Your brain versus the forum

[cally777]

Right, this isn't supposed to be a showing off thread (totally). I was just curious to know the kind of things people have achieved in the game without using forums or strategy guides (see my other question about them). It seems to me there are a lot of things in the game that are near impossible to achieve unless you use a guide/forum. Eg powering up certain ultimate weapons. But I could be wrong. So what have you achieved in the game (if anything!) on your own. Obviously I mean significant achievements like weapons, aeons, beating bosses and progress through the game (possibly without game overs).

I'm not the best person to start the ball rolling, but here goes: I beat all the bosses (not including arena!) first time except Seymour Flux (2nd time) without checking on their stats first (except Yunalesca). I got to about Macalania (first time) without any guides. I doubt I would have got any ultimate weapons powered without them though.

[d£v!l'$ ph0£n!x]

don't really know what to put here, guess i haven't achived anything on my own. i found a few of the rare items alone such as the crests but apart from that not a lot really. i beat the majority of bosses using my own tactics like u did.

[The Ceej]

Well, I usually keep the strategy guide next to me while I play. I use to find out where I need to go and what I need to do as well as where side quests are.

However, I rarely use their boss strategies. Do they even test these boss strategies? My strategies are much more efficient. So yeah. Almost every boss I've beaten in the last few years was without a guide or forum.

[Renmiri]

I beat the entire game without a guide but I only got one of the celestial weapons without it.

[Pete for President]

Beat the game without a guide, but used it to get loads of bonus stuff on my second playthrough.

[cally777]

Well done so far. Which ultimate weapon did you get Renmiri? Would it have been Yuna's? I still await someone to tell me they had this urge to keep dodging lightning over 200 times, or a strange compulsion to win the chocobo race with a below zero record!

How about beating the game without help, without game overs? That would be a good one, I can imagine someone doing that.

[Ace14]

I went all the way to seymour number 2 without dying! Haha thats not very good but oh well. I didn't use the guide until I got to seymour form 2, even then I didn't read that much of the guide after. The only thing that the guide helped me with is seymour number two, it showed that he could be poisoned and that helped a lot. Haha not very good but oh well.

[qwertysaur]

I got up to Sin wthout a guide on my first game. (Not the fight before Killika, the fight after Yunalesca)

But the biggest achivement I've seen is my freind didn't think the shpere grid was important, so she never used it. And she got up to Evrae. She had no idea what she was doing either.

[cally777]

So she was playing a NSG game without a guide, awesome! I'm not sure though if that counts as good play as its not using the help you are offered in the game itself. Is it going one better than using guides or just a mistake? But still interesting that she could make it that far.

[Sick Boy]

Well done so far. Which ultimate weapon did you get Renmiri? Would it have been Yuna's? I still await someone to tell me they had this urge to keep dodging lightning over 200 times, or a strange compulsion to win the chocobo race with a below zero record!

How about beating the game without help, without game overs? That would be a good one, I can imagine someone doing that.

Funny thing about winning the chocobo race below zero. I was just messing around doing that because I was bored and I beat it with a score below zero. This was before I used a guide to find weapons and sidequests.

I got all the aeons (IIRC), and beat all the main story parts without a guide. I didn't check any boss' stats, I never do. I did a fair amount of sidequests without the guide.

But for most of the crests and sigils I used a guide, though I did find a few just by coincidence.

[cally777]

Funny thing about winning the chocobo race below zero. I was just messing around doing that because I was bored and I beat it with a score below zero. This was before I used a guide to find weapons and sidequests.

This is just what I was hoping from this thread! My faith in humanity and the game designers is restored (partly). Keep em coming!