But inside you know the end can't be evaded

Making Video Games Easier - Twilight's Tips

Here's a number of ways to make video games much easier than they should be.

Final Fantasy X

• Choose "Expert" Sphere Grid mode at the start of the game. This gives you more freedom and ability to learn high-level spells/abilities earlier.
• In the very first battle (with the Sinscales, when fighting alongside Auron in Zanarkand), KO Auron. You'll have to do it yourself, since the Sinscales in this fight don't attack. Once Auron is KOd, have Tidus defend 60 times. He'll learn a new Overdrive mode, Loner. Set this as his Overdrive mode.
• When you get to Besaid, as soon as you're able to encounter enemies, spend some time grinding Tidus's Overdrives. Make everyone except Tidus leave the battle (have them take an action first, like defending, so they still get AP), then just defend until Tidus's Overdrive gauge fills up (make sure he's still set to Loner), then use the Overdrive to kill the enemy/ies. Stick to Spiral Cut, since it's the easiest to perform and also the weakest, meaning you'll get more uses per battle. Eventually you'll learn his strongest Overdrive, Blitz Ace.
• Once you get Lulu and Yuna in your party, spend some time levelling them up (you can also combine the above with this). With clever use of the Sphere Grid, you can get them both to learn their level 3 spells (Firaga/Blizzaga/Curaga etc.) before even getting on the ship to Kilika. Remember to stay near a save sphere so you can easily heal in between battles.
• Once on that ship, you'll be attacked by Sin. It will summon infinitely-respawning Sinscales. I recommend killing enough of these so that all the main physical attackers (Tidus, Wakka and Kimahri) learn the Overdrive mode Slayer. This will also get you a ton of AP, Gil and items. Don't forget you have another battle after this one though, so make sure Tidus and Wakka end the battle at fairly high health - you don't want to die and have to start all over again.
• When in a battle, always try to Overkill enemies. This is easiest to do by using magic that the enemy is weak to (unless the enemy description says it's resistant to magic). Overkilling gives you 1.5x the normal AP for that enemy, which can be a great help.
• Make sure everyone gets at least one turn in a battle. It sounds tedious, but it will help a lot. Basically, as long as someone does something in a battle (even if it's just defending), they will gain AP. The amount of AP each person gets only depends on the enemies, not the amount of participants - so for example, if an enemy gives 300 AP, then everyone who participated will get 300 AP, no matter how many participants there were. This will help with the times when the game forces you to use certain characters (such as the underwater segments, where you're forced to use Tidus, Wakka and Rikku).

Kingdom Hearts

• If playing the original, pick the Shield at the start and give up the Sword (this will start you with 3 AP - if you sacrifice the Staff, you'll only start with 1 AP). Defense priority is best because it lets you learn useful abilities, such as Reflect Guard and Luck Up, much earlier than the other priorities. Plus, it means Sora can take much more damage before dying, which makes fights a lot easier. If playing Final Mix, however, choose the Staff and give up the Sword (giving up either Sword or Shield gives you 3 AP, but having higher Defense makes the game easier). This is because Final Mix has two new finishing moves, Stun Impact and Ripple Drive, which do damage based on Sora's maximum MP. Beginning with Staff priority gives Sora two extra MP right off the bat, which gives a large increase in power to these moves.
• On Destiny Island, spend some time training with Sora's friends. You can actually get Sora to level 99 with enough patience, just from Tech Points gained from parrying Sora's friends' attacks (which becomes much easier after you learn Reflect Guard). Tidus is the best for this, since the parries don't hurt him (unlike Selphie and Wakka), meaning you can just keep parrying his attacks infinitely. Even if you don't get to level 99, it's still worth levelling up a bit here.
• When Donald and Goofy join you, as soon as you can, go into their menus, go to the magic/item usage and click them both to "Only in emergencies". This will make them a hell of a lot smarter with regards to when they use items and magic. Do this with any other AI partner (Aladdin, Ariel, etc.) too.

