In my serious playthrough, Faceless Mook Chemist #1 had by far the strongest mechanical identity in my party, hands down, and could colorably have been interpreted as the secret mastermind of the party, as ridiculous as that was.
What the fuck is an Orator...
Okay so apparently there is a whole class centered around 'talk good,' and it can do stuff like convert enemies into allies? It can also modify values like Faith and Bravery, convince opponents to stop, convince opponents to give you money…
Faceless Mook Chemist #1 went into White Mage, so after unlocking Orator, FMC1's favorite trick was to recruit rando human NPCs during random battles; then strip their equipment and kick them out of the party. Because of that asshole I basically stopped worrying about money; most of my equipment came from ripping off brainwashed Randos, and the rest got sold.
The other thing he did was grind Ramza's (and Faceless Mook Squire 1 and 2's) Brave to 99 to maximize efficacy of the physical abilities, including a Reaction ability you haven't unlocked yet that is an improved version of the Knight's Parry, so they basically blocked every incoming physical attack. Then I pushed their Faith down to zero to make them functionally immune to magic, which was a tradeoff to give up healing, but also let me do funny stuff like target them with Thundaga, and then march them into enemy formations like a kamikaze artillery spotter.
Anyway the ludonarrative implications of Ramza's Brave going to 99 over the course of Chapter 2, and his Faith going to zero over the course of Chapter 3, all that really implied that Faceless Mook Chemist #1 was doing some really elite-tier Wormtongue activities.
When Gaffgarion turns against you, he keeps the exact same gear and class you left him with - So you can completely cripple him by leaving him gearless and with an skillless class.
An extremely lame move if you ask me, but possible nonetheless.
Or you could have already done this before the Dorter 2 fight because you got annoyed that the Guest NPCs were doing all the important fight-winning Action that your team of Blorbos were supposed to do, so you gimped him to make him useless to you, and then had a chuckle that he remained useless when the team switched sides. That is a way certain people played this game.
Anyway I remember really strongly that the guy I want to ask 20 Questions after this fight ended was Radd/Ladd. Why did he side with his dipshit coworker instead of his boss when the time came to shank the princess? What's going through his brain?
Well I also sent him off on Errands with Alicia and Lavian, mostly to give them something to do; so I ended up just headcanoning that those three got tangled up in some crazy love triangle romcom in the background, and that's why Ladd was like "yeah let's see where this goes" to explain his choices here.
Anyway I remember really strongly that the guy I want to ask 20 Questions after this fight ended was Radd/Ladd. Why did he side with his dipshit coworker instead of his boss when the time came to shank the princess? What's going through his brain?
Well I also sent him off on Errands with Alicia and Lavian, mostly to give them something to do; so I ended up just headcanoning that those three got tangled up in some crazy love triangle romcom in the background, and that's why Ladd was like "yeah let's see where this goes" to explain his choices here.
The real surprise is that Ladd sticks around after Gaffgarion leaves, since he's presumably another merc who works under Gaffy (rather than the rest of your squad either being Ramza's old akademy buddies and two knights working with Agrias). Guess Ramza's rizz is just that strong... or he made a lot at Mount Gulag and wants to stick around for more expeditions.
The way it worked out, with Omicron picking Ladd and the other new guys for the Mt Gulg expedition, you can pretend that them deciding to make a shrine for the girl lost to the volcano was establishing them as having consciences.
Chocobos have a few uses that make them valuable. First, and this one doesn't matter for this let's play, if you power level Ramza through tailwind spam, there is a sweet spot where riding a chocobo gives some useful mobility when focusing on less mobile jobs.
Second, when you get to the point where you've naturally developed some characters into game breakers, you can pair a couple with chocobos and just run circles around your enemies while tearing them to shreds. It's slightly less efficient, but over all it's faster.
Third, rescue missions like he one with the Princess. Blitz the chocobo up to the damsel in distress, then depending on the type you've given them a bodyguard that can heal them or incinerate their attackers.
Finally split party missions. Several of these seem designed to screw you over by making you put some members of the team elsewhere. Toss a chocobo in the mix and you can regroup much faster.
For monsters in general, most aren't all that useful. Some are absolute powerhouses, some have very reliable status inflicting abilities, and some have some other situational uses, but for the most part they take up space better used for your errand running squad.
Something I did notice was everyone who tried to convince Ramza about the Inevitability Of Atrocities did so by going "your naive idealism is only for young children, you need to grow up and face reality". It happened with Argath, it happened with Gaffgarion, and I would not be surprised if it kept happening all the way through the entire game until Ramza finally manages to give a rebuttal that isn't stammering "but that's bad".
There seems to be a sort of theme in these villain speeches about how the world is Just Like That, and horrible stuff happens and will happen, and people should just accept it and live within the system. Even the concept of "have we tried not being totally evil" is considered to be a viewpoint Ramza needs to "grow out" of, implying it's a fantasy for young children.
I know very little about Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, but given what I've heard about it from this thread (and elsewhere), and its apparent themes of "growing up out of childhood dreams", I can't help but wonder if comparisons can be made.
Since Omicron knows about the Orator and recruiting I'm gonna talk some what about a decently known glitch from the PlayStation version.
The uh.. Dragqueen Time Mage.
In a non story of location you could run into a possible battle including a male Time Mage that when K.Oed will scream like a woman. If recruited their outfit will change to the female version of Time Mage but with the male portrait. If you change their class their keep that difference where their dressed in the female version of the class but their portrait will show the male class.
