7 Hardest Random Encounters That Made You Regret Not Saving

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Random Encounters have been part of the Final Fantasy DNA for decades. Seen as a necessary evil for progression and farming, for the most part, Random Encounters aren't too bad... but there are some enemies found within this mechanic that will give players nightmares and make them rue not saving more often... and that's what we're covering today!
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[@madao9946]

My 1st time encountering Tonberry I was like "aw what a cute little guy", i popped him and he didn't die then he slowly walks toward my party but i kept attacking thinking "why won't this little guy die?" then the battle message "Kitchen Knife" popped up and bodies started dropping LMAO

[@WarriorVirtue]

A description of the quest in FF7 Remake where you fight a Tonberry went something like, "So while the FF newcomers were either dawwing or tilting their heads in confusion, FF veterans were collectively sh**ing themselves at the sight of this abomination."

[@bobafettjr85]

My first encounter was the FFVIII version so I kept dying to Everyone's Grudge. All the while there's a timer going that I had no clue what it was for which just made me panic.

[@shinigamimiroku3723]

​@@bobafettjr85Same

[@sozaj]

My first ever Tonberry encounter was with a MASTER TONBERRY in the Northern Crater in FFVII. It traumatized me.

[@thefreshestmango1106]

First time for me was the tonberries that come at night in XV. Then there are the Sir Tonberries that moves like Yoda and their knife still OKOs you

[@Insert_Bland_Name_Here]

The Greater Malboros from FFX were a nightmare to run into. I have lost count of how many times I ran into one and immediately got dominated by those monstrosities. Eventually, I just started having at least one party member equipped with a weapon with First Strike, who also had the Flee ability, just so I could escape running into one.

[@declanl311]

Confuse or berserk ward proofs on armor too

[@declanl311]

Confuse or berserk ward proofs on armor too

[@cateatingchezburger4267]

He didn't even mention them being In the calm lands. I got a game over the first one I encountered my entire party decided they wanted to commit suicide

[@talos86]

Just use Auron with the Masamune as a permanent member in the Omega ruins. Shooting Star overdrive is an instant kill and i never encountered Great Malboro twice in the consecutive battles(i have over 1200 hours in the game on PS2), so Auron have plenty of time to get his overdrive back. Omega ruins is a great leveling spot.

[@Silamon2]

@@cateatingchezburger4267 Because in calm lands they don't always go straight to bad breath. You can pretty easily kill them before they use it with just normal tactics, or flee if you don't want to bother.

[@aesirshero2490]

That Malboro in FFX and the lizard that could petrify in the Omega Ruins were usually the bane of my existence

[@deekayson9637]

those damn stone lizards! stop you before you can even start if they get to go first...

[@aesirshero2490]

@@deekayson9637 I ended up having to lead my team with someone that had first strike in the party so I could switch in my team to either defeat them or flee.

[@Berek71182]

Well the safest bet was to equip Tidus or Rikku with pre/first strike weapon and switch to Yuna for an instant summon.

[@terrelltownsend8016]

I HATE Malboros!!! I always try to retreat whenever I encounter one.

[@auraweiss638]

I don't even know what developers think when they do that except complete sadism. How is that any good game design if it leaves you no chance to win? Even if it's just a low chance. There should at least be a small dialogue beforehand telling you to care for monsters that confuse or Petrify you. So that you don't play an hour for nothing.

[@thrasher698]

I'm gonna be honest you could have made an entire list of this nature containing just the various incarnations of the Marlboro from throughout the series and it'd still be damn accurate

[@ronnieblazebot3778]

True that. Even in tactics advance/a2 they annoying as fuck

[@randumo24]

The Great Malboro in FFX is on another level like they stated in the video though. It's obvious from the title that it's assumed you're going in blind, thus you don't know how to deal with it at first. If you aren't leading with a party member with a First Strike weapon, you can extremely easily get wiped without even getting a chance to act at all thanks to confusion.

[@IveBeenWithBruma]

​@@randumo24I think the 3x mask fight in ff4 should get an honorable mention. At that point in the game during a blind play through you will be royally screwed since they have one of the highest speed and attack modifiers in the game. More often then not by the time you even get a turn they will already be ready to start raining holy on your party.

[@warpuppy4528]

I remember Final Fantasy 10's behemoths had an ability to cast meteor as they died, so instead of winning the battle like you thought you did, you find yourself looking at the game over screen. Against a malboro variant you basically know what you are getting into so you can probably find at least one turn with an action to flee if you are not set up to fight it.

[@veghesther3204]

From FF5 onwards nearly EVERY GT (Great) Behemoth uses Meteor only in FFX its a PHYSICAL hit counter but that won't matter since their immune to blind and even the ones in FF5 trying prevent its Meteor counters through Silence/Mute in FF5 won't work since its immune to it.

[@warpuppy4528]

@@veghesther3204 What was special about FF10's wasn't that it used meteor, but the fact that it was able to attack you after it died.

[@bongchoof]

@@warpuppy4528 That is a common feature of that type of enemy. An attack on death. Usually Meteor. I know the boss Behemoth in the final dungeon of FF 8 did the same thing.

[@PixelHeroViish]

​@@warpuppy4528 I found out that capturing it or getting the final hit from a Counter Attack actually negates Meteor entirely, but that can potentially put you at risk of getting murked unless you do something specific first lol

[@RipleySawzen]

Have one party member flee before beating the behemoth and you're good I've had full end-game parties wiped by malboros without ever gaining control

[@Forever_Zero]

Suddenly I'm reminded I've beaten countless superbosses in Final Fantasy games but the 11 Monks? That's just beyond me, I've never won that fight

[@ryanchurchill5081]

I actually would of loved to find that fight with the team I made in tactics

[@kikixchannel]

@@ryanchurchill5081 It's been a while since I played Tactics, but I remember that the best way to go about that fight was to try and pull the monks away from each other and prioritize taking down the crystals so that they cannot revive each other. Spreading out the players damage on the other hand is making oneself a disservice. Of course, further down the game with Calculator and a bunch of strong spells to go with it, all battles were pretty much trivialized.

[@Ubernerd3000]

I believe I used Ninja/knights, and Mage/Monks, a leveled up Mustadio, and Time mages did the job for me...whatever I did, I would always grind up a rock solid party, and use them to open new areas before using those areas to level up the rest of the party...