Final Fantasy VII

• After you get Barret in your party, go to No. 1 Reactor (the place where Jessie tells you how to climb ladders). Run around here fighting Mono Drives and Grunts and level up Barret and Cloud's Limit Breaks to level 3. You get the first Limit Break of a set by killing a certain number of enemies, and the second by using the first a certain number of times. The Grunts drop Potions, so you don't have to worry about running out of HP. Meteorain (Cloud's first level three Limit Break) is a devastating attack, especially when used on bosses. The game will tell you when you've gotten a new Limit Break after a battle. Plus, Limit Breaks are learned independently, so you can learn, for instance, the level 3-1 Limit Break even if you don't have the level 2-2 one - you just have to have your Limit Break set to level 2 and kill a certain number of enemies with that character. This makes getting Meteorain (which is the goal here, really) a lot easier, since you just have to kill a lot of enemies with Cloud, and with the Grunts dropping Potions and appearing in groups you'll always have enough Potions to keep your health up.
• When you get to Shinra Bldg. 67f., try to encounter an enemy called SOLDIER: 3rd. When you do, Steal from them and you'll get a weapon called Hardedge. This is a much better weapon for Cloud than his standard Buster Sword, so it's worth the effort to get.
• After Red XIII joins the party, get the Enemy Skill Materia from the sample tank in Professor Hojo's lab. With this and the Manipulate Materia that Cait Sith has on him when he joins, you can get a number of awesome Enemy Skills that allow you to dominate the game.
• Big Guard - Look for an enemy called Beachplug on the beach near Costa del Sol and Manipulate them to learn this ability. It casts Barrier, MBarrier and Haste on the whole party, much earlier than their respective Materia are available and for far fewer MP. 
• White Wind - Manipulate Zemzelett, which can be found outside of Junon. This is an excellent healing skill, healing the whole party and curing most negative status effects. It heals based on the caster's current HP, so as long as you keep the caster's HP high, you'll be fine.
• Aqualung - Learn from the Harpy enemies in the desert surrounding the Gold Saucer (use Big Guard to survive it). This skill will carry you through most of Disc 1, especially if you cast Reflect on the whole party and then use Aqualung on said party. But if you really want some overkill...
• Beta - This nuclear chainsaw will pretty much kill anything not resistant to Fire in one hit, and severely damage bosses. Plus, you can get it as soon as you encounter the Midgar Zolom, with the right strategy. Here's what you do. First, obviously, have someone in the party with the Enemy Skill Materia equipped. Put everyone in the back row, and use Tranquilizers to give everyone the Sadness status. Put Elemental + Fire Materia on everyone's armour (or at least the armour of the one with the Enemy Skill Materia). Save before heading into the battle, and also make sure at least one character has a Poison Materia equipped. Once you get into the battle, cast Bio on the Midgar Zolom until it becomes afflicted with the Poison status, then simply wait until it casts Beta on you (make sure to keep your HP high). If the person with the Enemy Skill Materia gets tail-whipped out of the fight, flee or reset the game and try again. Once you've learned Beta, throw it right back at the Zolom to finish it off. Note: Beta can't be reflected, so don't try reflecting it off your party like with Aqualung. Also, it costs a TON of MP, so bring plenty of Ethers.
• Notes: Elemental Materia can be obtained from Shinra Headquarters, by guessing the Mayor's password on the first try. Here's a trick to get the password instantly: Go to the top right room (the Space Dev. Research Library) and check the file on the left of the middle shelf. If it's 2 Economic report: Space Dev Program, then the password is BEST. If it's 1 Results of failed space mission "YA-79", then the password is KING. If it's 1 Breakdown of SOLDIER members by class, then the password is BOMB. If it's 10 New plans for urban planning, then the password is MAKO.
• Tranquilizer can be obtained from pretty much any item shop.
• Poison Materia can be found in a chest on the 67th floor of the Shinra Building, or bought in Kalm.
• If you're particularly patient, masochistic, or insane, you can get Cloud's Level 4 Limit Break, Omnislash, as soon as you arrive at the Gold Saucer, by just winning it from the Battle Square. Keep in mind this is a lot harder than it sounds, as you're doing it without Ribbon, which leaves you vulnerable to the arena's more painful/debilitating reels (and the worse a reel's effect on you, the more BP you get, so...) 
• In Mt. Nibel, take Slide 2 in the room with the Materia Keeper and you'll find a chest with a Powersoul, a weapon for Tifa. Now, this may not look that impressive on its own. However, this weapon's physical attack power doubles if Tifa is in Critical (below 25% HP) and quadruples if she's under the Doom status effect... and both multipliers stack. Keep her HP low and cast Death Sentence on her at the start of every fight (or equip her with the Curse Ring, which can be found in Mideel - see below for how to get it) and she'll tear up enemies single-handedly.
• To get the Curse Ring in Mideel, go to the back of the weapon shop and examine the back door (note you must do this before Ultima Weapon attacks Mideel). After that, go outside the accessory shop and walk on the wooden path around the shop until you hear a creaking noise. Examine this spot and you'll acquire a Beat-Up Useless Old Key. Use that key on the back door of the weapon shop. When given a choice, choose "Tell them the truth!" and you'll receive a Curse Ring.

