I'm very curious who cheats on Final Fantasy. I can understand cheating on a lot of different games but I'm not sure why anyone would cheat on an RPG.

Then again, there are different degrees of 'cheating' and also maybe different circumstances. So I'm curious who is a hardcore cheater and uses gameshark but also who just exposes cheats/glitches/bugs in Final Fantasy/RPG's.

Most importantly, do you have a reason? And have you completed the game before without cheats?

Now personally I realise I have exposed bugs and glitches or design faults.

Final Fantasy VII
I've used the W-item trick a couple of times but I didn't know about that until after I had completed it at least once. I do it now just to speed things up a bit maybe.

Final Fantasy VIII
I found a way to have about 3000 HP before you leave balamb and without leveling up. All I did was minipulate GF's and the junction system. Again, I didn't discover this until after I had completed it.

Final Fantasy IX
When Dagger runs away and you have Vivi, Freya, Quina and Zidane I managed to level myself up until I could defeat this bird monster (who resides in the forest near the grand dragons) who give a lot of EXP... which helped me to level up enough to defeat the grand dragons. So I had ridiculously high level characters. It was no fun though and I never finished with that save. This was on the fourth (Ack! Thats a lot of playthroughs) time of playing it.

Anyone else?

I can safley say ive never cheated the games out. Why? Cos its no fun to have some code do it for u! I like it earn what i recieve. Furthermore i dont have gamechark and i couldnt be bothered with all those fancy tricks LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. Lazy.

I used the unlimited item glitch/cheat in FFVII to get a golden chocobo faster. I used a guide to answer every single SEED test in FFVIII after i got bored and one one playthrough, probably the second time, i did used a gameshark to get an item if i remember correctly just because a friend had lend me his gameshark and i was playing FFVIII at the time so i said to hell with it. Thats about it for FF.

The only time i have been playing a game for the first time and used a gameshark code was with xenogears in babel tower after expending countless hours and having died countless times, i used a lv 99 cheat which didnt do anything as my characters where in their gears so their level meant jack. I then tried some unlimited HP and Fuel cheat but i just thought i had gone to far so i started the game all over again. Even with the cheats, Babel Tower was a pain, i didnt got through it that time.

I used the w-item trick at FFVII and also the same with Jesuits on the guide answering the FFVIII SEED test. ^^;; I dont think FFIX grand dragons were that much of an issue, its pretty much like having access to Island closest to hell at disc 2 and IIRC I think it was even possible to max your levels at that point. ^^;; But feel free to correct me on that one.

Hi, my name's Doris and I cheat
I really don't have a problem with things like the W-item trick. Also if I've been trying to solve a hard puzzle for a long time I will look at a walkthrough or something, but I'll have a good few hours' worth of trying before I resort to that.
It's gameshark codes and serious cheating I don't agree with, at least not on the first play through. If it's not your first time playing I think it's fine to do whatever you want - sidequests are there to be cheated on! Especially really annoying ones which take hours unless you do a little bit of...short-cutting..

Hi Doris.

Final Fantasy VII

I used W-Item to gain more Megalixirs, and gave them to the Magic pots, to get more AP or Exp. Can't remember exactly.

Final Fantasy X

I cleared the whole sphere grid in the original Japanese version, and beat Nemesis and all. Didn't max out my stats though, because it wasn't needed in this game.

But when I later got FFX International, I played all the way till the end of the game. But once I got there, I didn't feel like wasting 40 more hours of my time to get back to where I was before, sphere grid wise. So I used a cheat device to get 99 Master Spheres, and kept using them till I was back at the stats I had in the Japanese version, and kept going on from there normally.

Ok, I admit it..... I used a Strategy guide to get the Drill in FF6. I just didn't feel like doing those different clock combinations over and over! xD

I also cheated in FFTactics so I could find out the different Job class requirements. That way, I could construct my ultimate team.

