[tcaudilllg]

With the coming of the holidays, I've had my chance to play Final Fantasy IV's re-release on GBA. It was good to get back to old stomping grounds, killing panthers and fighting Evil Masks, but the new dungeon has me a bit perturbed.

It just, doesn't conclude.

I mean, you get to the end even after you've finished all eight trials and seen deeper depths than we would have ever expected from our archetypical heroes, and then you get to the end and you meet.

Zeromus. EG.

I mean, come on. You beat this guy and you get an entry for him in your beastiary... and then what? THEN WHAT? Nothing. You just leave the cave, no special ending, not even a new super weapon. Nothing. Even after you've spent as much time trying to get through the cave/ruins/whatever as you did getting through the game! You'd almost call it the sequel to FFIV... except there is no ending!

I was told by the damn game that there was supposed to be a super trial after I had beaten the game with every character and did their trials, and then I get to the end and all I get is:

"I am Zeromus EG it's been a while since I kicked ass don't fail to give me a good time... blah blah blah insert optional-boss rhetoric here."

Is this -really- a good trend for RPGs?

(P.S. in case anyone is wondering, you get the Hero Shield after you kill the dragon, who you don't manage to kill unless you throw all of those "grimoire" items at him.)

[Terry]

I've ordered this game, and I'm really looking forward to playing it. It's been years since I've played IV, and I've heard nothing but good things about this version (expect what you've just posted, and it's mostly complimentary :)) This "trials" thing sounds interesting.

The "superdungeon" I remember best is in Baldur's Gate II. Each floor had it's own set of rules and was basically a completely different place from the last.
_________________
http://www.distractionware.com

[RuneLancer]

The dragon is a joke. Use Kain with the Abel Lance and hope for a tornado. It'll kill him in one shot. :D

I think these dungeons are great, if a little unrewarding. It's your chance to test yourself against the worst stuff the game has to throw your way. Also, you can get some really sweet equipment (which makes the game ridiculously easy, mind you..)

The pros are as follows.
- More challenges even after beating the game.
- Really sweet equipment; it's a great feeling seeing 9999 damage every hit. :D
- Sometimes, storyline material (FF4's dungeon had that; the trails showed some interesting stuff. Especially Kain's relation to Cecil and Rosa.)
- Allows the player to experience things that normally wouldn't have a place in the original game. Such as fighting ultimate bosses/enemies or doing wacky puzzles.

The cons are as follows.
- No real place in the storyline. Sometimes even goes against the storyline logically.
- Often, no reward other than satisfaction for beating the dungeons.
- After these dungeons, the last boss is a joke and can be beaten in no time.

Admittedly the only reason I picked up FF4 was to play this dungeon, and I wasn't disappointed. That and kick Zeromus' ass all over again with the other characters. So I'd say these dungeons are a great idea so long as they're not made to overshadow the main game itself. The dungeon's the reward for beating the game, not the other way around, so I don't mind Zeromus EG not giving anything special. Fighting him's the reward for going through the dungeon, so why should he give additional junk? Your party already has ungodly equipment by then. :P

And hey, there's always that dragon roaming the last floor which drops the hero shield. :)
_________________
Endless Saga
An OpenGL RPG in the making. Now with new hosting!

[tcaudilllg]

Right, but the thing is, you're explicitly told that a "final trial" will be opened once you finish the eight for the characters. It says there will be something, and then it doesn't give you anything!

This seems to me to put that whole "finishing" thread I started in a completely different light. I think Square has answered my question.

[RuneLancer]

[tcaudilllg]

[RuneLancer]

[tcaudilllg]

Just thought I'd revive this thread for a discussion of Final Fantasy V's GBA rerelease.

Its bonus dungeon is much better than the FFIV's was, if much shorter and less complicated. It even *gasp* seems to be well integrated into the story. Granted the story left more room for the bonus dungeon to be relevant (with the Enuo getting sucked into the Void) than did the story of FFIV, but this is still a clear improvement over IV's treament of the concept.

Has anyone managed to beat Neo Shinryuu? I've yet to see -anything- about him -anywhere-. I gave up hope as soon as he put up Mighty Guard; it's probably not worth the effort to conceive of something that'll break through it and all of the other Shinryuu crap. I remember Gamepro describing a defeat of the original without jumping as impossible....

Oh, and Omega MK.II is a heartless bastard.

[DeveloperX]

[tcaudilllg]

[BadMrBox]

And I can't understand that I haven't bought the game yet O_o.
_________________

[DeveloperX]

[LeoDraco]

Jesus Christ, dude! You're the basis for this episode! Please tell me you blew up a hundred pounds!
_________________
"...LeoDraco is a pompus git..." -- Mandrake

[cowgod]

I really hate super dungeons. I like the idea of them and like to design them, but I don't like actually playing them. If it were sort of an underground world with towns and so forth, it would be different. But giant hackfests are no fun.

I like combat in RPGs. I just like to have some dialogue and storyline to go along with it.

[DeveloperX]