One Boss Battle Experience (Final Fantasy IV)
Video Games, I love when you lose and try something different. Lose again and learn another way to try... Here I'll talk about one of these experiences.
In my previous post about Final Fantasy IV, I talked about how this game bosses are puzzles. Yesterday I played a good example of this, one boss in the game: Dr. Lugae is what I call "interesting puzzle."
But the post can spoil the strategy to win this boss in Hard Mode (PC ver.)
(Never tested on Normal mode.)
So, 20 hours into the game one of the bosses is a strange doctor, pictured in the post images, at first he uses a cyborg to fight the heroes... The cyborg battle had an easy trick to it, and by the 6th time I could defeat it without taking any damage. (except the scripted one.)
When the cyborg is defeated, the doctor gets angrey and transforms into a dinosaur-like, machine?
"Playtime is over"
That's where the challenge begins, I fought him at least 6 times until I knew the trick... Below is modified version of my experience with this boss, I don't remember the exact number of battles or their order.
The Most Bitter Kill, Is Overkill
- The first Defeat:
I didn't even know how he did that... I lost before I even knew what happened. I knew the battle before was too easy!!
Now I have to prepare better.
- The second Defeat:
Again?!
The attack he used? "Reverse Gas?" ...I heard of the attack reverse before, didn't Tellah have it? Oh my... !!!
Later learned that Tellah (who's one of the early game part members) never had Reverse. But the Freak Out is what matters here.
- The third Defeat:
I confirmed: Dr. Lugae uses "Reverse" then spends the next turns using recovering magic on me... "This boss will be harder than I thought." But knowing his pattern is a good way to make a strategy around it.
Reverse is an ability that converts damages into recovery and healing into damage... I decided to do some grinding so my characters become fast enough to act before Dr. Lugae uses that attack.
"Reverse Gas"
The Day of Comeback
So I loaded from the previous save point, and went to battle monsters until the area became too easy... Nothing can beat me now.
- The fourth Defeat:
Knowing I have to prevent the enemy from using "Reverse Gas" I decided to use "Reflect," that way my party won't get affe--- NO!!!
Why does he has to use Reverse before the battle actually starts?!... I can't even revive my fallen party members!! I can't win.
"What about all my grinding?!" ...There must be a trick! Let's battle again.
- The fifth Defeat:
Two turns, I learned.
I only have two turns to before my party is wiped out, or three if I'm lucky... Cecil may live a turn after that but what can he do alone? Not only I have to think of a strategy that can damage the enemy... I have to come up with one that needs two turns of each party member.
Even knowing I have two turns doesn't change the fact that I can't damage him, when the boss uses reverse, only healing attack can affect him... right?
If only I have a spell that can heal full HP, I don't think Curaga (my most powerful healing magic at the time) can damage him enough in two turns.
Ah, wait!! I got it!!
- The Winning Strategy:
If "Phoenix Down" damages me instead of reviving my characters, won't items damage him too? Just before the battle I got Elixir (Yup, the most powerful healing Item.) It's too valuable that most players would rather lose than use it. Since I won't be using it for healing either-way... Why not try it here?
- As Expected Of Elixir:
[Cicel uses Elixir]
[Dr.Lugae takes 9999 damage]
[Rydia uses Elixir]
[Dr.Lugae takes 9999 damage]
Clash, Bang, Boom!!
[Dr.Lugae is Defeated]
Of course, there are other strategies that I'm sure could defeat that boss, but didn't try. Like using Curaja with Rosa (I didn't have it at the time.) Or keeping attacking your own party to keep them from dying (was going to try this if Elixir failed.)
The boss will use Reverse again to dispel it after some time, so the only challenge of this boss is keeping the party alive while in that state.
Conclusion
Had to kill this poor Cyborg like 6 times already... What an overkill!
I kind of wanted to give a complete example to what I said in my previous FFIV post that bosses are like puzzle games, though this post is written mostly for my excitement.
