The Final Fantasy Discussion Thread

[Canen Darkflight]

It does exactly what it says on the tin.

Everyone who knows me knows i'm a Final Fantasy freak. Yesterday, for the first time, I completed FF6, and I have to say I was not left disappointed by the game in the slightest. The plot was awesome. The characters were great and had good backstories (I say this, Relm and Strago mostly annoyed me, Umaro was pointless and Shadow was standard issue, but other than that, awesome), and the villian was totally badass. Kefka better than Sephiroth? It's close. I mean, come on, no one else can give meglomania such a cool spin. My favorite line?

The characters are in Kefka's Tower, and are pouring out their reasons for challenging him. He just sits there, already the God of Magic, and just delivers it. "You guys sound like pages from a self-help booklet." Everything he says and does is made entirely of win.

Previous conquests of mine include the standard issue master files of FF7, FF8 and FF9. I am yet to complete FF10, but I don't particularly see that as a massive hole in my life. But FF6 is the new love of my life.

What I want to know is Althanas's FF preferences. Your favorite Espers / Summons / GF's / Eidolons/ Aeons? Your favorite game, characters. stories, villians, bosses?

Canen's top three villians:

1. Kefka (FF6)
2. Sephiroth (FF7)
3. Kuja (FF9)

Canen's top three summons:

1. Odin (FF8 version)
2. Ark (FF9)
3. Alexander (FF8)

Canen's top three hero characters:

1. Celes Chere (FF6)
2. Squall Leonhart (FF8)
3. Cid Highwind (FF7)

Canen's top three superbosses:

1. Ozma (FF9)
2. Omega Weapon (FF8)
3. Ultima Weapon (FF8)

[Veatrix]

LOVE the Final Fantasy series. VIII is my favourite, seriously, it's gotten more than enough amount of bashing. But I think I also love it because... I've only really played IX, X and XII. Never finished V, VI, VII or X-2, and XI was too expensive for my gamingness.

Veatrix's top three villians:
1. Edea Kramer from Final Fantasy VIII
2. Ultimecia from Final Fantasy VIII
3. Kuja from Final Fantasy IX

Veatrix's top three summons:
1. Shiva from Final Fantasy VIII
2. Alexander from Final Fantasy IX
3. Famfrit from Final Fantasy XII

Veatrix's top three hero characters:
1. Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VIII
2. Yuna from Final Fantasy X-2
3. Aeris Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII

Was never one for superbosses, mostly because I only fought the superbosses in FFVIII.

[Leareth]

Leareth's top three villians:

1. Ultimecia (FF8)
2. Sephiroth (FF7)
3. Kuja (FF9)

Leareth's top three summons:

1. EDEN(FF8)
2. Doom Train(FF8)
3. Cactuar (FF8)

Leareth's top three hero characters:

1. Irvine (FF6)
2. Squall (FF8)
3. Cid (FF7)

Leareth's top three superbosses:

1. Emerald Weapon (FF7)
2. Omega Weapon (FF8)
3. Ultima Weapon (FF8)

[Veatrix]

Psssssh. Eden was the suxxxors. The graphics were too long, and she/he/it was really fugly. But strong!

Also, add a Top Three Sub-characters thing. What about the Fujin, Raijin or Beatrix lovers out there?

[Yggdrasil]

Yggdrasil’s top three villians:

1. Rinoa … what? (FF8)
2. Ultimecia (FF8)
3. Hojo (FF7)

Yggdrasil’s top three summons:

1. Leviathan (FF8)
2. Bahamut (FF8-10)
3. Tonberry (FF8)

Yggdrasil’s top three hero characters:

1. Freya (FF9)
2. Fran (FF12)
3. Zidane (FF9)

Yggdrasil’s top three superbosses:

1. Nemesis (FFX)
2. Omega Weapon (FF8)
3. Dark aeons (without Yojimbo) (FFX)

[Charles]

Psssssh. Eden was the suxxxors. The graphics were too long, and she/he/it was really fugly. But strong!

Also, add a Top Three Sub-characters thing. What about the Fujin, Raijin or Beatrix lovers out there?

Who cares about long/ugly. It's no worse than Knights of the Round in length, and is the only summon I've ever seen to break 30,000 damage. It's one of two attacks I've seen to get past 9,999 damage. There's no kill like overkill.

[A Nony Mouse]

Top three villians:

1. Sephiroth
2. Kefka
3. Vayne

Top three summons:

1. Gilgamesh
2. Odin
3. Adrammelech

Top three hero characters:

1. Balthier
2. Cloud
3. Vaan

Top three superbosses:

1. Ultima Weapon

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

My top three heroes:
Vivi (FF9)
Barrett (FF7)
Sabin (FF6--I dare you to name another character that could suplex a freakin' train.)

