Final Fantasy Console Game Review!

Rated Everyone - Everyone 10+
Mild Fantasy Violence
Mild Suggestive Themes

Mr. Beard's Review
Final Fantasy
NES Console & Playstation Game


Ok, so I am going to be trying a different approach and a different format to my reviews. I still will be rating each game on my five different points. At some point, I may change and adapt them as well though. I just am trying to make my reviews better and more informative to all the readers. I will not be doing separate sections for each one of them as I have done before. Each star will represent each thing I review and I will be touching on each of them as I write up my review. I will be trying to add more info on each game now and doing a little research on them as well.
Game Play
Graphics
Music
Story
Replay Value
This is still a quick review of what I have experienced in the first hour of the game unless it is a game I have already played. If you would like to know more just let me know in the comments below. Plus I will also be posting links to some other great resources.

Ok so there are a lot of changes being made to this blog, and the rebuild of the website to better fit the mold of the blog as well. I really hoped to have had all this done by now but I have been sorely falling behind. I will keep pressing forward and hope to have all this caught up at least by the end of this month. So on to the review shall we?

So the original Final Fantasy game came out way back in 1987. Since the very first one came out it has spawned a number of games and has had many of them remade. The series spans multiple platforms and has even made it's way to the mobile device. The only thing left for them to do is make their own platform. Unless of course they already have and I just have yet to see it. I myself am a huge Final Fantasy Fan. Not like the die-hard know every single detail about every single thing with Final Fantasy. More like a fan who tries to collect all things Final Fantasy and just loves the shows and games. Today's game I will be review is the original Final Fantasy. This was the start of the entire Franchise. It was also supposed to be the last game they made as well. This review is about the game and not the company so let's try and stick to just the game.
Since the games first release in 1987, it has had many revisions and remakes that span almost thirty years. With almost twenty revisions and remakes, this game has stood the test of time!

NES

Playstation

As you can easily see there have been huge improvements to the graphics over the years. they still kept that same great classic old school feel though. I am extremely happy for that as well. They still do have their main line up of characters.

• NES - Fighter, Theif, Black Belt, Red Mage, White Mage, Black Mage
• Playstation - Warrior, Theif, Monk, Red Mage, White Mage, Black Mage

There have been changes to the classes names over the past and in the new revisions. I think they simply changed them with the times and to make them a bit more appealing to their target audience, to be honest. I mean yeah there have been a lot of changes made to the game, not just names, and graphics. The music as well has had a huge overhaul. It is not your classic monotone game music anymore. It has a real instrumental quality music score to it. I did enjoy the classic score a lot and was always amazed by how much they could accomplish with so little. Now it seems like they have almost limitless advantages to make or create whatever they need to set things in motion. They have kept that classic foundation of what the game was and just polished it up. So basically they took the old game which was a rough looking gem and shined it up and polished it to what it is now. They added in new features, gave it more of a pushed direction. Instead of just starting the game with a single frame of the story and plopping you out into the game to freely roam around and get lost, they give you a bit more guidance. Like guards keeping in you the kingdom telling you where to go, cutscenes and even cool animations.

In all honesty for me, it made it a bit more exciting not know what, where or when I should be doing anything in the game. It gave it more of a sense of adventure. In the same sense though the remastered version simply amazes me as well. It feels as if it is a whole new game. I know for one in the original I hit level ten before I realized I had to go to the castle which was north of the actual kingdom. It also gave me a way to learn and develop my skills as a gamer for problem-solving and seeking out every possible thing in a game. It taught me ways to look at things overall. It also improved my skills as a person to always be looking for what is next in life. Not to just wander around aimlessly lost and confused.

This game incorporates the ability to improve skills by hunting down monsters, buying new skills or magic for your mages, searching for equipment or even working to buy it. As far as I can tell besides name changes on spells and equipment I do believe they kept the same values all across the board. I am talking in terms of exp gain, money values, and stat increases. The battle system does seem a lot easier to manage. In the original, I was doing one damage even with weapons at level one. On the remake, I am attacking for five to sixteen points of damage. So I do believe leveling up is a lot faster than the original. In an hour of gameplay doing everything the same way between the two versions of the game with the same equipment and the same characters, I was able to level up faster and stronger.

Right out of the gate I can easily take on two or three random encounters in the remake on playstation. In the original, I was lucky to take on one encounter. Then I had to go to the inn and fill my health and magic back up. With the remake, I do not even have to use my magic yet. So the gameplay does seem to be simpler and the original more of a challenge. With the original game, I could not get through the first dungeon easily enough and died a handful of times. So my gameplay was mostly just leveling up in the original. Which I am not complaining about.

Only twenty minutes into the remake and I am already caught up to my one hour of gameplay on the original. Plus I managed to get all the best equipment and spells I have needed to try and advance on saving the Princess in the first dungeon. It does make me feel that with all the new additions in the game that they also made it very easy to play as well. It is not so much of a challenge anymore. Again I am not complaining about this either.

Now as far as I can tell none of the storylines was changed. It has been given more content and added to for better reading, but it is still very much the same story. You first encounter the story in the original as it's opening scene. Here is more on the story right from the wiki.

