Insane Difficulty: Final Fantasy VIII (PC) - Requiem v2.2.9 - Insane Difficulty

Final Fantasy VIII - Requiem v2.2.9
http://www.mediafire...FVIIIRv2.2.9.7z

This patch is a difficulty and re-balance modification for the PC version of Final Fantasy VIII.

Enemy Alterations
Enemy HP, Str, Mag, and Spd have been increased. Bosses are immune to negative status and gravity attacks. High level regular enemies have increased negative status resistances. Some are immune to gravity attacks. Some also are immune to expulsion. Many enemy abilities and AI scripts have been altered. HP is now the only stat that can be increased by Devouring enemies. Enemies have fixed levels.

GFs
Str Bonus, Vit Bonus, Mag Bonus, and Spr Bonus have been replaced. Stat increasing abilities (Str+20%, etc.) have been reduced in effect. Forbid Med-RF, Enc-Half, Enc-None, LV Down, LV Up, and Doom have been removed. Re-balanced abilities on some GFs. Eden learns Card Mod at level 50. Bahamut can break the damage limit. Doomtrain and Siren use a standard status hitrate (200).

Magic
All magic junctions have had their effects reduced. Re-balanced magical damage. Reduced the base hitrate of negative status spells (150). Aura has a lower status hitrate and may cause death. Ultima can break the damage limit.

Items
Altered the damage multipliers of Holy Stones, Flare Stones, and Ultima Stones to match the altered spell damage multipliers. Aura Stones have a lower status hitrate and may cause death. Ultima Stones can break the damage limit. Altered the base status hitrate of Death Stones to match the altered spell status hitrate. Hero-Trial, Hero, Holy War-Trial, and Holy War have fixed hitrates and add Haste, Regen, Protect, and Shell.

Limit Breaks
Re-balanced limit break damage multipliers. LV? Death and Degenerator use a standard status hitrate (200). Rapture replaced with Meteor 2. The End replaced with Ultima 2. Wall adds Aura and Invincibility. Meteor 2 and Ultima 2 appear more frequently in Slots, while Wall appears far less frequently. Invicible Moon replaced with Wishing Moon, a weaker version of Wishing Star. Ultima 2, Blasting Zone, My Final Heaven, and Hyper Shot can break the damage limit. Meteor Strike deals non-gravity damage. Shockwave Pulsar deals more damage and ignores defense.

Magic Damage Multipliers
Fire - 23
Blizzard - 23
Thunder - 23
Aero - 28
Fira - 36
Blizzara - 36
Thundara - 36
Water - 39
Drain - 39
Firaga - 62
Blizzaga - 62
Thundaga - 62
Bio - 53
Meltdown - 56
Tornado - 76
Quake - 80
Holy - 96
Flare - 96
Meteor - 20
Ultima - 120 (can break the damage limit)

Limit Break Damage Multipliers

Renzokuken
Rough Divide - 48
Fated Circle - 76
Blasting Zone - 132 (can break the damage limit)
Lion Heart - 25

Duel
Punch Rush - 4
Booya - 4
Heel Drop - 5
Mach Kick - 12
Dolphin Blow - 28
Meteor Strike - 32 (non-gravity)
Burning Rave - 96
Meteor Barret - 104
Different Beat - 216
My Final Heaven - 200 (can break the damage limit)

Shot
Normal Shot - 15
Scatter Shot - 10
Dark Shot - 10
Flame Shot - 25
Canister Shot - 45
Quick Shot - 8
Armor Shot - 30
Hyper Shot - 60 (can break the damage limit)

Slots
Meteor 2 - 40
Ultima 2 - 180 (can break the damage limit)

Combine
Angelo Cannon - 72
Angelo Strike - 120
Wishing Moon - 50
Wishing Star - 80

Note: May not be compatible with saves from the original game or earlier versions of this patch.