My top three villains
Kefka (FF6)
Reno (FF7--But does he really qualify?)
Garland (FF1)

My top three ways of inflicting berserk status on a FF fanboy
Talk bad about the draw system, noting how one simple gameplay mechanic destroyed anything that could've possibly been great (FF8)
Calling the Kingdom Hearts incarnation of Cloud an emo bastard, which was an upgrade from the hopeless poser he originally was (FF7)
"Kefka actually destroyed the world. What did Sephiroth ever do, aside from kill a flower girl?" (FF6/FF7)

[Canen Darkflight]

Talk bad about the draw system, noting how one simple gameplay mechanic destroyed anything that could've possibly been great (FF8)


Wrong, and fail. You've got to work it to enjoy it.


"Kefka actually destroyed the world. What did Sephiroth ever do, aside from kill a flower girl?" (FF6/FF7)

Prevent Holy from working, lob a giant meteor at the planet....


Calling the Kingdom Hearts incarnation of Cloud an emo bastard, which was an upgrade from the hopeless poser he originally was (FF7)

*applauds* well said.

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

On average, nine out of ten people will agree that the draw system killed FF8. It made me miss the good old days where I could learn magic as I leveled up and increase my stats by buying and equipping new weapons and armor every time I stepped into a town. And yes, I have played 8; I got halfway through the game before the draw/junction system pissed me off enough to return it to EB. I had to do a quick run-through of Chrono Trigger to wash the taste out of my mouth.

But that's just my opinion...





...And did Sephiroth have a really cool laugh like Kefka did? Nosireebob!

[Canen Darkflight]

I disagree with your statistic, but opinion noted. Go and finish FF8, though, at least.

I would type a longer response but i'm working. :(

[Calx Vir]

I'll elaborate more when I have time later, but I'll have to say that Sephiroth is my number one favorite character of all time. Not favorite villain, no tfavorite videogame character, my favorite character. He rules all genres. I've been a fan of him since I first played FF7 when it came out, I was simply amazed. I loved his story too, and why he wanted to conquer the planet, or destroy if you will. Plus, nodachis are always the own.

As for summons... Hmm, this one is tough. I loved most of them. I'll have to say. surprisingly, the chocobo summon in FF7, the big FAT chocobo. Not the little moogle riding the normal one, which the summon normally produced, but I loved when the fat one just randomly falls from the sky. I used that summon on Bizarro Sephiroth for fun and games, I don't remember the details, but it looked awesome.

My favorite bosses... I'm not a fan of the giant ones, I like the little guys like Rude from FF7, or Seifer from 8. They were always my favorite, because it was like a duel rather than some heroes facing up to a giant beast. But I still liked the Weapons from FF7, they looked awesome.

More to come.

[Canen Darkflight]

I'm out of work now and so can elaborate further on my points.

Having mastered Final Fantasy six, seven, eight and nine, I do believe I am in a position of playing the critic here, so that's what i'll do.


On average, nine out of ten people will agree that the draw system killed FF8.

I completely disagree with this statistic for the following reason.

Anyone, and everyone, that I know who owns Final Fantasy 8 and has played it through to the very end liked the Junction system, but they liked it because it was only in Final Fantasy 8. It was unique to the game, made the game, and therefore couldn't have killed it because the core of FF8 was built around it.

I don't mean to sound patronising at all when I say "have played it through to the end", I just firmly believe that only playing half the game before giving up on it does not do it the justice it really deserves. True, I prefer, and always have, an MP system, it's easier and you know where you stand, but for this game, please at least go and finish it before casting full judgement.



...And did Sephiroth have a really cool laugh like Kefka did? Nosireebob!

In my opinion, Kefka was the coolest FF villian of all time, closely followed by Sephiroth. In terms of who made the most progress, though, Kuja destroyed Terra, Kefka destroyed the planet and became a god, Sephiroth killed a flower girl. 'Nuff said. I still love Sephiroth though.


I'll elaborate more when I have time later, but I'll have to say that Sephiroth is my number one favorite character of all time. Not favorite villain, no tfavorite videogame character, my favorite character. He rules all genres. I've been a fan of him since I first played FF7 when it came out, I was simply amazed. I loved his story too, and why he wanted to conquer the planet, or destroy if you will. Plus, nodachis are always the own.

And this is the reason why Sephiroth owned. Everyone wanted to see the man behind the monster, the great soldier before the menace. How many people went out to buy Crisis Core just to see Sephiroth's past, and experience him as a regular person before he flipped? I bet almost everyone. The fact that he was so cool headed and awe inspiring and potrayed as a walking weapon in FF7 hooked me on him.

Kefka, on the other hand, is mainly a mystery. We know he was an experimental magitek knight who lost his sanity when he underwent the magic infusion, but other than that he is shrouded in grey areas. People loved him because he stepped away from the emo / tall and dark / all bad guys have to be deeply traumatised genre and took villianry into his own league.

