Playing JORG really feels like playing a beta version of the game, especially after experiencing the post-JORG versions. It truly feels unfinished/unpolished.
- Misremembered what the "S" path means for the gun upgrades. Naturally it stands for "Speed". The M path stands for "Magazine". So far no M path in JORG.
- On your way to Azul, there is a room with loads of exploding barrels. Post-JORG, an item case with 3000 gil (or some such high number) is floating above one barrel. No such item here in JORG. NOTE: In all versions, if you explode all the barrels before entering the room, soldiers from above will not appear at all (Easy & Normal) or in simply very few numbers (Hard & Ex Hard).
- When thinking about the game today, I realized the solution for some sections might be to make use of kill chains. The "kill chain" mechanic is always one that I easily forget, because usually you'll do fine without it. There are two areas, before reaching Rosso, where a robot will charge you quickly and just mow down the WRO troops. Post-JORG, my strategy has always been to spam Thunder Lv3 on it. However, this takes too long and the WRO soldiers usually fall to their deaths under the rain of bullets from the robot. In JORG, I couldn't stop the first robot and the second robot was stopped way late (but not entirely late). In both these situations, there are boxes around. I think I'm meant to destroy the boxes to round up kill chains, THEN shoot the robot.
- When an enemy is within your scope, a red circle will show that the object can be shot. When the object is gone/defeated post-JORG, no red circle will appear. In JORG, the red circle will still appear even after an enemy is defeated, making you think the enemy is still alive. At the very least this has happened in a few cases and the "red circle" object detection only goes away when the defeated enemy fades away. More and more JORG vs post-JORG differences just keep popping up.
- Where you find the first "Top Secret File", there is no Mako Point where you face the sentry bots, in JORG. Post-JORG there is a Mako Point here.
- Heh, for the Azul battle Vincent's HP was restored. Never noticed this before. In fact I also noticed three transitions in the final areas of the game where your HP is restored automatically. May depend on difficulty mode and version, I honestly don't know.
- You thought Arch Azul was tedious in DC 1.1? Well try 1.0. Just like it was in Easy Mode, magic depletes very little HP compared to post-JORG. Going by numbers, in JORG Normal mode my magic was 1/5 of the strength on Easy Mode...and that was already a tedious fight!
Turning desperate, I attempted Galian Beast vs Arch Azul. His ground combo did some decent damage, but Arch Azul's tail swing depleted almost all of Vincent's HP. It *might* be possible to use Galian Beast and to avoid the tail swing, but I decided not to take that risk now. A strategy just like when you battle Arch Azul with Cait Sith in that one Extra Mission would be called for. The fire balls from the Galian Beast did measly 1 HP damage each. Le sigh.
- The fucker stole my money! If you've played DC, you know the one. Not even three hits from my Lv3 Thunder took him down. What am I supposed to do?! I can't rely on kill chains here.
- In the area where you find the keycard in a box (among many other boxes) there are platforms where enemies will respawn one time, when you're backtracking to use the keycard. This doesn't happen post-JORG, according to my memory.
- Places that have the Limit Breaker item post-JORG either have a different item, nothing at all or a mako spot in JORG.
Here is one spot where you get a Mako Point/Spot in JORG, but it was turned into a Limit Breaker item later on.
On this small bridge there are three Mako Points in JORG (not confirmed yet in Hard Mode). All Mako Points removed post-JORG and replaced with a Limit Breaker.
In the section where you collect ten or so keycards in order to get four items, post-JORG you get an Elixor and a Limit Breaker (and two other items). In JORG, you get two Elixors. In case anybody wonders what the item's name and description is in Japanese,
here's a snapshot.
- To my surprise, STILL no exploding barrels to shoot down to reveal a cactuar (or anything else for that matter). If they are not present in Hard Mode, then this part of the game is post-JORG exclusive.
- Barely got out of "Defeat 100 Enemies" alive. My chances of surviving this challenge in Hard Mode are pretty low. Like I said before, this feels like Hard Mode in post-JORG plus a little more unfair. Ammo almost ran out, because of aiming range being shorter and enemies being tougher in both attack and defense.
- Mako Reactor 0, area with enemies around pillar: No items, like a Phoenix Down, to pick up where sentry bots spawn. JORG clearly lacks some items that were added post-JORG to decrease difficulty.
- Still no floating, mysterious Item case in JORG.
- To truly unlock the power of Ultima Weapon, where the numbers just keep rounding up with each shot with great speed, I had to equip Rapid Fire. Still effective without the accessory, but much better with it. Thanks to Ultima Weapon being so light, equipping Rapid Fire did not turn Vincent into a slowpoke while aiming. Upgrading Rapid Fire doubles the weight of that accessory, so I did not take the risk of making that upgrade in case it would have slowed Vincent down.
- Like I concluded earlier, the scope of Death Penalty is smaller in JORG. Because of this, you consciously have to aim high when fighting Omega Weapon, or else you won't hit both the head and the main body at the same time.
- I...don't get this. Did I skip a loading screen too fast?
This image still marks "Easy Mode" as the one I cleared. The penultimate image lists Normal Mode. Dammit, I want the link to the Event Viewer to reflect the difficulty mode I just cleared!
If I'm ever to play Hard Mode, I need to know the perfect strategy or else I'll be toast in some crucial places. The jump between Easy Mode and Normal Mode in JORG is just ridiculous: The former would barely let you lose even if you tried, the latter is way too hard in places. Enemies don't need to be this strong and magic doesn't have to be this weak. I just hope the jump between Normal and Hard isn't that big.