Cheats, huh =p ? Sure, I've used some, especially on second playthroughs. I don't have a cheating device, though. And I don't plan on getting one, because I think I would be too tempted to make use of it when I'm badly stuck xP . Let's see...

FFV:
OK, this is an exception... this game didn't interest me very much, so I used a cheat for instant lvl. 99 (I played it on an emulator, no cheat device needed). I'm not sure why I bothered finishing this FF, but at least Ex-Death's battle theme was nice to listen to. =p

FFVI:
I beat this game fairly the first time. When I replay it now, I usually just use a cheat for lvl. 99 (also on an emulator), as the battle system is a bit too standard to keep me interested (read: the battles bore me =p ).

FFVII:
I used the W-Item trick as well... and on my first playthrough too, yes. xP

FFVIII:
I guess using a guide to answer all the SeeD tests correctly is cheating too, right =P ? Although if I could use cheats in this game, I'd probably use a lvl. 99 cheat on a replay as well. The battles in this game can be vèry boring, which keeps me from replaying it more often (even though it's my most replayed FF game so far).

FFIX:
Hmmm, nothing really. I did recently take the time to level my characters up to lvl. 30 on disc 1 (by beating those Red Dragons outside the cave with the married Moogle couple). When I replay the game now, when I reach that point of the game, I usually switch to my lvl. 30 savefile. Although that's not really cheating, I guess. This is just another FF game where I like breezing through the battles, as I don't like the battle system much in this one.

FFX:
Uhm, using Zanmato to finish off bosses. Although that's not really a cheat, it's just cheap =p . But I don't mind using cheap moves like that, as a matter of fact: I love 'em! xD

FFX-2:
Using Catnip way too often. Although that's more of a cheap move as well (I don't consider cheap and cheat the same thing, but I know some people think differently about that ^^ ). And I played this game from start to finish with a guide in hand (hey, I wanted a good ending on my first playthrough xP ).

That's all... at least for the FF games. =D

I've used glitches before, but I've never gone through and used codes. The way I see it, any sort of glitches like item tricks are fair game. The one that stands out the most is the weapon duplication trick in FFIV. That was the only way to save up money for the crystal armor.

lol, I used some sort of glitch in Tactics, to duplicate my stronger swords and such late in the game. Can't remember the glitch too well now though, except that it had something to do with the shop I think? Been a while. x_x

That's really the only cheat I've used thus far though. However, I would consider using codes or other cheats in a few of the older titles, as those games bore me to tears. Codes would at least make the experience less painful to finish. XD But meh, maybe not. I kinda have a thing against cheating, at least on my first play-throughs. Replaying the game later is an entirely different thing though, as sometimes I may just want to speed through the game to experience the story again, ya know? =p

But in general, cheating's usually a no-no for me.

Oh i forgot about that one completely. Yeah i did used it on my last time with the game. You had to have the samurai two sword ability and then equip the sword you want to duplicate on one hand and a shield/sword on the other, then go to the shop and pick the "best equip" ( think thats the name of the option) and you got you extra sword. It doesnt hurt to have all your key characters with an excalibur each and two sword ability. Its shameful. Dont use it with ninjas and throw excaliburs at your enemies, thats just beyong cheapness.

"Cheap" moves are definatly up to personal oppinion. On FFVII I generally won't bother to get Cloud's omnislash or Knights of the Round because the sidequests are long and tedious but it also makes the game so damn easy. I wouldn't say using KOTR a lot is Cheating it though personally I think it is cheap (except against ruby and emerald weapon).

Some people however consider you using espers on FFVI 'cheap' and belive you should only be able to use them on certain characters. I guess this is why people make those challenges for RPG's.

I have a major confession... I HAVE used a gameshark on my FF4j easytype emulation. I found a cheat which meant imps give you masses of EXP. In my defence I only did it to see the extra characters at a higher level and compare them. I have also deleted the file now I've found all the main characters so I still havn't viewed the ending coz I'll do that Fair and Square

(one note... Most of the side characters suck at high level except Yang... he was so good he almost brought a tear to my eye.)