[@S-Groove]

Think it's about time you went back and tried again?

[@Forever_Zero]

@@S-Groove certainly, in fact I'm planning on replaying it along with the other Tactics games on GBA and DS (which I haven't finished)

[@jrm78]

The first time I played FF8, I had an unfortunate run-in with a T-Rex in the training area before the Quistis tutorial on equipping status magic to put it to sleep.

[@josephedge88]

Lol, I had the same encounter, thought I could grind on some grats, till T-Rex came in and used tail swipe first and wiped me....

[@veghesther3204]

That doesn't matter her Degenerator limit 1 shots every non boss besides Lefty Right Visages Gnats Cactuars and Tonberries and out of those 6 all but the Tonberries are a total joke to kill even at lv 100 and the Lionheart still made on disc 1. But Ever since FF4 and Malboros exist their a pain in the ass to kill in EVERY game and the ONLY normal ribbons FF4 has are the 2 in the FINAL dungeon but Sylph Cave to fight those is way before you can even get those 2 ribbons.

[@josephedge88]

@Veghesther well see, the original commentor and I are talking about first time playing in 99 when the game out, not 20 years later with some wiki guide open telling you what to do step by step, nowadays, yes you're correct if you follow a script instead of learning anything yourself, the T Rex isn't a problem, just keep in mind what I said, and try your best not to be condescending jackass

[@qactustick]

@@veghesther3204 Way to overanalyze their comment! You kinda missed the context here that it was their first time playing and it's also the start of the game. Kind of the context that applies to a lot of the encounters mentioned in the video as well. We're not talking about encounters where you're equipped to the teeth specifically to take them on with little to no issues.

[@c.k.mcknight8921]

Yeah, I can relate. I spent practically an hour fighting one before I realized I could just cut and run. Nowadays, I junction 100 Death spells to Status Attack (by modding Tonberry cards) for instant death.

[@naisume668]

This reminded me of that stupid wall boss of Final Fantasy 12. I’ll never forget the absolute horror after we killed it only to realize there was a second wall boss. On the other side of the loading screen door.

[@Cyraxior]

For real. But there was that sweet sense of revenge when you came back forty levels higher and laid absolute waste to that damn wall.

[@mssunnylunarain7]

Omg. I remember being so incredibly angry when that happened. Funny thing is, when Zodiac age came out, it was almost pathetically easy, like the difficulty of the game had been toned down drastically.

[@TheThrillDaedra96]

@@Cyraxior Then there's me that powerleveled via dustia method into about the 50s or 60s back in the day just to try to breeze through the game

[@Montilli]

​@ThrillDaedra96 getting overlevelled so I csn use my espers to 1v1 bosses

[@FuraFaolox]

​@TreeHopper it's more like three bosses, though there is a save point between Garuda and the first Demon Wall.

[@littleDainolf]

If you pass a save point and don't save you deserve it.

[@1funkylionsfan913]

Unless your playing a game like resident evil 1 and you have to use ribbons to save and they are in a limited supply And what about war mech in FF1 there is no save option

[@Sargaxiist2022]

If you pass a save point and don't save twice* Fixed it for you

[@kamikaze82]

Yeah that sentiment works if you're somewhere where there is an actual save point and not the overworld where you can save at any time, but also don't have that visual reminder to do so.

[@marblethunder4323]

Or a speedrunner

[@ericstaples7220]

You should learn to take some risks in life.

[@johnlewisbrooks]

I think final fantasy creators realized years ago this was a good idea. The first example of this scenario was an encounter with an enemy called WarMech in the second to last hallway in final fantasy 1. This badguy was so powerful you had to kill him in 2-3 rounds or you were almost guaranteed a defeat because he would hit you with a special attack called NUKE which unless you were super leveled you were toast!

[@jettblade]

Not really a random encounter but one that caught me off guard was the Jumbo Cactaur in FF8. Just flying around and seeing this weird green stick popping up. Stopped, ran up on it, and boom dead cause not prepared.

[@jerome6519]

ah yes the "whats that thing" death. curiosity most certainly is a run killer lol

[@sabrakt]

@@jerome6519 Fooled us once with FF7 and the Ruby Weapon, shame on them. Fooled us twice with FF8 and the Giant Cactuar, shame on us.

[@datdude1538]

Damn 10,000 needles ☹️

[@adolcristin3526]

The green thing 😂 his easy! Just use tsunami gf on him! I defeated him first time but like you i got close call 😅

[@hiraethgamer2819]

For me, the first encounter with Malboro is the FF8 variant. Everytime I see ANY Malboro I get PTSD and I can just *hear* that vile laugh it does as it spawns in. A honorable mention I'd like to throw in is FF8's Diablos. I know it's not a random encounter, but the very first time I got the lamp I just used it, missing the "fine print at the bottom". The standard battle music began and-- Tore me to shreds he did...

[@NoctLightCloud]

I also used it afair immediately and for some reason won and got Diablo as one one of my first summons😆

[@hiraethgamer2819]

@@NoctLightCloud Once I finally made it back to that point, I SAVED, then tried again... Got whooped again. This process repeated itself for a while until I finally got the damn thing. I thought it looked so cool and it still is among my favorite summons (read: GFs) simply because of childhood memory. As a kid I could never quite figure out why he was so weak, so I only ever got him for the abilities he could learn, and hardly ever attacked with him -- I'd occasionally use him as a shield, is all.

[@c.k.mcknight8921]

Gotta steal those tentacles to get Doomtrain later. I get them by modding 24 Malboro cards, cuz I just don't want to mess with the real deal.

[@DFloyd84]

Cid gives you a lamp THAT HAS THE DEVIL IN IT and neglects to tell you straight that IT HAS THE DEVIL IN IT!

[@hiraethgamer2819]

@@c.k.mcknight8921 I find myself modding cards as well, because not only do I need the things for Doomtrain, I also need a few of those...appendages for Quistis' Save The Queen. ...Square knew *exactly* what they were doing.

[@Ragnarok2kx]

Finath River in FFT was another fun one. 8 Chocobos of all 3 colors, so they had absurd mobility, ranged attacks, healing and Monster Stat scaling, so higher level ones could hit damn hard.

