Hail to the Zhi

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Gonzo
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Gonzo »

Gil_Hamilton wrote:
Johan_H wrote:Cloud had personality?
Nope.
Nor does Squall...
Hey, Squall had HEAPS of personality. Sure he was permanently stuck in arsehole mode, but that's still a kind of personality.

Seriously though I don't think it is really fair when people go on and on about how Zidane had heaps of personality when compared to someone like Squall. It's like they are equating personality to how extraverted a person is. Just because Zidane talks endlessly and acts like a clown while Squall doesn't, it doesn't mean that Zidane has personality while Squall doesn't, it just means that they have different personalities.

I think Squall had more internal monologue then any other protagonist in the FF series because he didn't talk to anyone. Which I think is a pretty accurate portrayal of an anti-social type personality. When you don't interact with people you internalize a hell of a lot. Also you've got to remember he is only 16 or 17 when the game takes place, so it's also a pretty accurate portrayal of a teenager.

I guess one of the reasons I actually like Squall is that I first played FF8 when I was about 16, so he was a pretty damn accurate representation of how I though and felt at that time.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Yuber wrote:@Gil: Your irritability shows in your posts, and it makes you seem very pretentious & condescending. You're so anal that you pick out TINY mistakes in peoples' posts and badger them for no good reason other than to annoy people it seems.
I'm an asshole, but not a pretentious and condescending asshole. There is a difference.

To be blunt, it seems like you enjoy taking out your apparent misery irl on random people online.
Not random people. I aim.
And once again you make unfounded conclusions about my existence and motivations from your own ill-founded assumptions.
As far as FF characters' personalities go, I find the storytelling in general to be much better in the older games(namely 4, 6, 7 and 9).
7 is a trainwreck of crossed plot threads and unfinished script.

Hell, the game isn't even clear if you're playing as Cloud or Zack. Despite what several fanfictions/analyses would have you believe. There's multiple contradictory stories, all from equally unreliable points of view.
All we know is Clou- Za- Cl- THE POINTY-HAIRED JERK has brain problems.

Much of FF7 is about Cloud finding his true self
Pity he never got there.
Cloud finally admits who he really is after the Coma/falling into the lifestream.
Or comes up with yet another set of crazed delusions. Viewer interpretation, pick your favorite version of events for your personal canon. Althena knows there's no valid reason to give one version precedence over the others.
If you dislike the FF series, just say so dude. Lack of charm and/or personality generally isn't a problem in FF games in my view. You seem to be at least partially relying on negative stereotypes of FF games and story-based JRPGs in general.
That's because JRPGs offer so much fuel. Just because it's a stereotype doesn't mean there's no truth to it.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Yuber »

The way I see it, the entire point of Cloud's story is that he's so fucked in the head that he doesn't have a well-developed true self. Once he finally "found himself", he was still a child mentally. For 1997, I'd say FF7's storytelling, while deeply flawed in many ways, was very suspenseful, emotionally charged & MORE than good enough to motivate people to play more. Yes I know popularity doesn't determine quality, but FF7, while not my favorite FF, was and still is a fantastic game. I find 9's characters to be superior in terms of sheer personality though, and its world feels very vibrant & alive(love all the various NPCs). 6 is still my favorite, partially because it was my 1st FF, but for a 1994 SNES game it had amazing characters and story(plus the art is AMAZING). The 2nd half being open was a huge risk, but I think it worked for the most part. It symbolized picking up the pieces of a broken world. I also agree Squall has plenty of personality despite being emotionally distant most of the time. Like most other FF chars though, his personality develops throughout the game. If JRPGs(other than Lunar) aren't your thing, play other games.

Gil, as far as you being a douche goes, there's really no excuse for that kind of behavior. Every time we've argued and I've been wrong about something, I admitted it, yet you continued to act as disrespectful, condescending and pretentious as possible. Talking down to people(not just me) DOES make you pretentious & condescending no matter how hard you try to deny it. Now, I WAS a bit out of line psychoanalyzing you, but I admitted that I was just trying to explain your behavior & that I have no idea what kind of person you really are. I'm probably a lot meaner than you, but I try to reserve my anger for people who genuinely want to hurt me physically or mentally. Acting like a pretentious douche when you're debating someone actually weakens your argument(s) as far as I'm concerned.

