Gaming

Guardian Tales is a great game. 8/10 stars. It is a free RPG available on the Nintendo Switch, Android, and Apple. I, however, am not here to review the game, I’m here to point out key differences between the Switch and Android versions (I don’t have an Apple device, so I can’t comment on that version except in regards to the coupons).

  • Color Code
    • [S] Switch
    • [A] Android
    • [Ap] Apple
    • [All] All
  • Caveats
    • [A] I don’t play on the Android, so if anything is wrong, that’s why.
    • [Ap] I don’t have an iPhone or any other Apple device, so if anything is wrong, that’s why.
  • Available Chapters
    • [S] 1-12 on Normal, 1-9 on Nightmare, and 0 on Hell.
    • [A] 1-15 on Normal, 1-12 on Nightmare, and 0 on Hell.
  • Equipment Modification
    • [S] Equipment level is capped at 75 (80 with Limit Break).
    • [A] Equipment level is capped at 84 (89 with Limit Break).
  • Side Stories and Short Stories
    • [S] There are only 5 side stories (1 of them is seasonal (Christmas)) and 7 short stories  (1 of them is seasonal (Halloween)).
    • [A] There are numerous side stories and short stories.
  • Coupons
    • [S] Coupons submitted in-app.
    • [A] Coupons submitted in-app.
    • [Ap] Coupons submitted via website.
  • Towers
    • [S] Heavenhold Tower up to level 60.
    • [A] Heavenhold Tower up to level 58.
    • [S] No Tower of Horizon (Strange Cube).
  • A Bunch of Nos
    • [S] No WORLD CLEAR PASS.
    • [S] No “Forums” or “Enhance” on the World Map menu.
    • [S] No fishing.
  • Guild
    • [S] Guild Introduction has canned selections to choose from.
    • [A] Guild Introduction is free-form (i.e. you can put in whatever you want).
  • Controls
    • [S] Touch screen controls don’t extend to inside dungeons.
    • [S] Run and Action/Talk are separate buttons.
    • [A] Run and Action/Talk are the same button.
  • Servers
    • [S] There is one World server.
    • [A] There are two World servers.
  • Voice Acting
    • [All] Some of the voices are different.

The Last of Us is a video game created by Neil Druckmann in 2013 about a pandemic involving a fungus called cordyceps which infect humans and cause them to become violent, cannibalistic monsters. In which one man is tasked with escorting a young girl across the county in order to save the world. It’s a coming-of-age buddy-buddy story. 10/10 stars.

This game was adapted for TV in early 2023. It’s on HBO. They have released three episodes thus far. The latest being January 23, 2023.

Some Notable Differences Between the Game and the Series:

***CONTAINS SPOILERS***

  • Game:
    • Austin, Texas:
      • The infected neighbor is a younger male.
      • The infected neighbor kills the dog.
      • The escape from Texas happens in the middle of the night.
    • Boston, Massachusetts:
      • Joel doesn’t give two shits about Tommy’s whereabouts and Joel isn’t looking to get out of town to find him.
      • Joel and Tess go after Robert because he took the guns they bought from him and sold them to the Fireflies instead.
      • Tess kills Robert.
      • Joel, Tess, and Ellie get ambushed by guards (plural). Where we find out she has the fungus.
      • Joel and Tess agree to take Ellie to the capital in exchange for “double the merchandise” Robert sold them.
      • Uninfected attack them at the capital while Tess gets into a shootout with them to buy time for Joel and Ellie to escape.
    • Lincoln, Massachusetts:
      • The arcade game they find is called “The Turning”.
      • There are plenty of infected.
      • Bill lives in a church transept.
      • Bill and Frank had a falling out and Frank stole his truck battery so he could get away from Bill. Then Frank got infected and hung himself.
      • Bill helps Joel and Ellie get a car so they can leave Massachusetts. He is alive and well when they leave.
      • Joel doesn’t know who Frank is until they find him hanging from a light fixture and Bill tells them about him.
      • There’s no way in hell Bill would have let Joel have all his stuff.
      • Ellie steals a nudie magazine from Bill’s bunker.
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
      • The ambush happens in Philadelphia, PA.
      • Ellie kills a guy to save Joel.
      • Joel gets angry with Ellie for shooting the guy.
      • Joel gives Ellie a crash course in shooting a rifle.
      • Joel finds Henry and Sam by accident.
      • The leader of the hunters is a man named David.
      • Sam is not deaf.
      • Sam and Henry didn’t have help. At least not that we saw in the game.
      • Their escape happens at night via the surface.
      • Sam hides getting infected from everyone.
      • Henry kills him them himself.
      • The sniper encounter in the cul-de-sac happens in broad daylight.
    • Jackson, Wyoming
      • Tommy and Maria are fixing the dam which gets invaded.
      • Joel doesn’t complain to Tommy about being weak.
      • Ellie steals a horse and takes off when she finds out Joel is going to leave her.
      • Joel decides on his own after a long ride back to Jackson to not leave Ellie with Tommy.
      • Ellie quotes Rylie.
      • Joel took the horse with permission.
      • Ellie named it Callus.
    • Bolder, Colorado
      • A recording on a recording device tells them where they went.
      • Joel gets impaled by rebar.
    • Boston, Massachusetts and Boulder, Colorado
      • Rylie wakes up Ellie by pretending to be an infected.
      • The girls don’t drink any booze until they get to Winston’s tent in the mall.
      • Bounces between Boston in the past and Boulder in the present.
      • The carousel breaks down when Rylie gets on.
      • Ellie is mad at Rylie.
      • Vacation plans discussed.
      • The photo booth printer is broken
      • Nothing in the arcade works and Rylie describes playing The Turning while Ellie imagines it.
      • Brick Fucking Master.
      • Water gun fight.
      • Ellie knows who Marlene is.
      • The kiss happens in the department store after the Halloween store.
      • Ellie has Rylie’s mix tape in her Walkman.
      • They get bitten after a lengthy run from a horde of runners.
      • Ellie hunts with a bow.
      • Big shootout with infected.
      • She hunts a rabbit first.
      • Ellie is awakened by David’s party.
      • Ellie tries to sneak away.
      • Ellie makes it to a resort before getting caught.
      • Joel wakes up on his own. No raider.
      • Ellie and David aren’t alone in the cage room.
      • Joel interrupts Ellie while she’s wailing on David.
    • Salt Lake City, Utah
      • Joel rescues Ellie from nearly drowning and gets caught while Joel is giving her mouth-to-mouth.
      • Joel finds out when Ellie is before going up to get her.
    • Overall:
      • Starts in 2013.
      • The main story takes place in 2033.
      • No tendrils.
      • No hive mind.
      • Joel just has hand guns until he gets a regular, non-assault rifle in the Boston capital building. He doesn’t get an assault rifle until the hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah at the end of the game.
      • Ellie doesn’t get a gun until Joel gives her one after their run-in with some hunters in a hotel in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
      • Joel never laughed at any of Ellie’s jokes.
      • They meet the first bloater in Bill’s Town.

