My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/FinalFantasy4TAY.html
Nicholas 'Sir VG' Hoppe's single-segment Yang and Lunarian runs
Thomas L. Mallory, Jr.'s new game + Crystals run
Verifier Responses
The single-segment runs
Crystals chapter run
Decision: Accept
Reason: A great set of additions to the already crowded After Years page.
Nicholas 'Sir VG' Hoppe's single-segment Yang and Lunarian runs
Thomas L. Mallory, Jr.'s new game + Crystals run
Verifier Responses
The single-segment runs
Quote:
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years verifieification
Yang's Tale:
-Since these videos are not for redistribution, I will suppress my urge to submit a bootleg to an adult video website
-Some nice, fast text skipping
-Slight pause on the Options screen when increasing Battle Speed
-1 fight on way to Hobs
-3 fights on way up Hobs
-Twice on fight with Mom Bomb waited too long to switch to Yang to attack
-May have been wise to not defend at all with Ursula and Monks, just switch to Yang when it comes to his turn; Monks only take 2 hits total before explosion; Defending does halt the combat for a moment while the command is executed (watch the characters' speed bars)
-2 fights on way down Hobs
-Excellent maneuvering on mountain
-5 fights on way into Crater
-Takes an extra step around jump down to 2nd screen of Crater; couple of hiccups in movement otherwise
-4 fights on way back up Hobs, nice maneuvering
-5 fights on way back down Hobs (ouch on that first screen), one small movement error
-3 fights on way to Fabul
-May have been faster to buy those 2 Hi-Potions on Hobs, but with risk of combat I understand
-No point to defending during Fabul fights
-Passable Metal Knuckle swap
-Bad luck with Cover Counter on Kain fight
-If Ursula had tapped Kain that one last time instead of using Chakra it may have beaten him a turn earlier (he only had 97 HP left - not sure if she can do that much?)
-Otherwise, good judicious use of Hi-Potions in Kain fight
-10 fights on way to Adamantoise
-Again, no point in having Monks defend in forest - they die at the end anyway
-I never realized how boring these cut-scenes are
-Kind of clunky band use but forgivable for this far into the run
-Too bad Five Star Stinkfist didn't work the first time
-Ursula wasted Chakra on herself during Adamantoise (died in one hit anyway)
-Spiffy use of Phoenix Down during Adamantoise fight; good timing
-A little flub at the end using the Phoenix Down
-2 fights on way out of forest is amazing luck - go to the slot machines
-Awesome movement in forest (only one error right at the end)
I clock this at 34:50. Getting to 33:59 is possible but not probable. The RNG was meanest to the runner on the way back down Mt. Hobs and on the way to Adamantoise. The mistakes that the runner could control would only likely bring the time down by 10-15 seconds or so (if that). With 36 seconds to make up, there would have to be a few less battles. There are two battles in the forest that take 20 seconds each due to the Monks' low speeds. However, I don't believe the 35 fights that are imposed upon the runner is an unreasonable number; the game could have been far crueler.
Overall this is an excellent run and should be added to the site. If anyone wants to try for 0:33, I think they can eventually get there... as long as they don't mind playing this thing hundreds of times. In a row. Nice job, VG.
Lunarian's Tale:
-I got bored during this run (not the runner's fault) so sorry but I spiced this one up a bit with boring humor
-Theodore? They should just call him Ted. Ted Golbez...
