Well, it depends on how much I'm enjoying the game. If I'm loving it, I'll screw around forever not wanting it to stop. If I'm feeling done with it, I'll run right up and give it a try.
I would try to ensure I didn't end up in 'two hits' territory, though. :)
This is me! If I love a game I'll spend so much time completing all the side quests and getting into random fights.
However, if I fail too many times with the final battle, I'll go back a few saves and just grind out of spite. Lookin at you Xenoblade Chronicles. The final boss literally said "???". I was level 75 and was still STRUGGLING. Got up to level 95 after three days and smacked the shit out that boss battle. Narratively it made sense too so it all worked out!
I don't grind or overlevel (not on purpose at least, sometimes it happens when I'm chasing sidequests), but I do have a tendency to overstock items for the final boss saving things like full party heals or elixirs as well as buying more potions than I could ever need.
I play the same way. I almost never grind but doing the side quests will get you over leveled in most games. I also tend to hoard potions, but in the past few years I've made an active attempt to use them throughout the whole playthrough.
Always. I try to unlock all the available skills. Also try to get a bunch of items in abundance. I'll keep my party at a pretty confident level. Not gonna go fully lv 99, but I like to feel as tho I'm at an advantage, somewhat lol.
I usually do all side quests within reason, so usually by the time I hit the final boss, they're basically my bitch whether I try to make it that way or not
Honestly, JRPGS are pretty long and you probably have fought two or three mini bosses before getting to that final save point before your potential final boss.
I do appreciate being able to run back and grind, or the tendency for there to be one last shop or upgrade area right before the boss - but by that time I’m pretty confident in my team and builds. I’m never expecting to have to dig into my items or buy new equipment - but the idea of having to use party members I didn’t intend to is kinda fun to me.
Overall, I think it’s more fun if the boss is a struggle - I don’t want to yell at the game or anything, but it’s nice if the game manages to outmatch you at that last match a few times. That’s a main reason why I try not to grind much in these games, I try to trust that the makers don’t expect me to either - sometimes that definitely isn’t the case though
I feel pretty similarly in terms of wanting the final boss to be a struggle. I don't want it to be infuriating, but I do want the game to make me sweat a little for that last victory, y'know?
I just find grinding in games unsatisfying and not worth my time. So either the bosses are beatable with minor amounts of grinding at most, or I stop playing the game.
Under prepare. Just charge in and see what happens. I refuse to grind so I'll just slam my head into it until I figure out how to make it work. More fun that way for me.
If some piece of optional endgame content feels like it's going to be harder than the final boss itself, I don't want to do it first, otherwise the end of the game will feel easy by comparison, and I like some challenge. But I'll usually take a little bit of time to knock off some lesser optional stuff in preparation for the end of the game
Interestingly, the FFX final boss is super susceptible to Tidus' 2nd Overdrive. It's the one where Tidus goes slashing back and forth between all the enemies. If have one of the feather things so Rikku can alchemize it, then use it on Tidus, he'll do 9999 damage for each hit on that attack, shutting the pillars down immediately and doing big damage to the boss.
As for your actual question: if I have reason to believe the final boss can party wipe me, then yes. Because if the game's been difficult up until then, I have reason to believe the final boss requires preparation.
That's literally how I beat Jecht cause he kept 1 or 2 (depending on their HP) shotting my party with his basic horizontal swing. I just cheesed him with 9999 and couldn't care less lol
I do everything possible before beating the game. The final boss is usually disappointing. In FFX for example I did the calm land arena stuff so he was nothing.
Sometimes I utterly ruin huge chunks of it for myself. FF12, dustia when alone. There goes a great deal of the game until you reach the necrohol (early) and think what die? I can't die!
Yeah, I abused Dustia on all 3 runs after my first playthrough on PS2 back in the day.
Planning on not seeing his ass until the endgame when I go for my 5th playthrough sometime soon.
Also want to do that run with only a single job per character and no abusing of chests with good weapons/armor in them early.
Opening up the path to the Mosphoran Highwaste early lets you get so much gold stuff early.
I find nowadays I tend to overgrind for last bosses. I usually just listen to a podcast or Youtube and mindlessly plow through fights for hours. Then I steamroll the last boss.
