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Post by agent0042 on Nov 1, 2010 8:03:33 GMT -8
I'm going to put his here for now, in lieu of if Bob wants to create any specific section for it.
So the first installment of True Cast was Final Fantasy VI and it was an excellent read. In True Cast, Bob analyzes the main cast (I guess, the playable characters) of each game and determines whether they were truly essential to the plot or whether they were just there for fun, or maybe eye candy.
Overall, I thought that True Cast was a very good analysis. The reasons for including the characters that are True Cast make sense, as do the reasons for not including the others. I never really thought about it before, but Cyan really isn't all that attached to the party or the overall storyline. Doesn't stop him from being one of my favorite characters in the game, though. The analysis of Locke was spot-on -- when you really think about it, he did have the most storyline of any character, even if he's not required for the ending. And I completely agree about Terra -- she is overrated and just sort of degenerates at the end of the game. As for Edgar, I'll just say that yeah, his Noise Blaster was cool, but my favorite tool of his definitely the Chainsaw - lots of easy KOs!
I always did agree that Final Fantasy VI's biggest weakness is that it has too many characters, many of which are very much unnecessary. Umaro - yeah, well, exactly! Who even uses Umaro in their party? I know I certainly never did. Maybe there's somebody out there who has Umaro as their favorite character, but I don't know who it could possibly be.
Still, despite all of the characters, perhaps there is something to be said for simply adding fun to a game. Oh, and LOL at "Goodbye strategy, hello Gogo."
But as Dale likes to say, those are only my opinions. I'm curious to find out what everyone else thinks of True Cast. And Bob, any plans yet on which game you're going to do next, or is it going to be a surprise?
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Post by Bob on Nov 1, 2010 8:15:15 GMT -8
Heh, it might be a surprise to even me! I have a few games that I'm considering, but not sure which I'll do. FF7 possibly. Maybe FF12. Hell, just about any of them post-FF5, since it's hard to say any were useless from FF5. Pretty much only Galuf OR Krile, and I dunno which, so I'm not sure I'll do one for that. I suppose FF4 has a few easy targets, too...hm... In summation: I DUNNO!
Cyan was one of my favorites, too. There are a few likable characters that don't make my true cast, but that's okay. As I said, it's all about analyzing characters and their relation to the plot. Some of the more useless characters by plot are great characters. I had to start with FF6 for sure because it suffers most from the issue of too many characters.
I liked Chainsaw in the past, but now I kinda dislike it. I use Drill more often because I hate the instant K.O. most of the time. It never works on bosses, so any time he does it it's a wasted turn and if you accidentally use the instant K.O. on an undead monster, then you heal them....dagnabit. Also Drill cuts through defenses, which is pretty woo.
Glad you liked it! I'm going to make more, but probably not for a week or so. I have this ultimate painful school thing due Sunday, so I might be a tad busy (though I DO hope to crank it out in the next few days and be done with it forever).
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Post by agent0042 on Nov 1, 2010 8:29:22 GMT -8
One other thing to think about - you might consider talking about the main villain from each game. I don't know how exactly you would work it in, but even though the villains aren't usually playable, they are such a key aspect of the cast of each game that it seems like it would be a good idea. Except where they aren't so much, like in Final Fantasy VIII, yet Ultimecia isn't even mentioned by name until Disc 3, so maybe that would be something worth talking about too.
Oh, and one other thing - while you're right with the wording problems with having Gau or Umaro as the sole character, there is, at least, one instance where this was handled for Gau: Gau: Terra...she okay? Gau: Espers...live other world...right? Gau: Why you not tell people you Esper? Gau: Gau hear fairy tale... People...Espers...before, live same place! Gau: Ma-gi-tek Re-search Fa...ci-luh-tee? ...Your friends there? Gau: Ra...muh... You leave...not come back? Gau: Waoooh...
