Final Fantasy Origins Final Fantasy I & II Remastered Editions Review (continued)
More User Submitted Final Fantasy Origins Final Fantasy I & II Remastered Editions Reviews
Date: 2004-01-04
Classic
Square, over the past five years or so, has done many remakes. The PSX remakes have been sloppy, to say the least. Terrible load times in Chrono Trigger, laggy battles and semi-slow loading times in FFVI, and no major upgrades added. FF Origins is a different story. The graphics have been updated and look great. It's not upgraded enough to lose that old school appeal(that's a very good thing), but it gets rid of those sloppy old NES graphics and bring them up to more of an SNES-quality. Also, as usual, Square included the neat Collections bonus', just like they have with all of their PSX remakes. There's a Bestiary, to view detailed information on each monster in the game, an Item list, to view information on the items in the game, an Art Gallery, to view original artwork by Yoshitaka Amano, and a secret bonus collection once you beat the game. The collections definitely add some replay value and fun to the game. There's also a few small gameplay upgrades that improve the game.FFI: The gameplay in this game is top-notch. It's what Final Fantasy relied on back in the day to sell their games. The newer ones still have great gameplay, but definitely focus more on characters and story than the past games. The battle system has recieved a complete overhaul as far as graphics are concerned. It has the typical SNES style battles, and there's an option to turn on auto-target, so no more trying to attack an enemy that has already been defeated. Those that want the original experience, though, can leave this off. As far as equipment is done in this game, it's pretty simple. You can equip one weapon, one shield, a Helmet, Armor, and Gloves. This old style of equipping items is my favorite used through out the series. The world is massive, not only for it's time, but for todays RPG's. Not the biggest, but big. This game is pure fantasy when it comes to level design. Caves, Castles, Small Villages, Big Towns, etc. It's all very nicely done, and even though it's an NES port, the world pulls you in and it gives you that sense of adventure that the series is known for. The Caves and other levels that are filled with nasty enemies are pretty different from the newer games in the series. Some of them can get down right nasty, with many confusing maze-like sections and quite a few floors. And as you probably have heard, the random battles are pretty common. That's the biggest reason this is only for the hardcore RPG'ers out there. You need to have patience, or this game will eat you alive. If you can handle that, the game is a lot of fun. At times the battles annoyed me, but I enjoyed the levels for the most part. The villages, and it's NPC's, all give you the feeling of a living world. They're not as complex as Lindblum from FFIX or Midgar from FFVII, but they are cool in their own way. One thing that sets this game apart from most of the series is it's difficulty. There's an easy mode included for those that want it, but the normal mode is what the game should be played on. It's not really THAT hard, but it's perfect. In my opinion, most of the series is too simple, with the occasional tough part, but I is a good solid challenge through each level. The bosses aren't tough, even though the last one will give you a nice challenge. That's the way it is, though. If you make it through the level with enough life and items to heal, you will be fine. The bosses aren't meant to be tough, it's the levels, unlike the newer games in the series, which are basically the opposite. The last thing I will touch on is the music. It's brilliant for it's time, and when you listen to it today(in it's new updated sound for this game), you will love it. It's simple, shorter songs, but the talent of Nobuo Uematsu is apparent in each song. Many classics here. Gameplay: 9.5/10
Graphics: 9/10
Music: 9/10
Lasting Appeal: 8.5/10
Overall: 9.5/10 FFII: Unreleased in the US; it's the official #2 in the series. This is the first chance for us Final Fantasy fans outside of Japan to give this one a shot. This one had quite a few firsts for the series: 1.) Actual characters. Unlike the class characters of FFI, this one actually focuses on real characters with real personalities. 2.) A unique ability system. The one used in this game is the more times a character uses an ability in battle, the more it develops. Character attributes change according to how they're used in battle, so if you use magic a lot for one character, he will become more like a mage.(Weak attack power, high MP, and high Magic skills). It's a decent but flawed system, and it sometimes becomes tedious and annoying trying to give a character a certain ability. And 3.) A unique story. Instead of the now cliche Light vs Dark battle, it has an interesting story this time around. Here's the excerpt from the manual: "In a distant land...
