I don't remember specifically, but I do remember getting some super sweet ultimate weapons and abilities that made the boss fight really easy. Getting the weapons took forever though...

I dunno. I'm stuck on Yunalesca. I need to do a lot of levelling up to get the Holy ability (yeah, I don't have it yet) before I fight her again. But I haven't played in a while, partly because of time issues and partly because of other games.

I had a hell of a time too, until I jumped back and got all the freaky-powerful summons. Unleash one or two of the really big ones and it's a piece of cake.

Seriously: go back and do the side quests. It's totally worth it.

Do you have any summoned creatures more powerful than Bahamut? If so, just summon them in and out to beat the pulp out of him, using Tidus to take away his rage, and it's laughably easy.

And fuck the towers. Just hit him with summoned creatures area attacks, and that will be enough.

I have all the summons, including Yojimbo, Animua, the Magus Sisters, etc. I tried using the Magus Sisters against his second form, but they got creamed, and Tidus can't calm Jecht down in the second form.

I have a few of the Ultimate Weapons, but not all of them. Maybe that's what I'm missing. I dunno.

I don't have Doublecast or Ultima yet. Not sure which characters are supposed to pick up those abilities, or where I get enough Lvl 4 Key Spheres to even get to Ultima.

Like all Final Fantasy games the key to victory is to level up (or in the case of X, progress on the Sphere Grid).

I had the Celestial Weapons for some of the characters but not all. Thing is, I had them so pumped up that each standard attack would do over 20,000 HP in damage. Sin and everything beyond is patheticly easy when in command of that kind of damage potential.

I ended up having some 80 hours on the clock before I finished and a lot of that was spent getting Celestial Weapons and then just running around seeking random encounters.

Good places for powering up are the Zanarakand Dome, when that gets too easy head for the Ultima Cave (I forget the name at the moment), but don't tread in here without being good and powerful and having some Celestial Weapons because some of monsters are easily capable of ending your game. You *will* curse the name of King Marlboro at least once as he cheap shots you into a game over , causing you to lose a lot of progress...

Once this place is easy, head for Sin, creatures there shouldn't pose a threat and you should just cruise on through.

Celestials are great since they provide 2x or 3x experience and make leveling up so much quicker. You really only need a few ridiculously powerful characters to win.

IMO, the reason why Dave is playing so many Gamecube games is beause Apple has done a deal with Nntendo to port their games to the Mac. They tried to do a deal with Sony, but according to the Sony Chairman that fell through, so it is logical for Jobs to have courted Nintendo next. Just my opinion but it seems to fit. Wouldn't that be exciting! Doesn't the Gamecube hardware use a variation of the PowerPC from IBM?

Uhm... Gamecube?

You do realize that FFX and Xenosaga are for PS2?

(sigh) Silly people.

For the last week, "Surfin' Safari" has been "Surfin' Spoilers." Personally I don't care, and FFX is old...but I could imagine some people waiting to play Xenosaga that were blinded by some of the last posts. :)

Dave... you know Jecht isn't the last boss right?

Of course the real last boss is a pushover.

Get that staff which makes spells only 1 sp for Yuna.

Use reflect very carefully, and Holy, I think it was called, does a load of damage.

Yes, I have Holy as well as the staff for Yuna. I'm at about 62 hours right now. I suspect if I just played it right, I could beat the last boss with my current characters, but maybe I'll go run around and level up a bit more.

Jack, you notice that Dave mentioned playing Splinter Cell on XBox?

Nintendo porting to Mac, that's rich. Has Nintendo EVER done a computer game?

Nintendo used to make kid's games for the PC. Not sure if they were ever released for the Mac. They were titles like "Mario Teaches Typing" and stuff like that.

As for Nintendo porting to the Mac, not likely. But Apple helping out in the next Nintendo console, could be a reality. Using such tech as Rendezvous, etc.

enoch

I had trouble beating Braska until I went back and got the summon "Anima", and equipped "Quick Trick" on Tidus and Auron. This makes all the difference.

Before heading into the battle with Braska, make sure all your summons have their meters charged to full.

The two spiral towers flanking Braska recharge his HP, so attack these towers to stop them (temporarily).

Using Tidus to "talk" to Braska will reduce his "ultimate attack" meter to zero. You'll want to use this command when you notice Braska's meter is almost full.

You'll want to equip anti-petrify status on your weapons if possible. Braska loves to petrify your characters.

"Regen" and "Shell" will help counter some of the physical damage your characters take from Braska.

