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Releases / Re: [FF8-PC Steam 2013] FFVIII Crystal 1.0.3
« on: 2020-05-16 18:47:05 »
Finished disk 1, found two more bugs related to Mug:
I can steal some mysterious 0 s from Iguions and 1 s from Seifer. I checked my inventory, I think nothing important and new appeared (maybe it was some regular item or actually nothing, I dont't know).
Now regarding the gameplay. I am playing this mod trying to keep your intended roles for characters (but leveling all GFs to see gameplay possibilities), here's my ranking:
1) Selphie. Absolute powerhouse. Thanks to buffed magic she has the highest damage currently. She deals more damage than others Limit Breaks (which were nerfed across the board) with a single cast. Thanks to that I basically relegated my other two characters (until Irvine) to simple draw-bots that stores magic for her and occasional item usage (with items having great restorative potency, better than restorative magic).
2) Irvine. Him coming up with Aura ability made me realize that this + Shots is the intended way to play him (and that I missed out on Quistis). Could never get a crit gun to work (I guess I need ridiculous amount of luck for that and endgame), but his highest Str gun rivals Selphie in terms of sheer power. It had a drawback that it sometimes miss, but you can easily circumveint this by using Shots so it will be guaranteed hit. It's really powerful. The only downside is that it requires a bit of setup and some Ammo.
3) Zell. For the first half of disk 1, when I didn't unlock str bonuses, my main method of doing damage with him was not attacking, but actually draw-casting magic from enemies. I think it's a little unfair to him that this method easily deals x3-x4 damage compared to his fists. Though later it normalized after some level ups and a new weapon, but still not on the level of Selphie and Irvine. Chakra is great ability, thanks to many statuses regular enemies will inflict you with (I loved that!).
4) Quistis. I unlocked Aura way too late for her, so didn't realize at first that Blue Magic supposed to be used in normal circumstances, and not at yellow health. For the danger of yellow health the damage of her initial spells is way too low, so I quickly benched her and only occasionally returned her in the party.
5) Squall. Maybe later with some level ups he will deal solid damage, but for now it's really low (even with Renzokuken). I can't bench him, so he serves healer role for now.
6) Rinoa. By the time she comes, my party is much stronger than enemies, can survive a lot of hits, so I don't have the need for white mage (like I had during early game and had to use Squall for that). Her Limit Break deals miniscule damage, she can't cast black magic, so she's like worse version of Squall (who is already one of the weakest). Items command alone basically negates her role for now.
Overall I enjoyed disk 1, but for me it was a bit on the easier side (though harder than vanilla, of course). Difficulty peaks at Ifrit and then gradually comes down and then spikes again at Edea. By the time I assembled full party I could just faceroll through every encounter. However fight with Ifrit is really tense and challenging, where every action matters. But all bosses after that are pushovers. I think the reward for defeating X-ATMO92 is a bit of letdown. You don't really need that item at the beginning of the game. Defensive stats (Vit, Spr) doesnt really matter, offensive play felt more rewarding.
For now, I like what direction you went with, but I think some elements of it are a bit undertuned and doesn't come to its full potential. Maybe some tinkering with numbers here and there will help early game to retain that challenging feel of Ifrit. However this is only after finishing disk 1 and not full game impression. I am gonna continue playing and posting my thoughts!
I can steal some mysterious 0 s from Iguions and 1 s from Seifer. I checked my inventory, I think nothing important and new appeared (maybe it was some regular item or actually nothing, I dont't know).
Now regarding the gameplay. I am playing this mod trying to keep your intended roles for characters (but leveling all GFs to see gameplay possibilities), here's my ranking:
1) Selphie. Absolute powerhouse. Thanks to buffed magic she has the highest damage currently. She deals more damage than others Limit Breaks (which were nerfed across the board) with a single cast. Thanks to that I basically relegated my other two characters (until Irvine) to simple draw-bots that stores magic for her and occasional item usage (with items having great restorative potency, better than restorative magic).
2) Irvine. Him coming up with Aura ability made me realize that this + Shots is the intended way to play him (and that I missed out on Quistis). Could never get a crit gun to work (I guess I need ridiculous amount of luck for that and endgame), but his highest Str gun rivals Selphie in terms of sheer power. It had a drawback that it sometimes miss, but you can easily circumveint this by using Shots so it will be guaranteed hit. It's really powerful. The only downside is that it requires a bit of setup and some Ammo.
3) Zell. For the first half of disk 1, when I didn't unlock str bonuses, my main method of doing damage with him was not attacking, but actually draw-casting magic from enemies. I think it's a little unfair to him that this method easily deals x3-x4 damage compared to his fists. Though later it normalized after some level ups and a new weapon, but still not on the level of Selphie and Irvine. Chakra is great ability, thanks to many statuses regular enemies will inflict you with (I loved that!).
4) Quistis. I unlocked Aura way too late for her, so didn't realize at first that Blue Magic supposed to be used in normal circumstances, and not at yellow health. For the danger of yellow health the damage of her initial spells is way too low, so I quickly benched her and only occasionally returned her in the party.
5) Squall. Maybe later with some level ups he will deal solid damage, but for now it's really low (even with Renzokuken). I can't bench him, so he serves healer role for now.
6) Rinoa. By the time she comes, my party is much stronger than enemies, can survive a lot of hits, so I don't have the need for white mage (like I had during early game and had to use Squall for that). Her Limit Break deals miniscule damage, she can't cast black magic, so she's like worse version of Squall (who is already one of the weakest). Items command alone basically negates her role for now.
Overall I enjoyed disk 1, but for me it was a bit on the easier side (though harder than vanilla, of course). Difficulty peaks at Ifrit and then gradually comes down and then spikes again at Edea. By the time I assembled full party I could just faceroll through every encounter. However fight with Ifrit is really tense and challenging, where every action matters. But all bosses after that are pushovers. I think the reward for defeating X-ATMO92 is a bit of letdown. You don't really need that item at the beginning of the game. Defensive stats (Vit, Spr) doesnt really matter, offensive play felt more rewarding.
For now, I like what direction you went with, but I think some elements of it are a bit undertuned and doesn't come to its full potential. Maybe some tinkering with numbers here and there will help early game to retain that challenging feel of Ifrit. However this is only after finishing disk 1 and not full game impression. I am gonna continue playing and posting my thoughts!