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Thread: WK's improptu 100% Playthrough

  1. #1
    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
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    • Former Cid's Knight

    Chocobo WK's improptu 100% Playthrough

    I didn't talk about a spooky game challenge this year because I'm playing the scariest game of them all:


    In all seriousness, the job class thread had me thinking that my memory of X-2 is so foggy that maybe I should suck it up and actually try to play it again. Hell let's 100% this nonsense so I have less reason to ever replay it. I finished the game maybe two years after it released despite getting it not long after it came out because I'm not going to turn down a job system. Two years later I said smurf it and powered my way through to the end just to say I finished it. I couldn't even tell you my completion ratio. I'm sure it was in the 70s at best.

    So now I've started a new playthrough. I'm playing the original version because my loathing of the Spira entries makes it obvious I didn't race out and pick up the HD collection. So no Last Mission, no two new dresspheres, and no monster collecting. Just boring old 2002 FFX-2 vanilla on the PS2. For the most part, this will not be as in-depth as other threads I do. I'm not going to put in the research like I do for my on-again-off-again FFV Let's Play. I'll likely do something similar to the The Zodiac Age thread with a plus and negative list. I have no delusions that this playthrough will make me like this game, but I'm hoping to come out of it with some level of appreciation. It's been so long, I've forgotten a lot. I will also be using a guide for this 100% completion because smurf this game and its obtuse requirements. I do imagine I will occasionally write up my general thoughts about the job classes though since it's the feature I like the most from the game.

    I am currently in Chapter 1. I've collected the Black Mage dressphere, but I'm skipping past the two story missions and doing smaller ones instead. I finished Luca and saw Yuna explain what she was doing during the prologue. Mi'hen Highroad, and just reached the Youth League Headquarters.

    Pros:
    • I do appreciate Shinra's glossary. Got me caught up on things quick.
    • I do like the contrast of Yuna narrating the plot in a nod to Tidus doing the same in the original.
    • While an non-traditional set of classes. The starting classes do get you in the thick of things.
    • Thief is a far better class in this game than it deserves to be. I feel like people at Square just love thieves for some reason.
    • I like being able to learn abilities midbattle.
    • While my general feelings of the FFX cast has always been either indifference of loathing, I do find Brother amusing for some reason.


    Cons:
    • Man the male gaze in custscenes is creepy.
    • I wish I could shut off battle dialogue. The puns are going to kill me.
    • I can't figure out what the issue is, but I just don't feel like the classes have a lot of weight to them. Warrior and Black Mage feel underpowered to me, except they're not. I can't put my finger on what the issue is.
    • I'm still debating whether the combo system is a great idea or a terrible one. On the one hand, it adds a bit of strategy to combat, on the other it undermines the speed of the combat that is often praised.
    • I'm still not sold on the Garment Grid mechanic. I just feel it slows the combat down too much for meager rewards I would have been happier being added back to the jobs. Not exactly happy to know magic staples like Flare, Holy, and Ultima are locked behind a Garment Grid I'm going to have to waste several turns in battle to class change for the opportunity to use the spells. The early ones are especially annoying because you get accessories that grant access to some of the same magic and gives you statistical and defensive bonuses as well. Like I'm fine being limited to what you can access in battle but the bonus system doesn't seem worth it to me at the moment.

  2. #2
    Witch of Theatergoing Karifean's Avatar
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    Nice. Hope you enjoy~ having gotten a bit of distance from the game in the years since I deep-dove it I think I've gotten a bit more critical of it myself, so curious to see what you'll feel towards it.

    100% still feels like such a trap in this game, but shan't be anything worse than following a guide hard.

    Quote Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno View Post
    Pros:
    • While an non-traditional set of classes. The starting classes do get you in the thick of things.
    Agreed, they feel very distinct and let you experience the combo system as well as both charged and uncharged attacks relatively well. Songstress works on that front as well.


