Sunday, November 30, 2014

Day #569 Recap (X-2 Last Mission)

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): ~8:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00 (still need to get this)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,357:34 (+)

Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Current Deaths(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): 0
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2 Last Mission): Floor 49 (DRK 12/GUN 17/GNM 4/WHM 3/FES 3)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 9-1! (Current Levels RDM 86/DNC 43(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2 Last Mission): All the way up to Floor 49... still no replacement Restart Guide... boo... ran out of space in the vault... boo... switched over to Dark Knight and reaped the rewards... yay!

After Level 40... the girls take another break... and this time IT IS ON!!! Rikku can't believe that Yuna has been wasting her time away on Besaid... she needs to keep busy busy busy, and doesn't understand how Yuna can be doing nothing. Yuna, however, reiterates that she just wants to live a normal life. She doesn't feel like she's wasting it away... and Paine has to step in between the two of them... It never used to be this way... is what Paine says about all this.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

So... honestly, by the end of yesterday, I'd been pretty much exclusively using Black Sky as my attack. I've had a good chance for Magic up on a level up since the beginning of the game, and now my Magic is like 45 while my physical attack is at about 15. The main reason for this is increasing Gunner levels doesn't affect physical attack, and I've needed to focus on levelling it up for HP boosts...

Now, Dark Knight gets much more HP/level and also gets a Magic Point for each level (if it's your active class). It's main attack is based off of Physical... but Black Sky is a magical based attack... hits the whole room, and just uses your BASE HP as a cost... My level for Yuna is now over 40... so my HP is well over 300. I can use Black Sky a few times before needing to heal, and with my magic so high, I heal to full with one Curaga.... Black Sky is also useful for clearing a room from multiple enemies... as well as bosses... since it seems to be about 12 hits divided among all the enemies in a room... but hey, that's like 600 HP off of a single enemy if there's only one in the room.

Unfortunately, I haven't found another restart guide... which I'd like since I'd like to start going back to try and get the different secret rooms. I have a secret room guide and a few Notebooks to copy them... the interesting thing is I actually CAN believe now that the game is beatable on a first runthrough... and yes, I do know, that you can pretty much run floors 77-79 infinitely if you want so EVENTUALLY you'll find whatever you need... I'm hoping it doesn't get to that though.

Today is going to be more christmas decorating... I'm thinking though there should be some more time to get some stuff done... may be an XI day though as opposed to Last Mission... we'll see how it goes...

Day #568 Recap (X-2 Last Mission)

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): ~6:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00 (still need to get this)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,355:34 (+)

Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Current Deaths(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): 0
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2 Last Mission): Floor 37 (GUN 17/DRK 7/GNM 3/WHM 2/FES 2)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 9-1! (Current Levels RDM 86/DNC 43(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2 Last Mission): Up to Floor 37. Not my best day... I'll get into it below... but the end result was I lost my Restart Guide ;(

Forgot to do this yesterday.... after reaching Level 30... the girls took a break, and it is time for Yuna to catch us up on what she's been doing. Well, she went back to Besaid... and has been doing... nothing. Seriously, she's just been relaxing... not having to deal with being High Summoner... hanging out with Tidus... not that we say its Tidus... god forbid we spoiler the last game in the sequel... but anyway... that's about it... strange, I figured they'd at LEAST spend a little time in Luca so Tidus could Blitz... ah well.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

So, I only made it up 6 floors today in X-2 Last Mission. However, I probably did about 14 levels in doing so... I could NOT avoid Pit Traps today. Seriously, I just kept going between Floors 33-35 forever... it got to the point I didn't know if I was going to make it past there. It cost me quite a bit as well. It got to the point where I had found a second Restart Guide, and I was doing some inventory management to pick it up. I think I was trying to use a Dress Fusion Guide and Dressmaker book.. in any event, I threw my original Restart Guide to free up inventory space, and when I went to go pick it back up... PIT TRAP!!! Ugh... yeah, that REALLY stinks.

Apologies for forgetting to talk about the Level 30 cutscene yesterday... I merely forgot...

Today... well, today is christmas decorating... at least starting christmas decorating... it takes a while. We'll get some X-2 in... and that's probably about it...

Friday, November 28, 2014

Day #567 Recap (X-2 Last Mission)

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): ~5:15
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00 (still need to get this)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,354:49 (+)

Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Current Deaths(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): 0
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2 Last Mission): Floor 31 (GUN 12/DRK 7/GNM 3/WHM 2/FES 2)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 9-1! (Current Levels RDM 86/DNC 43(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2 Last Mission): Up to Floor 31. Had some good luck getting some Dress Fusion Secrets... also finally managed to get myself a couple of Find Secret Room folios... finally.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

Happy Thanksgiving once again! I'm certainly getting a little confused at how I want to proceed here... on one hand, I really like all the abilities I get from the classes I'm using right now... on the other hand, my physical attack is really quite pathetic. Also, there's a couple abilities I know I'm going to want or need at some point... sigh... have I mentioned I really hate inventory management???

Again, probably going to be a light few days, as I have plenty of RL stuff going on... still though, will probably get a few more floors done at some point today... hopefully.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Day #566 Recap (X-2 Last Mission)

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): ~4:15
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00 (still need to get this)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,353:49 (+)

Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Current Deaths(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): 0
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2 Last Mission): Floor 23 (GUN 7/DRK 7/GNM 3/WHM 2/FES 2)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 9-1! (Current Levels RDM 86/DNC 43(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2 Last Mission): Made it up to Floor 23. At Floor 20, we once again checked in with our girls. This time it's Paine's turn to let us in on what's been going on around Spira. Apparently, the Youth League has already broken up, and New Yevon is soon to be... they're just a little bigger and harder to convince... Baralai, Nooj, and Gippal have still been travelling around Spira apologizing to everyone. Paine would like to go hang out with everyone, but there's something she wants to do first... she's just not letting us know what that is just yet...

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Apururu wants to break his brother out of the Dark Dungeon deep below the Horutoto Ruins... this dungeon apparently saps the magical power from whoever is in there. And... Ajido-Marujido is the only one other than the Star Sibyl who can possibly read what was written in the restored Book of the Gods... now since Ajido-Marujido reactivated some of the ruins... it is going to require a lot of power to break the seal on the dungeon... so we have to recover all 5 of the ministry rings.

