Final Fantasy I-II: Mixed Impressions

snapty00

Banned
I just bought this game and have been playing it on the DS. I've only played Final Fantasy so far, not the sequel.

On the one hand, the graphics are pretty clear. It really looks close to a real Super NES game, unlike most GBA games that have extremely washed-out graphics. It reminds me of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest in a way, except the backgrounds in battles are much more detailed. The simplicity of the sprites is also refreshing; it really looks pixel drawn by hand, not put through the latest computer-graphics filter.

The sound is also pretty good. It has a bunch of the staple sounds of the Final Fantasy series, naturally. Through earphones, it sounds pretty good, pretty close to a Super NES game, I'd say. I don't think that background "buzz" sound (because of the 8-bit output) is as noticeable in this game as it is in other GBA games.

But the gameplay...man, it's fucking annoying. Maybe I just can't tolerate random battles like I used to, but I can't stand it. First of all, I hate the way the dungeons are laid out. You can go through these little crannies (and fighting random battles all the way) of the dungeons, just to find a damn treasure chest with money in it. Then, you have to find your way back (fighting battles along the way). Then, because the dungeon tiles repeat so much, I end up going to the same places a few times before I figure out where I'm really supposed to go (again, fighting pointless random battles the entire way). But then, not only that, but the random battles often so close together that I can't take even one step without going into yet another one.

Even the fucking overworld is like this to some degree.

This really wouldn't bother me a tenth as badly if it just happened sometimes, but it's ALL the time.

I dunno. Maybe I'm just not into these types of games, anymore, but so far, I've had to press myself to keep going.
 
It is not your fault, Square Enix turned up the encounter rate about 20 notches in Final Fantasy: DoS. It is going to get especally boring once you have powered up enough to basically sleep walk through the rest of the game.
 
Yeah, imho, these games don't hold up well at all anymore.

But they're nice nostalgic diversions if you haven't played them in years. Unfortunately, I played Origins.
 
Then, because the dungeon tiles repeat so much, I end up going to the same places a few times before I figure out where I'm really supposed to go (again, fighting pointless random battles the entire way). But then, not only that, but the random battles often so close together that I can't take even one step without going into yet another one.

I must be the only one who can remember map/dungeons/paths in games. Most of my friends, who have been playing games since birth, get lost in almost every game. From dungeon crawls to Turok 2, they can not remember if they been there or not. It is frustrating for me to even watch them play.
 
I find the game even more fun this iteration, because without the harsh MP restriction, I can use all those spells I could never bother with before, because I was saving MP for the boss battles.
Different strokes for different folks and all, but seriously, these games totally rock my world.
Bring on the FF3 and RS remakes, I say.
 
RevenantKioku said:
I find the game even more fun this iteration, because without the harsh MP restriction, I can use all those spells I could never bother with before, because I was saving MP for the boss battles.
Different strokes for different folks and all, but seriously, these games totally rock my world.
Bring on the FF3 and RS remakes, I say.

The increased magic was the only real improvement. It wasn't enough.
 
I beat Final Fantasy I, and am currently on II. I absolutely love the second game. I really like the experience system as it is really in your benefit to use all your characters' abilities and fight every battle. I don't mind more conventional level-up methods, but this was a very pleasant deviation from the normal course -- very unexpected after the horror stories I heard of II.
 
Well, to be fair, Sqaure Enix did rebulid Final Fantasy II from the ground up so that they could finally put a remotely playable version out.
 
I came very very close to buying this game several times over the past month.

I might still pick it up if my wallet is sufficiently fat, and the discounts extend to this game during Boxing day.

But Final Fantasy XI has really made the 'sucking sound' around my gaming life. I simply don't have the time or the concentration to play any other game. And whenever I'm burned out on FFXI (like I have been over the past month) I prefer to listen to my backlock of CDs and watch movies and TV instead.

I'm afraid to say that i've been a celibate gamer this Holiday. Haven't bought a single game.
 
Syckx said:
I beat Final Fantasy I, and am currently on II. I absolutely love the second game. I really like the experience system as it is really in your benefit to use all your characters' abilities and fight every battle. I don't mind more conventional level-up methods, but this was a very pleasant deviation from the normal course -- very unexpected after the horror stories I heard of II.

