So i just KO'd Sephiroth...

[Khayl]

I know, right? hold the applause.

But seriously.

Im replaying the PSX Final Fantasy's in order, i played them briefly as a child but never got farther than a couple hours in. Now, as a man, its time to add some more notches to my gaming belt

I played VII with a walk-through because i had heard that in this series there is a lot you can miss if you aren't careful (Vincent, im looking at YOU. SERIOUSLY how was anyone supposed to know how to get that dude?) and that's the kind of thing that grinds my gears. So i ransacked the game, did every side quest, got all kinds of hidden treats and was satisfied with my efforts. all the way up to disc 3.

Problem is, by the time i got to the Northern Crater, i was WAY too strong. Kind of took something away from my long awaited victory.

So, with Sephy's corpse not even cold, im ready to fire up VIII. And this time i wont be using any kind of guide or aid.

My question to you, Escapee's, is what are some essential things i need to experience in my play-through, without becoming too OP?

Also, i will be playing IX afterwards, so suggestions there would be appreciated





Oh and im aware that a lot of people hate this FF or the other, and that's fine. Id just like to beat them first and form my own opinions, so if we could keep that and spoilers to a minimum...

 

[dimensional]

Im afraid if you want to experience everything you will become OP and indeed have to be in general if you want to do everything (unless you know the game and its systems inside out).

If you dont want to become OP you will have to either run away a lot, impose restrictions on how you play or walk around with most of your party dead so they dont get exp. Since its your first playthrough of them I wouldnt worry about becoming OP seriously its better than struggling due to being the opposite. They want the games to be completable without having to grind for ages so the end sections and bosses are usually tougher but not that hard.

If you want a challenge they put in the tougher optional bosses that will (at least initially until you learn the tricks) test your abilities. These are Emerald and Ruby weapon in FFVII, Omega FFVIII and Ozma FFIX.

Also just going to say if you dont use a guide you will miss out on stuff im not saying use one as its fun to go it alone but not using one you may end up almost as OP because you dont know whats coming next so you my find yourself grinding to make sure you are ready and of course there is the possibility you get lost and wonder around for hours fighting countless battles until you find what you should be doing.

For VIII the card game is a big part of the game I enjoyed it on the first playthrough but I really couldnt be bothered to do it all again in IX the card game is not needed really which is good as its kinda crappy.

There are no essential things you need to experience in any game that are missable but as said you can miss a lot in all these games unless you use a guide or are very lucky and obsessive and its almost impossible to stop becoming OP the game wants you to be OP most ordinary monsters wont even cause you to break a sweat at the end in any of these games.

 

[piinyouri]

My experience when I played it eons ago was, if you beat the two weapons, you're going to spank Sephiroth in all forms.

Grinding will make you pretty powerful in VIII. Both enemies and draw points.
Boosting GF's makes some battles insanely easy.

 

[krazykidd]

To not be OP in FF8 , level all your characters equally . Because you gain a level for every 1000 experience you obtain . From lvl 1-100 . Which makes it crazy easy to gain levels . Monsters also scale to your members highest level . So say everyone on your main team is level 50 monsters will be level 50 . If you have one guy level 50 and the rest level 30 . The monsters will be level 50 .

Now if you want to be OP at the begining of the game . Get he Quistis card from the black guy in the cafeteria . Transform that card into an item , then transform that item to the magic "Triple" which is an end game magic . Then equip 100 triples to str . Youll be doing 2000 damage at lvl 10

If i were you id check the walkthrough only for where to get rare cards and GFs

 

[lapan]

My advice is: Don't overuse the junction system. Drawing insane amounts of magic will only make the game boring.

 

[Noetherian]

I have to recommend the optional Tonberry GF, just because his attack is the best in the game. (Not the most powerful... but definitely the most amusing.) And to second an earlier comment, Triple Triad is my favorite minigame from any Final Fantasy I've played. I may even have a few of the cards they printed sitting on the shelf next to me. ¬_¬

That said, I remember the final boss fight being interesting and challenging even with all the crazy amounts of spells I'd picked up, so my vote is "Go ahead and be OP, it's worth a tiny bit of anticlimax to see everything the game has to offer." Just don't waste tons of time on the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell, Respectively and you shouldn't be ridiculously overprepared, anyway.

 

[Dosbilliam]

The first time I went through FFVII, I had my main party at level 60 before hitting disc 3...couldn't progress because I couldn't find Ultima flying around anywhere, and didn't get back to playing it until I got an emulator for it. As I recall, I was using Cloud (derp), Barrett, and Red XIII, and when I got bored of the game I had all three at 99 and was just running around the last area grinding the hell out of AP to level up Materia, since that was pretty much the only thing interesting to me. :/

 

[matrix3509]

If you value your time/sanity, don't bother trying to 100% FF VIII. Its the most massive pointless waste of time I've ever beheld.

 

[algalon]

Use the magic lantern rather early, but not too early. Diablos will own your face if you wait too long to get him.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

In my experience with FFVIII, all you need to do in order not to be OP is simply refuse to use the Junction System. Junction your GFs, of course, but don't junction any spells to any stats. That'll make things interesting.

 

[Lunar Templar]

ignore the junction system.

you can get stupid strong ridiculously fast with it

 

[NightHawk21]

Well if you're doing FFX after it, there really isn't any fix. Most every boss can be beaten by just getting everyone's overdrive and unleashing. The real challenge in FFX comes from the monster arena (as well as the best method of leveling both legitimately or not). I highly suggest you do that.

