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

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About the Durai Papers, if I remember the cutscenes correctly, we have never seen Delita's scenes without certain characters.

I think, for the Papers, Orran basically referred to these people to get Delita's parts right. He did have access to them in some way. Master manipulator like Delita will never talk to someone like Orran, especially after what he did to House Orlandaeu.

There are only three specific people we always see with Delita. Ramza, obviously. Ovelia, either via her journals (published probably), direct interaction with Orran or servant gossip because young Princess ending up with a charming Hero is basically the staple of romance fantasy. Ovelia's parts seems mostly from her perspective too, especially the final cutscene we saw her where she went hiding behind the wall. No one else would have known she hides herself there unless she told Orran. Valmafra, where we saw Orran did met her in Zeltennia and we last saw them together before Delita attacked her.

So basically, for the Heiral parts, Orran depends on these three sources and his own interaction with the man.
 
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Omicron said:
Gaffgarion: "There are mercenaries like you in every generation. And I've felled every last one of them."
Ovelia: "Does the color of a lion's coat mean anything to you? When I close my eyes, the lion in my dreams... His fur is a deep, rich gold."
Orran: "As far as the chaos we find ourselves in these days, it's difficult to say which side drew the sword first."
Mustadio: "You really are too good at murdering people, Ramza."
Delita: "Yet, what is a nation? Can we actually see the physical lines that divide one from another?"
Agrias: "Stick with Ramza and you'll make it."
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Well that's a terminal plot bunny right there, crawled in through my eyeballs and is currently chewing the ol' grey matter, maybe if I write it will leave before it's too late.
 
SCO said:

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cRIfsFefatg

ironically this song is unrealistic in fft because it's the archer class.
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Look, a convenient hook! Let's talk a bit about how FFTA/A2 made bows Great (again? Never played Tactics Orgre tbh).
To recap, I already talked a bit on how Archers were completely changed in FFTA/A2, notably incorporating Mustadio's skillset and other status and utility abilities. In A2 we also have the Ranger as a bow user, though they can also equip daggers and their use of traps leads to a focus on melee more than ranged combat. I've also already yapped about the Assassin, due to their use of Greatbows, though for them the same considerations as the ranger apply (all their abilities are melee range bar one).
So, what is left? FFTA introduces the GReatbows as weapon, a stronger and longer-ranged version of the bow. To go with it the game also features 3 Jobs that can wield this weapon. One is the Assassin, which we have already seen. The other 2 are the main feature of this post, the Sniper and the Hunter.

The Sniper is a Viera-exclusive Job that, as the name impiles, focuses on ranged attacks. They feature a very high Attack (highest Attack growth of all Viera Jobs), high Speed (below Assassins, still liable to outspeed almost every other Job), mediocre Magic and Reisstance and low HP, MP and Defense. As for equipment, they can of course use Greatbows and can equip clothes and hats for armor. The interesting part though is of course their abilities, almost all of which can be used at weapon range. They get two straightfoward damage abilities: Doubleshot (2 attacks at half power each) adn Beso Toxico (a normal attack with high chance to Poison). They also get Doom Archer, that deals damage to HP and MP equal to HP lost, but can be used only with Bows and Greatbows. Speaking of Doom, Death Sickle can inflict it on targets. Then you get the 3 Aim abilitis: Aim:Wallet steals Gil from the target, while Aim:Armor and Aim:Weapon simply destroy the relevant equipment. Finally, and fittingly for their name, Snipers can use Concealment to turn Invisible. As Reaction Snipers have access to Regenerate for some self-healing. A good mix of damage and debuffs in general, Snipers can work just with their own abilities, and using the Archer as secondary Jobs allow them to apply even more status. You caould also try the Fencer as secondary for more offensive power or something Magic-based, like the Red Mage or the Elementalist, for versatility and support. The Sniper is also a common secondary Job for Assassins (equipping a Greatbow), for situations where the target can't be reached in melee.
Tactics A2 slows the Sniper down considerably, with it now being about on par with the White Mage. OTOH they get an indirect buff from the new Job Spellblade, being able to use Spellblade abilities at range. They continue to be a strong Job, and now have even more options.

