Let´s replay Final Fantasy: FINAL FANTASY IX

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Leon Aether

ShinRa SOLDIER
Sep 26, 2013
177
68
33
Corfu, Greece
Yes, that's what I mean. The Alexandrian war flag after all, plus all the footprints....

And that frustrating friendly monster! Spent about 20 mins wandering around fighting battles waiting for him to show up, and no luck. Will have to try again after work today.
Just save and search battle. Saving is the key that most times triggers their appereance. I have found the friendly monster inside the forest that's near once too.
 

Azuardo

Keyblade Master
Moderator
Sep 26, 2013
755
279
Yes, that's what I mean. The Alexandrian war flag after all, plus all the footprints....

And that frustrating friendly monster! Spent about 20 mins wandering around fighting battles waiting for him to show up, and no luck. Will have to try again after work today.
I think I got extremely lucky on this playthrough, then, because I think it practically appeared first time for me, in the forest outside Dali.
 

buddhafied

Sphere Hunter
Sep 30, 2013
241
126
Vancouver, BC
@Omegaflare Yeah! I didn't know what that was about but I did encounter the monster that asked for Ore just before entering Dali. And as I've got so many Ores from grinding a bit in Ice Cavern I gave it to him and be left happily. Glad I did the right thing. Ha ha

Yep, picked up Aries and got Mythril Knife from the boss fight, also a silk shirt I believe. Phew!

@Azuardo I love those screenshots!
 
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Phoenix

Yevonite
UFFSite Veteran
Sep 28, 2013
36
14
34
Just save and search battle. Saving is the key that most times triggers their appereance. I have found the friendly monster inside the forest that's near once too.
I ended up having some time before work to look for him, and got it within about 10-15 mins. Now I'm at the checkpoint after watching all the ATE's and treasure hunting, Zidane is level 8... don't remember the rest as he's the only one in my party at the moment (haven't gone to pick up Garnet yet).

So no Ragtime Mouse encounters yet? I'm a bit surprised nobody has run into him in one of the forests yet...
 

Azuardo

Keyblade Master
Moderator
Sep 26, 2013
755
279
Haven't seen Ragtime yet, nope.

Next checkpoint is after the Festival of the Hunt. I'm just gonna go with Zidane to win, even if Freya does get a Coral Ring, I believe. I prefer to just smash that Zaghnol myself.
 

Leon Aether

ShinRa SOLDIER
Sep 26, 2013
177
68
33
Corfu, Greece
@buddhafied There is also another different kind of encounter in this game called "Ragtime Mouse". It appears inside forests all around the world map along with a huge "X" and a huge "O". Which stand for "False" and "True" respectively. The mouse will ask you a question, out of a group of 16 in total, that has to do entirely with in-game stories, facts, rumors etc. For instance he may ask you "I Want to Be Your Canary' was written by Lord Afon." which is False as it was written by Lord Avon. So all you have to do is attacking the "X" to answer. If your answer is correct you will be rewarded with a bunch of Gil.

After answering all 16 questions, you must run into the Mouse one last and final time. This time, he will tell you your percentage of correct answers and a ranking. If you have succesfully answered everything correctly, he explodes and you get a Protect Ring, as well as some gil. If you have answered questions wrong, you will still get the Protect Ring, but no gil. For answering every question correctly, you can win up to 70,000 gil. Bare in mind though that he may not appear many times in every disc. You can manage to encounter him around 4 times in disc one, but it's not something you would rush as in every disc the number of times he can be encountered is scaling. So in disc 4 for example he can be encountered all 16 times.

To trigger his appereance, just do what you do for the friendly creatures. Save and start walking inside a forest. After his appereance you have to switch the forest so he may appear again..
 
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Leon Aether

ShinRa SOLDIER
Sep 26, 2013
177
68
33
Corfu, Greece
OMG! I'm embrassed, as I was writing my comment, you two already commented about the mouse... :rolleyes:

No, I haven't encountered him either yet. I tried outside of Ice Cavern but nothing. I think he appears before Waltz No2 outside of Dali. Though I'm not completely sure.

