/vr/ - Retro Games

>>5572796
>What should I expect
A basic but charming jrpg
>Which characters should I use
Depends, I usually use a red mage, black mage, and 2 fighters or 1 fighter and 1 black belt. Some teams can steamroll the game and some will be a real pain to use.
>Should I go blind or have a guide near? If I use a guide, which guide should I use?
Go in blind, as long as you talk to all npc's you should have a good idea of where to go. If anything just have a map handy.
Have fun OP.

Protip: 8-Bit Theater is extremely accurate at portraying how useful each class is

>>5572817
Good advice. I like Fighter, Red Mage, White Mage, Black Mage personally. Don't bother with Thief but other than that just go with your gut or what seems cool.

Play blind for the best experience, there's nothing major to lose out on. Enjoy!

>>5572796
4 red mages. Make sure to buy the best gear and spells as soon as you get to town to maximize playtime

Expect the greatest epic fantasy in videogame form. Everything else is too weeb.

>>5572796
You can't go in 100% blind, because today's "blind" is not what the creators assumed you would have available. Remember that a lot of the inventory info has been outsourced to manuals to save on ROM space
.
So I'd recommend using this original list of magic, armor, and weapons. It was an original pack-in with the US release. (They also packed in big ass maps and shit which are dope irl but i think these go too far with trying to make the game easier for americans.)

protip off the top of my head: SABR, TMPR, LOCK, and LOK2 don't work properly in the US release

>>5572796
>What should I expect?
Adventure.
>Which characters should I use?
Probably not pic related.
>Should I go blind or have a guide near?
Depends on whether you want to have fun or be a useless softcock wanker child. I'd go for fun, myself.

>>5572826
If that were the case then they'd all be bloody useless.

Don't play the original. Play a ROM with the bugs patched (some spells actually don't work in the original).

>>5573038
>Nostalgia
I haven't seen those sheets (more like posters) since I was like 6 or 7 , do you have a pic of any of the other ones? I would really like to see the one that has all of the enemies on it

>>5573527
I should revisit this series. That still got a chuckle out of me

>>5573524
There's unironically nothing wrong with all 4 Warriors, it's actually a really solid setup with high survivability. Magic sucks in FF1.

>>5573602
The only thing wrong is that it's dull. But also the fastest party to beat thr game with.

>>5573602
>>5573753
doesnt the lack of heals become a problem?

>>5573763
Once they upgrade to knights they get some white magic and before that your damage output and defense make it not a problem.

>>5573763
You can just use potions. Unlike magic, those aren't limited by the stupid MP system. And since you've got a whole team of tanks, you'll ultimately need way less healing than normal.

>>5573763
You don't need to heal a steamroller

>The Final Fantasy V episode will never be released.

>>5573038
That list honestly isn't THAT useful. You can check your stats after equipping new stuff to see what they do, and most items are found, not bought. The manual has a list of all the magic and what they do too.

>>5573602
Because INT doesn't do anything. I think there's romhack that fixes this.

>>5572796
>What should I expect?
A dated, buggy game with immeasurable charm and tons of replay value. It's one of my all time favorite RPGs.
>Which characters should I use?
Here's what you need to know:
The more fighters, the easier the game gets.
The more thieves, the harder the game gets.
Black belts are shit at the start, but become insanely good at the end.
Red mages are amazing, second only to fighters.
Black mages are just shitty red mages.
White mages are awesome against undead, and have tons of healing spells.
Do whatever party you want, but for a first timer, I'd recommend Fighter, Fighter, Red Mage, White Mage.
>Should I go blind or have a guide near? If I use a guide, which guide should I use?
Find a transcript of the game manual and just use that. It gives you all the information you need.

Optional: Play the PS1 (Origins) version for a better experience. Bosses are tougher, you get boss-unique music, and some bugs are fixed. Just be sure to go in the options and change all of the optional settings to classic versions. Don't play any of the versions after Origins because they ruin the game.

Optimal: Play the NES version with this hack. It's perfect. http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1631/

>>5576132
It's not supposed to do anything. It's a just leftover stat from AD&D that they didn't know what to do with. No RPG at the time ever had a magic damage stat.

