United StatesFFCCRE General FAQ Please come join the discord! It’s the best way to get in contact with us and has lots of resources. Plus, it’s a real good time in here. https://discord.gg/YRRquyF I hope this helps answer most of the obvious questions!
#What console should I play on? -Whatever you have should be able to be decently competitive now that we have swapped over to using "Load Removed Time". When we compared based solely on real-time alone PS5 > Switch > PS4 came down almost exclusively to loading time differences (which could be quite massive, about 10 minutes from best to worst case.)
-Strictly speaking however: PS4/PS5 will likely be the fastest by a slim margin over Switch. This is simply due to Switch dropping frames in a few places. Android/iOS lose a couple extra minutes in full-game runs over consoles due to not being able to skip the cutscenes that play when you sail on a boat across the river/ocean. Otherwise, they work perfectly fine (though can be slightly more annoying to retime without loads if one ever taps on the loading screen's text. Also the control scheme could be argued to be objectively inferior in some scenarios.)
#How do you time a run without loads? -We use an open-source program called Unload to remove loading times from runs after they have been submitted to the leaderboard.
-There also now exists a program that can be used with LiveSplit to get a very accurate estimate of the loadless time for runners. Setup for it can be found here.
-As stated in the "Game rules" for this game, a runner does not need to remove loading times from their own runs prior to submission as a moderator can/will do it for them. However, more information on the entire process can be found there.
#Which tribe should I play? -This primarily comes down to personal preference and the category being run.
-Selkie was the most popular in the original game due to their high STR, versatile defend, and strong focus attacks. For No DLC runs especially, this all still applies. In the original, female Selkie is able to execute a one-cycle memiroa more efficiently than male which saves a lot of time at the end of the game. () This strategy can likely be emulated by using the menu to pause buffer in the Remaster instead of the pause button (which doesn’t exist here). With DLC weapons Selkie has the most starting STR in the game, and is a top tier choice for categories allowing DLC. For Co-op individual level speedruns having a Selkie is basically mandatory due to being able to buff the party with Hastega.
-Clavat is similarly viable in No DLC categories as it was in the original game- it is unremarkable compared to Selkie and Lilty due to having lower STR and no useful unique benefits. However, with DLC Clavat is easily a top tier tribe due to having the 2nd highest starting STR in the game and having an easier time of skipping armor due to having the highest starting DEF. It’s also worth noting that male clavat’s 3-hit combo attack finishes several frames faster than all other tribes meaning that at equal STR values the male Clavat will do the most DPS if uninterrupted. In individual level speedruns this could become especially noteworthy as with max equipment Clavat ascends to having the most STR and fastest attacks in the game.
-Yuke is the slowest tribe for Any% No DLC and All Dungeons No DLC runs since its design is heavily focused on magic casting (which is slow) and it has by far the worst STR. If you want to play as Yuke in these categories, but don't want to be the definitive worst option you could consider looking at the Misc. "Magic-Users" category (more info on that later in FAQ). With DLC Yuke is not bad at meleeing- it just has poor focus attacks. Yuke gets very interesting in Post-Game though. With the Wiseman’s Soul spellcasting accessory, it does damage unmatched by any other tribe in the game and is likely the best tribe for completing solo IL speedruns as well as probably being the best tribe to run the Post-Game Dungeons category with if you prioritize getting the Wiseman’s Soul ASAP.
-Lilty has the highest starting STR (without DLC) in the game and in theory is the fastest Any% No DLC tribe due to this. However, it lacks the Selkie’s powerful defend and has mediocre focus attacks particularly on its master’s weapon. For Lilty it’s actually possible to do a route which skips the master’s weapon with relative ease though, which reduces RNG from large parts of the run (this may not be the theoretical best strategy, but it can make the run more consistent and might be realistically very viable and hard to beat). With DLC Lilty is relegated to being the odd one out as its DLC weapons do not give as much STR as Selkie, Clavat, and even Yuke. Even with this, it is still relatively viable due to how absurd its starting STR still is with DLC. It is worth testing how well their post-game weapons were buffed in a recent patch for IL speedruns, but expect them to be the worst choice here in most compositions.