    Cons:

    • I can't figure out what the issue is, but I just don't feel like the classes have a lot of weight to them. Warrior and Black Mage feel underpowered to me, except they're not. I can't put my finger on what the issue is.
    I feel you on that. They are damage classes and functional as such but I think between the lack of hurt animations or any sort of HP indicator on enemies it can be real hard to get a feel for how strong your attacks really are. Doesn't help that you fight enemies like Iron Giants and Defenders super early. And the damage figures on these dresspheres just isn't inflated enough to feel really powerful on their own.


    • I'm still not sold on the Garment Grid mechanic. I just feel it slows the combat down too much for meager rewards I would have been happier being added back to the jobs. Not exactly happy to know magic staples like Flare, Holy, and Ultima are locked behind a Garment Grid I'm going to have to waste several turns in battle to class change for the opportunity to use the spells. The early ones are especially annoying because you get accessories that grant access to some of the same magic and gives you statistical and defensive bonuses as well. Like I'm fine being limited to what you can access in battle but the bonus system doesn't seem worth it to me at the moment.
    Honestly, agreed. It's just a really awkward system made tedious by the fact that you can traverse the entire grid in a mere split second of actual battle time, since dress switching is instant and causes Wait Mode. If dress switching had a cooldown or something it'd be a more involved process at least, forcing you to plan around your dress switches, but as is it feels pretty poorly thought through.

    For the most part the game is mindless enough that you can run merely off what gives the best 'equip' effects, part of why Highroad Winds GG is so convenient. Doesn't help that the game swarms you with GGs you'll never use. I do like the early game elemental GGs, but after that there's just too many, with too much of their bonuses locked behind gates that you don't want to activate.

  3. #3
    Radical Dreamer Fynn's Avatar
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    Fynnek Zoryasch (Twintania)
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    Good luck. I went in to replay it expecting it to be stupid but fun. Turned out not so fun after all I liked the music way better than last time though

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    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
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    Chapter 1 is complete. Had to call it night because the game is starting to get under my skin.

    Pros:
    • So far the Gun Mage might be the best class in terms of raw power. My Warrior has gotten better but it required some heavy stat manipulation with accessories and exploiting the combo system, but even then it can't quite reach the same consistent level of bulltrout as Fiend Bullets. It's a shame so many of their Blue Magic spells are locked away until later chapters. Like White Wind is technically available, but I don't have any means of using Confusion to get the enemy to cast it on me.
    • With hindsight activated, it's now really obvious to see that Paine has a connection with the male trio. Just paying attention to her actions when you meet them makes it obvious.
    • The one treat of the Spira entries is just listening to all the voice actors I grew up with. Like it's scary how many of the VA people in this game are associated with either anime I grew up with or games I loved on the PS2.
    • While some of the outfit designs (like thief) are questionable. I appreciate the fact that SE went the extra mile and actually designed unique outfits for each character.
    • I stlll laugh about the pregnant Lulu model just being her old model.
    • I still chuckle when I see Kimarhi and remember how in my first playthrough, I had completely forgotten about him being in FFX.


    Cons:
    • Man what is it about FFX and it's hatred of Mages? The one aspect I always felt hurt Lulu and Yuna was the fact they couldn't multi target their magic outside of Lulu's limit break or using doublecast. Now I let it slide a bit in FFX because the new matching game gimmick required it since Lulu can potentially just throw the whole system off its axle with multi-targeting. But X-2 isn't restricted by this constraint, so why nerf the poor Black/White mage like this? It's bad enough they have to deal with casting times again, in addition to just their painfully low HP and defense stats. Why does SE hate mages?
    • Okay, so why does Warrior get Sentinel but not Cover? Like the best aspect of the Warrior is that its an HP sponge and gets a purely defensive skill, so why no innate cover ability?
    • It looks like X-2 OG has the same Queue Issue that XII has where the game has a difficult time loading complex spell or ability animations. It makes the combo system hard to utilize, especially with mages since the queue can often delay the spell effect long enough to miss the combo timer window which seems to continue on even when the game chugs through trying to animate all the effects at once. I would be curious to know if the HD release removed this issue like the XII HD one did.
    • Holy hell are the requirements for the Trainer class counter-intuitive. No wonder I didn't get it in my first playthrough. I can't see Yuna talking like that to the Ronso.
    • Ugh, I hate the PR campaign. Hell the mini-games on the Calm Lands are even more garbage than the ones in FFX.
    • I love how the game just keeps throwing Garment Grids at me, and here I am sticking to Vanguard (the second one you get) because it gives you some minor offensive bonuses and has the second highest dressphere slots behind the starter one.
    • I feel the final mission of Chapter 1 in Kilika is a wonderful example of this game's inability to balance the contrasting tones of its various plots. The first chapter overall hits a strange roller coaster of wacky, goofy, bittersweet, political drama, charming, serious, and romantic. I'm getting serious mood whiplash here. The final mission of the chapter starts with an uplifting moment, plunges into a serious political issue, the girls are helped through a wacky puzzle, tries to turn dark, and then gets resolved in a comical way that winds up having some long terms issues in the later chapters. Like what the hell is going on here?