I won't rip into you anymore since I don't know anything about you personally(plus it's not that big a deal), but it wouldn't kill you to chill out a bit and be more respectful. I have the worst temper(irl) of anyone I know, but I'm usually respectful to people I don't know. You're an asshole, but I'm a dick ;) *blows kiss*
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Yuber wrote:For 1997, I'd say FF7's storytelling, while deeply flawed in many ways, was very suspenseful, emotionally charged & MORE than good enough to motivate people to play more.
For 1997 I'd already played Lunar: Eternal Blue.
FF7 was a massive disappointment in suspenseful and emotionally charged writing.
If JRPGs(other than Lunar) aren't your thing, play other games.
You assume on both counts.
Gil, as far as you being a douche goes, there's really no excuse for that kind of behavior. Every time we've argued and I've been wrong about something, I admitted it, yet you continued to act as disrespectful, condescending and pretentious as possible.
Only one of those adjectives is correct, and even then only sometimes.
Talking down to people(not just me) DOES make you pretentious & condescending
It would make me condescending, but not pretentious.
Good thing I don't talk down to people. No, seriously.

Mostly I'm just blunt. People interpret that as hostility, for some reason.
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Yuber »

I"M blunt, and I can usually tell when someone is going out of their way to be antagonistic and/or condescending. Talking down to people DOES make you both condescending and pretentious. Talking to people in condescending tones on a consistent basis means you likely think you're better than everyone else. I don't know what your problem is dude; You ever tried weed? Smoking is horrible for you, but vaporizers(and instructions on what temp to use for weed) are readily available online. I'm blunt but you need a blunt. I'm only half kidding.

I've never played the Lunar games, so I can't compare EB to FF7. From the little I've seen of it, the voice acting is VERY corny, but I eventually plan on playing both Lunar games. You seem to enjoy arguing just for the sake of arguing, because it's obvious we'll never agree on FF7. You think its flaws are so great that they ruin it, while I think it's flawed, but still great. You can most definitely tell it wasn't written by professional writers, but I frankly don't give a shit because it's a fun game. Do I think it's overrated? Yes. However, I still think it's a great game that all fans of RPGs should at least try.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Johan_H »

you seem to be using pretentious outside of dictionary definitions here
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Yuber wrote:I"M blunt, and I can usually tell when someone is going out of their way to be antagonistic and/or condescending. Talking down to people DOES make you both condescending and pretentious.
No, it would only make me condescending.
Mocking you plebian tools for fawning over a system as mainstream as the Super Nintendo instead of the PC Engine(not TurboGrafX-16, you american posers!) might would make me pretentious.
Talking to people in condescending tones on a consistent basis means you likely think you're better than everyone else.
Good thing I don't do that, then.
You seem to enjoy arguing just for the sake of arguing,
Guilty as charged.
... FF7. You think its flaws are so great that they ruin it...
[Citation needed]
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Yuber »

Johan: I use the word pretentious to describe someone who appears self-important and at least seems to think they're above everyone else. I wouldn't use the word if I didn't know its definition(s).

Gilly-cakes: Acting condescending & pretension often go hand in hand, but I think you mostly just enjoy arguing for the sake of arguing. I accused you of being pretentious because you oftentimes at least seem to assume you're more knowledgeable than those you debate(aka pretension). Calling people plebs and shit for liking popular things is one of the most glaringly obvious forms of pretension(your example made me laugh, so credit there) but condescending tones & self-importance often overlap. I've said what I wanted to say in calling you out, and to your credit, you did admit to arguing just for the sake of arguing(and being an irritable ass sometimes). I enjoy arguing about things I feel passionate about, but I don't enjoy arguing just for arguments' sake. I have absolutely no idea what you're like in person, but you can be pretty annoying online.

I know I can be too,(I'm WAY too long-winded online) but I try to be respectful. I'm much more articulate when I speak than I am with the written word. From what you've said about FF7, it appears you either dislike it or find it to be mediocre at best; that's my "citation". It was Square's 1st PSX game and their first time using polygonal graphics in general(I think), so its flaws can be excused imo. I've heard many negative things about its translation as well, but I don't know Japanese. I'll always believe that despite its flaws & being overrated, it's still a fun, fantastic game with an incredibly entertaining, interesting story. The characters aren't as strong as FF6's or especially 9's, but they get the job done. I think FF7 has an amazing atmosphere that hides its flaws very well.