***CONTAINS SPOILERS***

  • Series:
    • Austin, Texas:
      • The infected neighbor is an old lady.
      • The dog doesn’t get killed.
      • The escape from Texas happens in the afternoon.
    • Boson, Massachusetts:
      • Joel is worried about Tommy because he hasn’t checked-in in a while.
      • Robert gets killed because he tried to sell a bad battery to the wrong people.
      • Joel and Marlene both want the battery so they can get out of Boston. Joel to find Tommy and Marlene to get Ellie out.
      • Marlene promises Joel a battery in exchange for smuggling Ellie out of the QZ.
      • Joel, Tess, and Ellie get caught by one guard. Where we find out she has the fungus.
      • Infected overrun the capital while Tess dumps gasoline all over the floor in order to blow them and the capital to smithereens allowing Joel and Ellie to escape.
    • Lincoln, Massachusetts:
      • The arcade game they find is called “Mortal Kombat”.
      • Bill and Frank live in a house.
      • There are no infected.
      • Frank has cancer.
      • Bill and Frank remain lovers until they both commit suicide together some time before Joel and Ellie get there.
      • Joel and Tess are friends with both Bill and Frank.
      • Bill essentially leaves Joel all his stuff.
      • Ellie finds a nudie magazine under the seat of the truck.
    • Kansas City, Missouri
      • The ambush happens in KC, MO.
      • Ellie wounds a guy to save Joel. Joel kills him.
      • Joel apologizes to Ellie for putting her in that position then shows her how to use the gun.
      • Henry and Sam find Joel and Ellie.
      • The leader of the hunters is a lady named Kathleen.
      • Sam is deaf.
      • Sam and Henry have a collaborator.
      • Their escape happens at night, but via tunnels.
      • The sniper encounter in the cul-de-sac happens at night.
      • Sam tells Ellie he’s infected and she tries to cure him by smearing her blood all over his bite. It doesn’t work.
    • Jackson, Wyoming
      • The dam is fine and there’s no invasion.
      • Joel complains to Tommy about nightmares and general weakness.
      • Ellie doesn’t take off.
      • Ellie doesn’t mention Rylie.
      • Joel was going to steal the horse.
      • No name is given to the horse, but I’m 100% sure it was not Shimmer.
      • Joel gives Ellie a choice whether she wants to go with him or Tommy.
      • Joel teaches Ellie how to shoot a rifle.
    • Bolder, Colorado
      • They discover on a map where they all went.
      • Joel gets stabbed.
    • Boston, Massachusetts
      • Rylie just pretends to try to kidnap Ellie.
      • The girls get the booze early, long before getting to the mall.
      • They drink more booze on the carousel.
      • Ellie is happy to see Rylie.
      • No mention of their vacation plans.
      • The printer works on the photo booth.
      • The arcade is fully functional and they play Mortal Kombat II.
      • Rylie doesn’t like what Ellie has in her Walkman.
      • No Brick Master.
      • No water gun fight.
      • Ellie doesn’t know Marlene.
      • They get bitten in the Halloween store after a fight with just one infected.
      • Ellie hunts with a rifle.
      • No shootout with a horde of infected.
      • No rabbit.
      • Ellie goes outside and spots David’s party.
      • Ellie makes them chase after her.
      • Ellie greets caught right away.
      • Joel gets woken up by one of the raiders.
      • Ellie and David are alone in the cage room.
      • Joel finds Ellie after she escapes from the restaurant.
    • Salt Lake City, Utah
      • Joel and Ellie get ambushed by the Fireflies.
      • Joel figures out where Ellie is on his own.
    • Overall:
      • Starts in 2003. Not counting the TV talk show clip from the 1960s foreshadowing the cordyceps.
      • The main story takes place in 2023.
      • Joel has an assault rifle. At least until he stashes it in a gas station.
      • Ellie has a gun. She took it from Bill’s house.
      • Joel laughs at and even spoils some of Ellie’s jokes.
      • They meet the first bloater in Kansas City.

