Queen's Blood (Final Fantasy Thread)

[Ruki]

With Benji gone, who'll share my love for FFIX? And who will agree how hard it is to get the fucking Ice Staff via stealing from Gizamaluke?

[Clawson]

IX is my favourite too. Don't worry.

[stokeriño]

The best reason I can think of to get it on PC is because its very easy to mod the game to import new characters models for PCs and NPCs alike, as well as doing things like increasing the resolution to 1280 so that the scenery is more refined and less grainy.

Tell me how to do the resolution thing. Now.

Also, why would you want to import new character models?

[Clawson]

Probably wants to do a nude Tifa patch.

[Mattman]

Plenty of sites have it 2nd hand so theres no real rush.

And it'll be the PS1 version for me. My PC's not good enough for games.

[Guest strongarm85]

The best reason I can think of to get it on PC is because its very easy to mod the game to import new characters models for PCs and NPCs alike, as well as doing things like increasing the resolution to 1280 so that the scenery is more refined and less grainy.

Tell me how to do the resolution thing. Now.

Also, why would you want to import new character models?

[stokeriño]

The best reason I can think of to get it on PC is because its very easy to mod the game to import new characters models for PCs and NPCs alike, as well as doing things like increasing the resolution to 1280 so that the scenery is more refined and less grainy.

Tell me how to do the resolution thing. Now.

Also, why would you want to import new character models?

Here is a good reason why

The only problem with the character model he's using is they sometimes have problems with clipping.

Yeah, Cloud's virtually standing on the edge of the screen at the start.

So he basically replaced the chibi game models with the battle models and then added some AC profile pics for good measure? Cool.

...If you have links as to how to achieve this, I would be most pleased.

[Guest strongarm85]

It only works on PC versions, but are a bunch of patches that are out there.

You can torrent all of them here

http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3562658/FINAL_...ATCHES_AND_MODS

As of right now its a fairly healthy torrent with 13 seeders.

Its not just the battle animation models in place of the chibi models however because they've made new models for all the NPCs as well.

Just download and install into correct folder.

The downside of the PC version of the game is they used lower quality midi files for a lot of their music, which was really stuppid, but one of those patches replaces a lot of those midi files with files from the Playstation Game disks, so its not an unfixable problem.

[stokeriño]

Awesome. The crappy midis are another thing that annoys me. I should now be able to play FF7 on my PC with my 'Tesun' brand PS2-ripoff USB controller much more amiably. Even though I only really play the PC version when I've been shut out of the front room for whatever reason. My combined gaming has only got me up to the Cloud/Aerith/Reno confrontation in the church so far.

Although linking to The Pirate Bay is a bit shifty in regards to rules on Warez, I figure that since a) game mods aren't in themselves illegal, and b) virtually everyone knows what TPB is anyway or could at least find it themselves if they wanted to, then it's in the clear.

EDIT: With that said, at least one of the files contained a Trojan. So beware, all.

Edited March 5, 2008 by stokeriño

[Guest strongarm85]

Most of the patches are fan made and distributed for free. Eidos, who was in charge of the PC release, stopped updated the game around late 2000 so everything thats been done sense then to make it playable on newer systems has been done by fans. I could have also picked Miniova or a few other torrent sights. I just went with Pirate Bay because that one seemed to have the highest number of seeds.

Anyhow I'm going to try out the Original Equipment Challenge after I finish my current game. the entire premise basically is that you play through the whole game using only the original equipment that each of your characters have when you first get them.

Edited March 6, 2008 by strongarm85

[Sam]

Okay so I just completed Final Fantasy XII and I have to say I really enjoyed it. There was so much to do in the game. I completed it with only about half the hunts done though so my overall play time was something like 75 hours! It took me halfway through the game to decide on a combination of characters I liked most but my final party for the last part of the game was Ashe-Vaan-Balthier.

One note on the FMVs in this game though they're immense. The final FMV felt just like a movie and the characters looked so real, especially Penelo who looked completely different.

[Mattman]

Finally this game has arrived. I hated the new walking around combat system at first but I'm slowly warming to it 2 hours in.

I'm at the point where you get the second party member, Penope or something.

The save crystals seem few and far between which is going to get really annoying for someone who consistently dies (I.E me) but the FMV's are beautiful and the story is definitely intriguing.

Will XIII use the tradional combat system or the one used in XII?

[Sam]

I've heard they're sticking with this style although I'm sure there will be some altercations made in some way. Also I would say there's roughly a save crystal every hour maybe slightly less.

I prefer the ways of 12 to the random battles to be honest. Makes battle more fast paced and causes a real sense of urgency to heal or attack. Too often I lost my head in battle due to this system and found myself panicking.

[Ruki]

XIII uses a new type of combat....it scares me. More like FFXII than the classic style.

[probablyoliver]

Okay so I just completed Final Fantasy XII and I have to say I really enjoyed it. There was so much to do in the game. I completed it with only about half the hunts done though so my overall play time was something like 75 hours! It took me halfway through the game to decide on a combination of characters I liked most but my final party for the last part of the game was Ashe-Vaan-Balthier.

One note on the FMVs in this game though they're immense. The final FMV felt just like a movie and the characters looked so real, especially Penelo who looked completely different.

Booo not using Penelo. It's all about Basch, Vaan and Penelo. Seriously, Penelo is like every good secondary female character in every final fantasy game, absolutely useless until you hit the later levels and get some good weaponry. She's a fucking brute at level 75+, and is completely unstoppable. Faster than a speeding bullet, brilliant magic ability, and impossible to hit.

And Boo only doing half the hunts. The later hunts are off the hook, Fafnir, Gilgamesh, Deathgaze, Gilgamesh, Shadowseer, Gilgamesh, Behemoth King and Gilgamesh are all worth the price of the game alone.