I believe 9 is the most underrated FF game. Its battles are a bit slow, but auto-haste takes care of that later on. I've played FF9 so many times that the battle speed doesn't bug me at all though. It's such a fun game with great characters, story, bosses and a wonderfully vibrant world. Even the NPCs are brimming with personality. My biggest criticism of FF9 is its silly deus ex machina final boss. My interpretation of Necron is that he symbolizes your party fighting to stay alive while on the brink of death, but I could've done without him. The rest of the game is absolutely wonderful though & I see it as the last great FF game.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by blackmyst »

Yuber wrote:but I think you mostly just enjoy arguing for the sake of arguing.
lol whoa there. Pots and kettles etc.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Yuber wrote: Gilly-cakes:
Hai, Yuu-chan?
Acting condescending & pretension often go hand in hand, but I think you mostly just enjoy arguing for the sake of arguing. I accused you of being pretentious because you oftentimes at least seem to assume you're more knowledgeable than those you debate(aka pretension).
pre·ten·tious
adjective \pri-ˈten(t)-shəs\

: having or showing the unpleasant quality of people who want to be regarded as more impressive, successful, or important than they really are"

So sayeth the dictionary.

Your definition of pretentious is closer to condescending, though they ARE two great tastes that taste great together.

I make no bones about the fact that I am not particularly important or successful.
As for impressive... well, I don't find my knowledge particularly impressive. It's simply the product of several years with a passion and a search engine.


Calling people plebs and shit for liking popular things is one of the most glaringly obvious forms of pretension(your example made me laugh, so credit there) but condescending tones & self-importance often overlap.
It is very rarely my intention to be condescending.

I DO tend to assume a knowledge gap if I don't know otherwise, because... well, to be frank because it's usually true.
I have a lot of knowledge in areas where most people do not collect knowledge. If I assume my knowledge is common knowledge, I wind up firing way over people's heads.
Most people just want to play some fucking Mario World, not analyze the various tricks that make King Koopa's clown car fight work and how it factors into the evolution of the genre*. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

*(I find it VERY interesting how much simpler SMW is than SMB3, especially as a launch title intended to demonstrate the superiority of the new hardware.)

Though I believe that a certain degree of historical knowledge should be mandatory for anyone who considers themselves a gamer, especially with the way "real gamers" look down upon "casual" players like they're better people because they take video games seriously.
Sadly, it seems the people most likely to self-identify as fans of the medium are those most likely to not give a damn about the history and technology.

you can be pretty annoying online.
I'm sure I can be pretty annoying in person too. It's rarely my intent.
From what you've said about FF7, it appears you either dislike it or find it to be mediocre at best; that's my "citation".
Mediocre definitely sounds like a word I would use. It's about the most negative way one can say run of the mill, middle of the road, nothing special, or ordinary.
While I've mellowed with time, I still think it's a thoroughly average game with serious writing problems, and ABSOLUTELY not deserving of the massive walls of praise heaped on it. I continue to believe much of the high regard it's held in is from it being many people's first JRPG.

My coming to FF4us after one of the high-water marks of the genre did not help matters at all.


In many ways it's a step backwards from what came before, and what it DOES keep is largely NOT the best parts of it's predecessors. Active-Time Battle™ was a neat hack when the SNES was new. It was more along the lines of klunky and awkward by the end of the SNES' life, and NEVER should've been carried forward to the Playstation. it shouldn't have been carried past FF5j, frankly.

The materia system is pretty neat, and brimming with untouched potential. I'd like to see it reused in a better game, but the modern state of the JRPG market ensures that won't happen.
Every game must have a unique gameplay mechanic, regardless of logic. Even a remake of an existing game must have a unique mechanic. Polishing a good idea into a great one is not allowed, because it results in releasing a game without a unique mechanic.