[Yggdrasil]

People loved him because he stepped away from the emo / tall and dark / all bad guys have to be deeply traumatised genre and took villianry into his own league.

You mean utter insanity, ahem, there is sand on my boot, in the middle of a desert insane, got that right.

i only dislike Kefka because i dislike clowns, evil creatures

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

You also have to look at the evolution of storytelling in video games between FF6 and FF7. 16-bit era RPGs got away with enough story to make the level grinding worth it, while advent of games on cd let developers get away with a lot more plot. With all that extra storage room (not to mention their budget for FF7), Square had the opportunity to flesh out Sephiroth's story. I'm pretty sure that Kefka (and everyone else for that matter) would've gotten his fair share of attention had 6 been 7.

[Calx Vir]

I don't have Crisis Core exactly, but I've talked about it with people and read enough on it to know the gist. I also watched the scene where Sephiroth duels Genesis and Angeal at the same time on the simulated Juno Cannon. Pure Genius. I friggen loved it, despite it not having a significant part in the story.

Out of all the Final Fantasies, I'd say that 7 is my favorite, though I do enjoy them all a great amount. I played 6 briefly, not enough to know as much as you guys, because I don't have the system or anything, and I've dabbled in the ones below 6 a little bit. 4 was pretty cool, I loved the moogle team at the beginning, I wish there were more things like that.

Another thing I loved was the simple class systems of the earlier games, which is one reason I also loved Tactics. So much freedom, not restricted to one set of moves, and if you happened to play the game over and over, you'd be using the same moves over and over. With Tactics, I would beat the game then play 20x more, using different class groups and different strategies, which was entertaining. I still do it nowadays when I'm bored, and it isn't mundane or anything like that. I don't feel like FFX-2 did justice to the class system, though it was a nice try.

Final Fantasy 12 was also pretty innovative, but in the end, when everyone was a high lvl (mine ended up being 70+ when I finished the first time), everyone has the same abilities because the bounty charts didn't differ from each other, which then became repetitive. I think they should do another Final Fantasy with simple class systems, cut and dry, though mixed with the other Final Fantasy ingredients. I don't know, just a thought.

[Canen Darkflight]

I don't feel like FFX-2 did justice to the class system, though it was a nice try.

I don't think it did justice to Final Fantasy, full stop. What a pile of shit.

[Calx Vir]

It was pretty, though, and some of the outfits were cool. And like Letho said, it's got 3 hot woman! But don't all videogames have that immaculate portrayal of "the perfect looking woman" in it? Other than that I didn't get much into it either, but then again, I never played past the first mission. o_O

[Serilliant]

Everyone who knows me knows i'm a Final Fantasy freak. Yesterday, for the first time, I completed FF6

I'm sorry, but if you just completed FF6, you are not "a Final Fantasy freak".

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

Not to jump on Serilliant's bandwagon, but I've noticed a distinct lack of FF4 in this thread. And if you want job classes? FF5. Hands down.

[Calx Vir]

Yes, FF4 was a good one. It was the FF to introduce the famed ATB into the genre, so that is always good.

[Bloodrose]

I have played Final Fantasy 8 to the end, more than a few times, and I can say without hesitation that the Junction system was garbage. What better way to annoy the player than to make him or her check each new enemy they come across for Summons and Spells they don't have. And then you get to waste a little more time drawing spells over and over again to stock them. Then, after that waste of time, you get to piddle around connecting spells to your character stats to try and beef them up a little.

*snore*

Give me a MP-based system any day of the week over that. That, and give my characters the ability to actually learn the spell they're casting, rather than just borrow a few uses of it off some random creature.

On a side note, you don't have to finish the game to realize that FF8's system was annoying, since the system is one of the first things you're introduced to and utilize throughout the entire game. If the Junction system had some tie in to the story, then you could make a plausible "Finish the game before you pass judgment" argument, but anyone who's played through the first few hours of any game can give a reasonable explanation for why they like or dislike said combat system.

EDIT: Second side note: Liking FF8 and liking the Junction system are two independent likes. Just because I like FF8's story doesn't mean I have to, by nature of it's core role, like the combat system.

All that said, on to the list:

Teric's top three villians:

1. Kefka (FF6)
2. Sephiroth (FF7)
1. Wiegraf (FF Tactics)

Teric's top three summons:

1. Titan (v.FF Tactics)
2. Odin (v.FF7)
3. Shiva (v.FF10)

Teric's top three hero characters:

1. Cloud Strife (FF7) - Say what you want, I liked him.
2. Squall Leonhart (FF8)
3. Ramza (FF Tactics)

I don't really have any favorite super-bosses, per say, but I will say this: Wheres the love for Ruby Weapon?

EDIT 2: I've noticed a distinct lack of Final Fantasy Tactics...

[Calx Vir]

Ruby Weapon was probably the most annoying one of them all. Nuff said.

[Bloodrose]

That's why he's super.