***CONTAINED SPOILERS***

***YOU WERE WARNED***

The Last of Us may be the best video game series to date. 10/10. Here are some insights into the game. If you’re looking for tips on getting all the collectibles and other stuff, you’ve come to the wrong place.

Note: The title of TLoU on the PS3 and PS4 does not contain “Part I”, it was added for the PS5 and PC versions and the PS4 version contains “Remastered”. For simplicity, I will just call it “The Last of Us”.

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

The Last of Us

  • When acquiring trophies for collectibles (artifacts, training manuals, shiv doors, comics, crafted items, Firefly pendants, jokes, and conversations), you don’t need to get them all in one run. I would recommend it, though, if you don’t know which ones you’re missing. The Chapters menu on the main menu does, however, show how many you have collected per chapter, so you can easily tell if you need to repeat a chapter.
  • If you’re hunting for collectibles by going through the Chapters menu, I would recommend doing them in reverse order because if you go back to a previous chapter, you can no longer access the subsequent ones.
  • When you’re hanging upside down in the warehouse in Bill’s town, you have unlimited ammo, but you can’t change weapons.
  • I’m Bill’s Town when you’re push-starting the truck after you push it out of the garage, if you’re low on ammo, you can basically summon infected to loot. Don’t push the truck. Instead walk away until Bill leaves the truck. An infected will come out and attack Ellie. Then just run back and melee fight it. Then repeat if needed. And there are bricks that re-spawn to assist you if you want.
  • If you equip a brick or bottle, it becomes your melee weapon. Unfortunately, it’s a one-hit wonder, but it does do significant damage.

Left Behind

  • Like Part I, you don’t need to get all the conversations on one play through.
  • There’s no trophy for picking up all the artifacts.
  • Takes place in Winter in Boulder, CO, right after Joel gets impaled by rebar and right before you chase down the deer and meet David for the first time (as Ellie) and the flashbacks are three weeks prior to Summer in Boston, MA, when Ellie and Rylie get bitten.
  • The gas for the empty generator in the loading dock is always in the same truck, the one on the other side of the first truck you see when you are by the generator looking toward the vehicles. It has an external tank.
  • You don’t have to win either the window breaking game or the water-gun fight (except to get the trophies), but you do have to do them both.
  • You don’t have to go to Winston’s tent nor the photo booth (except to get the conversion trophies and insight into Winston’s, Rylie’s, Ellie’s characters).

