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[Crazymoogle]

Link to said proverbial book? I picked it up for the Famicom and am gonna give it a try post FFII. More worried about the kanji-less text and no-dash than the battles and systems.

Uh, hit up Gamefaqs. My guide is pretty old, and I understood basically almost no japanese while writing it (played both the cart and rom multiple times to figure out most of what was going on), but hey, this was written back when that whole FF writing thing was going on, and is still fairly complete.

I'm not sure I can even remember '97 anymore.

 

[RevenantKioku]

God, I would do damn near anything for a SaGa II remake.

Anyone who's played SaGa II can definitely tell its a derivative of FFII.

 

[JackFrost2012]

God, I would do damn near anything for a SaGa II remake.

For all I (rightfully) hate Kawazu, I have a soft spot for the Game Boy SaGa series. I actually completed the SaGa I remake on the WonderSwan Color, making me the only white person to ever finish a WonderSwan Color game.

 

[Crazymoogle]

God, I would do damn near anything for a SaGa II remake.

The game feels almost unplayable compared to when I was younger and could blow through the FFL titles at whim, but I would have to agree if only for the sheer concept. The multiple universe orb/tower thing was pretty cool. I try not to remember most of the game, though - I never did manage to get that stupid Seven Sword.

 

[Blackace]

For all I (rightfully) hate Kawazu, I have a soft spot for the SaGa games. I actually completed the SaGa I remake on the WonderSwan Color, making me the only white person to ever finish a WonderSwan Color game.

[Unlimited] I would blast the SaGa games...but my Game blasting skill isn't high enough [/Unlimited]

 

[JackFrost2012]

The game feels almost unplayable compared to when I was younger and could blow through the FFL titles at whim, but I would have to agree if only for the sheer concept. The multiple universe orb/tower thing was pretty cool. I try not to remember most of the game, though - I never did manage to get that stupid Seven Sword.

The concept of SaGa I is also awesome ... the tower connecting all the worlds, and you starting at the very bottom with no clue what's at the top. That and the whammy-surprise once you defeat Ashura.

One of my favorite parts in SaGa 2 (minor, really not-important spoiler):

Spoiler

whenever you die, you appear in Valhalla and Odin ressurrects you to the beginning of your last battle. Eventually, you reach Valhalla itself while travelling the worlds and Odin challenges you in a duel to the death. Once you defeat Odin, if you die during battle it's a Game Over. That's such a cool fusion of story and gameplay!

Also, SaGa 2 has banana smuggling. More games need banana smuggling.

 

[RevenantKioku]

For all I (rightfully) hate Kawazu, I have a soft spot for the Game Boy SaGa series. I actually completed the SaGa I remake on the WonderSwan Color, making me the only white person to ever finish a WonderSwan Color game.

Lies! I finished FFIV on the WSC. It was my first time playing a game completely in Japanese.
Still, I didn't like the original SaGa enough to warrant buying it.

 

[RevenantKioku]

One of my favorite parts in SaGa 2 (minor, really not-important spoiler):

Spoiler

whenever you die, you appear in Valhalla and Odin ressurrects you to the beginning of your last battle. Eventually, you reach Valhalla itself while travelling the worlds and Odin challenges you in a duel to the death. Once you defeat Odin, if you die during battle it's a Game Over. That's such a cool fusion of story and gameplay!

Also, SaGa 2 has banana smuggling. More games need banana smuggling.

Man, you know I replayed the entire game, not dying just to see

Spoiler

if Odin would say something different to you. And it was different by maybe one line, but that made me feel awesome to discover that.

 

[Diomedeskun]

SaGa I was too unbalanced and had rough gameplay mechanics .The challenge level was all over the place. SaGa II was much better, but just plain hard, especially since the much easier part III was my introdution to the series.

III was good, but it was pretty much Final Fantasy Mystic Quest made into a real RPG instead of a "beginner's RPG". I seem to recall that the same team worked on both, so that would explain the similarities. It also had a pretty cools story and the world/time travelling seemed much more cohesive than the worlds in SaGa I and II.

 

[JackFrost2012]

Man, you know I replayed the entire game, not dying just to see

Spoiler

if Odin would say something different to you. And it was different by maybe one line, but that made me feel awesome to discover that.

I did the same thing and yes it was totally awesome!! You were like WHO'S THE MAN NOW, DOG?!

 

[Crazymoogle]

The concept of SaGa I is also awesome ... the tower connecting all the worlds, and you starting at the very bottom with no clue what's at the top.

Yeah, I miss that kind of mystery these days. Playing SaGa 1 /FFL was like reading the manga series 'BLAME!' - every step of the way was so different, alien, or fucked up that the only thing to be sure of was that more surprises were on the way.