    Job Class Analysis
    Starter Classes

    Warrior
    Not a bad class, just underwhelming. You really need to gear the characters accessories to the class to get the most out of it which may limit what classes you can switch to since pure mage classes can't physically attack out side of the Berserk status. Sentinel is a decent skill of whom the main draw for it is that it allows you to farm AP for skills while also prolonging the fight. Sadly, without Cover or using a full warrior team, the skill is less useful except for situational purposes. Their swordplay skills are a mix bag as well. The Stat lowering skills are pretty useful when they work. The elemental skills don't do as much damage as I would like though and the charge time for all of these skills makes it a pain to time them into combos. Assault is amusing but hardly useful unless you're rocking a full melee team and just fighting random enemy fodder. The Delay attack confuse me a bit because they were tailored made for the CTB system. I can see how they could still work in this entry, but like the original, they sound more useful than they are in practice. The classes best aspect is the high physical defense and HP pool, meaning it's usually the last one standing in a bad fight. The costume designs are also swanky.

    Thief
    Way more useful than I would think. They'll stock you up on potions until you get the White Mage and Alchemist classes unlocked. The double attack makes up for their lower physical damage from warrior and with the combo system, I find they often do comparable damage. Thieves best aspects are their good support skills like Initiative and raising the enemy item drop rate.They also have some useful status magic protection and they can heal themselves. They're surprisingly self sufficient. My main gripe with them is like their awful design and the high cost of their skills. It's hard grinding AP for them at the beginning but eventually they become one of the best classes for drawing out battles.

    Gunner
    Easily the best of the starting classes. Gunner really shows off how the combo system is suppose to work. Trigger Happy is a broken skill and only gets better as you find means to crank up the attack power. I can't wait to find Cat Nip and trivialize everything that isn't an optional boss. Their special skills are also quite useful with a whole slew of abilities to deal with any enemy type. They have good HP and decent stats outside of an abysmal evasion stat. The class is also classy in how they dress. My only gripe may have to do with the fact the class is so good that it makes it hard to pull them from the roster and see what other class combos can do for you.

    Songstress
    The weird Tactics Bard/Dancer combo that people love to hate, want to hate, but is ultimately a great support class with their awesome stat buffing skills, great status debuffs, and some quirky abilities to have fun with like doubling HP or making all attacks critical hits. The main beef I have with this class is that all the awesomness is that gaining AP for this class seems more difficult than other classes. Partly because Dances take up a huge charge time limiting your overall actions and the step costs for the better skills. Even worst, two skills are locked behind quests making this class a pain to master. The costume designs are also fugly but the class is pretty great.

    I'll do the Chapter 1 class assessments next time.