Last but not least, earn and equip "quick trick" on Tidus and Auron. Then have another character cast "Haste" on both Tidus and Auron. The combination of quick trick and haste enables the two to get in LOTS AND LOTS of attacks on the turn meter before Auron even gets his turn. If Tidus and Auron both have powerful weapons equipped, they'll be able to chip away at Braska's HP in no time at all.

Braska has 3 forms. The first form should be easy if you use the tips above. When Braska pulls his sword, he's going into his second form. Summon Anima and blast Braska. If you can time it so that Braska uses his "ultimate attack" on the summon monster instead of your party, all the better. Keep casting haste/regen/shell as necessary and pound Braska with Tidus and Auron. Have Yuna keep healing and summoning.

Hope this helps.

"Before Auron gets his turn" should be "before Braska gets his turn." Sorry for the typo.

The trick for me was going back and powering up some more. Then going back and beating him.

Mario Teaches Typing was released for Mac. I remember it (not that I ever used it).

Man, all your comments about celestial weapons and über-summons makes me drool. How do you get the über-summons? The only side-quest I can think of is the capturing the monsters one, which I haven't done anything for.

Man, I /really/ should level up to get Holy, then beat Yunalesca.

Have you actually been getting by without charging up all your summons' overdrive meters for the final bosses? That's the only way I was able to get through the various boss fights, from Seymour onward. For the last boss, get every single character and summons to overdrive level and you should be able to handle him.

Good luck.

Well, I won, although if I'd known what a downer the final movie was going to be, I might not have bothered. Time to haul my victorious but utterly depressed ass off to bed.

Unless the idea is that Tidus actually was swimming up to the surface there at the end after the credits rolled, and the crowd you heard cheering was the one Yuna was talking to? I'm gonna go with that interpretation, so that everybody lives happily ever after.

hyatt the teenage girl

I don't think Nintendo programmed the typing program. They probably just licensed the Franchise. However, Nintendo did program games for non-Nintendo consoles. There was a Mario for the Atari VCS 2600 which I'm pretty sure Nintendo programmed.

The Zelda games for the Amiga CD 32 weren't from Nintendo, though.

You could go with the teenage girl interpretation but seeing as Final Fantasy X2 is coming soon™ and the mystery of Tidus is an integral part of the story line; I'd say your interpretation is wrong ;-)

Look at the bright side, a real Final Fantasy sequel! You know you want it.

I'm nervous about FFX-2. It looks very different from previous FF games. Hopefully it will still be good.

Oops, mabe it will be a Sony deal then, so much that I know. Splinter cell is one of my favorites though.

BTW, to the person stuck on Yunalesca... I beat her without even having access to Holy. I can't remember how I won, but I remember that she wasn't much trouble (whatever strategy I used worked). I'd have to go back and fight her again to remember what I did though.

Square has toyed with variations on some aspects of game play over the series but in the end it's the stories that are the stars and I haven't been disapointed by a Final Fantasy yet... although FF 8 was a bit weak, IMO. I especially hated the whole battle/power system, over world encounters were tediously long and often as bad as fighting dungeon bosses But I digress...

Based on the limited info I've read on FFX-2 it looks to be very FF X like (which is itself a departure from FFs of the past) with some additional player interaction. I recall FF 9 had some interaction on the map, having to press a button to climb a vine or such.

The costume system looks interesting, it appears to be a nice mix of aspects from previous Final Fantasy games.

In the end, I'm sure FFX-2 will be every bit as good as any other game in the series but may be the best ever just because it can draw upon an established background story and characters.

I really should pick up Xenosaga as it looks very sci-fi/anime and I love those two things...

Nintendo & Apple. Now that would be a interesting combo.

That might be a good way for Apple to keep with its digital hub stragity and Nintendo to actually do something technically interesting.

both use the PowerPC chip, and soon both will be getting them from IBM

Dave -

good to see you beat the game. just in time for FFX-2 later this year as well. when i beat it, a while ago, i was of such high level, and had most all my legondary weapons, the final boss was cake.

