you have to liek them, this is about the people who dislike them in general.

They call them ugly, but can you call them that? They are not ugly, it's just the sprites that don't match their artwork. And I can see why that would be confusing, like Xezat's portrait looks quite different from his sprite, too, but I can't find the portraits ugly or horrible. Just my opinion about this matter.

Besides this: I've beaten Neo Exdeath yesterday! Now I'm in the bonus dungeon and it's HARD! I've beaten a very difficult boss in it yesterday, and I'm still only in the 'second level' as that guy who wants a behemoth calls it. You have to catch a Behemoth, bring it to a guy who will then open a door that will take you further, but a statue bloks the way along the path in that door, so you need to talk with another guy who has kinda a 'super-soft', you have 5 minutes to go to the statue and remove the petrification or you can get a new super-soft. When the petrification is removed, the monster attack you! Have fun beeting Grand Aevis, he comes with 2 Dark Elementals that will always revive when you kill them who use White Wind on Grand Aevis and thus heal him for 5500 HP when they are full health. Took me 5 tries to beat him. Hail Fuma Shuriken + Mighty Guard + Hastega + Curaga. Saved my behind.

This Bonus dungeon so far is really challenging. It seems you have to do certain things that take time to advance to a new level. I've had trouble with monsters quite some times (Skull Eaters that come in group together with a Soul Eater (even stronger)? Help!) And The only 2 bosses I faced in this dungeon so far were hard (Gill Turtle (or Gilgame) and Grand Aevis). Seems promissing for the Enuo...

I'm afraid it will only get harder. Do you guys EVER dream of something HARDER than Omega and Shinryuu in FF V? Well, now there is. Omega mkII (Not sure, but a stronger version of Omega) and Neo Shinryuu await you. Have fun!

Oh yeah, as a side note, you can enter and get 3 new jobs in teh dungeon once you have all 12 legendary Weapons. A scholar will run up to you then and say there was an earthquake. Then the sea between Mirage Town will start 'boiling', showing you were to dive with your submarine. I don't know if you can enter the real bonus dungeon itself before you finish the game, but you can get the 3 new jobs. When the credits have rolled by and ask you to save, there's also this one sentence saying 'A new thing has opened under the waves' (something like that).
11-12-2006, 05:16 PM
Sefie1999AD

Ouch, the new special dungeon sounds like FFII DoS's Souls of Rebirth with the exception that you can't save whenever you want to. If it wasn't for the chance to save everywhere, I'd have called SoR impossible. Perhaps you should consider mastering most classes, if not all of them, before entering the secret dungeon in FFVA?

I played some more of FFVA, and I got my first jobs. I must say, the battle graphics are beautiful, clearly better than on SNES. The first boss inside the Wind Shrine was amazingly easy. He probably died on the second turn, and he didn't even have a chance to make his wings cover him. I thought Faris' way of speaking was totally fine. With Faris showing a relatively masculine portrait when speaking, it seems the game tries harder than in other versions to make you think Faris is a guy, but I can't really say how well that works since I already know about her gender. :p

Finally, Thief's sprint ability is amazing! You can normally run quite fast with the Dash button, but the sprint ability really makes your running something different. The only problem with it is that if you need to turn a lot, it can be quite hard to move around when sprinting.
11-12-2006, 05:30 PM
Zeromus_X

Oh dear, the music blows FFIVA's soundtrack out of the water. xD I'm happy they actually put effort into the sound, as tough as it is for the GBA.

Edit: OMG! Four save files! This is so 1337! :cat: :love:
11-12-2006, 05:48 PM
Sefie1999AD

I didn't find anything wrong with FFIVA's music. FFVA's music seems fine too. The only problem I've had with FFVA's music so far is that the choir/voice instrument doesn't sound as good as in the SNES version of FFV. I also liked having 4 save files, especially when I often use several save slots. Oh, and Zeromus_X, things might get interesting for you when you get (SPOILER)Cara on your party and have her turn into a White Mage Kitty. ^^
11-12-2006, 05:53 PM
Zeromus_X

Hm. Are the level standards heightened for FFVA? I'm at level 4 and I'm only in the first cave! I remember the level charts for the original game to be kinda low in comparison to other FFs where you'd be at level 50 or so for the final dungeon (and I'm usually level 30-40 at the end of FFV. I guess I'll just have to see).

Also, the encounter rate seems heightened as well. Not that I don't mind an extra challenge, of course...

And yes!! :cat: :love: White Mage Kitty power! :cat: :love:
11-12-2006, 06:56 PM
Sefie1999AD

I think gaining levels is about the same as in SNES. However, I also noticed that random encounters seem to occur more frequently. The battles feel more fast-paced, though, even on the default (3rd fastest) battle speed. I always played on the fastest speed in SNES. Maybe the increase in random encounter rate makes you gain levels faster, provided you fight all the random battles?
11-12-2006, 07:12 PM
Elpizo

Why, I did it! I beat the optional boss! He has ? HP! Says his Bestiary, anyway. I also beat Omega, Shinryu, Neo Shinryu (Dragon Lances + Jump for the win!) But Omega Mk.II so far seems like impossible to me. An Omega with Wall change? Auch.

If you want some advise for Enuo, get those rings that prevent Zombie + 4 Ribbons. That way, his [img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img]ing annoying "Dance Macabre", which causes the zombie status, won't do anything. He also knows Grand Cross, a pretty strong Almagest even with Might Guard, Reaper Blade, Meltdown, actually, many new attacks. After soem time during the fight, it'll say "The Power of the Void is increasing!" and then your damage will be halved.
You also can't save after the boss right before Enuo. Nor can you in the Final Floors of the optional dungeon. So be careful when heading there.

It was definately a challenge, I was lv 43 with everybody and had a good amount of jobs mastered with everybody. Besides, equiping each character with weapons like: Ragnarok, Apocalypse, A-good-thing-you-get-from-Neo-Shinryu and Mutsunokami and you're pretty strong. Nowhere near invincible though. Even with those weapons and good jobs, you have to be careful when facing things like Ironclads, a pair of Crystal dragons or a Hades.

And after our optional boss, we get our hands on Necromancer! Necromancer's are undead. So watch out when healing. You can learn their Dark Arts by simply beating a monster that has a dark art with your necromancer. Easier than blue magic.

Well, that's it for now. I'll save the boss rush for later. Glad you are apparently enjoying the game Sephiroth1999AD. At least I'm not alone. ;)

Think I'll master a few more jobs, tough I always stick with the same abilities... Oh well. I still have to try-out Cannoneer. Gladiator is a good job, Oracle seems crappy (but its 1,5 ability points IS handy, it also has the highest magic stats, I believe) and Necromancer needs more use before I can say more about it.

EDIT: Hmm, about the encounter rate. I know oen of the new jobs has an ability that makes the encounters much less frequent. I think it's Oracle, but I'm not sure.