It may seem good at first, but it ends up being just plain stupid and broken. Just wait till you get Ultima and actually want it to be USEFUL. Does it ever? I have no clue. I spent 5+ hours using it in every battle and it was still complete crap so I quit trying and just beat the game.
 
I have to say I doubt I'll be finishing either game. I'm 17 hours into II, 4 hours into I, and though I really like the old school graphics, the AWESOME music and many other things, the games just are not worth it.

The stories and characters seriously are less fleshed out than what I typically find on the back of a cereal box and there are ZERO mini games, diversions or gameplay mechanics to keep my mind away from the fact that the only thing you do in these games is fight random battles every 5-10 seconds, 95% of which are "hit A four times" battles. There really is nothing else. Nothing.

Edit: More like every 3-5 seconds, really.
 
It takes waaay too long to get from point A to point B. I accidentally went west of the castle and remembered I had to go back. I was only inches away on the map, but every single step was a random battle. It took me way too long to get back and all I was doing was pounding away at the A button. They should have turned the encounter rate DOWN for the handheld version. Oh, and dungeons are even worse than the world map.
 
I was loving FF1 up until the last few dungeons, then the encounter rate started to really bug the shit out of me. The game is great looking on the DS though.

Actually I'm thinking of starting up a new game and playing with 4 red mages or something. Heh.
 
callous said:
I have to say I doubt I'll be finishing either game. I'm 17 hours into II, 4 hours into I, and though I really like the old school graphics, the AWESOME music and many other things, the games just are not worth it.

The stories and characters seriously are less fleshed out than what I typically find on the back of a cereal box and there are ZERO mini games, diversions or gameplay mechanics to keep my mind away from the fact that the only thing you do in these games is fight random battles every 5-10 seconds, 95% of which are "hit A four times" battles. There really is nothing else. Nothing.

Edit: More like every 3-5 seconds, really.

cry cry

I take it you've never played a Saga game, or any Dragon Quest? That shit'll put hair on your chest in terms of JRPG dungeon crawling
 
belgurdo said:
cry cry

I take it you've never played a Saga game, or any Dragon Quest? That shit'll put hair on your chest in terms of JRPG dungeon crawling


beyond the beyond on psone. I wanted to fly to japan and kill the developers.
 
captainbiotch said:
I was loving FF1 up until the last few dungeons, then the encounter rate started to really bug the shit out of me. The game is great looking on the DS though.

Actually I'm thinking of starting up a new game and playing with 4 red mages or something. Heh.
Try a band of four ninjas, they eat bosses for breakfast
fear.gif
 
belgurdo said:
cry cry

I take it you've never played a Saga game, or any Dragon Quest? That shit'll put hair on your chest in terms of JRPG dungeon crawling

The last portable RPG I played was Phantasy Star 2... most insane RPG dungeons ever! My girlfriend got me this for Xmas but I haven't played it yet, probably a bit later today, after I beat this next Zelda 64 dungeon :P
 
I'm generally pleased with the games too. Nice graphics (though I would have preferred a more FF6 style, versus the FF4 type graphics they went with), LOVELY music, an excellent bevy of new features and tweakes, new enemies, new items, new equippables.

But they really borked the difficulty of FF1. You actually power level by accident, over the course of the game. It seems impossible to avoid it. :(
 
RevenantKioku said:
Random battles > GTA.

so so true :lol

captainbiotch said:
I was loving FF1 up until the last few dungeons, then the encounter rate started to really bug the shit out of me. The game is great looking on the DS though.

Pretty much sums it up. The encounter is astronomical but it looks sooooo good on the DS, especially the Life Grotto dungeon, that I just kept playing and playing until I finally completed it last night, bonus dungeons and all. Level 99 and 99999999Gil :D.