FF X, once I beated the game like 4 times.
Used the Action Replay to get 255 Sphere points and walk my way through the Sphere Grid.

That was the only time I cheated in a FF game.

The only cheating i ever done was going with walkthrough, but only after 3 or 4 replies of the game. The only one's that i didn't used a walkthrough every time i played it or replayed it, were FF VII and FF VIII.

I think that's all.

Hey Flame! You don't really call that stuff you mentioned cheating do you?

Training on the Garuda's in 9 is just skill as is the Junction thing on 8. Though I must ask how you did it WITHOUT levelling up? The only way I can think of to get that much HP by then would be to morph Fish Fins or Water Crystals into Waters, then junction 99 of them to your health. However to do this you would not only need to learn Shiva's ability by training, you would need to train to get the Fish Fins as well.

About the W-Item cheat....

I never used it. No, I'm serious! I couldn't work out how. I do what every self-respecting Walkthrough says and only end up decreasing the number of Item's I have by one. So I never got max Megaelixers. I did get max Elixers but that was just through training and stealing. But I wouldn't have used it to help me with the Chocobo Quest anyway. Mastering a game for me is not just getting everything. It's getting everthing as soon as possible. There's no way I would've waited 'til after beating Hojo to get one.

Whoops, almost forgot....no I don't cheat and can't see why anyone would need to cheat on a FF game.

So.........ummm......are strategy books considered cheating? Cause then i am guilty as charged because i use those alot, i dont consider it cheating because strtegy books help you get more out of the game, they unlock the full potential of the game......or you could call it cheating.

I would use walkthroughs when I was stuck.
FF5- I would use the Fast Forward Button alot.
FF6- Same.
FF7- W-item trick
FF8- Looked up Walkthroughs
FF9- Walkthroughs
FFX- Game is so linear. I went legit all the way till I got the airship and pretty much looked through walkthroughs for sidequests.
FFT-Weapon Trick

Nope, it is much more simple than that. All you need to do is train a little until you get siren's 'I mag-refine' ability, then buy Tents Afterall a Tent will refine into 10 curagas which when junctioned to HP boosts it quite a bit. If you do well on the tests it isn't hard to get enough Tents to REALLY boost it. I do consider it cheating because I am taking the easy way out of playing the game.

As for walkthroughs and stratagy guides? I'm not sure whether they are cheating or not, I just think it's more fun to make your own mistakes, as long as you have multiple saves that is. Reading a walkthrough ahead of where your going I think IS cheating. Again it's just personal preferance.

I see that no one really uses the gameshark, at least not on their first attempt. What a good bunch of gamers we've got

I have a file on FFT that I want to finish without cheats, but I got stuck, so Im also at the same time working on my super ultra cheated file...

JP glitch.

Having 9 job classes mastered before you are lvl 10 with all your characters makes the game a bit less complicated. And FFT is just begging to be cheated on.

Normally I never cheat on any game, I violently oppose cheating with waves of vomit so powerful they normally dissolve your flesh, a built in safety feature I developed. Puke all over someone cheating on a game of yours once and they never do it again.

Anyways, since FFT is SO DAMN HARD at points I wanted to actually enjoy it and relax a bit in the game. If you also have this problem keep reading. If you dont, stop here.

I couldnt find a good site for this info so I tested it all myself on my own files. It took several hours, so I wanted to share what I found:

*WARNING CHEATS SO TEMPTING YOU DONT WANT TO READ AHEAD*

-*SAVE BEFORE ATTEMPTING*-
(You can delete your JP if you dont read all of this carefully)

The JP glitch is simple. When you can learn a job class skill select it, when its asks for a "yes" or "no" hold square and push down. If you land on a skill you have not learned, and there is a large enough JP difference between these skills your JP will show up as "0000". Leave the formation screen then enter it again and your JP will read 9999.

Learn all the moves and you master that class, other then Summoner, witch will not show you have mastered that class because you can unlock at least one other summon I know of by surviving it being cast on you.