v2.2.9 Changes
tweaked vysage, fujin, raijin, mobile type 8, seifer, adel, griever, and the omega weapon
buffed tonberry king, jumbo cactuar, bahamut, ultimecia, and the ultima weapon
added gravity immunity to some high level enemies
added expulsion immunity to some high level enemies

v2.2.0 Changes
fixed diablos
tweaked belhelmel

v2.1.9 Changes
altered all enemies
removed enemy level scaling
removed spd-j scroll rare drop from elnoyles
removed the alterations to elixers, megalixers, and x-potions
removed lv up and lv down
removed enc-half and enc-none
removed doom
removed card
reduced magic negative status base hitrate to 150
reduced gf negative status base hitrate to 200
restored knights code and cover
restored original damage multipliers for cure, cura, and curaga
tweaked ultima and different beat
tweaked meltdown, aura, and aura stones
tweaked invicibility items
re-balanced limit breaks
re-balanced abilities on some gfs
bahamut can break the damage limit
minor alteration to apocalypse
minor alteration to meteor and meteor 2
buffed shockwave pulsar
altered some seed test questions
fixed some tutorial text
fixed a problem removing card
fixed eden's version of darkside
cleaned up the scene file

v1.2.1 Changes
altered elixers, megalixers, and x-potions

v1.2.0 Changes
altered magic damage multipliers
removed cover
replaced knights code with thief's code
thief's code teaches mug

v1.1.2 Changes
reduced canister shot's damage multiplier to 45
increased quick shot's damage multiplier to 7

v1.1.1 Changes
reduced armor shot's damage multiplier to 30

v1.1.0 Changes
increased normal shot's damage multiplier to 15
increased scatter shot's damage multiplier to 10
increased dark shot's damage multiplier to 10
increased fire shot's damage multiplier to 25
increased canister shot's damage multiplier to 50
increased quick shot's damage multiplier to 5
hyper shot can break the damage limit

v1.0.6 Changes
my final heaven and the end can break the damage limit
slightly increased wishing moon's damage multiplier
increased the end's damage multiplier

v1.0.5 Changes
altered some text
reduced angelo strike's status hitrate
increased wishing star's damage multiplier
invincible moon changed to wishing moon (a weaker version of wishing star)

v1.0.3 Changes
disc 4 bosses modified
omega weapon, tiamat, red giant, catoblepas, and ultimecia's ai scripts altered
added a ribbon as a reward for defeating the omega weapon
dark flare is non-elemental
fixed some text
increased ultima 2's damage multiplier to 160
increased apocalypse's damage multiplier to 255

v0.9.0 Changes
disc 3 bosses modified
reduced the hitrate of degenerator to 200
minor alteration to doomtrain

v0.8.0 Changes
changed catastrophe to meteor 2
increased blasting zone's damage multiplier
altered edea's ai (2nd fight)
some other minor changes

v0.7.4 Changes
slightly weakened fujin and norg

v0.7.3 Changes
fixed some tutorial text
fixed a problem with the elite soldier
altered norg

v0.7.1 Changes
basic alterations to odin and tonberry king

v0.7.0 Changes
lv5 death changed to all death
angelo cannon and angelo strike's damage multipliers increased
angelo strike can inflict vit0
altered some descriptions
basic alterations to bosses up to and including edea (2nd fight)

v0.6.0 Changes
added spd-j scroll to elnoyle as a rare drop
all regular enemies modified
altered tutorial menu text
percent changed to ultima 2
apocalypse's damage multiplier increased to 160
meteor's damage multiplier increased to 15

v0.4.1 Changes
fixed a problem with the elite soldier using aura
further reduced the damage multiplier of lion heart
restored the original damage multiplier of dolphin blow
meteor strike is now non-gravity
the damage multipliers for zell's finishing moves have been increased
the damage multipliers for fated circle and blasting zone have been increased
reduced the damage multiplier of meteor
created a new version of meteor for use by enemies
altered aura and wall again
fixed some text issues
some other little changes

