Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 65:21 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 40:56 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,124:51 (+)
Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 6
Total Game Overs: 67
Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5!!! Woohoo!!! (77% Complete, Bestiary 65% Complete)
Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 3-1... currently levelling up some support classes
Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Back to those CommSpheres... and the gist is basically the same everywhere you go. Everyone WANTS to go to the concert... the entire Youth League wants to go, even if it means abandoning their posts. The Ronso want to go, but they are busy figuring out what their next move is going to be. Isaaru would like to go, though he's still getting over the fact he's talking into a machina. The Al Bhed would like to com, but they've got a big fiend over at camp. O'aka would like to go, but he's busy at his shop... oh wait. The musicians would like to go, but they've gone and faded out.
Finally, it's time for the concert, but wouldn't ya know it? There's fiends about. Gotta clear out a cave... or at least the Flame Dragon within. So, we come back, and Yuna gets her dresssphere on, and it's singing time. Then the song reacts with the giant sphere screen Shinra set up, and now EVERYONE gets to see the brutal end of Shuyin and Lenne. Well, crap.
Yuna wakes up, and its time to sort all this out. Luckily the dulcet tones of Maechen can help us with that! He explains that the images basically stopped the fighting between the Youth League and New Yevon, and that Lenne was a summoner and called to the front lines during the Machina War... Shuyin, her lover, has been lost to history.
Then, Leblanc finally shows up and gives us a couple of Crimson Spheres which... shockingly actually gives us some insight to what the heck went on between everyone. Okay, so we know that Baralai, Nooj, and Gippal were on the same squad duting the test of the Crimson Squad, and that Paine was recording their test. Well, they went in there, and what they found was the ghost of Shuyin. He possessed Nooj, and the whole thing just ends with a 3-way mexican standoff, and Paine breaking it up.
So, Gippal manages to enhance the signal of a commsphere Shinra through into the Farplane hole. So, we know they're still down there... and figuring out how to deal with Vegnagun.... we're going to go help, but first we need to finish up some business Top Side.
First, we head to Zanarkand, where Isaaru has officially closed down the dome and temple... Maechen still heads over and talks about Vegnagun, which was the perfect weapon created during the Machina War... unfortunately it has some Bad AI and cant distinguish friend from foe... oh yeah, and Maechen died 1000 years ago and is unsent... he forgot about it til he shook Yuna's hand and it reminded him of Lenne.
Over in Luca, it's Blitzball time!!! The Aurochs aren't coming, they're busy babysitting for Wakka's new kid... so he wants the Gullwings to play instead... yay...
Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Got my thief levels up to 25, also, stepped through my first Cavernous Maw to find the old Shadow war still going on.
Status & Notes:
Finally through Chapter 4 in X-2... everything still going as planned really. I'm going to hit a few of the episode completes that are really just cutscenes and then head back to the Monster Arena to catch what I can pre-via Infinito.
Time to talk a little about X-2 Blitzball I guess. I really really don't like it. Mostly because you have absolutely no control over it. Yes, FF X Blitzball was extremely easy since you had so much control and could basically dominate... this though, is really confiusing with the training and what not. I've never really understood how everything works, and I'm going to find myself a really good guide. I don't plan on spending a lot of time on it, however, since the Monster Arena basically usurps it and you can pretty much just get everything from that.
Over in Vana'diel. Couple of things going on. Got some more levelling done. Puts me up to Level 25, so just a few more and I'll be switching back to Red Mage. Also, I was able to head over to Battalia Downs to enter one of the Cavernous Maws. This is basically the second world in FF XI, and I'm going to need to open up the Maws from that side to use as transport, this will be very important for unlocking some of the advanced classes to come.
For Blitzball, basically the best way to improve your teams stats is to max out one at a time, in order. Since each training exercise raised one stat and lowers another, you start with Passing for instance, and raise it all the way to max for that player. Then you raise the stat that the previous exercise was lowering, and kind of make a chain like that through all the stats. There's one stat that each player doesn't really need at all so when you get to the exercise that lowers that stat, you end the chain. For everyone except goalies, you don't need catching, and for goalies you don't need shooting. So for example, start with the exercise that is lowered by Catching, and follow the chain around until you get to the exercise that lowers Catching. It takes 8 CP into a stat to raise it by 1, and conversely to lower it by 1.
ReplyDeleteThere's another thing to keep in mind as well, which is Biorhythm and Fatigue. Biorhythm is the 0-9 number next to each stat that changes after every training exercise. Think of Biorhythm as how efficiently the training will go. If the Biorhythm is 5 for Shooting, and you put 9 Command Points into the Shooting training exercise, any extra points over the Biorhythm (4 in this case) will turn into Fatigue. However, any points you put into training will still apply toward raising stats, even if they go over the Biorhythm and turn into Fatigue. The same does not apply to lowering stats, which will allow you to max out all stats if you really work on it. If the Biorhythm for Blocking is 0 and you put 9 CP into a training exercise that lowers Blocking, none of those 9 points will subtract from your Blocking stat. If the Biorhythm was 2, only 2 of those 9 points would apply. There is a training exercise to help raise Biorhythm numbers back to their max, which is good when it gets stuck hovering around 0-1 on a stat you want to raise.
The more Fatigue you have, the higher chance you will get injured in training or in a match, and then you have to spend lots of CP or play games to get that player back in shape. I would suggest reducing fatigue once you get around 50 or so. After you've won a bunch of games, you'll be raking in so much CP that it doesn't matter as much. Train your players until they break and then fix them up.
Playing the match itself is pretty uninvolved. All you can really do is change your formations and up the star gauge, which doesn't do nearly as much as in Creature Create. You really just watch your team play to be honest. Or change the view to Overview and the match will play in hyper speed.
Blitzball in X-2 is just a big numbers game and not much else. You spend all your time in the menu training up players and very little actually playing Blitzball. The only really worthwhile reward is the AP Egg, which can be won in the Arena now but can be hard to farm for until your creatures are badasses. In the original X-2 I would play Blitzball as soon as I got to Chapter 5 and get 3 AP Eggs for my girls, but in the HD version there are easier ways to get AP through the Arena, plus you can win Key to Successes as well as AP Eggs, so ultimately, Blitzball is kinda pointless, unless you just enjoy it.