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Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/FinalFantasyAnniversary.html
Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition (Any %) (Single Segment)
Verifier Responses
Decision: Accept
Reason: This is an improvement to an already accepted, not yet posted, run by the same runner
Congratulations to Lenophis!
Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition (Any %) (Single Segment)
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Comments:
First of all, unless someone comes to me with empirical evidence of what constitutes a "high" random encounter rate, I don't buy these arguments about encounter rates at all. When you see 3 encounters within 10 steps, sure, it's very easy to say "oh, the random encounter rate was high", but just because it FEELS high, doesn't mean it was high. For all the areas with poor encounter rates, I could easily point at many others that were really good.
For my money, I didn't think the random encounter rate was high, nor do I think it was low either. It felt about average. That said, there were a few really terrible ambushes and encounters in general that made it look pretty ugly. But you know what? You're going to see at least 1-2 of these in every run, because that's what this game is. It would take ABSURDLY good luck to never run into a bullshit encounter, ambush or otherwise, during a speedrun of this game, barring manipulating the RNG.
Anyways..
Time lost due to RNG
What I count:
- enemy ambush attacks
- failed run attempts (I counted 1 second per failed character run, but you could easily justify saying 2 seconds per failed character run, and up to 9-10 total for a full party failing to run)
- non-optimal luck on bosses
- having to heal status after random encounter
What I do not count:
- random encounters in general
- "bad" random encounters (cannot escape from or just bad luck in enemies attacking before you get a chance to run, the reason is because the game seems to aritrarily decide who goes first)
I'm using quotes to break up sections arbitrarily.
Total time lost to RNG: 00:05:14 (probably add about 40 seconds to that due to failed running, I was a little lax in counting that time lost)
Total time lost on puzzle game: somewhere between 00:00:24 to 00:00:37
Total time lost due to runner error: 00:00:13 + some amount of time due to menu sloppiness and movement errors (maybe another 00:00:20 or so)
Total time lost: Somewhere between 00:06:51 and 00:07:04
If you really want to get nitpicky, you can probably add another 2-3 minutes to that from enemies attacking due to failed run attempts as well.
The good: Ridiculously good luck on bosses overall. Marsh Cave and Mt. Gulg were ridiculously good (Marsh Cave can be particularly trolly). Never had to use Golden Needles.
The bad: Menu work was a bit sloppy overall. Quite a few unfortunate encounters where the runner had to heal poison after the fight. A few very unfortunate ambushes against a lot of enemies, two of which almost ended the run.
The ugly: The puzzle went horribly. The Ice Cave went about as bad as it could've gone without ending up in a reset.
Overall verdict: Easy accept. That boss luck is going to be extremely hard to replicate, especially against Chaos. The vast majority of mistakes were due to RNG. On the other hand, a LOT of things went well, especially Marsh Cave.
First of all, unless someone comes to me with empirical evidence of what constitutes a "high" random encounter rate, I don't buy these arguments about encounter rates at all. When you see 3 encounters within 10 steps, sure, it's very easy to say "oh, the random encounter rate was high", but just because it FEELS high, doesn't mean it was high. For all the areas with poor encounter rates, I could easily point at many others that were really good.
For my money, I didn't think the random encounter rate was high, nor do I think it was low either. It felt about average. That said, there were a few really terrible ambushes and encounters in general that made it look pretty ugly. But you know what? You're going to see at least 1-2 of these in every run, because that's what this game is. It would take ABSURDLY good luck to never run into a bullshit encounter, ambush or otherwise, during a speedrun of this game, barring manipulating the RNG.
Anyways..
Time lost due to RNG
What I count:
- enemy ambush attacks
- failed run attempts (I counted 1 second per failed character run, but you could easily justify saying 2 seconds per failed character run, and up to 9-10 total for a full party failing to run)
- non-optimal luck on bosses
- having to heal status after random encounter
What I do not count:
- random encounters in general
- "bad" random encounters (cannot escape from or just bad luck in enemies attacking before you get a chance to run, the reason is because the game seems to aritrarily decide who goes first)
I'm using quotes to break up sections arbitrarily.
Quote:
Cornelia~Pravoka
Comments: Hit the gate when trying to enter Cornelia.. haha. Very slight hesitation just after passing bridge to Pravoka region.
Time lost due to RNG: 8~ seconds
Bosses:
Garland: 3HKO, Garland does not attack
Pirates: 1 pirate attacks, costing about 2 seconds
Comments: Hit the gate when trying to enter Cornelia.. haha. Very slight hesitation just after passing bridge to Pravoka region.
