Game:

Chrono Trigger (1995)

Duration: 26:22

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2

I've been working on a challenge I call the ultra low-level game, or ULLG. The rules are as follows:

* Don't gain experience.
* Don't use capsules.
* Don't recruit Magus.
* Don't use Arena items other than the Workman's Wallet.
* Don't use the Elemental Aegis or Apocalypse Arm.
* Play on a new game, not a new game +.

The primary rule in a regular low-level game (LLG) is to not gain experience. It's also common to include some of the rules I listed above, like not recruiting Magus and not using extra Arena items. The main difference between a ULLG and a basic LLG is that the ULLG does not allow the use of capsules. In a basic LLG, even though you can't level up, you can use capsules to massively increase your strength and speed. The inability to do this in a ULLG increases the difficulty considerably.

The Magus battle is the first major obstacle in this challenge; it's much harder than any that come before. There are two phases to the battle. In the first phase, Magus will respond to almost all attacks with a counterattack that hits the entire party. The only exception is that if Magus's magic defense is high and you use Frog's regular attack, then Magus's magic defense will be lowered and he will not counterattack. His magic defense will go up again later, but if Frog attacks before that happens, then Magus will counterattack. Magus also uses a magic barrier that will absorb all but one element. Once he has done a counterattack, the element of his most recent counterattack is the only element he is weak to. Before his first counterattack, I don't know what element to use, so instead I use a regular attack with Crono. This provokes a counterattack that reveals Magus's weakness.

There are four counterattacks in the first phase: dark, light, fire, and water. The dark attack is nice because it only hits one party member. Fire is also nice because if Crono and Frog wear Ruby Vests, then they can both survive it. Water and light are guaranteed to kill Crono, but only light will kill Frog, assuming his health is nearly full. Progress in the first phase is slow; mostly, I'm just trying to survive, and I deal a little damage when I can. I use the appropriate element when possible, but I don't have a fire attack with this party. So, if Magus is only weak to fire, I do a regular attack with Crono to try to make him change his weakness. Aside from his counterattacks, Magus has two proactive attacks: a single-target regular attack and the whole-party attack Hell Geyser. Magus alternates between these, so you can predict which one is coming next. Hell Geyser can deal 50 damage or more, and a person revived with Athenian Water has only 50 HP. So, if I know that Hell Geyser is coming, I'll often wait to revive someone. Otherwise, there's a good chance he would be killed immediately and my turn would go to waste.

When Magus's HP gets low enough, he will enter his second phase. You can tell when this happens because he stops counterattacking. Shortly after he enters this phase, his defense will be greatly reduced. This gives you a chance to whale on him and deplete his health much faster than before. Every now and then, he will use Dark Matter. If Robo boosts his maximum HP with the Silver Earring and his magic defense with the Dark Mail, and if his health is nearly full, then he can survive the attack. Since Dark Matter is Magus's only attack in his second phase and he doesn't use it very often, the second phase is much easier to survive than the first.

Party and equipment:

Crono: Slasher, Stone Helm, Ruby Vest, Silver Stud
Frog: Masamune, Stone Helm, Ruby Vest, Workman's Wallet
Robo: Death Claw, Stone Helm, Dark Mail, Silver Earring

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