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Hey just wondering what your favourite magic systems are??
I really enjoyed the sphere grid.

This post has been edited by Blazing Blaze on 15th July 2006 09:05

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Finished NSG FFX, Playing FFIV again.

The Good old fashioned Job System for me, but the Sphere Grid comes in a close second. -CSM

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I went with the materia system, though the job system (specifically that of FFT) is a close second.

At any rate, I love the materia system's versatility. Anyone can pretty much be anything. You're not restricted to their "classes" or to MP or HP allowances because the materia alters all of that. Plus I love the growth system, that with time and effort, the mastered materia spawns new materia that you can work on with other characters. I also like the balance the various materias create, that by equipping certain magic and summons, some stats increase, while others decrease, so you're characters aren't all powerful unless you couple them with other types of materia, like HP Plus or something. Finally, the support and command materia are very cool, the latter allowing you to pretty much experience much of the "Job" abilities from prior games, while retaining the character's original abilities, and support materia is just plain nifty, working in tandem with magic and summons.

One thing I noticed about this system, in a way, is it is somewhat reminiscent of FFVI's Esper system, though obviously not totally.

At any rate, that's my choice.

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I voted the Materia system because you can customize your characters very well with it.
I think that system is definitly the best way to make your charcters unique... or the same!

I always enjoy a good old Job System.

Edit: You mean to say 'customization system'. Not all of these are 'magic systems'.

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OSonic Rave
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It's hard to pick one. I haven't gotten far enough in FFVI to see how the Esper/Magicite system works, but I prefer either the sphere system or the job system from FFV and FFT if purely for the customizability and the replay value.

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"Thought I was dead, eh? Not until I fulfill my dream!"
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FF VIII's junction system was awesome, but poorly laid out. I think it would've worked better if they didn't have a quantity-based system, and had made the spells harder to acquire. Best potential by a long shot.

Though the Job system is sweet too.

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The Collapse of Heaven and Earth

FFT's Job System is my favorite. I like being able to avoid being a one-trick pony, but more often than not, I don't really want every single character in my party to have access to every single ability

Though if I'm in a real "Munchkin-esque" mood, I do enjoy the Materia System

The Job system is by far my favorite. I like working within the limitations set by a job system, whether the jobs are fixed (as in FF4) or changeable (as in FF3, FF5, FFT, and FFTA). I think that part of the reason I am such a big fan of the job system is the nostalgia of the traditional classes.

The other reason is that the class system is more realistic. You wouldn't expect any one person to be able to do everything. People have a limited amount of time, so they tend to specialize. Just as you wouldn't expect to see an NFL player with a Ph.D. in mathematics, it is unrealistic to see a hardened warrior that knows a lot of magic. A class system prevents power-levelers from making invincible characters.

I have significant gripes with some alternative but popular systems:

Espers/Magicite: This system allows every character (except Umaro) to learn every spell, which makes the characters less unique (in battle) and magic less esoteric. (In the beginning of the game, magic is something arcane that only a chosen few can use.) By the end of the game, you can have an army of characters who are strong in both magic and physical combat. The result is that your party (ignoring personality) is primarily chosen by each character's special skill.

Materia: Materia has a lot in common with Espers, except that it further strips characters of their individuality (in battle). At least in FF6, characters could not learn each other's unique abilities (not counting Gogo). For example, Terra could not steal; Locke could not use Lore, etc. That's not true in FF7. If you have the right Materia, you can do anything. In FF7, the only traces of uniqueness that remain are Limit Breaks and which weapons a character can equip. Even a character's stats are highly malleable, since equipped Materia can temporarily raise stats. If that weren't enough, there is no real limitation on how much of the best Materia you can acquire. If you're willing to devote the time and effort, you can get sets of Master Materia and Mega All for everyone.

A mere aside: I consider FF9's system to be an offshoot of the job system. Each character has a fixed job, but the abilities are learned by equipping items rather than leveling up or using JP. FFTA has a similar system, except that you can change jobs.