>>5576282
Apparently it was supposed to do something, but it was so fucked up that nobody can actually tell what it was supposed to do, so every bugfix hack/patch/update handles it a little differently.

>>5576282
>No RPG at the time ever had a magic damage stat.
Xanadu had.

>>5576254
>Optimal: Play the NES version with this hack. It's perfect. http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1631/
Fuck shit thank you for once I'm not the one to post it OP do this shit right now

8BT Team is 1 fairly easy to do. A little expensive at first but by midgame you have use-magic items and more money than you know what to do with so you can just keep a max stack of potions on hand at all times

>>5576254
>Play the PS1 (Origins) version for a better experience
Isn't that version like the GBA but with less content and the original spell system?

>>5576254
>>5576695
I'll third that recommendation. I just played through FF1 Restored and thought it was great. I played the original for the first time a couple years ago and really enjoyed it, but I don't think there's any reason to go back now. It feels just like the original, just bug fixed, no crazy additions or changes. The only things I didn't like were the new font and the removal of the Peninsula of Power, but both are so minor, not to mention easy to revert back, that they're non-issues. Don't know what the consensus is on them, but I also added the Improved RNG and extra music patches. I thought they were good anyway.

Do any of the patches get rid of the annoying walking with poison sound?

>>5576695
>>5577838
What's heartbreaking is that AstralEsper was working for years on a rebalancing patch as well. Kind of her own interpretation of the way the game should've been balanced still without straying too far from the game's original intent. It was coming along brilliantly and was nearly done, but she never ended up finishing it, and never published the final version she did make. FF Zz was being developed alongside it and he actually finished his hack (which turned out pretty good, by the way. Give it a play if you haven't,) but Zz is more of a hard mode hack than Astral's which was really well balanced.

The NES version has some glitches that may fuck you over, such as certain stats not doing anything, some spells doing the opposite of what they're supposed to do, and so on. If nothing else at least keep a list of bugs in the game handy so you don't buy a broken spell.

>>5572925
III is still weeb-free. And even II, despite the teenager main characters, is still in a weeb safe area, imo.

>>5572796
Do any of the patches let you buy the same item in bulk?

>>5579662
Nes best.

>>5572796
Expect a lot of grinding. The most fun job combo is warrior/monk/black mage/white mage, a balanced classic.
A guide shouldn't be necessary for most of the game. Make sure you know how to get the job upgrades, that's about it.

>>5572796
What spells can't the Red Mage learn, that makes people pick a White Mage and Black Mage in their party?

just play FFIX

>>5580798

>>5580798
I already played, they say that FFIX is a love letter to all FF games and mostly to FFI

>>5580896
Honestly, I love FFI but for the life of me can't minimally like IX. Hell, I genuinely can say I like or love all mainline FFs except IX. I know its good points, its bad points but I just can't bring myself to like it.

>>5581203
while I wouldn't go as far as you, it's probably my least favorite mainline FF game. Mostly because of the slow, overly linear, story-heavy start and slow battle system. I also find the characters to be too juvenile for my taste.

What's the best version of FF1 to play?

>>5582187
WSC or PS1

>>5582192
>WSC
I'm sorry what is WSC?

>>5582196
Wonderswan Color

>>5582187
PS1 overall, is the best. It keeps the original's feel but with scrap QoL improvements as well as visuals and music improvements.

The GBA version as well as the Psp version have the most content but are substancialy easier but you can really test yourself with some of the extra bosses added as well as having access to randomizers if you're into that.

The NES version deserves a playthrough too, if you don't mind dated UI and visuals. However, I honestly wouldn't recommend a playthrough without the fixes and improvements that the available patches offer.

>>5582204
>GBA n-not retro!

Is FFII more interesting/enjoyable if I consider it a SaGa game? SaGa is a series I've wanted to start for a while but don't know where to begin.

>>5582948
Minstrel Song is a good place to start. If you want something more /vr/, the first SaGa Frontier works. SaGa 2 has a fun DS remake if you don't want to play the Game Boy original. My first SaGa was Romancing SaGa 3, which I liked even though the current translation is rough.

>>5579756
Restored does.