That's my short take on The Adventures of Zacloud and Mister T.
I believe 9 is the most underrated FF game. Its battles are a bit slow, but auto-haste takes care of that later on. I've played FF9 so many times that the battle speed doesn't bug me at all though. It's such a fun game with great characters, story, bosses and a wonderfully vibrant world. Even the NPCs are brimming with personality. My biggest criticism of FF9 is its silly deus ex machina final boss. My interpretation of Necron is that he symbolizes your party fighting to stay alive while on the brink of death, but I could've done without him. The rest of the game is absolutely wonderful though & I see it as the last great FF game.
I think Final Fantasy is the most under-rated.
People love to hate Final Fantasy 2j, but they love to IGNORE Final Fantasy, which is a pretty solid dungeon crawl(albeit one with some hilarious errors lurking in the code). If they DO talk about the original game, it's usually to hate it for the magic system. Lina forbid you make a game where everything can't just be nuked into submission.
...
And I kind of went into a foaming-at-the-mouth rant when I played the GBA remake that DID change the magic system so you can nuke everything into submission.


That's just me, though. I'm aware a lot of people dislike dungeon crawls.
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by odditude »

ff is d&d, nes-style. square even had to change the sprite for the eye (fka beholder) when they localized the game to avoid getting sued into oblivion by TSR.

it's glorious.
Why yes, my shift key *IS* broken.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Yuber »

I'm not sure I'd enjoy FF1 because I'm one of those people that plays RPGs(mostly) for their characters and stories. I've played the original NES FF some, but I've never come close to finishing it. BTW, assuming you know more than someone you're talking to IS pretentious("hehe, gonna show that filthy pleb how inferior his little insect brain is" kinda thing, but far less blatant). My point is that your posts often project both condescension and pretension, because the definitions of those words often overlap, especially when you bring tone in. I DO enjoy debating, but not just for the sake of arguing. I very often debate about things I'm passionate about, but I don't go out of my way to condescendingly point out flaws in peoples' arguments. I don't think you're a bad person, but my suggestion that you try vaping weed earlier was mostly serious.(no nasty hangovers like booze + vaporizing means no tar/carcinogens from smoke)

I LOVE the ATB system. I see it as a great middle ground between pure turn-based and real-time action while remaining(mostly) turn-based at its core. Active= you want more action, wait= much more turn-based. Chrono Trigger is a great example of the ATB system being used to create a fast, fun battle system with cool tweaks like the dual and triple techs. I completely disagree with you on the ATB system. What type of system would you prefer, Gil? I'm not a big fan of FFX, but I do like its battle system. Who cares if it's outdated? It's an incredibly good base if it's applied well.(as it is in CT)

Agree to disagree about FF7. I do think it gets too much credit, but I think it's an incredibly fun, engaging game with a great(although poorly written) story and atmosphere, especially considering it was Square's 1st PSX game. Dragon Warrior on the NES was my 1st RPG, but FF6 got me hooked on story heavy JRPGs. As a 13 year old kid, FF7's spell effects, CG cutscenes, and amazing atmosphere blew me away. I do think it's been given too much credit because it WAS many peoples' first RPG. It's overrated, but I always have a great time replaying it.

Lastly, if I wanted to play FF1, should I play the original or the PSX remake? As much as I love FF4, 6, 7 and 9, I know very little about 1-3.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by odditude »

Yuber wrote:Agree to disagree about FF7. I do think it gets too much credit, but I think it's an incredibly fun, engaging game with a great(although poorly written) story and atmosphere, especially considering it was Square's 1st PSX game.
not quite - tobal no. 1 (which incidentally included a demo for ff7) came first. that game was a technical marvel, running at 640x480@60Hz. while there was minimal texturing (mostly just flat shading and some gouraud or phong shading), it was incredibly crisp and buttery smooth.

for the record, i still wish tobal 2 was localized.
Yuber wrote:Lastly, if I wanted to play FF1, should I play the original or the PSX remake? As much as I love FF4, 6, 7 and 9, I know very little about 1-3.
if you're not tied to nostalgia, play the psx version - it fixes the majority of the bugs in the game engine, while maintaining the original gameplay (unlike the latter ports). just don't touch easy mode until you've beaten the game and are looking for a laugh.
Why yes, my shift key *IS* broken.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Yuber wrote:BTW, assuming you know more than someone you're talking to IS pretentious("hehe, gonna show that filthy pleb how inferior his little insect brain is" kinda thing, but far less blatant).
I often open dialog with some broader statements that will give me a feel of the other side's knowledge when they respond, so I know what I'm working with.
Especially in a tech support-type issue. It never ends well if I just ASSUME similar knowledge levels there.