I know very little about Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, but given what I've heard about it from this thread (and elsewhere), and its apparent themes of "growing up out of childhood dreams", I can't help but wonder if comparisons can be made.
Final Fantasy Tactics early game does a good job of putting you off balance, both story wise and mechanically. Your hero's introduction explicitly says that what he does will be forgotten to history, his entrance to the stage is as a lackey of the Black Knight, the prologue introduces a typical Knights vs Bandit plot (THE tactics game starter plot all the way back to Fire Emblem and Shining Force) only for it to show that you were working for the villains the whole time. Your closest ally swears vengeance on you, and then when he reappears he's wearing gold armor and using unique Knight skills while seemingly doing the type of hero stuff you would expect the protagonist to do. Your mentor betrays you right as he seems to be falling into the "gruff but fair" archetype.
Final Fantasy Tactics zigs when genre convention tells you it should zag. Square was just at the start of it's subversive era, questioning the genre cliches it had spent the SNES era crafting. FF7 & FF8 used their choice of protagonist and setting to help shock player expectations, now Final Fantasy Tactics is playing the setting straighter then even II or IV and questioning your place in it.
Welcome to the Final Fantasy game where you are playing Leon or Kain.
The comparisons to ASoIaF aren't just because both borrow heavily from the War of the Roses or because the WotL version used Martin's prose as inspiration, we are now probing what makes a JRPG protagonist in the same way that those first few books probed the Western Fantasy protagonist.
It's a really fun setup, but part of what makes it really work is that it's not being pointlessly contrarian like a lot of deconstructions, nor are we spending all of our time working for the baddies. The framing device presents us as a forgotten hero, so whatever happens there's something of a carrot to lead us onwards that, whatever happens, our actions will wind up being good on the whole.
At the same time, because we're positioned as a forgotten figure in the tale of Delita the Hero, it makes perfect sense that our story won't be a straightforward hero's journey, and that we might wind up in conflict against other genuinely heroic characters.
It's just a really fun setup and I think Tactics is able to get a lot out of it.
Atheist seems funny, right up until you need to cast a spell on them and realize all spells now fail on them. Also another argument for having Chemists or Items as backup.
"Gillian, why isn't that man dead yet?"
"Well, we keep trying to cast fireballs at him, but he just keeps saying 'magic isn't real you idiot' and talking about how god isn't real and the church is bullshit"
"And that matters because...?"
"Well apparently magic isn't all that real because it isn't doing a thing to him!"
Always been my headcanon that Delita did talk with (or at) Ovelia during their travel, and that and the bridge fight is why she's strangely accepting of what he's done to her. Well, that and she's been raised to be very polite.
I was going to make a joke here, but Delita actually having a talk with her could be actually fascinating - if he gave her an abbreviated rundown of his backstory and what he's experienced, that would certainly earn some sympathy points. And imagine if he spends some time talking about Ramza and how he betrayed him, and why being near him would be dangerous for Ovelia - if he has a captive audience, it's certainly a time for him to vent some of his feelings.
In that case, seeing Ramza fight back against Gaffgarion and try to reach out to Delita would certainly clue Ovelia in that there's some messy history there, and that neither of them are dealing with it especially okay.
Something I did notice was everyone who tried to convince Ramza about the Inevitability Of Atrocities did so by going "your naive idealism is only for young children, you need to grow up and face reality". It happened with Argath, it happened with Gaffgarion, and I would not be surprised if it kept happening all the way through the entire game until Ramza finally manages to give a rebuttal that isn't stammering "but that's bad".
There seems to be a sort of theme in these villain speeches about how the world is Just Like That, and horrible stuff happens and will happen, and people should just accept it and live within the system. Even the concept of "have we tried not being totally evil" is considered to be a viewpoint Ramza needs to "grow out" of, implying it's a fantasy for young children.
I know very little about Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, but given what I've heard about it from this thread (and elsewhere), and its apparent themes of "growing up out of childhood dreams", I can't help but wonder if comparisons can be made.
Claiming that the world is violent and unfair and that it's only good sense to play the game in front of you is definitely a common way to deflect moral responsibility - even Delita gets in on it a bit with "your birth or faith wrongs you, not I." It would certainly make sense for the character who plays into the expectations of the world to be the one remembered by history. It'll be interesting to see where Ramza's ideals take him, as the politics of the world get messier and messier.
As for FFTA, I'm not sure how much of that is in conversation with this game. Ramza's "childhood dream" here is pretty much basic morality, and the people telling him to grow up are pretty obviously assholes justifying their own atrocities, while FFTA gets more into ideas of escapism and needing to confront the actual world in front of you.
Though I don't know how much I want to get into FFTA since it's story is... a mess, to put it gently.
These are incremental ranks of the Dragoon's Jump Abilities. Unlike most others, it doesn't seem like they're mechanically treated as separate abilities to pick from in a menu; rather, each rank increases the Dragoon's jumping range to their value, if I understand correctly. This would suggest that if you plan on getting Horizontal Jump 8, then spending JP on Horizontal Jump 2, 3, 4 and 5 on the way is just needlessly delaying your access to the real prize by several hundred JP instead of going straight for it, but the cost of going 'straight for it' is spending several battles as a Dragoon who can't jump, which is… weird? Maybe I misunderstand.