v0.3.2 Changes
reduced the power of most multi-hit limit breaks

v0.3.1 Changes
switched aura and wall

v0.3.0 Changes
hero/holy war/trail add protect, shell, haste, and regen

v0.2.9 Changes
removed vit0 from doomtrain

v0.2.8 Changes
removed forbid med-rf from doomtrain

v0.2.7 Changes
altered edea's ai, yet again

v0.2.6 Changes
removed stat bonus abilities
reduced the effect of stat % increase abilities
cleaned up descriptions for the end and meltdown

v0.2.5 Changes
altered edea's ai
seifer casts flare

v0.2.4 Changes
altered enemies up to and including edea (disc 1)
removed vit0 from meltdown
the end merged with catastrophe and no longer ignores death immunity

v0.2.3 Changes
altered enemies up to and including the iguions

v0.2.2 Changes
bosses are immune to gravity based attacks

v0.2.1 Changes
altered enemies up to and including brothers

v0.2.0 Changes
altered some more enemies

v0.1.9 Changes
altered some enemies

v0.1.8 Changes
altered enemies up to and including gerogero

v0.1.7 Changes
hp is the only stat that can be increased by using devour

v0.1.6 Changes
altered enemies up to and including diablos

v0.1.5 Changes
reduced the effect of junctioning magic

v0.1.4 Changes
altered level formulas for disc 4 enemies

v0.1.3 Changes
altered level formulas for disc 3 enemies

v0.1.2 Changes
altered level formulas for disc 2 enemies

v0.1.1 Changes
altered level formulas for disc 1 enemies

v0.1.0 Changes
altered enemies up to and including ifrit

Thank you for basically removing Card Mod. I like every changes except Aura having a chance to randomly kill you. I'd prefer a less RNG approach like Vit 0, Slow, Poison, etc.

Too bad I don't like FF8 that much, but man that patch look sweet.

Is one still able to pull off Zell's Duel combo, punch rush + booya + punch rush + booya (repeat) for massive damage like in vanilla?? That was by far one of my favorite things to do in the game, pump Zell up and pummel away with his limit break. This mod looks verrrrry enticing, great work LandonRay.

Also just wanted to double check before purchasing - this mod would be compatible with the Steam Version of FFVIII right? I'm pretty sure (just not 100%) that the Steam version you download, 'is' the PC version. Confirmation of this would be fantastic. Thanks.

-Web

The PC version is not the Steam version. Whether or not this works with the Steam version I do not know.

Webbhead08, on 14 December 2016 - 01:07 PM, said:

Hi, i'm currently playing this mod on the steam version and it seem to works fine so far, i'm one the cd2 after the fisherman horizon doing side quests, i'm not entirely sure that the mod is 100% working but it seems that all the changes are working. If other peoples are playing on the steam version it would be nice to have feedback.

Excellent, if the file structure is the same, and the archives weren't altered then it should work.

Hello, everyone!
Can someone point what the differences between PC and PSX versions of this mod?
I already enjoyed PSX version few years ago and curious if i should try PC one?
Thanks in advance!

I can't exactly speak to the older PC version, but iirc it was generally identical to the PSX version in that there were no major alterations to game play or stats or anything of that sort. Meanwhile, the Steam re-release comes with all of the below (which I think is ridiculous since the original game was not that hard), taken directly from the Steam FFVIII page:

"Key Features:
Magic Booster

When Magic Booster is used, the player’s inventory of the following spells is increased by 100:

Cure, Cura, Curaga, Fire, Fira, Blizzard, Blizzara, Thunder, Thundara, Sleep, Blind, Silence, Berserk, Bio, Esuna, Aero, Confuse, Break, Zombie

This feature can be used from the launcher.

Chocobo World

This version of FFVIII includes the full game “Chocobo World” that was released as a separate application for previous versions. It is possible to play “Chocobo World” directly from the launcher after booting up FFVIII and by fulfilling certain specific conditions in the main game you will also be able to synchronise data between the two games.