The Legend of Dragoon

• In the first area with enemies (the forest, where the merchant who tells you about attacking items is), max out Dart's Additions (Double Slash and Volcano). This'll give you a great headstart.
• Don't use any attacking items (you don't need to if you've got Dart's Additions maxed) and sell any you acquire (though if you find something called Magic Stone of Signet, don't sell it). If you do this, as well as sell all your old equipment and be conservative with your spending, you should have near or over 10000 G by the time you reach Lohan. (If not, see below for a money-making trick). You can use this to buy an accessory called Ultimate Wargod from the Lohan weapon shop, which makes all Additions automatically succeed.
• Don't have enough money? Well, there's still hope. On the path going east from Lohan, you'll find a rare enemy called 00PARTS. This enemy has 4 HP, but high evasion, and each attack only does 1 HP damage. Plus, it can use an instant-kill move on one ally, and if it does, it'll flee the battle. An annoying adversary, but it also drops 600 G and a Spirit Potion on defeat. Have Shana in your party (since she has the highest A-HIT stat), use the Magic Sig Stone on it to paralyse it for three turns, then attack it and hope for the best. Kill enough of these and you'll soon get enough money to buy three Ultimate Wargods, which is enough to make sure you'll never have to fail an Addition again (note that these only work for normal Additions, not Dragoon Additions). I actually recommend going through the second trip to Hellena first, since you can get two Sachets (one before the fight with Jiango, and one dropped by Jiango himself). The game will tell you to use the Sachet to put Jiango to sleep, but ignore this - you can beat him without doing so. Sachets kill rare enemies (like 00PARTS) in one hit, so as long as 00PARTS doesn't start the battle with the instant kill move (which it sometimes does), just toss a Sachet at it and get 600 G for free. Plus, completing Hellena gives you access to Kazan, whose inn is much closer than Lohan's, saving you a lot of time overall (with how 00PARTS can instant-kill allies, you'll be visiting the inn a lot). It also helps if you have a Wargod's Amulet (which can be found in a chest in the Marshlands and also dropped by Urobolus) equipped on anyone who isn't Shana, to raise their A-HIT and give them a chance to actually hit the damn thing.

Super Mario RPG

• Mario's Jump special ability makes a slight increase in damage output every two times it's used, capping out at 250 uses. The first dungeon (the forest) you go to is full of Spiny enemies, which are immune to Jump attacks, but using Jump on them still increases its power. Use Jump about 250 times here, and you'll end up with an incredibly powerful Special attack that can defeat most enemies (including bosses) in one or two hits, and only costs 3 FP to boot. If you always choose the star when levelling up (which increases your max FP), you can basically get through the entire game just using this ability.
• Once you get Peach (Toadstool, as the game calls her), put her in your party and never take her out. Peach is an amazing healer, able to heal and revive for very little FP.
• As soon as you get to Nimbus Land, hug the eastern wall and you'll find a hidden area with a Shy Away. Talk to it and it'll give you the Fertilizer. Take this and the Seed you get for defeating Smilax in Bean Valley and go to the Gardener in Rose Town. Give him the items and climb the beanstalk that grows and you'll find two items, both called Lazy Shell - a weapon and armour. Give the weapon to Mario and the armour to Peach.
• Take some time practising your Super Jumps (try it on the Spinies) until you can pull off 100. If you can do this (and my hat is off to you if you can), then once you get to Monstro Town, talk to the Chow in one of the buildings and he'll give you a Super Suit. If you give this to Mario along with the Lazy Shell, he'll be pretty much unstoppable, especially with Peach backing him up. Both the Lazy Shell armour and Super Suit prevent all status ailments and cause elemental attacks to do 0 damage.