You did not misunderstand at all - once you've learned Jump horizontal 8 and Jump vertical 8, all of the lesser forms of the skillset become worthless, and yes, the cost for going straight for it is that you're left without Jump ability for a while. The idea, I believe, is for you to choose a lower-costed combination of Horizontal and Vertical to get Jump online, and then use that to tide you over while you spend the long time needed to get the ability's full power.
It's not as bad as it sounds; unlike Archers, as you've noticed, the standard attack of Dragoons (they were named Lancers in the PSX translation, by the way) is actually meaningfully damaging - especially once you get your hands on better spears - and they have a number of interesting abilities which, if you remember the spillover JP mechanics (where people get a bit of JP from all the classes allies are using in the battle) means that keeping a Dragoon around will let other classes collect JP to eventually buy the support abilities for themselves. Of course, you definitely want them to already have a support skillset learned from another class as their secondary ability, since they won't have Jump for a while and, even when they do, it's a bit one-note as an ability.
It is, however, a very good one note. Remember these comments?
This is the range for Ramza's Shockwave, the move where he punches the ground so hard it erupts. Unlike most ranged abilities, Shockwave doesn't strike a point on a diamond grid; instead it strikes in a straight line in one of the four cardinal directions. But its range is ridiculous. It can essentially reach up to the end of the screen in any map I ever took it in, it's ludicrous
Agrias's Judgment Blade also appears to completely ignore terrain elevation, which it is growing increasingly apparent is one of the most useful thing for a ranged ability to do. Like, check out this range diamond:
Even if I had a spell that hit that far, its range would be stuck in the river Agrias is currently waddling in, because none of my spells or ranged attacks can hit at 9 levels of elevation.
You see, Shockwave's range? It's 8; of course, it's just linear, not diamond range. Still, as you noticed, with 8 range you can generally cover the entirety of most maps. Perhaps only half if you're in the corner or the map is particularly large (like Zeklaus Desert), but generally much more.
Meanwhile, the big diamond of range Agrias shows here is just range 4; and while I think she's staying on height 0, if she was on height 1 instead, then a vertical range of 8 would allow her to reach the same height 9 panel. So, try for a moment to imagine the diamond range of Agrias's Swordskills, but expanded to the length of Shockwave, and you'll have an idea of what exactly having access to full H8V8 Jump is like.
Also, of note, while you can use Jump with any weapon you have equipped (in which case its damage is WP x PA), you get much better results using it with Spears (in which case the damage is WP x 1.5 x PA). Something to keep in mind if you decide to go for it.
Of course, Jump also has another problem, as you noticed:
The problem is that Jump has a delay. Same as in any other game. But it is not keyed to the enemy unit it targets. If you enter the Jump Command, you must aim at a tile, and then if your enemy moves, then the Jump whiffs. As it has every time I tried to use Jump, because Jump's delay is ungodly. Oh, and unlike spellcasting, I can't seem to access the timing menu while selecting a Jump, so I have no idea if Jump will fire before the enemy acts.
As others have mentioned, you need to check the CT of both the Dragoon and the target to use Jump properly.
This is not too complicated; since you already know that turns come after a number of CT equal to those necessary to add up a unit's Speed until it reaches 100, the easiest way to think of it is that Jump moves at twice the unit's speed - so, if your target has the same speed as your Dragoon (something you can check, as you know), and their current CT is less than 50, then you will always hit the target. If their speed is higher than your Dragoon, then you want them to have a lower CT - for example, if your Dragoon has speed 7 and the target has speed 8, you need to be under 42; for Dragoon speed 8 and target speed 9, you need their CT to be less than 37. As usual in FFT, Math rules supreme. Still, the general rule of thumb is that anybody under 50 CT is a good target; Dragoons generally have the same speed as most other units (only a couple of classes are faster, primarily White Mages and Thieves of those you've met so far) unless there is a level differential or Speed boosting equipment is being used.
This might seem complex, but really, once you have the maximum range Jump and thus the ability to pick your target, just targeting the unit who has the lowest CT will ensure success - or at least let you know that you should not Jump if everybody is above CT 50.
And remember, Jump has the advantage that you can avoid charged attacks like spells and summons, and cannot be targeted or damaged while in the air; plus, the enemies cannot end their turn in the square you were occupying before jumping (since you need it free to land the jump). That's a pretty notable advantage in certain fights.
Also, as noted, Ramza can boost Speed (something no Holy Knight can do); that can help with making Jump more successful. As can any status effect that locks enemies in place (Sleep, Stop, Don't Move). Of course, both of those are just good strategies in general.
Since I suspect that people will keep joking about this, I wanted to reassure you on the risk. This isn't really a spoiler in my view, but I'm keeping it covered in case you want to keep wondering what the time counter is about; if you're fine with knowing, all I'm doing is explaining what the effect of spending time like this is.
Basically, all that you wasting time will change is make the timeline of events look silly, and the sillier the longer you dally.
As in, I believe you have Ramza and Ovelia both as being 18 years old, correct? Due to having not done anywhere near as much backtracking and having gotten into only 1 random battle (I wasn't kidding about how LFT reduced grinding), despite being 15 battles ahead of you in my current playthrough (I started with the idea of just keeping pace, then I got drawn into the fun of the game and was 10 battles ahead before I realized it), Ramza and Ovelia are still aged 17 for me. If you dally long enough (which you will if you do many propositions/errands), you'll end up with Ramza reaching 40 or even 50 years by the end of the game, turning the War of the Lions into a longer conflict than the 50 years war was in the process.