  5. #5
    Witch of Theatergoing Karifean's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno View Post
    Pros:
    • So far the Gun Mage might be the best class in terms of raw power. My Warrior has gotten better but it required some heavy stat manipulation with accessories and exploiting the combo system, but even then it can't quite reach the same consistent level of bulltrout as Fiend Bullets. It's a shame so many of their Blue Magic spells are locked away until later chapters. Like White Wind is technically available, but I don't have any means of using Confusion to get the enemy to cast it on me.
    Yeah the availability of Blue Bullets is pretty staggered but doesn't feel as continuous or satisfying as FF7 Enemy Skills. Still, especially if you know where to look, the Gun Mages remains top tier DPS the whole game long, including into the endgame.


    Cons:

    • It looks like X-2 OG has the same Queue Issue that XII has where the game has a difficult time loading complex spell or ability animations. It makes the combo system hard to utilize, especially with mages since the queue can often delay the spell effect long enough to miss the combo timer window which seems to continue on even when the game chugs through trying to animate all the effects at once. I would be curious to know if the HD release removed this issue like the XII HD one did.
    Nope, still the same queue issue in X-2 HD, and IMO it's the main problem with the combat 'speed' of this game. Combo hitting long charged abilities often just becomes a matter of having a class ready to launch an attack and waiting for the right moment. Doesn't help either that it feels pretty unintuitive how characters that aren't being targeted by these attacks can still use normal attacks without issue, while characters that ARE being targeted are locked into place until the attack finishes.


    • Holy hell are the requirements for the Trainer class counter-intuitive. No wonder I didn't get it in my first playthrough. I can't see Yuna talking like that to the Ronso.
    IIRC, the only actual requirement for it is that you talk to Kimahri specifically in both Chapters 1 and 2, doesn't matter what you answer him either. The other answers are relevant for the Chapter 3 Gagazet mission, and whether they construct Yuna's statue at the end. Seems to this day there's a lot of confusion around what is needed for what specifically. The chocobo ranch Ruin Cave is another one like that, it is *way* less restrictive than a lot of people think it is.

    Agreed with the Gunner being the best of the starter classes, and it is so goddamn nice to have a class with no charge times on its moves as well. Songstress is really good too ultimately, both in Sing and Dance, and remains the only reliable source of some party stat buffs that exists. Stacking them up to maximum is actually ridiculouslyDEF +10 stack means you take 1/6 damage from physical attacks, analogue for MDF +10. strong, but with the exception of the accuracy and evasion boosters (actually, Matador's Song is totally a Nocturne reference, isn't it?) it takes up to 10 turns to do so which is obviously way beyond the scope of 99% of the battles in this game - and in the remaining 1% you'll curse the fact that being KO'd or Petrified removes those buffs anyways.

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  7. #7
    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
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    I didn't get to play tonight, but I have been dwelling on how X-2's battle system diverged into two different ones with later FF installments. I feel like FFXII took what worked about the system and largely fixed what didn't. Whereas XIII tried to take the concept of the system and do something different with it while retaining the general feel and wonkiness of it. I may elaborate as I go along or save it for a future retrospective.

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    Witch of Theatergoing Karifean's Avatar
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    I'd be curious ^^

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    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
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    I also find it interesting how downplayed the battle system is in interviews. I was trying to look up who developed the system and had to resort to looking at the credits at the back of the manual because even the Wiki only has an incomplete list of the game's credit on it. What was odd to me was despite the battle system being one of the most celebrated aspects of the game, no one talks about it in official interviews. They mostly talk about the novelty of having a direct sequel, an all girl party, and how much Spira has changed.

    For those wondering, the battle system was developed by Takatsugu Nakazawa who is most infamous for developing the Draw mechanic for VIII after Ito left the project, and he then worked with Tabata as his Battle Director for Crisis Core, Lead Designer in Type-0, and being the father of the AXB system used in XV. In hindsight, I can see the similarities between AXB and X-2's battle system since both have a combo vibe to them.

    I feel like Nakazawa is a bit like Nojima for me in that his ideas sound better on paper than practice. What I find more intriguing is watching Ito and Tsuchida take his ideas and go in different directions for them. Ito refined the mechanics (sped up charge times) and dropped the elements that didn't work (class changing, Garment Grid, combo system) while adding a controversial element (Gambits) that fixes the speed issue of the game overall. Tsuchida took the idea of Class changing and combo mechanics, and made it more functional by simplifying the class system and giving them specific functions to make class changing actually viable. Likewise, he got around the combat system's extreme speed by also adding in an A.I. system so you weren't stumbling around putting commands.