Time lost due to RNG: 8~ seconds
Bosses:
Garland: 3HKO, Garland does not attack
Pirates: 1 pirate attacks, costing about 2 seconds
Quote:
Pravoka~Mystic Key
Comments: Puzzle game + Sahagin fights were train wrecks. Marsh Cave was AMAZING.
Time lost due to RNG: 59~ seconds
Bosses:
Piscodemons: The fact that there were 4 instead of 2 is kinda crappy, but that doesn't cost a substantial amount of time at all (probably about 5 seconds). Only 2 attacked, so it's not a big deal.
Astos: 4HKO'd, attacks once (about 2 seconds lost). Ideal is that he doesn't attack at all, so this isn't too bad.
Puzzle game: Time was 00:42:95 This is horrible, both from RNG and from runner mistakes. I don't feel overly qualified to comment on this since I don't know what constitutes a really good time, but I've seen an 00:18:96 here: and supposedly some guy had done it in under 6 seconds (on real game, not FF1). So, it can be said that AT LEAST 00:24:99 was lost here, and it could be up to 37 seconds if the under 6 seconds is true.
Comments: Puzzle game + Sahagin fights were train wrecks. Marsh Cave was AMAZING.
Time lost due to RNG: 59~ seconds
Bosses:
Piscodemons: The fact that there were 4 instead of 2 is kinda crappy, but that doesn't cost a substantial amount of time at all (probably about 5 seconds). Only 2 attacked, so it's not a big deal.
Astos: 4HKO'd, attacks once (about 2 seconds lost). Ideal is that he doesn't attack at all, so this isn't too bad.
Puzzle game: Time was 00:42:95 This is horrible, both from RNG and from runner mistakes. I don't feel overly qualified to comment on this since I don't know what constitutes a really good time, but I've seen an 00:18:96 here: and supposedly some guy had done it in under 6 seconds (on real game, not FF1). So, it can be said that AT LEAST 00:24:99 was lost here, and it could be up to 37 seconds if the under 6 seconds is true.
Quote:
Mystic Key~Earth Cave crystal
Comments: Interestingly enough, the Earth Cave is the first real opportunity for this run to end due to really bad RNG. A 5 Cockatrice ambush could end up in the entire party getting petrified. The Gold Needles bought earlier were to compensate for any party members getting petrified. This didn't happen at all, which is very good luck. Couple Warg fights went pretty bad.
Time lost due to RNG: 45~ seconds
Bosses:
Vampire: OHKO'd. Perfect.
Lich: 3HKO'd. Lich did not attack. Pretty much perfect.
Comments: Interestingly enough, the Earth Cave is the first real opportunity for this run to end due to really bad RNG. A 5 Cockatrice ambush could end up in the entire party getting petrified. The Gold Needles bought earlier were to compensate for any party members getting petrified. This didn't happen at all, which is very good luck. Couple Warg fights went pretty bad.
Time lost due to RNG: 45~ seconds
Bosses:
Vampire: OHKO'd. Perfect.
Lich: 3HKO'd. Lich did not attack. Pretty much perfect.
Quote:
Earth Cave crystal~Airship
Comments: Ice Cave is probably a speed runner's worst nightmare for this game. There are many ways for a run to end here, with the first two Specter battles demonstrating one of them (costing about 80 seconds total). Otherwise, you can get ambushed by Mindflayers, who can kill your characters with physical attacks (instant death), quadruple Dark Wizard ambush, followed by quadruple Firaga, 6 Cockatrice ambush as from the Earth Cave, and I'm sure I'm missing some others. The Ice Cave was kinda bad overall, but it certainly could've gone substantially worse. I'm not counting the Evil Eye grinding against the encounter tally because it is a forced battle, and the runner is fighting them deliberately, but there was a close call against a Mindflayer during that time. The battle after falling down from the Levistone part is a forced encounter, but that it ended up in an ambush is very bad luck. The Ice Cave is easily the worst part of the run.. and it usually is, in general.
Time lost due to RNG: 141~ seconds
Comments: Ice Cave is probably a speed runner's worst nightmare for this game. There are many ways for a run to end here, with the first two Specter battles demonstrating one of them (costing about 80 seconds total). Otherwise, you can get ambushed by Mindflayers, who can kill your characters with physical attacks (instant death), quadruple Dark Wizard ambush, followed by quadruple Firaga, 6 Cockatrice ambush as from the Earth Cave, and I'm sure I'm missing some others. The Ice Cave was kinda bad overall, but it certainly could've gone substantially worse. I'm not counting the Evil Eye grinding against the encounter tally because it is a forced battle, and the runner is fighting them deliberately, but there was a close call against a Mindflayer during that time. The battle after falling down from the Levistone part is a forced encounter, but that it ended up in an ambush is very bad luck. The Ice Cave is easily the worst part of the run.. and it usually is, in general.
