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I disagree with you both, largely because the queue issue in my opinion is much like combos and juggles in Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, an unintentional fluke caused by a coding error, but one that actually adds a level of strategy we didn't even think about.
Magic is actually useful because of the queue issue, as it allows the player to have some limited control of turn order and you can effectively stun lock some of the nastier bosses, Espers, and Mark Hunts in the game if you understand how to take advantage of it. Even better is that the game can do the same to your party, so it does change how you do some Gambit set-ups.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
I know it doesn't count as an HD remake, but I want Planescape: Torment on my 3DS and I want it now!
If there was "strategy" to it, I'd think the same thing. Except there isn't. It removes nearly all strategy from the game, because it locks down all combat except basic attacks.
You talk about "stun-locking" enemies. But enemies don't suffer from it nearly as much as you do. Any of these spells block only other spells. Or items. So you have no way to heal, no way to replenish buffs (and XIII made buffs incredibly important), and no way to cure poison. So you'll continue to take damage, poison damage, etcetera, and you'll be getting weaker because your buffs will be wearing off constantly. And you will get no opportunity to counter this. Sure, you can use your own spells, but they'll just lock you out the same way.
The further you get into the game, the more enemies you get whose strategy consist entirely of "spam big spells so you can't do anything except attack", turning everything into a boring war of attrition as to who can win with basic attacks first.
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Honestly at this point in time I'm just hoping FFXII gets a HD Remaster, much like FFX/X-2 before it.
"... and so I close, realizing that perhaps the ending has not yet been written."
This is my point, because preventing the enemies to pull off their attacks except for basic means your own party can get free hits while the monster's special attack is waiting for your high tier spell to cast. It's actually a very effective stratgy for stopping several bosses and Mark hunts.
Actually items have the same queue rating as attacks, so only magic spells are hampered and this all only happens if you yourself are being lazy about not using the strategy in the first place or paying attention to enemy patterns. Likewise, although your main party can't do anything in battle, it doesn't mean you can't pause the game shift your B squad in, and have them take the hit while your main party retains all their buffs and health in the reserve section.You talk about "stun-locking" enemies. But enemies don't suffer from it nearly as much as you do. Any of these spells block only other spells. Or items. So you have no way to heal, no way to replenish buffs (and XIII made buffs incredibly important), and no way to cure poison. So you'll continue to take damage, poison damage, etcetera, and you'll be getting weaker because your buffs will be wearing off constantly. And you will get no opportunity to counter this. Sure, you can use your own spells, but they'll just lock you out the same way.
Yes, some enemies do get abilities that will throw this all out the window but not nearly as many as I feel you think their are and many that do have the Zero Charge or the Attack CT = 0 ability don't usually start with the ability and instead unlock it once it gets to a certain threshhold in it's HP. Meaning that with careful planning, you can knock them down close to it and try to finish it with a quickening chain. I mean the ideal strategy for Zodiark is to stun lock him until he's half way dead and then pull off a quickening chain to kill him before he pulls out a physical pailing.
This pretty much tells me you never bothered to even try by this point because it's not really like that. I take it you never finished this game cause not many of the game's nastier enemies even try to pull off the strategy you are talking about except maybe the espers but that's kind of expected of them. Seriously the more terrifying strategies by the nastier game enemies don't involve screwing you with the queue system and the enemies that get the CT=0 abilities for attack and magic, that is hardly what makes them difficult. It's usually their defensive abilities that make them all a pain in the ass. Zodiark? Would be a pansy if he didn't become immune to melee attacks halfway through the fight, in fact stun locking him becomes a necessary strategy to even win. Hell most of the Esper battles are difficult because of the ability restrictions placed on you rather than them stun-locking you. Pyrolaster and Yiazmat? The real issue is their access to the skill that doubles their levels and basically doubles their attack power and halfs all your damage against them, making the fight a scramble to kill them before they kill you. Gilgamesh is mostly a pain because of his Blue Magic spamming and none of it really stun locks you as much as just screws up and unprepared party. Final boss? He's got a few spammy special attacks but what really makes him a chore is his use of pailings. Hell I would argue the pailing are probably the biggest pain in the players ass but I don't really mind them that much cause they keep me on my toes.The further you get into the game, the more enemies you get whose strategy consist entirely of "spam big spells so you can't do anything except attack", turning everything into a boring war of attrition as to who can win with basic attacks first.
It's honestly not a big factor for the enemies if you the player make sure to take advantage of it first and use other strategies to minimize it's effectiveness against you.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
Reaching prior to Sixth Generation, I could definitely give the obvious answers... Final Fantasy I - IX, Mana series, Chrono series, Vagrant Story, Valkyrie Profile, etc.
But, as those are terribly unlikely because they would require full overhauls from the very bottom up, here are my Sixth Generation RPG favorites for remake:
- Baten Kaitos I, II
- Final Fantasy XII
- Rogue Galaxy
- Skies of Arcadia: Legends
- Suikoden V
- Xenosaga I, II, III
FFI through to FFIX. For VII, VIII and IX, they would simply be redone in high def. For FFI through to FFVI, the games would be redone in 3D. I'd love for this to happen. Not expecting it to, though.
Oh, and FFXI, but people have been crying out for that for years.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
When I said you get more and more enemies that acted that way, I never mentioned bosses.
Do you remember little guys called Baknamy? Yeah, their entire strategy consists of spamming Sandstorm and beating the crap out of you in large groups. They aren't the only random enemy to do this.
Bosses aren't really a problem, in fact, they're almost comically easy, because there is only one of them, and usually their spells are their heavy hitters, so you can stun lock them. But random mobs who abuse this tactic (which, again, increase in number the further in you get) are just annoying to fight.
Most bosses wind up in resulting to cheap tactics to win, or being a complete pushover. You say that the doubling damage was the problem with Yiazmat and Zodiark, but honestly, the only trouble I ever had with them was their instant-death moves. The biggest problem most Espers gave me was getting their rare steals.
My friend Delzethin is currently running a GoFundMe account to pay for some extended medical troubles he's had. He's had chronic issues and lifetime troubles that have really crippled his career opportunities, and he's trying to get enough funding to get back to a stable medical situation. If you like his content, please support his GoFundMe, or even just contribute to his Patreon.
He can really use a hand with this, and any support you can offer is appreciated.
FF1, 5 and 7
Xenogears
SO3
aaaaaand Mega Man Legends. you want to talk about an underrated game...
The issue here is that your complaint can still be resolved by being more proactive with enemy encounters and utilizing the queue for your own benefit. I never had issues with the Baknamy after the initial encounter with them. I honestly have more issues with respawning army of undead in some areas than those critters or the bombs, or some of the bigger beasts.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...