EDIT: Super bosses should be annoyingly difficult to kill. If any Tom, Dick, or Harry could just waltz up and win a fight in their first couple attempts, that Boss wouldn't be so "Super", would he?

[A Nony Mouse]

Anyone, and everyone, that I know who owns Final Fantasy 8 and has played it through to the very end liked the Junction system, but they liked it because it was only in Final Fantasy 8. It was unique to the game, made the game, and therefore couldn't have killed it because the core of FF8 was built around it.

I own and have played through FFVIII to the very end and I absolutely abhor the junction system. I am the tenth in the previously mentioned statistic, I suppose.

[Letho]

As somebody to whom FF8 is one of three best FFs of all time, I also have to disagree with everybody who says that the Junction/Draw system sucked. I found the Junction system quite innovative and interesting, what with trying to find the best magic to boost a certain statistic. I guess it's all a matter of personal preference. As an example, I was never a big fan of the materia system. A system where you level up a bunch of magical rocks (yes, I know, a very simplified definition) just didn't do it for me.

As for the Draw system, is it really that much of a hassle, people? I mean, you don't really have to do it all the time. Yes, you need to draw some GFs and some magics at the beginning when you're weak and need those 100 Fire to boost your strength a bit, but once you get certain refinement abilities from your GFs, you can basically draw/refine most magic from items. Also, you can get Encounter-None and run around the Island Closest to Hell/Heaven and draw from the draw points on the world map. On those islands you can find Ultima, Meteor, Holy, all the cool stuff. It's no more of a hassle then mating chocobos a gazillion of times in order to obtain that KotR in VII.


Anyways, my list:

Letho's top three villians:

1. Sephiroth (VII, Crisis Core)
2. Jecht (X)
3. Shuyin (X-2, because his and Lenne's story in X-2 was pretty nice. Sappy, but nice)

Letho's top three summons:

1. Odin (FF8, Crisis Core, Odin was always my favorite)
2. Bahamut (FF8)
3. Yojimbo (X, if only it didn't take loads of money to make him do Zantetsuken)

Letho's top three hero characters:

1. Zack Fair (Crisis Core)
2. Squall Leonhart (FF8)
3. Rikku (X,X-2, because she's steaming hot)

Letho's top three superbosses:

1. Omega Weapon (FF8)
2. Minerva (Crisis Core)
3. Ruby Weapon (FF7)

[Godhand]

I've played and beat FF8 more than once and can empirically state that the junction system fucking sucks.

The card game was good though.

Edit: You know what? I just re-read the thread and now I'm pissed off. What sort of a fucking dickless FF8 apologist could claim that the junction system was anything less than utter bullshit? It encourages the worst sort of obsessive-compulsive RPG grinding, so not only do you have to level but you also have to draw and find all the creatures in the area with new magic so you can draw that. It's fucking stupid and if you like it then guess what? You're fucking stupid.

[Letho]

Actually, level grinding wasn't that important in 8 since you actually had an easier time if you kept your level low since enemy level got adjusted to your own to keep the game balance. So if you know what you're doing, there is no more RPG griniding in 8 then there is in any other FF.

I agree that the card game was good. One of the better FF mini-games.

[Winterhair]

I don't really have any favorites on any of the Final Fantasy games. I pretty much enjoyed all of them. Final Fantasy 8 I could never get into, however. I'm going to have to go against Letho and all and say that yes, the draw system sucked. Maybe its just me being used to the whole basic MP format, and learning skill/spells as you go, or maybe it just sucked. Either way, I never could get into the game.
I didn't like the villain(s) either, nor the whole theme of the game. It just didn't stick. Not the way that 7 or 6 did.

I did enjoy 9 alot. Despite many people's complaints on it, I loved the trance system where you got stronger as you got damaged. (Obvious Hulk fan here.) Plus Vivi has to be one of the most badass heroes ever. I don't care what anybody says. There's something terrifying about a little kid in a hat who has no idea who he is or where's he from who could reduce you to ashes in seconds. Makes me think of Carrie or "Akira".

But of course, like Calx, my favorite shall forever be seven. Sephiroth left an impression on everyone, just by his storyline alone, and the fact that he annihilates one character from the game completely is breathtaking. Even if she was just "a flower girl". (Albeit, a flower girl that on her period could summon Holy and whup your ass.)
Even Cloud, whiny anti-hero (can you call him that? Hmm.), was a cool character in his own way. He had so many mental burdens on himself that it was a surprise that he didn't go insane himself. (Which would have been freakin' awesome, ftw.)

Well, there's my opinion. And oh: Tactics 4ever.

[Calx Vir]

I agree with Letho though. I feel that 8's battle system was innovative at best, and if you actually knew what you were doing, you could take less time drawing and junctioning to beef up your stats rather than just sitting there leveling up on the same monsters for hours. It was a nice change, but it did get a little tedious, I will admit. I think that 8's story was good as well, and that some people let their hate for the battle system get in the way of that. I don't know about you guys, but I enjoy the genre for their fantastic storytelling, not solely based on battle systems.