Apururu obviously happily gives us the Manustery ring. Tosuka-Porika really doesn't want to give us the Optistery Ring... however, he realizes that only Ajido-Marujido can possibly read the book, and they really want to know what's inside... so he reluctantly gives us his ring. Rukususu has returned to Fei-Yin and wants to help out Apururu and does not want to see anyone drained of their powers like that... so he gives us the Rhinostery ring. Sedal-Godjal still holds the Aurastery Ring... and we tell him it was because of the ring we were able to track him down. He gladly gives it up so he can stay hidden... now, unfortunately, the Star Sibyl confiscated the Orastery ring from Ajido-Marujido... it was given to Semih Lafihna for safe keeping. He's gone to check out some Cardian trouble under the Horutoto ruins.

We get there and we have to defeat two bodyguards... Queen Cardians... they're quite tough, but we're able to get through him. We then find Semih talking with the four Ace Cardians. They tell us they've chosen a king... the Joker then shows up. He commands the Ace cardians to let us go since we still have a role to play in what's going on... and apparently they need our help... we have to defend the Star Sibyl from the bearer of darkness... whatever that means.

Anyway, they also make Semih give us the Orastery ring... so we return to Windurst and have Dr. Shantotto make us the Glove of Perpetual Twilight. A glove that can contain the power of all 5 ministry rings. We take the glove down to the Dark Dungeon and are able to open up the Dungeon. We give Ajido-Marujido the book and he opens it up... and it knocks him out cold. ...

Status & Notes: 

So, I'm starting to get the hang of Last Mission... it really is just alot of management of items, and continuing to build levels of all the dresspheres to continue gaining stats... at some point I'm certainly going to go back so I can make sure to get the secret rooms... as well as just continue to gain stats. I find it very difficult to believe that you could clear the last boss of the game without "resetting" at least once.. I have in fact found the tome that lets me leave the tower... I'm just not exactly sure when I'm going to use it yet.

In XI... man that was a long mission. A lot of walking around... a lot of really long cutscenes... and a fairly long and difficult fight as well. The fight is against 2 Level 72 cardians... one of them being a red mage and one of them being a paladin... it really is amazing how much more powerful enemies get as they are closer to your own level. Really they just took a long time to kill. I will say, I'm finding having my own healing spells becoming more and mroe useful as I'm continuing through this.

Anyway... today is Thanksgiving, so everyone have a happy one. updates are probably going to be a little lighter over the next couple days... especially in XI... but we will see.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Day #565 Recap (X-2 Last Mission)

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): ~2:15
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00 (still need to get this)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,351:49 (+)

Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Current Deaths(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): 0
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2 Last Mission): Floor 14

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 8-2! (Current Levels RDM 86/DNC 43(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2 Last Mission): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): We were once again summoned by Tosuka-Porika of the Opistery. He summoned us to look for the Book of The Gods that contains the true history of the creation of Windurst. It contains powerful magicks that can only be unsealed by a gem that is carried by the Star Sibyl. The book is believed to be housed in the hidden sixth minstry of Windurst... the Animastery. He gave us the Opistery Ring which we would need to get in. We made it deep within the canal, where we had to destroy 4 Hinge Oils in order to gain access. We did so fairly easily... and within we discovered the book.... and in came the Star Sibyl. She told us to let go of the book as it contained immense power. She told us this was the laboratory of Karuha-Baruha thirty years ago who did research on drawing power from monsters during the Shadow War. She decided the star of Karuha-Baruha must be guiding us, and so she lets us go... Tosuka-Porika, however, doesn't think he'll get off so easily, and gives us the Blank Book of the Gods.

Next, the Rhinostery wants us to check up on its minster, Rukususu who traveled to Elshimo to investigate Iru-Kuiru, a researcher during the time of the Shadow War. To get to Elshimo we need to take an airship and that requires a special pass. To get the pass, I needed to retreive keys from Giddeus, Palborough Mines, and Fort Ghelsba. We did so and got our pass, and flew to Kazahm. Once there, we headed out into the jungle until we came to the Tonberry stronghold of the Temple of Uggalepih. Inside, we discovered the Bonze Marberry... a tonberry who held a special Cursed key. Once we found the door which the key unlocked, we discovered Rukususu.

We started talking to Rukususu, when all of a sudden a spirit appeared. It told us he was Grav'iton Berriasacci... the remainder of the Kuluu. The Kuluu, we are told by Rukususu were one of two ancient races, along with the Zilart, that Iru-Kuiru was researching. Grav'iton tells us the Kuluu created the Horutoto Towers, and the fact that they are not functioning anymore will cause the great Beast of the Moon to appear. He then uses his power to temporarily restore the Book of the Gods.

Next, we are summoned by the Aurastery, who tells us they have been working without a director for many months now. The old director fell in love and kind of ran off, and the interim director ran off somewhere. They give us a doll that can track the energy from the ring given to the interim director so we can find him. The doll first directs us to Ro'Maeve, where we investigate a spring with a tremendous amount of energy, but there's no trace of the director. Though, we do find a cloaked creature who looks kind of creepy... anyway the doll recalibrates itself and we're off looking again.

We head to Davoi, where we find the director. He's magically sealing the area so the Orcs don't invade. He's been waiting for reinforcements from San d'Oria, but they haven't come. Also, there's an orc who's been cursing him... so we need to go take care of him. The Orc's name is Dirtyhanded Gochakzuk and he's a nasty magician with 3 bodyguards. We fight through lots of orcs to reach him, and we take him down quickly before he can destroy us with his spells.  We give the wand back to the director and then return to the Aurastery to explain what happened, as well as tell him that that doll gave us some bad directions... which can't be a good thing.

Status & Notes: 

Quick correction from yesterday. In X-2 Last Mission... if you get kicked out of the tower by the Founder by sticking around on the floor too much... it acts just the same as dying. The only way to leave the tower with all your stuff intact is to find the book that lets you leave... ah well.

Over to Vana'diel, where we finished 3 whole missions today! It seems that the Yagudo fight was really where the difficulty ceiling was for most of the fights. Everything else so far has gone down pretty easily. In fact, the only fight in this mission set I'm even remotely worried about is the last fight at the end... and who knows, that one might even be doable. In fact, there's only 3 missions left period for Windurst.

I think the story we're getting is cool. I like how we start each mission, basically trying to solve something for one of the ministries and by the end we're uncovering something new about the history of the land, and quasi-ancient secrets... without really interacting with them directly.

Alright, well, I've typed alot today, so it's time to get moving with some stuff. Until tomorrow!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Day #564 Recap (X-2 Last Mission)

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): ~2:15
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00 (still need to get this)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,351:49 (+)

Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Current Deaths(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): 0
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2 Last Mission): Floor 14

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 7-1! (Current Levels RDM 86/DNC 43(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2 Last Mission): Entered the Iutycyr Tower, upon an invitation from an unknown source... we were to climb the towers using only our own powers to find something cool on top.