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Post by countlieberkuhn on Nov 1, 2010 10:55:21 GMT -8
But as Dale likes to say, those are only my opinions. And Dale's opinion is law! But in all seriousness, I enjoyed reading it. Locke probably is the most developed character, although I tended to think of Celes as the main character by the end of the game. I've only actually played FF6 once, being quite a latecomer to the game. It was great, and I enjoyed the large cast of characters, but some were very... peripheral, both in terms of combat ability and plot ability. Strago should have been an NPC, since to me he's overshadowed by Relm in every regard as a caster - she has much better magic power and spells overall. I like Relm as a character though, mainly because of that final interaction with Ultros '...I'm just a washed up old octopus! ' Speaking of which, Ultros is an interesting character where true cast is concerned. As Agent said about mentioning the villains, I think Ultros can be categorised as almost irrelevant to the plot, but then again he really makes the game for me. Not to say it wouldn't be great without him, but he's just the icing on the cake. FYI, I used a team of Sabin, Celes, Relm and Umaro (with the berserk accesory thing he gets), and it was over very quickly. Umaro may be pointless to the plot and fairly bland in terms of abilities, but DAMN he hits hard when berserked!
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Post by Bob on Nov 1, 2010 11:11:47 GMT -8
Oh, and one other thing - while you're right with the wording problems with having Gau or Umaro as the sole character, there is, at least, one instance where this was handled for Gau Yeah, they do handle this early on, which is partly why I mentioned it. They cover some individual stuff in the Zozo part of the game (which includes some post-Zozo stuff, but basically while Terra is out of commission), which was really awesome. But then when the party is incredibly free-form and there are so many characters, they lose this aspect. And yeah, Count, Ultros makes for a fun game. But if I did a True Villains...damn. I just...couldn't. Villains for FFs are so strange. Too many of the games result in a final boss that was barely even mentioned until late in the game. I might do a special True Villains episode, but each of those on their own would be really short, in some cases. My wife used Umaro a lot when she played, too. So he DOES get use, but he's a really random addition. He and Gogo are the only two who have absolutely NOTHING to say to Kefka before the final fight. Not even an "Uhn!" Strago can be absolutely badass if you learn his Blue Magics. Like with most games, Blue Mages are among the most powerful, but they're time-consuming and boring to create. Strago has Mighty Guard, White/Pearl Wind, Traveler/Step Mine, Bad Breath, Stone, Grand Train/Delta, etc... Some really powerful stuff in there. Just gotta learn it.
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Post by Fleck on Nov 1, 2010 14:13:23 GMT -8
Strago is a must if you're playing a No Espers game, since he's one of the only characters who learns magic without espers (and what he learns is infinitely better than what Celes and Terra learn). His white wind saved my ass more than a few times. But otherwise...yeah... when it comes to plot, he's just there.
True Villains would be interesting for FFX. After all, who's the truest villain of them all (mirror, mirror on the wall)? Seymour? Sin? Jecht? Yu Yevon? The Unsent Maesters? My pick would probably be Yu Yevon, just based on the "he started it" principle, even though by the time FFX starts, he's a just an unthinking blob of hate acting on instinct instead of any real "evil" behavior. Others may be more evil than him, but they're secondary to Sin's destruction.
Man... maybe you SHOULD have a True Villains thing, even if you just include it in the bottom of each True Cast update.
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Post by Bob on Nov 1, 2010 16:56:39 GMT -8
Strago is a must if you're playing a No Espers game, since he's one of the only characters who learns magic without espers (and what he learns is infinitely better than what Celes and Terra learn). Lies! I got through with Celes, but she was more my backup cure girl. Sabin was my man! Chakra/Mantra for the win! He had a Cure Ring and Running Shoes, so permanent Regen let him use Mantra all the time and cure the party, and he was regen in the back row (because Figaros do it in back) so he was always good on life. So physical hits barely hurt him, and Celes kept a Runic up most of the time, so we were about 70% covered magically (stupid non-runicable spells) and back row means somewhat physically covered. Then Edgar and ______ kept fighting the good fight. I'm trying to think who my fourth party member usually was....probably Mog for his Moogle Charm. Yeah, yeah, it was! I'd have him always dance (or attempt to dance) the Earth Blues, since there's a good cure spell he randomly uses, plus a couple good offense dances. So basically my random dance moogle did his thing while I played with the Figaros and Celes. It's like having three people in your party.
