- Pronouns
- He/Him
Shoulda had Lettie and Celia with him instead of a L2 Squire, I guess!
Yeah, like the top rank of the elemental black magic spells for example.
Let's Play Every Final Fantasy Game In Order Of Release [Now Finished: Final Fantasy Tactics]
- Thread starter Omicron
- Start date
- Let's Play
Shoulda had Lettie and Celia with him instead of a L2 Squire, I guess!
Yeah, like the top rank of the elemental black magic spells for example.
Does it make sense for Elmdore to revive some dipshit no name squire and teach him dark knight abilities just to throw him away against Ramza? Not really. I mean, maybe using Argath to make Delita apocalyptically furious would have merit, but the Lucavi don't seem like the kind of demons who play that kind of mind game.
Do I care? No, because this means I can kill him twice.
Do I care? No, because this means I can kill him twice.
OkayishGatsby
This Titan is Fine
- Location
- Northern Virginia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
WHY IS THIS SO TRUE?
cB557
voOOP
This sort of "is this character psychologically capable of even considering this" framing just makes me think of those "which fictional detectives could solve the death note case" memes now. Could Columbo unravel the Lucavi conspiracy?
I remember seeing something a while back about Columbo being in one of the Final Fantasy gachas for some reason, so I guess he actually would be eligible to be another tactics crossover character.
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Reminder for anyone who has understandably forgotten the dynamics at play here. Elmdore was always in deep with the church. I would assume he got Lucavi'd after the kidnapping incident though. Argath was in his direct service…
…and actually showed up to rescue him. Then, Argath, desperate to get in good with any and every noble higher placed than him, got himself awkwardly slain by Ramza while rooting out the Corpse Brigade that had kidnapped Elmdore.
My guess is this resulted in Argath getting some suitably subordinate place in Elmdore's crypt, and whenever Elmdore turned into a vampire he tried his new powers out on Argath's corpse, driven by swiftly fading lingering sentiment of a former human plus the reality that absolutely no one would know or care enough about Argath for it to be a problem. Argath then presumably got assigned to be crypt guard while Elmdore traveled around with his actually useful subordinates (the twins) who he either summoned outright or got possessed by demons.
Of course, the REAL reason Argath came back was to torment players like Omicron, but the fiction does seem to hold together!
Before or after seeing a Lucavi?
Poor Meliadoul she not only comes late game she also comes after a person who literally does her job but better.
Yeah, playing Tactics Ogre recently and Vyce, who in many ways is the Argath equivalent of the game is much better, imo.
Though to be fair Vyce is treated as much more of a foil to Denam, while Argath seems to be mostly just be a representation of how fucked the class system of Ivalice is.
Though to be fair Vyce is treated as much more of a foil to Denam, while Argath seems to be mostly just be a representation of how fucked the class system of Ivalice is.
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Vyce just having Denam Opposition Disorder for most of the game does push him into that. In terms of SRPGs I think the general plot and character beats of TO, FFT, and Der Langrisser make a solid top 3
FunkyEntropy
Occasionally insightful, possibly grumpy
- Location
- Los Angeles
Since we've had back to back updates with some of the hardest fights in the game (plus some extra challenge for the Tryhards among us), I guess it's time for another round of
The Rakes of Final Fantasy Tactics
Rake #55: Calculator (the class container) sucks
Status:
Leveling the class organically is beyond painful. Give them Squire as the secondary, have Ramza tailwind them constantly, and then Accumulate until they've learned everything and you can swap them back into a class that's actually tolerable to use like Black/White Mage or something.
Rake #56: The Nelveska Temple fight
Status: It's hard. The monsters are strong, have access to nasty status effects (stone), and have powerful AOEs (Triattack).
Rake #56: The Nelveska Temple fight and getting the rare Javalin
Status: This is harder, and requires the use of a friendly monster or robot to reach plus a unit with low brave to up the odds of getting the right version of the javelin.
Rake #57: The Nelveska Temple fight and getting ALL the rare items
Status: One of the hardest fights in the game. You need to have a plan to deal with: Monsters turning your units to stone or outright killing them, while keeping one or more of them alive so that your low Brave unit can grab all the items. And, of course, unless you're a filthy savescummer you had to do all this in one go. OTOH the process of getting good will teach you a lot about the game and how to properly manage nasty enemies while keeping your dudes from crystallizing.
Rake #58: Not getting Ultima in the first Limberry battle
Status: You can do it during the Elmdore fight, but since that's the Elmdore fight it's significantly easier to learn it here. All you need to do is make Ramza a Squire and equip him with a Black Garb and N-Kai Armlet. This nullifies stop, charm, and confuse, which in turn drastically improves the odds that one of the girls will use Ultima on Ramza turn 1.