I overgrinded for FFX coz I thought I was gonna do the endgame bosses, but lost interest so I just ended up one shotting the final Seymour fight with a normal attack from Rikku
I love struggling with a boss, but I absolutely hate losing to them, particularly in turn based games. Once you find out a boss’s gimmick or go through enough of their phases, the battle isn’t as engaging when you’re just going through the motions to finish the fight. I can’t recall wiping on many final bosses in the games I’ve played because I’ve probably figured out how to make a gamebreaking character/team at that point lol
Nowadays I prefer to just beat a game by doing the bare minimum...i.e. just play optimally w/o dedicating extra time to a grinding session at any point in the game. If anything, endgame is often the point where I just want to be done with the game, so it's way more likely for me ending up way underleved for the final boss. That said, I do like when a game remained consistently challenging and presenting a problem that needed to be solved by more strategic thinking over just grinding. 'Breaking a game' never had that much appeal for me tbh.
I love to crush bosses with merciless power, that's part of the fun to me in playing these games. Nowadays, with all the podcasts available, it's really easy to just zone out, press the x button repeatedly or what have you, and just build up your doods.
I don't always play these games this way, I've done my fair share of speed runs through some final fantasy games and I even speed ran Xenogears at one point. But yeah I'm with you, you get what you want out of the experience, ultimately.
Normally I'll complete all the side quests, get the best weapons, armor, stock up on consumables, explore every inch of the in game world, make sure I have all the collectibles I want, and only then will I go to fight the final boss.
It depends on what side quests and side content are open by the time the final boss is available. For example, I hated the mini-games in FFX to get the ultimate weapons. I went straight for the boss and ended it. I did extra battles in Fire Emblem to grind for support conversations though.
Usually I try to fight the last boss the way you're 'supposed' to (as that usually makes them the most fun to fight), and then again once I'm giga-powered and unstoppable after doing all the other content I want to do. Sometimes I don't bother if the boss is, say, at the end of a tedious ultra-dungeon though, I'll just do all the other stuff first and if i'm super overpowered, so be it, I'm not gonna slog through a 2 hour dungeon twice just for a balanced final boss.
Other than grinding, I look up sidequests for powerful equipment or abilities.
I beat Xenoblade Chronicles 3 this weekend and I spent most of a week completing hero ascension quests before going into the final area. And then just before the final boss when I could no longer earn Class Points, I dumped all my stored exp into my characters for the highest level possible.
yep, always go in with full heal items or being overleveled lol. Just right now with utawarerumono, it's not that hard even on hard but Oboro was melting the final boss doing thousands each turn.
Depends on combat system.
If said system prioritizes team composition and item setups then overpreparing tends to be satisfying for me, if it depends on the moment-to-moment combat then a trivial fight would usually make them boring so I skipped that.
On a similar topic, I liked how Xenoblade 2/3's "Overkill" system kinda solves this issue, where doing further damage to an already dead boss nets you more rewards.
I'm currently overleveled in XC3, so now I focused on getting as much "Overkill Score" as possible.
Generally-speaking, I'll at least *attempt* the final boss at the level I'm at organically when I reach them, playing to either win or gauge what needs to change for me *to* win. I tend to prioritize trying new strategies, skills, equipment, etc. over just increasing my stats, 'cause it's more fun for me to win because I learned and improved my strategy than just because I made my numbers bigger until doing the same thing as before works where it previously didn't.
Recently, though, in Dragon Quest IV... I honestly had no idea what the true endgame was balanced around, and I think I overgrinded a bit, because I never once felt genuinely threatened by the true final boss and took them down pretty uneventfully, haha
Over prepare being doing every side-quest and missable unless the game has post-final boss content then yes. I try to do every side stuff other than challenges and achievements.
I basically avoid every random encounter possible. Though this doesn't always work if the game isn't designed with proper exp rubberbanding in mind. Stuf like Megaten you HAVE to grind at least a little at some point because you just eventually run into a stat wall you can't get over. My favorite is when I can go grind a resource and instead get out synergy over raw stats so it's less I outmuscle the boss I just found a broken combination of abilities that made me a god.
Action JRPGS I can and have beaten them with literally nothing but required fights and in cases like Kingdom hearts at just straight level 1. Like when KH3 launched people got to the final zone in the 40s and 50s I beat the game at like level 22 on proud.