This post has been edited by Magicite on 16th July 2006 05:13

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The world before the fall...
Delightful is the light of dawn...
Noble is the heart of man...

i liked the sphere grid the best. but the equip thing ticked me off cause i dont have a mythril sword and cant get one so i dont have that ability

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

Other. I liked buying spells (FFI) and earning them by leveling up (FFIV). With the exception of gaining magic through items in FFIX, all the other systems allow you to make your characters homogeneous in their abilities, and I don't particularly like that.

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Quote (Zeromus_X @ 15th July 2006 19:20)

You mean to say 'customization system'. Not all of these are 'magic systems'.

Yeh i was trying to find the word i just couldent. Thanx

My second fave would be materia or equip system, i find them quite similar as u both get the skills/spells by equiping items although in ff9 once you have mastered them they stay there forever.


This post has been edited by Blazing Blaze on 16th July 2006 01:22

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Finished NSG FFX, Playing FFIV again.

It's a tie between Materia and classic NES Jobs *and other station FF's* for me. But i voted for materia, but i see more people voted for the job system guess i should of too. But meh.

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IX's system, i just liked it the most.

i liked the job system the most, but dosnt the dressphere system the same thing pretty much?
i like IX's as well as it makes u think who 2 play in each situation, althougt the sphere grip does this 2 at 1st
im gonna choose the job system as i like it the most


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In the end, it boils down to two simple choices. Either you do or you don't.

I like this poll!

I voted for job system - specifically Tactics, but I definitely appreciate other systems as well. It gives the player a good range of customization options while still providing a class identity.

In theory, I liked the materia system, but the execution REALLY failed on that one. There was absolutely NO distinction between characters. At least in a job system, if every character was the same it was because you MADE them that way. In the materia system, every character has essentially the same potential as any other character. This system would have been a lot better with some sort of class prereqs to using certain materia. The same is true for the similar esper system.

I didn't like the sphere grid too much, and I suppose it is mostly from an aesthetics viewpoint. It felt tacked on to the world, and even though certain characters were VASTLY different in origin and species, they all hang out in the same alternate universe of crop-circle advancement. On the other hand, it did offer a lot of options for how you want to play the game - hence, I now understand acronyms like NSGNSNCNO... but its still not my favorite.

I wish I could comment on the junction system, but I never played VIII. I've heard good things about the junction system, bad things about the game overall.

One good non-FF system is Chrono Cross's elements system, which was severely weakened by a poor interface, but otherwise turned out to be pretty novel. The elements were a little limited, also, but it didn't keep the game from being really easy.

There's also the "character-recruitment" system of character advancement, which is generally restricted to strategy games, but was included in at least one very strange game called Destiny of an Emperor on the NES. A few of your characters got better through fighting battles and earning experience (well... 6 characters did), but the rest of your characters are fixed, so you have to go around beating and recruiting more powerful characters to add to your arsenal. The novel system has yet to make a return to any mainstream rpg.

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Oh sure, I don't have to get kicked in the junk to activate it, but I like it anyway. -- Thief commenting on the difference between Throw and Blue Magic.

I did enjoy the sphere grid immensely, and I think it worked remarkably well for FFX.... but overall I enjoy the job system the most.

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I really love FF Tactics' system, but my overall favorite is probably FF IX's system, especially because of the specific character builds that limits you within each character's customization system, so to speak. Some variation of that system in the future, using new characters, could be really excellent.

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You're kinda talking about two different things here. One is the way character skills are differentiated, and I think that should be unique to every character. The other is the way magic or other skills are learned, and I prefer leveling or equipment.

I'm not a fan of espers or materia, and from what I saw of the Sphere Grid, I don't think I'd enjoy that either.

