So as most of you know by now I have undertaken a quest to finish every numbered Final Fantasy (MMOs excluded) in only a year. Therefore to celebrate this "lovely" occasion I decided we should start off the year with a special article.

  The Top Tips to beating Final Fantasy While Still Maintaining Some Sanity!

1.) Strategy aka use some intelligencez!

This one should be fairly obvious, but it needs to be stated! So rather than rattle on about the finer points of combat, magic use, and item management I thought it would be better/more entertaining If I just give you a sliver of my many many FUCK UPs . (I swear most of these were done when I was child......)

If one of your characters has auto reflect DO NOT cast Heal 3 (Curaga for young ones) on that character! This will heal the BOSS/monster you are fighting! This is usually followed by swearing (NB: If you want to be real technical if the boss also has auto reflect casting curaga on you will heal you!)

BUY 99 potions/ethers etc when going to for a large dungeon crawl. If not carried out, this one normally results in one being half way through a massive dungeon stuck, with only one option...walk three steps...save....walk three steps....save... until you get all the way back to town. Believe me this one can reduce a grown man to tears! (NB: This save/walk strategy only works for some games)

Generally Final Fantasy characters have specified roles (aka white mage, fighter etc) THIS IS FOR A REASON......SO YOU CAN BUILD A WELL ROUNDED PARTY! Do not try and turn magic users into fighters and vice versa. Develop your characters with some thought otherwise This WILL lead to cussing and crying : (

Fight strategically..i.e if your facing a fire based boss DO NOT cast Fire 3(Firaga). This WILL HEAL the boss, there has been many a time where I was not thinking about what spell I was casting and consequently fully healed a boss : (

2.) Sacrifice/Cut all social ties  (this include pesky friendly neighbourhood cats/ girls)

 As a warrior of light you have been fated to save the world from the ensnaring darkness. You don't have time to "hang" with REAL people or hit some NPC booty in town. Do not even get me started about how much time you are wasting by patting cute kitties X P

3.) Maximize your playing time
 The Final Fantasy games are well known for being time sinks (not as bad as some....DRAGON QUEST IX I am looking at you!) Therefore time management is absolutely essential to achieving your goals. A handy tip is consider playing the game on a portable device (where possible) PSP, PS Vita, GBA, DS, 3DS even iCasuals have the first four installments. Playing on a portable device allows you to get in a quick random encounter (called a Ranny in the business)during lunch, during bodily business, (wash your hands after K...please?) or whenever you think you've got a spare minute. Pesky family/friends want you to spend time with them? With a portable this is all possible!
P.S. Normally during portable play you are in company i.e. people who will judge you so keep Final Fantasy language e.g Fucken Sephiroth your just a cunt!/comments about sexy sprites to yourself)

4.) Enjoy Yourself
Finally this one is the most important! There is a reason why Final Fantasy is one of the most renowned series of all time. Over the last 25 years Final Fantasy has given us some of gamings most magical and beautiful worlds to explore and save, characters that stay embedded in your very psyche long after the cartridge/disc gets dusty.