New Game Boosters:

High Speed Mode
All scenes (including cutscenes, movies and battles, etc.) can be fast-forwarded. (Fast-forward speeds vary by cutscene, but average about five times normal speed.)
* CAUTION, certain computers may not be able to process the game with High Speed Mode. If the game crashes while in High Speed Mode, please restart the game and refrain from using High Speed Mode.

Battle Assistance
Grants the following advantages in battle:
-ATB gauge always full
-HP always full
-Limit Break always available
*Characters die instantly when suffering damage that exceeds their HP.

9999
Normal attacks, certain Limit Breaks, and certain G.F. attacks deal 9,999 damage.

AP MAX
Sets level and AP of all acquired G.F. to max when used on the world map.
*May not function properly when used during event cutscenes.
*These commands can only be executed via keyboard.

Magic and Gil MAX
Sets inventory of each acquired magic spell to 100 and sets gil to maximum limit
*Cannot be used on menu screens, during cutscenes, in combat or at shop. Usable when moving between areas while playing Laguna's Dream.
*These commands can only be executed via keyboard"

The speed-up function to blast through those 20 minute dialogue and cut-scene parts is the only function of the above I plan on using. The ability to speed through those lengthy 'I'm not playing' sections, coupled with the Requiem 2.20 mod is very enticing to me, so I'm glad to hear it sounds like the Steam Release is compatible with the Mod. I will probably test this out soon, and report on findings, although it sounds like it has already been working for suqall77.

-Web

I believe I can initially confirm the latest Steam version of FF8 is compatible with this mod. Much like Sega Chief's New Threat mod for FF7, all you need to do is locate the FFVIII folder on your hard drive and replace the files in the Lang-En folder. On Windows 7 the folder for me was:

Program Files x86 > Steam > Steam Apps > common > FFVIII > Data > lang-en

and replace the files in the lang-en folder with those for this mod. ( I also backed up the original lang-en folder if I ever want to play the original or need those files by copying and pasting calling it Lang-en-Vanilla )

I have not tried the booster functions from Steam, other than the speed up function which works, although not as speedy as I had hoped.

Will have more later.

And T-rex first fight out of Garden, ouch.

Getting my ass handed to me. Died at anacondour. Died at Elvoret. I guess I need to grind out more levels.

Wow, thanks for detailed answer (i didn't know about steam version boosters), but i meant differences between PC and PSX versions of this Landon mod, not game :-)

You can see the differences between pc and psx versions of the mod by reading the changes after the 1.2.1 version. The major changes i think are the card ability removed and no level scalling monsters.

I'm on cd3 now, i noticed that the gf abilities, no level scalling, are working, i encoutered some really tough monsters (adamantoises, wendigo, anacondaur, tri-face, chimaira). But i have one question, it's about the difficulty, has it been reduced at the beginning(due to the fact that the card mod has been removed maybe)? Because i have played the 1.2.1 version on psx version and the bosses, for example seifer and edea disc 1 and 2, was stronger than the current version, i remembered that seifer's physical attack was stronger something like more than 2000 damages, and now it's about 1500 damages. If you have the time to respond Landon it would be nice for knowing that the mod is working fine on the steam version, it's the only thing that i have noticed that make me doubt about the mod working entirely, but the fights are still challenging so I assumed that the mod was working fine.

I do feel like this version is generally much easier than the PSX version. Like, I utterly destroyed Edea on my first try here. (end of Disk 1 battle) She was a nightmare in the old version because she only used moves like Ultima that hit the whole party for massive damage.

I just got the Garden moving and I'm currently leveling up and gathering Tornado and Quake spells, but I hope Fujin and Raijin are nowhere near teh nightmare they were in the old version. Oh god, I was stuck on that boss forever.