The peace long enjoyed by the people came to a crashing end.
The emperor of Palamecia summoned fiends from another dimension...
And the empire launched it's campaign for world conquest. In response, a rebel force arose in the Kingdom of Fynn. In the ensuing clash between the rebel and empire, Castle Fynn was taken. The rebels were forced to retreat to the remote town of Altair. Amidst the chaos, four youths also fled the occupied Fynn. They were childhood friends, now orphaned and homeless... And they suddenly found themselves fighting for their lives." Definitely an upgrade from FFI in that area. FFII is definitely worthy of atleast one play through, but the guy behind this one has been behind some horrible games(recently it was Unlimited Saga), so don't expect a perfect game. The ability system is tedious and rediculous at times, but overall, a decent addition to the series. Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Music: 8/10
Lasting Appeal: 7.5/10
Overall: 8/10 One last thing I'd like to mention. The case and artwork on the manual and disc are amazing. Probably one of the coolest looking cases ever. The art on the disc alone makes me want to play this game. Enjoy the games, everyone.
Date: 2004-01-01
A Remastered Masterpiece
I grew up with the NES and Final Fantasy I. If you are just like me, you will look at this classic and compare it to it's NES version.
Before buying it, I recommend taking your NES out of the closet and if you had Final Fantasy I, then look at it and play it a little while. Then buy Final Fantasy Origins. There is much better sound and quality of the game AND it includes Final Fanatsy II, which was never released in America. Final Fantasy I: Graphics 3.5/5
Classic NES graphics and 16-bit makes the graphics look much better then the old. Sound 3/5
The sound was cleaned up from the original. Don't expect the little strange sounds from the original because they were taken out. This is better and much less annoying. Gameplay 4.5/5
Classic FF fighting and expierence points is just like any other FF. Good gameplay and easy to navigate. Story 5/5
Very good story as the player is focused on rescuing a princess and saving the world from evil. Typical storyline for any other RPG or fantasy game. Final Fantasy II: Graphics 3.5/5
Same as Final Fantasy I. The graphics are still classic NES/SNES view. Sound ?
I don't think anyone knows about the original that was never released so that cannot be judged. Gameplay 2.5/5
Where the hell is the expierence. The points and expierence system is different, amiing it confusing if you have played FF for a long time. Story 3.5/5
Different from FF 1, which is not focused on saving the world but finding out about the evil that wrecked their town.
Date: 2003-12-17
not bad at all
this will have to do untill the psx3 comes out.
square enix states they will not actually remake their games unless the psx is not backwards compatible. bummer, still a great revamp of the old original.
Date: 2003-11-18
And In the Beginning....
Typical of me, I've been playing the Final Fantasy series backwards, starting with FFX, then FF7-9, and now the two games in cluded in this set, Final Fantasy I and II. The effect is, that as I move backwards, I get to see the beginnings of the ideas that later come to fruition. Since this series is noted for the originality of each issue, it is the little common themes, like Chocobos and wizard hats that make the entirety something magical. And here is where they all began. Of course, Final Fantasy I itself is derivative. All long time PC and Atari gamers remember the beginnings of Origin Systems' Avater series with starry eyes. Little characters dancing about a world map, asking questions, falling into dungeons, and saving the world. When FFI first booted up I had a massive nostagia moment - the structural similarities are unmistakeable. Even so, FFI is unique in world concept and plot, improving on the formula enough to be an instant success and rescue a game vendor from impending bankruptcy. While it is primitive in many ways, it started an RPG revolution for the game console world. From a production viewpoint, FFII is head and shoulders above FFI. The artwork is much more detailed. To the point that some of the monsters and background scenes are quite remarkable, and several of the characters actually have something that resembles a personality. The downside of ths is that the world is a bit smaller, and the story a bit shorter - but not in any harmful sense. While I think the FFI is probably the better game, FFII is really the first clear hint of what was to come as the series developed. And it helped to create the momentum behind one of the most successful franchises in gaming. What Squaresoft did in repackaging these games is revise the graphic, especially the CGI cut scenes, and rework the music. In addition several new freatures - a bestiary and a collection of Amano Yoshitaka's original are for the series. This is one of the best jobs of resurrecting something old and making it as much fun as it was originally that I have ever seen. For the price, this is one of the best game sets one can buy.
