A Full Final Fantasy Fmarathon (Community Edition)

[DeadRinger1986]

Enjoying your thread since I'm still in FFIV; just read a few of your other posts up there. First of all, I like Kotaku but the Crystal Palace and beyond is collectively one of the best parts of III. Couldn't put the PSP down!

Secondly, when you were talking about optional dungeons you said you were curious to see how the Sealed Cave was (a relatively quick early-game cave), were you referring actually to "???" ? The ??? cave is mostly a disappointment. While it's fun (and very productive) to be in a cave where you only encounter colored dragons, you get to a point where you can both kill them by sneezing on them, AND breeze through the final dungeon without a scratch...all before being able to last more than two turns against the Iron Giant. After that, it's just a very long grind against unfit enemies, until you can beat him. The cave itself is about one screen long.

Unless, is there another "Sealed Cave?"

Anyway, you finish The After Years? I just got through the Lodestone Cavern where you can't wear anything metallic until the Dark Elf.

And Shauna, II is actually one of my favorites so far. Gets my award for best of the NES era.

[Fynn]

I think I was actually referring to the Sealed Temple in FFV Advanced. I didn’t cover any extra dungeons from FFIII, aside from the ones where you get the optional summons, since I was playing the NES version

Might as well update my progress on The After Years then! Edge’s challenge dungeon went by quick - no surprises there considering it was timed. I’m currently on Edward’s Tale, which means I’ve completed Porom’s Tale in its entirety and... let me tell you, while Palom’s Tale might be my favorite, Porom’s is probably the weakest. Our girl Porom was done dirty, as her story not only doesn’t really add anything to the overall narrative, but it’s also not really her story, but everyone else’s. First it’s all about Palom, then about Kain, and Porom doesn’t really get to do much aside from wonder if she’ll ever find love and do something with her life without her brother. And I generally really like Porom as a character - it’s need to see the other twin all grown up, and she’s one of the best characters in the game in terms of gameplay, but the writers really did her dirty. Or maybe they just didn’t know what to do with her.

Her challenge dungeon went by pretty fast too but I had to do most of the grinding outside of it, which was different.

[Fynn]

Finished Edward’s story and now grinding for the Challenge Dungeon. With these characters, it’s an absolute slog.


You guys, I’ve actually been playing this game far more frequently than all the previous entries on this marathon, and I think it’s already taking me longer than all the previous four combined.

The After Years is long.

[Fynn]

So I haven’t updated in a while, but I’ve definitely been playing. Edward’s Challenge Dungeon took me really long. It was interesting but those same mechanics that made it interesting also made it kinda grueling, especially considering the fact that this tale probably had the absolute worst party in the entire game. When Edward is the strongest member of your party, you know you’re screwed.

Then came Kain’s Tale, which was pretty much the best one yet, with probably the best challenge dungeon party in the entire game (though it still took super long because leveling four characters at once takes ages here). I like how this ties up most things together for the climax and honestly, aside from giving people more value for their money, I feel like combining Ceodore and Kain’s chapters together was a terrible choice for the Wii version. It’s clearly meant to be played near the end, as played at the beginning it makes several chapters irrelevant (mostly Porom’s) and the other chapters just feel like filler instead of enhancing the intrigue of this plot. After Kain’s Tale you’re pretty much just ready to finish things.

Now I’m in Golbez’s chapter and it’s another one of those very interesting chapters. Golbez himself is a very odd character, serving as both a black mage and a tanky warrior that draws attacks, making him a sort of reverse Paladin, but not a dark knight lol While I already knew the reveal, I feel like this being the first time you actually defeat the Maenad and she stays dead, only to come back later thus revealing there are more, was really well done. I’ll be finishing this off soon and then it’s time for the final two challenge dungeons before the big final chapter!

I’m also thinking about what my final party should be. My previous run I basically did the classic party just with Golbez instead of Edge, but now I wanna do things differently. Considering going with the kids (Ceodore, Ursula, Luca, Palom, Porom) but I have my doubts about that setup. I’m pretty set on going Palom and Porom at least, just for fun. Porom is probably the best healer with dual cast and while Rydia is probably a better black mage in every way, I don’t think this game is hard enough to warrant such min maxing, and I like the idea of the twins reuniting for the climax. Cecil is a character I think I want there if only because he’s absent for most of the game, but then he’s also probably just the best character all around, like in IV proper. But then maybe there are some other characters I should consider?

[Fynn]

Almost done!

I’m on the final tale now, entered the depths, beat all the bosses from I, II and III. My party consists of Cecil, Ceodore, Ursula, Palom and Porom and I’m quite happy with this setup! I’m gonna be approaching the hardest bosses soon so I’m actually thinking of skipping ahead and nabbing Dualcast for Porom before coming back to take out the hardest of the bunch. I’m kinda mad that you really only get proper access to Cecil once you enter the depths and he lags behind the others in terms of levels if you did all the challenge dungeons.

[Fynn]

Beat The After Years! I very much enjoyed my final party, definitely didn’t enjoy having to bring in Rydia to the Bahamut battle as she was 15 levels behind everyone else, but I beat that too. Overall my opinion of TAY has remained the same. It’s a good game that overstays its welcome a bit and relies too much on nostalgia, but it’s still absolutely solid. Ursula is my new favorite character as she absolutely wrecks the game. I also really enjoyed the little shipping moments between Edge and Rydia. Looks like 17 years was enough for him to mature into someone anyone would want to commit to. Did not enjoy the fact that Kain didn’t get a lady, or is even over Rosa after all those years. Then again, he is an incel, but at least it looks like he’s okay with it now lol


Now it’s time for FFV! I’m thinking of doing something differently this time. Usually I just played around with two physical fighters and two mages, but I’ve decided I probably won’t be giving my characters such rigid roles this time and switch them around more. So I’m actually thinking of starting out with Knight, Thief, Monk and Blue Mage this time around. I’ve never played a game where I didn’t have a white and black mage in my initial party, so this is gonna be interesting.

Also, I’ve decided to make a little addition to my marathon. Chrono Trigger is actually going to be in there between VI and VII. Now I know it’s not an FF, but I kind of feel like it’s appropriate to put it in there. The makers of FF and DQ both worked on this game and you can see it’s influence on the following projects of both (those being FFVII and DQVI). I might change my mind if I decide that I really want to jump into VII right away but for now I’m just really looking for an excuse to replay CT soon

[Wolf Kanno]

Guess this means I should boot up my Let's Play again. Still have to do that Suicide Squad final party.

[Fynn]

Ok, so I’m not very far in yet but I’m playing V! Reached Tule and my party is Bartz the Thief, Lenna the Blue Mage, Galuf the Monk and Faris the Knight. I also leveled up Lenna as a white mage once so she could have level one white magic as support.

[ham]

Exciting! Definitely a faster pace than what I was going at when I started. FFV is my favorite out of the first six final fantasy titles.

[Fynn]

So I haven’t updated in a while but in between Christmas stuff and Nier Automata I have still been playing FFV! I’m at the merged world currently and going into the Desert Temple