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julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,158
It all makes some sense, if you're expecting the game to have a small hidden degree of randomization and obscure rules.

Also, i don't think it's so complicated... you have two defense values, two special card types, a strength range for rng maths, and positioning rules. I mean perhaps it's too much for a mini-game, but i don't think it's that weird. Especially not in a PS1 game, when games were weird and experimental all around.
 

Deleted member 13155

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,604
Tetra Master was a complete and utter disaster, but I also don't get the praise for Triple Triad. Once you get 1 or 2 good cards and you understand how to spread the rules you prefer, it's impossible to lose. And of course, 1 or 2 good cards leads to having an unstoppable deck at which point you can just block every single corner with A-rank cards. It's without challenge.

Yeah, I like TT but without those annoying rules I never lost once I got a few good cards (which you will also get outside of the card game, starting with Ifrit).

But this is probably why the rules exist. With Same/Plus you can still lose no matter your deck but then it feels like AI is cheating (perhaps they don't but they mostly do seem to have a card that combo'd me). But once I beat Edea 9-1 with a well placed final card it felt good.
 

Valcrist

Tic-Tac-Toe Champion
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,687
Hello, I guess I'm one of two people who thought it was a good minigame. I spent a lot of time playing it.
 
Oct 27, 2017
1,443
lindblum more like lame... bum.

Say it to his face, tough guy

latest
 

Hateno

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 30, 2017
197
Love this minigame but always had trouble wrapping my head around the mechanics. Reassuring to see it wasn't just me!
 

mclem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,448
I think the problem here is more the PS1 having very limited screen space to impart the important info, hence it all having to be condensed into a four-character string. If it was implemented today you'd get a lot more text on the card:

"Cactuar. Attack Power: 2. Attack Type: Physical. Physical defense: 11. Magical defense: 0"
"Tonberry. Attack Power: 15. Attack Type: Assault. Physical defense: 0. Magical defense: 15"

I think one of the things that may be confusing you is the idea that you, as a player, particularly need to know the calculations that are going on internally; you don't, particularly, any more than you particularly need to know precisely how damage is computed in FF combat.
 
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Zephy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,163
At the time I preferred this over Triple Triad and felt that I understood it better. Sounds like I should reevaluate.

However in FFVIII the regional rules are absolute bullshit, and trying to avoid them is so complex that I always just give up and drop Triple Triad after a certain point in the game.
 

Calverz

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,586
I dont remember it being that complicated. Do remember it taking more strategy than 8 though.
 

Ostron

Member
Mar 23, 2019
1,942
I played a lot of tetra master and had a blast with it. Not saying it is good design, but you play it so much that you intuitively learn the rules, especially how your own cards tend to work. Seeing new cards (and sneak peeks at enemies) was the main drive and finding different players in the world is a fun side objective throughout. I like the arrows as it made you pick different cards for your deck strategically which meant you didn't just use the strongest ones, once you got a new card you wanted to use you had to think about your setup afterwards etc. I also enjoued that it wasnt just about winning the game, you also had to snipe the (usually) strong card you wanted to steal which forced you to counter its strenghts.

I think it was a very worthwhile distraction to flesh out the rest of the game.
 

Amibguous Cad

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,033
I loved Blitzball in FFX, had best team and everything maxed.
People think I am insane for that.

I probably spent as much time with Blitzball as I spent with the rest of FFX combined - and I love FFX.

Sports RPGs are so incredibly underrated. I hope some indie developer or other makes a fully fleshed out version of the minigame at some point.
 

BassForever

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,916
CT
Yeah Tetra Master isn't very good while Triple Triad is awesome. The only problem with Triple Triad is having to run around the world when awful rules like random or direct spread like wild fire. The reward for engaging in triple triad is also a lot better since the cards can be refined into some of the best stuff in the game.
 

Croc Man

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,546
Love this minigame but always had trouble wrapping my head around the mechanics. Reassuring to see it wasn't just me!
Yes! I enjoyed it too despite never fully understanding it.

Although if iirc it was easy to miss some cards, like there was one I couldn't get because I failed to do 100 jumps on the skipping mini-game or some such nonsense.
 

Pavemaniac

Member
Sep 10, 2019
194
The issue I have with Tetra Master is that its creators included too many additional elements to what should be a simple game. With Triple Triad, a player could pick up the rules pretty quickly and intuitively. Tetra Master has a lot more going on than a cursory playthrough tells you. Many players rarely pickup on how the four values on each card work. If Tetra Master had taken Triple Triad as a foundation but stretched it out to 4x4 and the grey tiles as minor additions, it would likely have been much more popular.
 

Cup O' Tea?

Member
Nov 2, 2017
3,603
Yeah I loved Triple Triad and wished it became a staple of all mainline FF games like Moogles and Chocobos.

I tried with Tetra Master but never really got a feel for how to play it.
 