Date: 2003-10-21
Final Fantasy is the reason to own it, not II
Final Fantasy Origins is a re-release of Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II. I started my FF gaming with Final Fantasy VI and IV but this isn't a bad buy. It's great to see how the series began but I warn you that if you started with the PSX games you'll undoubtably hate this and loose interests and it's easy to see why. Final Fantasy I I'll do first. Graphics: N/A I won't grade graphics. It isn't entirely fair to grade the game in this aspect. 8-bit wise they were astounding! 16-bit they're pretty good too. Sound: 2/5 But I don't let up on other areas. Sound is one of those things that I'll actually expect someone to work on a bit. It would have probably been nice maybe to just keep all the beeps and such in the game actually. The new tunes in Final Fantasy are nothing special. Gameplay: 2.5/5 Final Fantasy I paces pretty slowly and you'll find yourself not to enthusiastic with the game at first. Until about halfway through it's pretty unexciting and has no real direction unless you talk to lots of characters. Story: 3.5/5 For what it's worth, Final Fantasy has an excellent storyline considering it came out in a time where saving a princess was the theme in video games. It was one of the first games where you went and saved the WORLD! It scores low because it moves at such a slow pace and has nothing to advance it. Your main characters don't say anything and if you began with FFVI like I did, you're used to direction which FFI doesn't have quite as much of. Also, the story is pretty boring at the start. Now for Final Fantasy II. I'm sorry to say but this is probably the worst of the series and the way you raise characters was horrid! Graphics: N/A Again not going to grade but I was actually a little surprised at how much time Square spent updating graphics for FFI and then not updating nearly as much with FFII. In battle is great but outside of battle was ummm...not so great. Sound: 4/5 Actually better than Final Fantasy I. BUT! The sound was actually changed from the original! It's good but I have to wonder what the original sounded like. Story: 2/5 Easily the worst of the series as far as story goes. While the game get's off the a much better start than the first one it isn't really worth it. The story doesn't pace nearly as slow and the characters aren't as stale but the story didn't focus on saving the world as much as FFI did. Gameplay: 2.5/5 VERY lacking here. Since FFII has no such thing as Experience points it's easy to say this is where the game lacks. Depending on the actions taken in battle determines stats. It's pretty bad because if a character attacks their strentgh goes up. It's easy to like this at first until you notice the flaws. Getting hit brings up your HP and defenese. Casting magic bring up intellegence, spirt and the like. The problem with this is that unlike other Final Fantasy games it's impossible to have a balanced character. I assure you that if you have a strong character they can't cast a spell worth crap! It sucks to see an Ultima spell only do 100 HP of damage and then a normal attack do 20 times as much damage. Also, magic levels up slowly unless you perform a trick mentioned by a normal reviewer. Not only that but you need someone who purely casts magic in order to actually heal a satisfactory amount of HP. Plus, this quickly drains MP and the battle engine isn't designed to let you use normal itmes in battle, which was actually a step DOWN from FFI. Replay (both): 2.5/5 I'm not trying to be mean but when FFI moves at such a slow pace are you willing to actually sit through that. Not to mention that's hard to play FFII again. While the games have difficulty levels FFI is much too easy on easy mode and a little hard on hard mode (which actually is how it should be.) FFII can be pretty easy. FFII paces faster at least but the truth is, this is a collectors item after you're done with it. OVERALL: The game as a whole deserves a four. It's great to see how the FF series got started but it's actually probably better to forget FFII and buy FFI on the NES. But there is one nice side to the re-release. Remember in FFI when you all selected to attack an enemy and then when it died before someone else got to attack they would swing at air? That's been fixed. Not only that but the menu is easier and you can dash now (which will actually make dungeons seem rather short). You'll love these two games but not enough to really play them again.
Final Fantasy Origins Final Fantasy I & II Remastered Editions Reviews Page: 8 of 10 Prev<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next>>
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