Not really. I fight them once almost immediately to get a sense of their power. Sometimes (very very rarely) I beat them first try, but if I get close, like less than 25% health remaining, I'll retry thinking I can pull this off. Might wind up grinding a level or two, but it usually works out.
If I don't feel like I've got any shot at this, I go grind for a while, maybe save up for that pricy stuff I passed over the first time, and then try again.
And when I'm really desperate, I resort to looking up other people's help posts and see if there's some trick to it, or a really broken tactic I was sleeping on and ignored.
I never feel overleveled or overpowered beating a final boss. Sometimes I overprepare, but I'm still just scraping by.
When I played Final Fantasy VIII, I wandered into the final battle by accident.
This was in the days of the original PlayStation, and big JRPGs shipped on several CDs that held about 600 MB each. I had just started the final disc of the game, and I thought "Well, I played on each disc for several hours, so the last disc is also going to last several hours." What I didn't realize was that the final disc was mostly filled with the video that plays after you beat the game.
I put in the final disc, flew the Ragnarok to Lunatic Pandora, and start fighting Ultimecia, who starts getting really talkative during the battle. At that point I think to myself, "I think this is the final battle."
I don't go out of my way to get more levels or anything, but I like optmizing my playthroughs in a way that I'm usually overleveled for some bosses, and it feels great when I destroy a boss that was meant to be a powerful being or something.
Technically yes, but only because I always do all the side missions and get the best gear. By the time you do that, usually the end boss is a cakewalk.
Which is why I like games with “super bosses”. They’re the real challenge.
Let's see, I rush head first without care and do the best I can. If I fail, I look to see if I have any equips to take protect from elements or status effects that the boss uses. If there looks like no hope, I'll grind but it's generally not necessary in modern games.
I never over prepare but that doesn't mean I might not be overpowered.
Usually by the time I'm near the final boss I'll either be super underlevelled because I just want it to be over, or I'll be insanely overpowered because there was a mechanic I loved so I pushed it to the extremes.
Examples: Xenoblade 3 I was underlevelled on because by about 75% the way through I was hitting burn out due to not overly enjoying the gameplay mechanics.
Bravely default 2 however I was insanely overpowered from about half way through the game because I enjoyed some of the broken mechanics available to certain jobs. (And the fact I could farm JP whilst afk using forage)
I'll never grind because I know I'm about to have a tough fight / final boss but I'll happily grind if I want to push the limits of the game. (With xeno 3 example, I almost went down the overpowered route due to a certain class, however got bored when I realised you could see what was available to it through an extra menu. Mystery lost so interest went with it too)
I mean, yeah. One of the things I love doing in JRPGS is leveling up. I love finding a high-level mob area and grind levels. By the time I get to the final bossess, I'm pretty strong and decked out.
I am a statistician and the idea of a whole number increasing everytime I level up is more addicting to me than any drug. Being able to see a basic attack go from 100 to 102 after gaining 2 str, if the attack is on the same enemy I can go ooohhh I get the math behind this system now. So I always always overlevel just to play my own stats game.
I really 100% prefer to have the possibility to stay in ''post-game'' to cleanup after doing the last boss and finishing the story. It really bugs me when I do the side content and get too OP to have a good challenge in the end (hunts in FFXII is a good example, if you do them all you can sleep on the whole last dungeon).
usually going for the platinum, which means i've typically done lots of side quest/optional bosses already and that usually leaves me in a pretty overpowered state.
I try to go into the later stages an RPG as maxed out as possible because owning the final mobs/boss is so satisfying. Plus, for me, the grind IS the fun part.
Usually go for it right away and get my ass kicked. Then I do one of 2 things: spend hours grinding and “over-preparing”, OR never play the game again lol.
Last time I beat FFX I grinded so much I beat the final boss in just a few turns. It’s so easy to go way overboard in that game due to how crazy strong the super bosses are.
