Friendship is Magicite? Let's Play Pony Fantasy 6!

Fair enough.

I think a lot of us are curious how the mechanics changes affect the game.

I'm just curious about which cast assignments they decided to go with.

I think a lot of us (read: me) are reading it because it's a collision of something they like (FF6) and something that fascinates them (crazy MLP fans willing to put large amounts into effort into things few people will see) but allows us to take in that content from a safe distance.

Actually, the whole bit of "I am kind of interested in this game but in ways that don't include wanting to play it" is a large part of why the LP thing exists, from what I've seen.

I guess, but it doesn't seem like that necessitates actually playing the game. I think the same concept could have been put across in a few situational screenshots, not an entire romhack. It seems like a lot of effort for something that really ends up being pretty low-effort, if that makes sense. Anyway, you've all explained it, so back to the LP.

Yeah, pretty much all this. Every update is wonderful and confusing at the same time. Like, right now, I'm trying to figure out why you would put swordtech and blitz on the same character. Who the hell would ever way for swordtech to charge up? Will someone else have blitz later? I know invented the summon ability, will they hack in other abilities? Shit like that keeps me reading for sure.

It might have the speed up patch in place.

Anyway The cast can be found here if you want to know now here.

EDIT: Sorry but it also includes the skill sets. (and that is a spoiler).

Actually, the Summon ability was already in the game, it was just dummied out as a command and used for the Esper subcommand in the Magic menu.

Those are the best cast assignments.

Not looking at the cast list, because I like being surprised... but I still feel like Applejack feels wasted here.

I don't even know what you are talking about...

So looking at the cast list was fine with me :P

I was chewing on this, along with your previous question, over the last half of my shift today. (Sometimes it's nice having a job that's engaging physically but relatively mundane mentally.)

Let's over-analyzing guys.

What I think it boils down to it is the community and subculture that's grown around My Little Pony has been built from the ground up to encourage projects like this. Heaven only knows what the exact flashpoint was, but at some point someone did something ridiculous, and everyone ate it up, which in turn brought more projects from others. After awhile, projects like this one become commonplace enough that it almost feels normal to a fan, but anyone on the outside will just scratch their head in utter bewilderment. After while it becomes self-sustaining. The fans fuel the projects, and the projects fuel the fans (and incidentally draw in more potential fans.) It's just something they do. I'm not immune myself. Not that I would dare compare that paltry effort to the type of effort a romhack requires, but I'd like to think the general spirit is the same.

I think one of the biggest reasons is that My Little Pony's keepers aren't bothered by any of it. While Hasbro doesn't go to the point of actively encouraging it, they let a lot of stuff slide that a many, if not most, other intellectual property holders would lay C&Ds on faster then you can blink. Something like Fighting is Magic would have been shut down in its infancy, or at least the moment someone at Hasbro realized "Oh crap these guys are serious."

And that's kind of the bottom line of it. The property is quality and appealing for a number of reasons, the community fosters and encourages these sorts of projects, and an owner that is content to let that community be.

OK ENOUGH OF THAT NONSENSE.

Elfir, you mind grabbing a screen of Applejack's stats for the next update? My biggest fear with giving Not Cyan Blitz is that he has a fairly abysmal magic stat, and considering most Blitzes are based on magic, I'd be interested to see if AJ's base stats were altered to make it more viable.

Also, I'm going to put my money on Sweetie Belle as Celes. Unicorn, talent for singing, friends with Apple Bloom.

Believe it.

Nice to know I was right.

Parish, people the show is not targeted at like it because it is fun. Some of those people obsess over it because internet. I don't really see what's confusing about that.

I tend to see the MLP obsession amongst 20- and 30-somethings as just another iteration of the "adult male Hello Kitty fan" phenomenon. Not that I understand that one either, mind...

I don't think that's all that interesting, to be honest. It just seems pretty obvious that everyone who got the Magic command removed will be far less useful in the end. This is still FFVI, after all.

I guess the best reason I can think of for following this is because of the trainwreck factor. Ike is absolutely right in that this is a pretty low-effort hack, but it's baffling and kind of bad and I can't really help looking at it because of that. It's not as mystifying as, say, the old Something Awful FFVI hack, but it's enough to keep me reading.