@suqall77

Thank you for the advice in the other thread. I missed out on the Curse Spikes from Tri-Face but the Forbiden at the Centra Ruins is a great source of EXP, AP and Curse Spikes. Just chuck a Phoenix Down or cast Life on him and boom, in less than a minute you win and it's pretty awesome.

Of course, to get 100 Curse Spikes for Dark Matter, I'll need to wait until I can actaully take on Tri-Faces much later but for right now, the 2 Curse Spikes Forbiddens give you is enough.

You're really blazing through the game though.You'll probably beat it before me.

so the new version is easier in general?

The level of bosses earlier in the game were reduced in the PC version. However many of their special attacks have been buffed. Overall, the first half of the game is easier. You'll also notice that some late game bosses are far more powerful then they were in the PSX version. The largest difference between the two versions is the removal of enemy level scaling.

Yep, it only makes sense things are easier earlier on because with the absence of Card Mod, you can't have high tier spells before even heading for Timber. You only have the meager stuff you can draw or maybe refine from the item drops early monsters give you. But once you get the Ragnarok, I expect all the limits to be off and things to get crazy. I'm looking forward to re-fighting Ultima Weapon. You made him as awesome as he should have been.

For me, this is also an Odin-free playthrough because I want to legit fight the final Seifer boss. I had Odin when I played the PSX version which meant I didn't actually beat him and that was disappointing. Seifer is a favorite character of mine and I want all his boss fights to be intense and climactic.

Anyway, I just beat Fujin and Raijin at Balamb. Thank you suqal for the idea of using Cover. I didn't even have it yet. My strategy for beating them was having Irvine Defend and Cover all battle while Squall Double-casted Quake and Zell healed. A tough one but thankfully nowhere near the headache it once was. Mainly it came down to Drawing Pandemona off Fujin before she could use Tornado or Meteor.

I have all the spells at 100 execept ultima meteor and full-life thanks to the chocobo world. I also get auto-protect and auto-shell on my three characters, those ones are really useful for boss battles.

Nikkolas have you tried the odin fight? I was trying it yesterday and it seems that i can't beat him, if I use the limit breaks tactics (low hp and alterations at the beginning of the fight), it seems that he is using his zantetsuken right after a few limit break, he has 44000 HP i think, i can't do enough damage in a few turn even with shockwave pulsar (i have getting a dark matter through the chocobo world). So I try the fight without low hp and not using limit break, using triple flare with everyone, but again i can't kill him fast enough, it seems he uses his zantetsuken after the 10:00 min have passed on the countdown this time.
I was trying to kill him for getting the Tonberry king, because i can handle the tonberry king fight, but i i haven't the the time to kill him before the countdown reached 0:00, he has a ton of HP don't know how many (scan shows ?????? HP) but he has a lot, i was using triple and flare with my 3 characters for this fight, it does some pretty nice damages on him unlike odin (about 4000 damages by flare spell).
I will probably do like you and kill odin after the last seifer fight, but i was thinking that's it kinda odd that odin uses his zantetsuken so fast.

Thanks for the reply on my previous post.

Nikkolas, on 16 December 2016 - 04:29 PM, said:

Wait, how his AI changes if you don't have Odin in this fight?

I see, it seems i give a shot to PC version soon, then :-)
I like to think that Steam version goes fine with this mod.

P.S. Or those changes planned to PSX version in future?

Tenkarider, on 17 December 2016 - 12:28 PM, said:

If you have Odin, you automatically win the fight with Seifer after a set number of turns. I forget how many though.

suqall77, on 17 December 2016 - 05:34 AM, said:

Yeah i haven't bothered with Chocobo World because I hate chocobo stuff in this game. :/ Plus I just figured LR hadn't taken that into account when he made this version of the mod.
Did you get Auto Protect and Shell from Chocobo World as well?

I haven't tried fighting Odin though. I have no idea if him using Zantetsuken so fast is a addition to the mod or maybe a bug. Maybe you're just not intended to fight him until way, way later.