A rant.

[Spooniest]

I think it's utterly ridiculous how people grind, grind grind away at RPG's to get to Level 99 and get game-breaking stats, and then feel like somehow they've accomplished something important or noteworthy. Final Fantasy 6 is a prime example, due to it's stat-boosting system. I remember the time I played a low-level game, after seeing the FAQ for it on GameFAQ's. I had a great time! The battles were challenging! Trying to beat these bosses I had had little to no problem with in a normal game, whilst possessing the offensive and defensive power of a (pardon the pun) spoon was just mind-blowing. Suddenly, there was the very real possibility that Ultros might take me out in our first encounter on the Lethe River! It was exciting!

Then I read the FAQ a little more carefully and realized that the only reason it was ever even attempted was in order to "save" the grinding until the end of the game, to get the absolute highest stats possible! That's just stupid! You aren't a skilled player if you beat Final Kefka with the Genji Glove/Offering combo at Level 99 with 128 strength! The idea is that you're supposed to pick and choose what stats you boost on the way to the final boss, and hope to hell you chose wisely because the final boss is supposed to be an ultimate test of your skill at the game!

Grinding to Level 99 is boring. Just grind, grind, grind those Tyrannosaurs into powder, why don't you! [sarcasm] Yeah, that's making you a better Final Fantasy 6 player! [/sarcasm]

The GBA version is a joke to me. The script is nice in spots, but in a lot of places it's unnecessarily wordy, and in some places it's just dry and boring to me. The sound effects and music were raped with a razor-bladed dildo! (there is a patch for the music, but the sound effects still sound like a cat spitting into a coffee can). And to top it all off, the "extra content" added into it is just a SUPAR DUGNEON DAT U CAN'T BEET UNLES UR PARTEE IS SUPAR SUPAR POWERD!! You have to

yeah you guessed it

GRIND to Level 99 in order to stand a chance in there. God, I'm sick of grinding!

Disclaimer.

I have grinded to Level 99 in Final Fantasy 6 so many times that I swear if I ever have to do it again, I'm going to get a month's supply of Codine just to tolerate the boredom.

End of rant.

[Wolf Kanno]

^ That's why I've only done it once, and thought to myself, well this is stupid. Funny enough I found out last night that the GBA version has a glitch that can reset your characters level, but not their stats. so you can technically make your Level 99 Terra go back to her starting level of 3 and grind her stats to maxed out status if you want.

Honestly, if I've learned anything from playing VI it is that its the most fun when you don't grind. The gameplay difficulty works really well in the game if you simply ignore leveling of any kind and keep pressing forward cause it does prevent your party from being completely dominate in battle.

[NeoCracker]

Meh, I'm a bit of a grind whore.

[chionos]

I enjoy a bit of grinding, especially when the fighting itself is somehow enjoyable. For instance, I never minded grinding in FFXI at all, because there are other people, melee compete for damage, etc. etc. It does get old in FFVI after a while, and I've questioned myself for doing it, but powering through the boredom is itself the satisfaction of the grind. Not some feeling of awesomeness for beating the last boss with ease. Also, numbers are fun, raising numbers and statistics is fun. More fun for some than for others.

[Jowy]

I beat the Soul Shrine and Dragon's Den around the high sixties. The only grinding done was to hunt down Cactuars in the desert to learn magic faster.

[Pumpkin]

I grind to the point (in any game) where I slightly surpass the enemy, but not by much. That way I feel accomplished, I can feel my characters development, and it's not too easy.

I know some people who just max out their characters and it's like "I could just 1 hit the last boss". Why? It's supposed to be challenging. You're supposed to be able to do a bit more thinking than Attack. Done. I can see why they do it, and that's great for them, but it just isn't for me. I like to watch and feel my characters develop overtime. I like them to all have strengths and weaknesses. I like the boss battles to be more challenging because it's like, it was hard, and I still did it. It took more than an attack. It took strategy. It took some thought.

But I guess its just a matter of opinion, really.

[theundeadhero]

I never grind to become super powerful. In some games a grind a bit for gold to be able to afford the best stuff for sale in whatever town I'm in, but that's it. The rest of my levels come from playing through the game.

[*Laurelindo*]

I'm doing a Fewest Steps challenge right now and it makes the game a lot harder (7439 Steps outside Nikeah in WoR, wohoo!).
It also undeniably requires some skill, because you need to plan ahead and understand exactly what you need to do, for example picking and training the right characters for WoR and making sure that they have the right Espers equipped everytime they level up (I like putting Bismark on Edgar, because this makes his AutoCrossbow über-powerful, which is clearly very useful).

But anyway - yes I do enjoy power-leveling and grinding, there is something highly satisfying with being able to deal 9999 DMG with the AutoCrossbow on several enemies at the same time, or watch Locke dealing 9999·8 DMG on everything with the AtmaWeapon and ValiantKnife.

The only problem with Perfect Game attempts is that you lose interest in the file right when you're done with it - but the journey there is really fun.

[doeboyfresh14]

I remember the first time i had beat this game, i did not grind. Usually what i do is to beat the game the first time, then i'll go back and grind and work on finding everything the 2d/3rd time through.

the only time i grind on the first play through is if i have died against a boss 3-4 times.

[VeloZer0]

Grinding isn't about making you feel awesome at the game, it is the accomplishment at having built such a kick ass party.

[Raistlin]

I do enjoy some grinding in RPGs, especially if the gameplay is fun or I'm exploring, but I never understood the hardcore grinding to level 99 with max stats. That's just not fun to me.

[maybee]

The GBA version also removed some of the funny stuff as well like Locke's comment about Kefka saying that " He was missing a few buttons "

It was sad. =(

[Greatermaximus]

The ultimate cop-out is everyone has their reasons for doing something. There's no end all, be all reason why it has to be justified. We played it/know of it and it just is.

[Andio]

I've tried to grind in Kingdom Hearts 2,it but it really puts me off the game for a while.I stoped at level 96 and never finished.I never grinded on ff 6 as it was my first Final fantasy. I probably lost against ultros 10 times.

[TreasonWall]

I fully agree with Spooniest regarding level grinding. It's boring and tedious, and all it succeeds at doing is sucking the challenge away. Play however you like it best, but don't brag about being overlevelled because there's zero sense in that. That being said, I do think the GBA port is superior to the original in every conceivable way. And frankly, you don't need to do that much grinding to survive in the Dragon's Den if you're really that good at the game.