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I really enjoy the job systems and the equipment system, but my vote goes to the sphere grid. It succeeded in what FFII tried to do(also successfully removed levels, which is what 8 tried to do). it was unique, started out slightly linnear, but then as the game progressed customization set in as you chose certain paths. Also you could shatter the 9999 barrier, I like it.

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"Have you ever seen a baby do that before?"

It has to be the materia system for me. I dont know why, its just always appealed to me the most. And as perigryn said, the versatility is a real charm.

This post has been edited by Bulbonius on 24th July 2006 00:48

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Ff7 current game progress:Just finished the underwater reactor, on to rocket town!

Well, I myself like the ability system from FF2 the most. It could be done better with a few tweaks, but remains my favourite nontheless.

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"I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway

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Quote (SilverMaduin @ 24th July 2006 01:44)

Well, I myself like the ability system from FF2 the most. It could be done better with a few tweaks, but remains my favourite nontheless.

I think you're the only person I know who prefers FF2's system. (Most people see it as an anomaly and hate it.)

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The world before the fall...
Delightful is the light of dawn...
Noble is the heart of man...

I like FF2's system, 'cause I can make the characters (at least the main ones) as I want them - if I want a party of mages, I have one, if the party is supposed to become a bunch of brawlers, it will. I have complete control over the development of each and every party member.

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"I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway

"If you retort against this, so help me God I'll shove any part of your anatomy I can find into some other part. Figuratively, of course." - Josh

"We have more, can deliver tuesday." - Del S

Good old CoN

Now that I'm playing FF9... again... I still think I enjoy that system over the other games, though when I play FF6, I really like that system as well.

I love the idea of classes because until your characters are at ridiculously high levels where it doesn't matter (though even that might be argued somewhat), it does pay to think of everyone's unique skill/ability set and take that into battle. I also liked how it seemed to me that the classes did seem to lend a bit to the characters themselves (ie. Zidane/Locke being kleptomaniacs, Dagger being a summoner, etc.)

I also liked FF6's runic/esper system, but the suggestions of limiting runics and espers to certian characters/classes seems even more appealing to me. But maybe that goes back to me liking the class/equipment system (which would probably give us a summoner class of characters).

I'm really surprised that Espers/Magicite hasn't received a single vote in the poll. Behind the job system, that's probably tied for #2 with me.

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Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978

Quote (Kurohime @ 24th July 2006 12:27)

I also liked FF6's runic/esper system, but the suggestions of limiting runics and espers to certian characters/classes seems even more appealing to me. But maybe that goes back to me liking the class/equipment system (which would probably give us a summoner class of characters).

I agree. I would like the Magicite system if only magic-users were able to take advantage of it. Terra and Celes should definitely have access to Magicite. Strago and Relm could also be good candidates for Magicite, since they have inherent magical abilities. (They are descended from Mage Knights. Strago has Blue Magic, and Relm is a pictomancer.)

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The world before the fall...
Delightful is the light of dawn...
Noble is the heart of man...

FFIX was my first FF game so the equip system has just been my favorite ever since. In 2nd place is the sphere grid and the job system is 3rd.

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Quote (FinalFantasyFreak @ 24th July 2006 19:38)

FFIX was my first FF game so the equip system has just been my favorite ever since. In 2nd place is the sphere grid and the job system is 3rd.

An irrational decision, but I can understand a "traditional" attachment so to speak. My reasoning for disliking the equip system is that:

a) equipment doesn't seem like it should have anything to do with acquiring new skills. At least magic orbs/crystals/etc. can deus ex machina it away into "magic".

As a lifelong min-maxer I dislike systems that require equipping remedial weapons to get better abilities.

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Oh sure, I don't have to get kicked in the junk to activate it, but I like it anyway. -- Thief commenting on the difference between Throw and Blue Magic.

The idea is that you equip the equipment you have, fight until you master the abilities, and then move on to the next set of equipment. It's a hell of a lot better than Espers/Materia/Junction where you become walking gods.



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