>>5580791
He's pretty interchangeable with a black mage. White Mage can learn quite a bit of useful stuff that Red cannot, though including Exit (before class change,) Heal-all spells, damage vs all undead, and Life (before class change,) and Life 2, which saves a fortune in heal potions.

>>5580791
Party wide healing and Flare. Both can be replaced by usable items. Red Mage has a lot better equippable stuff though, and decent stats overall. And honestly the only shield you'll need is Curaga and Temper/Haste.

>>5587134
>only shield
Spells, I mean.

>>5587141
>And honestly the only spell you'll need is Curaga and Temper/Haste.

Harm / Holy is good for undead, can the Red Mage learn that?

>>5587153
No.
Undead aren't weak against Holy though, and it's such a late ass spell you don't get much use out of it anyway.

>>5587153
The Dia spells and Holy are a lot weaker than Flare though.

>>5587218
>>5587153
In the GBA and PSP versions, Holy does a shit ton of damage against Doom Train in the Whisperwind Cove bonus dungeon. Literally the only time I remember it being useful. And still, Temper + Haste boosted attacks out damaged it anyway. Magic is only relevant in the mid game.

>>5582187
PSP version is best. It's the ps1 version but higher res, better sound and less loading.

You can beat it fine with any combination. The first time I played I used the default fighter/thief/black mage/white mage and got through the game just fine with no issues. If I picked it back up I'd probably swap white for red and thief for black belt but it's not necessary at all. I didn't think it was a particularly difficult RPG- the only frustration was in losing a turn if your target died.

>>5576254
>Black mages are just shitty red mages.
silence, coward

>>5582187
Dawn of Souls is worth playing, even if it's different enough to be consider a new game.

>>5587324
>PSP version is best
Not really. The PSP version feels a lot easier thanks to increased EXP rating. However, the faster grinding pace and bonus content makes the experience feel pretty wholesome. A shame there's no Hard mode patch for the PSP version.
>higher res, better sound and less loading.
The PS1/GBA sprites look better, imo but that's subjective as fuck. And the missing menu music is hit or miss.

>>5587769
But it is. The only value Black Wizard brings to the party is more OHKO spells which are useless by then, even if Tiamat is vulnerable to Quake; and Flare which can be used by anyone after acquiring the Judgement Staff (in GBA/PS1 remakes) and even then, its damage is lackluster compared to Monk's, Knight's and even Ninja's buffed up attacks. The must valueable spells Black has is Temper and Haste, something even Ninja can learn and has a LOT more survivability and more and better equipments.

>>5588770
silence, coward.

>>5588774
You can't even cast MUTE, dumb dumb. And no one is gonna argue about their value in the beginning of the game though. Hell, as soon as you get the second tier spells they are OP for a good while. But BM/BW just becomes more and more useless as the game goes on.

>>5588824
But they never stop being the most stylish and aesthetic job.

>>5588824
>stylish and aesthetic job.
That's the Red Mage. Black Mage is definetly the most iconic though.

>>5588830
Meant for >>5588829

>>5572796
4 Black Mages
call your party after your favorite black metal

>>5588904
Mgla
Absu
Dawn
Sigh

>>5589036
Don't play the stupid English version. Use the superior Japanese syllabary.

>>5589038
Oops.

>>5572925
Love me some retro screenshot collage.

>>5590168
I see you are a man of culture as well.jpg

>>5577349
It's basically the NES version but with updated graphics/music and bugfixes.

>>5576254
Thanks for this post. I'm playing FF1 ps1 version and having a good time, I don't even mind the high encounter rates, this game has efficient gameplay, gets to the point with very little bloat and filler.

You said its worth replaying can you elaborate why that is? I don't often replay rpgs

What's the hardest FF? Without mods and not due game brokenness(ff2)?

>>5591248
Final Fantasy USA

>>5591248
How is ff2 broken? Is the ps2 version better than original?

>>5591337
FF2 isn't broken, it's just weirdly balanced and much like the later SaGa games, it purposefully hides a bunch of features from you, the point being to discover them yourself.

I played through FF1 a week ago with a party of four blackbelts. The wizards in the marsh cave gave me so much trouble, fighting four of em was way to hard. I grinded like crazy but once i came back i only had to fight 2. Is it just random how many spawn?