Tombi 2

• In the starting area (Town of the Fishermen and Waterfall of the Heavens), make all the coloured barrels have the same colour pointing up (it doesn't matter which one) and you'll trigger an event. Go into the now-drained canal and get the Gold Fishhook. Then, look for the fishing bob on top of the hut-type thing (you may need to use the pulley in front of the Windmill Shed to get to it) and jump on it to dislodge it. When you return the fisher's lost fishhook, he'll give you a Mermaid Scale in return, which will mean falling into the water won't drain your health (though you still can't swim).
• When you get the Ice Boomerang in Pipe Area, freeze a Capper and throw it into a Sea Anemone. Hit the burning Anemone to get Anemone's Hot Dregs. Do this twice, then in Ranch Area, throw a snowball or enemy into a Sea Anemone there and hit the frozen Anemone with the Fire Hammer to get Anemone's Icy Dregs. Get two of these as well. When you get to Laughing/Crying Forest, eat a Laughing Fruit, then go back to Donglin Forest and go to the Laughing Door in the top right of the area. Inside, give the dregs to Mizuno and she'll give you Hot Powder and Cold Powder. Ignore when she says they boost damage due to heat or cold, that's a translation error - what they actually do is make you immune to hot and cold damage, and they never run out.

The World Ends with You

• On Week 1 Day 5, evolve Masamune via Mingle PP into Nenekiri, then evolve that via Shutdown PP into Enju, then evolve that via Shutdown PP into Yoshimitsu. This is the best Shockwave pin in the game, which will make things a lot easier.
• On Week 1 Day 6, buy Happy Beam from Natural Puppy in Cadoi City. Evolve it via Battle PP into Natural Magnum, then via Shutdown PP into Hounder Magnum, then Battle PP into Bear Hug Magnum, and finally Shutdown PP into Angel Magnum. It'll take a lot of grinding, but once you're done you'll have the best Energy Rounds pin in the game, a nice companion for your Yoshimitsu. 

Tales of Symphonia

•  Level up Colette to level 8 so she learns Pow Hammer, then use that 50 times and she'll learn Para Ball at level 18. This is an awesome technique that'll carry you a long way through the game. (Make sure she's set to Strike).
• Keep using that Pow Hammer about 200 times and you'll unlock a secret technique called Toss Hammer, which will randomly activate when using Pow Hammer, Pow Pow Hammer, or Hammer Rain. This technique causes Poison to the enemy, which will deal percentage-based HP damage at an alarming rate. Keep Colette's LCK as high as possible and you won't have any problems.
• Level up Lloyd to level 9 so he learns Tiger Blade. Use it 50 times on Strike and get him to level 27 and he'll learn Heavy Tiger Blade. Get him to level 54 and use that 50 times and he'll learn Twin Tiger Blade. You can chain Demon Fang > Twin Tiger Blade to get the enemy in an infinite loop until it dies.
• Get Sheena to level 52 and use Serpent Seal 50 times so she learns Serpent Seal Pinion (Technical). Equip her EX Skill Hard Hit and you can get into an infinite combo of melee combo > Force Seal > Serpent Seal Pinion > combo > Serpent Seal Pinion > repeat.

