Some 2-day sale at a local Texas electronic store. I still don't really know why it was on sale (they also had The Orange Box and that Star Wars PSP game on sale too) but I'm not complaining.

One thing I noticed immediately in this game was the removal of pre-skill execution quotes.

Gone are the days of KNOW! LIVE! BECOME A FROG!

Anyway enough about that. I find the Onion Knight class to be completely hilarious. No abilities, can't even equip any abilities from any of the other classes. Starts off looking like a pile of crap (reminds me of FF III DS) but you know will become godly. It gets to wear everything in the game though -- including gender specific equipment. It's interesting to say the least.

I thought about going for the Dark Knight class but the only req that I'm too lazy to wait for is the gathering of 20 crystals on that specific character. That Max HP UP and Move+3 (Female only) really make me strive for the class though.

I'm still squabbling in Chapter 1, I'm really taking my time with this game for some reason. Usually I just rush through all games.

I think this translation is very fitting.

I've still comparing the changes of scripts between the PS1 version and the PSP version. I assume it was done purposely as they spelled Academy as Akademy.

So what's this about voices? They actually went and added voice acting for cutscenes or something? =/

Yea. There's added voices for the cutscenes. As for the script changes, they talk more like Old English style in the PSP version than that of the PS1 version.

On a side note Qwarky, who's the artist that did your avatar? The style is familar.

You can hear some of them in this trailer.

That's actually not that bad, surprisingly. The usual "too loud when you should contain yourself" "too overacted when it doesn't call for it" mistakes, but more eloquence than melodrama. Well done, Square.

It's our very own niki~ I asked him to draw me some Vagrant Story love and he delivered.

Wow, seeing that trailer I can imagine a lot of lines are much more fitting in the setting. "Tis your birth and faith that wrong you, not I." sounds so much better than "Blame yourself, or God."

Maybe once I have my own PSP I'll pick this up. Gotta finish Riviera on my friend's first though.

Ah ok. Cool. :)

As for FFT:WoTL, I dunno why I found it easier to move along in the PSP version. I assume it's because I played the game so damn much from the PS1 that I found a way for me to get through with my playing style. :p

The slowdown is constant, but I've been getting used to it honestly. I've had situations of slowdowns from games in the PS1, and a few on the last-gen consoles, so it doesn't really bother me all that much. However it would have been nice if it was fixed. :erm:

Something interesting about Onion Knights.

They don't earn EXP. Period.

If you want to level up a Onion Knight you need to sacrifice one of those monsters that allows you to gain a level in exchange for it permanently dying. If you aren't anal about the Chronicle showing you have like 99 casualties or what have you no problem with that really.

On the other hand though, Onion Knight has the highest stat growth for all stats once you've mastered all the jobs, as opposed to a Mime which just has excellent growth in everything but Speed and MP.

Very surprising to know that Yuna's VA does Agrias...

I'm like 15% through chapter 2 and Ramza already has Black Mage mastered 100%. Knight is about half way there. This is just tge beginning of my quest to become a dark knight.

Now the question being is, are you going to be a Dark Knight that upholds honor, or the one that pillages and rampages? :p

Some (probably obvious) observations:

* JP Costs are as they were in the original Japanese Final Fantasy Tactics. This means [Fly] for a Dancer is 5000 JP instead of 1200 JP, and so forth. It really only applies to the final jobs in the whole game or the last round of abilities to learn.

* Also on the original version note, story battles are now as they were in the original game. This means any characters that were supposed to have certain abilities by nature now do. Marquis Messam Elmdore de Limberry now has his innate [Safeguard] (Maintenance) thus making the Genji Gear untouchable.

* For any of the "new" battles that appear, you will really want a Thief with all of the [Steal] abilities. Might want to have that same Thief with [Speechcraft] so you can turn them into chickens. An army of chickens is easier to deal with than an army itself.

Wow. Seriously. The slowdown is so bad it's bloody gamebreaking. I have heard bad things, but nothing prepared me for this.

I'm extremely disappointed. A shame too, considering everything else is awesome.

Although it isn't game breaking for me, I freakin HATE the slowdown and the horrid sound effects. Stasis Sword, and Dark Blade (or whatever it was originally called) sounded horrendous in the first battle. The stabbing sound effect for Dark Blade isn't even on sync with the attack! On a better note, Accumilate (now known as Focus) for Squire is a great way to net some extra experience when you have no better way to end a turn for a character that has nothing else to do. It can also make Monks do WTF damage VERY fast early in the game. Good stuff!

Do you have an older PSP or the new slim PSP that is supposed to decrease load times?

It's an older one, but I've heard conflicting reports on wether or not the slowdown is improved on the newer model. Some say yes and some say no. Has there been a side by side comparison done yet?

It's a software issue, not hardware, so it's the exact same slowdown on every PSP (both UMD and ripped), overclocked or not.

I figured as much, thanks for the confirmation.

The worst sound effect change so far (since only a few were changed, not all of them) is by far Thundara (Bolt 2). Man that sound is just... so horrid. None of the other Thunder spells share that same pitch, it's kind of ear drum shattering if you're using headphones.

Also the slowdown is pretty much summed up like so:

Normal attacks run at 60fps.
Menus and map rotation go at maybe 40~50.
90% of the skills in this game drop to 10~15 fps. Some hover around 30.
Anything that zooms out into the full screen will generally run at 60fps as well.

Apparently the guide for this is hard to grab hold of. Sold out practically everywhere online and seems to be somewhat limited in print runs. Could pull an old FFT guide and go somewhat rarish?

Or maybe it's just an initial rush with few copies, who knows.

Edit: On another note, when the balls will the damn trading arts be available. They STILL AREN'T SHIPPING.

After so many months of waiting (since the game got announced last December) for this, today I finally got my copy. :D

IT'S ON!

When I contacted BradyGames they said they had publishing issues and it wouldn't be available until the end of November on a mass scale in any case. Some people have already managed to snag a copy.

It sucks of course. A majority of the information is based still on the original PSX information which wouldn't even work on the PSP version. The foundation is true at least though.

Not to mention a lot of their strategies or tips are based on rumours that were proven false via extensive testing and Japan.

Best suited to be just a reference, or a slight push. It doesn't even cover all the things you can do though.

I'll be quite honest. While I buy guides fairly often, I hardly, if ever, use them. It's a weird quirk, but I honestly really don't care if the content is slightly off.

Thanks for the update on the quality though, it's kinda shitty that it's half broken. =\

It's not like the PSX guide from BradyGames was much better. It had tons of errors, and several times didn't even give the correct pre-battle setup grid.

The Thundara sound effect is strange, but I didn't think it was even close to ear-shattering and I always play with headphones (god PSP speakers suck). I think the worst sound effect so far was when Algus tossed a rock into the water at Eagrose Castle and it made an incredibly weird noise. It's depressing that the grass whistles no longer sound like electric guitar riffs too.