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Let's Play Every Final Fantasy Game In Order Of Release [Now Finished: Final Fantasy Tactics]

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It's time for another edition of The Rakes of Final Fantasy Tactics!

Rake #34: Poison swamps
Status: That's right. Poison is a status (effect). (Also this is not a big deal, since poison doesn't do a lot of damage. This is not a painful rake)

Rake #35: The ol' Goug one-two.
Status: Yup, some city battles are hidden. Hope you didn't send anyone important on an expedition lol.

Rake #36: The Goug battle.
Status: Dodged. This fight can get nasty because of the enemy thiefs high evasion (and access to charm!) and two summoners in tight quarters. This is not a hard fight, but if it goes bad it can snowball FAST.

Hidden Rake #37: If you unequipped Agrias before losing her at Lionel she will, naturally, start the battle without her equipment.
Status: Surprise!

Honorary Rake #38: Growing really attached to your generics only to have Agrias and Mustadio join your team.
Status: It's a very painful dilemma.

Oh, and @Omicron ?
 
Omicron said:
THIS IS JUST "WHAT IF THE TWELVE APOSTLES HAD ANIME SUPERPOWERS," GAME, I'M ON TO YOU.
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That's literally just Catholicism, though.

Omicron said:
FFXIV really is just The Best Of Final Fantasy, I keep tripping into new references every time I pick up a new game.
Wait, the description of Gariland said it was once time to a guy called Elidibus, the Zodiac Braves are literally the Convocation!! My mind is opening!!!
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The initial ARR relic includes a stage where you literally go around collecting Auracite and earn the ingame title of "Zodiac Brave."

Omicron said:
Why the fuck would you keep a malboro as a pet
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If you ignore the smell, I think they're kinda cute. Lord knows what the food bill would look like though.

Omicron said:
Ramza: "Just when I thought this fen could grow no fouler…"
Mustadio: "Solid footing scarce enough, and rain to rob us of that. Be careful!"
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Omicron said:
the Golgollada gallows
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I'm a simple guy. Give me dramatic pronouncements delivered in alliteration, and I am happy.

Omicron said:
Golgollada. Seriously. This is the opposite of a subtle reference to Mount Golgotha. What's kinda fucked up though, is that apparently instead of this holy site becoming the site of a Church and veneration and so on, they just keep executing criminals there!? Fucked up.
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You missed the secret, hidden part of the New Testament where Jesus said unto his disciples that the place of his execution was "fucking rad" and to honor it by setting up a "wicked cool gallows or guillotine or something, like you'd see at an Iron Maiden show" and "if it's the Place of the Skulls, then where the fuckin' skulls, dude?! We need like 50 or 80 up in this bitch before we can even think about installing the smoke machines."

Omicron said:
THE RED CHOCOBO OF DOOM.
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Oh wow, that's way faster than I expected.

Omicron said:
If we use the princess to lure them out, we get two birds - and one Stone."
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Do you think the Cardinal was super pleased with himself that he managed to find a perfect excuse to insert that pun?

Omicron said:
Which means that in order to field him I have to keep one of Hadrian, Osric, Gillian and Hester out of the field. My previous blorbos that I have labored over for eight hours of gameplay. Just as they are starting to fully come online. And now instead I would have to find what toolkit to teach Mustadio to support his unique Machinist job that other characters can't unlock.
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Omicron said:
the named NPCs are just inherently more appealing from a narrative perspective.
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Here we go. That's always my biggest issue with any game that mixes premade narrative characters and customizable generic NPC's like this. Personally, it wouldn't be such a bummer, but I love watching the generic NPC's go through costume changes as they level up, and the Big Deal NPCs that you end up keeping around always keep the same outfit which is so booooring. FF5 really had the right idea giving everyone specific sprites for every class. I almost prefer the X-Com style of everyone on the field being a generic goon, because at least you're not nearly so pressured to run only your big name hitters.
 
Omicron said:
I can't pass on Agrias as a playable team member. And if I take her on board I might as well take on Mustadio and whoever we get next, and bench several of my non-speaking party members.

And that's painful. I have spent eight hours of gameplay and more outside laboring over these little guys. They are my little guys. And the outcome of all that work is only just starting to pay off, and god, how is it paying off. We've gone from our many deaths at Dorter, at Windflat Mill, at Ziekden Fortress, from being hard carried by NPC friendlies at Zeirchele Falls, to obliterating the past three encounters with very little concern for our NPC allies. Hadrian has become death incarnate, Osric is fragile but a walking nuke with unexpectedly powerful utility in Haste who I have a bunch of JP to unlock new Summons and versatility for, Gillian just unlocked The Power Of Gun and has been, despite an understated performance in combat, continuously permanently upgrading other characters' Bravery and her own Faith, one little point at a time. And Hester, who's been languishing for a while now…
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Yeahhh, this is probably one of my least favorite parts of the game here. Like Mustadio I can always pass on, but Agrias is just so cool I have such a hard time benching her. It's like. You only get these preexisting characters after learning to love your blorbos, it's such a dick move game design wise.

Given the choice, I think the game would benefited from like. A dedicated Guest Slot - you have your main team of shockingly loyal goons, but then one extra spot that you can put a named character with their unique skills, and this would just be the point of the game where you're given freedom to choose who goes there. It really is such a pity.
 
