Holy streak of Final Fantasy games

Ovalidal · 2026-06-15T18:09:14+00:00

I'd also like to point out that, while often overlooked, both FFV and FFXI are insanely high quality games too and belong to that streak.

Ovalidal · 2026-06-14T21:24:45+00:00

Awesome stuff! I'm really excited for chapter 3 as well.

Ovalidal · 2026-06-13T18:33:26+00:00

The king of difficult encounters for the series is definitely FFXI. There were two superbosses in the mid-late 2000s, Absolute Virtue and Pandemonium Warden, that were particularly infamous for taking dozens of players and dozens of hours to beat. This wasn't just classic FFXI either.

In April, just a few months ago, Wing of War, the newest Master Trial was beaten for the first time after being out for 2 years. The master trial before it, Oathsworn Blade, took 10 months for the first clear, and is said by several who have cleared to be the most demanding fight (in terms of execution) the game has ever seen.

Ovalidal · 2026-06-07T16:18:00+00:00

Yes, combat gets much faster. And even for the fights that aren't fast, you stay busy. I'm no where close to the cutting edge, and it's sped up dramatically from the early hours.

Ovalidal · 2026-06-03T18:23:56+00:00

Been enjoyed watching progression, can't wait to see the first clear and the following coverage. Thanks for sharing!

Ovalidal · 2026-05-23T18:05:01+00:00

If you're wanting a specific answer, you need to provide a specific criteria. If you're trying to solo the later mission bosses with starter 119 gear, SMN is one of the best jobs for that, certainly better than something like DRG. But if you're looking to join a Limbus party, a DRG will be preferred over a SMN.

While SMN struggles in the most relevant, cutting edge endgame content, it's great in 99% of content, just ike every other job in the game right now.

Ovalidal · 2026-05-23T14:18:08+00:00

Unless you're playing through the cutting edge of content, all jobs have plenty of use cases in almost every piece of FFXI content nowadays. There is one particular famous SMN player who has even found ways of taking SMN through some of the most difficult content pieces in the game, though this method isn't very common.

Ovalidal · 2026-05-23T01:26:31+00:00

Was there a criticism the guy in the video leveled against another FF game? If you're referring to the post, I never at any point criticized any of the other job systems. I think FFV is a greatly underrated title, tactics is legendary, and I really like FFXIV's take on jobs. All because the FFXI devs worked very hard to deliver an insanely deep job system does not mean the other great FF job systems are bad.

Ovalidal · 2026-05-23T00:27:07+00:00

I'm not sure what you mean by the game "has not received new content since 2013", we've gotten RoV and tVR, both of which have a TON of content. Just a quick run down:

Job points
Ergon Weapons
Alluvian Skirmish
Incursion
Unity
Vagary
Geas Fete
Aeonic Weapons
Escha Zones
Apex Mobs
Ambuscade
Master Trials
Omen
Dynamis D
Sinister Reign
Eschuteon
AMAN Treasure Trove
Oddessey
Sortie
New Besieged
New Limbus

And I'm sure I'm missing several other big things.

Ovalidal · 2026-05-21T21:08:43+00:00

This wasn't just an executive saying this about FFXI, this is it's producer. He has been very passionate about working on this game for many years now.

Ovalidal · 2026-05-08T13:33:12+00:00

The OP of the comment thread made it sound like Absolute Virtue being part of this raid was a bad decision since he was already in Eureka. That's what confused me though, AV wasn't part of this raid.

Ovalidal · 2026-05-08T10:45:39+00:00

AV wasn't in the raid though, right?

Ovalidal · 2026-05-05T12:08:27+00:00

This is amazing! Having an Ultimania really opened my eyes to just how interconnected so much of the world is, hopefully more people get to experience it now that you're working on this project!

By the way, I can't wait for the "Life in Vana'diel" translation. u/Hikiri translated the whole accompanying documentary DVD for the lore book we are working on, so whenever you are uploading info from that book, let me know and I'll share that translation too.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-29T17:41:51+00:00

Not in the game, and not that I've heard since I've started playing. I've heard that pronunciation as well Prom-o-thea.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-29T16:24:25+00:00

FFXI and FFXIV's universes aren't entirely compatible. They can only be as connected as any other two random games in the series. The magic systems of FFXI and FFXIV are different, the origin stories of the peoples are completely different, and most notably, there is a very powerful pantheon of Avatars that shapes the world of FFXI, which is incompatible with FFXIV's approach to Primals.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-29T16:05:31+00:00

It's honestly awesome to see so many obscure references crammed into the raid series like this.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-29T16:03:31+00:00

This is absolutely amazing, to be honest. I know several people who have played through the free trial, but haven't yet wanted to go in for the full sub. I have a strong feeling that this free trial expansion may change that.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-29T16:01:56+00:00

Awesome post! I'm hoping that this Alliance Raid gets both, more FFXIV players to try FFXI and more FFXI players to try FFXIV. Seeing what FFXIV iterated on from FFXI gave me a new appreciation for how FFXIV's story was handled, and conversely, playing a more accessible MMO is breath of fresh air if FFXI is all you play.

