Final Fantasy
| Developer: Square | Publisher: Nintendo |
| Release Date: October 10, 1990 | Also On: None |
Over the years, I have had very little exposure to the later entries in the Final Fantasy series, the entries that are seen as truly great games because of cut scenes and graphical special effects. I have however been exposed to the game that started the series on NES. It was actually the last game I bought for NES and I bought it only because I happened to come across it in a store around 1995, was yearning for a new game, and was intrigued by what was something I had never seen before. I am glad I made the choice to buy it, for the original Final Fantasy truly is a great game for its time.
Let's start with the graphics. For 1990, when the game originally came out, the graphics are above average. They're not spectacular, but Square likely was reserving memory space for pure quantity of stuff rather than wanting to waste more than necessary on graphical touches. For the length of the game, that is easily forgivable.
The sound effects are typical whacks and thuds when either an enemy or a member of your team gets hit, along with a "got hit by spell" noise. The music in this game isn't particularly memorable either, but it gets the job done. Slightly above average at best.
Unlike current RPG’s, the original Final Fantasy didn't even have a deep and involved story. There are four warriors trying to save the world from four fiends and light four orbs. That's about it, although there are missions that don't directly affect that plot.
Now, let's talk about the gameplay. This is your standard turn-based RPG of the era. You have four characters in your party. At the beginning of the game, you can choose the class of all four of your characters from six different class types, allowing 1,296 different character combinations. If that's not replay value, I don't know what is, for different strategies are required in some areas depending on what party you're using. Obviously, some parties are more balanced than others, but part of the fun can also be to use a party that is very strong in one particular aspect and trying to overcome areas where that aspect isn't as useful.
Depending on your character, you will have five options at your disposal in battle. The fight command causes a character to attack an enemy with whatever weapon is currently equipped. The magic command allows those characters with magic to cast a spell. The drink command allows a character to use a potion on either himself or another player. The item command allows a character to use some weapons and armors to get an effect, although those that can't be used in this way can still be selected and a "no effect" message will come on the screen after the attempt. Last of all is the run command which allows a character to try to lead the party in fleeing from the enemies.
Basically you go around the world going through dungeons and fighting bosses, all the while buying better weapons and armor, and, surprisingly, better spells. Yes, that's right, in order to be able to use a spell in this game you have to learn (buy) it from a spellcaster in the towns. This can make matters complicated, because for each of the different spell levels, four spells are available in both white and black, and a magic-using character can only learn three per level, so you have to decide which to not worry about. There is one magic-using character that can use some of both white and black magic, so with him you have to choose even more carefully.
Most battles in this game are not difficult, although when you run into groups of stun-capable enemies, it can become a race to hit them all with a spell before they can paralyze your entire party. Boss battles in this game, sadly, are a joke. Most bosses can be taken out in no more than five rounds of battle by parties with warrior-type people in them, and, if you have a fairly balanced party, going in at full HP might net you the victory without even having to recover a character's HP in the middle of the battle.
The game is fairly long for an NES game, and thus has the ability to save your progress by the use of some items as well as the use of the inns in towns. The item set in this game is basically what has become the standard: healing items, status-curing items, plot advancement items, and items to use for saving the game.
Any fan of RPG’s needs to go back and try this game. This is one of the three major games (Dragon Warrior and its sequel being the other two) that truly brought RPG’s to the videogame scene, and as such, is a blast to the past for people who are used to today's RPG’s.
| Graphics: | 7 |
| Sound: | 6 |
| Gameplay: | 8 |
| Creativity: | 8 |
| Replay Value/Game Length: | 10 |
| Final: | 8 |
| Written by Martin | Review Guide |
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