 

[Noetherian]

Well if you're doing FFX after it, there really isn't any fix. Most every boss can be beaten by just getting everyone's overdrive and unleashing. The real challenge in FFX comes from the monster arena (as well as the best method of leveling both legitimately or not). I highly suggest you do that.

I have to agree, especially if you go to the trouble of unlocking even a few ultimate weapons. FFX's final boss fight was really disappointingly easy after that; I think Auron took out the boss in 2-3 hits.

 

[malestrithe]

Try leveling up your characters just enough. Don't go overboard with it.

Pick spells that are appropriate for the characters, not for the insane stat boosts.

Don't search for the ultimate weapons. They aren't necessary

 

[Sunrider]

Well if you're doing FFX after it, there really isn't any fix. Most every boss can be beaten by just getting everyone's overdrive and unleashing. The real challenge in FFX comes from the monster arena (as well as the best method of leveling both legitimately or not). I highly suggest you do that.

I have to agree, especially if you go to the trouble of unlocking even a few ultimate weapons. FFX's final boss fight was really disappointingly easy after that; I think Auron took out the boss in 2-3 hits.

The final boss has 99,999 HP, so with Break Damage Limit, you can oneshot it.

OT:
But yeah, as NightHawk21 said, the challenge in FFX is not the final boss by any means. The monster arena is many, many times harder, same with the Dark Aeons, and I haven't even mentioned Penance. Oops, I guess I just did!

 

[Shodan1980]

Well if you're doing FFX after it, there really isn't any fix. Most every boss can be beaten by just getting everyone's overdrive and unleashing. The real challenge in FFX comes from the monster arena (as well as the best method of leveling both legitimately or not). I highly suggest you do that.

I have to agree, especially if you go to the trouble of unlocking even a few ultimate weapons. FFX's final boss fight was really disappointingly easy after that; I think Auron took out the boss in 2-3 hits.

The final boss has 99,999 HP, so with Break Damage Limit, you can oneshot it.

OT:
But yeah, as NightHawk21 said, the challenge in FFX is not the final boss by any means. The monster arena is many, many times harder, same with the Dark Aeons, and I haven't even mentioned Penance. Oops, I guess I just did!

Real men do the Dark Aeons without Yojimbo, though it annoyed me that Dark Anima was easier than the Dark Sisters.

OT I'd say use the Dark Lantern as soon as you get it, Diablos is easy if you Draw his own spells and use em against him, just make sure you save before you do so. I did exactly the same as the original poster and I have to say by the end of FF8 I'd had more than enough of the ridiculous story and emo douchery of Squall, and was desperate to get onto 9. So as soon as I'd nabbed Eden I powered through to the end and revelled in the fun of Gaia

 

[Asita]

My advice is: Don't overuse the junction system. Drawing insane amounts of magic will only make the game boring.

No no no. If you want to cripple yourself in FFVIII, junction, and then cast spells. It's more visceral when you can see just how far you've fallen, and you fall quite a bit when you play a caster in FVIII.


At any rate, FFVIII's another one of those games you'll probably want a walkthrough for, if only because a good number of Summons/Guardian Forces are only acquired by using draw on the right spell held by certain bosses. And then there's Bahamut's little questions...which require specific answers, including one hidden one.

 

[lapan]

My advice is: Don't overuse the junction system. Drawing insane amounts of magic will only make the game boring.

No no no. If you want to cripple yourself in FFVIII, junction, and then cast spells. It's more visceral when you can see just how far you've fallen, and you fall quite a bit when you play a caster in FVIII.

I meant he shouldnt sit there and draw 99 of every spell. Also don't swap triple triad cards for items if you dont have too.

I did exactly the same as the original poster and I have to say by the end of FF8 I'd had more than enough of the ridiculous story and emo douchery of Squall, and was desperate to get onto 9. So as soon as I'd nabbed Eden I powered through to the end and revelled in the fun of Gaia

Huh, i never really could get into FF9 myself, both the slow start and the graphic style scared me off back then. I always saw Squall more of antisocial than emo myself. He isn't complaining about anything, he just wants to be left alone. And in the course of the story he very slowly evolves beyond that anyways.

 

[Asita]

I meant he shouldnt sit there and draw 99 of every spell. Also don't swap triple triad cards for items if you dont have too.

I figured as much. I just always found it more shocking to see your various stats (particularly mp) decrease when you started using (or losing as per the end-game battles) spells. That, and I just love taking shots at the junction system. I may regard the game as a whole with a certain fondness, but that particular mechanic was just flawed on so many levels...

 

[lapan]

I meant he shouldnt sit there and draw 99 of every spell. Also don't swap triple triad cards for items if you dont have too.

I figured as much. I just always found it more shocking to see your various stats (particularly mp) decrease when you started using (or losing as per the end-game battles) spells. That, and I just love taking shots at the junction system. I may regard the game as a whole with a certain fondness, but that particular mechanic was just flawed on so many levels...

As a kid i never really felt any need or had any patience to draw that many spells and my collector soul forbade me to exchange cards for items. I guess that helped a great deal since FF8 is still one of my favorites.

Randomly finding Odin when exploring also was pretty awesome.