#How do stats work in this game? -Counterintuitively all stats only actually increase your power every 5 stat you get. (Example: you deal the same damage with 21 STR as you do with 24, but hitting 25 STR causes you to enter the next bracket of damage.) For speedruns: don’t eat meat/fish (+2 STR) or fruit (+2 MAG) unless you need it to heal or if it will allow you to hit the next damage bracket (especially make sure to pay attention to this for bosses), otherwise it’s just a waste of the resource.
-Note that if coming from the original game food buffs work how they do in the US and PAL versions (i.e., they need to be reapplied between loading zones).
#How do DLC speedruns work? What do I have to buy? -DLC Weapons are the core of what makes the DLC speedruns so fast. They give immensely overpowered amounts of STR stat and can be acquired at the beginning of a run. This completely trivializes much of the game (particularly early on) while eliminating much of the gil/drop RNG from later in the run. With DLC weapons Selkies start with 52 STR, Clavats with 51 STR, Yukes with 50 STR, and Lilties with 48 STR.
-Which weapon set you should purchase depends on the tribe you intend to play. Selkie and Lilty generally will prefer their ‘Relic Weapon’ while Clavat will prefer their ‘Moogle Weapon’ due to the focus attacks each give (though Clavat's relic weapon is not terrible either, could be better for certain things even). Yuke’s choice doesn’t matter much at all since they rarely if ever focus attack.
-There are also DLC accessories. On paper the wallet accessory that increases the amount of gil that drops sounds good, but it is actually quite useless (maybe ~10% increase to gil dropped) due to not affecting the gil your father gives you and due to most of the gil required during the run coming from selling items- not raw gil. The recovery accessory is worth purchasing however as it can save you from needing to heal in several scenarios- the rate at which your health regenerates is massively increased.
-Cosmetic skins affect nothing gameplay-wise and cost time to put on mid-run so they are not explicitly banned. This could change if they are found to somehow give an advantage.
Note that buying “extra” DLC will lose you about 1.5 second each since the storage moogle will always give you all DLC weapons and accessories that you’ve purchased. Optimally you should only purchase 1 set of weapons and 1 accessory, but buying both weapon sets and accepting the miniscule time loss doesn't really matter if you want to use either for different things. Just don’t buy the wallet, it’s pretty useless.
#What is Any% Unrestricted? Why is there no Unrestricted version of other categories? -Any% Unrestricted is basically just Any% DLC that also allows for the runner to create online lobbies with the intent to play through dungeons by themselves in multiplayer mode as this can allow for you to “teleport” across the map. This is mainly useful to skip all the travel and cutscenes from Lynari Desert to Veo Lu Sluice 2 and then to Mount Vellenge which saves several minutes of time. The disadvantage to using this strategy is having to complete dungeons without Mog and with buffed enemy/boss HP. The time saved by doing the teleportation more than makes up for this though in several places, though actually completing the dungeons can be very tricky!
-The reason this is currently only allowed in this one “true” Any% category (and also why it isn't listed as the default category even though it is technically fastest) is because the use of a feature that requires an online connection, subscription, and for the game’s multiplayer servers to be up means that this category likely has a limited lifespan on it. (It is expected this game’s multiplayer servers won’t last forever, as opposed to something like normal DLC categories which will always be able to be run on your device if you purchased the DLC at some point.) It is also controversial whether using online multiplayer is really fair game or not at all. For these reasons, we have decided to currently only allow for this technique to be done for Any% since it is the technical fastest way for someone to beat the game (as long as nobody joins their multiplayer lobby to assist them). There could be an Unrestricted version of every singleplayer category, but it is for now not a direction we want to go in due to issues noted surrounding a category like this.
#Why is there no 100%/all trophies? Why is there no All Cycles? -Basically there is no 100% because there is no current desire for it. It would be an incredibly long and immensely RNG-heavy speedrun that nobody has shown any genuine interest in running. It's no different really than the same issues with doing it in the original game (which is explained in the original game's FAQ forum post). For the Remaster we thought it would be a better idea to include a post-game category as it's much more feasible to run, isn't reliant on ludicrous amounts of luck, and still scratches the itch of seeing a large breadth of the game's content.