    For personal preference, I feel Ito succeeded better by giving the player more control over the whole system. I still feel Tsuchida's Paradigm system would have worked better by giving the players a bit more control of the A.I. besides switching their sets.

    Course I feel Nakazawa is improving, which is something I can't say the same for Nojima. While XV's combat is not my thing, it does show him learning from his past mistakes and he's been refining his ideas.

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    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
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    Also, I am taking back my complaint about Mages in X-2. I was wrong, you actually can multi target with spells in this game it's just not quite as obvious. That's what happens when you shoot your mouth off about a game you haven't actually played in fifteen years.

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    Witch of Theatergoing Karifean's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno View Post
    Also, I am taking back my complaint about Mages in X-2. I was wrong, you actually can multi target with spells in this game it's just not quite as obvious. That's what happens when you shoot your mouth off about a game you haven't actually played in fifteen years.
    Oh, lol, somehow I missed the fact that you didn't realize you can >.<

    Now that you elaborated a bit yeah I can see what you meant with XII and XIII in regards to X-2's ATB. All three games also have a general wonkiness around the speed of animations including cast lag/end lag/hitstun in active time combat, something that remains an issue to this day in FF7R it seems.

    Class changing does feel a little... purposeless in X-2 given most battles are better tackled by a set trio than a morphing trio. And despite the novelty of it they never truly made good use of it. While XIII did fully embrace it so to speak, even there it only serves as an abstraction of using particular types of abilities in other Final Fantasy games, rather than being a full-on job class switch in the ways of X-2. I'm not sure X-2 would've been a better game for it if it had a bigger focus on mid-fight class switching though. It would probably just kill the pace of normal battles.

  12. #12
    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
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    Sorry I haven't updated. I'm knee deep into Chapter 2 and it's been a meandering experience.

    Pros:
    • Tobli is my favorite NPC behind maybe Brother and Shelinda. Though Shelinda only gets my love because she's voiced by Sherry Lynn. Likewise, I'd normally find a character like Clasko annoying, but he's voiced by the charming Matt K. Miller. My love for Tenchi Muyo! is too strong to dislike either of them.
    • Duck Soup?
    • While all two of the three are fashion disasters, the the male trio tearing Spira apart are at least likable. Though I do find it weird that Nook gets the most screentime.
    • Finished Oaka XXIII's quest and now I can get infinite gil, and basic healing supplies!
    • I wish more classes had easy spammable skills to help level up quickly. While I've had Black and White Mage for a shorter time than the other classes, they are the easiest to level thanks to Focus and Pray.
    • I also find it weird that while the Cure family of spells have to be toggled to be used on the team, Shell and Protect don't.
    • I forgot how fun Sphere Break is. Can't wait for the tournament in the later chapter.


    Cons:
    • Holy hell the monster's in Macalania Woods are a hassle. I usually curb stomp everything in this game, until I go there and then I'm on the defensive. I could probably curb stomp them as well, but I'm usually leveling classes and making things worse for myself.
    • I am starting to fall into the Tactics issue where I prolong fights too often to master skills. Makes the combat very sluggish.
    • I forgot how annoying calibrating towers was.
    • 100% completion is tedious as smurf. I don't think this game should have made it a requirement to go back to every zone in the game every smurfing chapter. The forced mini-games are somehow worse than the ones in FFX.
    • I am also remembering why I never finished the PR campaign or finding that guy a wife. Like seriously, smurf the Calm Lands and all it's stupid quests.