I prefer not to just leap in with both barrels blazing. As much as I do LOVE blasting technical details and trivia all over the place, it's thoroughly unproductive 99% of the time.
I prefer to think of it as writing for the audience rather than condescension.

I don't think you're a bad person, but my suggestion that you try vaping weed earlier was mostly serious.(no nasty hangovers like booze + vaporizing means no tar/carcinogens from smoke)
Just flaming hot air damaging my lungs(smoke is only PARTIALLY harmful because it's full of gunk. The actual HEAT is damaging too) and some prison rape when I get caught and convicted. Whoo, fun times.
I LOVE the ATB system. I see it as a great middle ground between pure turn-based and real-time action while remaining(mostly) turn-based at its core. Active= you want more action, wait= much more turn-based. Chrono Trigger is a great example of the ATB system being used to create a fast, fun battle system with cool tweaks like the dual and triple techs.
Chrono Trigger is a great example of why ATB was a terrible system, though it's not ATB proper. They kludged a 2D combat field on top of a pseudo-real-time kludge of an NES combat engine. So I had no ability to move my characters in a game where I had character-area attacks. Though the enemies had no such restrictions and could wander the battlefield quite freely, drifting in and out of attack range.


Though even when keeping to "true" ATB(TM) with no actual battle field, it has problems. Cyan's sword techs stick out, since using a higher-level one locks EVERYONE'S ability to fight until he's charged up. Possibly for multiple actions.
My favorite issue, though, was on the PlayStation, since long animations in active mode could have you dying of poison before the buffered cure could go through(since no action can occur during animations, so the game is paused, but time marches forward ANYWAYS so poison continues to hit EVEN THOUGH YOU CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT IT{yes, I died more than once to this. It's the main reason I used wait mode.}.).

And the difference between active and wait was just "does the enemy continue hammering you while you completely lose all ability to respond as you look for that item/spell at the bottom of the list." It's a terrible distinction.
Okay, on PS they added "does time progress during long unskippable attack animations that no one can do anything during" too.


And I see ATB as completely and fundamentally NOT turn-based.
There are no combat rounds for people to have turns WITHIN. No concept of a turn exists. Everyone moves on their own independent time scale.

And FF10 did THAT concept far better. Though they were borrowing from Grandia and Evolution by that point, Evolution being what SNES Final Fantasy SHOULD have done, in terms of combat engines. Limited enough to be easily doable at the time, dynamic enough to be INTERESTING.

On the downside, Evolution's setup makes no pretense of having real-time combat, so it wouldn't have had that bullet point on the box. It's a small price to pay, especially as the real-time aspect was forced in ham-handedly and never worked well. Unless the goal was to prolong combat by forcing players to do nothing but stare at the screen while they waited for gauges to fill. Because it worked spectacularly well at artificially prolonging combat.

Adding timer bars to an NES game is NOT what I would have called "next-gen" at the time. That a lazy kludge(there, I said it) to a game that probably began development on the NES ended up defining the series for a decade verges on criminal.
I completely disagree with you on the ATB system. What type of system would you prefer, Gil? I'm not a big fan of FFX, but I do like its battle system. Who cares if it's outdated? It's an incredibly good base if it's applied well.(as it is in CT)
Oh, hey, I actually answered this, in part, before I saw the question.

If we want to move from turn-based to time-based, Grandia is what I prefer. A full two-dimensional battlefield with the ability to move my characters around it.

If we're keeping it turn-based, Lunar. Which is basically turn-based Grandia(or vice-versa, as the case may be).

If we're keeping it easy to do on an SNES(hell, even an NES) and within Squaresoft's apparent goals of shaking things up and not being turn-based anymore, Evolution. It's time-based, and combat takes place on a more advanced version of Final Fantasy's front/back rank setup than a true battlefield.


