FF: Easy Vs Hard

[DarkClaymore]

What difficulty do you prefer in a FF game? Hard? Easy? Average? REALLY Hard?


IMO, the harder the game, the better.
I love it when I feel like "I never gonna finish this game!!!"

After FFI, FFII and FFIII, there is no game which can satisfy me with it's difficulty so far. Other FFs may have better characters, plot and such, but I still miss the difficulty.
I never felt again that epic feeling after beating the final boss.
That feeling I had after defeating the final boss of FFI is really something special and it made the game great, even though that the ending was just some short text.

 

[Zerokku]

I don't like games that are difficult to the point of frustration, but I definately like some difficulty in my games so I'm going to put down hard.

I wish we would have some actual difficulty in the FF series outside of optional bosses. The games have been piss-easy since VI.

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

I'd rather have really hard out of the lot, in games nowadays "hard" is hardly any more difficult than normal it just takes 1 or 2 more hits to kill them and 1 or 2 less for them to kill you, if you're any good at the game to start with you should have no problem, it's only ever difficult when it gets to the mode above hard D;
Plus the feelings so much more satisfactory after beating the hardest mode >.>

 

[V_Translanka]

Depends on what you mean by 'difficult'. If you mean the need to grind then idc, that's not even difficulty and is in all RPGs to some extent. If you mean the necessity to use actual strategy, then yes, bring it on. I think the only FFs I've found to be that way are FFT & FFIVDS though. Most FFs have easy outs (various ultimate attacks usually) to get past the grind factor.

 

[Kandy-Sugar]

I usually tend to stick with easy. XD

I always start the game on easy and then once I've finished it I move up to a harder level.

It's easier that way and lets you get a feel of the game a lot easier to start off with.

 

[Makatak]

voted average

I like to finish a game feeling like my efforts to completely clear out dungeons and pick up nice weapons/spells through optional side quests was a big factor to my success.

But I also tend to feel obliged to finish a game when I am that far into it. So it really frustrates me when I'm at the tip of the iceberg and get whacked in such a way that I ask myself "ok, how am I supposed to work around THAT?"

I don't mind running back and picking up some things to help me win (usually after the 3rd or 4th failed attempt). But I hate it when I can't beat something because I'm simply too low level for it.

 

[HighwindPilot]

What difficulty do you prefer in a FF game? Hard? Easy? Average? REALLY Hard?


IMO, the harder the game, the better.
I love it when I feel like "I never gonna finish this game!!!"

After FFI, FFII and FFIII, there is no game which can satisfy me with it's difficulty so far. Other FFs may have better characters, plot and such, but I still miss the difficulty.

And yet in another thread, you stated that you wouldn't turn the Battle Speed up because it's "too much" for you. =/
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In any case, the more difficult - the better. But if I had to sacrifice some of the innovative features that the newer FFs brought about by reverting back to the elementary workings of the game for the sake of "more difficulty" - no thanks. After all, the only real reason why some of the older games were harder, was because they didn't offer you too much in terms of gameplay. Even things like Gil were hard to come by in the earlier additions, thereby adding to the difficulty to progress.

 

[DarkClaymore]

And yet in another thread, you stated that you wouldn't turn the Battle Speed up because it's "too much" for you. =/

I seek different kind of challenge. The kind of feeling that you can't just pass anything without trying it a few times. Like retrying the same dungeon a few times. Each time getting to a point from which you can't go on and must turn back and go to town.

And IMO that's not fair that the boss will be able to attack 10 times before I choose a command. They should be made hard without this thing.
Though, I have to admit that FFV offeres some nice bosses at the moment.
FFI to FFIII offered great bosses and the battle system wasn't even ATB.

 

[HighwindPilot]

I seek different kind of challenge. The kind of feeling that you can't just pass anything without trying it a few times. Like retrying the same dungeon a few times. Each time getting to a point from which you can't go on and must turn back and go to town.

And IMO that's not fair that the boss will be able to attack 10 times before I choose a command. They should be made hard without this thing.

Sounds like weak excuses, to be honest. Yes, there should be other things done to make the game harder, but until then, why not do what you can? There aren't those other things at the moment, yet there is a way of stepping things up, isn't there? There's no sense in complaining about the "ease" if you're not even willing to have a go at the harder tempo.

For starters, you do realize the battle speed is an adjustable bar right? It's not as simple as "slow speed, mid speed, max speed". You can always adjust it to find a moderation between fast and normal.

In any case, it's never as bad as "10 times before I choose a command", unless you're as slow as molasis. I realize the hyperbole here, but I have to interject, as you're making it out to seem impossible just because it's more difficult.

The faster battle speed forces you to act on your feet and respond. There's little time to sit around to think and you have to make your move before they do. Does this take away from the strategic aspect? No, it just forces you to execute a lot sooner.

I've done it, others have done it, it's not impossible.

Besides, if I'm not mistaken, you were the one praising the ability to swap out characters in FFX right? For equal training, was it? Yet another thing done to make the games easier - a broken system really. But you've also praised that. So why complain about difficulty?