Okay, well, once we hit Floor 10, Rikku filled us in on what she's been doing since we last saw her. Apparently she's been helping Shinra and Rin look for some kind of ruins on the bottom of the sea... Cid has apparently joined up with O'aka to make some kind of resort at Mount Gagazet... along with the Leblanc Syndicate... Kimahri is worried that they'll defile the sacred grounds... the Leblanc syndicate really doesn't care... apparently Clasko has joined up with the Kinderguardians... whom Rikku has to babysit quite often... and Tobli wants to make Rikku into a singing star, so she started taking lessons from Barkeep... which probably wasn't the best idea.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Finished gaining experience... so I headed back to Jeuno to see Maat and the Nomad Moogle to see if they could do something crazy to my level cap again... well, when I did some guy called Degenhard showed up and had a beef with Maat... so we had to help Maat beat him in one-on-one combat... which was basically a giant Rock/Paper/Scissors game... after we helped Maat. The Nomad Moogle unleashed his latest technique on me with the help of Maat, Degenhard, and Atori-Tutori. We ended up upside-down... but stronger!!! yay...

But we weren't done yet!!! He had one more technique to try on me... he brought out Atori-Tutori again and Chamama. They needed me to create the perfect item by incubating it in my stomach for exactly 10 seconds... yeah, it was kind of gross. Anyway, Atori-Tutori than did something to it and made it into the Soul Gem!!! This raised my level cap to 95!!!

With this newfound power, I headed back into Giddeus to once again take on the Yagudo Champions... this time things went much better and we came out on top. The Yagudo Elder than wanted us to meet him deep with Castle Ozstroja and he would give us the item that the Star Sibyl had requested. We traveled to Castle Ozstroja, and had to once again gather the passwords, and make it deep within. Once we did however, we received the Holy One's Oath... bringing it back to the Star Sibyl, she pardoned our "crimes" that we committed with Ajido-Marujido, but bade us never to speak of what we saw at the Full-Moon Fountain...

Status & Notes: 

So, yeah... Last Mission is EXACTLY a rogue-like game. With a HEAVY twist on inventory management... I mean a LOT of inventory management. The idea is that you can equip 5 dresspheres and 2 accessories, and you need to just keep gathering items to keep making yourself stronger. Obviously, enemies get stronger as you keep getting further up the tower. Now, the strategy seems to be, to keep climbing the tower for a bit, and then get yourself kicked out of the tower either by an item or by the "Founder" and go back in... lather, rinse, repeat until you're strong enough. It's quite fun... though the inventory management is a little maddening.

Right now, I'm focusing mostly on Gunner, since it seems the most beginner friendly... you can take a lot of things out at range, with decent power. Whether I stay with it or not, we'll see.

Over in XI, finally made some more story progress today, making it through Mission 6-2. Spent some time buying up some weapons and spells... and of course I made a big oops... I was buying up the elemental staffs, since they're very useful in increasing damage of your elemental spells... and I accidentally spent a LOT of money on the wrong item... so basically I threw about 80k gold down the toilet... well crap.

Actually, I spent a little bit of time starting to try out some crafting stuff... not really the greatest system in the world... but I'll save talking about that for another day, where I don't have quite so much to talk about.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Day #563 Recap (X-2 Last Mission)

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission): 0:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00 (will get final total today)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00
Total Play Time - 1,349:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2 Last Mission): Haven't started yet

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): *DONE!!!*

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-2! Of course... gonna need to do some levelling...(Current Levels RDM 85/DNC 42(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2 Last Mission): None

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Finished up... went through the ending of the game... twice... oh, there is some beef to be talked about...

But, anyway. with Vegnagun destroyed, Yuna returns to the Farplane Glen, where she once again hears a familiar whistle. When she looks around for it, she once again finds the little boy who is the Fayth for Bahamut. He asks us if we'd like to see "Him" again... Yuna, of course, quickly agrees. The Fayth can't make any promises... but hey after the Celsius takes off, we see something being created in the water off of Besaid Beach... it's Tidus! Now, I don't know how Yuna managed to see any of this, but they fly over Besaid Beach and she hops right off the ship and embraces her lost love... now, apparently the enrire population of Besaid has also rushed down to the beach and are happy to see Yuna, and think nothing of Tidus having reappeared... they're just happy...

(THIS PART DID NOT APPEAR IN MY GAME... BUT IT *SHOULD* HAVE)

Yuna and Tidus return to Zanarkand, where Tidus explains he thinks the Fayth collected his memories and reshaped him from them... or maybe he's still just a dream. Tidus says either way, they need to cherish their time together... so, Yuna pushes him into the ocean... and Tidus doesn't disappear... yay...

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

Alright FF X-2... now you've gone and made me angry. Kind of a little known and *COMPLETELY STUPID* thing they went and did with this remaster. Now, as you know, the internation version which this remaster is based off of, included the Creature Creator... which as I've said before, has it's own unique ending, where we find out that Shinra was researching fiends to try and find out what happened to his mother... great.

Now, the original version of FF X-2. had a so-called PERFECT ending, which if you did everything right and had 100% completion, you got a bonus scene where Tidus explains to Yuna what he thinks happened to get him to return and him assuming he'll be able to stick around forever if they stick together.. Great...

Now, for some reason, they made a decision that when you beat the game... and you've done EVERYTHING... that is 100% Story Completion AND 100% Creature Creator Completion... that the Creature Creator ending TRUMPS the Story 100% ending... WTF!!!! Now, thankfully, I can just go look up the ending on YouTube... but seriously... its not like you can ever UNDO getting 100% Creature Creator Completion... so. if you didn't see thae 100% story ending, than you're screwed!!!!

Also, I'd like to talk about something else that annoys me... having to push buttons through the ending just to get the good ending... That is some real cryptic crap right there. No where in the game does it really prompt you to press a button for anything. And you have to do it twice!!! (5 times). At the end of chapter 3... okay, you just keep tapping it and Tidus helps you escape the Farplane... great. But after, you beat the game??? And this is like AFTER you go through all the text after you beat Shuyin and Lenne and him get back together... (which pressing X does NOTHING to help you speed through... ugh)... but NO... after that... THEN you have to press X to get the Tidus ending... I mean seriously just WTF...

Ugh, anyway...so THAT is finally done... sorry for all the raging... but I'm REALLY annoyed by that. Now its time to go on to Last Mission, which is an altogether different animal... kind of part RTS, part action RPG... this seems like it'll be interesting, and certainly a nice change of pace.