I currently decided to dive into FF7's story a little more in-depth, reading up on every single bit and piece of information I could find, every single back story, every single character story (Like Hojo, Gast, Lucretia, The Turks etc.) and I find the story simply amazing. I mean, wow, such intricacy! They somehow beautifully tied everything together well, and the story is everything but boring. I find myself engrossed, learning things I hadn't known before.

And now I want to play 7 again, yet I can't get past the 1st disc because it freezes during the group's first visit to Bugenhagen during the astronomy scene, when he first shows them his Star Room. It freezes there, it sucks.

[Destrudo]

So, am I like the only one who didn't pay any attention to the junction system? I didn't draw much either, except on the few bosses that had a GF. Mostly I just delivered a good old fashioned beatdown with whatever weapon I had availible and used enough Potions and Phoenix Downs to open my own shop somewhere.

Though, eventually I got bored, played around with the system, and inadvertantly made myself invincible to every elemental spell in the game.

Makes Tiamet a breeze, since for some reason being able to absorb all elements means you can absorb it's Dark Flare.

[Shisui]

I'm a huge FF fan, though I haven't had as much experience with the older versions. Anyways, my list:

Shisui's Top Three Villains:
1. Kuja (IX)
2. Sephiroth (VII)
3. Seymour (X)

Shisui's Top Three Summons:
1. Knights of the Round (VII)
2. Anima (X)
3. Bahamut Zero (VII)

Shisui's Top Three Heroes:
1. Sephiroth (VII)
2. Zell (VIII)
3. Cecil (IV)

Shisui's Top Three Superbosses:
1. Ultima Weapon (VII)
None greater than Ultima. ^^

[Canen Darkflight]

I forgot to mention the junction system on Final Fantasy VIII ruled, sorry.

[Yggdrasil]

Difficulty -

FF7 : Easy to medium, depending on the materier your using and if you took the time to lvl early
FF8: get card mod and the megic refine early and the game is a cake walk till omega, even then he was somewhat easier than i actually expected
FF9: Tricky, the lack of Combo's meant more turns for the boss to kick your ass
FFX: a couple of tricky bosses here or there, nothing a good amount of spheres didn't cure
FFX - 2: if you go straight for the main story and ignore the side quests you will find youself getting killed really fast
FF12: Tricky, the next area seems to always jump in difficulty a little too much, not as smooth as i would have liked
FFCC: an amusing little game, never have played a 4 player game yet

System
FF7: Was pretty solid, quite as number of little interesting combo's you could make with the materia
FF8:I find it even more solid, Card and Magic refine are your freinds, and there is no need to train to lvl up at all
FF9: bloody annoying when you have better equip you can't use it because you need to learn the skill on the last item you just got
FFX: Interesting, and so easily abused to make a god-like team
FFX-2: i actually like the system, reminds my of the job class on ... umm was it 2 or 3?
FF12: Battle system, i hate, liscence system i enjoy. but really retarded that they don't know how to wear a cap.
FFCC: Infinate magic? find the Heal Ring, and suddenly your pretty much invicible if you don't do anything stupid

[Max Dirks]

Sephiroth used to be my favorite villain because he had the best theme song...

...then I heard the Black Mages' remix of Dancing Mad. It's 13 minutes of badass.

[Letho]

FFCC...I assume by "CC" you mean Crystal Chronicles, right? Because "CC" could also mean Crisis Core. Never played Crystal Chronicles myself. I almost bought a Gamecube because of it, though. Because of that and Twin Snakes.

[Yggdrasil]

Oops, didn't actually have Crisis Core in mind, thats gonna cause some confusion, but ya i meant Cyrtsal Chronicles.

[A Nony Mouse]

I did not really like Crystal Chronicles... big disappointment.

[Destrudo]

I used a game shark on FFX once, since I had beaten it a few times, you would not believe how easy a game it is when you have infinite Master Spheres and have every sphere on the grid activated for every character, especially those first few bosses after you get access to the sphere grid.

[Canen Darkflight]

Sephiroth used to be my favorite villain because he had the best theme song...

...then I heard the Black Mages' remix of Dancing Mad. It's 13 minutes of badass.

Finally, someone said something that makes sense. This tune is simply awesome, although you can't knock One Winged Angel. Actually, of all the badass OWA tunes out there, the one from Crisis Core, "The World's Enemy", was the most badass. That's my favorite.


I did not really like Crystal Chronicles... big disappointment

Interesting really that no one brought up Crystal Chronicles before Yggdrasil. I think it paled in comparison to others, but it's all down to expectation. I don't think anyone really expected anything solid from this game apart from a bit of multiplayer fun. Call me crazy, but do you know what this game reminded me of? Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Four Swords version on the GBA).

