Topic: Final fantasy discussion thread

@belmont Why chapter 9?

@FullbringIchigo It is tough. Using Chakra, Prayer, Elemental aimed at absorbing boss attacks, and saving MP for bosses all really help. I'm still more worried about that bloody pull-up minigame.

@FullbringIchigo It may be considered semi cheating but in the start of Chapter 17 you have access to a battle arena vr simulation thing where you can get an overpower item. Beating all challenges on hard gives you two trophies and a battle accessory that lets you use limit breaks periodically.

It does not break the game but some chapters and especially the final boss and the cheap boss at the end of Chapter 17 are very hard without this item. I personally used this from accessory from chapter 14 and onwards. Once you know the game is more strategy and planning and less "action rpg" skill (I personally can't play modern action games that well).

Farming AP is not very time consuming in this game. It can be done in the coloseum in chapter 14. Heal, revive, mangify, first strike, elemental materia+element that the enemies you face are weak, HP/MP/Magic up are needed in MAX in all characters. You can do it on casual difficulty fast.

@Matroska To get all trophies + quests + manuscripts + dresses + resolutions you have to play this Chapter over and over again and it drags way too much with boring puzzles, hard minigames, boring story and side quests. You have to play it on hard twice because some side quests cancel one another.

The pull up minigame is easier if you memorize the pattern and push the buttons without checking the screen .Check only if the games wants to push the same button repeatedly and after the 10th or so you can push the buttons without delay

@Thrillho If it is your first playthrough I suggest trying casual. You see how Cloud reacts and it can teach you how to play the game. In fact I tried this with some hard battles to see in first hand how guard and evade works.

@belmont Isn't Chapter 9 the Honeybee Inn one? That was the best bit of the game!

@johncalmc Yes that is the one, I still hate it. Even with carefull planning you have to play it at least 4 times and two on hard and drags way too much. It has this slow hand puzzles at the beginning, there is no real story, it has stupid and hard minigames, the side quests are bad and the new characters are bland generic stereotypes.

@johncalmc John, how do I pull-up? I know you've platted it. I swear to god, I'm less worried about the final boss on Hard than I am about the endless hell that is pull-ups.

@Matroska Well, this is not an easy question to answer. Honestly, the pull ups against Jules is probably the toughest bit of the game, or it was for me at least. This is by no means an official strategy or anything, and I'm sure someone somewhere will come up with a definitive guide, but...

1. Stop paying attention to what Jules is doing, if you are. Jules isn't really competing against you - they're doing a set routine by the looks of it. Sometimes they'll fall early early and blast it later on, sometimes vice versa - all you need to know is that - in my experience - Jules is going to finish on 42, 43, 44, or 45.

2. If you fall over at any point just quit. You won't win.

3. I did it twice, and both times I did it I hit 21 on the first half and then 24 in the second getting to a total of 45. I also did that once and drew since Jules hit 45.

4. You need to incrementally speed up your button presses because Tifa speeds up her movements. This is kinda tough to see on screen, or it was for me, so you have to just use the force. Basically just tap the first couple of cycles at the speed the icons show on screen, then do the next one slightly faster, and then the next one slightly faster. Eventually, the icons will come back since you're going to have to do the thing where you bash one of the buttons - once you've done this carry on at the speed the icons show and then speed up slightly each routine. By the time you get toward the end you should be tapping each button in sequence without any pause, pretty much.

5. It sucks.

@johncalmc Thanks. When I die they'll put "Here lies the man that beat Jules at pull-ups" and I'll tell them to add "courtesy of johncalmc" at the end.

@Matroska I will treasure this knowledge.

@johncalmc @Matroska he always hit 44 when i did it, it took me a good 45 minutes to beat him, i found the Squats much easier though i never had a issue with that one even against Jules

but as john said it really is just a case of keeping time and ignoring everything else around you, once you get into the swing of it or in the zone as it were you will do it

on a side note what did everyone think of the Whack-a-box challenges?

@Thrillho even to this day whenever i come across a Tonberry in the original FFVII i just instantly W-summon and Quadra Magic Knights of Round

i aint taking no chances when it comes to those things

@FullbringIchigo Whack-a-box was relatively simple for me, just one and done. Triple Slash was really useful for breaking the big ones.

@nessisonett yeah i got through them no issue too although on my first play through i completely forgot to do the hard one because i'm an idiot

got it on my second run through though

i also found Overdrive Mode handy especially when you had 2 big ones side by side, get in the middle and wail on them and you get both at once

@Thrillho I just tried to make sure none the characters were in front of it for that long and used Barret for the most part. I think Tifa has and upgrade for doing more same from behind. I did use a couple of phoenix downs mind. When it got staggered I layed into it with Tifa and Cloud, it didn't even have chance to move.

did anyone else buy 99 Revival Earrings for hard mode or was it just me?

yeah they might knock your stats down a little but i think having at least one free revive per match is worth it

Don’t worry folks, I did both fights easily enough it’s just the latter surprised me at how lethal it was!

Oh, and..

My tips would be similar to those from before; quit if you fall, get used to the pattern rather than watching, and don’t worry about your opponent’s score. Jules always seems to fall at the end so you can catch up a little and then you’ll be speeding along while they’re struggling.

@Thrillho congrats, how long did it take?

@FullbringIchigo A few goes. I went through once knowing I’d lose and saw Jules mess up at the end. The biggest thing is trying not to look at Jules’ score as any little distraction will mess up your attempt.

I also learnt I never pressed a button too late, only too early so if I lost my rhythm then I was better to aim a little later.

I tried hard mode and it was a breeze until I got to the Roche fight in chapter 4. I thought if he's making me rage then the later bosses are gonna be hell. It just wasn't fun anymore so I rage quit, deleted the game and gave it a zero on Metacritic.

@ApostateMage

@FullbringIchigo there's also an ability on some weapons called "Reprieve" that brings a character back to life once per round.