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Post by Fleck on Nov 1, 2010 19:34:40 GMT -8
Well of course I used Sabin, but I always felt that his talents were wasted if you only had him sitting around using Chakra. I definitely used him to get through long dungeons without wasting MP, but when I wanted to crank up the punishment, Strago took over the healing while Sabin went on a Bum Rush orgy (insert sexual joke here). For me, Sabin being awesome at everything is pretty much a given, so I don't even bother bringing it up.
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Post by Bob on Nov 1, 2010 19:44:38 GMT -8
Well, of course. He's da man. But that's what the Running Shoes are for. He can cure and still attack. And if Mog ever accidentally did a cure spell, it meant a free turn. Really, with my team, I didn't need a ton of curing, so it was basically a team of powerhouses that had the ability to play defense as well.
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Post by Fleck on Nov 1, 2010 23:02:44 GMT -8
I've never had good luck having my primary healer and my primary damage man be the same character. Even with haste and other buffs, the enemies always seem to get in a lucky shot right at the exact moment when I've already queued up an attack and then start slaughtering my characters before my guy gets his next turn.
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Post by Bob on Nov 2, 2010 5:02:33 GMT -8
It can happen, but doesn't often. Edgar was my main damage man though, and Celes was always there for backup if needed. But yeah, my team played a defensive-offense, so they hardly hit us at all anyway (Celes's Ruinics held them off a lot and Edgar's Noise Blaster pretty much took care of random encounters). Also, Sabin has tons of life, especially when wearing a Green Beret or Red Cap, so Mantra healed a LOT. Even if somebody was critical, I could pick them up easily.
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Post by agent0042 on Nov 2, 2010 18:50:37 GMT -8
I usually just use whoever I feel like using at the time. To be honest, I don't usually think in terms of "primary healer" or "main damage man," that's never worked for me. But as far as characters go, Sabin was definitely up there in ones I used a lot, and Cyan too. And definitely Edgar at times for the tools. I don't think I really used the girls much in this game because I didn't use magic a lot, unless it was an area where you really needed to.
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Post by Bob on Nov 2, 2010 19:28:34 GMT -8
Yeah, I'm the same way, Agent. That's what I mean is that my teams are typically people that can do it all. I like well-rounded, though emphasis on physical damage, generally. It's why I love Monks. Chakra is good in like, every game, so I use the Monk-type often.
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Post by Fleck on Nov 2, 2010 19:41:23 GMT -8
I usually play with job classes in mind. I always make sure I have at least one person capable of doing worthwhile physical damage, one who's good with magic damage, one healer, and if there's a fourth character, I usually make him a secondary attacker or whatever else I feel is most important in the situation. Because my characters are so specialized, I can easily get knocked off balance if one of my characters die, because then I lose my primary _____ guy. Which is why I hate instant death spells. Grrr. Knocking me off balance! *shakes fist* But with the specialization comes increased strength, as my attacker will do nothing but attack (and have nothing but armor/weapons/skills that suit that style), my healer will do nothing but heal etc. etc. So my characters are all the best at what they do. They're the A-Team.
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Post by Bob on Nov 2, 2010 19:52:46 GMT -8
I pity your team.
Yeah, I've always hated Instant Death. It can hurt all team types, I think. I usually have a person that is my best healer or at LEAST has Life (another reason to love Chrono Trigger...the main attacker has life! woo!), so if THAT person dies, I'm typically struggling to get them back. Mostly because enemies really target low HP or something, because a Phoenix Down revives them...and then they die again. And then repeat until I've used 60% of my Phoenix Downs or more, because I never buy anything, so it's however many have been dropped in combat. Dang do I never use Item Shops. First Magic Shop (if there is one), then Weapon Shop, then Armor Shop, then leave the town. Done and done. I take care of business.
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