Time lost due to RNG: 141~ seconds
Quote:
Airship~Sunken Temple crystal
Comments: OK, the Waterfall. I totally understand the runner's idea of attempting to run from the Nightmares, and since he successfully ran from 3 of them on the first attempt in this run, it didn't work out too badly. However, I believe it is better to just kill them outright. Failing to run from the Nightmares costs about 5 seconds, successfully running saves about 3 seconds. Overall, the runner lost about 9 seconds total due to failing to run from Nightmares, which sucks, but isn't too bad.
Time lost due to RNG: 38~ seconds
Time lost due to brain fart: About 13 seconds, as has been stated
Bosses:
Kraken: 2HKO. Kraken does not attack. Perfect.
Comments: OK, the Waterfall. I totally understand the runner's idea of attempting to run from the Nightmares, and since he successfully ran from 3 of them on the first attempt in this run, it didn't work out too badly. However, I believe it is better to just kill them outright. Failing to run from the Nightmares costs about 5 seconds, successfully running saves about 3 seconds. Overall, the runner lost about 9 seconds total due to failing to run from Nightmares, which sucks, but isn't too bad.
Time lost due to RNG: 38~ seconds
Time lost due to brain fart: About 13 seconds, as has been stated
Bosses:
Kraken: 2HKO. Kraken does not attack. Perfect.
Quote:
Sunken Temple crystal~Flying Fortress crystal
Comments:
Time lost due to RNG: 14~ seconds
Bosses:
Tiamat: 4HKO. Tiamat did not attack. Probably could have 3HKO'd with 3 crits and/or better damage rolls, but not 100% sure.
Comments:
Time lost due to RNG: 14~ seconds
Bosses:
Tiamat: 4HKO. Tiamat did not attack. Probably could have 3HKO'd with 3 crits and/or better damage rolls, but not 100% sure.
Quote:
Flying Fortress crystal~Mt. Gulg crystal
Comments: Mt. Gulg went ridiculously well.
Time lost due to RNG: ~2 seconds
Bosses:
Marilith: OHKO. Did not attack. Perfect.
Comments: Mt. Gulg went ridiculously well.
Time lost due to RNG: ~2 seconds
Bosses:
Marilith: OHKO. Did not attack. Perfect.
Quote:
Mt. Gulg crystal~Chaos dead
Comments: .
Time lost due to RNG: ~7 seconds
Bosses:
Lich: 4HKO. Lich did a physical attack. Good.
Marilith: 5HKO. Marilith did a physical attack. Good.
Kraken: 4HKO. Did a physical attack. Good.
Tiamat: 6HKO. Used Thunderbolt (about 4 seconds lost). Acceptable.
Chaos: Ridiculously good luck. 4 physical attacks, 1 Blaze, nobody died.
Comments: .
Time lost due to RNG: ~7 seconds
Bosses:
Lich: 4HKO. Lich did a physical attack. Good.
Marilith: 5HKO. Marilith did a physical attack. Good.
Kraken: 4HKO. Did a physical attack. Good.
Tiamat: 6HKO. Used Thunderbolt (about 4 seconds lost). Acceptable.
Chaos: Ridiculously good luck. 4 physical attacks, 1 Blaze, nobody died.
Total time lost to RNG: 00:05:14 (probably add about 40 seconds to that due to failed running, I was a little lax in counting that time lost)
Total time lost on puzzle game: somewhere between 00:00:24 to 00:00:37
Total time lost due to runner error: 00:00:13 + some amount of time due to menu sloppiness and movement errors (maybe another 00:00:20 or so)
Total time lost: Somewhere between 00:06:51 and 00:07:04
If you really want to get nitpicky, you can probably add another 2-3 minutes to that from enemies attacking due to failed run attempts as well.
The good: Ridiculously good luck on bosses overall. Marsh Cave and Mt. Gulg were ridiculously good (Marsh Cave can be particularly trolly). Never had to use Golden Needles.
The bad: Menu work was a bit sloppy overall. Quite a few unfortunate encounters where the runner had to heal poison after the fight. A few very unfortunate ambushes against a lot of enemies, two of which almost ended the run.
The ugly: The puzzle went horribly. The Ice Cave went about as bad as it could've gone without ending up in a reset.
Overall verdict: Easy accept. That boss luck is going to be extremely hard to replicate, especially against Chaos. The vast majority of mistakes were due to RNG. On the other hand, a LOT of things went well, especially Marsh Cave.