Day #562 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00
Total Play Time - 1,349:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Just gotta go beat Vegnagun again. (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-2! Of course... gonna need to do some levelling...(Current Levels RDM 85/DNC 42(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

Yeah... nothing day... bunch of RL stuff... have some family in for Thanksgiving... decided to go get some X-mas shopping done... all sorts of stuff like that.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Day #561 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00
Total Play Time - 1,349:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Just gotta go beat Vegnagun again. (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-2! Of course... gonna need to do some levelling...(Current Levels RDM 85/DNC 42(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Capped out my XP at 1 below level 86... then started getting myself some Merit Points... made it up to 11... need 15...

Status & Notes: 

I don't quite understand why to gain more exp... you need to gain more exp... it sounds kind of counter-intuitive... especially since it makes it harder to.... ya know... SPEND your Merit Points, which is their point... but whatever, I don't make the rules, I just play the game.

Speaking of which, not looking like there's going to be much play time today... boo...

Friday, November 21, 2014

Day #560 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00
Total Play Time - 1,349:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Just gotta go beat Vegnagun again. (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-2! Of course... gonna need to do some levelling...(Current Levels RDM 84/DNC 42(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Tied up a bunch of loose ends, all of which were in my save file from my first playthrough.

First, I did a max combo... which is 99 hits. Got that trophy. Next trophy, have a hit of 99,999 damage. Next, switch dresspheres with everyone in one fight... yawn. Use Bribe 30 times... okay... get a matched dice roll... sweet... Win a Blitzball match... ah crap.... but done.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

So, all the trophies I needed to get from the main game of X-2... is now done. I literally only have 2 things left to do. Beat the game again so I get the bonus ending... and then move on to Last Mission... sweet!

Let me go into a bit how I actually did all the trophies... the trick with the 99-combo attack is you need an opponent who has a ton of HP and gets stunned my regular attacks... then obviously you just chain Trigger Happy until you get to 99. The best enemy to do this on is Almighty Shinra... hands down. Enough about that.

There's 2 ways of doing 99,999 damage. You can either be VERY sure you've never escaped from a battle, equip the THE END Garment Grid, and go through gates until you unlock the Finale move... if you've never escaped from battle this will hit for a guaranteed 99,999... if not... have a Level 99 Paine be in Mascot... have her Nonpareil herself up to 10 bonus strength boosts... make sure she can break damage limit... have someone else as a songstress use Dirty Dancing to guarantee a crit, and then hit a weak enemy...(Coyote or something like that)... with Cactling Gun. This is really your best chance of making it to 99,999. Might take a couple of tries, but you'll get it.

For the dice trophy... just keep using Two Dice as a Lady Luck... you've got a one in six chance of matching numbers... enough said. Bribe 30 times... just keep bribing for one gold... the bribe doesn't have to work for it to count towards the trophy.

Blitzball... well, I can say they've improved things alot since the PS2 version...If I hadn't played the game for like 150 hours already, I might get into it... the fact is though, that the Creature Creator just renders the game useless... To get the trophy... just train I guess as you normally would... there's some guides that can help you with that... and keep playing the Kilika Beasts in exhibition matches... it'll take a few tries, but you'll win eventually. Oh yeah, make sure you stay on the Top Down view... makes the game speed by...

So, yeah, the next day I get some FF X-2 time... we'll just go and hit the ending... and that'll be all wiht that!!! Bout time wouldn't you say???

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Day #559 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00
Total Play Time - 1,349:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Tieing up the last few loose ends (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-2! Of course... gonna need to do some levelling...(Current Levels RDM 84/DNC 42(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Learned ALL the Blue Bullet spells!

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): More grinding... hit Level 84!!! Yay...

Status & Notes: 

Okay, so that was interesting. Learning ALL the Blue Bullet spells.  What are some of the tough ones... well. The hardest is certainly Cry in the Night. Can ONLY learn it from Oversouled Mega Tonberry.. and only when it is at critical HP. Not the easiest thing when you're at kind of mid levels with only Gun Mages. Thankfully, I learned MOST of these in the Fiend Arena. This is good because you can literally just kill yourself off after learning the move.. which REALLY helps with Supernova... best way to learn that one is to unlock Paragon in the arena and then hope it uses Big Bang on you... this teaches you Supernova for some reason. Don't know why, but it all works. The only Blue Bullet I didn't learn in the Fiend Arena was Fire Breath... for some reason, I could never get that team to even show up in the tournament... ah well, was easy enough to learn out in the thunder plains.

VERY exciting news today. Square Enix announced two new Android/iOS Final Fantasy games... the first one is Final Fantasy Legends which looks to be some kind of Radiant Historia esque Final Fantasy game... looks to be decent... of course it pales in comparison to what is behind Door #2...

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius... oh... I can't..... WAIT... for this one. How the heck Square Enix and Alim managed to team up is beyond me, but this is going to be AWESOME!!! For those of you don't know... Brave Frontier is THE best Free to Play RPG that exists on Android/iOS... hands down. They are a team that puts out more content than would really seem possible and have managed to do it with a great level of customer service, and without making a game that is reliant on its microtransactions... if they can carry all this over into a game with the full breadth of the Final Fantasy Universe behind it... well...  it could be completely awesome. Should be completely awesome....

and what about agito, is that still coming??? 3 Final Fantasy games on Android/iOS in Early 2015??? We will see!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Day #558 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00
Total Play Time - 1,349:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 5... in NG+! (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-2! Of course... gonna need to do some levelling...(Current Levels RDM 82/DNC 41(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): More grinding... hit Level 82!!! Yay...

Status & Notes: 

Oh Network TV... why must you go on break around Thanksgiving... you're messing me up in trying to finally finish up X-2!!!! So... yeah, had to settle for a Vana'diel only day... and of course I'm still not really doing too much other than levelling... since as I've said... I've already got 2x exp and max GoV exp going right now, so why waste it? My goal is to hit 85 and probably cap the XP in there... get the 10 Merit Points I need and get my cap set all the way to 95. I'll just need to go get (maybe) a rare drop from somewhere, but shouldn'r really be too big of a deal at all. With any luck maybe I can get close to this today.

Also, hopefully, I'll be able to get back into X-2 today and get some more done there... but I'm really not holding my breath at that right now.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Day #557 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~183:00
Total Play Time - 1,349:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 5... in NG+! (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-2! Of course... gonna need to do some levelling...(Current Levels RDM 80/DNC 40(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Went into the desert and dug up some parts... and then headed over to Djose Temple and found out that apparently Experiment levels carry over into NG+... yay like almost 2 hours of wasted time... FTL. Anyway, took on the Experiment and learned Annihilator for everyone... 1 Blue Bullet down... 15 to go.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): More grinding... hit Level 80!!! Yay...