Dreamboum

Member
Oct 28, 2017
22,848
I got all the cards in FFIX. That game is fucked up but still fun (in a fucked up way)

I also played some Triple Triad Online and Tetra Master online fangames years ago
 

Timppis

Banned
Apr 27, 2018
2,857
I love FFIX

But the OP is right. This was such a step down after what is still one of the greatest collectible / minigame in any game ever in Triple Triad.
 

Buzzkiller_20

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,141
Once I figured out what the rules were by looking it up, it made much more sense to me and I love it. I'm addicted now. It's all I do in ffix now.
 

Fer

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
1,013
I used to play it online along with FFXI. I thought it was fun, I wish the online game was still around.
 

Murlin

Member
Feb 12, 2019
1,049
I probably spent as much time with Blitzball as I spent with the rest of FFX combined - and I love FFX.

Sports RPGs are so incredibly underrated. I hope some indie developer or other makes a fully fleshed out version of the minigame at some point.
Good news for you: there's been a whole series of these.

That's Captain Tsubasa II: Super Striker. You'll have to use a fan translation for that one, but the previous game in the series did get released for NES as "Tecmo Cup Soccer Game" with heavy localization. There's even a mobile game now which I played for a few months, it was pretty good!

And if you need it to be indie, there's Touhou Soccer, which is pretty much the same but with Touhou characters.
 

Toth

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,995
It also offers no benefit at all in the main game, whereas Triple Triad has soooo many benefits to the main party.
 

Exellus

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
2,348
The biggest problem with Tetra Master is there's literally NO REWARDS for playing it. In FF8 you could at least turn cards into items. In FF9 there are no item rewards whatsoever. Just more cards and a Key Item if you complete the card collection somehow.

Oh also, Cards can level up. (Why?)
 

Fisty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,207
I only bothered with the arrows really, needlessly complicated with no real incentive to play beyond just the fun of playing, which there wasnt much of that for me
 

Rotobit

Editor at Nintendo Wire
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
10,196
I think I just played it a few times and basically always pointed the arrows at the blank parts of the opponents cards, which got me far enough and then I just stopped playing

Triple Triad is more fun, but FFXIV has made me utterly despise the "Plus" rule. I'm terrible at math so it just compounds I have no idea what I'm doing. That and the drop rates are terrible, I spent like 2 hours in the Chocobo Forest one time.
 

Buff Beefbroth

Chicken Chaser
Member
Apr 12, 2018
3,011
I liked Tetra Master more.

I'm starting to think it's because I thought I understood it better than I actually did.
 

DrROBschiz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,467
I vehemently disagree with the sentiment in this thread

I think Tetra Master is the best of the minigames created for the series

Super fun and more complex and rewarding
 

Alucrid

Chicken Photographer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,413
every game i played of triple triad made me wish the cards had fucking diagonals
 

APZonerunner

Features Editor at VG247.com
Verified
Oct 28, 2017
1,725
England
If you think it's bad in game, I owned the physical version of this and trying to play it is fucking nuts. You need a calculator, about a thousand sheets of A4 and a PHD to calculate what every move means.
 

NoKisum

Member
Nov 11, 2017
4,913
DMV Area, USA
The worst part of Tetra Master is the tournament you have to win in Treno for literally no reason.
This is exactly where I fell off of the game back in the day. I was told I just had to do two matches then the story would continue on. I did the two, not knowing what the hell I was doing, and lost because my cards were shit and I barely knew how to play. I learned that I should've been picking up cards from everywhere through the game, realized I gravely fucked up, and put the game down.
 

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,314
"If you manipulate the game to remove the challenge, then there is no challenge!!!"

Though to be fair, that's FF8 in general.
The game makes is very clear that you can spread rules and even gives you the option to abolish rules as well. It's like playing Texas Hold 'em Poker and winning at it, then somebody in Trabia says "hey, let's play poker but 3's and 7s are wild, you want to get the worst hand possible, and midway through the hand we'll swap our hold cards". Is it "manipulation" to just say "nah" to that ridiculous notion?
 

Inugami

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,995
The game makes is very clear that you can spread rules and even gives you the option to abolish rules as well. It's like playing Texas Hold 'em Poker and winning at it, then somebody in Trabia says "hey, let's play poker but 3's and 7s are wild, you want to get the worst hand possible, and midway through the hand we'll swap our hold cards". Is it "manipulation" to just say "nah" to that ridiculous notion?
If you're playing against people who are awful and you always win, and then blame the game for not being hard enough because you want to keep the rules as simple as possible...

It's like setting a game on easy mode then complaining about the lack of challenge. It's fine to play however you like, but it's silly to blame the game for not being challenging in that case.
 

Jakenbakin

Member
Jun 17, 2018
11,795
I know that I shouldn't but I always play a lot of Tetra Master on replays and I always like it. Just knowing the positioning is going to carry you to victory more often than not, I found it pretty rare to ever need to know the values on the cards worth.
 

Kaseoki

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,291
I quite enjoyed Tetra Master actually. Ended up collecting all the cards even.
 

Schopenhauer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
867
I never had an issue with Tetra Master.

At the very least it doesn't have those stupid rules from triple triad that can spread randomly like a disease across the world.