-When I started watching this I wanted a taco
-Why we have Golbez defend against Cecil is beyond me
-Very good item/spell manipulation, equipping, etc. Good times
-I ended up with a turkey sandwich and an Asian pear
-Whoever keeps turning out the lights on Golbez costs the runner an extra minute
-I love how they try to trick you into using the -aga spells with their elementally themed fixed fights. Bio is obviously the WTG (but Chimeras are damned hardy... good thing you got those Fire Arrows)
-1 fight on the way to the Crater
-The runner must be sick of this crater, being that it's identical to Yang's; only a couple of extremely minor errors
-6 fights on the way to MG
-I suppose the runner was waiting on Golbez's turn to manipulate the fight's RNG; either that or was trying to sync up the characters' spells to avoid having Asura cure between. My money's on the former
-When Fusoya has 58 MP left at the end of the MG fight, I wonder why the runner used the MP healing pad at the Crystal Palace
-2 fights on the way to Big Daddy's Lair, Moon abuse ensues
-4 fights on the way to Count von Malboro
-Count Camel Non-Filter #1: Too bad with Constrict. Fusoya almost ends up as a beard puddle in this fight
-1 fight on the way to next Malboro
-Count Virginia Slims #2: hooray for status effects immunizing characters against other status effects
-1 fight on the way to next Malboro
-The spell-checker doesn't like the world Malboro, but Marlboro... that's okay
-Count Misty Lights #3: See #1 and #2, except for the Constrict comment
-2 fights on the way back home, more Moon abuse
-Mysterious Girl fight music is awesome. Mysterious Girl non-fight music... not so much
-Die Bitch Die fight: Well done
-Fusoya leveled up - thank goodness, helped so much
-Just goes to show you that praying only breaks things
-MGs kill someone every floor you go down and there's always more - they're like Mafia hit-women
-Lamia/Coeurl/Mad Ogre are pissed off, they chase you and beat you down...twice
-Chimera Brain... from behind and then full frontal
-Fell Knights pistol whipped your behind
-14 fights on the way to Zeromus
-Why couldn't they do the awesome scrolling background during the Zeromus fight like they did in the SNES/Super Fam version?
-Why didn't they call it Meteo like in the SNES/Super Fam version? It sounds like a Chef Boyardee product to me
-"Give your power to Meteor!" "Very well." Very Well? WTF kind of response is that? They should have had him say "Only if you give me a sandwich and a soda."
-Awesome luck - nice job giving Zeromus the hemorrhoid flare-up
-The longest most boringest end segment ever - the most yawn-inducing flashbacks behind the facade of control that we all know and love
I clock this at 39:43. Someone COULD beat it (those random encounters near the end cost on average 25 secs apiece), but hey... 2 Meteo spells? That's worth putting this run up in and of itself. 30 fights is pretty good for the RNG. Kudos to VG, yet another notch in his belt.
Yang's Tale:
-Since these videos are not for redistribution, I will suppress my urge to submit a bootleg to an adult video website
-Some nice, fast text skipping
-Slight pause on the Options screen when increasing Battle Speed
-1 fight on way to Hobs
-3 fights on way up Hobs
-Twice on fight with Mom Bomb waited too long to switch to Yang to attack
-May have been wise to not defend at all with Ursula and Monks, just switch to Yang when it comes to his turn; Monks only take 2 hits total before explosion; Defending does halt the combat for a moment while the command is executed (watch the characters' speed bars)
-2 fights on way down Hobs
-Excellent maneuvering on mountain
-5 fights on way into Crater
-Takes an extra step around jump down to 2nd screen of Crater; couple of hiccups in movement otherwise
-4 fights on way back up Hobs, nice maneuvering
-5 fights on way back down Hobs (ouch on that first screen), one small movement error
-3 fights on way to Fabul
-May have been faster to buy those 2 Hi-Potions on Hobs, but with risk of combat I understand
-No point to defending during Fabul fights
-Passable Metal Knuckle swap
-Bad luck with Cover Counter on Kain fight
-If Ursula had tapped Kain that one last time instead of using Chakra it may have beaten him a turn earlier (he only had 97 HP left - not sure if she can do that much?)
-Otherwise, good judicious use of Hi-Potions in Kain fight
-10 fights on way to Adamantoise
-Again, no point in having Monks defend in forest - they die at the end anyway
-I never realized how boring these cut-scenes are
-Kind of clunky band use but forgivable for this far into the run
-Too bad Five Star Stinkfist didn't work the first time
-Ursula wasted Chakra on herself during Adamantoise (died in one hit anyway)
-Spiffy use of Phoenix Down during Adamantoise fight; good timing
-A little flub at the end using the Phoenix Down
-2 fights on way out of forest is amazing luck - go to the slot machines
-Awesome movement in forest (only one error right at the end)
I clock this at 34:50. Getting to 33:59 is possible but not probable. The RNG was meanest to the runner on the way back down Mt. Hobs and on the way to Adamantoise. The mistakes that the runner could control would only likely bring the time down by 10-15 seconds or so (if that). With 36 seconds to make up, there would have to be a few less battles. There are two battles in the forest that take 20 seconds each due to the Monks' low speeds. However, I don't believe the 35 fights that are imposed upon the runner is an unreasonable number; the game could have been far crueler.