So... that's the drawback to wasting time; nothing in the plot changes, but the timeline between events is stretched to the point of absurdity. I think it's a cheeky way to point to the critic people make of "the plot will wait for you", in that the game does lets you spend a month wandering instead of immediately saving the princess, and tells you in the chronicle "yes indeed, that much time has passed for your character", but the events really progress at the same pace and with no changes. Up to you to decide what you think of that!
It so happens that a new set of equipment unlocked with Chapter 2 opening, but this could be instead based on average character level, jobs unlocked, or number of battles fought; I'm sure one of the FFTheads in the thread will know.
Yeah, equipment is unlocked at specific plot points. The first upgrade to shops happened after rescuing Marquis Elmdore, the second happened right after killing Miluda (and thus before the Wiegraf fight), the third was at the start of chapter 2, and it will keep going like that, every three to four battles, give or take. While spears unlocked at the start of chapter 2, as did sticks/poles, there's still weapon types you can't access yet, so keep your eyes peeled and make sure to check all of the options often, because any new class you unlock, or even ones you already unlocked, might suddenly gain new weapon options you'd not have expected them to.
Monk Ramza could learn the Knight's Equip Heavy Armor ability and then go around with the best of both worlds, Monk raw stats and the massive HP bonus from Knight armor. That seems strong!
It does, doesn't it? As usual, most people won't ever think about doing that because it would mean removing Gained JP Up, but if you have the ability, you really should give it a try.
New rumors can be found. "Queen Louveria's campaign to seize total control of the government has proceeded apace," she's stripping everyone who oppose her of ranks, including members of the Council. She's banished the Queen Mother, who is rumored to have been poisoned; it definitely sounds like she's the one behind Ovelia's abduction, trying to remove another potential threat to her son's title. Duke Larg and Goltanna are currently locked in a battle for the title of regent, and Louveria's power isn't secure enough to name Larg, her brother, to the position; Goltanna has a stronger overall base of support and it's rumored his appointment as regent will pass soon.
If you hadn't looked at those and at the character codex, a lot of things would be way more confusing; as I mentioned, FFT has a lot more hidden and easily missed lore than FFVIII did. You don't actually need it to get why Ramza is doing things - they want to kill the princess, he refuses to let it happen because that's wrong - but without checking the rumors constantly, the reasoning of the offscreen plotters like Dycedarg and Louveria would become harder and harder to divine.
Speaking of rumors, remember to check them immediately - there has been an update after the battle at Zirekile Falls, and then there's going to be another update to the rumors in just another two fights, so it's very easy to miss this one.
It is; keep it in mind if you ever run into classes where you don't like using that class in battle, but would like to learn their skillset to transfer to another class. ...Dragoon might be an example of that, I suppose, depending on how much you like their non-Jump offense and their general toughness as one of your primary attackers compared to Monks and/or Knights.
Okay so apparently there is a whole class centered around 'talk good,' and it can do stuff like convert enemies into allies? It can also modify values like Faith and Bravery, convince opponents to stop, convince opponents to give you money…
I'm just imagining the in universe tactical implications. Have a powerful swordsman you can't beat? Send in a charismatic preacher to help him find God, THEN fireball him in the face.
edit: Have a nation that relies on mages for its army who you can't defeat? Send in Richard Dawkins to indoctrinate their youth, wait 20 years, and invade
As it turns out, in universe Ivalicians did think of that, and came up with a type of training and a job whose specific goal is to do exactly this. In universe. Which might provide a mechanical explanation for why so few people in cutscenes are using magic - you never can know if politicians have used their power of speech to lower their own Faith and make themselves magic-resistant! (You can totally target yourself with your own Talk Skill/Speechcraft, it's hilarious).
Yeah, the Japanese is 話術士, which translates directly as "speech arts user". Can't really do anything about that other than come up with synonyms. "Orator" works as well as any other, and probably better than "Talker"
As I mentioned, the PSX translation went with Mediator. I prefer it to the other options, in that it more clearly reflect what the role of the class is - it allows you to deal with enemy units in a non-violent manner.
An interesting comparison is how Mystic "lowers Faith" (pedantically inflicts the Atheist status) with a skill called "Pseudo-prayer" (信擬仰祷), the Orator lowers Faith with a skill called 解法, "kaihou", which is "method of solving".
This is not a pedantic distinction, actually, although of course you had no way to know this from just reading the text. Minor mechanical spoilers on how the two things are different ahead.
"Atheist" (or "Innocent" in the PSX translation) and "Faith" are temporary statuses that only lasts for the one battle they're cast in (or until dispelled), which make all spells and abilities treat the target as if they had 100 (Faith) or 0 (Atheist/Innocent) in their Faith stat. It's a very straightforward buff.
Meanwhile, the Mediator/Orator's abilities actually physically change the value of Bravery or Faith, adding +3 or subtracting -20, so you could change a 69 Faith unit into a 81 Faith unit by using the ability four times, and at the end of the battle, a portion (specifically, 1/4th) of that increase will remain attached to the unit, permanently improving it.
So... the difference is not merely pedantic, it's actually quite meaningful - magic can make you temporarily less (or more) faithful, but "facts & logic" can make you permanently so. Maybe they should have renamed Mediators/Orators to Influencers?