Status & Notes: 

So, I'm an idiot disease strikes again. Should've really just taken a look over at Djose Temple and would've saved me a ton more time, which I could've spent running tournaments to unlock the teams I'll need to get the various Blue Bullets. I can CONFIRM for a fact that you need to face the teams from Fiend Arena in tournaments again to be able to get them in your list... I've tried that one already...

So, yeah, confirming that's the next thing I'm going to be doing... getting all the Blue Bullets... then I'll probably head back to my old file to do alot of the other trophies I need... since I'm already Level 99 there... unless I manage to grind that high that I don't need to... we'll see.

Over in Vana'diel... still not a lot happening... I grinded up to 80.... I may even grind higher... maybe do the next level cap or something... I already have my GoV at max xp, and 2x exp is still in effect, so why waste it?

Monday, November 17, 2014

Day #556 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,311:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 5... in NG+! (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-2! Of course... gonna need to do some levelling...(Current Levels RDM 78/DNC 39(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Back in the Oubilette, murdering some hounds and haunts... made it up to RDM 78, not too shabby

Status & Notes: 

Not a whole lot to talk about here... just another levelling day... actually made some decent progress. One thing I don't understand... alot of posts I've read when talking about levelling via trust in XI say that they should go kill Bloodsuckers at some point. I really don't understand how that could be more efficient than killing Hounds and Haunts...

Let me explain. You have to kill 9 Bloodsuckers to get the Ground Valor reward... this is really your main source of EXP in doing this. You only have to kill 5 hounds and 1 haunt for a total of 6 kills. The kills for hounds are quicker than killing the bloodsuckers. (Haunts are really about the same). Hound kills are also just alot easier than bloodsucker kills. Sure there are MORE bloodsuckers... and they tend to group more, but really if you're the only one camping Hounds/Haunts, there's really enough that you're not going to have downtime... okay I've had a *slight* amount of downtime once or twice, but honestly it is negligible... also, the Garms really give about as much XP/kill as a bloodsucker... so you're not getting any more XP from going this way... I really don't get it...

I mean unless you have some method of AoE or something maybe... anyway, today we're definitely going to hit Level 80... hopefully we'll also get started on the Chapter 5 stuff in X-2... you know... digging and what not.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Day #555 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,311:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 51
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 5... in NG+! (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-2! Of course... gonna need to do some levelling...(Current Levels RDM 76/DNC 38(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Ajiro-Marujido was heading down to Full Moon Fountain... but first he needed us to activate the magic tower of Sarutabaruta. We headed down there and the Cardians gave us a bit of a rude welcome. Four of them attacked as soon as the tower was activated. We disposed of them easily enough... and then decided to see what Ajido-Marujido was up to.

We used our new Rhinostery Certificate and headed into Toraimorai Canal. Deep within, we found a a metal door... and behind that was Full Moon Fountain. What lay within was basically a black lake... not a good omen. However, the Star Sibyl's guard showed up to arrest Ajido Marujido...

We were summoned by the Star Sibyl, and apparently we were in some trouble too. Our punishment was to work for Windurst in appeasing the Yagudo. They hold a tournament every so often pitting warriors of Windurst against warriors of the warriors of the Yagudo. They win... we have to pay them more... not good. So, we headed deep into Giddeus and found the battleground... where... we got our butts handed to us... grr...

I then decided to take my mind off things with a little exploring, heading into the Sanctuary of Zi'tah and into Ro'Maeve to pick up some warp points... adn then with a sigh... back into Bostianeux Oubliette...

Status & Notes: 

So, finally a mission done, and of course on to the next. Mission 6-2... very similar to 6-1 in the fact that you have to fight 4 things at once. This one is quite a bit harder. 4 Yagudo... a summoner, a ninja, a samurai, and a white mage... walk into a bar... but no, seriously. Of course, I did this as it looks above... as a RDM/DNC... However, this might have been a bad choice. Black Mage, you see, has access to Sleepga... which in a four on one fight... can be quite useful as you may guess. So, we'll be trying that out soon... however, first I think I'm going to gain a couple of levels. Should be able to make it to Level 80 easily enough.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Day #554 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,311:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 5... in NG+! (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Time to get back on track.(Current Levels RDM 76/DNC 38(50)... BLM 50... THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Made it back to Chapter 5 finally! Hooray! Now we can start doing what we really need to. Took a quick look at Calm Lands... surprisingly it looks like I can actually get myself up to Rank 5 there and still get the Episode Complete... maybe... might be worth me looking in to.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Finished my Levelling... finally... and it was back to Red Mage. Decided to start my plot work WAYYY back before I had made it through the Three Mage Gate. That's right, we're back to the Purple Ribbon. This led me deep into Garlaige Citadel where I located the bones of the previous owner. Giving it the Ribbon made a.... rather unfriendly Lich appear. We defeated it and checked the bones again... and found a Blue Ribbon on it instead! We returned to the Rhinostery to report our findings.

We returned and apparently there's some kind of crisis within the Toraimarai Canal... something about starmites... they want me to kill some of them and bring the shells. To do so they gave me the Rhinostery Certificate.... this would allow me direct access to the canals through Windurst Walls.

Status & Notes: 

Yay!!! On two counts... not only have we FINALLY finished the sidejob levelling in XI... but we've finished ALL the pretenses in NG+ of X-2.. back to Chapter 5 where all the magic can happen... and by magic I mean digging... lots of digging. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to be stuck in Vana'diel for the next couple days.

Over there, thankfully, the levelling is complete, and I can continue with some actual plot. I chose the Purple Ribbon quest to start out with, because I'd like easy access into Toraimarai Canal... it is alot easier than going through the whole ruins thing to get to the Three Mage Gate.... and we'll need it for a lot of the missions coming up.

So, again, today, I think we're only going to have XI time... in which case I'd like to get through my first mission in quite some time.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Day #553 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,311:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 4... in NG+! (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 45)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

I warned all y'all it might be one of those days... well I said it might be a light day... but that just turned into a none day... sooooo... yeah. Not much to talk about here. I'm gonna go jump into today's stuff... which will include getting Dancer to 50 in XI... and then maybe an actual mission!!!! Yay!!!!

Tonight, we'll hop into X-2 and get through what I need to in Chapter 4, and then probably going to start some digging in Chapter 5.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Day #552 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,311:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 4... in NG+! (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 45)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Finished up Chapter 3 today. Kind of an easy chapter... the one thing I did not do was get any PR or Marraige points... yes I do realize that may cost me a 3rd Mascot Dressphere, but honestly, I really don't think I'm going to get get Episode Completes everywhere anyway... there's really no point...

