FF8. The combat required brains, and the story was pretty neat.

Story yes. However the combat itself was dull, because it was all about just hoarding spells, either via draw or refining, and maxing out your STR so your attacks did a ton of damage. Your physical attack is basically the most powerful thing in the game if you get the junctioning right. The 'brains' aspect happens before the battles even start, and the actual fight is just a formality.

And yeah, FF13 had a lot of grindy bits after the final boss battle. I never did them. FF13-2 pissed me off because I played through the entire game, got to the final boss, and could not win. I had trounced every other boss in the game no problem, but then I couldn't beat the final boss without grinding. So I said forget it--I didn't want to grind; I quit and never played it again.

I gave up with XIII-2 even earlier, mostly because I just wasn't feeling the story, and because there is a bunch of DLC stuff that I feel like I'd be missing out on. Honestly, JRPGs suck as games, so the story is really the only reason I'd ever play them.

FF8. The combat required brains, and the story was pretty neat. Only FFX came close to requiring some thought with combat and such, but that's because it took the R/P/S combat to an almost absurd level (which the summons entirely negated).

FF13-2 was one of my favorite Pokemon games, though... Story in the FF13 series sucks worse than Halo 5's, so I would ignore it completely if you ever plan to play through the whole thing.

And yeah, FF13 had a lot of grindy bits after the final boss battle. I never did them. FF13-2 pissed me off because I played through the entire game, got to the final boss, and could not win. I had trounced every other boss in the game no problem, but then I couldn't beat the final boss without grinding. So I said forget it--I didn't want to grind; I quit and never played it again.

I gave up with XIII-2 even earlier, mostly because I just wasn't feeling the story, and because there is a bunch of DLC stuff that I feel like I'd be missing out on. Honestly, JRPGs suck as games, so the story is really the only reason I'd ever play them.

There was a Penny arcade comic or video back close to when the game came out, and someone said, "Oh man, that game gets awesome after 24 hours!" At the time I thought, that's absurd--but it's true. It takes about 24 hours before all the combat options are available to you.

And yeah, FF13 had a lot of grindy bits after the final boss battle. I never did them. FF13-2 pissed me off because I played through the entire game, got to the final boss, and could not win. I had trounced every other boss in the game no problem, but then I couldn't beat the final boss without grinding. So I said forget it--I didn't want to grind; I quit and never played it again.

Edit: Relevant comic. It's cool he's wearing a N7 hoodie.

I'd forgotten how much I like the fight system, which is a bit controversial be ause I know a lot of people disliked it. But it feels a lot more about timing and directing the flow of battle, rather than the traditional approach of issuing individual commands one at a time. I'm arguably doing less (though I dont really see the difference between me pressing Attack 3 times and the computer doing it because I told it to) but it all happens so much faster that it's still engaging.

15 hours in might not even be enough to really start to get the gist of the battle system. The game is SO SLOW to open up.

Ultimately, the combat system is more fast paced, but just as simple as previous games. You do pretty much the same thing in every boss battle:

1. Buff everyone and debuff the boss
2. Use Relentless Assault or Mystic Tower to build the boss's chain gauge
3. Switch to combat clinic and heal as needed.
4. When staggered, use Army of One or Cold blood to get the chain gauge to 999% or as close as possible (if you don't have these, use Tri-Disaster).
5. Launch the enemy and attack with Cerberus or Aggression until the stagger wears off.
6. Repeat.

Every boss. It's really that simple. Things get more tricky in the post game quests, but I never did those because you have to grind to get strong enough.

I'd forgotten how much I like the fight system, which is a bit controversial be ause I know a lot of people disliked it. But it feels a lot more about timing and directing the flow of battle, rather than the traditional approach of issuing individual commands one at a time. I'm arguably doing less (though I dont really see the difference between me pressing Attack 3 times and the computer doing it because I told it to) but it all happens so much faster that it's still engaging.

I thought xiii-2 was better in some ways; particularly the combat system.

Not really. You can keep playing on your same ticket even after reaching 9 wins. Most of the streamers that I watch while working on Friday afternoons when Trials goes live, upon getting their 9-0, they go ahead and play those extra three games on that same ticket before swapping characters to do it again.