Also this thread got me to replay FFVI for the first time in years, so that's nice. Thanks, Elfir!

Have I been playing a different FF6 than everyone else? Because I only ever use Cure magic, maybe a -ra spell here or there, GrandTrain, and a couple of the endgame spells. Other than that it's all specials in the WoB, and broken relics in the WoR.

Full disclosure: I've never beaten FF6. I got into Cyan's Nightmare at like level 20, saved inside, and never really recovered.

Maybe! I haven't put nearly as much time into the game as others in the series, but when I played it earlier two of my characters were using magic every fight throughout the majority of the game. And the other two still used magic occasionally via heals/buffs. You get more than enough MP to be able to use it as a character's main form of attack in this, even without any Esper MP bonuses or messing with Osmose, and it's nice to be able to wipe out just about every random encounter with one spell. I didn't even bother getting Economizers/Celestriads either. The Gold Hairpins you find are more than enough to throw out Ultima all day long when it comes to that.

Magic is definitely more important in the WoR than it is in the WoB, though. Maybe still not necessarily essential, since the game is really easy no matter how you shake it, but a character without the ability to cast Quick will always be inferior to someone who can.

Also can the characters without the magic command still equip Espers in this? Or is the option missing like it is for Umaro/Gogo normally? Even if you don't really plan around maximizing the Esper stat bonuses, missing out on the occasional ones that you would normally get could be a big deal in the end.

The Everfree Forest is the one place in Equestria (that we've seen) where nature does its own thing instead of being guided by ponies. Seasons change on their own. Animals take care of themselves. All sorts of crazy monsters can be found there. Ponies are, as a rule, terrified of the place.



Magic! If I remember to actually use Osmose, there's no reason I should ever have to use a tent or sleeping bag. I don't think there's any part of the game where I can't have a spellcaster with Cure + Osmose, even with a big chunk of the cast being magic-free.



Is that what I think it is?



All aboard the Friendship Express!!

If this hack was in the habit of changing background graphics, I would love to see the Phantom Train colored in bright pinks and yellows... but still try to make it spooky as hell.



Luna: There is nothing to see out here! We must enter!
Applejack: But Princess!
Luna: Fear not!
Applejack: But Princess!
[inside]
Luna: Something is amiss!
Applejack: Lemme off! This train's haunted!!
[train whistle]
Luna: It is moving?!
Applejack: The door!
Luna: Tis sealed mightily!
Applejack: We're too late.
Luna: And just what, praytell, is this train about?
Applejack: This here must be the Phantom Train ah heard about! It goes right through the Everfree Forest, but it always arrives... empty...
Luna: Unacceptable!
Applejack: Sorry Princess... ah think we're stuck here...
Luna: We must continue our journey PAST this wretched forest. We will find the engine room and halt this infernal contraption!

Dialog is basically the same, just rewritten with Applejack and Luna's ways of speaking. Simple but it's fun seeing the Old English swapped to the opposite character.



Applejack: !!! Well, ah know a thing or two about plows and mills and such! Ain't no need for such fancy stuff back home on the farm!

Applejack is Amish.



A quick stop at the save point shows our ghost friend is afflicted with a similar color problem as Mayor Mare.



Applejack: What in tarnation? Who's there!? This way y'all! Whoa nellie! Shoot! They're a right bit persnickety!

This must have been fun to write.



Luna: Indeed... It is time to demonstrate the results of our training. Come, Applejack! Huzzah!!

This would be a good time to point out Luna and Fluttershy both have wings. Not being used to carrying another pony while flying would even be a good reason for the long jumps and eventual fall. Maybe pegasi don't know how to fly at all anymore, just float with the appropriate relic. Flying went the way of the unicorn.



Luna: Your apprehension is unwarranted! Come, dine with us!
Applejack: Well shoot, ya GOTTA admit this is at least a little weird!
(slurp) ... (munch) ... (crunch) ...
Luna: Very good! Our appetite has been sated for the moment, let us proceed!

Y'all ghosties got any grits? Scrapple maybe? Can't expect a farmpony like Applejack to eat no fancy diet ghost food.