Next checkpoint is after the Festival of the Hunt. I'm just gonna go with Zidane to win, even if Freya does get a Coral Ring, I believe. I prefer to just smash that Zaghnol myself.
Coral Ring is just so damn amazing that I even use it in late game. It's really usefull! But also, 10000 gil are really something to consider..
 

Azuardo

Keyblade Master
Moderator
Sep 26, 2013
755
279
Coral Ring is just so damn amazing that I even use it in late game. It's really usefull! But also, 10000 gil are really something to consider..
It's actually only 5ooo gil, so it makes letting Freya win for the Coral Ring even more of a better option. Really, you do want to get that Coral Ring, but I think I'll play it this way this time, and keep Zidane's dream of landing a date with Dagger if he wins alive ;]
 

buddhafied

Sphere Hunter
Sep 30, 2013
241
126
Vancouver, BC
@Leon Aether Oh wow, thanks for the tips guys. I won't go purposely seek out for these stuff (due to first time play through and don't want to ruin my pace of the game), but now that I know I will pay attention and know what to do when I encounter them instead of wasting my beginner's luck! (The friendly monster was actually the first thing I encountered when I walked into the forest heading to Dali).

Good times!
 

Leon Aether

ShinRa SOLDIER
Sep 26, 2013
177
68
33
Corfu, Greece
It's actually only 5ooo gil, so it makes letting Freya win for the Coral Ring even more of a better option. Really, you do want to get that Coral Ring, but I think I'll play it this way this time, and keep Zidane's dream of landing a date with Dagger if he wins alive ;]
It's only 5000? I haven't let Zidane win for ages... I guess some things can become foggy over the years.
 

Omegaflare

AVALANCHE Warrior
Sep 28, 2013
256
68
41
Oldenburg, GERMANY
@buddhafied: but you really should do all that stuff. Its the whole point of this. Often you seem to say "I am not gonna do this" Why? We are not gonna play FF IX together again for a very long time so this is the moment to do all that stuff together :) Part of what makes a Final Fantasy great is all these side-quests and optional stuff. If you just rush through the story you miss quite a lot of what really makes the game what it is. Granted there are some little things I dont bother with myself because they dont just seem worth the effort but the sidequest stuff like Friendly monsters, Ragmouse, auction house, Hotn cold (which is a very long and elaborate sidequest but it rewards you with many of the bestequipment in the entire game - including Zidanes best weapon and many of the most powerful spells), Ozma etc.

of course I cant dictate you what to do and thats not what I am doing , but as I understand it this is the first time you really play the game thoroughly and in full so I wish you would really take the time to take it all in. Nobody is rushing here. we dont have a deadline for when the game needs to be finished. Go ahead and explore and do all the sidequest stuff. Dont miss out on what this game has to offer. Nobody will rush you, there isnt a clock ticking away which leaves you only little time for this and make it stressed.

My original intent for this project was to complete a FF game together - but that never included just story but really all of it. I cant order you to do anything but everytime I read "No I am not gonna do that, I just skip that" I am a bit sad because the purpose of this project (to me) is to experience all of the game together and not just the narrative.

I am going to do about 90 % of the sidequest stuff. Only some things like the coffee sidequest or the jump roping and stuff like that I skip because they dont really seem worth the effort for me. But I am definitely not going to skip friendly monsters (they give loads of AP and I need them to beat Ozma) or Ragtime Mouse (LOTS of Gil)

By the way thanks guys for the tips with Ragtime and Friendly monsters. I didnt know they have a better chance of appearing after a save. Thankfully this time I encountered Friendly Mu fairly quickly.

