epic Tactics cosplay!!!

Oh snap, I seem to have forgotten about my Ramza cosplay. As if I'm not already horribly obsessed! Anyways, I made this costume in 2004 for Project A-kon and managed to bully my friends and brother into cosplaying with me as my devoted generic team.




(click for more photos!)

It was really really fun and I just wanted to share some photos because having huge groups from Tactics equals instant win! I hope to cosplay different costumes from Tactics in the future, if I ever get the free time and money to do so. I would love to do Agrias, but uhh... armor is so difficult to make, heh.

Chapter 2: The Manipulative and the Subservient (Lionel Castle)

Urgh, I didn't know that there were going to be three battles in a row at Lionel Castle. Finally offed Gaffgarion at the gate, which wasn't too hard if you have auto-potion on Ramza. Stole the Ancient Sword as well! On the other hand, the team outside the gate had some difficulty despite being levels ahead of the enemy. For some reason, the enemy knights had extra-good compatibility with everyone and my darned black chocobo kept getting hit for too much damage. At least it dealt major damage right back. I actually forgot about opening the gate until after Gaffgarion died, hah hah.

The 2nd battle, which I believe is new, had just Delita and Ovelia. Easy enough, plus we get a little insight on to how Ovelia accepted Delita's offer.

Now the third battle with Cuchulainn the Impure was interesting. I always liked the devils, they're so gruesomely designed and Cuchulainn is especially disgusting with his mouth-stomach. I managed to kill him in just a few rounds with Ramza as a ninja and a little help from Agrias, so it wasn't too bad. Of course, I wouldn't have been so annoyed if Ramza's armor hadn't been rent previously and I forgot to re-equip him before the battle. I don't use the knight's rent ability myself, but it is damn irritating when the enemy does it to you! Just that ability has been the reason for many a restarted battle!

Starting Chapter 3 now. The little blurb after Chapter 2, narrated by Ramza, was really quite saddening. You get such a feeling of despair and hopelessness that resulted from the war between Prince Larg and Duke Goltanna. Orlandeau arguing with Goltanna about suing for peace, extremely moving.

Golgollada Gallows

This was a difficult battle on the PSOne and it still is! That Gaffgarion and his Blood Sword, I should have stolen his sword the first chance I got! At one point, I had 2 people down, poor Mustadio took some extreme damage. I managed to rally back aggressively and did not retain any casualties, but it was darn close. I sure was tickled by the fact that they actually made a different icon for Gaffgarion in disguise as the executioner, hah hah.

Other things of note - Mindflayers are quite annoying, but my brother and I developed a good strategy in avoiding them when they come in groups of three. It involves a lot of running away.

There is currently only one FAQ for this game up at gamefaqs.com, although there are plenty for the PSone version. I recommend it - it is very thorough regarding gameplay tips and sufficiently reticent on actual plot points. My personal preference is saving the game right before an important battle, fighting the battle and then reading the FAQ to make sure I didn't miss anything I would need later. Even though I am obsessive-compulsive, I enjoy playing the game without knowing (or in my case, remembering) exactly what is going to happen. More fun that way!

Regarding merchandise, I am debating getting the ultimania artbook/guide, the five action figures or the super rare trading cards. *lusts* They are all so expensive, though! Am I that hardcore of a fan? I don't know, I still need to grab the soundtrack CDs though. Which to get first?!!! I think I may get the trading cards from eBay and the figures from Amazon, since they're not any cheaper through eBay. *debates* I must get everything...

doujinshi: Flower Barrow by Kyofu no Miso Soup

Because I'm so utterly lazy, I'm going to review one of the Tactics doujinshi I bought off of eBay.



Title: Flower Barrow
Circle: Kyofu no Miso Soup, Kiriri Amasawa
Year: 2000
Pages: 38 pages
Characters: Ramza, Delita, Alma, Olan, Balmafula, Izlude, Meliadoul, Mustadio, cameos of pretty much every speaking character
Rating: PG

Summary: basically an adorable collection of gag stories, plus fanart from different artists. The art is as you see, cute, detailed, very pretty. The running gags seem to be Ramza's devotion to Alma, plus Olan and Balmafula's rocky relationship. There is a gag version of the epilogue between Delita and Ovelia that is just hilarious. This is pretty much my favorite one, if just for the variety of characters thrown in. Sheer genius, I say.


In this comic, Ramza and Delita are basically arguing about whose sister is cuter. Hah hah! Kinda creepy, but very true.

Final Fantasy Tactics doujinshi collect!

Here are the fronts of the four Final Fantasy Tactics doujinshi I currently own (scaled down). These cost me quite the pretty penny, but I managed to snag some of the prettiest or least offensive ones I could find on eBay. I don't go for the DelitaXRamza yaoi unfortunately, even though that is the most prevalent kind of doujinshi out there. I prefer cute or gag doujinshi, in case anyone reading this cares, and yaoi tends to not fall in that realm, har har. My next project is trying to translate some of this, but without furigana, I am as helpless as a babe.