The Last of Us: Part II

  • General    
    • There’s no trophy for conversations, so you don’t really need to talk to anybody (pressing Triangle when prompted) save for the ones that are forced (Maria before the snowball fight, the person waiting in line in the mess hall, Nora at the FOB, the guy standing guard at the apartments in the FOB, the guy sitting by the elevator in the FOB apartments, to get Yara to throw the dog toy after her amputation, Dina at the sink in the farmhouse).
    • The “Skip Puzzle” option allows you to skip guitar playing, dumpster pushing, and rope swinging. Thank God for that (I hate rope swinging).
    • As with Part I and LB, you don’t need to get all the collectibles (safes, artifacts, journal entries, work benches, trading cards, and coins) in one run for the corresponding trophies.
    • You can’t manually save with Permadeath active, but if you have a PD auto-save and you want to play a regular game, don’t worry, your auto-save will be backed up first, so you won’t lose it when your regular game auto-saves.
    • In fact, anytime you start a new game or even start a game using the Chapters menu, your auto-save gets backed up to the next available slot.
    • The Encounters menu only has the encounters you’ve seen in your current auto-save.
    • Same with the Chapters menu.
    • There’s nothing to gain from doing encounters from the Encounters menu. Except practice, I guess.
    • You can’t use cheats on Grounded mode nor with PD active.
    • If you have the option to shoot or melee, you can break almost any glass.
    • Pressing L3 shows you where to go (if the option is enabled), but it sometimes leads you to places that aren’t required to go (mostly in downtown Seattle with Ellie and Dina) and if you press it quickly enough, it’ll just lead you in circles.
    • There are only a few places you are required to kill all the enemies (other than forced). Everywhere else, you can grab-crawl your way through (with unlimited “invisible while prone” and “reduced enemy perception” active) or run if you have “reduced enemy accuracy” enabled or kill just enough and be out of range/eyesight of the rest or get to the next checkpoint.
      • In the area right after your first encounter with an infected (the one you have to throw a bottle at) with Ellie and Dina.
      • In the area right after Dina gives you the molotov (where you have to toss a cable over the ductwork) with Ellie and Dina.
      • The bloater in the arcade with Ellie.
      • The parking garage of the courthouse with Ellie and Dina.
      • Sniping infected with Ellie and Tommy.
      • The bloater in the hotel with Ellie and Joel.
      • In the lobby of the same hotel with Ellie and Joel.
      • In the warehouse with Abby, Manny, Mel, and Alice.
      • During your first encounter with Lev and Yara after the Saraphites ambush you. Right after Lev cuts down Abby. I guess technically you aren’t killing them all, but you do kill all the ones you see before someone says “that’s all of them”, then run away while your UI lights up with warnings from all directions. With Abby, Lev, and Yara.
      • In the area where Lev gets ambushed, shot, and outed (Abby is so clueless). Despite “allies don’t get grabbed” being enabled, Lev still gets grabbed when you try to go up the ladder on the other end. With Abby and Lev.
      • The rat king in the hospital with Abby.
    • Places where you might think you have to kill everything, but you don’t:
      • The loading dock with Abby, Joel, and Tommy. Technically, you can just run around until Tommy gets the gondola over to the window, but only if “allies don’t get grabbed” is enabled. Though, you may have to kill a few.
      • The shootout at the gas station. Technically, you can just run around dodging bullets until backup arrives. You do have to kill a few. As Abby, Manny, Mel, and Alice.
      • The area where Lev and Yara help Abby escape after going through the auto shop garage. Technically, you can just run around until Lev and Yara bust through the ambulance that crashed through the wall. You do have to kill a few of them, though. With Abby, Lev, and Yara.
      • The shop where you have no choice but to break the glass and alert all the infected inside to get through. It’s your first encounter after leaving Yara at the aquarium to go get supplies from the hospital. You can just break the glass and haul ass to the other end and climb through the wall. With Abby and Lev.
      • The parking garage with Tommy shooting at you. You can get to the other end, without killing them all, but you’ll have to kill some, though. With Abby and Manny.
    • The places where you are riding in a vehicle, you have unlimited ammo, but you can’t change weapons.
  • Jackson
    • Prologue
      • You don’t need to win the snowball fight.
  • Seattle Day 1 (Ellie)
    • The Gate
      • If you don’t pick up the Map of Seattle artifact from the trailer, it’ll be a forced pick up when you try to pick up the Checkpoint Gate Codes artifact (don’t worry, it’s in the other drawer) and if you don’t pick that one up, you can’t enter the code on the Main console even if you know it (it’ll just fail after the third digit).
    • Downtown
      • You are only required to go to two places: the dome and the courthouse, but you have to do them both because the first one, regardless of which you do first, will have no gas.
      • As soon as you enter the dome, “Skip Puzzle” becomes available and allows you to skip the entire area right up to the exit including getting (or not getting) the gas. You do, however, miss some chatter about the Torah Scroll, insight into Dina’s Jewish heritage, and Ellie’s confusion about the year on the calendar.
  • Seattle Day 2 (Ellie)
    • Finding Strings
      • The bloater in the hotel will grab Ellie after you’ve shot him enough times. There’s no avoiding it.
    • Flooded City
      • It’s easier to swim underwater when going to the aquarium after your boat sinks, that way you won’t get hammered by waves.
  • Seattle Day 1 (Abby)
    • The Stadium
      • In the mess hall, you only need to talk to the guy waiting in the food line.
      • You don’t need to compete with Manny in the shooting range.
    • The Aquarium
      • You have to go into the cabin of the boat and pick up the kid’s clothes on the bed, but that’s all you have to do.
      • Once you get into the big room with the whale hanging from the ceiling, you can just head right up the stairs.
    • Hostile Territory
      • After offering ways with Manny and after getting ambushed by an infected, you come to an area with stores on either side. You don’t have to go into any of them unless you need artifacts.
    • Winter Visit
      • There’s no way to avoid the shooting gallery, but you don’t have to get the high score or even shoot anything. If you don’t shoot anything, Owen gets cheeky and Abby says she “didn’t have anything to prove”.
  • Seattle Day 2 (Abby)
    • The Shortcut
      • There’s no way to avoid falling off the sky bridge, but if you fall too soon, you’ll die.
    • Return to the Aquarium
      • You have to throw the dog toy…twice and you can’t leave the room until you talk to Yara.

