Best Limit Breaks: FF7

[Fleck]

I'm bored and in the mood for some polls. This probably isn't the most interesting or debate-worthy poll subject I could come up with, but I think there are enough options/personal preferences to make it work.

Anyway, vote for who you think has the best limit breaks. You can use any definition of "best" you want, whether it's whatever does the most damage, whatever is the flashiest, or just because. You can really make your own criteria, so if you only like one limit break from that character, but dislike the rest of that character's limit breaks, then feel free to vote for that character anyway.

How this is gonna work: You can vote for three characters, but only the top two advance to the next round. In addition, it'd be super cool if you'd also leave a comment ranking your 1-3, in case of any tiebreaks, so we shouldn't have to make extra polls. The two with the most votes advance to the next round, where they will be randomly squared off in one-on-one polls between the winners of other FF polls. Guests are not included in the polls.

Final Fantasy's 1 through 5 are omitted, for not having limit breaks, FF6 is omitted because everyone's limit break is essentially the same thing (with some minor, trivial variations). Likewise, FF12 and FF13 will also be skipped for having lame and/or not really having limit breaks. So that brings us right to FF7.

[Fleck]

You know, I thought this was going to be easy, but then I started really considering it and rrrr.... it's not an easy choice. But here's my 1, 2, 3.

1: Cloud. Cloud is all about straight-up damage. No status effects or tricks or anything, just hit things until they fall down. Omnislash started Final Fantasy's short-lived trend of having the main character have the strongest physical limit break, and it's just too powerful for me to justify not at least putting him in my top three. But what I really like is that, even though his attacks just damage-causing, there's still some strategy involved. Group of enemies, but one is slightly stronger than the others? Blade Beam, bitch. Big toughie won't go down? Mofuggin Climhazzard up in your face.

2: Barret. In FF7 at least, I prefer limit breaks that do damage, and aside from Mindblow and Hammerblow (Barret's "-blows" blow), his all just cause damage. And since Barret is the second party member you acquire, it's pretty easy to move your way to his highest level limit breaks, unlike with a lot of the later party members. Plus, I tend to have Barret a lot in my party anyway, so there's that.

3: Aeris. I guess for this slot I'll put in Aeris. Her limit breaks ARE pretty damn useful... it's just a shame that hardly anyone ever gets her out of Level 2 or sometimes Level 3 limits. I've personally never obtained her higher limits, but I've used the crap out of her low-level ones.

Why I didn't choose everyone else:
Tifa/Cait Sith = I hate slots/randomness.
Red XIII = Too many damn status-related limits
Cid/Yuffie = Come into the party too late in the game to easily work them up to high level limits (I've done it before, but it's still not really worth it).
Vincent = Can't stand losing control of your characters, even if it makes him pretty badass.

[Bob]

1. Cloud. Just...yeah. Powerful. And Y'know, I really do love Cloud's limits prior to Omnislash for the reasons you mentioned. Level 2 with Bladebeam and Climhazzard is fun to be at for that reason. With Level 3, there's still SOME choice (Finishing Touch if enemies are prone to insta-death, Meteorain otherwise).

2. Barret: I love Catastrophe, mostly for the damage and how it never goes away, so you just see a 9421 turn into a 9538, then 9728, and you're like "Wha?" and then it hits you that you're doing different damage and you go "Ohhhhh. Fuck. Yes. Quite. *pinky raise*" But yeah, his blows blow. He takes awhile to get going, but Satellite Beam and Ungarmax is where he becomes total badass.

3. Cid: Cid has badass limits. Highwind is another top-damager, so it's kigass. Dynamite is great for coolness, plus damage. Cid's hard to get going, but from right when he joins, he's already pwning with his low-level limits and therefore charging them quickly, so it's cool.

Honorable Mention: Aeris: Because yeah, they rock, but Breath of the Earth always pisses me off. I get stuck on that one and abandon Aeris. Her best limits ARE probably the best, but I have a thing against invincibility. Feels cheap. Add in the full restore and you just can't lose. Powerful? You betcha. But I just don't enjoy the game as much when I have those limits. I know, I'm crazy.

Tifa: Random sucks, yeah, but if you go for "Hit" and she's strong enough, then she's good enough. She's probably my next favorite.

Cait Sith: Dice. Love dice. They charge quickly, so it's fun. But Slot sucks and it's uncool that he only gets two. Stupid robo-kitty.

Then probably...Vincent? It's powerful, so that's good, but no control can mean bad (see: never ending battle against a dragon..healing each other...ugh).

Then Yuffie. She has a few decent things, but is lacking a good Level 4. I always have her at Level 3 for that reason. Same with the puppy below.