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): No server issues today... made it up to DNC 45

Status & Notes: 

So, after looking into things... I DO need to do a few things in Chapter 4. Most important I have to see The Besaid scenes to see Beclem leave.... I have to see the Kilika scenes with the balloons and Dona and Barthello, etc. The Zanarkand scenes so Isaaru leves for Bevelle, and the Mi'ihen sidequest... so, you know... you can do the Mi'ihen Sidequest... everything else in Chapter 4 is purely for nothing or some story points... which again, mean nothing on a second playthrough.

The OCD in me is a little disappointed I went and skipped the PR campaign since I can't get episode complete there... but really since the only thing I NEED in this second playthrough is another shot at the Djose experiment to learn Annihilator... I can live with it. I already have an extra Mascot Dressphere from the Creature Creator minigame anyway.

Today is going to be a lighter day, as its another one of those special RL days I mentioned earlier. Can't really get into it... we should get some X-2 time tonight, and hopefully I'll be onto Chapter 5 and can actually start getting to work on what needs to get done.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Day #551 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~138:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,311:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 3... in NG+! (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 38)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Finished up Chapter 2 and headed into Chapter 3. Once in Chapter 3, I just had time to get a couple things done. That being the Sphere Break tournament in Luca... which happily netted me the Sphere Break trophy, as well as the Mi'ihen Highroad incident, and checking up on Leblanc in Guadosalam.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Finally got some play time in here today. Logged in and woohoo! 2x exp boost! This was pretty awesome... however, an emergency maintenance and some sort of error that caused my computer to not be able to communicate with the server kind of rained on my parade... so, up to Dancer 38...

Status & Notes: 

So, starting in Vana'diel today, apparently there was a big patch that added in a lot of stuff, like the end of the Seekers of Adoulin storyline and a new system called Unity Concord which lets you align yourself with different factions in game... I don't really know too much about it yet, but when I do, I'll be sure to write about it here!!!

So, 2x exp is in effect for quite a while, which is really awesome... should be able to hit DNC 50 in no time, and once that is done, I'm actually going to go ahead and start going through some more missions!!! Yay... storyline.

In Spira, wow, it is so much nicer to do all these dungeons without random battles... especially Bevelle Underground.... I hate that place...  also it is nice to not have to care about getting the stuff from the Gaol and what not.. just speed through. Man will I say the same thing soon about Chapter 4... I don't *think* viewing anything in particular is required for doing Episode Completes anywhere... I'll check on that though. So, yeah, if you haven't guessed, I'm just speeding through to Chapter 5... where I'll open up the Central Expanse and hit Special level 5 on the experiment really fast. Once I do that, I'll spend some time back in the Fiend Arena basically just unlocking the teams I need to learn Blue Bullet skills... Annihilator is the *only* blue bullet skill you can't learn in the Fiend Arena. Once I get that done, it'll be time to get the rest of the trophies I need... including 99,999 damage, 99 chain, and *shudder* a blitzball victory... I hate X-2 blitzball, you have no control...

So, yeah, that's what's coming up... and once all that is done, it is on to Last Mission!!! Which kind of reminds me of Digimon World 2... but that's another story...

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Day #550 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~135:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,308:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 2... in NG+! (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Got most of the way through Chapter 2... played shortly with alot of the sidequests and what not. Only Gagazet and Bikanel left before the Guadosalam/Bevelle missions...

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

Moving along through Chapter 2. Like I said before, I want to do enough that I can get Episode Completes everywhere... really doesn't take too long when there's no random battles, thankfully.

Took a small amount of time to play around with Tower Calibration in the Thunder Plains, and the Gunner's Gauntlet in Besaid... Actually got 7 of 10 towers calibrated on my first try. I wasn't going to take the time to calibrate all of them, just figured it would be fun to see how good my skills kept up. My gunner gauntlet run was... just awful. I got like 1300 points... blech.

Oh right... I was going to take some time to talk about the X2 ending. My first impression with the ending is it makes the people of Spira look like an absolute bunch of sheep... now this shouldn't be surprising, because they absolutely are... they went from the world where they completely trusted Yevon... and we all saw how well that worked... to a world where they needed a Yevon replacement, and ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE apparently went and followed one of the 3 factions... Spira needs a stupid 12 step program!!!! Authority Addicts... all of them! So, I guess the Gullwings not attending the press conference or whatever you want to call it, is the metaphor for them not being caught up in the whole addiction cycle... that's my view of it all... the story is really bad... it was based off of trying to trick us into caring about these Shuyin and Lenne characters because they happen to look like Yuna and Tidus... but let's face it... we don't.. we don't!

Alright... today, I think we're FINALLY going to get some XI play time in again... as well, as finishing up Chapter 2 and getting into Chapter 3 in X2.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Day #549 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~135:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,308:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 2... in NG+! (100% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): After being completely dumb and thinking I could do things without being in NG+... I came back to my senses and went back into NG+. I went through Chapter 1, making sure to gr ab some stuff I missed in the first playthrough... most notably...

The Garment Grid in Luca... the Garment Grid at the Youth League HQ... and the Garment Grid from getting all the passwords right in Kilika.

As we started Chapter 2, I gave the "Awesome Sphere" to New Yevon... which boosted my score to 100%... and then loaded up the Ending on Creature Creator... and it is indeed a completely different ending... which doesn't show the Bonus Ending... oh well...

So... back to Chapter 2...

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

Oh the amount of things I had wrong yesterday... heh... so, no obviously I can't get Annihilator Blue Bullet in my first playthrough since I already destroyed the experiment on 5/5/5 mode... so it can't be repaired again. Also, the "Ending" from creature creator is indeed an ending you can create a NG+ at any point of the game, so that is kind of nice I guess... real quick way to get max Warrior Dresspheres for whatever that is worth... (nothing)

The nice thing about New Game + at least is at least you get to play with the Charm Bangle the entire time, and there's no need to really harp on details that might miss you story points, because as you can see above I've already hit 100%... and I'm not going for 107% or whatever the actual maximum is... so really I can just speed through the game... if I really wanted I could JUST do the hotspots and speed through the chapters, but I do at least want to do all the areas, in case there is something I can pick up... like I know I need Macalania Woods for one of the Garment Grids I missed, etc.

So... sigh... we're getting there... but at least I've gotten a lot done. Very much looking forward to getting to Last Mission in the very near future.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Day #548 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~126:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,299:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2):  Chapter 1... in NG+! (99% Complete, Bestiary *100*% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Finished running through Via Infinito back down to Cloister 100 where Paragon was waiting for me... thankfully I made sure that weapons were currently oversouled... so took out oversouled Paragon and headed into the Depths of Bevelle. Made it to the towers and fought about 6 Precepts Guards until it oversouled... with that done I returned to the Celsius and spoke to Shinra who gave me the almighty THE END Garment Grid...