  13. #13
    Witch of Theatergoing Karifean's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno View Post
    Pros:
    • I wish more classes had easy spammable skills to help level up quickly. While I've had Black and White Mage for a shorter time than the other classes, they are the easiest to level thanks to Focus and Pray.
    Yeah classes that use normal attacks kinda get shafted for AP; at least until you get the Treasure Hunt GG which gives you Mug passively, which besides giving you items is also just an attack command that gives 1 AP when used. Straight up the best way to level most dresspheres I find. Make sure you get it in the Sphere Break tournament if you can (go for Item coins during the match with Shinra).

    Cons:
    • Holy hell the monster's in Macalania Woods are a hassle. I usually curb stomp everything in this game, until I go there and then I'm on the defensive. I could probably curb stomp them as well, but I'm usually leveling classes and making things worse for myself.

    Macalania can be quite a difficulty spike yes, in every chapter actually. Chapter 3 has insanely powerful enemies reside there. Kinda fun though.


    • I forgot how annoying calibrating towers was.
    God yes, it's a seriously hard minigame. I still do the 10th tower by writing the inputs down on a notepad.


    • 100% completion is tedious as smurf. I don't think this game should have made it a requirement to go back to every zone in the game every smurfing chapter. The forced mini-games are somehow worse than the ones in FFX.
    • I am also remembering why I never finished the PR campaign or finding that guy a wife. Like seriously, smurf the Calm Lands and all it's stupid quests.
    I admit I find it hard to be mad about that when it comes to completion %. It is "100%" after all (and actually, is not truly 100% even then lol). Though admittedly it's all part of the reason I just don't do 100% runs anymore. Screw the percentage counter. If nothing else at least you can knock out the Calm Lands quests in two chapters (400 PR points is all you need and IIRC you can get well over 200 in a chapter).

  14. #14
    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
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    Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Haven't had the chance to do much. I also apparently forgot to save after finishing Oaka's quest, and then proceeded to spent the loot I had for it to buy a bunch of accessories. So I'll have to do that all over again next chapter. I finished Clasko's mission, got my first game overs, and finally unlocked the Alchemist class. I've also learned I should have been doing more for the PR campaign so I'm hoping I didn't screw myself for that one. While I can agree 100% shouldn't be easy, I just wish it wasn't so damn tedious in this game.

    I did promise some more Dressphere observations:

    Black Mage - Not a bad class if a bit bare bones for my taste. They have the same issue as Warrior and just lack any "oomph" to their magic, but unlike Warrior, they have some built in ways to get round that besides accessories. It's nice the class has Focus and MP Absorb as easy to gain skills. It's a shame that Focus is almost a requirement to make their spells viable before you get Soul of Thamasa. The class is a bit of a glass cannon though. I'm a little disappointed by the magic selection as well. Black Mage has always been a bit more for me than just the trio elemental spells. Overall, not a bad class but a little disappointing.

    White Mage - A useful class for sure, but largely because most classes so far are on the flimsy, low-HP side of things. It's nice to have a class that can keep topped off. Cure is useless though due to Pray. The higher spells are a bit more useful but like Black Mage, the class has oomph issue that needs some heavy customization to boost. I do appreciate that Protect, Shell, and Reflect are team cast spells. So this class is great in a pinch. I think my biggest issue is that the class is strangely more fragile than usual for healers in the series. My only other issue is the classes total lack of offensive capabilities without an accessory or Garment Grid hooplah. They are a pure support class which is only annoying due to having a party of three.

    Gun Mage - As usual for the Blue Mage class, this one is stronger than it looks. Scan is useless and it's upgrades are worse but the FFV veteran in me is used to this. Fiend Hunter bullets do what I wishes Warriors elemental swords would do in terms of damage. The only the real issue is that the Fiend Bullets only cover about maybe 2/3rds of the monster classes and the most obnoxious fall into that last third. I'm still early with Blue Bullets, but the spells election is already looking stronger than Kimarhi's efforts even if there is some overlap. The only issue is that the spells tend to have a higher cost than I feel they deserve. The other issue is that the game has no effective means to get an enemy to use their ability. I'm annoyed White Wind has been available since Chapter 1, but I can't get an enemy to use it on my Blue Mage because I don't have access to Confusion (which is why Black Mage should have had a better spell selection) and there is no Control ability in this game. Throw in the fact this game has a few more "once and they're gone" spells and this becomes a bit of a nightmare for completionist. Even more annoying, each character has to be hit with a spell to learn it which makes this a mixed bag for me. I appreciate the real offense with the class, but it has some annoying issues with its main function.

