My computer died; there was a New Year. Overall, I’ve been very bad at updates. My friend Jonus Falcon has been trying to get me to stream/play games online with him more. He also decided to start playing through all of the Final Fantasies. As I’ve played through almost all of them, I decided that I’d join him for most with added twists/challenges. Here’s the Final Fantasy I finale of four Red Wizards dancing to victory. You can see the Final Fantasy Playthrough playlist here, and maybe rarely catch me live here (but I’m not as big of a fan of streaming live.)
So, how hard was the Red Mage run through the Pixel Remaster?
Garland was easy; I think we were Level 2. Marsh Cave we got stuck until Level 14, and I probably could have squeaked by much lower. It was at that point I decided… how low can we go? After Marsh Cave we only fought mandatory fights and treasure chests.
We cleared out the Lich and Marilith by level 21. Kraken was so utterly forgettable I don’t remember what level we were. Tiamat was a roadblock… until level 24. We managed to get down to Chaos at Level 28; the fiend encore only had one reset each at Lich and Tiamat due to back-to-back attack alls.
Chaos though… Chaos was a brick wall. Level 28 just wasn’t good enough. Too many of his spells killed everyone, even with Ribbons! 250 Hit Points just isn’t enough for the end boss. You know how many hit points ARE good enough? About 400. Which is where we were at Level 42. With everyone knowing Protera, Invisira, Curaga, Temper, Haste and ludicrous use of Hi-Potions, Phoenix Downs, Gauntlets and White Shirts, we coasted to victory at Level 42. Six levels lower than Jonus’s team of Knight / Ninja / White Wizard / Black Wizard. Here’s stats and equipment for reference:
Rouge (Tank Mage!) HP 452 / STR 19 / AGI 23 / STA 24 / INT 24 / LCK 18
Ice Brand / Protect Cloak / Protect Ring / Leather Cap / Diamond Armlet
Red (Back Up Tank Mage!) HP 444 / STR 20 / AGI 25 / STA 21 / INT 25 / LCK 19
Defender / Buckler / Protect Ring / Ribbon / Ruby Armlet
Carmine (Utility Mage) HP 421 / STR 22 / AGI 23 / STA 20 / INT 25 / LCK 22
Sun Blade / Buckler / Protect Ring / Ribbon / Ruby Armlet
Rose (SMASH MAGE!) HP 439 / STR 24 / AGI 21 / STA 20 / INT 24 / LCK 23
Masamune / Protect Cloak / Protect Ring / Ribbon / Ruby Armlet
So, what’s next? Next up is FF2. The challenge is going to be a bit harder. We’re going to stick with the following rules:
- Fighting is for Losers. We will run away from every encounter possible until we hit a boss brick wall, and then gain the minimum amount of stats to breakthrough.
- Swords are for Losers. Blood, Ancient and Sleep swords all make things way too easy.
- Specialization is for Losers. We’ll still stick with our Red Mage theme using other weapons available to Red Mages: Knives, Staffs, Bows, Shields and Punching (in FF1, Red Wizards can use Cat Claws.) Since Specialization is for Losers, no weapon can ever be more than 1 skill level ahead of the others. We’ll keep rotating the weapons to try and make do with what we have at the moment.
- Miniature Stone Toads are for Losers. No instant death spells.
- The Fourth Party Slot is for Losers. No fourth party member. Whenever they join, we kill them. This party size was good enough for FF7/FF8, it’s good enough here.
Photowordism 