So, those were my attempts as I learned how to beat that one boss, It usually goes like this in RPGs... Did you have a similar experience?
What do you think?
Hey, STEEMPUNK-NET here
We support players and games on STEEMIT. We like your Post!
We left you a few votes. We hope that's okay ;-)
The first MMORPG on STEEMIT
STEEMPUNK-NET is the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game on STEEMIT. We hope to meet you on our server!
Do you want profit and still be helpful?
Delegate some SteemPower to @steempunknet : [50] [100] [200] [500] [1000]
Well, In my short opinion since you explained all the plot already ... You should have tried the phoenix down ... since it kills undeads and that is kind of the same as reverse maybe it would kill Lugae too without using the elixirs ( wich btw I always rather die than use ... )
Wait, it does?!
Haha, thanks I didn't know... Maybe I should try it the next time I see him.
But I still think it won't work, as reverse doesn't make a character "weak" to curative items, it just makes any damage changes polarity.
When I use Phoneix Down in "revese" state, it just gives the dead character I want to revive damage apporox. to %10 of their life span.
Well It works just fine with the unhealing bosses I have fought since the "reverse" of Life is Death is a 1 Hit K.O. for them.
BUT I have also done 9,999 damage to some other "reverse" bosses like in FFX instead of Living they just recived maximum damage.
(Ignoring that Break Damage Limit can let you do 99,999 damage)
Oh, I got it. Wait? does that mean the reverse of "Death" is "Life"? We can revive party members with "Death" spell as long as we are in reverse state? Wow!! That would be awesome!!
One of the FF games I enjoyed playing growing up. It's great to see them return in retro gaming and some having remakes.
I look forward to more of your posts!
Thanks for reading, I really wished they made FF5 & FF6 remakes like this one, I'm not fan of the graphics for the current versions... Oh, well... I hope I get used to them fast.
Hah! Really nice read, oh and all those FF memories, thanks for sharing!
I've actually been doing some "historical" gaming posts lately, covering noteworthy games released in certain years (just made two about 98 and 2000) and this one despite is actually one of my favorite FF games, would be cool to see more!
Thanks for reading, I hope I play all Final Fantasy games and give my opinion on them all... Would you be interesting with Character Studies on Final Fantasy IV characters? I have one planned for Cecil at least but don't know if I should write it.
I'll check your posts :)
I think that should be cool as long as those are made with a great deal of detail it will be surely interesting to read!
Usually with how games work, signalling to the player is one of the hardest things to do in both the gameplay of the game and game design. Though the the signified part of signalling, or the goal of this mission, remains the same through all games, the signifier, or in this case the end-result, of this always changes, even in the same game based on the setting of where the signifier is placed to produce the signified signal.
To take a totally different path from RPGs for an example, I like to look at HL2's signalling of where to go and what to do. If Valve wants to showcase where an item cache is or where to go, is usually by placing a distinct light source or a chain of such to guide the player where they want them to traverse without explicitly saying: "go here and progress." And they achieve the signification early on by making it clearly that signifiers, like light sources, signify only progress for the player. In this way, they achieve not only early on what they want to do later on, but can make this a consistent theme with other similar elements in this same vein.
To go back to say, FFIV, for signalling, though they display the signifier out front and only communicate such through gameplay, the signification of that signifier and the dialectic to finally give meaning to this arbitrary signifier is achieved once the "undead" state of the player is disturbed so many times as to finally conceive of how the signify this as to know what they must do. Thus the players feel like they knew all along, but couldn't name the solution 'til their "undeadness" was tapped in many ways through their many pseudo-deaths (game-overs).
let me see if I understood this correctly
FFIV signals you you how to win the fight by making you die to the same pattern more than once... that's what you mean, right?
I agree. Designing the game so the player thinks they figure out how to proceed by themselves, to not notice that it was designed that way is the best thing game designers can do... I liked the Half Life example, now I'll notice it more once I play it.. Haha ^v^'
And I agree that older RPG games did great with having you learn by putting you in difficult situation with hints for the solution scattered there... I think old Megaman-like games did so too in their own way.