That said, every solution I prefer makes the large enemy sprites the SNES FFs used difficult, because enemies have to be able to move independently of each other, so they can't exist as background layer objects.

And I'd actually rather see turn-based system like the NES Final Fantasies than the time-based kludge of FF4-9. I find ATB THAT problematic.

Lastly, if I wanted to play FF1, should I play the original or the PSX remake? As much as I love FF4, 6, 7 and 9, I know very little about 1-3.
I'll go with odditude's recommendation of the PS version.
If only so you don't have to
buy
potions
one
bottle
at
a
time.
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Yuber »

I hated that about SNES FF4 too, but substitute healing the party for buying potions. As far as the ATB system, I wasn't really bothered by not being able to move in CT. It's not a 100% flawless system, but it's the most fun I've ever had with an RPG battle system. One BIG problem with the PSX FFs especially is having doom cast on a party member, using a summon, and your character is long dead after the animation.(much like Gil's poison example) You can shorten the animations in FF9, but I always equip the boost ability. My characters died like that several times. I wouldn't change CT's system at all except MAYBE lettings chars move a few squares during a turn. I wouldn't wanna change it too much because then it wouldn't feel like CT. I'll always maintain that CT(especially the Doctor L & DS retrans) is as close to a perfect RPG as we have. It's one of the few games that pulled off the silent protag off WELL, the chars are all unique/interesting, the story is incredibly fun and engaging, it has gorgeous music, the worlds are vibrant & fun to explore and the art is gorgeous. Mostly though, it's just so fucking fun to play; it NEVER gets old, imo. I can overlook small flaws if a game is fun, and CT is the single most enjoyable RPG I've ever played.

Now, I do think an FFX-style battle system would've worked better for the PSX FFs due to the problems we both pointed out about getting killed by status effects. I'm incredibly used to ATB systems, but FFX's battle system took no time at all for me to get used to & it's very smooth. I still love FF7 & 9 though. I've never played the 1st Grandia, but I have played 2. It's been so long since I've played G2(2002 or so) that I don't feel qualified to get into the battle mechanics. I never finished it, but once I replace my fucked up PS2 and finish DQ8, I'd like to give it a go since I still have my DC copy. The PS2 port has AWFUL IQ compared to the silky smooth DC version.

I wouldn't change CT's battle mechanics much(if at all) in a hypothetical remake because despite its imperfections, it's incredibly fast-paced and fun. I agree with your point about enemies having the upper hand in movement, and if it had been a harder game, that would've been a bigger issue. I'd be a bit concerned that allowing party movement in battle would slow things down too much, so I'd just keep it the same since it never bothered me much. CT's style of having no RBs or separate battle screens should've become the standard. Although they have RBs & separate battle screens, I really dig Suikoden 1-2's battle system.(almost zero change from 1 to 2) The 1-on-1 duels are pretty awesome as well.

POT RELATED STUFF: As far as vaporization goes, vaping weed is INFINITELY safer than drinking, and you can eat it as well if you're willing to pay extra.(vaping is much more economical) The most harmful things about cannabis are our stupid, draconian laws, not the plant itself. It's the only drug I don't regret using, because even when I smoked it literally 6-10 times a day for years at a time, the worst WD symptoms I experienced were grumpiness & lack of appetite for a week. It's like a more mild nicotine WD; very benign. There is not one single psychoactive drug I can point to(including caffeine) that's safer than cannabis. Don't trust the DEA and other anti-drug sites that have agendas when it comes to drugs. Same goes for pro-drug sites that try to claim it's not even a drug. I'd say the biggest(non-legal) risk of getting stoned is temporary paranoia(I never had those problems), but in places where it's at least medically legal, you can find indica-dominant strains that have a higher CBD to THC ratio(mellows out the high/prevents paranoia) than more psychedelic(mildly) Sativa-dominant strains. I'm not in the mood to spend 30 minutes finding articles, but look up "cannabis anti-cancer" or something similar, and you'll find evidence that cannabis prevents certain types of cancer cells from forming and even kills certain cancer cells. There's no evidence that cannabis(besides smoking it, but that goes for any smoke) is carcinogenic in any way, and using it has VERY few physical consequences.