With that taken care of, it was time to finally head into the Farplane Abyss... as we entered we encountered some Keyboards, a brief search of the area and we discovered the right notes to play... what is this Goonies?!?!? We did this a few times and came upon some weird floating platforms where they wanted us to play the melody again... but screw figuring that out, I'll fight the boss monster instead... fought an Azi Dahaka and continued on... to Vegnagun!!!

As we approached Vegnagun we sae that Shuyin/Baralai is in the controls... Nooj was there... he came up with a plan, that of coursed involved him commiting suicide...  Yuna decided she didn't like that idea... then Gippal showed up with Leblanc and gang. We decided we were going to dismantle this big Machina and everyone was going to help... and by help, of course, we mean getting their ass kicked until we show up to help them... So, we fought Vegnagun's Tail, then its leg... and then its head...

We defeated them all... which apparently made Vegnagun very excited because it made its giant cannon become erect... yep I went there. We took that down pretty fast... and then Shuyin came to talk to us. We put on our Lenne dressphere to try and persuade him to stop, but eventually he realized the illusion and attacked... apparently he thinks like Nooj, because that was quite suicidal.

So, with Shuyin defeated, we talked to him again... this time Lenne's spirit disassociated from Yuna's dressphere and the two got to have their moment and dissipated into pyreflies... and the world is saved... yay... so, the first thing to do obviously is hold a press conference in Luca. Baralai, Nooj, and Gippal apologized for pitting their factions against each other, and thanked Yuna for saving the world... again....  Yuna decided not to attend the conference and fly "home" on the Celsius.. I assume Besaid, but who can really say.

After the credits roll, its New Game + time!!! After getting our Garment Grid back from Leblanc... again, we headed back to the Celsius and immediately headed to the Creature Creator... we ran some tournaments to level up some and more importantly grab 5 SP traps. With them we caught Leblanc, Ormi, Logos, Kimahri, and Lulu... doing so then unlocked Shinra in our Bestiary... and why is that important??? Well, I didn't know this, but now I do. Selecting Shinra in the Bestiary lets you IMMEDIATELY skip to the ending of the game! Woohoo!!!!

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

Well, that is actualy a REALLY cool bonus for completing the Creature Creator. For a game that most likely people are going to have to play through more than once to get up to 100%, it is quite awesome to just be able to skip the rest of the game to go see the bonus ending. Yes, it requires a LOT of work catching all the monsters in the Creature Creator, but it still seems totally worth it.

Now, what's next, now that we're in NG+??? Well, I still obviously saved my previous file. This is important because I plan to use it just to obtain some leftover trophies I haven't gotten yet... because part of the playthrough is that I do plan on getting the Platinum Medal for the game. Also, I'm going to use the second playthrough as a method for learning Blue Bullet skills, which I completely ignored in my first playthrough. Now, yes, it does involve me actually going through the game a bunch to collect the Blue Bullets, but that's not really a big deal, we can still do pretty much a minimal playthrough and get everything we need. So, yeah, collect the rest of the Garment Grids we need, collect the trophies, collect all the Blue Bullet skills... and we'll move on to Last Mission...

As for the ending and my feelings about the plot... I'll talk about tomorrow...

UPDATE: yeah I am dumb. After doing some more research... I figure it will be a lot easier to do all the blue bullet stuff back in my chapter 5 file. I still have repair manuals and I can learn the rest in the fiend arena. Sure ill have to go back through the end of the game again and farm the sp traps but in the end this will be far quicker.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Day #547 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~126:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,299:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10...
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Going through Via Infinito getting every oversouled monster... Currently Cloister 86. (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Down to floor 86 today on Via Infinito... down to just *2* creatures left to oversoul. Paragon and Precepts Guard... nice!

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

So, I've just completely given up on AP grinding now... couple reasons on that. One, most of the monsters, I'm either just escaping from since they are not worth fighting.. like Chac and Concherer... or its really just one monster at a time, so its not like we're getting any appreciable amouint of AP gain. I do have like 3 or 4 dressspheres left for each person that need levelling up... I'll probably just head back to the beginning of via Infinito after I finish the last couple monsters here to complete the AP grinding I want to do.

Good news is, that will probably be today! woohoo!!!

Probably should've been yesterday to be honest... I was expecting to have at least another hour of playtime and then I just ended up needing to pass out at like 10:15 last night... bleh... well, we'll make up for it today I think.

Would like to actually get some XI play time today as well if I can too.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Day #546 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 10...
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Going through Via Infinito getting every oversouled monster... Currently Cloister 75. (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Down to floor 75 today on Via Infinito... just one more creature oversouled...that being the Great Malboro... now its onto Protean Gels. fun...

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

Unfortunately another kind of light day... like I said... there's going to be a bunch of these here and there for a while. Did get a little further into Via Infinito... died once again on a Mega Tonberry... not really a big deal though...

As for things to talk about... well, I'm going to go outside of Square Enix for a bit, and talk about the Blizzcon stuff today...  mostly about the new franchise called Overwatch... this announcement makes me a bit sad to be honest.. This will really be the first game outside of a real brain based genre like an RPG or RTS. Yes, shooters have dominated the landscape for a bit now, but I was really hoping that Blizzard would've stayed out of it... I mean, seriously, this is the same company that owns Call of Duty.

That being said, though, when they cancelled Titan, I'm sure they were looking for a way to reuse some of the assets, and I'm sure what this is really....

Also, finally some info on Legacy of the Void... yay!!! I'm really more interested in the story of this as opposed to the PvP aspect of the game... very interested to see if we actually run into Xel'naga...

Anyway, looking forward to some good chunks of play time in the next few days, and therefore some good entries. Until tomorrow!

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Day #545 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 9
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Going through Via Infinito getting every oversouled monster... Currently Cloister 68. (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Just a short trip through Via Infinito today... just got 4 floors down, but did manage to clear 4 more monsters off my Oversoul list... down to 7 to go.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

Rough day, between caffeine withdrawal, forced public service, and the fact that I may be finally getting back on a decent sleep style.. (stupid dog)... I passed out about 9:30. So, unfortunaely not much to say today. Will still be another day or so until I get back into XI unfortunately... however, some good news...

I am going to be up to my own devices for a few days, which means I am going to be able to make a MAJOR push to finish most of what I have left for X-2. In fact, I'm really hoping to pretty much finish the main game and a lot of New Game + by Sunday night... heck maybe I'll even get into Last Mission a bit...