I will say yes to that FFIV comment, but for a different reason. Lemme force it into a metaphoric allegory. Basically, as you keep failing, you learn, through the punishment of the death, of what not to do. But that punishment isn't direct, it hurts more the fact that you lived to see its aftermath and be able to fight the same scenario again, no matter where you respawn. Yet in the opposite direction of death, life and survival, the player can see through a NPC dying if their reaction and signification to the event was correct. Thus they mastered the dialect of the game and know what to do in future events if this arises again or they replay the dialect again. For this is how mastery works: you master something as it masters you. You learn to understand its Language that you become so wrapped up in it. But, to become wrapped up in it, the game has to teach you about itself and has to ensure you'll be able to associate it successfully when you play the game.
Yet ultimately, fights like these to all playable characters are just parts of an Language, whole as they may seem, to its wholeness. The one that steered you all along, the Language of the game, is what the player really wants to conquer and the game signals this through the player's death and the NPC's death - though only as consequence of the player's reaction and previous signification of the actions it throws to the player. Which ultimately allows the player to know and understand the game, and what is to be done. But I like to posit that because the game can't totally teach the player everything and that the player can't learn everything for perfection doesn't exist and only facsimiles of such do, that it allows the players to come back and continue to have the desire to master the game. Thus why signifiers are arbitrary yet dictate how we live in the World - they can possess all these conflicting signified messages, in our case strategies to overcome the event, at any time, that there's always more to document and more to accept as they get documented. But what will be signified will manifest itself in that signifier if enforced to be such under specific conditions in a given area.
To just make a digression for digression's sake, that's why the elixir which at first had a purpose of being a rare healing item turned to be essentially a HP mini-nuke. Because the event forced a temporary signification to make you signify the elixir as a HP mini-nuke, but afterwards it reverts to its original meaning. Yet because of that new signified meaning, you must preclude the original meaning being the wholeness of that elixir and accept that there's possibly more to it as time goes on. And games like FFIV do make subtle gestures way early on by making it clear that items can have multiple purposes, multiple signified messages, dependent on where the signifier is located any moment. Thus why you were able to finally reconcile the signifier of the reverse gas-attack with the signifier of the elixir to see it can be purposed as a HP mini-nuke and ultimately conquer the event on the path towards the end of the game.
Another example would be how I needed to read your previous comment 3 times to have a mental image of what is being said, that worked as a signifier to understand your language (as I'm used to easy English phrases.)
I totally agree!!
And there's always room for improvement... We humans are wired that way, it'll be boring if we have the ability to reach the maximum mastery the first time. That's why "Lets Plays & "Speed Running" are popular, I guess.
But you have to feel sorry for the characters world that ends every time the player is defeated.
Instant upvote! Wish I had 10,000 SP for that comment alone!!
And I totally wanted to stick a point in that my comment would be hard to read for non-native English speakers. Because I had to revise it many times just so it avoids being an obscurantist comment (and I despise people that purposefully write like that, lest they know what they are doing). Regardless, the re-reading effect is a powerful I admit.
But yeah, I do feel saddened for the Character’s World when I get defeated. But at least I make sure that it can live and struggle without my efforts.
Anywho, thanks for the compliments and thanks for reading my comment. UwU
Don't worry, I was talking about the comment before that... The last one is easier to read, and I had better grasp of the words after I read the comment before it 3 times. Funny enough, I know the meaning of every word you said, it's just that I found them used together for the first time.
Or maybe I was just tired... :sweat_smile:
Even in my native language (Arabic,) I'd rather to read and use common words so I don't get anyone confused, though I know that makes my language weaker.
Well that's interesting to know - well good that we can at least see each other eye to eye on that level. Welp, happy posting!
Congratulations, this post was rewarded with a SteemGC Upvote!
Want to meet fellow Steemit gamers and earn upvotes yourself? Join the SteemGC Discord channel!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by ahmadmanga from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.