Hello everyone, I know it has been awhile and my last few broadcast have been pretty scattered, but I have a good reason for the chaoticness. My wife is currently pregnant and getting closer and closer to her due date so I haven’t been able to spend as much time on this as I would like to. So just so you know, now you know what is going on.
Now on with the blog:
To start off I was able to finally complete Final Fantasy XII. The end took a little less than an hour and for me it really wasn’t that bad at all. My characters were all level 99 and using the 3 best weapons in the game. The best part about the ending I would say was the final form of Vayne and the ending CGI (see below). There really isn’t much else to say that I haven’t already said in past post…I loved the game. I hope that any of you who are contemplating playing the game…give it some time to get going and enjoy it.
My next game, which won the poll, is Kingdom Hearts. I remember really enjoying this game a couple years back. I didn’t finish it but I was way up there in getting everything done. The last thing I can remember doing was beating Sephiroth so hopefully I can finish it for everyone who has been keeping up with my broadcast. So look forward to more Kingdom Hearts posts and I hope to see everyone when I broadcast next. See Kingdom Hearts Intro below:
***There will not be a live stream this Friday due to family stuff I have going on. Will try for next Friday, but I cannot guarentee due to my wife being around the time where she may deliver our 2nd child. I will update the blog if anything changes.MY NEXT CAST WILL COMPLETE THE GAME***
FFXII: Superboss Yiazmat
Yiazmat was actually a challenge I will admit that. After grinding him for about a good 4 hours I was able to take him down, but it wasn’t easy. I probably would have done it faster if I hadn’t healed in the hallway and allowed him to heal a couple times. I do have to admit though it was a fun fight.
I started off dealing with gambits and trying to figure out what strategy I wanted to go with. I decided to try and keep one berserked character while having a support damage dealer and a support healer/buffer/damage dealer. I will admit this strategy worked well for awhile until I reached a certain point of the battle until I had to switch things up. (As always the music during the broadcast was provided by FinalFantasyRadio.com)
So here’s what I did:
Vaan: Berserked as much as possible
Fran: Support Gunner, Switched to support damage dealer later one with 2 handed sword
Ashe: Support/buffer Bow, Staff, Gunner later on
So as you can see I had to deal with changing a lot to get comfortable in this battle.
I tried to keep Ashe in the hallway as much as possible and I allowed Fran some wiggle room to roam.
But that is basically it, until you get Yiazmat to a certain point in the battle you can grind him pretty easily. Here are the gambits I used in the first part of the battle. (These changed during the battle ESPECIALLY near the end. Near the End just give everyone arise and attack, it’s not worth healing)
Vaan:
ally: any –> arise
self: berserk
foe: lowest hp –> attack
Fran:
ally: any –> arise
ally: any –> remedy
ally: hp < 70% –> curaja
ally: any –> bubble
ally: any –> hasteaga
ally: vaan –> bravery
ally: any –> protectga
ally: any –> shellga
foe: lowest HP –> attack
Ashe:
ally: any –> arise
ally: any –> remedy
ally: hp < 70% –> curaja
ally: any –> bubble
ally: any –> hasteaga
ally: vaan –> bravery
ally: any –> protectga
ally: any –> shellga
foe: lowest HP –> attack
Equipment:
Vaan: Yagyu Darkblade –> Golden Skullcap –>Maximillian–>Cat-er hood
Fran: Fomalhaut (changed to Koga Blade later on) –> Golden Skullcap –>Maximillian–>Bubble Belt
Ashe: Perseus Bow (switched to Fomalhaut later on) –> Golden Skullcap –>Maximillian–>Sage Ring
Watch Part I and the final 3 Million HP below:
Part I
I got bored one night and figured I would go after this sword. To even be able to get this item you have to get the 3 badges, one you get from Omega, the other from Hell Wyrm and the last from fishing. The first 2 were probably the toughest part of this process and the fishing just takes a little time and you will get it quick.
The Wyrmhero Blade
To start it off just go to Balfonheim and talk to the Fishiing Enthusiast near the aerodome. Talk to that person twice then run to the aerodome entrance…but do not enter…run back and the rod will be up against the wall. Take that rod to Ruskel at the South Bank villiage (Dalmasco Estersand). Fish with Ruskel for awhile until you get all the color bottles, once you get those you have to run around to certain places in order to get the message that is inside each of the bottles. I am just going to copy and paste the info below from FinalFantasy.wikia.com just to save me time in explaining a lot of this process. Only thing I need to let you know is once you get past the Midstream area you must go and obtain the Matamune Rod.
FFXII: Fishing
Other than that just get through the commands in the fishing and once you unlock the Den of The River Lord is when you need to really pay attention. The commands aren’t really that difficult after a couple tries so just be patient and take your time. Once you get the King of Nebra fish 10 times you will obtain the 3rd badge needed to get the sword. Once you get that go to any merchant and sell your 3 badges to get the sword. Watch below:
A different fishing rod is required to gain access to the last two fishing spots. Acquiring it is almost another sidequest in itself. To be able to begin it, you must first defeat Gilgamesh both times.
After defeating him, when you fish, the occasional Empty Bottle that you catch will turn out to be one of five coloured bottles. Each will contain a cryptic message leading to a specific spot in the game. After visiting every spot, the bottles will then form one last message, leading to the location of the Matamune.
Name
Clue
Location
Message
Item
Blue Bottle
Truth lies just beyond falsehood. CDZCKZMCRANZS
Overturned boat in the Echoes of the Past section of the Nabreus Deadlands.
After finding each location and deciphering the clues, the player will be lead to Barheim Passage. The Matamune is found in a section of the Zeviah Span, but by looking at the map, it’s clear that it can only be reached via the West Annex. Gilgamesh appears and presents the player with the fishing rod.