I'd really like to make a dungeon game some day - not nethack, but some sort of game where it's a thousand floors to the top and there's no town to save your ass on the way up.

 

[JackFrost2012]

I'd really like to make a dungeon game some day - not nethack, but some sort of game where it's a thousand floors to the top and there's no town to save your ass on the way up.

Well, in Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter it's 1000 meters to the top and there's no inn to save your ass on the way up. I say we give it partial credit!

 

[Crazymoogle]

Well, in Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter it's 1000 meters to the top and there's no inn to save your ass on the way up. I say we give it partial credit!

Sure, but it's too short, has the whole retry system...lets just say I would go for a totally different gameplay feel.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Is Saga II rare or something? I searched all over Den Den for a copy when I was there, but no friggin' luck.
I'd love to play that again in Japanese.

 

[Kobun Heat]

For all I (rightfully) hate Kawazu, I have a soft spot for the Game Boy SaGa series. I actually completed the SaGa I remake on the WonderSwan Color, making me the only white person to ever finish a WonderSwan Color game.

Bullshit. I finished FFI like a week after the WSC came out.

Only white person to ever complete a SaGa game on the WSC... yes, probably.

I did buy both of them before leaving Japan, though, just... just to have them. Never did buy Front Mission or Hanjuku Hero, though. Or those other two weird games, for that matter. The card RPG, and the other one. The shooter.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Is Saga II rare or something? I searched all over Den Den for a copy when I was there, but no friggin' luck.

It's in an oversized box, so if any DDT stores had it (and I'd seen it around, so they did) you might have missed it if you were just looking alphabetically. Was probably up on a higher shelf.

 

[RevenantKioku]

It's in an oversized box, so if any DDT stores had it (and I'd seen it around, so they did) you might have missed it if you were just looking alphabetically. Was probably up on a higher shelf.

Fuckin' hell! I could have sworn I looked all over for that bitch! Damn I want that sucker.

 

[djtiesto]

Ooh... they finally fixed the balance on FF2j? Wow... I think I'm gonna need to pick up this version now I remember writing a FAQ like 6 or 7 years ago about FF2j, talking about how to exploit the game's system. I beat it on the emulator (pre translation, I actually helped with the beta testing of it), and on Origins last summer... I'm probably one of the very few gaijin that have beaten FF1-X2...

I didn't find FF3j to be very challenging... the parts with the duplicating monsters was frustrating, but you actually needed to use some strategy to pass it. It was only the INSANE end part, that took forever to beat, with no save points, that was a total pain in the ass. Because, you needed to go through the labyrinth, the tower, battle Zande, then go into space, fight the 4 subbosses for the ribbons, then go and battle the Dark Queen... Which I thought was a battle of chance more than anything else But I will buy the 3j remake the day it comes out, I want it so badly.

 

[Mejilan]

I cannot wait for this. I never got too far in FF Origins simply because... I had better things to do with my consoles. But on the GBA = perfect. And the new additions and gameplay fixes/balances only sweeten the deal.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

It had great music and introduced the "black mage", so it's good in my book. Not the most entertaining RPG these days, but it's a perfect diversion from everyday life for the GBA. Being able to pull FFI out of my pocket and level up whenever I want is going to be nice.

 

[JackFrost2012]

I didn't find FF3j to be very challenging... only the INSANE end part, that took forever to beat, with no save points, that was a total pain in the ass.

In Famitsu's 700th anniversary issue they had some fun "Did You Know?" game trivia. One of them was, "did you know originally there was a save point right before you fought the last boss of FFIII?" and had a screen shot of the last staircase with a save spot there. They interviewed the designer and he was like "yeah, in the prototype there was a save point, but we decided to remove it to add tension and challenge to the final battle."

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I'd really like to make a dungeon game some day - not nethack, but some sort of game where it's a thousand floors to the top and there's no town to save your ass on the way up.

There's a game that reminds me of this description...Fatal Labyrinth for the Gen.

 

[Diomedeskun]

I would have killed for a save point even if it was only available between the first few of the bosses before the end. I vowed never to use save state, but I had no choice at the end, as I did not want to waste so much time on death nor did I want to build up to insane levels.

The regenerating enemies would not have been hard if I had had the dark weapons, but I found the hidden village with them just after the cave. It still wasn't that difficult, but the fights took a very long time.

I am much more excited about FF1+2 now that I have heard about the changes. The Wonderswan and Origins versions were a nice start, but they needed more work, especially 2. I would have particularly liked it if the GBA version had improved the size of 2's tiny map sprites or matched up character design in the portraits, map, and battle.