Remember I said there has to be a large enough JP gap for this to work. So there is a trick to some of the job classes. Particularly the black mage. For him you need 200 JP, but not too much higher. Then scroll all the way down to the last spell on the list of abilities you can learn, and move the cursor up until you are on the spell "Bolt 1", then select "Bolt 2" just under it. This positions your screen so you cant see the last spell on the list. And the position of the screen matters. Hold Square and press up, you should land on a spell that you have not learned. Select it, then exit and enter the formation screen again.

The JP glitch only works for skills where you can scroll down, or that have different JP costs. For instance the Geomancer will not work because all of his attack skills cost 150 JP to learn.

Oh, right...I thought you ment right at the very beginning, not after doing the Field Test. Yeah I knew about that one with the Tents but you still need to level up, even if only a small amount. You might as well train while your waiting for your money to come in anyway.

only game i'v ever used cheats on is the gta series. don't see the need to cheat in any other games especially rpg's, it just takes the fun out of it.

well if i got stuck on some puzzles i looked at a walk througfh as there is nothing like being pressed for time and your so frustrated you missed the clue

i don't think there is anyone who hasn't used w-item cheat before in ffvii besides it isnt unlimited mega-elixirs that save during fights against ruby or emerald, besides it's so late in the game i think it is insignificant on the outcome as alot of my materia was levelled up enough to waste sephiroth

i never got the debug room cheat to work in FFvii? is it because i'm aussie and own a PAL version?

i used an explorer in FF8 to get 100 of each item coz the pocket sation isn't available in australia- NB if you try to open pocketchocobo with a normal memory card and your ultra quick in saving it i managed to format my NYKO memory card so that my PSx and PS2 believe it is a pocketstation!!!! rsndomly every now and then it has one block of bad space lol

I guess it might just be preference or something, but I really never considered using gamefaqs or strategy guides as cheating: if I'm stuck somewhere in a game I would like to eventually get through it even if it means help.

I also don't consider cheap moves like KOTR or Lion Heart to be cheating, or leveling up extremely high in a cheap way early in the game even. They are a bit cheap perhaps, but these are moves or secrets that are accessable to the player in the game itself, no gameshark required. In cases like those, I just see it as the player taking advantage of what the game offers you to win.

As far as the W-item trick goes and the JP thing and other glitches, yeah, I would consider that cheating. I've used the W-Item thing about twice, but that was only to see if it worked. The worse I ever attempted was when I decided to try a playthrough of FFVII with gameshark codes. (Wanted to defeat the weapons). I got bored with that within minutes though and never continued.

Hey, I already posted that I didn't use the W-Item trick! Then again, I suppose you've gotta be really interested in a topic to read every post...

Well anyway....

Just thought I say that I looked at a walkthrough for VII, VIII & IX but only after completing them. I try to do everything POSSIBLE in a game and I almost did on these three. I nearly even did every single mission for the Fort Condor guys but there was this dumb one about one before ANd after getting in the water with 'Mr.Dolphin, I mean how's anyone gonna get that first time, Geez . The only one of the three I hadn't done something on was IX. I needed a strategy guide to find all the Mognet letters.

That's about it...

xD I used the W-item trick SO much with FFvii. I abused it hardcore. But it didn't matter to me. P: As long as I was beating the game and I'm enjoying it, I didn't care. xD It was good fun stuff, rawr. ♥♥♥ Using cheats in games never bother me. P: I find it as a way to..."aide" you in your gaming process.

I think the closest I've come to cheating on FF games was that I'd make sure to save often and would reload my save space whenever I didn't like an outcome. I thought the SeeD test was easy so I didn't cheat on that. I didn't even use a walkthrough when talking to soilders after some function with Geshtal in FF6 (I don't know whether or not I regret that fact). I take advantage of glitches and walkthroughs in many other games but when it comes to final fantasy I always seem to try and avoid them. *shrugs*