    Alchemist - Just got this but I can already see where this is going. This biggest issue with the class it it's ridiculous AP cost, but that's balanced by how broken this class can be in practice. Mix is as powerful as it was in FFX so no complaints there. The real brokenness comes from Stash, which allows the Alchemist to use any of it's per-designated item skills for free which included Phoenix Downs and Elixirs. Granted the take more time to use than a normal item but a free item is still a good use and FFX has some overpowered items. Even the free Potion one is useful at this point in time and that's even before we talk about how the support skills increase item potency and boost the speed of using regular items. The guns they use also make them decent fighters as well and the class is surprisingly more solid defensively than is usual for the Chemist class. Overall, a better class than people give it credit for.

  15. #15
    Witch of Theatergoing Karifean's Avatar
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    RIP saves. Somehow I'm just assuming it's Queen Coeurls that got you killed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno View Post
    I've also learned I should have been doing more for the PR campaign so I'm hoping I didn't screw myself for that one.
    You actually can't permanently screw yourself at least since you can always still grind out PR points you're missing on the Sky Slots. Costly on gil though and still pretty tedious so better not to count on it.

    Gun Mage - As usual for the Blue Mage class, this one is stronger than it looks. Scan is useless and it's upgrades are worse but the FFV veteran in me is used to this. Fiend Hunter bullets do what I wishes Warriors elemental swords would do in terms of damage. The only the real issue is that the Fiend Bullets only cover about maybe 2/3rds of the monster classes and the most obnoxious fall into that last third. I'm still early with Blue Bullets, but the spells election is already looking stronger than Kimarhi's efforts even if there is some overlap. The only issue is that the spells tend to have a higher cost than I feel they deserve. The other issue is that the game has no effective means to get an enemy to use their ability. I'm annoyed White Wind has been available since Chapter 1, but I can't get an enemy to use it on my Blue Mage because I don't have access to Confusion (which is why Black Mage should have had a better spell selection) and there is no Control ability in this game. Throw in the fact this game has a few more "once and they're gone" spells and this becomes a bit of a nightmare for completionist. Even more annoying, each character has to be hit with a spell to learn it which makes this a mixed bag for me. I appreciate the real offense with the class, but it has some annoying issues with its main function.
    If nothing else, the Int/HD versions did alleviate the Confusion issue somewhat since Festivalist and Psychic both give very early access to the status ailment. In vanilla your best bet is Lady Luck in Chapter 3 I think, which is also iirc where you get access to a number of new potential blue bullets that make the class shine even more.

    Alchemist - Just got this but I can already see where this is going. This biggest issue with the class it it's ridiculous AP cost, but that's balanced by how broken this class can be in practice. Mix is as powerful as it was in FFX so no complaints there. The real brokenness comes from Stash, which allows the Alchemist to use any of it's per-designated item skills for free which included Phoenix Downs and Elixirs. Granted the take more time to use than a normal item but a free item is still a good use and FFX has some overpowered items. Even the free Potion one is useful at this point in time and that's even before we talk about how the support skills increase item potency and boost the speed of using regular items. The guns they use also make them decent fighters as well and the class is surprisingly more solid defensively than is usual for the Chemist class. Overall, a better class than people give it credit for.
    Tbh it's widely considered one of the best dresspheres, and rightfully so, since yeah, Stash is where the game's midgame challenge just ends. It just... ends. You'll see what I mean very soon if you haven't already, but really, it takes until the end/postgame until this class starts to struggle remaining near the top. The worst part about it is that it takes almost zero effort.

    Don't forget to have at least 1 chocobo captured by the end of Chapter 3 if going for 100%. It unlocks some Chapter 4 scenes that give a few %.

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