But I wish you would have posted these tips before we started the segment as I asked of you when I wanted to compile the list of things to look out for, obtain etc. I want to do this in advance not during playing the segment. So please from now on do this before we start the segment when we compile the list for what to look out for.
 

buddhafied

Sphere Hunter
Sep 30, 2013
241
126
Vancouver, BC
@Omegaflare Actually, all my life I've been playing all my games in a way that I will get 100% completion at the first playthrough, but a couple of things really have sank in for me since turning 30:
  1. I'm a 33 years old man who has so much on the side right now that I actually have to schedule time to play games. As much as I love to enjoy all aspect of a game, it simple takes me too long to finish them (especially RPG) and I end up having huge backlog of other amazing games that I don't get to experience when they release; which brings me to the second point...
  2. I had so many games that I finished up to around 90-95% of the game and either lost interests or just don't have time to finish the last little bit. I have lost counts how many times I've played VI that I didn't finish and started over again a year later just to get to Kefka Tower and stopped again. At this point in my life, I would rather actually finish a game, enjoy the story and if I ever have time to revisit the world again I'll do all the stuff I missed the first run.
That said, I don't avoid doing sidequests though, I just don't want the "I just spent 2 hours trying to encounter a monsters so I can get _________." Anymore. That was the only way I were able to finish XIII, XIII-2 and Ni no Kuni in the last couple of years. I always try to get everything but not at the extend where I have to force myself to go out of my way. I also find I enjoy the story more because I still remember what happened.

For me, this "replay" is as simple as to play the game at a causal pace and not worry too much if I miss anything. I can't miss anything major, in my opinion, because everything major is the main story line itself.
 

Zack

Somniac
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Jul 29, 2013
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@buddhafied::)I wish you would have posted these tips before we started the segment as I asked of you when I wanted to compile the list of things to look out for, obtain etc. I want to do this in advance not during playing the segment. So please from now on do this before we start the segment when we compile the list for what to look out for.
Well, you can always look this up. I don't think we should have to dump all these tips. =P

http://uffsite.net/ff9/tips.php
 

Omegaflare

AVALANCHE Warrior
Sep 28, 2013
256
68
41
Oldenburg, GERMANY
@buddhafied: Then you will undoubtedly skip the Hotn Cold sidequest which takes LOTS of hours but provides you with weapons (among them Zidanes ultimate weapon) and equipment that you either will not get anywhere else in the game or can only be forged and bought for high prices. Though to forge it you still need to make the effort to get the necessary items in the first place. You will also not to get experience the greatest challenge in FF IX, which is the Ozma battle which you can only fight if you make it to Chocobo Airgarden which you will only be able to do after many hours of hotn cold.

i think you miss the point of Final Fantasy by skipping all that stuff. The FF games are made for experiencing that stuff. You seem like you just want a game that you play through quickly and where you dont have to bother with side-stuff that would make it necessary for you to leave the main narrative path. well then Final Fantasy just might not be for you anymore. Thats just my personal opinion of course and you are free not to care what I think.

I also find it odd that you start FF games and then you dont finish them because you lose interest or they take too long. That sounds like you are racing against yourself because you already know that at some point you will lose interest. Again that makes me wonder if you shouldnt give up on Final Fantasy or RPGs for that matter altogether if you are afraid from the start that if they take too long you wont get to finish them. I have never heard a FF or RPG fan say stuff like that, its very weird to me.

And I dont think your age or real-life is the problem here. I think a lot of us have to deal with the same kind of issues in our lives and of course real-life responsibilities are more important than games. Games are hobby. So I definitely dont fault you for making your real life the priority. I dont think there is anybody here who makes games a higher priority then real life responsibilities (At least I hope not^^). I definitely dont.

But I dont see anyone else here who feels he needs to race through a game and miss out on the great optional stuff (which after all make a FF the fun that it is. Which is why there was so much criticism when XIII lacked in that department) because he is afraid he might lose interest if it takes too long.