Infinite Undiscovery

• Download the free A Voucher and B Voucher DLC from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace (available on the title screen). As soon as you get Edward in your party (on the third floor of Castle Prevant), and after you've gotten the Situational Bonus for rescuing all Burgess soldiers if you want, go to Genma's shop and buy 30 Rabbit Hide. Go into Edward's crafting menu (Camp menu > Creation > Item) and craft 15 Rabbit's Foot to bring Edward's IC to Silversmith. Now buy 40 Sheep Hide from Genma's shop and use them to make 20 Smiley Charm, which will bring Edward's IC to Goldsmith. Now, purchase as many Iron Metal and Granite from Genma's shop as you can and craft as many Horseshoe as you can, then sell them for a profit of 1950 Fol per Horseshoe. Keep going like this until Edward's IC reaches Claridian Hammer. Now do the following. (Note: I recommend saving the game before crafting, as there is a chance that the crafting will fail.)
• Buy the following materials: 2 Iron Metal, 1 Granite, 2 Silver Metal, 1 Marble, 4 Lunatite, 1 Mercurius Metal, 2 Holy Water, 2 Crystallite Metal (Total cost: 60350 Fol)
• Forge the following in this order: Longsword, Silver Sword, Crescent Sword, Holy Sword, Crystallite Blade. This will get you the best weapon available for Capell at this point in the game. Repeat the process to get another one for Sigmund once he joins you (Holy Water isn't available in normal shops, so it's better to do this now).
• Remove Edward's Hand-and-a-Half Sword if it's equipped.
• Buy 3 Copper Metal, 3 Titanium Metal, 4 Steel Metal, 3 Silver Metal, 3 Prismatite Metal, 3 Mercurius Metal, 3 Crystallite Metal (Total cost: 91050 Fol)
• Forge (in this order): Bastard Sword, Claymore, Katzbalger, Flamberge, Prismatite Blade, Braveheart, Dullahan. This will get you Edward's best available weapon. Repeat the process to get another one for Dominica once she joins (you'll need to craft another Hand-and-a-Half Sword, which means you'll need to buy 3 Bronze Metal as well).
• Buy 6 Bronze Metal, 6 Iron Metal, 13 Steel Metal, 3 Prismatite Metal, 3 Mercurius Metal (Total: 45600 Fol)
• Forge 2 Bronze Scale Armor, 2 Iron Scale Armor, 2 Steel Scale Armor, Steel Plate Armor, Prismatite Suit, Mercurius Suit. You now have the best available armour. Equip it to Capell and repeat the process to get another one for Edward.
• Buy 2 Bronze Metal, 2 Iron Metal, 6 Steel Metal, 2 Prismatite Metal, 2 Mercurius Metal (Total:
• Forge Bronze Scale Helmet, Iron Scale Helmet, Steel Scale Helmet, Steel Plate Helmet, Prismatite Headgear, Mercurius Headgear. Equip it to Capell and repeat the process to get one for Edward.
• Buy Bronze Metal, Iron Metal, 4 Steel Metal, Prismatite Metal, Crystallite Metal.
• Forge Bronze Scale Greaves, Iron Scale Greaves, Steel Scale Greaves, Steel Greaves, Prismatite Greaves, Crystallite Greaves. Equip them to Capell and get another pair for Edward.
• Unfortunately, Edward can't make equipment for Aya - for that, you need Eugene, who doesn't join your party until after you beat Lester, by which point you can freely choose your party members anyway. Regardless, you can still do the Horseshoe trick to get some extra Fol, so with a bit more crafting and patience, you'll have everyone's best equipment. Enjoy the game!
• If you want to make stuff for everyone else, buy 60 Cork Wood and have Eugene craft 30 Cork Bow to get his IC up to Silversmith, then buy 42 Sheep Hide and craft 21 Smiley Charm to get his IC to Goldsmith. Then, just keep crafting and selling Horseshoe until his IC reaches Claridian Hammer (it'll take 85 Horseshoe, so you'll need to buy 170 Iron Metal and 85 Granite in total). Then...