Rake #59: The Elmdore fight
Status: High damage and nasty status effects including guaranteed stop and KO. This is a brutal fight.
Rake #60: The Elmdore fight, kleptomaniac edition
Status: Take everything that's hard about the base fight and then add on the challenge of robbing Elmdore blind. Another rite of passage for global PS1 era players, as WoTL decided to give Elmdore Maintenance (boo! Technically the original Japanese release also had it so you couldn't steal the Genji equipment, but I don't care). The genji equipment is good but the only stuff that's really good is the accessory (+2PA/MA) and the sword, the rest is just high HP heavy armor/helm. But still, it's a nice little challenge.
Rake #61: Bloodsuck paintrain
Status: Deserves its own rake for how nasty a surprise this is. See, Bloodsuck status is contagious. Imagine if confused units went on to confuse even more of your units and you can see how this would very, VERY quickly spiral out of control.
The Rakes of Final Fantasy Tactics
Rake #55: Calculator (the class container) sucks
Status:
Leveling the class organically is beyond painful. Give them Squire as the secondary, have Ramza tailwind them constantly, and then Accumulate until they've learned everything and you can swap them back into a class that's actually tolerable to use like Black/White Mage or something.
Rake #56: The Nelveska Temple fight
Status: It's hard. The monsters are strong, have access to nasty status effects (stone), and have powerful AOEs (Triattack).
Rake #56: The Nelveska Temple fight and getting the rare Javalin
Status: This is harder, and requires the use of a friendly monster or robot to reach plus a unit with low brave to up the odds of getting the right version of the javelin.
Rake #57: The Nelveska Temple fight and getting ALL the rare items
Status: One of the hardest fights in the game. You need to have a plan to deal with: Monsters turning your units to stone or outright killing them, while keeping one or more of them alive so that your low Brave unit can grab all the items. And, of course, unless you're a filthy savescummer you had to do all this in one go. OTOH the process of getting good will teach you a lot about the game and how to properly manage nasty enemies while keeping your dudes from crystallizing.
Rake #58: Not getting Ultima in the first Limberry battle
Status: You can do it during the Elmdore fight, but since that's the Elmdore fight it's significantly easier to learn it here. All you need to do is make Ramza a Squire and equip him with a Black Garb and N-Kai Armlet. This nullifies stop, charm, and confuse, which in turn drastically improves the odds that one of the girls will use Ultima on Ramza turn 1.
Rake #59: The Elmdore fight
Status: High damage and nasty status effects including guaranteed stop and KO. This is a brutal fight.
Rake #60: The Elmdore fight, kleptomaniac edition
Status: Take everything that's hard about the base fight and then add on the challenge of robbing Elmdore blind. Another rite of passage for global PS1 era players, as WoTL decided to give Elmdore Maintenance (boo! Technically the original Japanese release also had it so you couldn't steal the Genji equipment, but I don't care). The genji equipment is good but the only stuff that's really good is the accessory (+2PA/MA) and the sword, the rest is just high HP heavy armor/helm. But still, it's a nice little challenge.
Rake #61: Bloodsuck paintrain
Status: Deserves its own rake for how nasty a surprise this is. See, Bloodsuck status is contagious. Imagine if confused units went on to confuse even more of your units and you can see how this would very, VERY quickly spiral out of control.
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cB557
voOOP
I feel like the Death Note discussions usually assumed they don't start out knowing the magic stuff. So probably before, though nothing would prevent him from seeing a Lucavi in the course of the investigation.
GilliamYaeger
M'crazy.
So this bit of dialogue here is interesting. The Stones don't seem to be the actual prisons of the Lucavi, but simultaneously the lock and door to where they're actually imprisoned in this "Rift" they mention. This would explain why they can still be used for good ends - they're not tainted in and of themselves, but at any point if you use them wrong they can open a portal to Hell, at which point a demon will possess you.
I do wonder what conditions are required to make that dark miracle happen. Presumably, it's why you need to give the Stones to a "chosen" wielder who meets the criteria to undo the seal and open the gate to the Rift.
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Hm. I'd say he twigs onto the general existence of a conspiracy pretty damn fast, although like everyone else he considers the auracite props for a propaganda campaign at first. With how inquisitive he is, he ends up poking around the Lucavi a lot and then he dies because he isn't physically or narratively prepared for suddenly demons.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Technically, Alucard first appeared in Castlevania 3. However as the castlevania wiki notes his appearance there has a significantly different design from later appearances, so the similarity is more likely coincidental or down to common roots.