Setting
Final Fantasy takes place in a fantasy world with three large continents. The elemental powers of this world are determined by the state of four crystals, each governing one of the four classical elements: earth, fire, water, and wind. The world of Final Fantasy is inhabited by numerous races, including humans, elves, dwarves, mermaids, dragons, and robots. Most non-human races have only one "town" in the game, although individuals are sometimes found in human towns or other areas as well. Four hundred years prior to the start of the game, the Lefeinish people, who used the Power of Wind to craft airships and a giant space station (called the Floating Castle in the game), watched their country decline as the Wind crystal went dark. Two hundred years later, violent storms sank a massive shrine that served as the center of an ocean-based civilization, and the Water crystal went dark. The Earth crystal and the Fire crystal followed, plaguing the earth with raging wildfires, and devastating the agricultural town of Melmond as the plains and vegetation decayed. Some time later, the sage Lukahn tells of a prophecy that four Light Warriors will come to save the world in a time of darkness.
Story
The game begins with the appearance of the four youthful Light Warriors, the heroes of the story, who each carry one of the darkened Orbs. Initially, the Light Warriors have access to the Kingdom of Coneria and the ruined Temple of Fiends. After the Warriors rescue Princess Sara from the evil knight Garland, the King of Coneria builds a bridge that enables the Light Warriors' passage east to the town of Pravoka. There the Light Warriors liberate the town from Bikke and his band of pirates and acquire the pirates' ship for their own use. The Warriors now embark on a chain of delivery quests on the shores of the Aldi Sea. First, they retrieve a stolen crown from the Marsh Cave for a king in a ruined castle, who turns out to be the dark elf Astos. Defeating him gains them the Crystal Eye, which they return to the blind witch Matoya in exchange for a herb needed to awaken the elf prince cursed by Astos. The elf prince gives the Light Warriors the Mystic Key, which is capable of unlocking any door. The key unlocks a storage room in Coneria Castle which holds TNT. Nerrick, one of the dwarves of the Cave of Dwarf/Dwarf Village, destroys a small isthmususing the TNT, connecting the Aldi Sea to the outside world.
After visiting the near-ruined town of Melmond, the Light Warriors go to the Earth Cave to defeat a vampire and retrieve the Star Ruby, which gains passage to Sage Sadda's cave. With Sadda's Rod, the Warriors venture deeper into the Earth Cave and destroy the Earth Fiend, Lich. The Light Warriors then obtain a canoe and enter Gurgu Volcano and defeat the Fire Fiend, Kary. The Levistone from the nearby Ice Cave allows them to raise an airship to reach the northern continents. After they prove their courage by retrieving the Rat's Tail from the Castle of Ordeal, the King of the Dragons, Bahamut, promotes each Light Warrior. A kind gesture is repaid by a fairy, receiving special liquid that produces oxygen, and the Warriors use it to help defeat the Water Fiend, Kraken, in the Sunken Shrine. They also recover a Slab, which allows a linguist named Dr. Unne to teach them the Lefeinish language. The Lefeinish give the Light Warriors access to the Floating Castle that Tiamat, the Wind Fiend, has taken over. With the Four Fiends defeated and the Orbs restored, a portal opens in the Temple of Fiends which takes them 2000 years into the past. There the Warriors discover that the Four Fiends sent Garland (now the archdemon Chaos) back in time and he sent the Fiends to the future to do so, creating a time loop by which he could live forever. The Light Warriors defeat Chaos, thus ending the paradox, and return home. By ending the paradox, however, the Light Warriors have changed the future to one where their heroic deeds remain unknown outside of legend. - Final Fantasy Wiki

So there is the story in a nutshell. Another great addition to this newer game is the added interior buildings, inns, and shops. They really did a nice rework on all the interior. They gave them random characters to bump into, shop keepers and just an over visually appealing look. Depending on the place the music changes as well.

Both versions of the game have their advantages and disadvantages. The original was more challenging and simple styled, where the remake seems more story based and easier gameplay.
So for my overall first hour of gameplay and my initial review, I will have to give this game:

Gameplay

The gameplay for me was great on both versions. Each version has its own flaws. The original lacked the direction needed to find your way around, and to know what you should be doing. The newer remake lacked the challenge that was in the original. Overall they were both amazing games for their own reasons. That is why I gave this a full star.

Graphics

The graphics on both games were amazing for both their times. The newer remake made sure to stick to the classic RPG style graphics just with more depth and better detail. I myself am a huge fan of that old school look and feel, and for that, I gave this a full star.

Story

This is the same kind of situation that the gameplay had. Each version had its own flaws. The original was lacking but it made the game more of a challenge to play. The remake, however, seemed to be more focused on the story then the gameplay and challenge of the game. These are both well-done games for their own specific reasons. For that, I gave it a full star.

Music

The music for me in both versions was simply amazing, and I still to this day always go back for the music. The way they were able to make their songs in the original was simply amazing for the size and space they had. With the remake, they were able to keep that same great song but also remake it to a high quality. For this I gave it a full star.

Replay Value

Now with both versions of this game once you finish the game and collect everything and do everything it does leave the game stale for a while until you get that nostalgic feel for it again. It has been a few years since I played either version of this game so for that, I gave it half a star.

Hopefully, you all enjoy the new format and the newer style reviews. I do look forward to all your comments, suggestions and ideas. I hope you all have an amazing day, and thanks for reading!

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