FFXV

Final Fantasy XV is the latest in the long-running Squaresoft cash-cow. I’m going to share some insights:

Grind for AP:

  • Prerequisites:
    • Noctis must be allowed to drive during the day and night.
    • Progress to at least Chapter 3 (much of the course is locked out prior to then and this is when Ignis finally lets Noctis drive during the day).
    • The Ascension-Exploration/Roadrunning node must be activated (that’s what gives you AP while driving).
    • The Regalia Type-F (beat the game and progress to Chapter 8) (optional, see notes).
    • Sticky tape (but not the residue leaving kind).
  • Drive to Lestallum and switch to Manual (Noctis drives).
  • Start heading southwest and tape down the R2 button.
  • You will drive in an endless circle gathering up AP along the way (the green circle in the figure below).
  • Notes:
    • If you have the Supercharger enabled, you will hit the guard rail where I put “CRASH” on the figure below every single time.
    • You will occasionally hit other cars.
    • If Prompto hasn’t asked you who he should take pictures of, he’ll ask once and not again until you rest; otherwise, you will never be bothered.
    • You can use flying mode without taping down R2, but if you botch the landing, you get game over and lose all that precious AP.
    • You can use the regular Regalia, but you’ll run out of gas a lot.

Best Food

  • Lasagna al Forno: HP+4000, Double EXP, and nullifies fire, ice, and lightning.
    • Jabberwock Sirloin: Can be bought in Meldacio Hunter HQ. Drops from Jabberwock.
    • Cleigne Darkshell: Can be bought in Cape Caem, Altissia, and the Regalia*.
      • * After beating the game.
    • Fine Cleigne Wheat: Can be bought in Lestallum, Old Lestallum, Cape Caem, and Altissia.
  • Marrowshroom Clowder: Guarantees critical hits.
    • Kujata Marrow: Can be bought in Lestallum. Drops from Molokujata.
    • Vesproom: Can be bought in Lestallum. Can be found in the Vesperpool.
    • Malmashroom: Can be bought in Lestallum and Old Lestallum. Can be found in Malmalam Thicket.

Tipster Locations:

  • LEIDE: Hammerhead
  • LEIDE: Galdin Quay
  • LEIDE: Longwythe Rest Area
  • DUSCAE: Wiz Chocobo Post
  • DUSCAE: Coernix Station – Alstor
  • DUSCAE: Taeplar Rest Area
  • DUSCAE: Cauthas Rest Area
  • DUSCAE: Lestallum (Market)
  • DUSCAE: Lestallum (Thoroughfare)
  • DUSCAE: Lestallum (Street) (has no hunts, but he sells food and will give you intel and your rewards from competed hunts)
  • DUSCAE: Old Lestallum
  • DUSCAE: Meldacio Hunter HQ
  • DUSCAE: Veromas Mart (Ravatough)
  • Altissia (Mahhgo)
  • Cartanica and Tenebrae (same guy) (has no hunts, but sells food, has intel, and will grant hunt rewards)

Costlemark Tower

  • Once you reach the room with four glowing blocks, you have to do all of them before the important southwest one unlocks. Meaning, you have to fight a hoard of monsters three times. When you do get to do the southwest block and you get to a point where you can choose an east wall or a south wall, pick the east one. The other way just leads back to the room with the hoard of monsters.

Notes:

  • Each 24 hour cycle is roughly 48 minutes real-time.
  • Time equal to the time that would have passed passes when using fast-travel, but no gas is used.
  • Playing Justice Defenders 5 doesn’t stop the game clock.
  • Your level is not capped at 99.
  • There’s no breaking the HP limit.
  • Even if Noctis’s HP falls to 0 while using Armiger, he will not get knocked out.
  • Pressing Triangle while driving activates the car horn.
  • If you hear, “imperials above us” or “magitek engine, it’s close” and you don’t want to fight, find a tree to hide under and they’ll leave after a short time.
  • The entrances to Steyliff Grove, Costlemark Tower, and Pitioss Ruins are only open at night.
  • Paths. Look for paths. Almost everywhere you go will have at least a partial well-beaten path to follow.
  • You can make Ignis miss turns and hit other cars by using the left stuck while he’s driving.
  • The only things that damage the Regalia are enemies.
  • You can officially get the big off-road Type-D Regalia at the beginning of Chapter 8. After you and “Hunter” (obviously Gladiolus) fight the demons in the power plant in Lestallum and your party is reunited. You can get the Type-F at the same time.
  • You don’t need to be on the road to do Auto Drive or Call Car, you just need to be close enough and you can do Tow Car from anywhere except inside dungeons.
  • About Tony in Cape Caem, the guy who trades your Caem carrots for stuff. His only useful item is the Ulwaat berries which you need for a quest in Galdin Quay and grant Healing Level 99, more casts, and more potency when used in Elemancy; however, there are other items which will grant the same (e.g. Treant Trunk). The random weapons he gives you are just slightly better versions of the crap ones you have already. The ones you find in the field or buy from vendors are superior.

Since the current Boggle with Friends app freezes consistently on my Samsung Galaxy A32 5G with Android 12 and even on my Motorola Moto Stylus 5G 2021 with Android 12 (must be an Android 12 thing), I decided to dust off the old Word Streak app to see if it still works. Surprisingly, it does, but there are a few caveats:

  1. Chat doesn’t work.
  2. “Daily Quests” is not a thing; however, you do get the “Daily Spinner”.
  3. There are a lot of annoying notifications.
  4. Since Google+ is no longer a thing, you can’t log in with it.
  5. Sometimes games will start themselves before you can pick your power-ups.