As for why there is no All Cycles even though it exists in the original game- we just felt Post-Game Dungeons is what made sense to go with for the Remaster as essentially a spiritual successor (of sorts) to All Cycles. We initially felt that the "spirit" of All Cycles was to basically require the player to do every dungeon on its hardest difficulty- which just so happened to necessitate doing every cycle of every dungeon in the original game. In the Remaster with the inclusion of hard modes the third cycle is essentially superseded by the post-game dungeon variants in terms of difficulty and these post-game dungeons do not require the third cycle to be completed before being accessed. Thus, we decided an appropriate definition was to keep the original intent of "complete each dungeon on its highest difficulty" which for the Remaster means just completing it on hard-mode with the cycles completed beforehand being irrelevant. From a different perspective though some may disagree with this approach and instead wish that we had gone with a "complete every version of every dungeon" definition which is a very valid opinion, though that'd also be a longer category.
It is of course possible All Cycles could return in the future if it has some demand. We would need to think about how to implement it though. Would we exclude the post-game and have it be every cycle then Mount Vellenge? Or would we make a massive dungeon crawling category of All Cycles + Post-Game Dungeons combined? We'll have to cross that bridge if/when we get to it.
#Are there any game version differences? -For singleplayer speedruns there is nothing of note outside the different languages (Japanese version is about 4 seconds faster across a full run due to text speed). There are three different versions of the game corresponding to different regions: Japan, The Americas, and Europe/AUS/NZ/etc. Switch and PS4 physical versions exist only for the Japanese version. Load times have not been tested for physical versions- they may differ slightly for Switch running off the cartridge, but I expect PS4 is unaffected since the disk is only used for the initial download and then verification.
-All three versions can be purchased online via the platform’s corresponding store, but note that each of the three versions is distinct and you cannot play co-op with people that own a different version. It is possible to have multiple copies of the game on one system if you purchase the game multiple times in different regions’ online stores (for example, I own both the US and PAL versions on my Switch. I purchased the PAL version from the Australian eshop and am able to play with people in France/Germany from my location in the US. They have distinct save files and connect to different people online, but are functionally the same game otherwise). If you live in certain regions you may not be able to purchase the game (likely if it doesn't support your region's native language), the only thing you can do to get around this is either import the Japanese physical edition or find a way to both access and use appropriate currency for a different region's online store (typically by buying online gift card codes in the appropriate currency).
-A final note on the languages available in each version: the Japanese version has different voiceovers and text is locked to the Japanese language. US/PAL versions can switch from English/Spanish/French/German/Italian text and are stuck with English voice acting. Since there is no greater than 4 seconds of time loss across an entire run due to it, play your preferred language as it is particularly helpful in the memory quiz at the end of the game among other things.
#Are there any glitches? -No useful ones that we know of currently. Sub-categories are split based on the use of DLC/online content and the pure base game.
#What the heck is Co-op NG+? -tl;dr We can have a relatively cohesive co-op speedrun experience that is somewhat similar to the original game by designating one player as the host for all dungeons and requiring them to start on a new file, but allowing all other players to make new characters on already-progressed files.
-Due to how Co-op works in the Remaster it is impossible to do a fresh new game co-op speedrun similar to how the original FFCC does it. If two people make a new save file and want to progress together it is in essence impossible to do so without having to repeat every single dungeon two times (or three, or four with more players). This is because players cannot access Mount Vellenge via multiplayer until they have unlocked the unknown element (year 5 at the earliest). It would be unreasonable and completely undesirable if we were to require all co-op players start from a new file for this reason- as getting everyone progressed to year 5 doubles, triples, or even quadruples the number of dungeons you have to do to get there in order to keep everyone “caught up”. Then you would all have to change your element in Lynari Desert and… it just wouldn’t really work…
-Thus, we developed a solution with the help of the Japanese co-op runners from the original game: Co-Op NG+ (New Game+)! The goal of this category is to emulate the original co-op experience as much as possible. The person who times the run and who progresses through the game is the “host” player who makes each lobby and starts from a new file. Each dungeon they simply invite their friends “guests” to come along with the only caveat being the guests start on a file at year 5+ (so they can access Mount Vellenge without needing to ever host a dungeon themselves). The guests, of course, do not use progressed characters, but instead create new characters for the run so that they can start off fresh and grow in power with the host as the host progresses through the game (so basically, guests play on a NG+ file). This allows for a “normal” Any% or All Dungeons speedrun to be done with 2-4 players without having to repeat any dungeons. (Though there is one point where the host has to enter a dungeon solo to change their element to ??? in order to access Mount Vellenge).
