for context, let's paint a picture of what exactly this game is. Every Buddy! is a remake of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, released on the Wii in 2008 (as well as a Japan-only DS port). The remake we're discussing was released in 2019 (on my birthday, no less!) on the Switch and PS4. No real core gameplay was changed, aside from a couple new dungeons, some new Jobs, and the Buddy Codex (very important, we'll come back to that).
In terms of gameplay? This honestly feels like Square Enix's answer to the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon franchise. Same sort of dungeon-crawling, turn-based combat, items, even Monster Houses - sorry, Dens of Monsters (to the point where I think Chunsoft ripped off the basis for Wands in Super PMD, tbh). I originally intended to buy it to tide me over until PMD came to the Switch. Dear reader, I never bought Rescue Team DX. This game, while smaller, was scratching this itch quite well.
In terms of 100%ing it, a lot of the checklists weren't that difficult. After you clear all the dungeons (hard but manageable), it's not too hard to max out Chocobo's level and each Job in the game. The one checklist that gave me fits (causing me to put down the game for a few months) was the Buddy Codex: the titular, expansive addition to the game.
The Buddy system in this game allowsyou to not go through dungeons alone - you can take an ally with you. There are four types of Buddies in the game: Story (you recruit them through going through the game or completing optional challenge dungeons), DLC (pay to get some dope Buddies (i absolutely did this)), Monsters, and Bosses.
Let's start with Monsters. All the commonplace enemies in the game belong to a Monster 'family' of some sort. Skeletons, Ghosts, Flans, Bombs, they all go under one banner. You collect Buddy Points by defeating these monsters, which lets you select them as a Buddy. A Buddy basically fills the role of your partner in PMD; they follow you around and fight alongside you. They only have one special attack, but they still make an impact. Oh, and let's say you have the Skeleton Buddy. You've fought a bunch of basic, weak skellies, and you grind enough Buddy Points; you then unlock the Bloody Skeleton at the next 'tier' of that family. Buddy Points are for all members of that Monster family. Also, Bloody Skeleton is a very high-tier companion. Just a small note.
Collecting all of these is tedious, sure, but doable. Granted, some of them can only be found in an optional dungeon with an obscure-as-hell unlock method (you have to encounter a given Monster at least once to unlock it), but it can be done with enough time. So, why am I rambling to you about what WASN'T the problem, instead of getting to what WAS? I'll tell you why: Boss Buddies.
As you might expect, this game has several boss encounters at the end of dungeons. And just like with Monsters, you can get their Buddy Points and recruit them. You have to go find them in their very specific places, but if you outlevel them enough, it's generally trivial. Each Boss requires 5 Buddy Points to unlock. Most of the time, you get 1 BP for each victory, but you can sometimes get 2. As a result, each Boss usually takes 3 defeats to unlock, sometimes 4 if you're unlucky.
With all of that context established, now I can explain the singularly most frustrating obstacle in the game: Omega and Mystery Dungeon. Mystery Dungeon is a Purity-Forest-style challenge; start with Chocobo and your Buddy at level 1 and no items, and make your way down 50 floors to the end. The thing is, there's a boss at the end: Omega. And this motherfucker is terrifying. He has so many AoE moves, and can easily wipe you if you don't scour the whole dungeon and key almost your entire scrounged inventory just to beat him. We're talking fixed-damage projectile, powerful spellbooks, tons of Phoenix Downs (revive you on death), the whole works. Purity Forest with a boss at the end is brutal enough in and of itself; it's a crazy challenge, and it's quite easy to wipe before you get the end.
But Omega drops Buddy Points. Omega can be recruited.
So you have to do it again.
Your odds of getting through this dungeon ONCE aren't great. Sure, your Job still has all of its capabilities, but you have to resource manage, make sure you're leveling up at a good pace, and keep picking up everything you can for the final confrontation. The first time I got to the bottom, I wiped in 3 turns. The robot just annihilated me because I wasn't ready. He can haste himself to move twice as fast, stun you, remove your buffs (including a Phoenix Down if you prepared it already!), and that's not even mentioning his insane damage output. You MUST center your run around the boss. If you don't, no matter what you scrounged to get this far, you've already lost.
It took months of attempts on and off to beat him once. Then another couple to beat him again. When I struck the finishing blow on my third attempt, I prayed for a 2 BP drop. I had 3 already, and needed this to be over.
I got 1. I had to do it again.
When I finally recruited that bastard, I felt so victorious. This game, this game that I loved, had been conquered. Everything was done; there was nothing left to obtain. I still play it from time to time, doing little challenge runs for myself with self-imposed restrictions. But knowing that I reached the summit of Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy! was a feeling I'll never forget.
This also lead to me 