[@nathanielbass771]

i'd say the normal mind flairs or whatever their upgraded name was were superior. If you weren't immune to berserk / confusion, your entire party would just do nothing forever while slowly dying

[@TheMaxDilllion]

Finally someone who mentions the Chocobo Kill Squad.

[@rossrobertson674]

There's also a random battle with a bunch of Samaria's but it's jot as hard as the Monk's

[@Prettythings2244]

First time meeting Malboro was in FF15, scared the living crap out of me, and it had babies!!!!

[@jonnywalker3208]

It looked SO cool though!!!

[@Pensive_Scarlet]

I love the insult-to-injury at the end of the Grog Hill battle shown here. "Warning! Your Chemist became a feeble coward and your White Mage is a self-righteous prude. You didn't need healers anyway, right?"

[@nathanielbass771]

what's annoying is that the ingame explanations can be just as bad XD They turn into babbling messes or say that they refuse to work with rabble and heretics. It's an interesting mechanic, but you have to wonder why Square thought that changing only mildly controllable stats to be game-breaking was a good thing

[@Rakshiir]

My first FF was 8, and on my first playthrough I wasn't really understanding all systems perfectly to be honest. My encounter with the Malboro there was terrifying honestly. I only defeated them when Odin came to help me. If that didn't happen and the bad breath went through, you often had a party with blind and berserk, and you could basically only watch them die to poison and other attacks. It wasn't even super fast, but painful...

[@Romess1]

Exactly how the japanese feel about smoking. You die slow and painful and everyone watches.

[@_MotoMatt]

haha same here. Was probably my first RPG ever, I was around 7 years old. I did not use the spell junction system and spammed GFs all day lol.

[@Rakshiir]

@@_MotoMatt That was very similar for me. Ironically what I did was to a degree what you can do to crush the game. With the junctions I just pressed "optimize" but didn't tell GFs what to learn so they got passives that are rather bad. I also used encounter 0, didn`t draw magic or created it with other GF abilities. The ones I got at some point that I thought were good (like Firaga and such) are actually rather mediocre for most stats. But back then you didn`t really have the internet to get guides, I just played it. I did get to the last section of the game, Ultimecias castle but bosses there wrecked me HARD. With the second playthrough I leveled the characters better, got some more magic. Didn`t really break the game (which you can totally do if you want to), but it was enough to finish it. I did do a "let`s see how hard you can break the game" playthrough much later, and it is funny in it's own way.

[@brandoncook8300]

I remember having to rely on Odin as well too. But I messed up and leveled my party up to 100.

[@benjaminmeusburger4254]

Odin saving my ass from a Malboro was a great Odin-Fanboy moment for me as well ;-)

[@olivergottgens6314]

I remember, when i was a kid and played FF VII (Original) there was an enemy in the northern cavern called "Scissors". They can inflict an instant death attack and in larger groups they are pretty dangerous for unprepared players. My team was death in 1 round and the last save state was far away.

[@deekayson9637]

The island closest to heaven /hell in FF8 should be on here, besides the lvl 100 monsters with a weirdly high encounter rate the crazy amount of draw points is also worth mentioning. especially shocking if you just landed on one of these islands randomly to save and were attacked instantly while disembarking.

[@ladynikkie]

The ruby dragons and Malboros were the worst in that island

[@DevGoose]

@@ladynikkiehvgtyu

[@veghesther3204]

They are but Degenerator still kills both instantly not that it matters I wanted all but Rinoa at lv100 her at lv 99 ON DISC 1.

[@_MotoMatt]

Arent all monster levels in 8 based on your level? Or did that island have special fixed values

[@dragames]

@@veghesther3204 OMG you're here?! Why not return to gamefaqs.

[@fruitcocktailsamurai]

I was actually grinding in FFT:TWOL and I actually got the 11 monk spawn and found it hilarious. I managed to take down 3 or 4 before things got out of hand 😂

[@AC-hj9tv]

Oh yea wtf I remember that lol

[@nathanielbass771]

I think the multi-chemist encounter is probably more annoying. They all have guns and basically infinite items for revival. Nowhere near as annoying as the mind-flair though, which is basically the great malboro on steroids...

[@adolcristin3526]

I just kick their arses those damned monks are nothing 😏

[@daethe]

It's really not even that difficult of a fight, a horde of red chocobos is worse. Against the monks? Ramza, Orlandeau, Balthier, all setup properly can solo it pretty effortlessly.

[@fruitcocktailsamurai]

@@daethe I get that, but I was doing a run where the only special character I used was Ramza alongside a team of regular characters. All my other special characters were on the bench.

[@Cloud971]

Without even starting the video yet, i already know that Malboro has to be there !!!

[@catatonic165]

What gave it away? 🤔

[@extra4542]

@@catatonic165 🤣 ikr

[@scribble71891]

Honestly, it's almost like a rite of passage for a FF player to die to a Malboro ambush.

[@mightymoosegaming4887]

FFX

[@murillomeira9337]

You predicted the thumbnail :o woah

[@darrelwilson]

There was a few you missed in the Final Fantasy tactics series. The mass monks on grog Hill.( we’re about 15 monks spawning against your party of five.) and the mass behemoth + dragon spawn level on Barius hill, which was another nightmare. And lastly the red chocobo battle on fineth river, which was ridiculously hard if you weren’t prepared for it. Overall great video and I remember throwing controllers when the malboro wouid plague my whole team 😂

[@DerekEidahl]

Wights and Wraiths in FF1, especially in the Marsh Cave. Even when prepared with Harm, Harm 2, or Fire 2, they could still stun lock you

[@deekayson9637]

the marsh cave in itself was a major challenge, especially in early versions of the game. the chest wizards could be problematic too if you had 4-6 spawn instead of just a couple. my problem was never getting the crown it was getting out afterwards :).

[@DerekEidahl]

@@deekayson9637 For sure. I grew up playing the NES version and always stocked up on CUREs and HEALs till I got 99 of each lol

[@acerimmer8338]

PTSD from being 8 years old and trying to get thru Marsh. I always ran in that place.