EDIT: Although it did feature Giant Enemy Crab.

[oren]

Oren's top three villians:

1. Sephiroth (FFVII)
2. Judge of Wings (FFXII:RW)
3. Seifer Almasy (FFVIII)

Oren's top three summons:
AKA The ones most abused by Oren
1. Hades (FFVII)
2. Cerberus (FFVIII)
3. Odin (FFVIII)

Canen's top three hero characters:

1. Vincent Valentine(FFVII/DoC) > Abused after equipping him with Death Penalty. You all know that is an awesome weapon. Don't deny!
2. Baltheir (FFXII/RW)
3. Squall Leonhart (FFVIII)


Oren's top three superbosses:

1. Omega Weapon (FFVIII)
2. Yiazmat (FFXII:RW)
3. -- Only two I liked--

[Canen Darkflight]

Oren's top three superbosses:
1. Omega Weapon (FFVIII)
2. Yiazmat (FFXII:RW)
3. -- Only two I liked--

You know, this reminds me of a question I was going to ask you all.

Which was the hardest FF Superboss?

My vote will forever stick with Ozma From IX, and let me tell you why.

Yes, I know it's a grind trying to level up all that Materia for Ruby and Emerald Weapon in FVII, but think about it. There's a set pattern for defeating them, and no matter how many people try to tell me they found another way, the base tactics are still there. It's KotR, Pheonix -> Final Attack, and Mime, or some dodgy use of the Lucky 7's. Omnislash doesn't cut it against these without any of the above. This is more a time factor than a difficulty one, because you know what Emerald and Ruby will do. Same old Whirlsand / Aire Tam Storm blah blah blah. You just have to spend a lot of time fighting movers in the Northern Cave for the AP.

FFVIII presented even less of a challenge. It was simplified down to this for most people: Lion Heart, a character with Defend or refine Laguna card for 100 heroes, and Meltdown on both Ultima and Omega. Snore. And the rewards for beating Omega were less valuable than Ultima as well. By the time I had finished pissing about on the islands of heaven and hell, the game was a sinch.

XI, however, is different. Here, there are no Omnislashes, no Lion Hearts and no Uber massive multi damage summons to take down Ozma. Nope. At best, you can grind out double 9999 damage with Vivi's double black, but that's as far as you're going to get in a single turn. Granted, Ozma's HP is lower than the others, but it's all relative. It's all well and good having a million HP but if the opponent can do in the region of 140,000 damage per turn, that's less than ten turns to finish it, unlike XI where you simply can't.

Ozma is also unpredictable, unfairly fast and ridiculously powerful. He has a hundred and one ways to kill you, and if they don't work, he'll cast death, and kill you anyway. Curse is evil. Meteor is evil. Holy, Star Flare and Curaga are all evil. Sometimes, ironically, you have to hope for Doomsday or cast it yourself, and if you've done your homework you'll have equipped shadow absorbing / nullifying gear and you will also know if Ozma is on the right side for taking shadow damage (it's dependant on whether or not he is 'flipped' a certain way, sometimes he takes it, others he absorbs).

All in all, Ozma is the man. You can't predict it, it's hellish to beat and when you do it's the biggest feeling of satisfaction in an FF game ever.

[Xos]

Did you know there's a way to actually use weapons against Ozma?

[Canen Darkflight]

Yeah, you do the friendly creatures quest, where you feed various small but friendly creatures gems of different types. The only thing I do this for is to grab all that tasty AP, because being able to "reach" Ozma is like being able to punch a hornet's nest: you may do a little damage, but all in all you are going to get hurt more, and most of the time the best option lies with Vivi's "double black" with "focus" (i'm thinking Flare or Doomsday).

The best physical damage Zidane did with Ultima Weapon equipped at level 73 was about 3200ish. Physical damage is best left to Steiner with Shock (provided he isn't mini after Ozma uses "Curse", anyway), or in trance with Zidane (Grand Lethal ect...).

EDIT: Quina with Mighty Guard / Angel Snack is your friend. Always trust the Quina.

[Tainted Bushido]

My brother has done it without completing the quest.

Zidane's Trance works even if he can't reach BTW. Though he was mugging for the rest of time.

And yes the Black Robes are necessary to actually survive. He had Garnet Casting heals like crazy Vivi going to town any way he could and Steiner using Magic arts.

[Winterhair]

Never beat Ozma, shit. I'm going to have to try the bastard sometime. Providing that at that i'm not in the middle of an orgy, typing on Althanas (which may not be necessarily different), "studying" for crap I don't need to think about, drooling as I try to draw something half way decent, or trying to spend 5.2 minutes with people I barely see because of God and the gas prices. I blame God.