Overall this is an excellent run and should be added to the site. If anyone wants to try for 0:33, I think they can eventually get there... as long as they don't mind playing this thing hundreds of times. In a row. Nice job, VG.
Lunarian's Tale:
-I got bored during this run (not the runner's fault) so sorry but I spiced this one up a bit with boring humor
-Theodore? They should just call him Ted. Ted Golbez...
-When I started watching this I wanted a taco
-Why we have Golbez defend against Cecil is beyond me
-Very good item/spell manipulation, equipping, etc. Good times
-I ended up with a turkey sandwich and an Asian pear
-Whoever keeps turning out the lights on Golbez costs the runner an extra minute
-I love how they try to trick you into using the -aga spells with their elementally themed fixed fights. Bio is obviously the WTG (but Chimeras are damned hardy... good thing you got those Fire Arrows)
-1 fight on the way to the Crater
-The runner must be sick of this crater, being that it's identical to Yang's; only a couple of extremely minor errors
-6 fights on the way to MG
-I suppose the runner was waiting on Golbez's turn to manipulate the fight's RNG; either that or was trying to sync up the characters' spells to avoid having Asura cure between. My money's on the former
-When Fusoya has 58 MP left at the end of the MG fight, I wonder why the runner used the MP healing pad at the Crystal Palace
-2 fights on the way to Big Daddy's Lair, Moon abuse ensues
-4 fights on the way to Count von Malboro
-Count Camel Non-Filter #1: Too bad with Constrict. Fusoya almost ends up as a beard puddle in this fight
-1 fight on the way to next Malboro
-Count Virginia Slims #2: hooray for status effects immunizing characters against other status effects
-1 fight on the way to next Malboro
-The spell-checker doesn't like the world Malboro, but Marlboro... that's okay
-Count Misty Lights #3: See #1 and #2, except for the Constrict comment
-2 fights on the way back home, more Moon abuse
-Mysterious Girl fight music is awesome. Mysterious Girl non-fight music... not so much
-Die Bitch Die fight: Well done
-Fusoya leveled up - thank goodness, helped so much
-Just goes to show you that praying only breaks things
-MGs kill someone every floor you go down and there's always more - they're like Mafia hit-women
-Lamia/Coeurl/Mad Ogre are pissed off, they chase you and beat you down...twice
-Chimera Brain... from behind and then full frontal
-Fell Knights pistol whipped your behind
-14 fights on the way to Zeromus
-Why couldn't they do the awesome scrolling background during the Zeromus fight like they did in the SNES/Super Fam version?
-Why didn't they call it Meteo like in the SNES/Super Fam version? It sounds like a Chef Boyardee product to me
-"Give your power to Meteor!" "Very well." Very Well? WTF kind of response is that? They should have had him say "Only if you give me a sandwich and a soda."
-Awesome luck - nice job giving Zeromus the hemorrhoid flare-up
-The longest most boringest end segment ever - the most yawn-inducing flashbacks behind the facade of control that we all know and love
I clock this at 39:43. Someone COULD beat it (those random encounters near the end cost on average 25 secs apiece), but hey... 2 Meteo spells? That's worth putting this run up in and of itself. 30 fights is pretty good for the RNG. Kudos to VG, yet another notch in his belt.
Quote:
Well, really what can I say? Both these chapters have been studied extensively, and every move the runner took was well thought out. Throw in excellent execution, and careful on-the-fly math in the Lunarians' chapter (using only a fast Bio when that's all that is necessary for example), and I am truly impressed by both these runs. Despite the way the final products look these are not easy chapters to run single-segment!