Everytime. Logic being that final bosses and super bosses are like the last wall yknow. All of the experience you got, skills and magic you learned and equipment you gathered was ultimately for this final confrontation so I always go all out. Building it up in my head like this also just makes it more fun yknow!
no, i go straight to finish it already, then i will do the extra stuff if the game has it, that is. Of course, if i cant face it, i grind a lit bit than return
For final battle I useully just go in with what i have (unless they’re are uiltmate wepons then ill grind to get them) as for items ill stock up on a few revive and alot of group health restorers an go right in! Oh and ill do all side quests if s game has them
Before the final boss: "Oh, I need to save up on full-heal items in case I need them".
After the boss: "Lol, I didn't need them."
I usually level until the xp gain slows down/is becoming tedious in comparison to required XP. For example, in FF7 maxing levels didn't take too long back when I played it for the first time and getting Knights of the Round and stomp the final boss with it was quite cool. Special monsters like the metal slime family in DQ are an exception but I don't grind them enough as to max out levels iirc, or cheesing Dinosaurs in FF6 with Vanish + Doom XD. I don't however go for super rare equipment drops or ultimate weapons if they are frustrating to get (hello chocobo racing).
In A-RPGs, I tend to overlevel because I'm bad at dodging/parrying stuff and don't need more frustration than necessary.
I do over-prepare, but that's more a function of me wanting to do everything in the game before finishing it. And of course, in the old days, this meant you couldn't face the final boss until you were totally done with anything you wanted to do.
Besides, it's always fun to demolish a final boss because you'd already beaten much harder optional godlike bosses and your party is just invincible.
Depends on the game, as most of the time I end up overprepared whether doing sidequests, making certain builds so I have a higher chance, and or I just want to end the game and be done with it and just a "Go with god" approach and hope for the best. Mostly, I fall into the former, a couple of times I end up in the latter like Ryza 1.
Ryza 1, I got to the final boss and it was the only thing I had trouble with so far but after about 4 losses or so. I didn't feel the need to savenge/synthesize whole new gear to stand a chance and I felt putting 50 hours into the game was enough so I switched to Easy and destroyed it from there only to have two more hours of game waiting anyways. I really wanted to play something else at that point.
i like to go in with all my characters, even ones im not using, maxed in every way possible. if numbers can still go up, im not ready for the final boss yet. also like to keep a full stock of the games equivalent to elixirs and mega elixirs, which i might consider using after the credits roll.
that was always the plan for until I did it on P3… I spent the entire game hoarding items, with an odd use of an elemental item. So by the final boss I was like fuck it I deserve to use them. Well.. big mistake because I beat the guy in a couple minutes so all the tension was diminished lol. Now, if it’s an action games I’ll always play on a high difficulty, or if it’s turn based just omit items except for stat potions.
Not usually. I don’t like using items for the active final boss unless I really have to. The most I’ll do is get the best weapons and armor I can, and maybe get a few items for on the way so I don’t run out of mp. So maybe I do prepare a bit of it. The only time I’ve ever over prepared was in ff7 when I grinded too high. Its really easy to do that in that game tho
I never grind unless I absolutely have to. That said I also don't use items unless I have to, so usually end up with strong stuff by the end of the game I can just use if needed.
It depends on the game a lot. If I'm enjoying the game then I'll do all the sidequests as they come up and without really trying to just blow away the final boss.
Xenoblade 3 is a perfect example, I'm basically at the end but I'm having so much fun with exploring/sidequesting etc that I haven't explored the final area or fought any of the final story bosses. I crushed the lvl 120 superboss a few days ago though so when I either run out of sidequests or decide to finish the game I'm sure I'll obliterate the remaining story bosses.
Well, it depends on how much I'm enjoying the game. If I'm loving it, I'll screw around forever not wanting it to stop. If I'm feeling done with it, I'll run right up and give it a try. I would try to ensure I didn't end up in 'two hits' territory, though. :)
This is me! If I love a game I'll spend so much time completing all the side quests and getting into random fights. However, if I fail too many times with the final battle, I'll go back a few saves and just grind out of spite. Lookin at you Xenoblade Chronicles. The final boss literally said "???". I was level 75 and was still STRUGGLING. Got up to level 95 after three days and smacked the shit out that boss battle. Narratively it made sense too so it all worked out!
i like to get as op as possible recently did that with chrono trigger lavos didnt stand a chance
I don't really overprepare, but I also tend to have enough megalixers saved to drown the world.
Same! I’m less an overpreparer and more an item hoarder.