>>5591368
>it purposefully hides
it probably came out with a manual back in the day, but as far as I know it wasn't translated, so who knows how much it hides or reveals

>>5591248
4x White Mage FFI is borderline impossible and requires extremely good RNG.

>>5591368
>optimal way to play the game is to beat the shit out of your own party members for hours
yeah nah it's busted

>>5591248
FF1
FF3
FF2
FF5
FF4
FF6
FF7
FF8
FF9

>>5591591
How is Final Fantasy V harder than IV?

>>5591591
>any of those
>hard

>>5591248
FFIII (both the DS and NES version)
FFIV (DS version)

>>5591657
You don't think Final Fantasy III is hard at all?

>>5587324
Are you retarded? The PSP version has MP instead of spell charges, it's the joint worst version alongside GBA.

>>5591657
don't be a brainlet nobody cares.
none of them are hard but you can still rank them.

>>5591524
Not only is this not true, doing that will also punish you pretty badly lategame.

There's a reason most people that complain about FF2 insist that "you need to beat up your own characters for hours" and "it's still hard despite that" - they read some shitty walkthrough with awful advice and took it as gospel.
FF2 is laughably easy if you know what you're doing, and "knowing what you're doing" does not involve hitting your own characters.

>>5591373
>Is it just random how many spawn?
Yep. Same goes for most other fixed location encounters.

>>5591695
GBA version has a patch for the original NES magic casting system.

>>5590168
Playing this one solo.

>>5576254
>The AstralEsper hack
Great suggestion.

>>5572796
I'll just say for "canon" the novels have this party
>Fighter - Zest
>Thief - Sauber
>White Mage - Floe
>Black Mage - Daewoo

I don't think you can even give them 6 character names but with FF Restored you should. It triggers me that it keeps empty spaces for padding if the name is smaller than 6 characters, though.

>>5591969
It really irks me how unimpressive the DS/PSP 3d remake made the game. I wish we got that Wonderswan Color remake instead.

https://pastebin.com/nDC7j5bn
What do you guys think of
>>>/vg/ffg 's recs pastebin?

>>5591243
The fact that you choose your party at the start, and then have to carry it through the whole game means you can have a completely different experience each time you play.

>>5591376
Here's the manual for the VC release:
http://pastebin.com/XPtZMSVu

It really doesn't explain a whole lot at all.

>>5593602
This. This is one of the reasons I always have a blast with I. The same reason I've loved XII even more with the International/Zodiac Versions.

>>5593197
/ffg/ is mobage central. Whatever comes from that place doesn't deserve a shred of value, imo.

>>5572817
>If anything just have a map handy.
TCELES B HSUP

bump

Why there isn't a single hack that fixes the retargeting?

>>5597178
It's called the PS1 version

>>5597190
>blonde fighter

intothetrash.jpg

>>5597178
What? There's a patch for that.

>What should I expect?
Bugs.
>Which characters should I use?
Any team with 2 or more fighters and a red mage. The classes are not at all balanced, elemental properties on weapons don't work, and INT / magic power scaling is absent from this version.
>Should I go blind or have a guide near?
A guide, or at least some maps. The game was actually packaged with maps for a very good reason.

I've had a project on the backburner for like 5 years, a hack of the PS1 version that would replace the music with either existing orchestral recordings or orchestrations I've made myself. I'm nearly done with the music, but I don't know shit about hacking. I only know in the broadest sense that it's possible, what with this sort of thing being done for FF7, and that playing CD quality music on a PS1 is possible, etc.

Any resources out there that would help me with this? Or anyone know anyone that can hack a PS1 ROM for a bit of cash, etc?

i'd prob also want to adjust some of the sprite work, i hate the chibishit look of your party and would want to bring it back in line more with Amano's style

>>5576254
This hack is great, but I actually don't like the new music. I just don't think it was particularly well-programmed, especially considering that the new boss themes are from the WSC which is able to sound so much better with a similar chip (4 channels instead of 3 sure, but still very much doable, trust me). And it sucks that people consider this fairly definitive, or "perfect," since it means they'll never reach back in to make that part of it any better.