Welcome to another week of Gaming Union's community event New Game Plus! Think of it like a video game bookclub; each week Unionites will all take on the same game and play through to a pre-determined checkpoint. It's just like playing a game normally, but plus the GU community! The idea of the feature is to encourage more in depth discussion about games in general but pushes people to focus on one title at a time. This can create a space where we can be more analytical or critical about storyline, game mechanics, etc. No conversation topic is barred, but you must remember to do your homework to keep up with everyone else!

At the moment New Game Plus and the Unionite Warriors of Light are working their way through the classic Final Fantasy I and have collected three crystals! Many of us have already completed our class up quests after rendevousing with the awesome Bahamut. With the Earth Crystal, Fire Crystal and Water Crystals under our belts, it's time to explore the Wind Temple...

This is our fourth and penultimate week! Just one more crystal to collect and then we'll be so close to saving the world! Check out the guidelines to participate and for details of where to start from and where the next checkpoint in the game will be. Make sure to come back regularly to let us know how you're finding the game!

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We're hoping to split FFI into five sections. This is Week 4.

The checkpoint which you need to play up to is:
Get the 4th Crystal
Inside the following spoiler tags is a slightly more in depth description of all the locations you go through plus boss fights before you get to this point, just to dispel any confusion:

ALL DISCUSSION FOR WEEK 4 IN THIS THREAD.
(Previously: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3)
Also if you need any clarification of the guidelines then please ask!
Have fun exploring, guys!

GUIDELINES
- You can play any version of this game! There are a fair few out there, so just choose one!
- A new thread will go up each Thursday telling you where the next check point is. All discussion for each section must go in the relevant threads. Previous threads will remain open to let people catch up and let the conversation continue.
- You MUST resist playing on past the scheduled check points. For these discussion threads to work we need to all be at the same point in the game. Besides, it's not in the spirit of this activity!
- Please don't post spoilers for things that haven't happened in the game yet. We love that you're enthusiastic about it, but some people will be playing for the first time.
- However, you CAN post spoilers for anything that happens within the given section of the game, so long as you use tags [ spoiler][/spoiler ] to protect those still playing through.
- Talk about anything and everything! Story is just one aspect, but if you love the music or hate the map, then speak up! Get a little more specific and in depth than usual!
- If you get hopelessly stuck, you're encouraged to say so in this thread as soon as you can, and I can guarantee that there'll be a whole bunch of people willing to offer up their strategies or tips.
- On the converse, feel free to challenge yourself if you've played the game a billion times before! Suggested challenges could be a Solo Run or a party of White Mages!
- Remember to HAVE FUN!

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Just a quick tip for you guys about a hidden magic shop

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I am allowed to do the four elemental dungeons this week like Lifespring Grotto and the Labyrinth of Time?

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PS3: PenguinAlex
360: PenguinAlex

(April 05, 2012 05:05:27 PM)Zero Wrote:  Just a quick tip for you guys about a hidden magic shop

i managed to find the shop by acident last week , bought the spells although my characters still dont have level 8 slots

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(April 05, 2012 05:18:49 PM)Penguin X Wrote:  I am allowed to do the four elemental dungeons this week like Lifespring Grotto and the Labyrinth of Time?

They're bonus dungeons, so you're allowed to do them whenever you wish.

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(April 05, 2012 05:43:00 PM)Chloe Wrote:  They're bonus dungeons, so you're allowed to do them whenever you wish.

Thank you, I ran out of things to play in amongst my coursework last week. I actually went up about 50 levels in 5 days on COD:MW3 because I was that bored!

I have already beaten Tiamat, nothing much to report. I actually found the Warp Cube last week because I got lost and didn't want any help. The only thing that annoyed me was the fourth floor of the flying fortress which was a grid that looped. However, that floor got my gil up to 500,000 which was ample enough for all the level 7 and 8 spells I need. I bought about 50 Hi-Potions and Ethers and I am ready to explore the Earthgift Shrine.

Tbh, I think these checkpoints are getting smaller, which shows me something about the game's structure that I didn't see. You start off pretty weak without much to speak for but you learn to build up spells and armour and weapons and set up your characters pretty early. The smaller quests are mostly dealt with at the beginning of the game to get the player settled into the game before they take on the crystals. Once your get the 3rd Crystal, you run out of things to do on the side making you feel that you dealt with most of the world's problems and one main objective.

Quite ingenious really, making a player feel they have an impossible task of saving the world from almost nothing to achieving that feeling of actual achievement, the people are happy, no one is now in immediate danger, now to take out the roots of this catastrophe. Well done Square!

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PS3: PenguinAlex
360: PenguinAlex

(April 06, 2012 05:23:54 AM)Penguin X Wrote:  Quite ingenious really, making a player feel they have an impossible task of saving the world from almost nothing to achieving that feeling of actual achievement, the people are happy, no one is now in immediate danger, now to take out the roots of this catastrophe. Well done Square!

It was the game that saved a company for a reason
and it's great, because this game is, in a manner of speaking, an open world. You are really only set on a straight path up until you get the first crystal, and then you could do almost anything in any order you want. The game actually made it so that if you wanted, you could challenge the sky castle before even facing the Kraken. You could just skip dealing with Marlith and get to the sunken shrine. you really could do this game in several ways. But in the end, it all comes down to a great adventure that you might never forget, and this is what a great game is made of. This was the essence of Final Fantasy. The game that was suppose to mark the end, was just the beginning.

having said all that, I feel I must update my progress.
First off, I forgot that the waterfall cave was a bit maze-like. I just remember going straight in. I made it through though.
Making my way partially through Mirage Tower, I gathered all the items, and thus got the 3rd strongest sword: The Sun Sword. I actually can't wait to get through Sky Castle and find the adamantite so that I can get Excalibur from my good friends the dwarfs. Rali-ho!

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Already at the checkpoint. Yeah I have no life, but I think it only took an hour and a half or so. I had already done the waterfall cave last week. But somehow I missed the adamantite (thanks to Zero for the reminder). I have no idea how I missed it, I'm always very thorough with dungeons. Apparently I was asleep at the wheel. So I'll be doing that soon.

Characters are at level 41.

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Quick question... What does everyone's in game clock look like at this point?

I'm not quite up to the checkpoint from last week yet, but I'm already over 12 hours! I said this game was too long for an NGP, especially a first timer! XD I'm glad that everyone is keeping up and really enjoying it though.

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Just under 10 hours. I think this is maybe my fourth time playing through this game so I know exactly what I need to do. There's no dicking around wasting time.

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