If I ever get the funds to do so, I would love to grab the figurines, the artbook or ultimania book, and any of the original merchandise from the first release. Hardcore, yes!!!

Mustadio hates me!

Over spring break, I managed to get into chapter 2, where Ramza is now 17/18 years old and working as a mercenary under Gaffgarion. Man, that extra F in his name is extra gay!

I love the CG cutscene with Delita and Ovelia by Zeirchele Falls, that was gorgeous. Delita is kind of a douche, with his vague and dark comments about everything, but I guess that's how he gets things done, by not letting other people in on his plans. Ramza still looks like a lost little puppy, d'awwww...

Oh man, getting Mustadio is always challenging for some reason. Sometimes Mustadio cooperates and sometimes he doesn't. Because Ramza is an Aries and he is a Libra, we have the absolute worst compatibility ever, hah hah. I'm not too hot with Agrias either, her AI is quite uncooperative and she often hits allies with the sword spells.

My other favorite scene happens soon after this, when Ovelia is confiding in Agrias and Ramza overhears them. Then Mustadio, that rascal, hollers at Ramza and he tries to shush Mustadio up. So cute! It was never clear if Alma taught Ovelia the leaf whistle thing, but Ramza's earnest effort to show her how to whistle properly was made of adorable-ness.

Again with the Delita being vague towards Ramza, his bestest friend! But I like the dialogue of the Warjilis dock CG cut scene, very moving. It makes me wonder if Delita guessed the truth behind the Zodiac Brave stones or if he knew but just didn't care, as long as he could use it for his advantage. Ramza's lack of eloquence never fails to amaze me. Such the innocent!

Chapter 1: The Meager

Finished chapter 1 last night. That battle with Argath was grueling, I still don't understand the utter and shameful weakness of my buffed up characters. But trying to steal items always makes an easy battle much more difficult.

The CG movie afterwards was lovely but rather anticlimactic. I seemed to recall the original explosion at Fort Zeakden having much more impact. But that may have just been a first impression and possibly a sound quality issue on the handheld console.

The dialogue throughout the battle was pretty damn heartbreaking. Argath's reasoning and constant barrage against Ramza and Delita sounded just as cold and callous as it did the first time I played the battle, especially when you consider he is only 16 or 17 years old and not even a knight. But then, he did have a shameful past to compensate for. And alas, Delita's anger with Ramza, TEARS.

Homage to Mileuda Folles, it was especially sad having to kill her.

Milleuda Folles

I like the translation of the two Milleuda battles, the exchange between Delita, Milleuda and Ramza flows a little better now. Do you think Milleuda and Wiegraf are low-born knights or high-born? They do talk so very posh, it seems out of place with their supposedly low-born background. Not that I'm expecting some Shakespearean-fool accents, but clearly some of the truly low-born characters have been speaking in a very rough dialect with contractions and rude epithets whatnot. I am inclined to think that the Folles siblings were middle class knights now thrust into poverty, clinging to some past dignity.

I don't know about you, but even at 5 levels past the enemies, my thieves and monks keep getting slaughtered. I only managed to steal a couple of things from Milleuda, it was that devastating. I also realized that a couple of my characters, the mages, had really crappy brave/faith stats (after I leveled them to 11) so I had to dismiss one male (I always hate that) and put the female down the crazy job class path. Cursed brave/faith and zodiac compatabilities! At least there aren't judges and laws, sheez.

Well, this isn't my perfect game, the only purpose was to go through the storyline and see all the new cutscenes, goodies and classes. That's what I keep telling myself, anyways...

Leaf Whistle

Those silly leaf whistles will always bring tears to my eyes!

The voice acting of both Delita and Ramza kinda crack me up, since they're trying to pitch their voices so high, but I very much approved of this CG scene. The animation is so eerie and beautiful, with cross-hatching and an antique color scheme. I think one starts noticing Delita's desperate search for the meaning behind the past events, frustrated with the class struggles, while Ramza only sees that his best friend is hurt and confused. I love you Ramza, but you are quite the innocent.

Brigand's Den

Ramza is at level 8 right now and I am about to fight the Brigand's Den battle with Mileuda. Unfortunately, my thief hasn't gotten the "steal" abilities yet, so I think I will level up some more even though the items I want to gank may be available after the battle.

I noticed the introduction has changed from a slideshow of the zodiac stones to a somewhat eerie animation of black and white unfurling vines. I have no idea what the significance of this change is, possibly something to do with the other Ivalice games that I have yet to play or maybe part of the Ivalice Alliance theme.

The change of the ability names has been a little confusing. Not that the original translation was perfect, but I have already gotten a few skills mixed up with each other because the names are now more ambiguous, hah hah. Oops.

Anyways, the link of the day is of course, my own FFT fanlisting! Over 1200 members! Please join!
http://www.insomniel.com/tactics