So there has actually been quite a bit of TRPG talk in the lounge lately.
I was going to post this in GD, but I had second thoughts considering a couple of some admittedly trigger happy threads of mine were shut down, so I would rather not get on the mods bad side.
Anyway, hopefully this thread doesn’t die due to the lack of traffic in here.
Obviously, with the title in mind it would be nice if there was talk of other TRPG’s in here that some or many of us have not heard about or played yet, but it is expected there will be alot of FFT talk and it is welcome.
Personally I more interested in the game that inspired the gameplay mechanics of FFT, Ogre Tactics. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.
Some long winded quotes up ahead to catch anyone up on the general feel of the discussions previous to this thread.
I don’t know if anybody else here has played “Knights in the Nightmare” for Nintendo DS but I would definitely recommend it for anybody wanting to try something new out.
Also I would like to give a shout out to Feather Mantle, Crystal Shield, and Blade Grasp classes; must be tough never getting hit by physical attacks.
Oracles are pretty beastly in FFT- they get one of the best boss-killing spells in the game (Life Drain), some of the game’s absolute best status spells (Blind, Paralyze, Petrify) that can completely neuter many of the game’s hardest encounters with a single successful spell, and get access to arguably the best non-gun, non-Knight Sword weapon class in the game (Sticks, which run off of WP*MA with 2 reach.) making them not just a spellcasting threat but a very strong class for attacking people. They also have a niche in both helping with steal shenanigans thanks to Foxbird, one of the few ways in the game to reduce brave, as well as just about the only practical way in the game to undo enemy buffs (Dispel Magic) which is useful in the odd situation where the enemy actually goes and sets up a Shell or something. While none of their support abilities are terribly awesome on their own, Defense up has the occasional use (like when trying to set up an ‘immortal’ Lancer through use of Dragon Spirit) and Move-MP Up can be combined with MP Switch to assure a character can absorb at least one free hit per turn they receive.
Their primary drawback is that you get a special character who’s basically a Super-Oracle (Beowulf) that completely replaces them and that they’re more subject to the Faith and Zodiac of enemies then other casters due to their spells mostly being percentage-based status effects. It’s generally not a issue in the main game (And if you’re paying attention to the zodiacs of major opponents, can be turned around back into their favor) but there’s a few enemies they can have trouble with like Worker 7 or Malak and in Theory PvP FFT they’re pretty much neutered with the 03 Faith/Blade Grasp setup that gets thrown around a lot, outside Dispel Magic still wrecking buff-heavy setups.
This guy appears to have pretty decent explanations for all the classes. PSP classes N/A.
[media=youtube]5I1aeod7Q78[/media]
I’ve always been more interested in having strong peripheral characters to add plenty of status ailments, then running in the brawlers and wizards.
Another note, I always felt like summoners were awesome but just cost way too much MP per summon. I’m pretty sure I was always throwing them shit with Chemists or something.
I have just recently started playing these kind of games. Ive tried them before but could never get into them. Right now im playing Disgaea 3 and I really like it.
I have a few others on the PSP and DS. Uh, Knights in the Nightmare(DS), Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together(PSP), Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness(PSP), Jeanne D’Arc(PSP), and Valkyrie Profile(DS). Maybe now I’ll actually play those games.
Oh man, the Wiegraf duel…Because I forgot to keep one of my save states on the map, I was forced to start all over again. I think I was around 30 hrs. or something at that point of the game. What even more saddening than that is that my brother forgot/lost our PSP in Thailand, losing all my FFT data
Summoners are awesome even with their drawbacks- you can one-shot most of Acts 2 and 3 with someone with just Shiva and an Ice Rod early and a Wizard Rod and some other piece of ice-boosting gear later.
Summon Magic is the best in the game, full stop- you get a lot of strong, practical, unevadable attack magic that hits a huge area and does not hit friendlies, you get the best healing spell in the game, another of the game’s grand boss-smiters in Lich, and the best protection spell in the game in Golem. The later spells take forever to charge but it doesn’t matter because you don’t even need them- just throw on elemental-boosting gear and spam Shiva/Ramuh/Salamander/Leviathan, and only really bother with stuff like Bahamut and Clops if you’re sitting on Short Charge or something (a useful support for Summon Magic for sure, but I still prefer Magic Attack Up a lot of the time) . Half of MP is a good support early on for Summoners but peters out once better equipment starts showing up since just about every class has something better to do with their support slot then reduce MP costs.
The main drawback to Summoner is it’s chassis- it’s a slow class with bad movement stats and it’s MA, while all right, isn’t quite as high as, say, a Wizard. Summon is generally best stripped from the Summoner class and stapled into another.