-Read more about this category’s rules on the leaderboard and maybe watch some of the runs! It’s very fun, and I promise it isn’t as complicated as it looks at a glance- we just had no other better way to get co-op speedruns to work for this game. And no, there are no plans for there to be a Co-op Post-Game Dungeons full game speedrun (especially since you can't play every dungeon's hard mode online every day of the week except on the weekends because... reasons?).
#What is Magic-Users? -Magic-Users is a Misc. category that exists primarily to encourage runners to try out a playstyle that would otherwise be unviable in normal speedruns of Any% and All Dungeons (No DLC). It's very arbitrary, as is the nature of Misc. categories, but demand was there in the original game for something like it to exist so we came up with the category as a way to make everyone as happy as possible and ported it over to this game. The main restrictions added to all runs is you cannot have 30 or more STR (which makes going into a magic-focused build the fastest), and you cannot use DLC weapons (obviously) or accessories (just because No DLC was a better standard to have for the category- similar to how the original game's Magic-Users is kept Glitchless). This has the added effect of giving Yuke some incentive to be played in these categories as on the main leaderboard it's at a significant disadvantage to other tribes regardless of what artifacts you take.
#Closing misc. notes -There’s no way to manipulate random encounters, pattern drops (master’s weapon, etc.), materials (iron, mythril, etc.).
-General Artifact priority for most categories is going to be STR > HP > DEF/Command Slots as STR is king for making you go faster and HP is essential for not getting 1-hit later in the game. Specific guides/routes will outline exactly what you take where, but keep this in mind generally speaking.
2024 update - Most of the information here about glitched categories specifically is incredibly out of date. It's Lilty or bust to use any of the newest glitches. Might update this eventually...
FFCC General FAQ Please come join the discord! It’s the best way to get in contact with us and has lots of resources. Plus, it’s a real good time in here. https://discord.gg/YRRquyF I hope this helps answer most of the obvious questions!
#What console should I play on? -Wii reduces the chance at getting disc read errors which is reason enough for it to be the preferred console. However, we haven't noticed it offer a load advantage over GameCube so GameCube is a perfectly viable option if you have one.
-Do note that this is just based on what we've seen/tested, and we haven't extensively analyzed each runner's individual setups and loads in all places. Due to the nature of optical media it's absolutely possible several factors could potentially impact loading times (disc condition, laser quality, etc.) so it's likely possible that someone could have a setup that performs notably worse than others. I can at least say that in other GameCube games Wii console disc drives on the whole tend to perform better overall, so they're again the safest bet to go with (in addition to being the easiest to homebrew for out of region games anyway). I just wouldn't rush out to buy one if you have a GameCube already.
-USB/SD card loaders and unofficial game discs are banned from appearing on the leaderboard since they cause the game to load at different speeds than normal. We will likely never allow USB/SD card loading or unofficial game disc copies due to the impossibility of standardizing them in any way.
-Also although not necessary it is definitely a bonus to run with a GBA + link cable put into port 2 (even when playing categories that do not require entering multiplayer mode) as it will give you a minimap, bonus condition, and stat tracker.
#Which tribe should I play? -This primarily comes down to personal preference and the category being run.
Roughly speaking, as a tl;dr: -Glitchless: Selkie >= Lilty > Clavat >> Yuke -Glitched: Lilty > Selkie >> Clavat > Yuke -Magic-Users misc. category: Yuke >> Clavat > Selkie > Lilty
- Note in glitched categories male characters are always faster than their female counterparts.
- Also note in glitched categories starting the game with 2 GBAs is slightly faster than 1 GBA. This is specifically relevant for Lilty, Selkie, and maybe Yuke (haven't tried it yet) as they can then do GES after the first dungeon instead of the second dungeon if they do this.