Daring Do: If I were you, princess, I'd grap cowgirl, here, and run!
Luna: We are not impressed!
Daring Do: Aha! The ox bellows! Allow me to introduce my whip!



Daring Do is actually a character in a book series Rainbow Dash gets into reading. She's an Indiana Jones type pony. She's a pegasis but in the one story we see in the show her wing is injured so she can't actually fly her way out of trouble. She comes off as an adventurer version of Rainbow Dash and we don't get to see how she interacts with others so most any interpretation of her character would probably work.



HOLY HECK A CUSTOM PONY ENEMY!!

This battle doesn't last long. Daring Do hits Fluttershy, who counterattacks and kills her with shuriken.

Luna: Thou might consider a different profession...
Daring Do: Impossible! I... I'm the greatest... But I'll still laugh last! Uwa, ha, ha! This treasure is mine! Ta ta, cretins!



Double the aura bolt, double the fun! Actually Luna ends up spending a lot of the fight on group Cures. Amazing how much easier things become when you can negate all the Phantom Train's damage the instant it hits. Fluttershy actually uses Throw for the only time during this turn in the party. The shuriken do 300ish damage instead of the almost-200 her regular attacks do with them equipped.



Luna: Clearly we should not linger here!

Huzzah! On to the Veldt!



Luna: Applejack! Is that thy family?!



Aunt Betty: Ah'm so sorry Applejack, but there ain't no getting offa this train we're on!
Apple Fritter: AJ! It's ok, mom says we'll be fine!



The text is so hard to read up in the trees there, I didn't even bother trying to use text shots.



Yes, Fluttershy, it's all about you.

Luna: And the Empire is no doubt pursing us still!
Applejack: If'n we can mosey through the Veldt with our keisters intact, we can get to Ponyville in the east...
Fluttershy: Um... I should go... I mean... if that's okay...

Oh hey, the Veldt town has been turned into Ponyville. That’s the main location in Friendship Is Magic, for the Pony-illiterate out there.



It's okay. I took her cool floatation device. Maybe we'll pretend Luna can fly properly.



Either they recoded this fight or I broke it. Luna cast Bolt spread and five sharkies died and no more popped up. The sixth sharkie took some extra hits to take down, like the boss fish normally, but we skipped all the "hey more fishies!" segments.



By request, Applejack and Luna's stats. Which do not appear to have changed one lick. And yes, non-magical ponies are locked out of Esper as well as Magic, so Applejack will NEVER get a good magic power score.

Hahaha, so much for the idea that these people didn't know their Final Fantasy!

Applejack's stats actually are higher than Cyan's normally are. Her magic got a 10 point boost (Maybe a bit less. I don't remember what kind of stat boosts are on equipment at that point, if any.), but her strength is way higher than it'd normally be. When I played FFVI earlier, Shadow's strength ended up being right around 80 at the end of the game after micromanaging level up boosts and getting equipment bonuses. Even if you have a Hyper Wrist equipped, it still looks like they boosted stats to compensate for the lack of Espers. I didn't actually expect that, so I'm actually a little impressed. Blitz is still kind of wasted on those stats, though.

Luna's magic seems higher than what Sabin's would be too.

This is unbelievably in-character and I love it.

If I recall FFVI has pretty much everything tied decently into your level (I only saw part of an attack equation, but it was modified by [Level*Level*Attack] That was just a small part I was told).

Magic, however uses [Spell Power * 4 + (Level * Magic Power * Spell Power / 32)] From what I can tell this causes spells to start doing more damage but grow slower. (Certain special are magic too, but meh).

Auto-crossbow is considered a disc one Nuke.

I took this as saying Narshe was ponyville.

The fact that this exists is madness and I love it.

Though now I can't stop thinking of Vinyl Scratch with the Tool command, and the Noiseblaster redone as the Basscannon.

Celes is magical, and a great and powerful character. Therefore, calling it now, Celes is Trixie. Also calling Sweetiebell/Rarity as Relm/Strago because I think it wouldn't really make sense anywhere else easily.

Every time I think this can't get anymore stupid, and then something like this pops up.

Clearly that's a cotton candy ghost.

They should have changed the ghosts to Windigos, or something.