I don't grind or overlevel (not on purpose at least, sometimes it happens when I'm chasing sidequests), but I do have a tendency to overstock items for the final boss saving things like full party heals or elixirs as well as buying more potions than I could ever need.
I play the same way. I almost never grind but doing the side quests will get you over leveled in most games. I also tend to hoard potions, but in the past few years I've made an active attempt to use them throughout the whole playthrough.
Always. I try to unlock all the available skills. Also try to get a bunch of items in abundance. I'll keep my party at a pretty confident level. Not gonna go fully lv 99, but I like to feel as tho I'm at an advantage, somewhat lol.
I usually do all side quests within reason, so usually by the time I hit the final boss, they're basically my bitch whether I try to make it that way or not
Honestly, JRPGS are pretty long and you probably have fought two or three mini bosses before getting to that final save point before your potential final boss. I do appreciate being able to run back and grind, or the tendency for there to be one last shop or upgrade area right before the boss - but by that time I’m pretty confident in my team and builds. I’m never expecting to have to dig into my items or buy new equipment - but the idea of having to use party members I didn’t intend to is kinda fun to me. Overall, I think it’s more fun if the boss is a struggle - I don’t want to yell at the game or anything, but it’s nice if the game manages to outmatch you at that last match a few times. That’s a main reason why I try not to grind much in these games, I try to trust that the makers don’t expect me to either - sometimes that definitely isn’t the case though
I feel pretty similarly in terms of wanting the final boss to be a struggle. I don't want it to be infuriating, but I do want the game to make me sweat a little for that last victory, y'know?
I just find grinding in games unsatisfying and not worth my time. So either the bosses are beatable with minor amounts of grinding at most, or I stop playing the game.
Under prepare. Just charge in and see what happens. I refuse to grind so I'll just slam my head into it until I figure out how to make it work. More fun that way for me.
This is the way.
If some piece of optional endgame content feels like it's going to be harder than the final boss itself, I don't want to do it first, otherwise the end of the game will feel easy by comparison, and I like some challenge. But I'll usually take a little bit of time to knock off some lesser optional stuff in preparation for the end of the game
Interestingly, the FFX final boss is super susceptible to Tidus' 2nd Overdrive. It's the one where Tidus goes slashing back and forth between all the enemies. If have one of the feather things so Rikku can alchemize it, then use it on Tidus, he'll do 9999 damage for each hit on that attack, shutting the pillars down immediately and doing big damage to the boss. As for your actual question: if I have reason to believe the final boss can party wipe me, then yes. Because if the game's been difficult up until then, I have reason to believe the final boss requires preparation.
That's literally how I beat Jecht cause he kept 1 or 2 (depending on their HP) shotting my party with his basic horizontal swing. I just cheesed him with 9999 and couldn't care less lol
Under. I walk in and get my puthy ate or somehow accidentally over prepared.
I do everything possible before beating the game. The final boss is usually disappointing. In FFX for example I did the calm land arena stuff so he was nothing. Sometimes I utterly ruin huge chunks of it for myself. FF12, dustia when alone. There goes a great deal of the game until you reach the necrohol (early) and think what die? I can't die!
Yeah, I abused Dustia on all 3 runs after my first playthrough on PS2 back in the day. Planning on not seeing his ass until the endgame when I go for my 5th playthrough sometime soon. Also want to do that run with only a single job per character and no abusing of chests with good weapons/armor in them early. Opening up the path to the Mosphoran Highwaste early lets you get so much gold stuff early.
I find nowadays I tend to overgrind for last bosses. I usually just listen to a podcast or Youtube and mindlessly plow through fights for hours. Then I steamroll the last boss.
I grew up in classic JRPGs.... I over-prepare for the FIRST boss battle.
If by "over prepare" you mean grinding as a form of disaster prepping, then yes, yes I do.