-Selkie is generally the most popular Glitchless tribe due to their high STR, versatile defend, and strong focus attacks. Female Selkie is able to execute a one-cycle memiroa more efficiently than male which saves a lot of time at the end of the game in Glitchless categories. (). With GES in Any%/AD/AC it's about as viable as Lilty, maybe slightly worse.
-Lilty has the highest starting STR in the game and is a strong choice for all categories due to this. However, it lacks the Selkie’s powerful defend and has mediocre focus attacks particularly on its master’s weapon so it's generally not preferred in Glitchless. With GES male Lilty is probably the best choice generally speaking. For All Cycles specifically Lilty is unquestionably the best tribe due to being able to perform the Rebena Te Ra skip detailed below solo.
-Clavat is the “all rounder” in the game, but that makes it fairly mediocre at everything. It’s only 1 STR behind Selkie so it’s still a very viable choice for Glitchless. Outside of its faster casting speed (which is of extremely limited use) male clavat’s 3-hit combo attack finishes 4 frames faster than all other tribes- which actually is relatively significant and makes it a little closer to Selkie/Lilty than it would be otherwise. It is able to kill the meteor parasite safer than other tribes which may make it attractive to new runners. Unfortunately for Glitched categories, the earliest male Clavat letter we've found that works with GES can only be obtained at the end of year 1 which makes Clavat at least a couple minutes slower by my estimation than Lilty and Selkie (all with 1 GBA).
-Yuke is the slowest tribe for glitchless runs since its design is heavily focused on magic casting (which is slow) and it has by far the worst STR. It actually isn't that bad necessarily in glitched categories due to the absurd STR even it gets with GES, but we currently lack a name + letter combo setup for it that's quite as good as the other three tribes. If a setup is found it could actually edge out Clavat for the 3rd best Tribe spot. If you want to play as Yuke in Glitchless categories specifically because of their magic-focused design, then you may be interested in running the Misc. "Magic-Users" category (more info on that later in FAQ). Even in Glitchless, meleeing as Yuke is probably the most optimal strategy RTA, but that probably isn't the reason why most would want to play it, hence that suggestion.
-*Again, note that these are fairly broad-stroke descriptions, and there can be quite a bit of nuance in which is the best especially depending on the category. If you don't care solely about ranking you can make anything work though. The tribe filters can be used to compare runs only of a certain tribe, and if you wish to run with multiple different Tribes it's highly encouraged to submit your different "tribe PBs" so they can show up when filtered in this way (I've done this myself a bit).
#How do stats work in this game? -Counterintuitively all stats only actually increase your power every 5 stat you get. (Example: you deal the same damage with 21 STR as you do with 24, but hitting 25 STR causes you to enter the next bracket of damage.) For speedruns: don’t eat meat/fish (+2 STR) or fruit (+2 MAG) unless you need it to heal or if it will allow you to hit the next damage bracket (especially make sure to pay attention to this for bosses), otherwise it’s just a waste of the resource.
-Also note the food buff region difference detailed below- you need to rebuff for bosses on the US version, but the JP version works even if you eat the food outside the boss room!
#I want to run with the glitches. How do I do this? -**At minimum you will need to get a Japanese copy of the game, a GBA, and a GBA to GCN link cable. **
-To play the JP disc you have a few options assuming you don’t have a Japanese console.
-On Wii you will need to softmod the console and get the homebrew channel onto it (tutorials everywhere online for how to do this). Then it is recommended to download/install and use Priiloader to region unlock your Wii. Alternative disc loading methods that are allowed so long as they do not boot the game in Wii mode and do not affect loading times. Swiss is an example of an allowed loader alternative disc loader. An example of a disallowed loader is Nintendont (boots game in Wii mode even when loading from disc).
-On GameCube you will likely need to use a Freeloader or Action Replay disc to bypass the region lock. Having a way to boot Swiss should also work. As with the Wii, so long as game performance is not modified in any way you’re good with whatever solution you can get to work.
The two glitches that significantly impact the run and are exclusive to the Japanese version are the Infinite Gil Glitch (IGG) and GBA Equip Swap (GES). They and all other known glitches can be found here. Both work by activating "Letter Glitch" which simply involves opening a letter then hitting select twice to cause the GBA to enter a glitched state. Please check out the guide for detailed information on these glitches!