 

[DarkClaymore]

Sounds like weak excuses, to be honest. Yes, there should be other things done to make the game harder, but until then, why not do what you can? There aren't those other things at the moment, yet there is a way of stepping things up, isn't there? There's no sense in complaining about the "ease" if you're not even willing to have a go at the harder tempo.

For starters, you do realize the battle speed is an adjustable bar right? It's not as simple as "slow speed, mid speed, max speed". You can always adjust it to find a moderation between fast and normal.

I may try that. But then I'll have to put it down in order to make Odin (in his 1 minute limit battle) harder... annoying... I hate doing such things...

But then again, I want only the dungeons to be hard.
In FFV I always find myself using some random jobs like Dancer or Bard in order to make the dungeons a little more challenging, or at least that I won't need spamming "Attack" every 5 seconds.
I always can go train those physically weak jobs against lower level monsters, but I want to make the dungeons more challenging.

I want that epic feeling of the NES FFI in which each time you enter a dungeon, you know that there is a big chance you'll die.
I find it thrilling when each step I make, maybe my last one

Besides, if I'm not mistaken, you were the one praising the ability to swap out characters in FFX right? For equal training, was it? Yet another thing done to make the games easier - a broken system really. But you've also praised that. So why complain about difficulty?

I am not sure, I actually have something against the system.
I think it is too useful. You switch characters without losing a turn and it changing them has only benefits. If there was any kind of disadvantage to it, I think it could be much better.
Though, switching characters during battles as a whole is nice IMO.

I hate it when it is impossible to use all your characters during battle

 

[HighwindPilot]

I always can go train those physically weak jobs against lower level monsters, but I want to make the dungeons more challenging.

Are you currently playing through V? The dungeon in that, Gigas in particular, gave a lot of people hell. Personally, I didn't have much trouble with it (although it was challenging), but for some, it was hell.

I am not sure, I actually have something against the system.
I think it is too useful. You switch characters without losing a turn and it changing them has only benefits. If there was any kind of disadvantage to it, I think it could be much better.
Though, switching characters during battles as a whole is nice IMO.

I hate it when it is impossible to use all your characters during battle

It's a nice concept, but it's broken, and cheap. They could remedy this by:

A. Not letting you replace the line up if the whole damn team falls. In other words, end the game.

B. Don't make the enemies wait while you're pulling the switch.

C. Split the EXP, Pokemon-style, so there's some kind of toll to abusing it.
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Otherwise, increasing tempo is the best way to make things more challenging. If the monsters are indeed too fast, you grind more and increase your speed stats (amongst other things). The progression works the way an RPG should.

 

[DarkClaymore]

Are you currently playing through V? The dungeon in that, Gigas in particular, gave a lot of people hell. Personally, I didn't have much trouble with it (although it was challenging), but for some, it was hell.

I just finished FFV and... what Gigas?
I don't think I met any Gigas ,assuming that they are something similar to the ones in FFII. There they were really hard. IMO, the strongest Gigas there is stronger than the final boss.

Where do the Gigas appear? Do they even exist in the SNES version of FFV?

A. Not letting you replace the line up if the whole damn team falls. In other words, end the game.

B. Don't make the enemies wait while you're pulling the switch.

C. Split the EXP, Pokemon-style, so there's some kind of toll to abusing it.

Yeah, the EXP thing could be really good as well.
But A is strange. Can you replace the party if they are dead? I don't remember such a thing... or I didn't get it right?

Otherwise, increasing tempo is the best way to make things more challenging. If the monsters are indeed too fast, you grind more and increase your speed stats (amongst other things). The progression works the way an RPG should.

I increased it to the MAX, but it didn't really change much.
Guess that what I get from an optional way to increase difficulty.
Though, maybe the speed changing in the SNES version is broken, like it's "random". An attack which supposed to randomly hit one of the characters/monsters, always hit the same character in 6 battles in a row ...

 

[HighwindPilot]

I just finished FFV and... what Gigas?
I don't think I met any Gigas ,assuming that they are something similar to the ones in FFII. There they were really hard. IMO, the strongest Gigas there is stronger than the final boss.

There are 3. One at Karnak, a different one at Barrier Tower, and a third kind at the Library on World III. They're in all ports of the game.

But in terms of difficulty, I think I actually was thinking of the Gigas of II in the Deist cave. Because the Gigas of V, although strong when you first reach the locations (more so the latter two), get pretty easy later on.

Yeah, the EXP thing could be really good as well.
But A is strange. Can you replace the party if they are dead? I don't remember such a thing... or I didn't get it right?

Sorry, my mistake here, as I realize how this came across. I had began talking about the party swap system as a whole, and no longer just about X. In XII, you can swap to your "secondary party" if the initial team dies. In X however, you couldn't do this yet.

I increased it to the MAX, but it didn't really change much.
Guess that what I get from an optional way to increase difficulty.
Though, maybe the speed changing in the SNES version is broken, like it's "random". An attack which supposed to randomly hit one of the characters/monsters, always hit the same character in 6 battles in a row ...

See, and it really wasn't impossible. It just doesn't let you doddle, and monsters are quicker to react. So it creates a problem if you're not actively in the game - which, in my opinion, is how these things should go.