Anyway, as was also noted, Mediators/Orators also have the "Monster Talk/Beast Tongue" ability (which, like Throw Item, is innate on their class but must be set if you want another class to use Speechcraft against monsters), which lets them talk to monsters in their own tongue and therefore use their powers on them. So, it turns out, this:
The Beastmaster class (or whatever the Pokemon trainer class in this game is) doesn't tame monsters. Instead they're missionaries who convert monsters away from their vile heresies, enabling them to return to polite society.
Was also 100% correct, and you really should try out their Entice skill in a few battles... keeping in mind that the success rate is 20 + MA %, so you won't have an high success rate even with a character having an high MA of, let's say, 12 or something. So, it's not very accurate, but I imagine that's not too surprising - it makes sense that it takes many attempts to talk a monster around to your point of view, right?
Gillian's Invigoration doesn't deal a ton of damage, but it at least gives her some and adds sustainability by making her able to heal herself as she does damage; the only issue is that it has a low rate of success.
It was mentioned before that Faith, both of the caster and of the target, matters for magic; specifically, the magic spells of Black Mages, White Mages, Time Mages, Summoners and Mystics (but not, notably, Mediator/Orator speechcraft) tack on x 0.Faith (caster) x 0.Faith (target) to all the magical equations. That means that, if a caster has, let's say, 50 Faith, and the target also has 50 Faith, that's a 0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25 multiplier - it cuts the power of a spell down to one quarter (and that's before Zodiac is factored in). This isn't that notable with damage inflicting/curing spells, as it just changes the total amount of damage, but with status spells, such as Raise, Protect, or any of the Mystic's spells, the reduction manifests in accuracy woes.
Gillian has, apparently, 59 Faith; that's somewhat low for a primary mage (you'd want it to be between 75 and 80), and more so for a status user. If you plan on keeping her a Mystic, you might want to look into raising it permanently, although you should be careful not to go above 80, as that has extremely negative side effects. Or, since she's a Mystic, she has Belief (Pray Faith in the PSX translation); cast that on yourself at the start of battle (with 59 Faith, that should have 55% accuracy on yourself) and that'll have you treated as if your Faith was 100 for the battle, making spells far more likely to hit... which you probably need. Quiescence, or Silent Song as it's named in the PSX version, is the fourth most accurate among Yin-Yang Spells. While you can probably still somewhat reliably use Paralyze, Umbra and Harmony with your current Faith, you'll be looking at coin-tosses on most of the rest if you keep Gillian's Faith as it is.
I have her sneak up behind Gaffgarion and hit him with her staff for trivial damage… Except because she is wielding a Fire Rod, this triggers a point-blank Fire which deals an extra 38 damage.
Mystics are actually among the best magical classes in terms of dealing physical damage, you just need to equip them properly. Minor mechanical spoiler below.
At this point, you should have access to Stick/Poles. This is a weapon that only Mystics/Oracles can use (well, of the classes you have unlocked, at least), but is notable because, instead of us using WP x PA (like Swords, Crossbow, Spears, and magician's Rods like the one you just mentioned) they instead use the WP x MA formula (Staves also do that, but they have half the WP of Poles), meaning that, in the hands of a mage (especially a female one), they actually inflict meaningful damage. It's one of the subtle things that help Mystics/Oracles out against other mages - they don't have damage spells outside of Life Drain, but they can get to deliver some real harm if an enemy closes into melee. Try them out!
I hadn't thought about this at all, but it is possible to swap Gaffgarion and Agrias out of their Fell/Divine Knight classes. I don't really see a reason to do so, given how powerful they are, but it can be done.
Well, for one, while the Swordskills themselves are powerful, the PA of Agrias' Holy Knight class is a bit on the lower side; as a Knight or Geomancer (ie, classes that can use Swords without the need for the Equip ability), she'd have higher attack power, and thus the Swordskills would be even more damaging... but on the other hand, she won't be learning new ones when she's in those classes (but she'd learn Equip Sword and Attack Boost, either allowing her to move to other classes or making her Swordskills even more powerful). It's a tradeoff, of sorts.
Not much of a reason for switching Gafgarion's class though, that much I'll agree - well, unless you want to make the fight easier, of course.
On the Brave increase, Delita probably just had a few long talks with an Orator/Mediator; they can't just lower Brave and Faith, they can also raise them (permanently, at that). You can do it yourself, if you think it's important, although it is quite time-consuming, and very boring.
And as others mentioned, you should give Ramzasquire's skillset and equip options another look; being able to combine Clothes with Armors allows a certain level of versatility, and while yes, the Swordskills are more awesome and showy... I do think there's a very important thematic point being made by Ramza class never gaining them, and having a different focus instead.
I won't offer my opinion on the meaning of it all yet, it's more fun if you give us your own judgment of the matter, but I do want to also say that, personally, I find that Ramzasquire is actually better than Agrias/Delita's Holy Knight class in my eyes - you can get attack power and range anywhere if that's what you want (Monk punches hit just as hard and Shockwave has much more range, to make an example with things that you yourself mentioned, and you've yet to try out some other classes), but what Ramzasquire can do is more interesting and harder to come by.
Also, I personally feel that (1) it would really change the nature of the game if you were running around with a full team of Swordskill users, and (2) chasing after the unlock is going to completely gut any attempt at experimenting with other classes. That's my opinion on the issue - I find that adding the Swordskill class to the game was WotL worst sin, and as somebody who doesn't like the translation, or the lag, or removing the move chants, or renaming everything, or most of the new cutscenes, well, I think that speaks for itself.