If you’d like to download it, click here (on Aptoide).

Final Fantasy VI is the sixth in the long running Final Fantasy series. In this post I will share some insights.

Zozo:

  • When you are about to leave Zozo you are asked to make a party of four. Celes and Locke are preselected. Don’t remove either of them. If you do, you can’t re-add them and you definitely can’t compete the Opera House scene without one of them. If you did, fear not, you can get them back without redoing the whole Zozo scene. You just have to trudge your way back to Narshe and speak to any of your cohorts in the building on the east side of town.
  • To unequip an esper, you need to select an empty slot under the espers list on the esper selection screen.
  • If you want to see what an item in a shop does, you have to have enough GP to buy it so you can select it to pull up the details.
  • You only need one each of Edgar’s “Tools” items.
  • Cmd.Set Short allows you to rearrange your battle command menus and changes the orientation of the items therein (they’re fanned out). If you change it back to “Window,” your custom arrangement will be saved, but you will revert to the default stacked list. Each character has his/her own list. Edit: The order reverts after reloading the save file.
  • Memo is a temporary save slot that gets deleted when you power off your PlayStation or quit the game.
  • Soft reset: hold down L1, L2, R1, R2, Start, and Select. You will lose all unsaved progress.

* Notice: The above apples to the PlayStation “Anthology” version (digital and disk).

World of Final Fantasy is an installment in the long running cash cow that is Final Fantasy. From Square|Enix. In this post I will share some insights. PS4 version.

  • It’s basically a rip-off of Pokémon.
  • Easy EXP
    • The Undead Princess — 45,194 EXP
      • Find Undead Princess in Ice Region and talk to her. She’s right outside the inn. You may need to unlock her by fighting her in The Girl’s Tea Room first. Throw curatives on her. An X-Potion is an instant kill. A Hi-Potion is 1,000 HP. Cure and Cura scale with your Magic stat. Sadly, you cannot throw a Phoenix Down, Phoenix Pinion, or Mega-Phoenix on an enemy. You can also Imprism her with Light Magic.
        • Note: if you fight her in The Girl’s Tea Room, you will get very little EXP.
        • Note: you have to switch to the Classic menu so you can target her.
        • Note: Regen does not hurt her.
    • Cold, Hard Justice — 152,000 EXP
      • Later on toward the end The Girl Who Forgot Her Name has this Intervention quest in which you fight Shivalry and Golden Flan aka the Big Jiggle. Both are worth 75,600 EXP. Plus, you also get an Ice Spellstone, a Mega-Phoenix, and a Solid Frigicite.
        • Note: there is no break between fights.
    • Postscript dungeons in The Girl’s Tea Room — >100,000 EXP
      • These dungeons contain powerful teams of Mirages worth a lot of EXP. High-level Bahamut should have no problem in them.
        • Tip: stay near the Save Crystal (or under it) at the end to keep your HP/AP full.
    • Postscript Dungeon 1 — Boss Shivver Stack — 210,480 EXP
      • She drops 2x Mega-Phoenix and 1x Arma Gem.
    • Postscript Dungeon 2 — Boss Rairamuh Stack — 213,000 EXP
      • He drops 2x Mega-Phoenix and 1x Arma Gem
    • Postscript Dungeon 3 — Boss Gleefrit Stack — 207,120 EXP
      • He drops 2x Mega-Phoenix and 1x Arma Gem.
    • Postscript Dungeon 4 — Boss XG — 200,000 EXP
      • He drops 1x Megalixer and 2x Arma Gem.
      • Note: there are no random encounters in XG’s chamber and no Joyriding allowed.
    • Strategy is the same for all:
      1. Approach the boss.
      2. Use high-level Bahamut. Hit with Flare twice, Attack twice, then Defend until your XP goes warning or critical, then hit with Megaflare.
      3. Save.
      4. Return to title.
      5. Continue to game.
      6. Repeat from step 1.
    • Note: whether or not you survive the battle, you should Return to title and Continue; otherwise, you’ll be hoofing it all the way through the dungeon to get back to where you were.