So, there, something to look forward to. We'll see how it goes.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Day #544 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 9
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Going through Via Infinito getting every oversouled monster... Currently Cloister 64. (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): In Via Infinito still. Really didn't go down as fast as I could, focusing instead on some AP grinding with some various remaining jobs. We made it down to Cloister 64... total of 11 monsters left to Oversoul.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): More grinding! Into Merpihataud Mountains and Sauromugue Champaign to hit Level 30 with Dancer

Status & Notes: 

So, unfortunately, I've got some RL stuff coming up, which is going to put a serious crimp on the play time a couple days a week... bleh... believe me, it is absolutely nothing fun...

Anyway, just a lot of grinding really today, both in XI and X-2. In X-2 I'm just taking my time going down through Via Infinito. As I've said before, I'd like to cap out all my AP before I head into New Game +. This would definitely be the best place to do it... especially with the Lure Bracer... really only have a few jobs to go each.

Gonna keep this short today... As I've said, long day... really boring RL crap, and I'd like to actually get into some game time here.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Day #543 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 9
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Going through Via Infinito getting every oversouled monster... Currently Cloister 50. (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLM 50... DNC 22)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Back into Via Infinito. Successfully made my way down to Cloister 50... the series between 46 and 49 were a real pain... Ultima Weapon, Drowsy Ochu, and Barong all take forever to Oversoul... hey at least we're at the point where the encounter sets go like 5 or 10 floors.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): More grinding! Went through Tahrongi Canyon and Bururmu Peninsula to get my Dancer level up to 22... very much enjoying Dancer.

Status & Notes: 

Alright, let's talk about Dancers first. They're really quite a different class than I've played before... it is an actual ACTIVE class. Yeah, you can actually do stuff. What I mean by this is that the base classes that I've played before have their resources... MP which hardly regens unless you rest for a while... and TP which is used all at once for Weapon skills. The Dancer actually can use SMALL amounts of TP to create various things. Now, since TP regens very quickly as long as you're hitting an enemy you can actually use your abilities and not have to really worry about the resource too much. Sweet! So far most of my abilities are either heals, slows, and a taunt... we'll see if that actually diversifies at all in the next 28 levels...

In Spira, I've at least gotten as far... and slightly farther than I did in that Halloween debacle... No deaths this time... and yeah, I was dumb and forgot that equipping Covenant of Growth doesn't actually give you bonus AP unless you go through gates... blah... so I'll have to take advantage of AP Egg while I can until Ill actually HAVE to start fighting Mega Tonberries... nothing else really scares me to be honest.

So, yeah, I am VERY much looking forward to at least getting out of this playthrough and into the New Game + stuff at least. I don't think that will take too too long as long as I can get all the AP grinding done in Via Infinito here...

Monday, November 3, 2014

Day #542 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 9
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Going through Via Infinito getting every oversouled monster... Currently Cloister 27... still... (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLK 50... DNC 11)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Just a very small bit of grinding... got Dancer up to Level 11

Status & Notes: 

Really not a lot of play time today, ended up spending the day up visiting my parents... and then with the time change there was just exhaustion when I came home. So, did not feel like setting up the PS3 or even logging in to FF XI... yeah.

Today, I know there will be some X-2 play time, where hopefully I'll erase the horrible memories of what happened on Halloween. Also, hoping to get some more Dancer levels today as well... we will see how it goes.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Day #541 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 9
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Going through Via Infinito getting every oversouled monster... Currently Cloister 27... still... (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLK 50... DNC 7)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): After finishing up my levelling for Black Mage, I took a trip into Upper Jeuno where I found a troupe of dancers... I inquired how I might join them, and they said they would give me major props if I could dance on the stage at the Lion's Pride Inn in San d'Oria... so I went there, and got on stage.. and my dancing was awful. Apparently, word made its way back to Jeuno, since they no longer wanted me to join. The leader said I could still join if I could bring back a stardust pebble. Problem is, one hasn't seen in 20 years... where they were found in the lake in Jugner Forest..

Luckily for us the cavernous maws have opened up the time gate back to the Shadowreign era which is about... oh... 20 years ago... yay us. So, we made it to the lake and found the pebble, and who do we run into but the leader of the dance troupe when she was a small child. She had been training to dance all her life and had grown tired of it, and had run away from her lesson to see these mystical pebbles. In doing so she discovered she could dance just for the joy of dancing... and so she decided she'd stay with it.

So, we brought the pebble back to the present and the leader Laila couldn't believe her eyes. She explained to us that the dancing they do is a really a form of martial arts, and that we could begin training... So we headed into the wilds of the Ronfaure to begin our training.

Status & Notes: 

Phew, finally finished up Black Mage... now to something a little more interesting. My first veteran class in FF XI. Dancers are interesting in that they can Dual Wield and bestow effects onto their attacks. This pairs very well with Red Mage who can enhance their melee attacks with their spells already. So, with this combo we can get a couple layers of enchantment using both MP and TP. I can't say I know the exact mechanics of it just yet, but I'll discuss them I'm sure once I get some levels under my belt.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Day #540 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 9
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 50
Total Game Overs: 72

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Going through Via Infinito getting every oversouled monster... Currently Cloister 27... still... rawr... (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLK 49)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Went through Via Infinito... went all the way down to Cloister 46... and then wasn't paying attention and jumped into a Mega Tonberry... and yeah, I had AP eggs on so I wasn't quite invincible... and I died... ugh... so much time lost.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Stayed in Beaucdeine Glacier where I could kill things at a very high rate. Sure, I don't get much EXP per kill, but hey, I can rack up the Sparks EXP bonuses as well as the locked chests that I could sell stuff out of. Literally almost filled my bags to the brim and made it up to Level 49.... just one to go.

Status & Notes: 

Oh, it hurts when you're not paying attention and you screw up. I had been running through Via Infinito without a care in the world... getting all my oversouled monsters... and completely forgot about watching where I jumped... immediately I thought to myself... why am I not using the Covenant of Growth GG and keeping 2 Iron Dukes equipped... sigh... unfortunately with a fairly low defense and HP with only 1 Iron Duke on each girl... yeah, I died pretty quickly.. oh, that hurt...yeah, first thing I'm doing is changing over to Covenant of Growth and just dealing with changing the Dresspheres out of it.

Over in Vana'diel... had a MUCH better day. I'd rather kill just a large volume of things and load up on treasure chests right now... is the levelling quick??? Not at all... but am I dying a ton??? Not at all. So, once I get 1 more level and hit 50, I'm going to be done with Black MAge for a while as that's pretty much the cap as a support job. Eventually I do want to cap Black Mage eventually, but no time soon. I have a few other jobs I want to level before I move on. The first thing is going to be unlocking the Dancer class... which gives the added benefit of being able to do some walking around in the Shadowreign era and picking up some more home points and Cavernous Maws... so yeah... we'll see how that all goes...