 

[Mejilan]

There's a game that reminds me of this description...Fatal Labyrinth for the Gen.

Yeah, but didn't that game only have like 15 or 20 floors? Don't recall. That, and it kinda sucked.

 

[isamu]

Blackfrost and Jackace.... thanks for providing your impressions of these two games. I have been waiting a long time to get impressions of these remakes since they were announced. When are they scheduled for a US release?

The only FF game is have played is FF VI. Not even VII, not even VIII. So this combo cart will be the PERFECT way for me to get started on the long journey of playing all the FF games(well, at least I, II, IV, V, VI and VII...doub't I'll be interested in IV or X).

 

[Crazymoogle]

Still kinda surprised. If anything I would have thought people would complain about the Phoenix battle, which is basically rigged against you without high level dragoons and some luck.

The final FF3j boss was actually pretty easy for me, although having a well thought out party helps - I had two good sages for healing and a good stock of shuriken for guaranteed 9999 hits. It was a bit more difficult with more varied class choices but I always seemed to have a few elixir on hand for when the going gets tough.

 

[Diomedeskun]

Dying at the phoenix battle didn't set you back very far, and the ability to use Dragon Knights was granted to you shortly before and Spears were just available at the shops immediately before the battle.

A party of 4 dragon knights made short work of that boss without breaking much of a sweat. I had used the same tactics in Final Fantasy IV when I battled Odin, but there I only had 1 dragon knight/dragoon.

 

[Nerevar]

wait, are these games coming to America? When are they arriving? I'm about as big a FF1 fan as you can get.


Although what I'd really love is more character classes. But that would be MAJOR work.

 

[Blackace]

wait, are these games coming to America? When are they arriving? I'm about as big a FF1 fan as you can get.


Although what I'd really love is more character classes. But that would be MAJOR work.

They are coming! I don't know exact US date (too lazy to look it up) but I thought it was in Nov. Make sure you pick it up because this version is simply the best version of FFI and II there is!!

 

[Mejilan]

But seriously. How's the music. I know it can't compare to FF Origins, but...?

 

[Blackace]

Hmm how can I explain it... first of all the music rocks hard! FFI's music is basically a remix of the NES version's but really cleaned up and awesome! (Music is hard to explain on the Internet!) And it does compare quite well to origins...

 

[Wario64]

The music is actually pretty good, especially for a GBA game. Can't wait till this comes out in November. I'm glad that Square decided to put a 'save anywhere' option in the game. Being able to level in between breaks will be nice

 

[Mejilan]

Lord I can't wait. FF1 had some FANTASTICLY composed music. And FF Origins so did it justice.

 

[Wario64]

From what I heard, the music sounds just like Origin's soundtrack. The quality is obviously a bit worse than the PSone game, but it's a pretty faithful conversion. And yes, Origin's soundtrack was awesome

 

[jarrod]

wait, are these games coming to America? When are they arriving? I'm about as big a FF1 fan as you can get.

November 29th, published by Nintendo themselves.

 

[Nerevar]

November 29th, published by Nintendo themselves.

Egads! Now I'll have to stop trolling Nintendo threads!

 

[Mejilan]

Well, they DID publish the original NES release of FF, iirc. And FFCC, FFTA, and Sword of Mana, more recently, right?

 

[doncale]

FFI was lightyears ahead of its time, still is a better RPG than most game released in the last few years.

and in turn, PSI (also 1987) was lightyears ahead of FFI.

 

[RevenantKioku]

and in turn, PSI (also 1987) was lightyears ahead of FFI.

Sorry, but I just don't see it.

 

[Bizarro Sun Yat-sen]

They interviewed the designer and he was like "yeah, in the prototype there was a save point, but we decided to remove it to add tension and challenge to the final battle."

Yeah, I read they removed it because one of the QA testers kept complaining about the last dungeon being too easy.

 

[JackFrost2012]

Yeah, I read they removed it because one of the QA testers kept complaining about the last dungeon being too easy.

And this is why you shouldn't let hardcore gamers QA your games.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

Goddamn it.

I hate Square... and yet... and yet... I MUST HAVE THIS.

 

[isamu]

Goddamn it.

I hate Square... and yet... and yet... I MUST HAVE THIS.

why do you hate square?

 

[Dragona Akehi]

It's the principle of the thing.

 

[Blackace]

and in turn, PSI (also 1987) was lightyears ahead of FFI.

Yeaaaahhh sure.... I loved it don't get me wrong great game... but I don't think it holds up as well.. which of course is just my opinion!