Next to the Hunter. The Hunter is a Hume Job, and can be seen as the counterpart of the Sniper. Hunters specialize in hunting monsters, but have enough offensive power that they're an option against every opponent. Hunters have good Attack, Speed and surprisingly Resist, ojk HP and MP and low Magic and Defense. Not far off the Sniper, slightly hardier but a fair bit slower. Equipment-wise it's the same as the Sniper, so Greatbows, clothes and hats. The abilities are by far the most interesting part, as usual. We start with Sonic Boom, a ranged AoE with fixed range 4. Then we have Oust, an ability that removes a monster from the field. It works like the Palaldin's Parley but at weapon's range, and is about as useful (not much). A more useful ability is Advice, that increases the target's critical hit chance. Next we have Aim: Vitals, that inflicts a random status, choosing between Berserk, Disable, Blind, Immobilize; rarely it can instead reduce HP to 1. Hunting is a weak attack that, if KOs the target, rewards more JP (used for the Combo mechanic and summoning Totemas, powerful summons that target all opponents; each race has one Totema associated to it. Humes of course are associated with the last Totema obtained). Addle applied the status of the same name, that blocks the use of Acion and Reaction abilities. It's the same as the Ninja's and Assassins' Oblivion, only at weapon range and for 0 MP. Sidewinder is one of the most realisble abilites of the Hunter: it's simply a weapon attack that deals double damage to monsters. Capture, as the name implies, captures a monster, removing it from battle. This works on Pokemon mechanics (less HP the monster has = higher chance) and is tied to another Job's whole deal. LAst but not least there's the Humes Ultima ability, Ultima Shot. This simply deals triple damage at a hefty 60MP cost. For Reaction we have the same Regenerator the Sniper has. Hunters also have a Support ability, Weapon Atk+, that increases the damage dealt with weapon attacks. Simple but very good. The Hunter can employ quite a few secondary Jobs effectively: Archer is classic, for more status and support abilities; Blue Magic is also an option, for the versatility and the low dependency on the Magic stat (even if it's called Blue Magic); Paladin and Fighter can also be used, most of their abilities benefit from the range greatbows have.
In Tactics A2 there's some small and one big change. Stats are more or less the same, though in practice Hunters are now faster than Snipers. They can now also use knives as weapons, even if no ability is associated with them. Ultima Shot got a discount at 32 MP, but with the MP change you need support now if you want to use it consistently. Capture is gone, due to the removal of the whole mechanic. Hunting now awards extra Loot if the target is KO'd with it. The big change is that Hunters are now also a Gria Job, and the basic one for them too. Grias have a different sety of advanced Jobs than Humes, so this in effect opens up way more possible strategies.
 
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Flare said:
Grias have a different sety of advanced Jobs than Humes, so this in effect opens up way more possible strategies.
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If i remember correctly, the main thing Gria want to do is stack damage multipliers, no? They get an ability from one of their other jobs that doubles damage when attacking from behind, they've got relatively easy access to Ultima Shot, or Sidewinder if you don't have the bow that teaches Ultima Shot or are just looking for a cheaper MP cost...
 
Flare said:
The big change is that Hunters are now also a Gria Job, and the basic one for them too. Grias have a different sety of advanced Jobs than Humes, so this in effect opens up way more possible strategies.
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Gria, for context, were Dragon Girls. Presumably the same monster girl-obsessed designer as Viera except even more obviously moe "human girls with extra bits glued on" this time. Only ever appeared in Tactics A2, not even XII or it's DS sequel. Didn't even have any notable named characters. (I expect XIV to feature them as a major Beast Tribe any expansion now).


 
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Zap Rowsdower said:
Gria, for context, were Dragon Girls. Presumably the same monster girl-obsessed designer as Viera except even more obviously moe "human girls with extra bits glued on" this time. Only ever appeared in Tactics A2, not even XII or it's DS sequel. Didn't even have any notable named characters. (I expect XIV to feature them as a major Beast Tribe any expansion now).


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There's the Prima Donna clan in A2, which is involved in a few subquests. And more or less that's it, even Seeqs have more showings in the game, with the Bonga Bugle Head Editor as a standout. It's not a compliment in his case.
 
Flare said:
There's the Prima Donna clan in A2, which is involved in a few subquests. And more or less that's it, even Seeqs have more showings in the game, with the Bonga Bugle Head Editor as a standout. It's not a compliment in his case.
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Seeqs also show up in some of the other Ivalice games... unlike the Gria, alas.
 