[Sam]

Gah I just couldn't face another 30/40 hours of levelling and fighting the hunts! Plus I want to start going through Final Fantasy VI again because it's been ages since I played it last.

I dislike Penelo really as she just felt like a Yuffie/Selphie style character. I didn't have much love for Basch either. I had time for Fran though she had high HP and strong magical skills for me.

[Skummy]

I'm twenty-something hours in at the moment, heading to Mt. Bur-Omisace or whatever's it called, my main party is Vaan, Balthier and Basch, all around the level 30 mark. Hunting is fun, although the big fuck-off Wyrm thing in the Westersands was a cunt; he killed me after a battle that lasted nigh-on an hour. Fuck any monster with the "Restore" ability, that should NOT be allowed.

I don't like that a lot of the monsters are essentially just re-colours of one another, or slight alterations, but mostly it's good, and I've grown to love the battle system, I just like seeing different monsters interact differently...like how some attack in packs, some will help out their mates if you attack one of them, some are complete loners, some are idiots, some have genuine tactics...it's just a lot more in-depth, and makes the battle system a lot more exciting as there's so much that just couldn't be done with the old turn-based system. And, it's a tiny aesthetic thing, but I like that they never seem to use the term "monsters", as the game really makes it feel that, to an extent, these creatures exist independent of you, they aren't just evil things for adventurers to kill, they're part of a changing ecosystem.

[Guest strongarm85]

XII isn't really that bad once you get the hang of it.

There are a few keys to running the game successfully.

1. Don't waste your license points.

In Final Fantasy XII its quite easy to build your characters up to do whatever role you want them to perform. If you decide you want Vaan to be your main tank its easy enough to do, just get him the licences for sword (or another good one handed weapon), the sheild, and heavy armor and your set. What you should generally avoid doing though is spending your license points on things you don't have yet. Instead spend those points on Augments. On the top board, the whole bottom left section is full of nothing but Augments which make your character stronger. You can buy things there like more HP, other ways to regenerate MP, stronger spells, and quicker attack rates. After you've bought all the augments its okay if you go a little crazy with the license points though.

2. Keep your party members in rotation so that they're all around the same level. A lot of people get a favorite group they like to have in their main party, which is fine, but if something should happen to your main party during a big boss battle and they wipe out when you might find yourself in a situation where you have under leveled characters trying to take down a mobs that will wipe them out real easy.

3. Use the steel command ALL THE TIME. It works very accurately in this game. Gil is very hard to come by. If you want to have enough to buy the best equipment for your party the steel command is the only way your going to get it done. Monsters still drop loot even after your kill them, and selling loot is going to be your main 90% or more of your income in this game.

4. Buy the Forgotten Grimore bizzare items. These make it so that certain types of enemies drop better loot every time you kill them. The most essential one is the cheapest which makes it where all the Beasts and Avion you encounter drop more and better loot, which is essential early in the game since 90% of the mobs you'll be fighting fall into those categories.

EDIT:

I'm twenty-something hours in at the moment, heading to Mt. Bur-Omisace or whatever's it called, my main party is Vaan, Balthier and Basch, all around the level 30 mark. Hunting is fun, although the big fuck-off Wyrm thing in the Westersands was a cunt; he killed me after a battle that lasted nigh-on an hour. Fuck any monster with the "Restore" ability, that should NOT be allowed.

I don't like that a lot of the monsters are essentially just re-colours of one another, or slight alterations, but mostly it's good, and I've grown to love the battle system, I just like seeing different monsters interact differently...like how some attack in packs, some will help out their mates if you attack one of them, some are complete loners, some are idiots, some have genuine tactics...it's just a lot more in-depth, and makes the battle system a lot more exciting as there's so much that just couldn't be done with the old turn-based system. And, it's a tiny aesthetic thing, but I like that they never seem to use the term "monsters", as the game really makes it feel that, to an extent, these creatures exist independent of you, they aren't just evil things for adventurers to kill, they're part of a changing ecosystem.

Edited March 6, 2008 by strongarm85

[probablyoliver]

I'm twenty-something hours in at the moment, heading to Mt. Bur-Omisace or whatever's it called, my main party is Vaan, Balthier and Basch, all around the level 30 mark. Hunting is fun, although the big fuck-off Wyrm thing in the Westersands was a cunt; he killed me after a battle that lasted nigh-on an hour. Fuck any monster with the "Restore" ability, that should NOT be allowed.

You're going to hate some of the later hunts, Skumly. Seriously, in one fight, Fafnir restored about 4 times, and Fafnir starts with 1.5 million HP. He's a dick heel for sure.

I don't like that a lot of the monsters are essentially just re-colours of one another, or slight alterations, but mostly it's good, and I've grown to love the battle system, I just like seeing different monsters interact differently...like how some attack in packs, some will help out their mates if you attack one of them, some are complete loners, some are idiots, some have genuine tactics...it's just a lot more in-depth, and makes the battle system a lot more exciting as there's so much that just couldn't be done with the old turn-based system. And, it's a tiny aesthetic thing, but I like that they never seem to use the term "monsters", as the game really makes it feel that, to an extent, these creatures exist independent of you, they aren't just evil things for adventurers to kill, they're part of a changing ecosystem.

yeah, the recolours are annoying, but some of them look awesome. Hades, who's a later mark designed off of the imps looks godly, and it makes the Espers and boss battles that aren't recolours that bit more important and exciting. I remember I almost shat myself the first time I fought the Elder Wyrm.

[Ruki]

The only party that matters is Ashe, Balthier, Basch, and occasionally Fran.