[@natef735]

Agreed, and cocktrices in the earth cave turning you to stone

[@mrgreensuit7379]

Near the town where you pick up the ship in FF1 there is a peninsula sticking up into the Lufen speaking area. The two tiles near the water that separates the area contained the high level monsters of the other side including a possible large pack of frost wolves zomBulls t-rex and more. If you trigger it by mistake at a lower level you're doomed. It's a great spot to power level if you're ready though.

[@ryanern18]

FF1 - Mages and Sorcerers which are both in the Ice Cave. Sorcerer has instant KO from its normal attack and Mages use RUB and other strong spells. Both can come in parties of up to 5 I believe. Also Gas Dragons in the ToF past. FF VI - when you make your way to Figaro castle there are spots of sand in the where you can encounter some enemy who’s name escapes me that can absolutely spam you with sandstorm. FF XII - poking the Wild Saurian in the Estersand whe you’re literally level 1. Likewise the Werewolves in the Giza Plains. Oh, and those elementals and entites.

[@DerekEidahl]

"You thought Astos was bad? Try fighting 4 of him at the same time! 😁"

[@vinniamsterdam700]

*slain*

[@eW91dHViZSBpcyBjZW5zb3JzaGlw]

in 12 the saying is: if it doesnt attack you on sight, leave it alone.

[@Edzward]

About the 11 monks of Grog Hill, they also come equipped with Earth Clothes, which makes they HEAL if hit by Earth Slash. They can simultaneously damage you and heal each other at the same time. EDIT: "Simultaneously at the same time" 🤦‍♂️

[@Cornholers]

U need massive AOE damage to kill this crew sir I played this religiously for years

[@cb3648]

The one at Barius Hill is brutal too where it has all 3 hydras, dragons, and some chocobos.

[@Cornholers]

Guys a mathematician literally owns all in this game!

[@Cornholers]

Eh screw black chocobos

[@nathanielbass771]

@Bruce Wayne they came up with some variety to them as well. Dragons? you have to spread your party and take them out one by one or risk being overwhelmed. Chemists...nothing but overwhelming force. Funnily enough, there's actually an encounter that is even RARER than the rare encounters. I can't verify how to do this, but I had a character leave either from faith or bravery issues. Well, some time later, I encountered them in a random battle. They had all genji gear equipped and high stats. It stuck with me because genji equipment is excessively rare in this game with only 2 sets in the entire game, only exceeded by 1 of a kind items

[@ProfessorSpade]

80% of the random encounters in the DS remake of FF3 were so hard , I remember not saving as soon as I exited a dungeon after barely beating a boss. I got into a random encounter and the monsters hit me harder than the boss and killed me , had to do the entire boss fight over.

[@Zellonous]

I'm not sure if you played the original nes version, but it's a hard game.

[@georgehouliaras7239]

Oh boy, I can't wait to defeat the final field. Warmech: I'm about to end this man's whole career.

[@Cloud971]

Way too rare, you were just unlucky... badly unlucky...

[@darkkingastos4369]

I would always run into him my first attempt with a new party... every... friggin ...time...every time I played it would happen and I would have to go back up the tower... and then when I was ready to take him on with a leveled up party it would take me forever to get him to spawn

[@TruckDrivinGamer]

Every FF main character: I need a breath mint. Not for my Bad Breath... for that bloody Malboro!!

[@kennethsnyder6849]

I learned not to fear the Great Malboro. With Auron having First Strike, I would use Provoke, which causes the thing to use it's weak spray attack against the whole party (that only did about 1000 damage each) instead of bad breath. With this, it turned into one of the easiest encounters compared to others, like the Tonberry King.

[@happiestaku6646]

Or, just switch to Yuna and Summon. They don't use Bad Breath against summons.

[@ChrisJones-xd1re]

Dansg08 is currently doing a challenge in the Omega Ruins, but at a lower level: the level the party is at, just before they go to the Desert. He's using Tidus' First Strike weapon & Provoke. He won't be Fleeing, and he won't have Al Bhed Potions either.

[@GTdba]

My very first Humbaba monster in FF12. " Easy does it, all i need to do is poke it and if it is tough I run away, aaaaaaaaannnnd~~~~" ~~~Yeah, Vaan did not manage to escape in time ...my last save point was 8 hours prior. Lucky for me this kind of screw ups only happen once.

[@AshAsmodeus]

I LOVED how they did the design on this monster... it starts out as a regular behemoth (you think) but once it's HP goes down to 50% it stands on his hind legs; breaks off its horn and uses it as a friggin sword (not to mention getting restored to full hp in the process)...How bad goes to worse is how I remember Humbaba... That...and Wladislaus from FFXIII-2 friggin mini-jojimbo's that can come in 2 at a time with a full party wipe attack... not frig-tonnes of damage...no...just charge animation...attack...game over...

[@drinkmorecareless]

Something deeply troubles me about the way this man pronounces “behemoth.”

[@somebodysomething3305]

Right? lol

[@MajinK]

Be a moth

[@dxvxdco]

me too i'm glad someone else mentioned lol

[@gargervon8697]

Well, Merriam-Webster seems to accept both pronunciations... ˈbē-ə-məth I prefer the H to be pronounced, though, personally.

[@PytD]

Buh HeMith

[@imperiex7175]

FF1. First required dungeon. Several floors in you start hitting mindflayers in packs of 6. They cast Death more often than not. Easily killing the party. At that point you had low to no MP. Few if any healing items. The game just started so you didn't have Gil to stock items.

[@Firehawk376]

Don't forget WarMech. Yeah, it's late, but it makes the final boss look weak by comparison.

[@joshuawidener8407]

Seriously insane how it didn't make the list

[@granth4561]

THE MARLBORO MAN!!!

[@TheMeteoDragoon]

Surprised the Brachiosaur didn’t show up.

[@Cloud971]

I think that's because it's so rare to encounter him .... especially the Pixel Remaster version.

[@alexiere]

And I mean, it's not so random, you need to actually go look for him.

[@Nanobot1989]

That was rough.