Yeah, that's not a good idea, you really want to personalize each unit's equipment.
Optimize will pick the weapon with the highest attack power, which in some case could be something like an Axe, which has high WP but randomized damage; it will prioritize HP over things like MP or bonuses to stats; and will prioritize Movement in accessories over things like Evasion, Status Protection, or stat boosts (I'm pretty sure you should have access to a PA boosting accessory at this point, which would obviously strengthen any melee class, but especially ones like female Monks for whom every single PA point is vital). It's decent if you're equipping a Knight or Lancer, who wants all of those things, but you really shouldn't rely on it. Using Select to check what each piece of equipment does is always better.
As mentioned, just like any other previous cutscene, this also is a simple in-engine scene in the PSX version, so you might want to check it out for characterization comparison purposes - Agrias certainly comes across as a lot less subdued in that version compared to the WotL one. And Delitas looks shadier, too, at least in my opinion of it.
And with that, I guess we can move to the translation. Starting with Fort Zeakden.
- The changes in the introduction to Zeakden fight aren't too big. There's usual examples of the WotL flower prose making things more complex for no reason - Gragoroth/Golagros uses simpler words that make him sound more desperate, and Ramza only adresses Zalbag as "brother" rather than "lord brother", and Zalbag command is just "do it now!", as @Adloquium said it was in Japanese, but it's overall the same exchange of comments, just with purpler prose in WotL. The number of Corpse Brigade on the pass are also numerically identified as "about fifty" in the PSX dialogue, so once again it is more faithful to the Japanese than WotL was.
Perhaps most notable is that Tietra just says "Delita..." and nothing else in the PSX version, instead of also saying "I'm sorry" in the WotL version. Seeing as I don't see what Tietra would have to apologize for, I will give the point to the PSX version here, but it's really just a matter of taste and the change is minimal. The two translations are objectively equivalent here.
- The in battle dialogue once again features more direct speech and more fidelity to the Japanese, with Algus saying "animals are all the same" to Delita instead of referring to common men, and also making it more clear that Algus isn't officially part of the Northern Sky order - he says "you turn your sword on the order" in the PSX version, rather than "on us" as in the WotL version.
Delita's final threat, I'll easily concede, is better in the WotL version - his line "Is your forked tongue done flitting? What I'd hear from your lips are not words!" is a good deal more inspired than the PSX "you killed my sister! I'll kill you!", even if I am willing to bed it was a full WotL invention, and that the PSX translation is closer to the original Japanese. Adding flourishes isn't necessarily bad - the WotL just does it too much.
The final lines of the chapter also are better in the WotL version; the PSX dialogue preference for simplicity really hurts it here, although it must be said that the painted background of Fort Zeakden burning in the night is a lot more impressive to me than the cutscene end. But in terms of dialogue, while the start of the PSX sentence "I'd taken my whole life for granted" is better than the WotL "I had lived my life the only way I knew how", the follow up "but when it came down to it, I dropped it all and run" doesn't get even close to the poetry of "but when the pillars of that life came crashing down, I didn't stand and watch them fall. I turned, and walked away". I do think that fusing the two - so "I had taken my whole life for granted. But when the pillars of that life came crashing down, I didn't stand and watch them fall. I turned, and walked away" - would best synthesize the two, but with things as they are, I have to give the edge in better translation for the Fort Zeakden battle to WotL, if only slightly.
- In the present, the translation is immediately better in the PSX version; whereas the WotL version had Agrias say "I'd not accept your help if you offered it", immediately followed by her and Gafgarion/Ramza's group then working together, the PSX together says instead "We don't need help, we must fix our own mistakes ourselves", which implies that she will take the help if offered, just that it's not necessary - much more in line with the rest of the chapter.
Furthermore, Gafgarion's closing line after giving in to Ramza's plea (which, in the PSX version, are indeed delivered with a "I'm going too!" like @Adloquium said they were in japanese) is a foreboding "Don't cry to me for help if something happens!", which, in hindsight, clearly reveals that he suspected this would lead to having to kill Agrias, and he knew Ramza wasn't going to be happy about that, even if he perhaps didn't expect him to go against orders.
I'm giving this one to the PSX translation overall - the WotL one is just continuing to mess with both Agrias' and Gafgarion's characterization for no real benefit.
- In Dorter, the thief, when he throws down his hat upon recognizing Gafgarion, says "700 was too cheap!", which is a sliver funnier than the WotL take on the line, and then Gafgarion once again is closer to what @Adloquium told us of the Japanese version by saying "I don't do freebies, but this time I'll make an exception", which once again works better for his characterization - we already know he doesn't want to be on this mission and is only joining it due to concern for Ramza, so the whole thing is a freebie to him. Still, even with those, I don't think the differences are enough to declare the PSX translation just better - I'll say they can be considered about equal.
- Araguay is the same, with the lone exception that Gafgarion's line is a much more straightforward "Why save him? There's no money to be gained in that!", rather than the line about gils and feathers which, honestly, reads to me as straight up nonsense - I know what he means because I know the character is a mercenary, but if I was described the scene in a vacuum, with no identifying details about the group, I'd be left completely puzzled over what the hell that sentence meant. I'm highlighting this because it's the first time the flowery prose has devolved into nonsense, and I wanted it marked - it won't be the last. Still, for this scene, it's so brief that I don't care to claim the PSX version is better, let's just say they're equal and move forwards.