About beating Yu-Yevon, Zombie Attack and Life/Phoenix Down is all it takes. Yu-Yevon is not immune to status effects.The best way to combat Yunalesca is to have Armor with auto-med and have Holy Water and Remedies handy, Hastega and cast Regen on your main combatants and you should be fine.Braska's final aeon is a pain. For quick easy kills, use Anima, Bahamut and Magus Sisters overdrives. If you have the international version, this is even easier since you can Entrust other characters overdrive meters to Yuna so she can grand summon more frequently.Finally all bosses (even Dark Aeons)can be killed in one hit with Zanmato from Yojimbo. I'm 5 for 5 against the dark Aeons with this strategy and get Zanmato every time by Grand Summoning Yojimbo and paying him 100000 for each enemy on the screen.

about beating the end bosses in FFX... well EVERYONE is easy once you've got Yuna's and Auron's Celestial weapons. to make Yuna even more of a killer collect the needed lvl 4 key spheres(mostly collected near the end of the game) and teleport Yuna over to learn Ultima. have one of your other characters (probably Lulu) make it to doublecast and then use a Black Magic sphere to teach Yuna doublecast. Yuna's celestial weapon + Ultima + Doublecast = almost instant death for whoever you are fighting (including the Magus sisters if you have Yunas level high enough).
and even if she isnt enough, you only need to have Auron use Sentinel with his celestial weapon to protect your guys and kill off the bosses.

when i finally finished FFX a few days ago, Yuna was capable of doing 20,000+ HP damage per use of Ultima (which hits all enemies), while Auron would do at least 25,000+ damage per hit. This was after having Yuna complete her own path including most of Lulu's and with Auron completing his own path including most of Tidus'.

None of the final bosses had a chance to do 'overdrive' type attacks and with this combo, the dark aeons and Yu Yevon were a breeze.

FOR THOSE WHO DONT KNOW...
as for FFX2 here's some info about it from another site:

http://pub41.ezboard.com/ffujikoma45885frm3.showMessage?topicID=192.topic

and check out the trailer if you havent...
here

http://www.the-magicbox.com/game122702j.htm

or here

http://www.fragland.net/index.php?page=downloads&did=190

Umm to the guy who cant beat Yunalesca, I was stuck on her for a while so I went back to Gagazet and found that you can teleport back to the beginning of it onto the Calm Lands. I trained in the Calm lands until everyone had overdrives (including Aeons) then I went back to Zanarkand. Let Yunalesca do Hellbiter on some of your characters and before she can heal them switch them with other characters ( save the zombied people 4 her second form because her attack Megadeath doesnt kill Zombies )then have Tidus cast Haste on Yuna and she summoned everyone in this order: Ifrit, Shiva, Yojimbo, Valefor. Then Grand Summon Bahamut. Double Overdrive!!! Should be a easy from then on.

One word: DOUBLECAST -- works like a charm, esp. if you have ONE MP COST.

Would ANYONE be able to tell me where i can get more Lvl 4 key spheres? i've finished the storyline part of the game, followed the official walkthrough, and i'm still short of Lvl 4 Key Spheres! I don't even have Ultima, Full Life of Full Break yet. i'm gettin desperate here, are there any monsters i can bribe or mug? Any help would be great, thanks.

Yunalesca has very weak attacks, and uses primarily status ailments, "Zombie" being the worst, and most annoying.

She doesn't have any attacks that will wipe out your party completely, even if they're all on very low health. Just make sure that you have enough phoenix downs to keep resing everyone (Don't worry about wasting your time healing), and have Auron and Tidus slowly peck away at her. Yuna also has much higher magic prowress than Lulu, so if you use a Black-Magic sphere to give her fireaga, she can really rip Yunalesca a new one. If you have enough phoenix downs, you'll eventually win no matter what.

Oh yeah, about the Level four keyspheres. You need to find the "Omega Runes", and just fight things in there. Some of them drop Lvl 3. and Lvl 4. spheres.

Also, if you spend your time reloading your game about 500 times, and are incredibly patient. You can open up every single chest in the Omega Runes, and the last chest will contain 99 Warp Spheres.

There are several rooms, each containing 2 - 4 chests. What you need to do is time your opening very carefully. When you reach the room, you go to the first chest, and right as you reach it, you count the number of chests in the room; and then open it. Then you go to the next chest, count the number of remaining chests, and open it. Then on the very last chest, you open it EXACTLY as you reach it.

You can't save after succesfuly completing a room or the items in the chests will reset. You have to open up EVERY single chest, in EVERY room, without saving. This is an incredibly difficult, and unlikely event. It took me maybe 2 hours to perform.

You can reset the game by holding L1, L2, Start, Select. So, when you screw up and don't open the chest at the right time, just run away from the battle that happens afterwards, and reset.

I was able to grab all of the Lvl4 keysphere skills with all of my characters, and still have 84 warp spheres to spare.

Is there anyone who killed all the dark bosses?
I killed Ifrit, Ixion, Valefort and Shiva...but not the others: they are very hard!

Just a quick note. You don't need Holy to beat Yunalesca. Just have your Aeons and Yuna at Full Overdrive. Then, when you get to her last form use Grand Summon with Bahamut...

We are the master of