[@Cloud971]

@@alexiere Please explain. In my last playtrhough i encountered "only" 10 of them (i was leveling ALL the characters at Lvl 99 doesn't seem so much for me)

[@ffejpsycho]

@@Cloud971 there is a dinosaur forest

[@ChannelSho]

A lot of the encounters in FF2 were basically party wipes because they applied debilitating status effects. If it wasn't for auto and quick saving, I would've rage quit the Pixel Remaster a long time ago

[@TKWolf]

I remember in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, you could get ambushed by enemies that could cast an instant-kill spell on your hero. When your hero dies in that game, it's an immediate game-over. There was an ability you could eventually equip to prevent auto-kills, but you had to know how to get it, and use up a slot for it.

[@AshAsmodeus]

Hama, Mudo, Mahaam and Mamudoon still have a (fairly) low chance to succeed and the anti-abilities for those spells have been in the series since forever. Usually the game also telegraphs enemies who have these abilities by having your very first encounter be with one of these (so if they do get it off you would've been near a savepoint anyways)... if you then forget or don't equip those passives afterwards that's kinda on you IMHO but a lot of people give those games flack for including that possibility...

[@InvertedWIng]

The 11 Monk battle at Grog Hill in Final Fantasy Tactics was no picnic. But another one you had to watch out for was the super monster battle at Bariaus Hill/Balius Tor. Here, you would face an overwhelming force of about 10 enemies which would consist of a randomized combination of dragons, chocobos, behemoths, and hydras. You pretty much canNOT cross that node on the map without saving first, because if you don't bring a party tailor-made for it, you're screwed. About the only saving grace it has is that it also provides you a monster as a guest.

[@adolcristin3526]

I actually farming in that location for hydras and breed them 🥰

[@CD-Gaming]

I'm still haunted by that initial encounter with the Brachiosaur from Final Fantasy VI... No, you get over it!

[@ryanchurchill5081]

I have beat that monster once on a rom hack it wasn't easy

[@ricardoperez9357]

I gotten econimizer once and never fucked with that dinosaur again brutal farming

[@veghesther3204]

Exactly at least the PS1/SNES version still has the Vanish Doom glitch to KILL them instantly without it you need 1 of the 4 Atma/Ultima weapon users to use quick on him/herself be at LVS over 80 and do 8x 9999 hits to kill them since 4x 9999 hits won't since they have 48,000 HP.

[@ryanchurchill5081]

@@ricardoperez9357 I found it easier to steal the ecomomizer from that bird enemy from the coliseum

[@ricardoperez9357]

I forgot about vanish xzone/death but I think I did this in the gba version where they nerf that shit and obviously I like that version better with all extra stuff in it the vanish nerf made it more enjoyable

[@RipleySawzen]

Man, I have fond memories of *_screaming in rage at the TV_* as my berserked, confused party members unalived themselves in FFX due to a giant blob that somehow got the jump on me

[@SPIKEYROXAS]

On my playthrough of ffx. I defeated seymours final form and then got ambushed by a greater malboro in the next room before saving. I died

[@patman_for_sure]

Oof I felt this F

[@Cyraxior]

Been there.

[@dustinsullivan6768]

Lmao 😆

[@SPIKEYROXAS]

@@PetitPoneyDuVercors26 oooof that hurts lol

[@jamesoakes4842]

Honestly, I felt the biggest omission from this list was Warmech from Final Fantasy 1. He was the closest thing that the game had to an optional superboss, he comes at the end of the next to last dungeon, you can't avoid the area he appears, he's very difficult to run away from, has no weaknesses, and he can often wipe the floor with your whole party in just a move or two. It was one of the first times I saw a strategy guide list "prayer" as part of the strategy.

[@AshAsmodeus]

Hahaha; I remember him... the predecessor to Ultimate Weapon/Omega in future installments of the franchise... Warmech was a mofo if I ever saw one xD

[@joshuawidener8407]

Seriously, especially when they included much easier battles

[@lLarceny]

The chocobo random encounters were WAY harder than the monks in FFT

[@nathanielbass771]

and mind flairs were even worse. no immunity = game over

[@sky22fairy7]

Wow a monster in final fantasy 9 I didn't know. I knew the area but always went back cause of the grand dragon and just assumed that was the only monster up there. Probably cause I was just getting into video games and a bit younger at the time

[@scottbaker8347]

I've made that mistake with a Marlboro once I fear fighting them in every game thanks to ff10

[@thomasthompson7107]

Those Greater Malboros were a right pain. But I have noticed that they only always ambush in the Omega Ruins. Inside Sin they don’t. But either way, I always make sure to go into the Omega Ruins, with at least 3 of my party, equipped with Confuse and Berserk Proof and have at least one of the three in the main party.

[@adolcristin3526]

I got my trauma from malboros in ff8 and from then i always escape whenever i see a marlboro in random encounters 😂

[@thomasthompson7107]

@@adolcristin3526 don’t blame you. Those ones in 8, especially on the Island closests to hell sucked big time

[@mark902]

i remember playing x-2 and stopping at the early stages due to that lightning field filled with marlboros.

[@realMetalsonic646]

I remember my first time encountering the Malbro in FFVII. I was in a major panic when ALL of my party members were inflicted by various status ailments X.X

[@Cloud971]

The same, i didn't know that this game could have this type of monster... This was also my first Final Fantasy.

[@veghesther3204]

But in FF7 not only could I have lv 60 party members with 9999 HP 999 MP but you CAN have 2 Ribbon users before fighting it they only suck in the games where Ribbons can NOT be get when they first show up IE FF4, FF8 on disc 2 WITHOUT status defense x4 FF9 you can't null ALL of Bad breath's effects no berserk immunity. FFX does have a Ribbon ability but good LUCK getting like the 99 or so required items to even do SO.

[@ricardoperez9357]

Those things are easy if you have enemy skill equip with aqua lung and they will die in 1 or 2 turns and will probably be immune if you have ribbon equip from temple of the ancients when you face them in the glacier making it easy to get bad breath as a enemy skill

[@serioushex3893]

the 11 monk encounter is hilarious though. they all have the same speed, so if you actually go LOOKING for it, you can calculate a ct5 holy on them and blow all 11 of them up in one go. just make sure you're wearing chameleon robes to absorb the holy you're gonna get blasted too.

[@dwightsmith2918]

Being ambushed by the Great Malboro absolutely pissed me off so many times. I was glad when I got an armlet for Khimari that had protect.