So yeah, chances of me fighting and beating Ozma any time soon? Pfft. Lets go with the classic one in a millionth percentage and let it drop at that. Really, I haven't even touched a PS1 OR a PS2 in like four months. Maybe even longer. (Okay thats a lie, I haven't touched mine. Hehe. Stupid Castlevania.) And god knows where I put the game OR the memory card.

Meh. As it is, I rarely have the time for the secret bosses, side missions, or ultimate weapons of games. Mostly I play games either for the sheer fun of destroying things (Hulk games, Ninety Nine Nights/Dynasty Warriors, Devil May Cry) or for the story (Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy Games in general, God of War I and II), so all that little stuff doesn't really matter to me.

Hell, I think the only "extra" thing I've had to strive out to get is Cloud's Omnislash, and even then it was really mandatory to both the game and story. Emerald Weapon is still raping the sea creatures down at the bottom of the sea, Ruby is still popping out of the sand because it/he/she thinks it/he/she is a meercat in reality, and the Knights of the Round are still sitting around playing cards because I'm too lazy to give them a job.

So chyeah.

[Canen Darkflight]

Hell, I think the only "extra" thing I've had to strive out to get is Cloud's Omnislash, and even then it was really mandatory to both the game and story. Emerald Weapon is still raping the sea creatures down at the bottom of the sea, Ruby is still popping out of the sand because it/he/she thinks it/he/she is a meercat in reality, and the Knights of the Round are still sitting around playing cards because I'm too lazy to give them a job.


All in all, that's about a week's playing time (assuming that you don't have a gold chocobo, and taking into account the amount of time it's going to take camped up in Northern Cave levelling up materia).

It's be quicker to find your memory card and game, and beat Ozma, dude.

[The Bloody Son]

Top three villians:

1. Vormav / Hashmalum (FFT)
2. Kefka (FF6)
3. Wiegraf (FFT)

PERSONALLY - Anyone who put Sephiroth in this category based on "HE LOOKS COOL" should be shot. You're not a true fan. Sephiroth was indeed, a bad-bad man, but when the final fight came? ... WAY to ROLL OVER and DIE, Sephy. Gawd...

Anyone who hasn't played FFT and is a storyline lover, is SEVERELY missing out...

OMG summons:

1. Carbunkle (FF8 version) SOOOO CUTE! n_n!
2. Bahamut (FF9)
3. Alexander (FF9)
4. Odin (FF8 & 9)
5. Atmos (FF9)
6. ANY Summons in FFT <3 <3

Top three hero characters:

1. Quina (FF9) <3 Blue Mage, FtW!
2. Red XIII (FF7)
3. Basch (FF12)

Top three optional bosses:

1. Hades (FF9)
2. Bahamut (FF8)
3. Ruby Weapon (FF7)

I think a lot of people had a problem with FF8 simply because it was so drastically different in it's creation than the rest of them. I loved the entire game up until the stupid crap with the Sorceresses and all that junk.
Bahamut and Odin were a blast. Tonberry and Cactuar were a blast also, and the characters were so absolutely diverse. I LOVED the Tetra Triad Card Game even though it was REALLY cheap with refining them. And I loved the Junctioning system almost as much as I loved the Materia system.

Bravo! Encore for Enix!

[Veatrix]

1. Carbunkle (FF8 version) SOOOO CUTE! n_n!


CARBUNCLE FTW.

[oren]

PERSONALLY - Anyone who put Sephiroth in this category based on "HE LOOKS COOL" should be shot. You're not a true fan. Sephiroth was indeed, a bad-bad man, but when the final fight came? ... WAY to ROLL OVER and DIE, Sephy. Gawd...



I am insulted.

It's true though, he toys with you in battle until you kick his ass.

[The Bloody Son]

I am insulted.

It's true though, he toys with you in battle until you kick his ass.

Uhm. Sorry? Lol.

The character looks cool and in the beginning of the first disc, they make him out to be such a bad ass in the FMV's and past fights near Nibelheim. Then when you have Lvl. 99 characters with Mastered Materia, Ultimate Weapons, and Final Limit Breaks ...

He's just a bitch. And he dies like one too. Like ... whoa. ;( Poor Sephy. So ... Anti-climatic.



n_n @ Veatrix

Totally, right?!

[Veatrix]

Edea Kramer owns all Final Fantasy villians. She is my Idol.

[Letho]

The character looks cool and in the beginning of the first disc, they make him out to be such a bad ass in the FMV's and past fights near Nibelheim. Then when you have Lvl. 99 characters with Mastered Materia, Ultimate Weapons, and Final Limit Breaks ...

He's just a bitch. And he dies like one too. Like ... whoa. ;( Poor Sephy. So ... Anti-climatic.When you look at it, this goes for pretty much every FF final boss. I mean, in all the FFs I played, the final boss is never the toughest boss to beat. In VII you have Ruby and Emerald, in VIII you have Omega, in X you also have Omega and they are all significantly stronger then the final bosses of the game. So Sephiroth just had the bad luck of NOT being an optional boss and thus being very easy to beat in the end. I hear he's quite tough to beat in Kingdom Hearts, though.