I'm moving onto FF II in a few minutes. I seriously doubt I'll be annoyed as some people here regarding FF II. I'm just a sucker for 2D traditional RPGs, flaws, broken-ess and all :)

belgurdo said:
cry cry

I take it you've never played a Saga game, or any Dragon Quest? That shit'll put hair on your chest in terms of JRPG dungeon crawling

belster.....I played DQ I & II Remix, DQ V, and DQ VI for the SFC. Yes the encounter rate on those are quite high as well, but don't get it twisted.....they're nowhere NEAR as ridiculous as FF I DoS. FF I DoS' encounter rate puts all other encounter rates to shame! It got to the point I was watching TV, surfing the net, talking on the phone, AND hacking through the bonus dungeons in FF I, barely even paying attention to it. I just hold the DS in my hand and hold left/right/A-B rinse repeat.

Mejilan said:
But they really borked the difficulty of FF1. :(

Fight Omega in the Life-crotto dungeon and get back to me :D
 
To be sure, I've played through the Earthgift Shrine 3x already, and only Ahriman thwarted me. I took out the other 3 bosses, and will tackle Ahriman next.

Difficulty, or at least entertaining challenge should NOT be limited to one or two cheap bosses, however. Not when the strongest enemies so far can only do about 5-20 damage against my weakest mages, and those same mages can take out just about every regular enemy so far with one or two hits from their dinky weapons.

Not to mention I've only taken out one Fiend and am already approaching level 50... without even TRYING to power level.
 
Speaking of which, wtf is with the extra secret bosses? Wtf is the point of them being there?
 
Nostalgia, oh-shit wow factor, fun factor, added challenge, to guard unique items not previously found in any version of FF1, extra content.
 
Got it yesterday from my g/f, man... I'm not feeling this one though. The music is great for GBA, but wtf, no Mithril/Silver swords for sale in Elfheim village? Plus an EXTREMELY high encounter rate and you level up REAL fast... So I still dunno about FF1... then again I've beaten that game so many times it's not even funny :P
 
Yeah. I thought that elf town was missing some items. I remember there being cheap but decent weapons (better than the uber early stuff you had when you got there) and really expensive ones as well. Rip. :(
 
Mejilan said:
Yeah. I thought that elf town was missing some items. I remember there being cheap but decent weapons (better than the uber early stuff you had when you got there) and really expensive ones as well. Rip. :(

Yeah, when I was little and the game first came out, I remember building up for hours on end, to get 4 Silver Swords (Mythril in the Japanese version) for my 4 Fighters... then totally kicking ass in the Marsh Cave... alas, I guess that's no more :P
 
Likewise. G-d that was the very moment in RPGs that forever made me loathe snakes and other poison inducing enemies.

Actually, instead of doing that in FF 1 DoS, I hung around Crescent Lake (this before taking out the Earth Fiend) and hung around there making lots of money to afford all of the lv 5 and 6 spells and weapons available up to that point.
 
God. I just got to this dungeon, and there was this one section where I walked eight steps, and there was a battle for EVERY step! I swear, I thought it was a damn glitch in the game.

Fuck Square Enix and fuck this POS game.
 
I want this, but I still think I'd feel stupid buying it when I own Origins. How much did they fix up FF2?
 
snapty00 said:
God. I just got to this dungeon, and there was this one section where I walked eight steps, and there was a battle for EVERY step! I swear, I thought it was a damn glitch in the game.

Fuck Square Enix and fuck this POS game.

You sure that wasn't one of the sections where the tiles themselves trigger the encounters, like in the 'Giant Cave' portion of the Cavern of Earth? Bear in mind that not everywhere is random encounters.

Seriously, my lame attempts to defend this aside, the encounter rate in FF1 is pretty borked, and I agree that you do end up power leveling by accident, especially if you try to do the bonus dungeons when they become available - it's like the tried to balance the XP off of the 'normal' game, without any of the bonus content.

Oh yeah, and the items that let you cast an infinite number of a given spell were broken in the original version of FF1.
Why the HELL would you put in more powerful ones as bonus content? Neat and all, but I got the Judgement Staff before I even went to the Flying Fortress. Hard not to walk thru everything when you have the ability to cast Flare for free every turn. I've been playing the last few hours while doing something else- I just start every battle with the same 4 commands and check back in ~30 secs when everything's dead.