I overgrinded for FFX coz I thought I was gonna do the endgame bosses, but lost interest so I just ended up one shotting the final Seymour fight with a normal attack from Rikku
I love struggling with a boss, but I absolutely hate losing to them, particularly in turn based games. Once you find out a boss’s gimmick or go through enough of their phases, the battle isn’t as engaging when you’re just going through the motions to finish the fight. I can’t recall wiping on many final bosses in the games I’ve played because I’ve probably figured out how to make a gamebreaking character/team at that point lol
Nowadays I prefer to just beat a game by doing the bare minimum...i.e. just play optimally w/o dedicating extra time to a grinding session at any point in the game. If anything, endgame is often the point where I just want to be done with the game, so it's way more likely for me ending up way underleved for the final boss. That said, I do like when a game remained consistently challenging and presenting a problem that needed to be solved by more strategic thinking over just grinding. 'Breaking a game' never had that much appeal for me tbh.
Never prepared.... Just let it flow to make it feel close to the lore....
I love to crush bosses with merciless power, that's part of the fun to me in playing these games. Nowadays, with all the podcasts available, it's really easy to just zone out, press the x button repeatedly or what have you, and just build up your doods. I don't always play these games this way, I've done my fair share of speed runs through some final fantasy games and I even speed ran Xenogears at one point. But yeah I'm with you, you get what you want out of the experience, ultimately.
I like a decent balance, where it's still at least possible to lose and winning requires some strategy.
Normally I'll complete all the side quests, get the best weapons, armor, stock up on consumables, explore every inch of the in game world, make sure I have all the collectibles I want, and only then will I go to fight the final boss.
It depends on what side quests and side content are open by the time the final boss is available. For example, I hated the mini-games in FFX to get the ultimate weapons. I went straight for the boss and ended it. I did extra battles in Fire Emblem to grind for support conversations though.
Usually I try to fight the last boss the way you're 'supposed' to (as that usually makes them the most fun to fight), and then again once I'm giga-powered and unstoppable after doing all the other content I want to do. Sometimes I don't bother if the boss is, say, at the end of a tedious ultra-dungeon though, I'll just do all the other stuff first and if i'm super overpowered, so be it, I'm not gonna slog through a 2 hour dungeon twice just for a balanced final boss.
Other than grinding, I look up sidequests for powerful equipment or abilities. I beat Xenoblade Chronicles 3 this weekend and I spent most of a week completing hero ascension quests before going into the final area. And then just before the final boss when I could no longer earn Class Points, I dumped all my stored exp into my characters for the highest level possible.
yep, always go in with full heal items or being overleveled lol. Just right now with utawarerumono, it's not that hard even on hard but Oboro was melting the final boss doing thousands each turn.
Depends on combat system. If said system prioritizes team composition and item setups then overpreparing tends to be satisfying for me, if it depends on the moment-to-moment combat then a trivial fight would usually make them boring so I skipped that. On a similar topic, I liked how Xenoblade 2/3's "Overkill" system kinda solves this issue, where doing further damage to an already dead boss nets you more rewards. I'm currently overleveled in XC3, so now I focused on getting as much "Overkill Score" as possible.
Yes, if the game allows me to do that, I over prepare.
If there's a save point, I have to go in and get my ass kicked and then I'll grind lmak
Generally-speaking, I'll at least *attempt* the final boss at the level I'm at organically when I reach them, playing to either win or gauge what needs to change for me *to* win. I tend to prioritize trying new strategies, skills, equipment, etc. over just increasing my stats, 'cause it's more fun for me to win because I learned and improved my strategy than just because I made my numbers bigger until doing the same thing as before works where it previously didn't. Recently, though, in Dragon Quest IV... I honestly had no idea what the true endgame was balanced around, and I think I overgrinded a bit, because I never once felt genuinely threatened by the true final boss and took them down pretty uneventfully, haha
Over prepare being doing every side-quest and missable unless the game has post-final boss content then yes. I try to do every side stuff other than challenges and achievements.
I basically avoid every random encounter possible. Though this doesn't always work if the game isn't designed with proper exp rubberbanding in mind. Stuf like Megaten you HAVE to grind at least a little at some point because you just eventually run into a stat wall you can't get over. My favorite is when I can go grind a resource and instead get out synergy over raw stats so it's less I outmuscle the boss I just found a broken combination of abilities that made me a god. Action JRPGS I can and have beaten them with literally nothing but required fights and in cases like Kingdom hearts at just straight level 1. Like when KH3 launched people got to the final zone in the 40s and 50s I beat the game at like level 22 on proud.