[@acerimmer8338]

I miss random encounters. I completely understand why most everyone else hates them, but there's something about the 'unknown'. It creates tension and a healthy anxiety. What might I bump into? Hopefully it doesn't attack first! Going onto some random land when first getting your airship, seeing what's there, then getting gobsmacked! BUT, if you were prepared (or lucky) you might win and get oodles experience. Sadly those days are long gone from FF (and gaming in general).

[@nyresolution1393]

Yeah not even in Pokemon anymore

[@dustinsullivan6768]

Just got a game called Octopath Traveler you should check it out it has random encounters it's made in the old school style

[@andrewcarlton6196]

​@@dustinsullivan6768 only problem i have is Octopath can get tedious with its battles. Just simple enemies are as long as bosses in other games and gives you so little exp

[@MrRockmusicjunkie]

The one that got me in FFV was in Castle Walse, if you went in that one passage that was full of Jackanapes. The chest down there had an Elven Mantle, which was nice, but I died way too often trying to grab it.

[@veghesther3204]

Its annoying since NOT only will it berserk all with Moon Flute NOT even a LV 45+ 4x Monk party IN the Front row do ANY damage to them only Lv 5 death 1000 Needles Aqualung can and yes all 3 CAN be learnt in world 1.

[@Araneus21]

Gilgame was also fun. You find a passage with coins, you enter... and suddenly... TURTLE BATTLE you cannot win unprepared, and often even crazy prepared.

[@weronikachlebowska6998]

All late game FFT encounters as you can break your game if you exp too much. All the enemies become unbeatable. I remember waterfall level with purple, red and yellow chocobos...

[@thecedarriversnag]

I would level to 99 and max job skills in the first area, mandalia plains I think it is. Before the game even really started. And I would walk through the rest the game, but being a bare knuckled hardly armored samurai vs a 99 chocobo army is a pain in the &$$ in the beginning 😂

[@snackpack9994]

I never once encountered the monk army in FFT with all my playthroughs. Didn't know that was possible lol

[@johnmichaelreyes4577]

Idk if the wild saurian found at dalmasca eastersands in ff12 early level will count as a wild encounter. 1. This enemy was counted as a friendly foe. 2. By judging it's look you know that it was a way higher level monster than those wolves and cacti. Another mention was those werewolves found at giza plains in the same game when you are powering the sunstone. This will be easily agitated if you farm every monsters found in the top area since the bunny/hare will try to run if you attacked it while Penelo will track it having its gambits auto on To unaware/new players this 2 said monsters are found at early stages of the game and will automatically put you to game over screen. To be honest ff12 has a vast of high level random encounters if you found yourself exploring the easy to access wrong areas like: 1. Zertinan cavern 2. Great crystal above levels 3. Nebreus deadland and necrohol of nabaudis

[@chrisgonzalez5883]

For me it's the magic pot monster. Those little things killed me more than I can remember

[@adolcristin3526]

I really hate the the ghost that constantly warping and avoiding my attacks and keep casting their curse attcks 😅 i also really messed up when i saw the wild saurian first time in dalmasca and regretting messing with the t rex and got one shotted by it 😂

[@nonsequitur9865]

Molboro in FFX gave me so much trauma, that when i started playing every FF from 1 to 12, everytime i encountered a molboro, even if i was overleveled i instantly tried to flee.

[@adolcristin3526]

The ff8 Marlboros are the worst for me 😫 with their creepy laugh and screams

[@moonwolfv671]

The Coeurls out of Final Fantasy II. If they got an ambush, it was "blam, blam, blam, blam, you're dead", before you could get a single action in . I don't know how many times I fought them in that chest inside Castle Palamecia before I was like, fine, I don't care anymore about that chest.

[@c.k.mcknight8921]

I'm glad you mentioned the Garudas in the forests above Gizamaluke's Grotto, but I was surprised you didn't mention the Grand Dragons up there. Guaranteed death sentence. Later on, they're much easier to deal with, as Quina's Lv5 Death will knock them out in one blow. They're great for leveling up. But at that early stage, you're best off following the advice of your young Moogle friends and staying down below.

[@veghesther3204]

Grand dragons however are MORE Lethal then Garuda's since the GD's are at lv 60 I believe Garuda is NOT.

[@aerisgainsborough2141]

let freya win the tournament for the coral ring..then pass it around the party...

[@nemoisnobody]

It's not really a "random encounter", but the Zodiac Age version of XII buffed the CRAP out of Archaeoaevis in the underground caverns. Just one of those are a nightmare to deal with, but for some reason the devs felt the player should have to fight TWO! Maybe that Cockatrice in the room will be enough to distract th- and it's already dead. Might be the toughest non-boss encounter in the franchise if you don't count XII's "rare game" monsters.

[@gargervon8697]

Yeah, that thing is nuts, especially if you get one at level 99. I think they made them pseudo superbosses in TZA because they gave Emperor Scales a stronger purpose in the Mithuna, which didn't exist in the original PS2 game, and Mithuna is an "ultimate weapon." In the PS2 game, they were just a little stronger than everything else in the cavern rather than completely shredding everything in their path.

[@LimitBreakr424]

FF8 Malboro gave me a game over I remember 20+ years later

[@PJTeesdale]

When my brother and I first got a PS2, we didn't also get a save card. We were young and dumb. But I liked watching my brother play Final Fantasy X, even though not being able to save meant he literally could not turn the console off ever. And somehow, he made it all the way through to Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, somewhere around 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through the game, where he ran across the Magic Jar. And promptly got the entire party wiped in an instant by attacking the wrong eye. Which meant that the entire playthrough up to that point disappeared, because we didn't have a save file. I watched that happen, and while my brother was silently processing it, I just as silently went upstairs to hide in my room, so that he wouldn't take out his anger on me. Needless to say, we had a save card after that.

[@lifewithoutfudge]

This sounds like a villain origin story. I don't even with those stupid jars. Just flee if they ever show up. Not worth it.

[@FantasyYeet]

Malboro is one AMBUSHED away from making me regret walking the calm lands

[@d.sack2727]

Rip

[@dantevic]

The ones in the clam lands could ise bad breath? I never saw them use it

[@veghesther3204]

Malboro's in any game can use it so yes the ones in The Calm Lands can use it.

[@lifewithoutfudge]

@@dantevic They can use it, but way less often and I think with less status effects than the Great version found in Omega Ruins and final Sin dungeons.