    • Note: Mega Mirages need only be summoned in order to maximize their EXP gain. Just release them without taking any actions, then you can immediately summon a new one since you will still have full AP–assuming they don’t get one-shot right after being summoned, in that case, you lose all your AP and that Mirage gets nothing from battle, so it’s a bit of a gamble at first. Good for power-leveling Mega Mirages.
  • Any fight in The Girl’s Tea Room can be fought repeatedly for free after the first paid fight. Though, the loot isn’t as good as the first time, but you get EXP, loot, and money.
  • You need to talk to The Girl Who Forgot Her Name again after Intervening in order to collect your reward for said Intervention (select “Intervene”, then the quest) or you can collect it from Miniventures on the Adventure Log.
  • Characters from all over the franchise can be found somewhere in Grymoire and are usually Champions which utilize one of their special moves from their respective game.
  • You can skip scenes by pressing Options then Triangle.
  • You can’t remove Reynn or Lann from her or his stack until after you finish the Postscript (true ending) a second time. You get a new Intervention quest after beating Brandelis the first time. Once you do that quest and fight him again, Enna Kros, the Human Keeper, will Imprism Reynn and Lann–since they’ve both taken a permanent vacation to B’s world–allowing you to now remove them from their stacks and even your lineup.
    • There are caveats:
      1. If either are out, you cannot summon any Mega Mirages.
      2. Only they can summon Champions.
      3. Only they can Imprism Mirages.
      4. Their respective Mirajewels will not be active.
  • Your HP increases as you level up, but your AP does not.
  • You cannot summon a Mega Mirage when you’re Unstacked.
  • You can stack the same S Mirage on both Lilikin and Jiant form which means you only need six to fully stack your team. Two of each size.
  • Mirages with SUPPORT abilities, such as Flutter, Chill, and Joyride, need only be in your lineup to use their ability in the field. They do not need to be stacked.
  • If you’re having trouble in the Colosseum, you can’t escape; however, you can attack yourself to hasten the suffering. When you lose, you lose nothing but the time you spent in battle and any Mirages you Imprismed, but you do get to keep any Prisms you were given and Libra is permanent.
  • You don’t need to return to a Miniventure quest giver after completing his or her quest (excluding the kid who wants to see your Mirages), you need only collect your reward from the Adventure Log.
  • Travel Gates (Examine them) and Save Crystals (just walk through them) will automatically heal you.
  • Transfigurations can only be done from the Prism Case or while using the Seraphone.
  • If your lineup is full, any newly Imprismed Mirages will go straight to the Prism Case.
  • Inactive Mega Mirages in your lineup get the standard 8% of the EXP haul unless you use them, then they get about 14%+… so… use… them.
  • Fast Forward mutes all dialog and any battle vocalizations.
  • You break HP and damage limit right out of the box.
  • Mirages continue to accumulate SP even if they are not in that form. For example: Searcher will continue to gain SP even if mastered Death Searcher is its current form.
  • You can fast-travel almost anywhere from the World Map–anywhere but Nine Wood Hills.
    • Note: if you use the map to fast-travel, you may be put in a location other than near the gate. For example: Cornelia will put you at the bottom of the stairs close to the exit to Cornelia Region.
  • PASSIVE stats on the same Mirage from the same group also affect the active form of said Mirage. For example, stats from Mishiva also affect Bablizz and vice versa.
  • No matter how much AP Bahamut has (at least 1), you can always cast Megaflare, but regular Flare is more powerful in that it doesn’t require resorting to depleting your HP to ‘supe it up, plus you can do it twice…then hit Megaflare at low HP (red is best) for max damage.
  • Enemies don’t expend AP.
  • Max level is 99.
  • Damage limit is 99,999.
  • Bahamut is objectively the most powerful Mirage in the game.
  • It takes 10 battles to gain 1 Champion Star.
Megaflare … 99999 Damage
Fight with XG
Fight with Rairamuh Stack
Fight with Shivver Stack
Fight with Gleefrit Stack

