This just begs the question right here…

Blue Mages… WHY?

Personally I felt no use for the Blue Mages out there in Final Fantasy games. Basically, all they do is learn magic from other enemies and throw em back… but what is the point of it when you probably have something else to throw back at em?

Blue Mages do make the game last somewhat longer when you end up collecting all of the magic in the game… but otherwise, they serve no real purpose throughout the main part of the game. Even Enemy Skill Materia in FF7 wasn’t that great in the beginning.

And people wonder why I never use Quina or Quistis in my team… I hate going round and learning the spells. For completeness I did it with the Enemy Skill materia in Final Fantasy VII, but I hardly ever rely on the ability. It’s a cool idea: To be able to learn the skills of the enemies and use them against them, but it’s something I’ll never end up using to its full capabilities.

it worked well with kimahri in ff10. the only problem was if you missed a really good spell on a boss character.

And people wonder why I never use Quina or Quistis in my team…
amen, quistis+quina suck

It really is some of the most powerful magic in the game, whatever game you’re playing. The only problem is that at higher levels you can do just as much damage/heal as much with your more conventional magic. There is some blue magic that I love though because it will heal the party a good amount of life AND remove all status effects for the cost of like a Cure 2 or something.

I think it was something added to make the game have more variety, besides there might be some people who like the idea of absorbing magic and being able to use it I dont mind it either but the characters do get kinda weak.

Originally posted by calmia
it worked well with kimahri in ff10. the only problem was if you missed a really good spell on a boss character.

amen, quistis+quina suck

maybe its something with characters starting with "qu". Um enemy skills can be helpful but y’all right it is a major pain in the arse to go arund and get them all. i hated that.

Blue magic… well, I never realy used it, but it was good for getting some magic that you didn’t get the main spell for until later on, like in FFIX Quina’s Lv 4 Holy attack.
Although I have to say, IX was the only game where I really used it. In all of the others I didn’t really bother.

I can’t believe this! Wow, I’m totally about to argue the opposite side. Blue Magic is some of my favorite magic in all FF games. True, it’s highly variable, but it can be very useful.

Final Fantasy V – I loved the Blue Magic here. And it totally laid the seeds for future FF games.

Final Fantasy VI – Not so much here because most of Strago’s blue magic wasn’t that great.

Final Fantasy VII – Are you kidding me?! FFVII’s Enemy Skills rock! Of course, I’m biased, because I basically "wrote the book," but they really are great. Big Guard – you get Haste, Barrier, MBarrier on every character in one shot. It’s awesome. White Wind – a fast way to recover a whole bunch of HP, without suffering the blocking effects of MBarriet that happen when you use the "Cure" spell. And how about a Beta – you can get this really early and just absolutely waste enemies.

Final Fantasy VIII – I won’t even try to argue this. Most of Quistis’s Limit Blue Magic just isn’t that useful.

Final Fantasy IX – Totally different story here! I love Quina! Frog Drop – frog-catching was fun! And once you get it powered up, it’s one of the few guaranteed 9999 moves in the game. And how about Pumpkin Head – absolutely vital for the Excalibur II quest. And my personal favorite- Lvl 5 Death. It works on a number of bosses, every enemy in Kuja’s mansion except the final boss, and not to mention Grand Dragons. You can use it to absolutely waste Grand Dragons and power up Freya’s Dragon Crest, not to mention get lots of EXP, AP, and cool items. Those that don’t use Quina just don’t know how to take advantage of her "Mad Skillz."

P.S.: Did I mention "Night" – which can put the Silver Dragon to sleep, making that battle a whole lot easier?

Final Fantasy X / X-2 – I guess I won’t try to argue this one either. I can’t stand Kimahri and then Gun Magic in FFX-2 just isn’t that useful.

I think blue magic is a good idea, its just the way you get it.
In ff7, you have to have the move done to you to learn the move and if you get KO’d then you don’t learn it. (Shadow flare rules).
In ff8, the only decent blue mag is shockwave pulsar but you get the blue mag easily by just getting items.
IN 9 you had to wait until the monster had lost about 3/4 of its HP unless you are in trance but all of quinas blue mag is useful