Ah, okay. I just thought if you made it to the Lighthouse, you're card was done.

Yeah, it used to work that way - but that was one of the changes for Y2 Trials. It seemed like a good change... but hindsight might be showing otherwise.

I've never played Trials, but it seems like a bad change regardless. If you've already made it to the Lighthouse, why would you keep playing on the same ticket? Seems like you're ticket should be over, since you won, and if you want to keep playing, you get another ticket. I guess it doesn't really change anything whether you keep playing on that ticket or a new one, but it just seems like if you're going to be in the competition pool, it shouldn't be on the ticket you've "won".

So there are a few camps on this. By all accounts, it appears people who keep playing their ticket after going to the lighthouse maintain their "8 wins" ranking as far as matchmaking is concerned, which means they are consistently matched up with other "8 win" teams. I've heard some players say they enjoy playing at such a competitive level against highly skilled teams. In some ways, it's the closest Destiny has to ranked play or skill-based matchmaking. However, this means that those top-level teams who keep playing after going to the lighthouse spend their time denying other teams their chance at a 9-0 record, which is kinda rough.

Not really. You can keep playing on your same ticket even after reaching 9 wins. Most of the streamers that I watch while working on Friday afternoons when Trials goes live, upon getting their 9-0, they go ahead and play those extra three games on that same ticket before swapping characters to do it again.

Ah, okay. I just thought if you made it to the Lighthouse, you're card was done.

Yeah, it used to work that way - but that was one of the changes for Y2 Trials. It seemed like a good change... but hindsight might be showing otherwise.

I've never played Trials, but it seems like a bad change regardless. If you've already made it to the Lighthouse, why would you keep playing on the same ticket? Seems like you're ticket should be over, since you won, and if you want to keep playing, you get another ticket. I guess it doesn't really change anything whether you keep playing on that ticket or a new one, but it just seems like if you're going to be in the competition pool, it shouldn't be on the ticket you've "won".

Not really. You can keep playing on your same ticket even after reaching 9 wins. Most of the streamers that I watch while working on Friday afternoons when Trials goes live, upon getting their 9-0, they go ahead and play those extra three games on that same ticket before swapping characters to do it again.

Ah, okay. I just thought if you made it to the Lighthouse, you're card was done.

Yeah, it used to work that way - but that was one of the changes for Y2 Trials. It seemed like a good change... but hindsight might be showing otherwise.

Not really. You can keep playing on your same ticket even after reaching 9 wins. Most of the streamers that I watch while working on Friday afternoons when Trials goes live, upon getting their 9-0, they go ahead and play those extra three games on that same ticket before swapping characters to do it again.

Ah, okay. I just thought if you made it to the Lighthouse, you're card was done.

Turns out when I'm not playing the one game over and over and over I have a lot more variety. Imagine that.

Considering the new matchmaking system though, you'd still be unlikely to run into them, right?

It makes it more likely you'll run into them when you're at 8 wins, since their card "stays" at 9 wins. (In fact, the game might even count it as 8 wins on their card... if you keep your card and win a "10th" game, you'll notice that the animation will show the 9th yellow circle popping again each time).

That said, I have not seen people throw matches at the end of their tickets to get those last three games played - but I have seen them throw matches on a fresh throwaway ticket just to farm for passage coins, as has been mentioned already in this thread.

You've actually got that last part a bit backwards. The people most likely to throw a few games have already gone to the lighthouse (completing 7 games in the process) and are just throwing the final 3 games to complete the "Play 10 games" bounty. So you are increasingly likely to run into them later in your own ticket.

I don't think that's how it works. If they've already been to Lighthouse, they'd be on q brand new ticket with zero wins, so they wouldn't be matched with somebody with seven or eight wins, so it'd be much LESS likely to run into them late in your ticket.

Not really. You can keep playing on your same ticket even after reaching 9 wins. Most of the streamers that I watch while working on Friday afternoons when Trials goes live, upon getting their 9-0, they go ahead and play those extra three games on that same ticket before swapping characters to do it again.