Screenshot_2015-10-25-16-25-45

Every guide I’ve found which tells one how to access the Ruin Depths in the Calm Lands is wrong! They all show some elaborate method for unlocking it which includes sending L5 birds 1, 2, and 3, then 2, 3, and 4, then 1, 3, and 4, then 1, 2, and 4, after sending 4 of each previous level out. And they always insist that you must send them ALL to the Calm Lands.

Here’s why it’s bullshit:

  1. You can send them anywhere you’d like.
  2. You need only send four of each level (maybe fewer, I haven’t tried fewer) – once the four L5s return, exit and reenter the ranch. Boom – the Depths are now open.
  3. Only Chocobos with max potential will work, so if your Chocobo can’t get to L5, it’s pointless to dispatch it, but don’t release it because it still helps to keep the runners from running away.
  4. You also only need to fight 7 battles between batches.

I’ve been playing a lot of Final Fantasy X-2 lately and I have a few things to say that I feel could be helpful.

  • New Game Plus
    New Game Plus is great, but there are a few things that should be known:
  1. You can’t access this feature until you beat the game at least once and watch the credits until asked if you want to save the New Game Plus data. At which time, you will be bounced back to the game’s main menu where a new option appears.
  2. There are three ways to access New Game Plus.
    • Beat the game (must be done or the following will not work).
    • Load a saved game with New Game Plus data and soft-reset back to the game’s main menu. If playing the HD Remastered version on the PS3/PS4, don’t soft-reset. Instead press Start/Options, then Triangle, then select Yes.
    • Die a horrible death and get Game Over while playing a saved game with New Game Plus data.
  3. You get to keep most of your stuff and progress. I will list the things that carry over or don’t carry over (as noted):
    • In-Game menu
      • Items:
        • Use: You retain every item on this list except Gysahl Greens.
        • Key Items: You lose everything in this list except Al-Bhed Primers I-XXVI, Twilight Rain, Aurora Rain, Machina Booster, Machina Reactor, Victor Primoris, Corpus Invictus, and Magical Dances Vol I and II.
      • Equip:
        • Every character and trapped fiends’1 levels will be reset to 1.
        • All accessories will be unequipped.
        • The First Steps garment grid will be equipped to all characters and trapped fiends1.
        • Rikku’s Dressphere will be reset to Thief.
        • Paine’s Dressphere will be reset to Warrior.
        • Yuna and all trapped fiends’1 Dresspheres will be reset to Gunner.
      • Garment Grids:
        • You will keep them all.
        • The First Steps garment grid will be reset to its initial configuration.
      • Abilities and Dresspheres:
        • You will keep all of your Dresspheres.
        • They will all retain their progress.
      • Accessories:
        • You get to keep them all.
      • You get to keep all of your hard-earned gil.
      • Your play time continues from where it left off.
      • You retain your completion percentage.
    • Shinra’s Menu:
      • Creature Creator1:
        • All of your trapped fiends will be reset to story level 1.
        • You will retain your bestiary entries.
        • You retain the unlocked tournaments.
        • You lose every entry in the Battle Simulator except a select few. So far, the first page and the Aeons carried over.
        • The Fiend Arena Config resets to Default.
      • CommSphere Network menu item disappears.
      • Shinra’s Guide to Everything is always the same whether New Game Plus or not.
      • You lose all of your Treasure Spheres.
      • You retain Shinra’s Bestiary and Dossiers.
  4. Everything in the field resets including Calm Lands credits (100 for each company) – spend them while you can, unlocked dungeons, and treasure chests.
  5. O’aka’s debt gets set to a seemingly random amount. I have not noticed any pattern to it. One time it was 1,000 Gil. Another time it was 100,000 Gil.
  6. You lose all of your Sphere Break coins.
  7. You retain all of your Blitzball stats and players.
  8. The Bushido ability Momentum retains its internal kill count and continues to gain momentum.

1 Requires HD Remastered (PS3/PS4) or International

  • CommSphere Network
  1. When watching these, sometimes you have to move the camera and/or zoom in before they start playing.
  2. You don’t have to watch the whole thing if you’re watching for completion or episode complete credit.
  3. When going for completion or episode complete credit, make sure you visit every single location in Spira in Chapter 3 (don’t forget the second floor of the chocobo ranch), you have to watch them multiple times (up to a dozen for some locations), and there are five times you must watch them: as soon as you start Chapter 4, after talking to Buddy (before going to the Moonflow to chase down Tobli), after chasing down Tobli, after practicing for the concert, and anytime in Chapter 5.
  4. If you want to catch chocobos from the Thunder Plains, you have to watch until Shinra uses the Chocoporter (you can do it twice).
  5. Some will become unavailable, immobile, or unwatchable after watching them few times (Besaid: it becomes immobile after watching it once in Chapter 5, Bevelle: it gets shot, Djose: it gets used for parts, Thunder Plains: it gets hit by lightning, Kilika Island: Dona sends it away via balloon and Bartello breaks the other one, Luca: Shinra doesn’t actually put one here, but in Chapter 5 you get static, Moonflow: a shoopuf steps on it, Mt. Gagazet Mountain Gate: it freezes over (not to be confused with getting “snowed in”), Bikanel Desert Excavation Camp: the fiend Nhadala keeps talking about destroys it and a sand storm breaks the other one, Mi’ihen Highroad: it’s broken in Chapter 5 for an unknown reason, Mushroom Rock Road: powerful sphere waves cause interference, Guadosalam: it gets “hunted” ie stolen, Macalania Woods: stolen by Wantz).
  • Crimson Spheres
  1. There are several missable Crimson Spheres: Mushroom Rock Road Den of Woe Chapters 1, 2, & 3 (if you don’t go here in these chapters, you will miss them), Bevelle Chapter 3 (if you don’t go here down to where Vegnagun was after clearing Besaid and Kilika, but before clearing Djose, you will miss this one), and Celsius Engine Room Chapter 4 (after the concert, if you talk to Shinra before going down here to talk to Leblanc, you will miss this one).

My Board Games

Simpsons Loser Takes All
Operation
Scattegories
Cloak And Dagger
Greekopoly
Battle Masters (Risk?)
Dirty Minds
Family Guy Trivia or Dare
Moods
Match 4
Mini Mind Mover 3
Easy Money
Battle of the Sexes
Topple
Star Wars Monopoly
Big Bang Theory Clue
Skip-Bo
Apples To Apples Junior
Simpsons Uno
Uno*
Five Crowns
Dominos
Risk
Rummikub Tiles
Rummikub Dice
Quiddler*
Phase 10 Twist
Standard Playing Cards*
Phase 10 Dice*
Mad Gab*
Crazy 8s*
Memory Match
Mille Borne Double Deck*
Phase 10*
Cards Against Humanity*
Farkle (aka 10,000)*

* In the box.