Do you think sleep status magic is worthless in FF games?

April 9, 2008, 9:39 PM

I found an article talking about the worst power-ups. Sleep magic was on the list. Would you agree with this? I'll post my opinion later.

Quote:

No matter the RPG, there's usually a type of magic that someone, somewhere still insists is useful. Whether it's called "grey magic," "status magic," or "that bunch of spells you can safely ignore," this special brand of monster-weakening arcana has been completely worthless throughout most of RPG history. Some games, like Final Fantasy XII, have bucked this trend by making status magic extremely useful, if not mandatory -- but Square's franchise-redefining RPG is really the exception to the rule. In nearly everything else, though, the option to weaken creatures instead of blowing them up only prolongs the inevitable -- and nothing does this better than the all-purpose sleep spell.

The main problem with sleep magic and its ilk is that if a game provided situations where such spells were actually useful, it would be more boring than public television. Think about it: If you play RPGs -- especially those of the traditional, random-encounter variety -- do you honestly want whatever you're fighting to still be standing after more than two attacks? That's the problem with sleep magic: Anything you fight is inevitably going to die, so why does it need a nap before going off to that great monster closet in the sky? The only battles that could benefit from sleep magic, and status magic in general, are boss battles, but there's a certain cost that comes with making bosses susceptible to ailments: It robs the reward from of any victory -- and we've all experienced that shameful, empty feeling that comes with the instant demise of some undead horror after casting "life" or throwing a Phoenix Down at them. Until sleep magic lets us knock out greedy shopkeepers who would dare charge the saviors of the world for potions, using it will be as futile and unfulfilling as trying to dissect the plot of the Xenosaga series.

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager....=1&cId=3167284

April 9, 2008, 10:52 PM

Not completely, but it can sometimes make things too easy. Stop, sleep, all spells which disable the enemy make things easy, and might rob some people of the feeling of accomplishment, especially when fighting a boss. It can be a matter of self control and restraint, too.

April 9, 2008, 11:10 PM

sleep us usefull for one thing, leveling in the henne mines against the undead bats(the name escapes me for some reason)

April 9, 2008, 11:57 PM

Quote:

It robs the reward from of any victory -- and we've all experienced that shameful, empty feeling that comes with the instant demise of some undead horror after casting "life" or throwing a Phoenix Down at them.

Shameful and empty? Lolwtf? I love casting Life or tossing a Phoenix Down at an undead boss. I like cheapass shortcuts like that

As for sleep....the only game where I've found it to be useful is FF12. It's very nice for alot of the hunts. Much easier to put a boss to sleep and have everyone Scathe it to death than keep it awake and have it pummel the shit out of you with high combo rates and instant KO attacks *looks at Earth Tyrant*

April 10, 2008, 12:06 AM

I never used it because I knew Id just end up waking them up straight away once I bopped them on the head...I guess it can be if you have more than one arse of an enemy and leave on aseep....or just bash them with magic...but I rarely bothered with it

April 10, 2008, 12:07 AM

I've never really had any use for Sleep either, except for FFVIII when I wanted to draw magics from enemies and of course, use it as a junction (especially when fighting both Fujin and Rajin.)

I just meet the monster head-on and don't bother with sleep as I don't see its purpose when I just want the battle to end as quickly as possible. Casting sleep on a monster, then dealing physical damage...would only awaken the monster. But then again, if there are two hard monsters/bosses you have to fight at the same time, then casting sleep on the other would be ideal while you beat the crap out of the other one.

April 10, 2008, 12:35 AM

In the more recent games, sleep is pretty pointless. Mostly because it hardly ever works. I do find that in the earlier games, specifically 4 and 5 that it could be useful if you are attacked by about six random enemies and you are underleveled at the time. Then you can at least only have a few attacking you.

My Character Profiles · April 10, 2008, 1:50 AM

I'm not a big fan of status-change magics. In fact, I never...repeat, never use them. And what's even more useless than sleep is "frog/toad" from FFVII. XD I think it's called "morph" if I remember correctly.

And I really like the battle/magic system in FFXII. I actually enjoyed using status magic for a change. ^.^

April 10, 2008, 2:07 AM

using frog was useful to get the lucky 7's status,

Not that I used it though, XD

Oh, and yeah... sleep serves to keep some enemies from attacking you while you take out the others. I think that's its main and (only?) purpose