Okay i get that ff9 is a great story, but this battle system? Absolutely horrid
"you have to do this fight with a very specific strategy and any deviation will cause you to be ejected to the title screen. You are forced to wait for the atb to fill up and trying to speed it up will make autoattacks that deviate from said strategy. Trance activates before optimal usage because fuck you"
This is why i dont play these games myself they feel absolutely terrible
@CarnassialGang trance is such a frustrating mechanic
@SophiaSurname it feels like it could be such a good game if the battle system was a normie turned based one
@CarnassialGang @SophiaSurname yeah as someone who really loves final fantasy 9 and grew up with the battle system's jank and problems, i'd also say that the ATB system is slow and annoying on normal speed, and that Trance is a cool but ultimately mostly frustrating idea
if you're playing on PC or Steam Deck you could always install the Moguri Mod. that has options for more true turn-based combat and the ability to save a filled Trance for later
@CarnassialGang @SophiaSurname out of curiosity where are you at actually
@Griever @SophiaSurname this was about the black waltz 1 fight lol i ended up using steam's cheat mode that makes you do 9999 damage
@CarnassialGang @SophiaSurname oh yeah black waltz 1 is complete bullshit. between the easily missable save point in the branching hallway right before, and the HP-gate based counterattacks from Sealion, AND the rigidity of the fight, AND the fact that it's an early game boss where you are getting 2v1'd, it's the weirdest difficulty spike in the game.
at least later you have more tools, the ability to grind more, and more signposted Save Points. and also a whole 4 person party
@CarnassialGang @SophiaSurname and yeah i figure if anything gives you too much grief it is best to just hit those instakill cheats
@CarnassialGang @SophiaSurname while i'm on the subject of final fantasy 9's battle system i do want to shout out one nice thing and one baffling thing
i like the method of learning abilities being tied to having weapons and equipment on during fights since it's simple and engaging
i don't like the fact that Scan is significantly less useful in this game than in other games for some reason???
@CarnassialGang @SophiaSurname on the subject of Trance specifically it's weird because like. FF7 nailed Limit Breaks on its first go around (quick-ish to fill, can be saved for later) and then FF8 fucked them up (mostly dependent on low HP, easily manipulated, incredibly spammable, overall busted)
and then FF9 fucked them up in the opposite direction (super strong, very slow to fill, basically unusable in any practical sense unless you savescum to edge your party's Trance bars)