[The Bloody Son]

When you look at it, this goes for pretty much every FF final boss. I mean, in all the FFs I played, the final boss is never the toughest boss to beat. In VII you have Ruby and Emerald, in VIII you have Omega, in X you also have Omega and they are all significantly stronger then the final bosses of the game. So Sephiroth just had the bad luck of NOT being an optional boss and thus being very easy to beat in the end. I hear he's quite tough to beat in Kingdom Hearts, though.

Never mix Disney and the greatness of FF. ;( For shame...

And this is true. Not even Kefka was hard to beat with Genji Gauntlets and Leveled up. Lol. But Kefka was truly evil. Poisoning a city's water supply?! BRILLIANT! lol.

And I find it Ironic that Edea Kramer is Veatrix' favorite, when her name is a letter off from Beatrix from FF9 and she's using an Aerith avatar. Lololol.

[Winterhair]

Kingdom Hearts Sephiroth ftw.
He is beyond tough in the first one, but I managed to defeat him (after several unsuccesful runs xD) when I was at level 53 in Kingdom Hearts 2. They recommend 80 and up for him in KH2.

The final boss for Kingdom Hearts was a joke, though. Once I realized how pathetic he was, I hung back and let Goofy and Donald take care of him.

The battle was over in less than five minutes. I went up to get a drink and called a friend, and when I came back down the ending cutscene just started. Blagh.

The final battle w/ Xemnas was also easy, but not nearly as easy as Ansem and it was a hell of a lot more fun. I found a video where someone hacked the game and put Sephiroth in the fight, which made things interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHUkt4cK_kY

[The Bloody Son]

Mle. I didn't even bother with Kingdom Hearts. I played the first little bit of the first one and realized that between the god-awful camera angles and child-like game play - it wasn't worth my ... Superior brain's time... Lololol.

[oren]

When you look at it, this goes for pretty much every FF final boss. I mean, in all the FFs I played, the final boss is never the toughest boss to beat. In VII you have Ruby and Emerald, in VIII you have Omega, in X you also have Omega and they are all significantly stronger then the final bosses of the game. So Sephiroth just had the bad luck of NOT being an optional boss and thus being very easy to beat in the end. I hear he's quite tough to beat in Kingdom Hearts, though.

As much as I hate Square Enix for blending with Disney - 'cause we all know when you mix with Disney it's going to be a disaster like Prince of Persia movie cast *will slice whoever the casting director is with a giant battle axe* - I'm actually glad they made Sephiroth insanely hard to beat, but still irritatingly enough all he does is toy with you.

To add to the list of pathetic falls from Sephiroth watch Advent Children, all toying and just when you think he's going with POOF here comes Cloud with the arsenal of seven butcher knife limit break.

(Spoiler cover just incase people haven't watched it. O_o; i've met people who haven't....)

[Canen Darkflight]

Sephiroth lasted against Cloud in Advent Children about the same time he lasted against my party in FFVII...about three minutes.

Kuja was more difficult than Sephiroth, although far less cool looking (until trance, but even then he only looked like a monkey / parrot hybrid). Star Flare owns you.

In fact, I honestly had more trouble beating a couple of bosses from FFVI (normal in-game bosses, that is) than I did with Sephy.

[oren]

Sephiroth lasted against Cloud in Advent Children about the same time he lasted against my party in FFVII...about three minutes.

Kuja was more difficult than Sephiroth, although far less cool looking (until trance, but even then he only looked like a monkey / parrot hybrid). Star Flare owns you.

In fact, I honestly had more trouble beating a couple of bosses from FFVI (normal in-game bosses, that is) than I did with Sephy.

I thought Kuja was cool looking....

On another note, I want to play FFXIII but my lack of PS3 and money to purchase one makes things difficult, and as far as rumors go the release date keeps moving farther away. *kicks Square Enix to the moon*

[Cyrus the virus]

Nobody's a Final Fantasy freak without playing FF6, so yeah, shut it.


(I say this, Relm and Strago mostly annoyed me, Umaro was pointless and Shadow was standard issue, but other than that, awesome)

You didn't see Shadow's dreams, eh? Spoilers: Shadow is Clyde, Relm's father who was too cowardly to kill his friend to save him from a worse fate. They were bandits and shit. Strago took care of Relm when her dad left and mom died. Unsure if he's the actual paternal grandfather. But they have a place in the story, at least.

Umaro is garbage.

[Canen Darkflight]

You didn't see Shadow's dreams, eh? Spoilers: Shadow is Clyde, Relm's father who was too cowardly to kill his friend to save him from a worse fate. They were bandits and shit. Strago took care of Relm when her dad left and mom died. Unsure if he's the actual paternal grandfather. But they have a place in the story, at least.



.....

FUCK!