screenshot Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics (WOTL): The Nadir of Videogames

[Parrhesia]

Oh, so the original Japanese PS1 release had the WotL job costs?

And yeah, I'd imagine. FFTA1's story's iirc 24 missions and a few of those are 5v7 meatgrinders.

[maybe]

the only way for you to find out if the PS1 version is better is to play it all the way through

[Omegaprism]

44 minutes ago, unique said:

the only way for you to find out if the PS1 version is better is to play it all the way through

Better yet, do a single class challenge run, as a party of mimes.

[Parrhesia]

if I did a single class run it'd be orators

... lowkey i would almost unironically do it but it'd be too much pain to be practical imo

Edited April 18, 2017 by Parrhesia

[euklyd]

2 hours ago, Parrhesia said:

I actually couldn't tell if that was just some piece of shit you photoshopped in or what; I'm leaning towards 'no' but only because that seems like it'd be way too much effort

 

2 hours ago, Parrhesia said:

is is the worst deployment screen in SRPG history, to be perfectly honest.

Even FE heroes upgraded their deployment process to be better; FFT is being beaten by a gacha game

[Parrhesia]

all of the dumb treasures and places we find are unedited

[grandjackal]

@Dark Holy Elf Couple bits. First off, I worked solely off what the game gives you, so no recruitment office. Secondly, I had a rule of no random encounters (that part was "fun", resetting and reloading just for that). The time spent having one less skill to gain JP in a new job was actually too painful a transition for how fast I was going. It probably would have been worth it to try, but dipping even remotely in magic power sucked an infinite bag of dicks. Hilarious part is, I was playing the PS1 version which is FAR more forgiving in that aspect, and it STILL felt bad. 

By the way, to the player. You aware of the fact that elemental rods like ice rods, etc boost spell damage that share the same element? The same goes with weather effects. 

I've actually one shotted Argath because Wizard with Ice Rod while it was snowing. Lightning works similarly during rain.

[Augestein]

44 minutes ago, grandjackal said:

@Dark Holy Elf Couple bits. First off, I worked solely off what the game gives you, so no recruitment office. Secondly, I had a rule of no random encounters (that part was "fun", resetting and reloading just for that). The time spent having one less skill to gain JP in a new job was actually too painful a transition for how fast I was going. It probably would have been worth it to try, but dipping even remotely in magic power sucked an infinite bag of dicks. Hilarious part is, I was playing the PS1 version which is FAR more forgiving in that aspect, and it STILL felt bad. 

By the way, to the player. You aware of the fact that elemental rods like ice rods, etc boost spell damage that share the same element? The same goes with weather effects. 

I've actually one shotted Argath because Wizard with Ice Rod while it was snowing. Lightning works similarly during rain.

Provided the events are scripted correctly with the whether. There's a couple of rain maps that don't actually boost bolt spells. Particularly maps that aren't raining at the start of them. 

[Parrhesia]

I'm aware, but the time of needing to use magic, ever, is long past.

[SoloCross]

That kill graph is amazing. Although, I have a question...

What is "Crime Deluxe"? I don't remember thieves having a promotion...

[Parrhesia]

Think more warcrime than theftcrime.

[Radiant Dragon]

I assumed it was for Ninjas, which are basically better than Thieves in every way.

[Parrhesia]

Update 24
In Which We Hit a Snag

Spoiler

 

Oh you motherfucker. He even took his gear with him!

Which admittedly was one suit of Chainmail which is, like, late Chapter 1 gear, but it's the principle of the thing.

The important thing is that that was probably my last grinding session of the game. Everyone's basically hit their final build, ish.

Simon's the guy from the first quest, I guess he's like the boss of Orbonne or whatever.

Why are the crown jewels in some monastery in the middle of nowhere

Yeah but like
the actual royalty needs to wear that shit

I'd be more blase, but, well... the truth is? We've entered BOOK HELL.

To be fair he was taken down by five dudes.

Just a reminder.

missed a screenshot but Mercurio's instructions are, if he dies, to hurl the rocks into the fucking ocean.

There have been 34 (plus a second Milleuda) female enemies fought over the course of the game so far. We have recruited, at the very least, three female Academy recruits, Agrias and her honour guard - six. We, specifically, have also recruited Selkie and Portia.

Apparently Mercurio can only trust women which, to be fair, given his experiences so far is kind of understandable.

Anyway, we are about to enter Book Hell. Since everyone's mostly in their final classes it's time for an overview!

Mercurio is a ninja now. Ninjas dual-wield. They also throw shuriken, which is handy, as a ranged attack. He still has geomancy waiting, dormant, in the wings - but he'll need Mettle for this set of fights.

Agrias is the only build Agrias will ever be. She's heading towards Monk, via Equip Sword.

Thurio is a beast. Katanas rely somewhat on Bravery, and Thurio's is absurdly high. When struck, he gets Reraise. He is basically immune to magic.

Selkie's going to end up the actual Orator but is picking up the ability to Revive en route. For now she will hit people since I never got my second mythril gun and the first gun is kind of underpowered by now. When she's hit, she will usually gain 1 speed.

I have nobody in the magic tree anymore. Portia also has Adrenaline Rush - the best archer skill, honestly - and can also thieve, and is really fast, and her awful attack stats are irrelevant because she just has a gun and talks.

And then there's everyone else I guess, including an egg. We will need them to cheer us on as we face our greatest threat to date.

Actual enemy variety.

We don't have to fight the templar yet. This is all the dialogue.

The dragoon charges the Hollywood killing blow on Mercurio, helpfully letting us kill him.

Great. The time boys are now both hasted.