- Zirekile Falls, naturally, has a lot more dialogue than the previous two fight combined, both before, during, and after the battle. Gafgarion's lines here are overall much clearer in the WotL version, especially the parts where the fake kidnapping attempt is explained; the PSX lines are hard to parse and one could be confused if they'd not read the rumors, whereas the WotL are, for once, more straightforward.
However, just when it seemed like the WotL version was going to have both clarity and style on its own for once (instead of only style, and even then not always), Delita's turn to speak comes up, and his PSX line is "If the Princess's kidnapped and killed by Goltana, they'll be rid of her and his rivals. I'm sure that's how Prince Larg wrote the scenario. No, Dycedarg probably wrote it. Don't you agree, Ramza?" which is a lot clearer and less confusing than the WotL version; and in fact, it's so clear that, despite the Gafgarion lines being quite bad here, this single lines clarifies both what's going on and what everybody's role in it is. So... the most confusing WotL line becomes the clearer and most effective PSX line, simply due to the simplicity with which the explanation is delivered.
Moving to the in battle dialogue, I have a question for native English speakers. In the PSX version, Ramza, after saying that he has no idea if his brothers are still meddling with his life, seeing as he's not spoken with them in a year, asks "What of you, Delita? Are you party to their plot?"; meanwhile, in the WotL version, after saying that he knew nothing about all this, asks "What of you, Delita? You now play party to their plot?". The meaning of the phrase is clear, but I'm not 100% certain which of the two is grammatically correct. If anybody could clarify it for me, that'd be great.
Aside from that, the most important following change is Gafgarion's last line to Ramza, which as mentioned is easy to miss if you defeat Gafgarion too quickly. In it, where the WotL version has him say "Do not chide me, when you cannot choose a path for yourself", the PSX instead has Gafgarion saying "if you don't like what I'm saying, try to live your life without depending on someone else for a change - but don't come complaining to me when you can't!"
This is very significant, since it completely changes the thrust of his criticism of Ramza; it still follows directly from the "a true man walks his own path" line, but instead of saying that what Ramza is missing is an idea of the sort of path he wants to walk, it's instead that he's not standing on his own two feet - that he was using following Gafgarion as a replacement for following his brothers. The meaning isn't too different, the final conclusion is still that Ramza should figure out what he wants out of life and actively pursue it, but the reason for why he's not done this yet is different - for PSX Gafgarion, it's because he might have changed patrons but he's still acting as a follower, whereas for the WotL version is due to a lack of vision.
While it's hard to say which of these two is more in line with the game's intentions right now, I wanted to remark how it really changes Gafgarion's characterization - his claims that Ramza is childish are much more on point if he resents that he's been forced into a surrogate father figure role by a young noble who likely has had a much more privileged upbringing than Gafgarion himself. I feel like that makes things more personal between them, which seems like a positive narrative focus to me.
Then we move to the post battle discussion. Immediately, we have a change in Delita's line that impacts his characterization - instead of "she'll be safer with me", which is implicitly disparaging Ramza and Agrias' ability to protect her, PSX Delita says "it will be better for her", putting the focus on Ovelia's wellbeing - so, he's intentionally being less confrontational here. Then, Ramza's answer, which in WotL is "what is this game you play with us?", in the PSX is a much more direct "What are you scheming, Delita?", which tells us that Ramza both knows Delita to be a schemer, and can read through his attempt at being less confrontational being a trick.
Finally, while it is Agrias that suggest going to Delacroix in both version (well, the PSX name is different, but there's no question that the WotL got the right translation on this one), she seems less certain of his collaboration, saying "they might be able to help", instead of "surely they would not refuse us". Still, from there the story progress down the same path to Lionel.
I'm not sure that I can 100% give this to the PSX version - both version botch a portion of the initial conversation, but are ultimately understandable (as much as that can be done by somebody who hasn't read the rumors, at least), and the final part is hinging on the differences in staging between the WotL FMV and the PSX in-game cutscene as it on the dialogue. The most relevant part, concerning Gafgarion's resentment of Ramza and ultimately the theme of what Ramza needs to do to become his own man, can't be fully judged on the basis of this scene alone, so making a call on which of the two translation does this better isn't possible.
That's it for now - really looking forward to the next few updates.
- In the present, the translation is immediately better in the PSX version; whereas the WotL version had Agrias say "I'd not accept your help if you offered it", immediately followed by her and Gafgarion/Ramza's group then working together, the PSX together says instead "We don't need help, we must fix our own mistakes ourselves", which implies that she will take the help if offered, just that it's not necessary - much more in line with the rest of the chapter.
Furthermore, Gafgarion's closing line after giving in to Ramza's plea (which, in the PSX version, are indeed delivered with a "I'm going too!" like @Adloquium said they were in japanese) is a foreboding "Don't cry to me for help if something happens!", which, in hindsight, clearly reveals that he suspected this would lead to having to kill Agrias, and he knew Ramza wasn't going to be happy about that, even if he perhaps didn't expect him to go against orders.
I'm giving this one to the PSX translation overall - the WotL one is just continuing to mess with both Agrias' and Gafgarion's characterization for no real benefit.
The Japanese text does have Agrias say "I'm not going to accept your help even if you offered it", though. The PSX translation seems to change Agrias's personality for that line.
Which does indeed mean Agrias first went "if you're not a Proper Knight, we don't want your help", then accepts the help of non-Proper Knights anyway. It is what it is.