Red XIII. I don't know if I like ANY of his. So the pup's down here.

[countlieberkuhn]

1. Cloud

Omnislash is indisputable as the best limit break in the game, but all his limits are handy. Even cross-slash is useful, as it can paralyze Aps in the sewers I believe. Easy boss fight if you do that. Also, climhazzard is REALLY satisfying for some reason.

2. Cid

Even more than Cloud, Cid is all about the damage. I'm pretty sure every single one of his limit breaks deals damage (although dragon is more about absorbing than pure damage), and Highwind is arguably the second strongest limit break in the game. I can never tell if that or Catastrophe is stronger.

3. Barret

Cloud, Cid and Barret are typically my team of choice in the game, and it's mostly because of their limit breaks all doing the same kind of thing - tons of damage to all enemies. Barret's Catastrophe is a bit more controlled though as it does all it's damage to everything, rather than being spread around random targets, which makes it the most reliable limit break for fighting Emerald Weapon when he goes into that form where he has the 4 eyes that shoot lasers. While his mindblow and hammerblow are typically useless, it's worth noting that mindblow allows you to beat the Midgar Zolom the first time you encounter it (assuming you've not rushed through the game up to that point), as you can prevent it from casting Beta at low hp.

Honourable mention: Yuffie. I was tempted to put her in place of Barret just so she'd get a little love on the poll, but I had to be honest, because Barret was key to me beating Emerald Weapon without KotR, final attack, mime or Phoenix. But Yuffie gets some pretty cool limit breaks, particularly Doom of the Living. In a couple of playthroughs I did with her on my final party, I typically opted to keep her limit choices at level 3, since that skill always did far more damage than All Creation could, when it mattered.

The rest I don't like particularly, although Red 13's status limits could be pretty handy at times. Lunatic high was great to use against pretty much any boss until you got big guard, and Earth Rave could be fun, and is preferable to Vincent's limits, because you can rely on the kind of damage you're getting. A lot of high, physical damage. I remember the first time I got Vincent on my second playthrough, I took him to fight the materia keeper and he just kept healing the damn thing with his first limit break. That fight took forever, and I eventually resorted to killing him deliberately to win.

Tifa's limit breaks are fun if you can land 'em. A full 8 'YEAH's is damn satisfying when you pull it off, but later on the most it's gonna do is 9999 a hit for a lot of effort.

[Fleck]

Climhazzard is a fun limit break. It's not as flashy as most, but it just feels like you're doing a lot of damage, especially when you're up against a really tall enemy, and Cloud can use his whole slice animation on it. Cloud sticks his blade in, and there's that ripping sound and that trail of red following his sword. It feels powerful and manly. It's always a bit of a disconnect when you see how much damage he actually did.

"Aww... only 1400? Seems like it should be a million and a half."

I don't think I've ever worked Cid up to getting Highwind, which is odd because he was a party favorite of mine in my first few playthroughs. But then, I was not too huge on sidequests when I was young, and that's where you get a lot of the addition fights you need to build up his limits. I think he, Aeris, and Red XIII were the only characters I've never reached Level 4 with.

[Bob]

*high-fives Count for his picks*

*low-fives Fleck for his picks that aren't EXACTLY the same*

Yeah, high damage is great. I wouldn't put Yuffie on the list just because even at Level 99 she can't do super damage with Doom of the Living, but that IS where I leave her limits. It's a neat dynamic to have somebody like Cait Sith who'll charge their limits a helluvalot faster, but still, I just never loved her limits. She DOES have a cure limit though, which comes in handy at times, but still, she'd never crack Top 5 for me. And Red would never crack Top 8. After Sledfang, I hate Red's limits. But I'm not a status player, so that makes sense. I typically have a Cure-All on all of my members if I can help it, so having a berserked party member always just ticks me off.

"Okay, we're DANGEROUSLY low on HP. Next person: heal, because he has a counterattack that'll kill us all. Oh...hi, Red. What're you gonna do? ...Yeah, I know. Thanks a lot, Reddy."

But seriously, I know I'M a stubborn prick who refuses to put Aeris, but why does she still only have Fleck's vote? I'm kinda surprised. I love high damage, but it's a friggin full heal and invincibility! I'm arguing against myself here! I'm contradicting myself! I make no sense! Why are people listening to me!?

"Oh, top limit breaks? Well, Aeris is BY FAR the best....so not her."

I SAID THAT! And people seem to agree! We're all dumbasses, Fleck! Put us out of our misery! Kill us all! ...Starting with Count! (just cuz he's British...he has it coming for that reason)

[Fleck]

But Count is so far away!

[Bob]

THAT sounds like an excuse! And now you owe me forty push-ups. Way to go, Fleck. Way to go.