Overall, a fun stroll down memory lane and worth a spin for just about anyone. One spin. Shame you can't rent portable games.
 
snapty00 said:
God. I just got to this dungeon, and there was this one section where I walked eight steps, and there was a battle for EVERY step! I swear, I thought it was a damn glitch in the game.

Fuck Square Enix and fuck this POS game.

hahaha, I hated that same part in the NES version. Took me 14 years and two rereleases to get the urge to play it again.
 
Get this...the part where it happened wasn't even fucking special! It was just a loop around a block...there was NOTHING special in that little corridor...no treasure, no NPCs, nothing. Once I realized that (because I could see ahead enough to see that there was no reason to walk any farther), I started walking the other way towards the entrance from where I came, and when I did that, that little shit list of battles happened. I was pissed off enough at that point to rip the cartridge out of the DS and burn the bitch.

I haven't really gotten angry at a game since I was like 10 years old, but what really burns me up is that they made it out like this was just a good, old-fashioned Final Fantasy game. Even the graphics are good. But the gameplay is fucking borked. I can't stress that enough.

Square Enix got me this time. I've been fucking owned. I can't believe I paid $30 for this garbage.
 
Yeah, that sounds like the Giant's wing of the Earth Cave. It was there in the original too. It wasn't that bad though. (While you're watching TV or something.)
 
belgurdo said:
cry cry

I take it you've never played a Saga game, or any Dragon Quest? That shit'll put hair on your chest in terms of JRPG dungeon crawling

I have, and I disagree with you on them being worse than DoS. But yes, lots of "classic" RPGs are crap these days, not just FF I & II.

WTf is the "cry cry" about, btw? Is that supposed to make you seem hardcore or something? If so, it's not working. There's nothing hardcore about forcing yourself to play crap, if you ask me.
 
Urgh... I'm so sick of these damn labyrinth dungeons.

I'm in the stupid wind cave extra dungeon. Just beat Doom Train, on floor 30. I assume I have 10 more floors to go in this stupid dungeon.

Worst. Dungeon designs. Ever.
 
isamu said:
Fight Omega in the Life-crotto dungeon and get back to me :D

Yeah, that's been done. It wasn't a challenge. Nothing about the game was a challenge. No, sorry, I take that back. Holding down the A button for that damn long was a bit of a challenge. That's how I spent the last 5 hours of the game.
 
Mama Smurf said:
Boy, this game sure does sound fun!

*crosses game off 'Look for in sales' list*
Ditto.

Man, FF I & II just sucks, huh? I don't think I can stand to waste what limited game-playing time I have lately on an RPG that sounds so frustrating and mind-numbingly repetitive.
 
Teddman said:
Ditto.

Man, FF I & II just sucks, huh? I don't think I can stand to waste what limited game-playing time I have lately on an RPG that sounds so frustrating and mind-numbingly repetitive.

dont listen to them Teddy...I'm enjoying the shit out of the game, flaws and all. JUST BUY IT!!!! It's old school classic fun.
 
Teddman said:
Ditto.

Man, FF I & II just sucks, huh? I don't think I can stand to waste what limited game-playing time I have lately on an RPG that sounds so frustrating and mind-numbingly repetitive.

DoS is infinitely more interesting than most of the RPGs for this system (Golden Suck comes to mind here especially.) Don't skip it because a handful of people can't handle random encounters
 
belgurdo said:
DoS is infinitely more interesting than most of the RPGs for this system (Golden Suck comes to mind here especially.) Don't skip it because a handful of people can't handle random encounters

Don't talk to me about too many random encounters, I beat Tales of Phantasia on SFC :P I just don't understand why they had to up the encounter rate so significantly in this version, it was fine in Origins.
 
I've beaten FFI, and I'm now playing FFII.

The encounter rate in FFI is the highest I've ever seen in a console RPG (though I haven't played the DC Skies of Arcadia). I was at level 83 by the time I reached the final boss, without any attempts at overleveling.

FFII has a much more reasonable encounter rate and a consequently higher perceived difficulty level. And the oddball leveling system is nice (even if it requires a lot of attention to leveling magic). What I hate about it is the primitive mid- to late-1980s "puzzles", like the Key Terms which require you to talk to every damn person in every damn town in order to find the single one who might have a crucial piece of information that will advance the plot, or the boss that can only be beaten by
weathering its magic attacks until it runs out of MP, and then hitting it with physical attacks that only do 20 points of damage at the most, for about 40 attack rounds.