You've now encountered the biggest decision in any FFT player's game: uniques or generics.

In favour of the uniques: they unquestionably have greater potential power than generics due to their unique classes and they all have unique sprites, plus they're actually involved in the plot, so your party will be people who actually matter and not "Ramza and His Squad, plus a bunch of followers who never fight".

In favour of generics: your guys are already good, no need for extra grinding, and by now you're doubtlessly attached. Sure, you won't get Sword Skills, but do you really need them when your Dragoon hits for 170 damage from across the battlefield?
 
Carrot the runaway pet malboro went on to become an Ivalice running gag. Shows up in a FFTA mission, shows up in am FFTA2 mission, even shows up in a side quest in FFXIV 2.0, although her name was lost in translation for that one, changed from "Carrot-chan" to the more generic "Morbolger"
 
Alec mentioned it but yeah, Keep Mustardio.

As for Ramos being a Samurai, Hunh. A part of me is sad at the notion of Ramza moving past bare-handed, if only because I like the joke of Ramza fighting that initial battle with a sword and then he sees Delia and goes 'I need to get serious!' And then just stops using any sort of weapon altogether.
 
Omicron said:
You know, I don't intend to keep the Red Chocobo a long term member of my team, which is too bad, because god that's some funny moves. Choco the Red acts before everyone else, has a better move range than anyone, ignores elevation, and can drop a Meteor on people's heads.
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Omicron said:
I like that Gaffgarion is the only person in the room to go 'perhaps baiting the Beoulve kid who's so far won every fight he's gotten into could potentially maybe be a little risky?' Ludovich had us dead to rights and he left town with a fake stone without securing the kill and now his men are dead and we're on his trail, but no. Not a threat at all. Of course, that's also a problem for us, because if there's one person who might actually take Ramza seriously, plan appropriately, and lead us into a trap from which we actually can't get out, it's him.
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Omicron said:
Oh, Agrias.

There is zero doubt in my mind that you are the 'bread crumb' that Gaffgarion meant to scatter to draw us into his trap. I think you were allowed to escape, to better lead us to the princess's execution site.
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Gaffgarion: I dunno boss, this Ramza kid is pretty slick, maybe we should be more careful.
also Gaffgarion: Let's let the one-woman wrecking crew run free and use her to lure Ramza in.
 
Omicron said:
An éminence grise, or "grey eminence," is a term English borrowed from French, meaning a powerful advisor or decision-maker who operates "behind the scenes." It's not quite synonymous with "power behind the throne," because the éminence grise isn't necessarily actually ruling, but their words have considerable influence on those who officially hold power.
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Weird tangent time.
My first encounter with the term was as the name for the game master in the ttrpg Agone, a game with a Renaissance based setting where magic is inextricably connected to art. Notably the harpsichord was the instrument of corrupt and wicked magic.
 
Omicron said:
We take a brief detour, checking out the town shop and Errands; I decide to send my troops on another errand - this one is about Countess Zalmasse's "darling pet," a beast by the name of Carrot. Should be easy, right?

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Why the fuck would you keep a malboro as a pet and how are you still alive.
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Isn't there a quest or Guildheist in AAR where you have to capture an escaped pet Malboro ?

Zap Rowsdower said:
Carrot the runaway pet malboro went on to become an Ivalice running gag. Shows up in a FFTA mission, shows up in am FFTA2 mission, even shows up in a side quest in FFXIV 2.0, although her name was lost in translation for that one, changed from "Carrot-chan" to the more generic "Morbolger"
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Right, that one. I knew I wasn't going crazy. This time.

Oh, and there's also the mini-Malboro pet you can get too. Those are cute.
 
GilliamYaeger said:
As far as I know, Samurai is actually a pretty bad job. Doubly so if you want Ramza to be a sword-swinger rather than a spell-slinger.

It's not because Iaido is bad, no it's quite the opposite...but because Iaido is actually a magic ability. It's the Blue Magic of this game, a very wide variety of powerful utility skills that all key off magic ability rather than physical ability. So, when you have a physical-focused job with a magical ability...yeah it doesn't blend that well.
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Looking at Ramza's stats in the update, he's got Bravery 75 but he's got Faith 70, so he's actually not a bad spell-slinger, either. Some Oratory could probably keep his magical ability with Iado strikes competitive with his weapon attacks.
 
SolipsistSerpent said:
Looking at Ramza's stats in the update, he's got Bravery 75 but he's got Faith 70, so he's actually not a bad spell-slinger, either. Some Oratory could probably keep his magical ability with Iado strikes competitive with his weapon attacks.
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"Sword techniques are a form of oratory persuasion?"
"You get more done with a polite word and a katana than you get with a polite word alone."
 
Yeah Ramza is an excellent wizard or samurai if you want to build him that way, no need to stay shackled to physical classes with him.
 
Kuja said:
Gaffgarion: I dunno boss, this Ramza kid is pretty slick, maybe we should be more careful.
also Gaffgarion: Let's let the one-woman wrecking crew run free and use her to lure Ramza in.
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I mean...

The next two missions are actually legit pretty fucking hard if you're not doing absurd amounts of grinding? Not to mention your only opportunity to grind for the rest of the chapter is that fucking river map. It strikes me that the plan should have worked, it just didn't reckon on Ramza being ridiculously stacked
 
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