Quote from Sir VG:
You might as well slap my name openly, since I'm basically gonna repeat what I said openly in the rejected verification. Normally I like to be funny (or at least fun) with my verification posts, but I don't feel like it.
This run is VERY well done. Are there lots of random encounters? Yes, but this is an old school FF game. It's gonna happen.
Are there small mistakes here and there? Yes, but we're human. Mistakes will happen.
Are there any major mistakes? No.
Is there any cheating? No.
Are there any video issues? No.
Yes, the Nightmare issue in the Waterfall was dumb, but to me it was still minor, probably costing what...a minute? Two? A bit could be avoided by having an emergency exit there (possibly holding it until then instead of using it at Earth Shrine, which while longer has much easier to escape encounters?). I know the one was gotten from doing the puzzle mini-game, but is there another for doing it? I see something in the bestiary about Purple Worms dropping it. Wonder what the chance of it is. Small? Large? (Given this is FF, it's probably ridiculously small.) It probably could have been better avoided by just fighting them all from the get go. They seem to be escapable, but the chance must be low, or the RNG must have been evil.
So we have a run 9 minutes faster than an already accepted run, by the same runner, with no known runs w/ better times.
Should this be accepted? HELL YES. This run was well executed from start to finish, including an AMAZING Chaos fight.
Also, Maralith 1 in ONE HIT?! DAMN MAN. SHOW HER SOME MERCY.
This run is VERY well done. Are there lots of random encounters? Yes, but this is an old school FF game. It's gonna happen.
Are there small mistakes here and there? Yes, but we're human. Mistakes will happen.
Are there any major mistakes? No.
Is there any cheating? No.
Are there any video issues? No.
Yes, the Nightmare issue in the Waterfall was dumb, but to me it was still minor, probably costing what...a minute? Two? A bit could be avoided by having an emergency exit there (possibly holding it until then instead of using it at Earth Shrine, which while longer has much easier to escape encounters?). I know the one was gotten from doing the puzzle mini-game, but is there another for doing it? I see something in the bestiary about Purple Worms dropping it. Wonder what the chance of it is. Small? Large? (Given this is FF, it's probably ridiculously small.) It probably could have been better avoided by just fighting them all from the get go. They seem to be escapable, but the chance must be low, or the RNG must have been evil.
So we have a run 9 minutes faster than an already accepted run, by the same runner, with no known runs w/ better times.
Should this be accepted? HELL YES. This run was well executed from start to finish, including an AMAZING Chaos fight.
Also, Maralith 1 in ONE HIT?! DAMN MAN. SHOW HER SOME MERCY.
Quote:
A/V is fine, no cheating or any of that shizzle.
*note: I watched this run on the twitch archive too for further insight into the runners reactions etc so if I make any comments relating to what the runner seemed to be thinking, that's why.
Having dusted off my copy of this and messed around with the savefiles I have, I would say that encounter rate *seems* to be average in most places and above average in just a few (verifier above mentioned Marsh Cave which I agree with). I actually think the runner shows great thought and reaction in dealing with many of the encounters, the monsters that appear can differ by ridiculous amounts and knowing what to do for each and every one is borderline impossible. I do agree that a possible improvement would be make a list of encs that are very hard to run from and easy to kill and just always go for the kill on them, that would show consistency even though it would not always be the absolute fastest.
I'm personally terrible at the puzzle so maybe I'm naturally biased in saying I didn't feel it was too bad. There is considerable RNG involved in where the tiles begin so while this is by all accounts sub-optimal I don't think it's fair to penalise the runner too much for that.
Up until the ship/puzzle the run has not been standout fantastic but not terrible either.
Encounters remain slightly above the average I've experienced up to the grinding section, not a huge amount to say up to there, menuing is generally impressive.
Waterfall: Yes the Nightmares could be better. They would be v.near the top of that list I mentioned imo. Hearing what the runner was thinking made it clear that he was making rational decisions and reacting the best he could.
Sunken shrine was excellent in my opinion, both enc rate and route/skill. Mirage Tower hyped up the enc rate again in parts but was well executed. Floating Fortress was good, relatively bad luck on Tiamat.
Average encounters in Mt Gulg, excellent Marilith fight.
Temple of Chaos is good but questionable use of haste, or at least bad luck with who goes first after haste.
All in all I think this is a very good run, yet it is also very much improvable. I think this deserves an accept and yet I would also very much like to see the runner try to improve this as i think with some extra menu practice and additional planning of what to do in certain specific circumstances it could be beaten.
*note: I watched this run on the twitch archive too for further insight into the runners reactions etc so if I make any comments relating to what the runner seemed to be thinking, that's why.
