Dorter
-My initial strategy is to have one party member in each job and see how I like them, and then try the next job in that line that opens up. My only healers right now are chemist and white mage, so I’ll double up there a bit.
-Time for another crack at the Merchant City of Dorter. Last time, the high-up archer and the knight/black mage pairs whomped me.
-I’ll try swarming the high ground.
-My party is starting with monk, chemist, white mage, archer. Plus the two guests.
-Yet another Game Over. This fight lasted a while, but tbh even if I won I would’ve quit. Too many party members permanently died.
-This next time, gonna try sending just monk!Ramza up the roof against the archer. The rest will make a beeline for the black mages.
-Also, archer was kind of useless. Shit kept getting in his way. Will try knight!Diamanda instead.
-Take three. Another game over. I’ll be honest, I’m not looking forward to dying seven different times each new story encounter in this game.
-Take four: FINALLY! Got it.
Played a bit smarter this time, more cautiously. Really tried to keep distance, not over-commit. [Later edit: I find this is the key the more I play. My best fights come when I manage my distance well, and my worst fights are when I rush in and overcommit.]
-We track the Corpse Brigade dude we saw at the start of Dorter. He was with Wiegraf, the Corpse Brigade commander.
Argath is HARDCORE.
-The swordsman is unusually loyal to the Corpse Brigade and hateful towards our noble band. The Corpse Brigade is largely made up of soldiers who felt betrayed by their country.
-Apparently, the marquis’s kidnapping wasn’t Wiegraf’s idea. It was Gustav Magriff’s, lieutenant commander of the Dead Men.
SWORDSMAN: “We’re not like Gustav! We fight to end the aristocracy, not to become it! To be treated as equals – as the men of honor we are!”
AND ARGATH CONTINUES TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THIS CAPTIVE SWORDSMAN, JESUS DUDE CALM TF DOWN
-Gustav is in the Sand Rat’s Sietch.
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Tactical Mentality
-I have a few options for a monk ability. Going with Counter.
-Got the Mystic job. I LOVE this sprite!
-Tried getting back to town to buy some Phoenix Downs and equipment, but died in the next random battle. Grrrrrrrr.
I’m not giving up. This is a new genre, and I’ll keep learning and improving. But to be honest, it’s not much fun so far. I’ve won a few fights, but most of my time in game has been spent losing and dying and losing more. And since each loss takes like a million years to play out, it leaves me both frustrated and dreading each new play session with a pre-emptive sigh, anticipating a slew of Game Overs and losses.
~~~A Few Days Later~~~
-I took a bit of a break. I’m back.
-I’m tempted to delete the last section. It’s kind of embarrassing, but whatever. It’s honestly reflects my frustration and salt.
-With the benefit of a cooler head, I don’t blame the game. I blame myself and my mentality. Will try adjusting that mentality.
The fights scale. The same newbie goblins kicked my higher level party’s ass, so I’m clearly not going to get many “gimme” fights. Each battle will be a challenge. I can’t mentally disengage the way I often do when grinding through FF.
Shorter sessions will help too.
-Change of plans. Instead of having party members hop jobs when a new one opens, I’ll make each character a specialist, and just hire a new character for a new job.
Here’s my thinking to start:
Ramza (Monk): Physical damage dealer. Just got Counter as his reactive ability. Work on building his Martial Arts.
Owyne (Squire): Support. Get JP Boost, then build his support Fundaments. Using Parry from Knight.
Eadbert (Archer): Ranged damage. Work towards Move 1 on Squire and build up Aim.
Guston (White Mage): Healer. I’m hesitant on this, since Guston’s Faith is only 52. I’m just hoping this will increase with gear. Build his white magic. Go for Manafont on Mystic.
Millicent (Chemist): Healer. Potion user, with Squire fundaments. Build items.
Diamanda (Knight): Tank. Go for Move 1 from Squire, Arcane Defense on White Mage, and the expensive “Rend” knight abilities.
Lauda (Black Mage): Magick Damage. I’ve gotten Blizzard, Fire, and Thundara. Next up is Arcane Strength.
[Non-rhetorical question: what governs a character’s faith? Is it innate? I ask because Lauda’s Bravery is 71 and her Faith is 49. I’ve already invested into her as a caster, but may end up retracting if her Faith is gonna suck vs her Bravery.]
Braya (currently Chemist/White Mage, but pushing to Mystic): Go for JP Boost and White Magick, then re-evaluate once I open up Mystic.
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Zeklaus Desert
-I’m getting much more comfortable gauging distance. It makes archer viable and fun.
Way fewer times where I wind up one square too closer or too far.
-One more story thing this session: the Zeklaus Desert.
-Only two spots allowed for this. Monk!Ramza and Chemist!Millicent.
-Note to self before I start the fight: remember that this is probably gonna take a few attempts. First attempt, get the lay of the land. See the enemy levels, strategies, and layouts, then
-Oh, hey! Two squads! The second squad, I’ll go with Knight!Diamanda and WhiteMage!Guston.
-This is in the Sandrat’s Sietch. Digging the music’s desert/militaristic feel.
-Some Knights huddle in a corner area. They know we’re coming. They’re afraid. The Corpse Brigade about to become corpses themselves.
-A two-squad fight apparently means my party starts from two separate parts of the same field.
-lol Argath is not the smartest party member. He rushes into the huge group of Corpse Brigade knights, promptly gets surrounded and killed. I guess that fits what I know of his character.
-The main challenge of this fight is two bottlenecks.
-Really trying to not overcommit. Also, I’m building a blockade of three party members outside so that I don’t get swarmed if they decide to come out of their hidey-hole.
-Whew! Got it. It was closer, but managed to stabilize. I’m finding chemist far stronger than white mage at this stage of the game thanks to potions being more plentiful than mana.
It’s really fun when I actually have a strategy to try, even if it doesn’t work out. Each action feels purposeful.
-Cutscene. Wiegraf and Gustav are fighting. Gustav is pissed at the failure of Wiegraf’s revolution.
-HOLY SHIT! Wiegraf defended himself and impaled Gustav.
There’s something shocking about seeing that play out in these graphics.
-We enter, and Wiegraf offers us back the unharmed Marquis. He basically apologizes for Gustav’s decision to kidnap the marquis.
-We make an exchange. Wiegraf’s freedom for the Marquis’s safety. Delita manages to withhold Argath.
Argath: the Sonny Corleone of medieval Ivalice.
The loyal squire Argath creeps me out more than any of the villains we've met thus far.
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Next time: Back to Eagrose Castle.
