Most/Least Frustrating to get 100%

[hhr1dluv]

Hello...more silly topics that are tangential to other topics. Now, I should point out that I am not the type of gamer who attempts to get every single thing in a game. Typically, I do all the sidequests that don't involve killing uber bosses and completing especially tedious minigames. The only game I attempted 100% in was FF X-2 and that was really...just too much for me. Once I found out I had to get through Via Infinito, that was it.

Anyway, I've started wondering...for all of you battle-hardened FF gamers who brave the bosses (and everything else) for 100% completion, which main series FF installment is the most difficult to completely complete? As an obvious follow-up question, which is the easiest to complete? (Which is probably X-2. I suck at video games. )

[Wolf Kanno]

I'm sorta a completionist but not an avid one. I still pick and choose so stuff like X, X-2, and XII will probably never be finished completely cause I reach a point I feel its irrelevant and all about posturing. Still there are some games that bring it out of me.

VI and VII are the easiest. Collecting every item and maxing out every character is pretty easy as long as you have a good head on your shoulder. Granted a few items are tricky (Behemoth Horn weapon in VII or the StoneBlade in VI come to mind) but a few playthroughs and actually exploring multiple paths will net you most of the stuff. Even the optional bosses/slash super random encounters are not too difficult if you tweaked your party right.

Tactics Advance gets the award for most difficult. Mostly cause item rewards are partially randomized and several items were designed to only be easily acquirable through connectivity play. This becomes an issue if you don't have people to play the game with... not to mention the mission system is set up in a way where screwing up an wasting an event item sometimes leads you to waiting forever for the mission you originally acquired it in to pop back up. This is all climaxed by the fact that abilities for job classes are learned off of weapons and equipment. I was 30+ hours past beating the main game before I acquired the item that game me Firaga. I've still only been able to master one job class and I'm over a 100 hours into the game. I'm also only two missions away from getting Cid and doing the Judge story arc but I can't get the damn mission that gives me Black thread to pop up... Grrr

[Elpizo]

I find FF III (DS) the easiest so far. The only thing you can permanently miss in it are some monsters for your bestiary. Aside from that, gtting everybody 9999 MAX HP is pretty easy, and max stats is simple when you have lv 99 Onion Knights. Farming Onion equipment is a breeze in III DS thanks to the ??? cave, the Optional Boss is a piece of cake with 4 FEOK with 2 shields in the back row casting Flare each round. Gathering the master job items isn't hard, just takes a long time. FF III is the only game I'm doing a 100%, because it's so easy to do. I don't have the heart to do it for other games, like in FF IV, where getting the Adamant Armor or Rydia's optional summons can be hard. Or like in X and XII, where there's just way too much optional stuff to do. I'm not an Optional Stuff kind of person, FF III and V so far being the only games where I went for the optional superbosses. (I played the optional dungeons in FF I and II, but don't come telling me those bosses are hard, at least not in DoS. Neither are any optional bosses in FF IV Advance and I never really bothered with optional bosses in the playstation FFs, except for Ultima Weapon in both FF VII and VIII.)

[Captain Maxx Power]

I can live with missing a few things if it doesn't impact my progress later on. So for instance I wouldn't go on a massive side-quest early on for say a Hi-Potion since you can probably get 6 hours into most Final Fantasys and have access to them as buyable items.

[Renmiri]

You don't have to complete Via Infinito to get 100% on X-2. You just have to get to level 20.

[hhr1dluv]

There's still a really intense boss though in those first 20 levels, right? Either way, I can't do Angra Mainyu either, which you need for the Bikanel Desert Episode Complete...I think. So, really, there's very little chance that my lazy self would be able to do the FF X-2 100%-in-one-playthrough.

[BG-57]

I would say the only FF I ever got 100% of what you could get was FFT. I had to develop my own Proposition guide to get all the Rare Treasure. Everyone had Zodiac, Ramza had Ultima, got the Genji set. I was real proud of myself...then the PSP version came out. I've heard that some items can only be gained through cooperative play.