There's also the unholy amount of backtracking--traveling to a town to get a bit of info that a person couldn't be bothered to give you before, or to get someone to open a door or show you a secret passage or the like. Console RPG gamers might accept this as a standard of the genre, but when these games were originally released I was playing RPGs like The Bard's Tale and Might and Magic on PCs, which involved little if any backtracking. So I'm prejudiced against it in this game.

FFII is fine enough, but because of the backtracking and the puzzles with arbitrary solutions I'm doing myself a favor and using a walkthrough, which I almost never do for RPGs.
 
Well, of course it'll have the mid-late 80s puzzles: that's when it was made. :lol

One thing that's annoyed me in FFII is that I've already had to restart the game:

I went a little too far south across the first bridge, so I encountered super strong enemies in an area that I wasn't supposed to reach yet. Unforunately, I saved just one step before a random encounter occured, so I ALWAYS enter a battle whenever I load this save data, after taking one step. And my agility isn't high enough that I can flee the battles, either. So, I get my ass kicked, get sent back to the title screen, load the game, get my ass kicked again, get sent back to the title screen, etc, etc.

So I had to start a new game. :/

Fortunately, I was only about 40 minutes into thegame; had it happened many hours into the game, that would have sucked.
 
btw: (FF1 related)

So, since Garland is the final boss, and you knocked him into the time gate, does that mean that you, the warriors of light, were responsible for setting off the time loop in the first place? O_o
 
So far the game's nice, encounter rates are a little high for my liking but it's not bothering me. I love the graphics, definitely an improvement -- however.... I had a question about FF1:

When you head to the elven town and you check out the tombstones... all the statues have nothing written on them except for one that says "Here lies Link" -- I don't remember if this was in the original. Was it? I doubt it's a jab at Nintendo :)
 
3pheMeraLmiX said:
When you head to the elven town and you check out the tombstones... all the statues have nothing written on them except for one that says "Here lies Link" -- I don't remember if this was in the original. Was it? I doubt it's a jab at Nintendo :)

It said that in the Japanese version but it was changed to "Here Lies Erdrick" (from the Dragon Warrior series) in the US version. There were lots of other minor changes in the US version (all religious references were removed, like the cross sprites in dungeons / bahamuts lair and the spell names) that were restored in this version. There's a big list somewhere, you can find it with a little searching.
 
Nerevar said:
It said that in the Japanese version but it was changed to "Here Lies Erdrick" (from the Dragon Warrior series) in the US version. There were lots of other minor changes in the US version (all religious references were removed, like the cross sprites in dungeons / bahamuts lair and the spell names) that were restored in this version. There's a big list somewhere, you can find it with a little searching.

That's odd, I have the US version -- should I post a pic of it when I get home? :)
 
belgurdo said:
DoS is infinitely more interesting than most of the RPGs for this system (Golden Suck comes to mind here especially.) Don't skip it because a handful of people can't handle random encounters

Infinitely more interesting than most RPGs for this system? What on earth are you talking about? There is only one thing going on in this game and that is random encounters every 3-5 seconds. No puzzles, no story worth mentioning, no narrative worth reading, no mini games, nothing but turn based battles. Do you really find endless, repetitive random battles "infinitely more interesting" than games that offer a more varied experience? If so, peace be with you, but don't mislead people who might be spending money on this game.

There are only 2 reasons why getting DoS would be a good idea:

1: Nostalgia
2: You want to play a game where you can watch TV most of the time you're playing it and still not miss anything. No really, you can.
 
3pheMeraLmiX said:
So far the game's nice, encounter rates are a little high for my liking but it's not bothering me. I love the graphics, definitely an improvement -- however.... I had a question about FF1:

When you head to the elven town and you check out the tombstones... all the statues have nothing written on them except for one that says "Here lies Link" -- I don't remember if this was in the original. Was it? I doubt it's a jab at Nintendo :)

http://www.2and2.net/Uploads/Images/gbaff12.jpg
 
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