• Craft Patched Leather Jacket, Hard Leather Jacket, Crested Vest, Lizard Skin Vest, Salamander Jacket, Solid Leather Jacket. Equip it to Aya. 
• Craft Patched Leather Cap, Hard Leather Cap, Crested Mask, Lizard Skin Cap, Salamander Cap, Solid Leather Cap. Equip it to Aya. 
• Craft Patched Leather Boots, Soft Leather Boots, Lizard Skin Boots, Salamander Boots, Solid Leather Boots. Equip them to Aya.
• (Stuff missing here)
• Buy 2 Rachnuvus Cloth, 2 Feeble Cloth, 4 Damask Cloth, 2 Down Feather Cloth, 4 Silk Cloth, 2 Linen Cloth, 2 Cotton Cloth, 2 Barkcloth, 2 Ramie Cloth, 2 Kenaf Cloth.
• Craft Kenaf Tunic, Ramie Chiton, Bark Robe, Cotton Cloak, Linen Cape, Silk Shawl, Silk Robe, Down Feather Cloak, Damask Coat, Damask Gown, Beast Fur Garb, Rachnuvus Sari. Equip it to Rico and repeat the process to get one for Rucha, Eugene, Savio and Michelle.
• When Gustav joins, remove his Bronze Claws and buy 3 Bronze Metal, 3 Copper Metal and 3 Steel Metal.
• Craft Wolf Claws, Panther Claws, Tiger Claws. This will get you Gustav's best weapon.
• When Dominica joins, remove all her equipment (and give her the Dullahan you made earlier). 
• Buy 3 Bronze Metal, 3 Iron Metal, 8 Steel Metal, 3 Prismatite Metal, 3 Mercurius Metal.
• Craft Bronze Scale Armor, Iron Scale Armor, Steel Scale Armor, Steel Plate Armor, Prismatite Suit, Mercurius Suit. Equip it to Dominica.
• Buy 4 Steel Metal, 2 Prismatite Metal, 2 Mercurius Metal. 
• Craft Steel Plate Helmet, Prismatite Headgear, Mercurius Headgear. Equip it to Dominica. 
• Buy 3 Steel Metal, 1 Prismatite Metal, 1 Crystallite Metal.
• Craft Steel Greaves, Prismatite Greaves, Crystallite Greaves. Equip them to Dominica. 
• For the rest of the items, you'll need wood, which unfortunately the vouchers don't cover, so you'll have to wait until you get to Kolton (which won't happen until Disc 2).
• You will need 2 Balsa Wood, 2 Iron Metal and 5 Lauan Wood.
• Craft Tracker's Bow, Laminated Bow, Backed Bow. This is Aya's best available weapon.
• Buy 2 Plus Wood, 1 Lunatite, 2 Lentesco Wood, 1 Marble, 2 Ebony Wood, 1 Sandstone and 2 Lauan Wood.
• Craft Acolyte Staff, Ebony Staff, Pilgrim Staff, Sage Staff. This is the best available weapon for Eugene.
• Buy 4 Placidus Wood, 3 Aroma Oil, 2 Marble, 2 Lux Wood, 2 Vine, 2 Ebony Wood, 2 Balsa Wood and 4 Lauan Wood.
• Craft Training Baton, Novice Baton, Marching Baton, Ebony Baton, Lux Baton, Marble Baton, Symphonic Baton, Healing Baton to get Rico's best weapon. If you can't craft Training Baton, make sure you've removed his Toy Baton.
• Buy 1 Mercurius Metal, 1 Garuda Skin, 1 Blaze Metal, 1 Salamander Skin, 1 Silver Metal, 1 Cotton Cloth, 1 Ceramic, 1 Barkcloth, 1 Ebony Wood, 1 Buffalo Hide, 1 Balsa Wood, 1 Ramie Cloth, 1 Granite, 1 Silver Fox Fur, 1 Lauan Wood, 1 Rabbit Hide, 1 Sandstone and 1 Kenaf Cloth.
• Craft Clay Drum, Bodhran, Tarabuka, Bayan, Banana Drum, Ceramic Drum, Silver Drum, Fire Beat, Dance Tambourine to get Rucha's best weapon. Again, make sure you've removed her Toy Drum beforehand.
• Buy 1 Glutton Hide, 1 Salamander Skin, 1 Lizard Skin, 1 Ceramic, 1 Buffalo Hide, 1 Rabbit Hide.
• Buy 1 Metetite, 2 Marble, 2 Sandstone.
• Craft 2 Sandstone Circlet, 2 Marble Circlet, Metetite Circlet. Give it to Rico and get another one for Rucha, Eugene, Savio and Michelle.
• Buy 1 Golden Wolf Fur, 1 Silver Fox Fur, 1 Lux Wood, 1 Balsa Wood, 1 Lauan Wood, 1 Cork Wood.
• Craft Cork Sandals, Lauan Sandals, Balsa Sandals, Lux Sandals, Silver Fur Pumps, Golden Fur Pumps. Equip them to Rico and get some more for Rucha, Eugene, Savio and Michelle.  