Okay I'm starting to think that taking the stairs was a really bad idea.

Yeeeeah we're in a failstate.

Hanging back gets us a better start. We get this dude and also one of the hastes misses.

Then two really bad things happen!

There is no way to tell how much damage Samuraismanship will inflict.

We 'win' the fight - but can we rush them all down before Mercurio crystallises?

They have unleashed Fast Bird.

This is simultaneously the funniest screenshot of the entire LP and the entire reason we lose. Except it actually isn't because the stars align and we instead get the chance to shoot him to death and punch the time boy (who had already dodged one 80%) to death and if I hadn't panicked and thrown Agrias to sword her man which was 70% blocked (as was Thurio's effort) we would've won but fucking hell.

It's really frustrating.

Third time's the charm.

They can waste their time chewing on Arnald. That suits me fine.

Down goes the chemist.

aha
ahahaha, 
oh god, the chances of this happening were single-digit percent.

Honestly what really comes in handy this run is this batch of dudes really loves to heal with potions, which are hilariously outdated by now.

Look at the action economy. Every attack deals close to 100 damage now. Healing 30 within one range is really bad.

Selkie gets her revenge on Agrias by sending her to sleep with words.

Then it's just cleanup.

But Book Hell is not over. In fact, Book Hell has just begun.

KILL COUNTER

enemy
variety

 

 

[maybe]

i don't get the thing with the jewel or whatever

like sure they brought it to prove she's royalty but why do they have to keep it

can't they just be like "yo here's the jewel thing we're real" and then leave without having to give it to them

[Radiant Dragon]

What was Bran's deal, anyway? I'm guessing you were using him as a punching bag for Talk Skill? I doubt you'd let him just leave if it was for Move-Find Item.

[Mage Knight 404]

Get outta here, Raisin Bran, no one has time for you.

Ironic that Mercurio of all people in your active party has the least faith. ' 3'

[Reality]

wow getting kicked from the party is harsh-. I'm just waiting to see how the status conditions go.

[euklyd]

do people you recruit not have their sprite show up on the kill counter

[Dandragon]

You know, i never thought to make Agrias a monk, of all things. I should try that.

[Parrhesia]

 

Yeah basically someone in the thread mentioned that guys with low brave/high faith didn't leave without warning and you actually got a series of messages. I wanted to see/showcase this, since I couldn't even google magic them up. And now you know! It would be all but impossible to get this to happen accidentally, though, it really is just if you decide to force your own guy to accept pacifism.

They show up on the kill graph if they've been talked across. However, random encounter guys who have been recruited (which is just Bran so far) don't show up on the graph, but do show up as hearts and minds.

[Parrhesia]

Update 25
In Which Nobody Fucking Shuts Up

Spoiler

 

Oh boy. Sightlines, archers and summoners.

Oh and there's knights, too!

We gotta find every rock.

Behold, the single map view that lets us see everyone. As usual, we're outnumbered by guys who outlevel us.

Isilud (seriously.) is weird. Mostly he jumps on you. Jump, incidentally, is a useless command for the player since the game won't tell you when you land, unlike EVERY OTHER CHARGE IN THE GAME. His main skillset is Arts of War - the knight skills.

Fuck's sake.

The layout suits their archers perfectly. Meanwhile, since the deployment screen continues to be the worst in TBS history, I've managed to tuck Thurio away where he cannot affect the fight meaningfully. The odds are stacked too far against us. Yet again, all we can really do is try and go straight for the keystone.

Are you really tired of having this same exact conversation every single fucking fight against a named opponent?

SHUT
THE
FUCK
UP
FUCK OFF

oh good!! more dialogue!!

what a good game

While the archers kill everyone over there, we kill Isilud forever and he will never come back.

Because this game wouldn't do that to us.

It would be stupid to give teleporting superpowers to every dipshit nobody with a portrait who gets in our way.

It would be really stupid to give them even to people who have no history with us, no ability depicted to cast magic in any way - you know, it would just sort of cheapen the impact of making any progress, but this game wouldn't do that.

Because Final Fantasy Tactics is a well-written game.

And your actions matter.

Because we should apparently just be skullfucked harder by FFT, Isilud teleported behind us, bringing a Standard FFT Battle Formation (Valkyrie Variant) with him, and instantly found Alma.

He brought Wiglaf with him.

whatever

We're on the other side of this door. It's a mostly symmetrical battlefield except that they're spread out and you're clustered up and Wiglaf will usually go first and annihilate you immediately.

He's not talkative, which makes him infinitely better than Isilud.

You know, nevermind.

Fuck you, Tom Slattery.

A voice from inside the bookshelves successfully talks sense into Muriel, a mediocre knight.

Wiglaf doesn't just run at critical health. Is that a sign that we might take him f- oh for fuck's sake, hold up a sec

That's the dumbest proverb I've ever heard.

'Meagre' is Tom Slattery's favourite word.

Haha yeah alright Mr. Goldarmour.

Mercifully he then kills both Muriel and Mercurio, solving the dialogue economy.

Agrias solves the issue.

Have we reached self-parody yet?

I think we've reached self-parody.

KILL COUNTER

 

 

[Mage Knight 404]

Man fuck Isilud.

The void begins to crack on the Kill Count. Soon all will be nothing.

[Parrhesia]

Bonus to whoever was the guy who wanted to see the female Chemist in not-blue;

[maybe]

that was a painful amount of dialogue holy fuck

i still can't figure out what this one means

[Parrhesia]

"You're being a cunt, and that gives me strength, because when you surrender - which you will - your cuntiness will eat you up from the inside."