FUCK. This ended up being like 5 times longer than I expected. I'm more long-winded than anyone online, but I'm much more concise when I speak.

EDIT: There are vaporizers that have bags attached to them that fill up with vapor, allowing the vapor to cool a bit before you inhale.

EDIT2: this post is clearly not long enough!
odditude wrote:not quite - tobal no. 1 (which incidentally included a demo for ff7) came first. that game was a technical marvel, running at 640x480@60Hz. while there was minimal texturing (mostly just flat shading and some gouraud or phong shading), it was incredibly crisp and buttery smooth.

for the record, i still wish tobal 2 was localized.
My mistake. I forgot that Tobal no. 1 was released before FF7. 640x480 @60fps is incredibly impressive for a PS1 game, and I do remember all the controversy over no. 2 not being localized. I just got the release dates mixed up. I think I rented Tobal 1 once so I don't remember anything about its gameplay. I've never even played no. 2, so I should just DL both of em.
Gil_Hamilton
Buzzkill Gil
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Yuber wrote:It's not a 100% flawless system, but it's the most fun I've ever had with an RPG battle system.
You, good sir, need copies of Tales of Destiny and Valkyrie Profile.

STEP ON IT PRESS BUTTON!
One BIG problem with the PSX FFs especially is having doom cast on a party member, using a summon, and your character is long dead after the animation.(much like Gil's poison example) You can shorten the animations in FF9, but I always equip the boost ability. My characters died like that several times.
I actually got in the habit of ensuring I always had a party member ready to open a menu before setting off a summon. Since they removed "wait" from FF9, and "recommended" froze in menus but not during animations.
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
KHDownloads
grinvader
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by grinvader »

Gil_Hamilton wrote:
Yuber wrote:It's not a 100% flawless system, but it's the most fun I've ever had with an RPG battle system.
You, good sir, need copies of Tales of Destiny and Valkyrie Profile.
Add Eternia to that. Best PS1 tales engine, and it fucking shows. Also, best indignation cameo, before it was even a necessary gimmick addition to every game in the franchise.

ここだ!*30000*
皆黙って俺について来い!!

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<jmr> bsnes has the most accurate wiki page but it takes forever to load (or something)
Pantheon: Gideon Zhi | CaitSith2 | Nach | kode54
Yuber
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Yuber »

You mean the Indignation spell from ToP? Phantasia for the SNES is my only experience with a Tales game. I have ISOs for ToP PSX(translated), Destiny and VP, but DQ8 is my main priority right now. The lid on my PS2 has become warped to the point that a piece of it doesn't touch one of the lid sensors, so I need a new PS2 before I can really play DQ8. It works if I press down on the back of the lid(the back hinge is loose) and weigh it down with something during gameplay, but it's inconsistent. It's a fucking shame too because the system itself minus the flimsy ass lid works perfectly.

I could keep playing games with it, but a new PS2 is only ~$130. Expensive for such an old system(that's still being made afaik) but I want my PS2 in 100% working condition. It's my most played system by far.(I usually emulate SNES games)

On topic, CT is fun to me because of its combination of fun battles, great characters & story, beautiful art/amazing worlds and stunningly gorgeous music. It's not just the battle system. That said, I'm DLing Destiny 2/Eternia for my now HUGE JRPG backlog. I gave up on tail drops in FF4DS and just beat the game(after stealing darkmatter from Zeromus). I didn't have the TH augment, but even if you have it it's apparently still a MASSIVE pain to get tail drops. FUCK those red dragons!

Only reason I want tails is so I can fight the optional bosses. tbh I'll probably just cheat, give myself the tails, and fight the damn bosses. It's not legit, I know, but farming for that shit is mind-numbingly tedious. Is it even possible to kill the optional bosses without adamant armor and other rare equipment? If it's at least possible, I'll avoid using cheats.
odditude
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by odditude »

Yuber wrote:FUCK those red dragons!
yeah, that more or less sums up the lunar subterrane/lunar core. behemoths can be rendered largely inoffensive, and deathmasks are manageable, but red dragons want to eat and/or melt off your face RIGHT NOW.
Why yes, my shift key *IS* broken.
Yuber
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Yuber »