Having dusted off my copy of this and messed around with the savefiles I have, I would say that encounter rate *seems* to be average in most places and above average in just a few (verifier above mentioned Marsh Cave which I agree with). I actually think the runner shows great thought and reaction in dealing with many of the encounters, the monsters that appear can differ by ridiculous amounts and knowing what to do for each and every one is borderline impossible. I do agree that a possible improvement would be make a list of encs that are very hard to run from and easy to kill and just always go for the kill on them, that would show consistency even though it would not always be the absolute fastest.
I'm personally terrible at the puzzle so maybe I'm naturally biased in saying I didn't feel it was too bad. There is considerable RNG involved in where the tiles begin so while this is by all accounts sub-optimal I don't think it's fair to penalise the runner too much for that.
Up until the ship/puzzle the run has not been standout fantastic but not terrible either.
Encounters remain slightly above the average I've experienced up to the grinding section, not a huge amount to say up to there, menuing is generally impressive.
Waterfall: Yes the Nightmares could be better. They would be v.near the top of that list I mentioned imo. Hearing what the runner was thinking made it clear that he was making rational decisions and reacting the best he could.
Sunken shrine was excellent in my opinion, both enc rate and route/skill. Mirage Tower hyped up the enc rate again in parts but was well executed. Floating Fortress was good, relatively bad luck on Tiamat.
Average encounters in Mt Gulg, excellent Marilith fight.
Temple of Chaos is good but questionable use of haste, or at least bad luck with who goes first after haste.
All in all I think this is a very good run, yet it is also very much improvable. I think this deserves an accept and yet I would also very much like to see the runner try to improve this as i think with some extra menu practice and additional planning of what to do in certain specific circumstances it could be beaten.
Quote:
About Emergency Exits
You have to get over 30 seconds and less than 1 minute on the 15-puzzle - that's the only way to win an Emergency Exit. It's not that hard to get 35ish, though. Many times while doing attempts I've had to wait for the timer to get to 30 so I can push the last block.
Purple Worms can indeed drop Emergency Exit, but the chance is low, and they're only in the Chaos Sanctuary anyway so that's a useless drop. The only useful way of acquiring them is from the 15-puzzle.
Playing the 15-puzzle twice for two Emergency Exits is something I've considered, but the required luck is very heavy and I'm not begrudging the runner for not doing this.
Randomness Notes
In my practices yesterday I had several attempts with only one/zero encounters in the entire of Marsh Cave.
I still don't think it's worth it to buy Cure for the White Mage in the beginning. Does it not make sense to just buy Potions at the same time as the Antidotes and Phoenix Downs? Saves menu time too - don't have to use Ethers on the mage THEN switch to magic screen to cast Cure. By skipping this additional shop visit and some faster menu navigation I consistently save 10 seconds upon leaving Castle Cornelia. When that asshole doesn't walk in front of the item shop door, obviously.
Depending on encounter luck between Cornelia and Chaos Sanctuary (I've had between 0 and 6 here), my last hit on Garland has been about 20 seconds faster than in this latest run.
This isn't a full verification but I'm not sure what I can add to my previous one.
You have to get over 30 seconds and less than 1 minute on the 15-puzzle - that's the only way to win an Emergency Exit. It's not that hard to get 35ish, though. Many times while doing attempts I've had to wait for the timer to get to 30 so I can push the last block.
Purple Worms can indeed drop Emergency Exit, but the chance is low, and they're only in the Chaos Sanctuary anyway so that's a useless drop. The only useful way of acquiring them is from the 15-puzzle.
Playing the 15-puzzle twice for two Emergency Exits is something I've considered, but the required luck is very heavy and I'm not begrudging the runner for not doing this.
Randomness Notes
In my practices yesterday I had several attempts with only one/zero encounters in the entire of Marsh Cave.
I still don't think it's worth it to buy Cure for the White Mage in the beginning. Does it not make sense to just buy Potions at the same time as the Antidotes and Phoenix Downs? Saves menu time too - don't have to use Ethers on the mage THEN switch to magic screen to cast Cure. By skipping this additional shop visit and some faster menu navigation I consistently save 10 seconds upon leaving Castle Cornelia. When that asshole doesn't walk in front of the item shop door, obviously.
Depending on encounter luck between Cornelia and Chaos Sanctuary (I've had between 0 and 6 here), my last hit on Garland has been about 20 seconds faster than in this latest run.
This isn't a full verification but I'm not sure what I can add to my previous one.
Decision: Accept
Reason: This is an improvement to an already accepted, not yet posted, run by the same runner
Congratulations to Lenophis!
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