That's almost as bad as the Chocobo World minigame to get some rare items for FFVIII (like Friendship). That aside I did get everything else for FFVIII so I consider it complete.

I found some mingames very challenging and could never work at it to get all the items (Flayer and Parasol for FFVII, lightning dodging and butterfly catching for FFX). Not having them never made much difference in beating the games of course.

Strictly speaking FFV and FFVI cannot be completed since you have several either/or choices: Chicken Knife/Brave Blade, Odin/Raiden magicite, get the sword or leave it as magicite. But you can get almost everything in a single playthrough.

I'm trying FFX-2 the second time through, but you need need three playthroughs to get at least one of everything, and I'm not sure I have the patience.

I got close with FFXII, but the final marks have left me discouraged. Not sure I'll ever get Lu Shang's Badge either.

[LunarWeaver]

VII and X-2 were the only ones I ever got it all, and I guess that must mean something for me. VII really wasn't that hard. I don't think IX would be if it wasn't for that godforsaken chocobo hot and cold bull.

[leader of mortals]

VII and X-2 were the only ones I ever got it all, and I guess that must mean something for me. VII really wasn't that hard. I don't think IX would be if it wasn't for that godforsaken chocobo hot and cold bull.

Or the excaliber 2

[LunarWeaver]

Christ, I forgot about that lol. That noise is just crazy-talk.

[Bolivar]

The only ones Ive gotten everything for are I-III, VI and IX. IV if you don't count Rydia's optional summons. I and II there really are no sidequests, I is more searching every nook and cranny to get things like Excalibur/Cat's Claw/all mystic key rooms and such. III and IV both have a very limited amount of sidequests, although 100% is a bit of a different matter.

I think the reason why I've done it in VI and IX is just the benefit-cost ratio is just right. The sidequests themselves are overall pretty fun. In X alot of them are redundant and boring, like winning x amount of blitzball tournaments (i've done it) or dodging lightening 200 times. XII, the list just goes on and on, I really don't see myself getting more out of it. for V, VII, and VIII I guess I like to keep that extra stuff that I never got there, in case one day i wanna go for it.

[Wolf Kanno]

See, I can't count IV, mostly cause I've never acquired all of Rydia's monster drop summons but because I also tend to miss out on enemy drop only items. I've never completed the Adamant Armour quest and I never acquired any of the uber end game items only found from enemy drops. This is why I couldn't list the first five games cause alot of stuff can only be acquired this way. Side quest completeion is easy but acquiring every item in the game is a nightmare...

[BG-57]

Anyone ever get all of Gau's rages in FFVI? There's like three he can observe but not pick up.

[toad626]

There's still a really intense boss though in those first 20 levels, right? Either way, I can't do Angra Mainyu either, which you need for the Bikanel Desert Episode Complete...I think. So, really, there's very little chance that my lazy self would be able to do the FF X-2 100%-in-one-playthrough.

Angra Mainyu was a pansy. Just master all special dresspheres and set unerring path garment grid and use either rikku's or Yuna's. I forget which. I think I used Yuna's (could have been rikku, it was awhile ago) with the Ragnorok (cuts mp use to 0) accessory. Then just pound him into the ground. If he kills her just revive her and repeat. Via infinito however is much harder. I finished it but had my ass handed to me a few times by chac and paragon. Spear break was a pain, till I found a program online that told me which plays to make. Beat Shinra on the first try with it. And to this day havn't lost a spear break game. Go here for anyone that needs help with spear break. Inside this guide you'll find 3 places to go online to download a program. One for 2 echos, 3 echos, and 4. 3 works best.Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimate Sphere Break FAQ - IGN FAQs

[hhr1dluv]

Thanks for all the suggestions Toad...It's been a while since I touched X-2. I found that I was happy with just getting the good ending and watching the perfect ending online.