[@dantevic]

@@lifewithoutfudge Alright.

[@GemeinschaftHQ]

I used to pronounce 'Behemoth' as you do "Be-He-Moth", but learned much later that the word is biblical in origin and actually pronounced 'Be-Heemuth' instead. Nice video, great channel.

[@ficroulaud]

It actually threw me off hearing how he pronounced it. I've never heard it called Be-he-moth before today.

[@DandySlayer13]

I feel like his pronunciation of the word is almost fine but he losses the h sound when saying it so it sounds like he's saying "Be-e-moth" instead of "Be-he-moth", sorta like he has cockney accent where the h is essentially chopped of the word or is really low. Although what makes this weird is the fact he says and pronounces Bahamut perfectly fine a moment later...

[@benseal3072]

Ty for commenting this. You can tell FFU looked up the proper pronunciation and I wish he didn’t😔

[@codyreece7080]

A mimic in ff9 on disc 2 ambushed me on the way to a town in a Forrest. And I didn't remember to save, so my most recent was way back on disc 1 before the big fight and all the cutscenes. Fun stuff

[@katyadade1041]

Was it a mimic? WIKI says they are only encountered in Burmecia disguised as chests.

[@codyreece7080]

My memory says mimic, I know for sure it was disc 2 and in a Forrest. I lost like 5 hours of progress lol, you only have to make that mistake once. This was also 20 years ago.

[@gargervon8697]

I remember one time getting dangerously close to losing on my way to Treno in Disc 2 by a Mandragora. They aren't really strong, but they have Chestnut, which basically is Minus Strike, and it proceeded to wreak some havoc with that once I had whittled it down to low HP.

[@veghesther3204]

That sucks but most of the time you can have Steiner whom SHOULD be at least lv 10 on the Front row do enough damage to kill those instantly.

[@gargervon8697]

@Veghesther I only had this problem on my first playthrough without guides or prior knowledge of the game. Steiner was level 8 or so, I think, and I had bad equipment. Just an illustration that some random battles can catch you flatfooted if you don't know the game already.

[@Breadfan14]

I remember the all-ninjas encounter in Araguay Woods being very difficult too in FFT... especially if your party came unprepared without "catch" haha

[@nathanielbass771]

heck, the one that is a part of the story is somewhat difficult too because almost every enemy you have faced thus far has slow speed stats with the only fast characters being achers and thieves....now you get ninjas that hit hard and fast XD

[@Breadfan14]

@@nathanielbass771 and twice! Hahaha As a kid I was like: "I WANT THAT JOB" 😂

[@Sunrobin7520]

I thought the 11 monk thing was a glitch that wrecked me back in the day lmao.

[@GhastlyGhostrider]

The Grand Dragon in FF9 was quite easy IF you were lucky enough get a hold on the Reflect Ring at the auction in Treno. If you got that and activate Auto-Reflect, every hardhitting lightning would just bounce back to the mean lizard xD I used this trick back in the day to farm loads of lvls, ofc running down to the Moogles for saving ever so often xD

[@rialyandriamiseza9814]

I used Lvl5 death which was even more efficient.

[@jace743]

Omg, immediately upon seeing the malboro, I had flashbacks to FFX. Makes sense that it ended up being the final on the list. It was the only encounter in the game that I would immediately run from, regardless of how high level I was. Hard pass.

[@rashodmasters4299]

Probably the scariest part of the whole game. At least with superbosses you know what you're getting into. That asshole just shows up

[@uspresdientcentral]

My favorite part was the one where it ambushes you, uses bad breath, making every character unable to be controlled, die, all without a single button press. Very fun.

[@cryangallegos]

FF9 you could encounter 4 Mandragoras in the forest outside Treno. I was unlucky enough to encounter 4 and didn't have Locomotion on any of my party. 4 Stops and it was game over

[@crashboredom2]

Ozma in FF9 was unexpected, and just after getting the gold chocobo, if you didn't save you got rekt

[@robadams1512]

Grosspanzer in the original FFVII can be a pretty difficult random encounter (Midgar Raid, just after Proud Clod)

[@Enclosure_2k]

Idk man... But Grand Dragon is stronger then Garuda.

[@MufasaBruhh]

I’m surprised Jackanapes from final fantasy 5 wasn’t included on this list . The grey imp monster found in the basement of castle walse . I haven’t played FF5 in years but I never forgot about the infamous Jackanapes who haunted my dreams as a kid lol

[@zackwoods5077]

It's only one per game and the fat grey squirrel was more noteworthy. You do have to be creative to kill either of them without being way over leveled.

[@somegreatdj]

Ambushed every time, ay least until you are fighting inside sin. Great video, I also want to shoutout the magic pot from twelve.

[@AdogXIII3]

For ff9 I thought the grand dragon would be the subject.? At least too me it's more memorable and you can get white wind very easily in like an hour later.

[@gargervon8697]

Yeah, Grand Dragons can also inflict Venom. A fully venomed party is a game over, too, surely as a fully stopped party. Antibody is easier to get than Locomotion, I suppose, but those all-Thundagas are going to wipe out a disc 1 party just as easily as any of Garuda's moves, and Grand Dragon has quite a bit more HP. But, it's their list. Maybe they're saving Grand Dragon for another one or something.

[@gabrielmorga2326]

Ff1, fortaleza aérea, donde te enfrentas a Tiamat. El robot que tiene una probabilidad muy baja de salir en solo 1 cuadro.

[@carolinusTG]

WarMech, yes, and the placement of Tiamat, 3 or 4 tiles from the exit, was ALWAYS a butt clencher after killing him.

[@Eincrou]

My 2.5-year Final Fantasy VI playthrough (started in mid-2019) abruptly came to an end a year ago. Near the end of the game, I was grinding in a desert area that had trivial enemies and I didn't waste time saving the game. After ~40 minutes of this, I randomly encountered a Gigantaur - a giant cactuar that I later learned isn't actually a random encounter. It's triggered by doing something and then stepping on one specific desert tile. This was a secret super-boss that I wasn't nearly strong enough to defeat _and could not flee from!_ So, I got wiped out, lost 45 minutes of grinding, and that was the last time I played FF6. The Gigantaur was not featured in this video and it's not a random encounter, but it sure felt like I got randomly unlucky.