The minigame begins with only one area, Downstream, being available. By completing certain conditions, an additional four river sections can be unlocked. Each area has an increasing level of difficulty and a different variety of Perfect Fishing rewards. Note: Every fishing spot will produce the occasional “Empty Bottle” instead of a fish.
Name
How to unlock
Fish types
Perfect fishing rewards
Notes
Downstream
Available from the start
Common fish
100 gil – 34%
Hi-Potion – 33%
Water Stone – 33%
-
Midstream
Achieve five Perfect Fishing scores at Downstream
Common Fish, Delicious Fish
Fish Scale – 34%
100 Gil – 33%
water magicite – 33%
The Cactoid Compact can only be caught once, and only after acquiring the Matamune (see below). After catching the Cactoid Compact, the extra 10% is added to the Turtle Shell.
Hidden Shoals
Acquire the matamune and receive the Cactoid Compact from Upstream.
The Cactoid Commendation can only be caught once, and only after acquiring the Matamune (see below). After catching the Cactoid Commendation, the extra 10% is added to the Adamantite.
Den Of The River Lord
Receive the Cactoid Commendation at the Hidden Shoals
Nebra Succulent, King Of Nebra
Adamantite – 50%
Scarletite – 50%
Until you capture it ten times, the same command for the King Of Nebra will be the only one to appear. After capturing it ten times, you will earn Lu Shang’s Badge.
After going through my past blogs and listing off the stuff I would like to accomplish, I have come up with a final list. I never really expected to play the game this long..but I do want to get some of the biggest things done and out of the way. So here it is, the final list:
Defeat Yiazmat(This will likely take more than 1 cast)
My reasoning for shortening my list, just want to get on to something else. I do plan on following this list and finishing the game.
So what can you expect in my next cast? Definitely look for me to finish the 2 Espers I have left and also finish leveling all my characters to level 99. You can alo expect, another great playlist provided by FinalFantasyRadio.com. I would like to send out a big THANKS to Tebian for help making my cast a little more interesting each Friday. So if you looking for some Final Fantasy XII and some great Final Fantasy music, then join me on Friday April 9th, 2010.
Last Cast:
During my last cast I was able to finally get all the items to obtain the best Great Sword in the game, Tournesol. See below to see me going through the task of building the items and recipe in order to buy the sword.
Tournesol is still a big work in progress, but I have made a decent dent in the item gathering. For starters I have had 99 arcanas for quite some time so I will meet the 60 arcanas requirement. I knocked out the Wargod’s Band, scarletites, Hell Gate Flames, Damascus Steel, and Soul Powder. So that leaves me with High Arcana x6, Snake Skin x12, Serpent Eye x6 and Feystone x4.
While I have been going after these weapons I have also tried to kill 2 birds with one stone. I have almost leveled all my characters to level 99. So that should happen very soon and once that happens I will then plan on going after the rest of the Espers and depending on how I feel and how much time I have left in any certain cast I will go after Omega, Hell Wyrm and Yiazmat. Now I might be able to fit Omega and Hell Wyrm in one cast, but Yiazmat will definitely take me more than one cast, that is if I don’t get owned the first couple times.
My Final Fantasy XII Experience:
Ever since I started streaming this game I have seen a steady amount of people hating this game, but there are a few who have said that they loved it. Most of the complaints are the fact that the automated battle system, the fact that the characters just aren’t that interesting or the storyline just wasn’t that interesting. Now I’ll be totally honest, after spending about 50+ hours on doing side missions and getting weapons, I really don’t remember everything that is going on in this game, but I do know that I really like this game.
One of my favorite aspects of this game is the gambit system. Some say oh well the game plays for you…well if your one of those people…then keep you gambits off and go old school (just to clarify, I still love FF VII and the traditional style too). The gambit system has allowed me to go this deep into the game. I really could not see myself going after Danjuro for as long as I did and having to mash buttons and do certain sequences of magics for hours and hours on end. Although what would have really helped this game, I think, an open battle system. If this game had a open battle system , and when I say open as in you can just roam and button mash the crap out of enemies, kind of like Kingdom Hearts.
Final Fantasy XII Characters
Now on to the characters, I do agree with some about the characters. Vaan’s fake painted on abs and the cheesiness that just surrounds Vaan the whole game doesn’t do much for me. I do find Fran and Balthier interesting as characters though. I mean how often do you see a race of half bunny rabbit-half weird humanoid women with sexy voices :). I don’t really care much for Basch or Penelo so I won’t spend much time on them. I do like Ashe’s character though and I think the game does keep her interesting enough to want to go find out more information on her…and once she gets those swords I don’t know about you, but I really wanted to know how the game was going to end…so that is another reason why I am sticking this game out.
Overall, I’m glad I gave the game a chance even though I tried playing it 4 times (all restarts at random times over the past 2 years). I would recommend the game to other Final Fantasy lovers and would hope they would look past some of the flaws and just play the game for what it is, Final Fantasy.
Final Fantasy Radio News:
Want to announce the newest CD in theRedMage collection #5. If you are regular listener to the radio you will have heard the organ solo’s from time to time being played. This is our great friends wonderful works and as of tomorrow you can download his new CD. Click Here
Want to thank WDR Radio Orchestra manager Winfried Fechner from bottom of our hearts for the 2nd concert added to the vinue this year. Last years Symphonic Fantasias was ended fantastic and we enjoy playing here at the radio. (see their site for that CD which should be out soon)
As always check out FinalFantasyRadio.com to listen to some great Final Fantasy music or go to forums.finalfantasyradio.com to join in on chats and anything about the radio…or just random stuff :)