The deathmasks are so annoying(in all versions) that I usually just run from them. Behemoths aren't that bad as long as you don't cast magic on them. The red dragons' thermal rays do some SERIOUS damage though. I usually get nailed with thermal rays before I can berserk and/or paralyze them.(even with slow) If you try to fight them without status spells, they're harder than most bosses because thermal rays, iirc, can do 2500 damage(sometimes more, sometimes less) to everyone. Cursed rings & fire resistant armor are priceless against those motherfuckers. I probably killed over 100 red dragons without getting a single red tail drop; fuck that. No wyvern lance either.
Gil_Hamilton
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Yuber wrote:The lid on my PS2 has become warped to the point that a piece of it doesn't touch one of the lid sensors, so I need a new PS2 before I can really play DQ8. It works if I press down on the back of the lid(the back hinge is loose) and weigh it down with something during gameplay, but it's inconsistent. It's a fucking shame too because the system itself minus the flimsy ass lid works perfectly.
Meh, just pop the top off and tape down the switch. Or do ye olde paperclip mod. Or any of a million other ways to get that back switch to be permanently engaged.
It causes no problems. If either switch is up, the system sees the door as open. Only if both switches are down does it see a closed door.

No reason to replace an entire system for such a trivial issue.
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
KHDownloads
Yuber
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Yuber »

I have ZERO experience modding systems in any way, and I'm worried I'll make the situation worse if I fuck with it. Taping it down didn't work; the back of the lid is warped & unsteady. I'll mess with it a little and see if I can find something to press the sensor down with, but I'd rather just have a brand new system that's in 100% working condition. I'll try a few things, but I'm completely inexperienced & I don't wanna break the damn thing. I can still run games, but I have to wiggle the top of the lid some to make sure the rear sensor gets pressed before I turn it on. The lid's hinges are worn out badly along with the lid being very slightly warped. Aren't there 2 lid sensors?(slim PS2) The one in the back is the one giving me problems.

I'm kinda OCD about even little defects, so I'll probably just buy a new PS2. Maybe I could try to mod my current one to play burned and imported games. I could use my messed up PS2 as an extra one to experiment on, so that way it won't be a huge deal if I fuck up trying to mod it. I'm not 100% sure what I'm gonna do yet.
Gil_Hamilton
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Not tape the lid down, tape the SWITCH down. Get a screwdriver, take the top off, put tape over the actual switch.

You're talking about buying a new deck anyways, what's the worst you could do?



And yeah, there's two switches. That's why a brute-force "tape the switch down forever" works. The front switch will still break the circuit with the back one locked shut.
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
KHDownloads
Yuber
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Yuber »

I went ahead and ordered a new one, so I'll either try to fix the one I have right now & give it away or try and mod it to play burned games. Again, this is an area I have zero confidence in(I'm technologically illiterate) but I'll eventually mess with it and see what I can do. Is there a simple way to keep that sensor pressed without having to take the damn thing apart? for example, fixing/tightening the lid, or sticking some sort of (relatively soft) object down where the sensor is that'll keep it down?

I'll likely have to take it apart, so I'll research some ways to keep that switch down. IF I fix it, I'll probably just find some poor family who wants it. My brother has never modded a console in any way, but he's incredibly tech savvy so he could probably help me out since I'm clumsy with shit like this. I'm NOT a handyman/DIY type; I got my dad's clumsiness in that regard :lol:

Sorry dad, I love you but you and I are both clumsy with machines. Cyan-style.
Gil_Hamilton
Buzzkill Gil
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Re: Hail to the Zhi

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Yuber wrote:I went ahead and ordered a new one, so I'll either try to fix the one I have right now & give it away or try and mod it to play burned games. Again, this is an area I have zero confidence in(I'm technologically illiterate) but I'll eventually mess with it and see what I can do. Is there a simple way to keep that sensor pressed without having to take the damn thing apart? for example, fixing/tightening the lid, or sticking some sort of (relatively soft) object down where the sensor is that'll keep it down?
I believe people have had success with paperclips.
But seriously, it's a handful of philips screws and the lid lifts straight off. It's virtually impossible to mess up.
Do a bingooghoo search for ps2 tape mod. It's incredibly easy.
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
KHDownloads
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