To me it rather sounds that RPGs and FF games are just not really your type of games anymore. Which is sad to me but thats what it seems to be. Dont take this personal, I am just expressing my thoughts on this matter and I dont mean offense by it. But its just really sad and weird to me that someone wants to blaze through the game and skips much of the good stuff because he is afraid he might lose interest if it takes too long. Most fans dont lose interest if they like the game, no matter how long it takes. Like I said, this is not a speed run, nobody needs to rush and has all the time required to explore and do everything the game has to offer. Thats the whole point. So you DO have the time for it, no matter your age or real life stuff. We dont have to finish this in 2 weeks. We might even do this for the rest of the year if it takes that long. I dont mind. This is not Lightning Returns. There is no Doomsday clock here, my friend and the world doesnt end in 13 days ;)
 

Omegaflare

AVALANCHE Warrior
Sep 28, 2013
256
68
41
Oldenburg, GERMANY
Well, you can always look this up. I don't think we should have to dump all these tips. =P

http://uffsite.net/ff9/tips.php
thanks for that but actually one of the things I was looking forward to in this project was that we do gather and share all of this together. as I stated in the original thread, that we contribute to it with our knowledge and such. I dont want us to have to look up that stuff in a guide. Then I might as well just play the game alone. That completely defies the purpose of this to me. I want us to do that stuff together and BE each others guides instead.
 

Azuardo

Keyblade Master
Moderator
Sep 26, 2013
755
279
@buddhafied As it understand it, you enjoy playing FF games these days mostly for the stories. That's generally what I do with RPGs these days. The stories are the most important and interesting aspects for me usually, and I often have found that with my lack of time to play lengthy games nowadays, I prioritise playing through the story more than trying to do every single side quest and such. Some games I will go for everything, other games I won't. And if I read correctly, your favourite and most important part in playing FF9 right now is indeed experiencing the story, so that is what you are focusing on. I think it's good and rather interesting to see how everyone is doing different things in this community playthrough. Where someone is focusing on trying to get and achieve almost everything, another person is trying to soak up the story and focus solely on that. Some are doing both. So long as we all enjoy playing, that's the most important thing.
 

Zack

Somniac
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Jul 29, 2013
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Agreed. I don't have the time or interest to be a completionist. I don't have any Platinum trophies in part because of that. Once I get the fill of the story I have little personal reason to venture out. You start to get diminishing returns on the enjoyment.
 

Omegaflare

AVALANCHE Warrior
Sep 28, 2013
256
68
41
Oldenburg, GERMANY
Really all of you are not interested in experiencing a FF to its fullest and only want the "torso" of it? I am baffled, shocked and disappointed how many of you are not interested in all those additional sidequest stuff. No wonder the trend in games has gone towards linear, streamlined and quick.

I miss the days where fans were excited to explore every corner, beat every challenging boss and obtain all of the best stuff and would spend dozens of hours with sidequests.

Its ironic too. When FF XIII came out everyone was like "I dont like that its so linear and you have no freedom to explore besides the main story and that it forces you to focus just on the story" and now you guys are all "I dont want to complete anything but the story".

Not what I had in mind when doing this. This is quite a disappointment to see so many of the fans be so indifferent about experiencing the WHOLE game and tackling all the sidequests and challenges. Everyone just seems to want to blaze through the story and not care about the rest. *sigh* what happened to taking your time and experiencing a game in full?
 

Azuardo

Keyblade Master
Moderator
Sep 26, 2013
755
279
Huh. Some of us have done the side quests and other things in the past, though. Perhaps this time they want to just relive the story again?

I personally am doing both. But I thought this was about hearing from people's own experiences in how they played the game, too. Not telling them what they should be doing. Make suggestions, sure. But getting annoyed at them for not doing something? Hm :/
 

Omegaflare

AVALANCHE Warrior
Sep 28, 2013
256
68
41
Oldenburg, GERMANY
I am not telling anybody what to do. But I am very free in expressing what I think about their choices. If I am disappointed then I am disappointed. Well disillusioned would be more like it actually. Its nothing personal. But i aint gonna deny my feelings on the matter just because you might not like them. I am not getting annoyed at people. I am just disappointed in their way of going about it. And dont tell me I am not permitted to be disappointed or express that. Nobody tells me how to feel.
 
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