Gaffgarion's line in question is "Whatever happens, I know nothing (about it)". It's a common expression (知らない or some such variant) to indicate the speaker is going "I don't care anymore!", to varying degrees of sincerity. I suppose it could be interpreted as "I know nothing, and I do not care to know anything".
So "Don't cry to me for help if something happens" and "Gods know where this path leads us" are mostly equivalent for that context. I don't think we're supposed to read any further into those statements than Gaffgarion giving up on arguing against following Agrias; the Japanese text has nothing about Gaffgarion having any suspicions or forebodings about turning on Agrias.
"Gillian, why isn't that man dead yet?"
"Well, we keep trying to cast fireballs at him, but he just keeps saying 'magic isn't real you idiot' and talking about how god isn't real and the church is bullshit"
"And that matters because...?"
"Well apparently magic isn't all that real because it isn't doing a thing to him!"
So... the fuck is up with the Church trying to kill Gaffgarion and co earlier? Internal struggle? Is the Church on the Princess' side? Did they know of Gaffgarion's involvement? Does that make the Church less shady than initially implied? Was it something else entirely? Were they just targeting Agrias and hoping to not have to pay Gaffgarion (historically extremely common)? Did someone just fuck up?
Haste doesn't really help with Jump; it helps the Dragoon themselves (a Dragon always lands with 50 CT after a Jump; a Dragoon that was hasted beforehand will land with 75 CT instead), but Jump uses the actual Speed stat, not the value as calculated under haste.
I don't think he's necessarily outsped by the enemies either; if units have the same speed, the enemies will go first, due to the specific way battle order is handled - you can press Pause during battle, and it will give you the numerical value assigned to each unit at the start of battle, which is used to handle ties (when two units have the same speed and therefore reach 100 CT at the same time), and enemy units are always all earlier in the order than your own. You only go before them on the first turn if you're faster, but equal speed will always give the enemy priority.
I Am a Hardcore Mercenary Who Has Reincarnated As an Older Brother to Foolish Naive Child Just Like My Former Traitor Subordinate and by Gods I Had Enough of This Shit
I Am a Hardcore Mercenary Who Has Reincarnated As an Older Brother to Foolish Naive Child Just Like My Former Traitor Subordinate and by Gods I Had Enough of This Shit
One of the more irritating parts of how a lot of "pop culture" (ie not high literature) Japanese dialogue is written is this sort of thing: a character or the narration goes on at length about something happening or explaining a plot, and then ending with "... or that was what was supposed to happen" or "... which is what That Person intended". The idea is to lead the reader on with what seemed like an inevitable progression of the plot, before negating it with a surprise twist.
It's funny that you bring this up, because I've reading lots of Japanese novels as of late and some of these writing quirks are truly irritating. I think the one that bugs me the most is constant repetition of phrases like "you'd get the impression that" or "looking at him you would think" or "x is what he would say". Maybe it's just a difference in syntax or culture or just the trashy pulp garbage I enjoy isn't the highest tier of literary puissance, but there's only so many time you can read "the first thing you'd notice about him is..." in so many pages before being tempted to shelve something indefinitely.
Tailwind's on Ramza that he would occasionally start taking consecutive turns. Takes a long time to setup, but hilarious when you do, and he gets guaranteed JP for each Tailwind!
It's funny that you bring this up, because I've reading lots of Japanese novels as of late and some of these writing quirks are truly irritating. I think the one that bugs me the most is constant repetition of phrases like "you'd get the impression that" or "looking at him you would think" or "x is what he would say". Maybe it's just a difference in syntax or culture or just the trashy pulp garbage I enjoy isn't the highest tier of literary puissance, but there's only so many time you can read "the first thing you'd notice about him is..." in so many pages before being tempted to shelve something indefinitely.
I just want to point out that this otherwise generic Thief gets an entire custom animation for throwing his hat into the floor. This guy has more unique animations than Ramza so far!
I'm not one to cast stones when it comes to overusing turns of phrase in lieu of having an actual personality, but I stg that particular second person permutation of "tell-don't-show", "the first thing you notice when you see him...you might think..." way of writing makes the whole thing read like a kid's first play-by-post RP character introduction stretched out to novel format. Just describe the character normally in a way that's integrated into the narrative instead of stopping the scene dead to directly describe to me how I should personally feel about them! Augh!
The other squires were simply too lazy, too undedicated to unlock their next tier of power: wearing purple armor in public with zero shame. This is why Ramza is superior.
Optimize will pick the weapon with the highest attack power, which in some case could be something like an Axe, which has high WP but randomized damage; it will prioritize HP over things like MP or bonuses to stats; and will prioritize Movement in accessories over things like Evasion, Status Protection, or stat boosts
I haaate Knight Agrias, who regularly auto-equips axes she can't use her magic sword skills with.
Ditto that pair of floaty boots that everybody loves SO MUCH.
Aside from that, the most important following change is Gafgarion's last line to Ramza, which as mentioned is easy to miss if you defeat Gafgarion too quickly. In it, where the WotL version has him say "Do not chide me, when you cannot choose a path for yourself", the PSX instead has Gafgarion saying "if you don't like what I'm saying, try to live your life without depending on someone else for a change - but don't come complaining to me when you can't!"
I just want to point out that this otherwise generic Thief gets an entire custom animation for throwing his hat into the floor. This guy has more unique animations than Ramza so far!