These runs both owe heavily to both this runner's work and also discoveries made by this game's amazing segmented runner.
I see no evidence of cheating, and the audiovisual quality is very good throughout, with none of that bobbing I have seen in videos of this game. I don't know why, but VLC Player has trouble playing the latter portions of the Yang video, from 22 minutes onward. The video (not the audio) freezes a few times. On SMPlayer the whole video plays smoothly.
Luneys' Tale:
I wasn't sure why the runner grabbed a White Fang near the beginning, but he made good use of it early on.
I am honestly in awe of how well the runner handled that first Count Malboro fight with the bad luck. Just beating all three Count Malboros in one visit in a SS is a feat in itself.
I hadn't seen or played the Lunarians' tale for quite a while before watching this, and early in Bahamut's cave I was thinking "that Dry Ether had better really be worth it" (since the runner went way out of the way and faced extra random encounters to get it) but it was worth it.
I do not understand why the runner healed his characters' poison after the second Count Malboro (requiring an extra visit to the menu). But that's five seconds lost at most, and it very well may have meant a better third Count Malboro fight due to this game's quirky RNG. If it was a mistake it was the biggest mistake of the whole SS (that's impressive in itself).
The runner didn't quite keep menu visits to a minimum at the end of (and just after) Cave Bahamut. There were two menu visits while still in the dungeon after the last Count Malboro when he could have healed his characters' HP, but instead he made a third menu visit to do so just after leaving. However, this runner's execution is so squeaky clean in general (fast menu execution, few walking errors, extremely quick recovery from the walking errors there are) that I will happily let this slide.
That was quite an aggressive Zeromus battle 0_0 (and it went very well).
Yang's Tale:
Ideally a bigger chunk of Mom Bomb's exp. would go to Yang and Ursula by having at least one monk dead at the end of the fight (wait ... that is unless level-ups for Monks A and B make running away a bit easier?).
The next lengthy portion of this run seemed extremely uneventful, which is definitely a good thing (unless the runner should have leveled up a bit more; I don't know).
Good use of Super-monk C's Metal Knuckles even before handing them to Yang! Monk C wiped the floor with many enemies during the siege.
Ursula's Chakra on herself versus the turtle must have been meant to be the first of two Chakras on herself, probably meaning she could take another hit. Adamantoise got in another hit against her and took her out before this could happen though. The fight ended with only one character left alive (Yang) and no Hi-Potions remaining.
After the tortoise I'm not sure what the runner had in mind when he used a Phoenix Down on Ursula. Maybe she was supposed to Chakra herself, or maybe the runner thought he had a Hi-Potion ... or maybe having Ursula alive makes running away easier the rest of the way ... but five seconds lost right at the end of a SS is not that horrible.
These runs both owe heavily to both this runner's work and also discoveries made by this game's amazing segmented runner.
I see no evidence of cheating, and the audiovisual quality is very good throughout, with none of that bobbing I have seen in videos of this game. I don't know why, but VLC Player has trouble playing the latter portions of the Yang video, from 22 minutes onward. The video (not the audio) freezes a few times. On SMPlayer the whole video plays smoothly.
Luneys' Tale:
I wasn't sure why the runner grabbed a White Fang near the beginning, but he made good use of it early on.
I am honestly in awe of how well the runner handled that first Count Malboro fight with the bad luck. Just beating all three Count Malboros in one visit in a SS is a feat in itself.
I hadn't seen or played the Lunarians' tale for quite a while before watching this, and early in Bahamut's cave I was thinking "that Dry Ether had better really be worth it" (since the runner went way out of the way and faced extra random encounters to get it) but it was worth it.
I do not understand why the runner healed his characters' poison after the second Count Malboro (requiring an extra visit to the menu). But that's five seconds lost at most, and it very well may have meant a better third Count Malboro fight due to this game's quirky RNG. If it was a mistake it was the biggest mistake of the whole SS (that's impressive in itself).
The runner didn't quite keep menu visits to a minimum at the end of (and just after) Cave Bahamut. There were two menu visits while still in the dungeon after the last Count Malboro when he could have healed his characters' HP, but instead he made a third menu visit to do so just after leaving. However, this runner's execution is so squeaky clean in general (fast menu execution, few walking errors, extremely quick recovery from the walking errors there are) that I will happily let this slide.