[@Flamsterette]

Thanks for the upload!

[@ae_sko88]

Ima need you to pronounce behemoth again….

[@BlazingCosmos]

Adamantoise in FF15, the Malboros in FF8, Grand Dragons and Yans in FF9, Ruby and Emerald WEAPONs in FF7

[@Just_B0red]

Adamantoise in ff15 is bounty however, not a random encounter + you can 1 shot it

[@CronosVids]

I actually got a Final Fantasy Theathrythm Final Bar Line ad before this video started, I didn’t skip for the stars had aligned.

[@sagacious03]

Decent analysis video! Thanks for uploading!

[@Bayleaf6399]

The way he pronounces Behemoth brought me out of focus XD

[@yeahok1455]

He kept saying beahmoth I was away from my phone listening on headphones and trying to think of what beast he was talking about I'm like what is a beahmoth

[@TimelessWorldOfGaming]

The Good old Tonberry will make you regret it. He's in almost every Final Fantasy too, might actually be in every single one, I'm not sure. lol

[@EvanFarshadow]

FF5 also had the Jackanapes. A nightmarish monster that would absolutely wreck your team if you tried to get an amazing early game item and weren't prepared to do what you could to avoid encounters.

[@Brocuzgodlocdunfamdogson]

The Coeurl’s (BlackCat) in FF4s Eblan castle smoked me bad the first time i ran into them. Their “blaster” ability has a 50% chance of paralyzing or flat out killing you. This was like 30 years ago, I remember it like it was yesterday.

[@sarthebazaar1898]

I thought i would say this cause i dont think i heard him in the video mention it or not, but the great malboro only auto ambushes in omega ruins, if encountered anywhere else, theres only a normal chance like every other encounter that it ambushes

[@vaiyt]

The skull eater caught me in my first run

[@mfntonberry]

I'm a simple man. When final fantasy union posts. I watch.... and 👍

[@deletious]

you should do a video on bosses you regret writing over your save file before you fight them. I was under leveled in FFVII before the Demon Wall fight and saved in a spot right before and there were no enemies to grind on and I couldn't get out of the temple to train either. So i had to restart, This was my first play with a memory card. I was in 6th grade and I cried about it.

[@nyresolution1393]

Dang man I have a similar story I got to the demon wall had trouble beating it I luckily had a saved file before I entered the Temple Of The Ancients so I trained my party up more got more accessories

[@ThePantafernando]

From FFT, i think the fight i really didnt look forward to was against multiple chocobos. That random encounter had like 3 or 4 of each Chocobo colors, that could dish out a lot of dmg pretty fast with black and red ramged attacks, while also curing with chocobo cure from the Yellow ones. Plus those foes had great mobility and less rewards than mnks, given the after death crystal from mnks can really help saving some job points. Also, giving out some gear

[@Artifacts407]

I had to stop at the beginning and comment once I saw that dragon from ff9. I remember running into and dying. But if you progress to the next town or whatever it was, you could purchase a lightning or thunder immune ring. You would still have to worry about his claws but you could put yourself into a position to keep one character alive,get xp and gold, go buy another ring, rinse and repeat until your whole team had rings. Big time xp boost early.

[@sirsquiggles1584]

The Grand Dragon in the same area is technically stronger than the Garuda, but by that point you could learn the skill "LV. 5 Death" and one-shot them because they're level 60 lmao

[@awightman1221]

what about the Brontosauruses in the Veldt in FFVI? They would 'sneeze' a party member away entirely and do some weird galaxy magic or something idk. They occasionally dropped the 'Equalizer' I think its called which was an accessory that made every spell cost 1 MP (essentially infinite mana). But they could wipe your party if you got unlucky and I think even the 'sneezed' characters you couldn't get back until you ran into another encounter with this monster or something like that? Absolutely insane.

[@ffejpsycho]

yeah, damn dinosaur forest!!! double painful was back in the day the rumor was complete 4000 consecutive wins in the dinosaur forest and receive an item to resurrect General Leo... i put so many hours into attempting this... obvious lie... but.. i mean... what if, right... i got 7,000 hrs to kill dammit, we were so gullible....

[@adolcristin3526]

The celestriad dinos i also trying to make gau learn it in his rage ability.

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

Literally just had this moment recently when replaying FFX (the HD remake). Marlboro in the Calm Lands. After grinding for a while too!!

[@gamefacierglitches]

In FFX near the bridge past the Calm Plains, there is an underpass you can take that leaves to an optional "POSTGAME" area. I regretted not saving

[@taylorsmith9503]

You died to magic pot didn’t you

[@Artofficial1986]

It's dangerous outside! Kupo!

[@DarkFrozenDepths]

That entire section in FF9 was basically disk 3/4 enemies. They're stuff you shouldn't take on til at least lv40 if you're good enough, lv 60+ otherwise. But if someone got Quina's limit glove ability, then that whirlwind actually HELPS you since it's the most damage you can do if Quina's HP is 1

[@dougbarbosa5162]

I hated Great Malboro in my first visit at Omega Ruins, got me killed many times. But it was fun to get back there with Ribbons for the Monster Arena quest

[@Cyraxior]

The Great Malboro was only a guaranteed ambush in the Omega Ruins. Inside Sin, you at least had a chance of getting the drop on it without Auron's celestial weapon.

[@hackcubit9663]

I'm pretty sure FFVIII's Marlboros also got to start encounters by automatically using the Bad Breath ability, but I could just be merging my memories of 8 and 10 into one nightmare. Suffice to say they were absolutely a brutal reminder to save often because depending on what you immunized your party to, running into one of them was the equivalent of a party wipe.

[@THEMINDCASTLE]

Yeah the FF8 Malboros do use Bad Breath as their first turn, you have to either have high Speed, the Initiative ability, or get lucky with ATB bars to get a move in before that!

[@sydney_losstarot]

About Morlboro and Great Morlboro in FFX, the trick was to have at least one character with First Strike and, as soon as the battle started, cast the Skill Provoke on the enemy Doing so, all attacks focused on the character who cast that skill and the enemy could not use Bad Breathe

[@blazedehart2748]

That damn Marlboro got me so many times man!!