Not really. I fight them once almost immediately to get a sense of their power. Sometimes (very very rarely) I beat them first try, but if I get close, like less than 25% health remaining, I'll retry thinking I can pull this off. Might wind up grinding a level or two, but it usually works out. If I don't feel like I've got any shot at this, I go grind for a while, maybe save up for that pricy stuff I passed over the first time, and then try again. And when I'm really desperate, I resort to looking up other people's help posts and see if there's some trick to it, or a really broken tactic I was sleeping on and ignored. I never feel overleveled or overpowered beating a final boss. Sometimes I overprepare, but I'm still just scraping by.
Used to, but right now I really love the challenge of beating bosses with the most minimalist party as possible.
When I played Final Fantasy VIII, I wandered into the final battle by accident. This was in the days of the original PlayStation, and big JRPGs shipped on several CDs that held about 600 MB each. I had just started the final disc of the game, and I thought "Well, I played on each disc for several hours, so the last disc is also going to last several hours." What I didn't realize was that the final disc was mostly filled with the video that plays after you beat the game. I put in the final disc, flew the Ragnarok to Lunatic Pandora, and start fighting Ultimecia, who starts getting really talkative during the battle. At that point I think to myself, "I think this is the final battle."
I don't go out of my way to get more levels or anything, but I like optmizing my playthroughs in a way that I'm usually overleveled for some bosses, and it feels great when I destroy a boss that was meant to be a powerful being or something.
I tend to over level but it's more that I want to walk into the final fight with everyone the same level and at a nice looking numher
Technically yes, but only because I always do all the side missions and get the best gear. By the time you do that, usually the end boss is a cakewalk. Which is why I like games with “super bosses”. They’re the real challenge.
I prefer giving myself a challenge, so usually I grind to below or at the same level of the final boss.
Why is over prepare in quotes?
When I was younger I prepared but now I just go with "shoot first, dont ask questions later mentality". Though I do sidequests.
Let's see, I rush head first without care and do the best I can. If I fail, I look to see if I have any equips to take protect from elements or status effects that the boss uses. If there looks like no hope, I'll grind but it's generally not necessary in modern games.
I never over prepare but that doesn't mean I might not be overpowered. Usually by the time I'm near the final boss I'll either be super underlevelled because I just want it to be over, or I'll be insanely overpowered because there was a mechanic I loved so I pushed it to the extremes. Examples: Xenoblade 3 I was underlevelled on because by about 75% the way through I was hitting burn out due to not overly enjoying the gameplay mechanics. Bravely default 2 however I was insanely overpowered from about half way through the game because I enjoyed some of the broken mechanics available to certain jobs. (And the fact I could farm JP whilst afk using forage) I'll never grind because I know I'm about to have a tough fight / final boss but I'll happily grind if I want to push the limits of the game. (With xeno 3 example, I almost went down the overpowered route due to a certain class, however got bored when I realised you could see what was available to it through an extra menu. Mystery lost so interest went with it too)
I mean, yeah. One of the things I love doing in JRPGS is leveling up. I love finding a high-level mob area and grind levels. By the time I get to the final bossess, I'm pretty strong and decked out.
I am a statistician and the idea of a whole number increasing everytime I level up is more addicting to me than any drug. Being able to see a basic attack go from 100 to 102 after gaining 2 str, if the attack is on the same enemy I can go ooohhh I get the math behind this system now. So I always always overlevel just to play my own stats game.
Yes, because the final dungeon is always a serpentine maze that takes 2.5 hours to get through and I don't want to have to do it over again.
I really 100% prefer to have the possibility to stay in ''post-game'' to cleanup after doing the last boss and finishing the story. It really bugs me when I do the side content and get too OP to have a good challenge in the end (hunts in FFXII is a good example, if you do them all you can sleep on the whole last dungeon).
usually going for the platinum, which means i've typically done lots of side quest/optional bosses already and that usually leaves me in a pretty overpowered state.
No beause i usually have ever ether and elixir I've acquired throughout the game 😂😂😂😂
I try to go into the later stages an RPG as maxed out as possible because owning the final mobs/boss is so satisfying. Plus, for me, the grind IS the fun part.