In a triumph of minimal effort ass-covering, Cardinal Delacroix actually does have one (1) member of the Templars set on the trail of Bart and the Zodiac Stone to show his 'sincerity' in front of the Princess. He chooses the blandest, least outstanding career Templar available to him, and expects nothing of Columbo whatsoever. What's the worst that can happen?
He's an Orator variant with Machinist abilities stapled on, to bully Mustadio, but he starts out as a Level 1 Guest character, to bully the player. He has a good gun and a badge accessory that reflects spells. An unwise player would steal one or both.
The cutscene where Bart gets murdered by Delacroix becomes akin to a Delita stage, but Columbo instead has to keep Bart and himself alive for 3 turns so Ramza can show up. You control Columbo, you do not control Bart. Columbo has best Zodiac compatibility with Delacroix/CuChulain, so you are intended to use Leg Shot and keep your distance while reflecting spells. Bart will usually get hit by Fowlheart and flee (Cuchulain's opening casting is scripted, though inflicting Disable is not), but if he doesn't then he'll obnoxiously commit suicide by Lucavi.
If you stole Columbo's gear before he left the party when Agrias lead everyone else into Gafgarian's trap at the gallows, then his gear is still missing during this event battle. Better hope you have a backup save from that far back!
- Location
- USA
What nearly has me dying with laughter is the original Japanese line: "To my brother? What for?"
Gee, Ramza, I don't know why the Lucavi would want to give auracite to specific people. What kind of weird plot could they possibly have up their sleeve?
(The alternate explanation is that though Ramza believes Dycedarg to be a schemer, he doesn't believe his brother meets the requirements needed for Lucavi possession.)
Shinji117
Endless Troller
- Location
- Rokkenjima (Sydney)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
On his character sheet Columbo has a good gun, but when you actually start the fight he's unarmed.
(Columbo, as a minor plot point in one episode (maybe the only one where he intentionally lets the culprit stay free), does not actually carry a gun and hasn't been to a range for mandatory shooting training for 10+ years. He pays off another cop to fake this and file his paperwork.)
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You know, I vaguely remembered Columbo does not actually carry a weapon, but I felt I had to make a mechanical compromise to make him FFTactics compatible.
but now that I remember, Mustadio can actually leg shot while weapon less, so you're absolutely right. My bad!
In fact, just make him an Orator and spam stall to survive instead. He can allegedly have machinist abilities, but he starts with no gun and no viable way to get one without stealing Mustadio's.
I'd also give Columbo 100 faith as a guest unit, so he'll wander off when you expect him to officially join (mimicking his episodic structure). This forces people that want to keep him to permanently lower his score with Orator abilities or such.
You know, you would think that eventually all these random outlaws or whoever would realize "hey maybe we shouldn't tangle with the dangerous heretic who leaves a trail of dead bodies everywhere he goes and busts into secure fortresses". Ah well, Skyrim Bandit Overconfidence Syndrome strikes again.
Really though just once I'd like games in situations like these to acknowledge it and have at least one or two of the men go "nope, nada, fuck that" and leave the second they recognize Protaganist McMurderblender.
Between him and Alma, we're getting a lotta Beoulve Lucavi at this rate. I'm surprised none of the stones have had a temptation scene with Ramza by this point, honestly, you'd think at least one of the extras he picked up would go "Ramzaaaaaa use my power to save your familyyyyyyy".
Oh, that really narrows things down all of a sudden? I hadn't realized you collected quite so many stones already, but by those numbers there's only 5 Lucavi total, with only 2 left after this update.
LUCAVI ALMA
LUCAVI ALMAAAAAA
...Of course, if she does get turned into the final boss, that probably makes Demon Alma less likely to be a party member unless this is suddenly the first Final Fantasy to have a NG+/Postgame.
Okay I've been wondering this all update
What, exactly, is Elmdore getting retribution for??? He keeps talking like "aha Ramza, today I finally settle things with you, our legendary rivalry ends here" when you literally just met him on a rooftop, he murdered a guy, then he swooshed off immediately afterwards. Is he avenging his fellow Lucavi, I guess???
Oh yep, somehow of all places in the game this is where the Ultimate Magic pops up: on two random demon assassins midway through Chapter 4.
You know, the more I read interactions like this from the playthrough, the more I understand why some players consider Item and the Chemist to be a vastly superior support skillset compared to White Magic. Sure, you lose out on buffs and better raises and Holy, but Items Don't Miss.
Oh shit, Vampire Agrias?
I absolutely choose to headcanon that this is permanent and you are now dragging around Literally A Vampire Agrias for the rest of the game.
My fanfiction is proven true Vampire Agrias survives. Shit, she even has an excuse to survive the sun or something, doesn't drinking the blood of your vampire sire superboost you in some versions of Vampires? Or is that just Hellsing?