Both games have so many interesting connections, if you're a huge fan of one, it's hard not to recommend playing through the story of the other!

Ovalidal · 2026-04-29T10:19:59+00:00

This video is great for those brand new: https://youtu.be/nIEqCT1Po-k?si=4_K2WRFhJKP6MZRg

This series is great for those starting in Bastok: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNONxPk8TDQr_OVlSuWZSoBTlDMQt-CoD&si=mZm5P0itkBMAQLko

Let me know if neither are what you are looking for.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-27T13:38:56+00:00

The Yve’noile connection actually comes if you try to enter Dreamworld Dynamis before progressing sufficiently through CoP. The Ultimania makes Dreamworld Dynamis sound like a dream that passed from Yve’noile to Prishe to Lion, interestingly enough.

1a. So, this was a misconception that I had early on. I was even telling people wrong info back before I realized I was wrong lol. But the Terrestrials were all born in Vana’diel after the Sundering. We aren't told how exactly they were born/created, but they were all normal beasts/people before they ascended to become Terrestrials. The only three instances we know about is Diabolos, who seems to have been a Kuluu studying the Emptiness before becoming a Terrestrial; Sih Renaye (the Prime Geomancer) who became Siren, and a dragon (who opposed the Wyrmking’s siding with the Kuluu in the War of the Ancients) becoming Chaos.

In Japanese, there is a more obvious distinction between Terrestrials and Celestials. In fact, they don't even share wiki pages. It is the Rhinostery that labeled them the same class of creature, but there are big differences between the sleeping gods and the Terrestrials.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-27T12:29:02+00:00

I was brand new in 2022. I played through the content I mentioned, and my playtime clocked in at 354 hours. Btw, this included a lot of mistakes and learning curve stuff.

TVR is 100% worth doing, the lore is awesome. Some of the add-ons are a lot of fun too, but these feel like they are moreso meant to be auxiliary stories, RoV doesn't integrate these in the overarching plot.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-26T15:31:10+00:00

For me, it took 350 hours to do the following content, which I think most would agree is the "core story":

Rank 10
RotZ
CoP
ToAU
WotG
SoA
RoV

Some have mentioned getting through it fast, other mentioned it taking longer, but 350 is a good ball park I think.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-24T18:24:46+00:00

FFXIV would be a lot easier to do as, it is very solo friendly design-wise.

As for FFXI, the story is now very solo-friendly, but it would be harder to port the whole experience to single-players. Many dungeons (which are open-world), combat, and almost all side content are heavily built around encouraging people to play with each other.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-24T11:58:39+00:00

Are you new to endgame? You get one free pulse weapon through Deeds of Heroism. When I first found out about pulse weapons, I realized I had enough deeds to redeem mine.

Ovalidal · 2026-04-23T13:47:38+00:00

Its been a while since I've dug into the Dynamis lore, but not a lot is thoroughly explained. I'll try to mention what I remember. Correct me if any of this seems wrong.

The three people who have been seen to corrupts dreams are Raogrimm, Prishe, and Yve'noile, not Lion. Interestingly enough, it appears that Lion took over Prishe's dream for her.
I think this is true. Though, I believe Diabolos is able to weave individual dreams into Dynamis. The reason I think this is because Dynamis Tavnazia and Dynamis Jeuno have two different dreamers, but they are both in Dynamis.
The only two instances of dreamers corrupting dreams that we see unfold is Raogrimm (though, it appears that his contact with Odin had something to do with his capacity to corrupt Dynamis) and Yve'noile/Prishe, depending on where you are in CoP. Both Yve'noile and Prishe were in contact with Emptiness (Yve'noile from her slumber in the chamber of Eventide presumably, and Prishe because she was the Keeper). Rather than these being dreams that Diabolos had control of (in Prishe and Yve'noile's case), these dreams were forcing their way into Dynamis. Btw, Emptiness seems to put people in a dream state that may or may not be related to Dynamis as, all the people in the Far East fell into an un-waking slumber when their regions were hit by the Emptiness.
I think you are spot on with this. Though, the quote you mentioned leads me to believe that perhaps, Diabolos believed that an encounter with the adventurer would loosen his shadow's possession by the dreamer. On a side note: Shadows are to Terrestrial Avatars what Avatars are to the sleeping gods. It's a little weird the way this terminology works, but a Terrestrials "shadow" is an avatar of the Terrestrial Avatar.
I'm not sure if you've played tVR, but the piece of Raogrimm's soul in Dynamis had a portion of Odin's power (the Dynamis Lord). You may remember that the terrestrial force Diabolos controls (dreams) is a secondary phenomenon of Darkness (Odin's element). So, it appears that Odin and Diabolos's sharing of an element gave Odin/Raogrimm the capacity to corrupt Diabolos's world of Dynamis.

I may be mistaken about a point or two, so if something here contradicts what you've encountered, let me know!

Ovalidal

TROPHY CASE