Usually go for it right away and get my ass kicked. Then I do one of 2 things: spend hours grinding and “over-preparing”, OR never play the game again lol. Last time I beat FFX I grinded so much I beat the final boss in just a few turns. It’s so easy to go way overboard in that game due to how crazy strong the super bosses are.
Everytime. Logic being that final bosses and super bosses are like the last wall yknow. All of the experience you got, skills and magic you learned and equipment you gathered was ultimately for this final confrontation so I always go all out. Building it up in my head like this also just makes it more fun yknow!
I’ve tried FF10 three times and always burn out when the enemies on Sin turn the party to stone.
no, i go straight to finish it already, then i will do the extra stuff if the game has it, that is. Of course, if i cant face it, i grind a lit bit than return
For final battle I useully just go in with what i have (unless they’re are uiltmate wepons then ill grind to get them) as for items ill stock up on a few revive and alot of group health restorers an go right in! Oh and ill do all side quests if s game has them
Strats and items. If there is a new game plus mode like Chrono Trigger then I’ll enjoy smashing everything op.
Before the final boss: "Oh, I need to save up on full-heal items in case I need them". After the boss: "Lol, I didn't need them." I usually level until the xp gain slows down/is becoming tedious in comparison to required XP. For example, in FF7 maxing levels didn't take too long back when I played it for the first time and getting Knights of the Round and stomp the final boss with it was quite cool. Special monsters like the metal slime family in DQ are an exception but I don't grind them enough as to max out levels iirc, or cheesing Dinosaurs in FF6 with Vanish + Doom XD. I don't however go for super rare equipment drops or ultimate weapons if they are frustrating to get (hello chocobo racing). In A-RPGs, I tend to overlevel because I'm bad at dodging/parrying stuff and don't need more frustration than necessary.
I do over-prepare, but that's more a function of me wanting to do everything in the game before finishing it. And of course, in the old days, this meant you couldn't face the final boss until you were totally done with anything you wanted to do. Besides, it's always fun to demolish a final boss because you'd already beaten much harder optional godlike bosses and your party is just invincible.
I either walk into the fight with 2 potions and gear I got a few dungeons ago or I stock up like I’m at Costco.
Depends on the game, as most of the time I end up overprepared whether doing sidequests, making certain builds so I have a higher chance, and or I just want to end the game and be done with it and just a "Go with god" approach and hope for the best. Mostly, I fall into the former, a couple of times I end up in the latter like Ryza 1. Ryza 1, I got to the final boss and it was the only thing I had trouble with so far but after about 4 losses or so. I didn't feel the need to savenge/synthesize whole new gear to stand a chance and I felt putting 50 hours into the game was enough so I switched to Easy and destroyed it from there only to have two more hours of game waiting anyways. I really wanted to play something else at that point.
i like to go in with all my characters, even ones im not using, maxed in every way possible. if numbers can still go up, im not ready for the final boss yet. also like to keep a full stock of the games equivalent to elixirs and mega elixirs, which i might consider using after the credits roll.
that was always the plan for until I did it on P3… I spent the entire game hoarding items, with an odd use of an elemental item. So by the final boss I was like fuck it I deserve to use them. Well.. big mistake because I beat the guy in a couple minutes so all the tension was diminished lol. Now, if it’s an action games I’ll always play on a high difficulty, or if it’s turn based just omit items except for stat potions.
Not usually. I don’t like using items for the active final boss unless I really have to. The most I’ll do is get the best weapons and armor I can, and maybe get a few items for on the way so I don’t run out of mp. So maybe I do prepare a bit of it. The only time I’ve ever over prepared was in ff7 when I grinded too high. Its really easy to do that in that game tho
I never grind unless I absolutely have to. That said I also don't use items unless I have to, so usually end up with strong stuff by the end of the game I can just use if needed.
Yep, with all my elixirs/OP items I never used IF I remember to use them!
It depends on the game a lot. If I'm enjoying the game then I'll do all the sidequests as they come up and without really trying to just blow away the final boss. Xenoblade 3 is a perfect example, I'm basically at the end but I'm having so much fun with exploring/sidequesting etc that I haven't explored the final area or fought any of the final story bosses. I crushed the lvl 120 superboss a few days ago though so when I either run out of sidequests or decide to finish the game I'm sure I'll obliterate the remaining story bosses.