That was quite an aggressive Zeromus battle 0_0 (and it went very well).
Yang's Tale:
Ideally a bigger chunk of Mom Bomb's exp. would go to Yang and Ursula by having at least one monk dead at the end of the fight (wait ... that is unless level-ups for Monks A and B make running away a bit easier?).
The next lengthy portion of this run seemed extremely uneventful, which is definitely a good thing (unless the runner should have leveled up a bit more; I don't know).
Good use of Super-monk C's Metal Knuckles even before handing them to Yang! Monk C wiped the floor with many enemies during the siege.
Ursula's Chakra on herself versus the turtle must have been meant to be the first of two Chakras on herself, probably meaning she could take another hit. Adamantoise got in another hit against her and took her out before this could happen though. The fight ended with only one character left alive (Yang) and no Hi-Potions remaining.
After the tortoise I'm not sure what the runner had in mind when he used a Phoenix Down on Ursula. Maybe she was supposed to Chakra herself, or maybe the runner thought he had a Hi-Potion ... or maybe having Ursula alive makes running away easier the rest of the way ... but five seconds lost right at the end of a SS is not that horrible.
Crystals chapter run
Quote:
Video: Great
Audio: Great
Dedication in order to get people's HP to 9999, 99 of several items: SUPER SUPREME!
The Crystals is by far the hardest chapter, even on NG+, since it's pretty much one giant boss rush of the first 6 FFs. Ok, maybe not all of the bosses are there, but still.
About the only thing I can think of that could have been skipped is the one rest scene that gives another band with Ursula that didn't appear to be used.
Still, everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at these bosses. Though knowing which bosses self destruct (like the King/Queen of Elban) is critical to know too.
Discounting a few minor mistakes, this run was very well done. Supreme knowledge was shown, not just of this chapter, but you have to know ALL the chapters, since there's a lot of data to import from all of the other chapters.
Accepted.
Audio: Great
Dedication in order to get people's HP to 9999, 99 of several items: SUPER SUPREME!
The Crystals is by far the hardest chapter, even on NG+, since it's pretty much one giant boss rush of the first 6 FFs. Ok, maybe not all of the bosses are there, but still.
About the only thing I can think of that could have been skipped is the one rest scene that gives another band with Ursula that didn't appear to be used.
Still, everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at these bosses. Though knowing which bosses self destruct (like the King/Queen of Elban) is critical to know too.
Discounting a few minor mistakes, this run was very well done. Supreme knowledge was shown, not just of this chapter, but you have to know ALL the chapters, since there's a lot of data to import from all of the other chapters.
Accepted.
Quote:
Let's wrap this up before I get too deep into things that I forget about this.
There were only 2 seconds of mistakes up to the final two battles. This is incredible. However, the runner does run out of Bomb Cores and he does have some difficulty with the Creator. However, considering everything, I still think the first part of this run is timeless. In the future, if the runner works on this and has enough of Bomb Cores to work the Creator, yes this could be better. But I say "let this one stand until it's beaten." With only two seconds of mistakes for the first part of the run, that's pretty hard to argue this for a rejection.
Providing there was no cheating with a Crush missing and he obtained his items fairly going in, I'm going to accept this run. If someone can do this one better then let them try. Until then, the runner's run stands.
There were only 2 seconds of mistakes up to the final two battles. This is incredible. However, the runner does run out of Bomb Cores and he does have some difficulty with the Creator. However, considering everything, I still think the first part of this run is timeless. In the future, if the runner works on this and has enough of Bomb Cores to work the Creator, yes this could be better. But I say "let this one stand until it's beaten." With only two seconds of mistakes for the first part of the run, that's pretty hard to argue this for a rejection.
Providing there was no cheating with a Crush missing and he obtained his items fairly going in, I'm going to accept this run. If someone can do this one better then let them try. Until then, the runner's run stands.
Decision: Accept
Reason: A great set of additions to the already crowded After Years page.
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