#Additional Version Differences -Another notable difference is that food buffs (ex. Eating meat/fish gives +2 STR) persist through loading screens on JP, but on US/PAL need to be reapplied between loading screens such as on bosses. Technically this makes JP the fastest version for every category, but this is minor enough that it is very likely not worth it for most English speakers to forfeit just playing in English for glitchless categories.
-Additionally, don’t play the PAL version. It runs at 25 instead of 30 FPS which loses time literally everywhere to the tune of 20+ minutes in a 2 hour run.
#Why is there no 100%? -For one, it would be very hard to define exactly. What equipment would you need to get? What counts as a side quest? Perhaps we could look to the Remaster's PSN trophies for inspiration, but that brings us to the second issue: nobody actually wants to run it. Let's say 100% includes the requirement to get all the artifacts in the game, which would certainly make sense in theory- that alone would probably be an over 8 hour run. It would also be littered with RNG that would likely push that estimate up considerably since you cannot guarantee end-of-dungeon artifact drops, and you'd have to repeat dungeons ad nauseam. Our more reasonable version of a speedrun that includes more of the game is the "All Cycles" category that focuses only on completing each dungeon on its highest difficulty- which is still a pretty long run, but one that still gets to see most of the game's content and that actually has interest backing it. It also has the added benefit of having a nice, clean definition to go off of as well.
#What is Magic-Users? -Magic-Users is a Misc. category that exists primarily to encourage runners to try out a playstyle that would otherwise be unviable in normal speedruns of each category. It's arbitrary, as is the nature of Misc. categories, but demand was there for something like it to exist so we came up with this category essentially as a workaround to keep everyone as happy as possible. The main restriction added to all runs is you cannot have 30 or more STR (which makes going into a magic-focused build the fastest). This has the added effect of giving Yuke some incentive to be played as on the main leaderboard it's at a significant disadvantage to other tribes regardless of what artifacts you take.
#Playing the game in progressive scan mode (480p) -This note is mostly relevant for running glitched categories. In my testing I've found that resetting the console (which is needed at least once per run with glitched categories) is a good ~24 seconds slower if the game detects that it can output in 480p since a prompt always shows up (if you have component cables) asking if you'd like to use progressive scan mode. This can be worked around on both GameCube and Wii by booting the game using the Swiss homebrew (specific directions can be found in the discord). Otherwise, you can just run the game in 480i (hitting no on the prompt should cause it to disappear after resetting the console.)
An added benefit is in my testing Swiss forcing also seems to produce a notably clearer 480p picture than the game's standard 480p mode. No gameplay is changed by resolution forcing, so this is just an extra nice bonus discovered from the original intent of getting around the necessary time loss stated above.
#Closing misc. notes -There’s no way to manipulate random encounters, pattern drops (master’s weapon, etc.), materials (iron, mythril, etc.).
-General Artifact priority for most categories is going to be STR > HP > DEF/Command Slots as STR is king for making you go faster and HP is essential for not getting 1-hit later in the game. Specific guides/routes will outline exactly what you take where, but keep this in mind generally speaking.
-Your in-dungeon bonus condition can randomly cause you to get too many points and miss artifacts that you ideally want to get (or can rarely get you an even better artifact than expected). You can mitigate this if you use a GBA to see what bonus condition you have in order to try and avoid getting too many points if possible (especially in Veo Lu Sluice #1, Daemon’s Court, and Mount Kilanda you can “miss” the STR artifacts you want). Otherwise, it’s just bad luck and it happens sometimes.
-When playing on JP just mash A through most random encounters. Don’t sweat the choices if you have no idea what they are. Just try to get out of the encounter ASAP!
Hey there! Got my NTSC-J copy of the game so I've been looking into learning the route and all that. However I did have a couple questions.
If you don't get the master's weapon first try in Goblin Wall what do you do? Is there a way to try again or get it elsewhere?
Also, I've ripped a copy of the Japanese disc to use in dolphin for practicing different parts of the game. I wondered if anyone else had experience with this and thinks it to be beneficial, or if it may be harmful for some reason I'm not realizing.
Thanks!