Well Hellsing is awesome anyways, we can go with Hellsing rules.
Understandable, to be honest. Ultima is a cool party trick, but Ultimately not a particularly useful part of Ramza's kit compared to Screaming Very Loudly.
Oh hey this bit, I heard about this. It's a WotL exclusive,
DERE HE IS
Wait
So does this mean in WotL, you can skip learning Ultima in the middle of a fight with a superpowered Vampire and his pet assassins, and instead just learn it here? Or do these Ultima Demons not actually cast Ultima/teach it?
In a vaccum, FFT Ultima sounds pretty neat? Cast time of a tier 2 spell, damage output of a tier 3 spell, low MP cost at only 10 and part of the Squire skillset so you don't even have to have say Black Magic equipped to make use of it.
In actual practice, it's far too little, far too late, in a game where if you really want that high magic damage you just grab some thunder boosters and use that spell type (since typeless Ultima can't get elemental buffs), and a fully magic specced Ramza probably doesn't want the Mettle skillset anyways compared to using two magic skillsets.. At best, it's an alright ranged addition to Ramza's kit if he's playing a hybrid setup like yours is, and as we've seen even in that optimal Magic + Physical build it's kinda mid.
Writers remembered she existed after her one completely pointless combat as "wow it's me the previously completely unmentioned sister of some guy that died last chapter!" and had to slap her in somehow I guess.
I'll be honest, I barely even remember this fight as anything more than a quick speedbump. It's certainly a bit of a disappointment after the last two Lucavi were larger than life, end of chapter bosses meant to absolutely destroy your party.
Boy, he sure was!
Yeah as I'd heard, this feels like it was a pretty meh interlude shoved in awkwardly, especially compared to a lot of the other exclusive WotL content added which generally felt like an improvement.
Fortunately for you, Melidou is pretty much 100% worthless!
Seriously, there is zero point in training her when she joins after Cid of all things, with him already having access to her entire skillset and thensome. I'd honestly place her as barely above Rapha and Marach in terms of worth training, and that's only because it's at least a somewhat useful skillset. At least Beowulf is the only one with his sword skills, or Reis is the only one with magical dragon powers. At least Agrias joins a full two chapters before Cid so she gets the chance to establish herself.
Man, Delita is a masterclass manipulator isn't he? You really can't tell if he's just murdered Valmafra or not, you can never tell if his words are false or not... did he seriously gain all those skills in the course of only a year, or did it always come naturally to him even as just "Ramza's Right Hand Guy"?
I feel like we've gotten really different reads of Zalbaag somewhere, because he's always struck me as being at least surface level honorable/a good person. A moral coward and someone who won't hesitate to kill off a commoner like Tetra for being an inconvenience to an overall goal, but that's more "casualties of war" to him compared to what cold-hearted murdering the herbalist would be.
Of course, he might also just be so lost in his own head over the obviously oncoming downfall of his house that he doesn't even consider silencing the witness.
Hey
Heeeeey
Heeeeeeeeeey Omi~
Others mentioned it, but Argath is at least personally connected to Elmdore, having both served him and being part of the group that saved him in Chapter 1. I suppose from a story perspective that's enough of a connection for him to look at Argath's corpse and go "yeah sure why not" when deciding on who to raise as a personal guardian, though I do agree that overall this doesn't really add much to the game, especially slapped in the middle of an already three combats long sequence. Certainly one of the only changes in WotL that doesn't seem to be a positive one compared to things like the vastly improved script or some of the extra cutaway scenes that add more context.
I just recently got around to buying Tactics Ogre on Steam and it sounds like I really need to get around to playing more than the first map or two.
Yeah, iirc Castlevania 3 Alucard is basically just a mini-dracula in appearance, black cloak, black hair, the works. Wasn't until Symphony that we got the better known Castlevania Alucard with the Bishie White Hair and all that.
MiskWisk
Hoot
- Location
- Somewhere devoid of wit
- Pronouns
- He
Huh, well I guess you could say-
...
Well never mind then.
Still, interesting to see the design for Zalera here.
That would be Colundo who shows up in Brave Exvius.
Here's his design
Behold, boy band Columbo!
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- Location
- Phoenix
Yeah, a running thing I've seen in a lot of FF games is that the spell billed as the most powerful, often ends up being weaker than the thunaga, Blizzaga, and Firaga spells if you use weaknesses correctly.
- Location
- USA
There was that battle in which the leader was "Hell no, that's GAFFGARION!" but really couldn't leave because to do so would see him (and his henchmen, I assume) accused and hunted down as a heretic.
Perhaps he bears a grudge against Beoulves since he died fighting against them?
She has a cool sprite. That's one reason.