You know, in retrospect, the horror that Zalbaag goes through, and how he has to fight to get any message out to Ramza, is really interesting in what it reveals that Argath went through the same thing, because you know that a Lucavi wouldn't have cared about the loyalty of a human when they could just control them. The same pain as Zalbaag. The same fight to speak as Zalbaag.

And Argath fights through to expound on how much he hates the poor.
 
Lucavi: "no I didn't do anything to change his personality, when I revived him he was already Like That."
Argath: "by Saint Ajora how I hate the poor!"
Lucavi "kind of endearing, honestly. Like some sort of fucked up puppy."
 
There's certainly something to the image of Vampire/Lucavi Elmdore pulling out Argath and getting a guy whose exertions of free will come out as "..I can't ...waste time..got...to....to go remind the common trash of...the earth.....their place.....got to smash them....with ...my steel.......got to make...Ramza suffer first...".

I'm now imagining a dark comedy situation where the big problem with the new minion is that he'd really like to do some petty evil when he has a job to do. Like,...

Argath: Please, revive Tietra
Elmdore: No. Stop trying to make us do a bit where you kill her again. Your enemy is Ramza. And, no, we aren't going to let you have his sister so that you can kill her in front of him. We need her, so stop asking.
Argath: Though I know and treasure my place, you can be a cruel master.
 
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The funniest thing about the "Argath hates poor people" meme is that it's not even completely true; Argath isn't even rich, he hates, specifically, commoners, because he's hanging his entire identity on the thin line of blood inheritance that defines him as "noble" and therefore "special" unlike all who are common. But his family is destitute! There are likely many merchants in Ivalice who are much, much richer than Argath and his family, and if anything, he probably hates them even more for it.

But because he's Argath, he doesn't warrant enough respect to get his motivations correct, so "Argath hates poor people" it is until the end of time, and he deserves it.
 
There's an order to the world for him, and it's very, very important to him that he takes being reborn as a chance to make the lesser people know that his vampiric undead blood continues to be far better and noble than the mud in their veins, their innate commoner-ness. He's been given a blessing, and that's that he can keep raging and hating on behalf of the noble order of things and his social/blood status even after death (and hating Ramza for not accepting how Things Should Be, accepting that system that lets him assign himself innate value).

Edit: Argath feels like he fundamentally needs little or no influence to be able to look at himself or his vampire Lucavi master and go "Well, we're still the nobility, arranged in the right order of things, and those are still the lesser people and traitors". Such is significant in regards to what he embodies and represents, which I think he does very well.
 
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Bernkastel said:
There's an order to the world for him, and it's very, very important to him that he takes being reborn as a chance to make the lesser people know that his vampiric undead blood continues to be far better and noble than the mud in their veins, their innate commoner-ness. He's been given a blessing, and that's that he can keep raging and hating on behalf of the noble order of things and his social/blood status even after death (and hating Ramza for not accepting how Things Should Be, accepting that system that lets him assign himself innate value).

Edit: Argath feels like he fundamentally needs little or no influence to be able to look at himself or his vampire Lucavi master and go "Well, we're still the nobility, arranged in the right order of things, and those are still the lesser people and traitors". Such is significant in regards to what he embodies and represents, which I think he does very well.
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He's a flexible go-getter who is keen to adapt to changing business conditions. Says right the on his CV, which is why the Lucavi were glad to have him on board.
 
silentorphan said:
"0/10 experience, would not recommend" -- R. Beoulve☑️
"Very bad. Would not recommend. Rate no stars if possible" -- D. Heiral☑️
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Mutton said:
He's a flexible go-getter who is keen to adapt to changing business conditions. Says right the on his CV, which is why the Lucavi were glad to have him on board.
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"-10/10 experience. Even worse performance as undead compared to when still alive. Definitely do not recommend." -- R. Beoulve☑️
 
Omicron said:
The funniest thing about the "Argath hates poor people" meme is that it's not even completely true; Argath isn't even rich, he hates, specifically, commoners, because he's hanging his entire identity on the thin line of blood inheritance that defines him as "noble" and therefore "special" unlike all who are common. But his family is destitute! There are likely many merchants in Ivalice who are much, much richer than Argath and his family, and if anything, he probably hates them even more for it.
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No but you see, Argath isn't poor - his family name is far too important for such a thing!

He is simply a temporarily embarrassed gillionaire.
 
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