Final Fantasy VI

• At the very beginning of the game, KO Vicks and Wedge and just let Terra kill everything herself. She can easily defeat enemies using Bio Blast and heal herself with Heal Force, and this way she'll get three times the EXP, which will level her up a lot. Since new party members' levels are relative to the current party's when they join, this'll mean everyone else will join at a very high level too.
• Edgar is a very valuable party member when he joins. Putting him in the back row and using the Auto Crossbow (which he comes pre-equipped with) with the Tools command will pretty much kill all enemies in one turn for quite a while, and even after that, it's still a very viable method of attack.
• When you get to the Returners' Hideout, when Banon asks "Will you become our last ray of hope?", choose "No". Keep talking to him and saying "No" to his question and you'll eventually receive the Genji Glove relic. Put this on Locke to give him a decent boost in power.
• You'll need a turbo controller for this trick, but if you're lazy and want to grind without doing anything, when escaping from the Returners' Hideout on the raft, put Banon in the back row. In the options, set the cursor to Memory. When given a path choice, choose "(Left)", then "(Up)", which will take you in a loop. In the first battle, make sure you only use abilities that don't consume MP, and have Banon use Health. From then on, just tape down the confirm button and leave the game running overnight. Once you're done, simply choose "(Left)" to continue with the game.
•  After you meet Gau, go east and head into the town of Mobliz. Go to the item shop and purchase a Dried Meat. Leave the town and get into random battles until Gau shows up. When he does, use the Dried Meat on him to recruit him. Gau is essentially this game's Blue Mage, able to learn Rages from certain monsters, and any Final Fantasy player knows how broken enemy skills are. Here's a list of some good Rages, and which monsters they can be learned from.
 

Star Ocean 5: Integrity and Faithlessness

• Set Miki's Roles in the following way:
• Get Attacker and Healer to LV5 to unlock Ace and Savior
• Get Ace and Savior to LV3 to unlock Paladin
• When Fiore joins, get Invoker to LV5 to get Shrewd Overseer and Sage
• Shrewd Overseer LV3 + Savior LV3 = Elementalist
• When Victor joins, get Defender to LV3 to get Guardian
• Guardian LV3 + Savior LV3 = Crusader
• Elementalist LV3 + Paladin LV3 + Crusader LV3 = Holy Mother
• Equip the roles Holy Mother, Shrewd Overseer and Sage on Miki to make her a valuable ally indeed.
• Anne's Hammer of Might is a very good skill which should be abused as much as possible. It's fast, strong, does AoE and knockdown, and can hit downed enemies. Give her some decent attack-boosting roles and watch her pound the enemies to pulp.
• For your main damage dealer, set up Roles in this way:
• Kill 5 enemies in one hit (use an AoE attack like Hammer of Might on a swarm of weak enemies) to learn the Instigator role.
• When Fiore joins the party, get Invoker to LV3 to learn Shrewd Overseer.
• When Anne joins the party, get Brawler to LV3 to learn Pulverizer.
• Get Pulverizer and Shrewd Overseer to LV3 to learn Necromancer.
• Get Necromancer to LV3 to learn Dead Man Walking.
• Equip Dead Man Walking and Instigator to turn the character into a walking tank, especially when combined with a good healer like the above Miki setup.