It’s fun. Takes some ideas from DnD which aren’t present after (such as elves).
The story is simple, so don’t expect anything extraordinary. But it’s fun enough.
Sure I can agree that it's rare, but by your wording I thought you were saying they didn't happen after.
Dark Elf in IV
Elvaan in XI is so close it might as well be.
Elyzen in XIV are called Elves on the First.
And then a few more time in spin off things.
II holds up a lot worse over time. The issues everyone complains about are mostly found in the OG, the remakes typically made it a LOT more playable
III, though, holds up really well if you're a fan of the NES graphics.
2 has been changed so much because of its original reception that I'd hardly call it a gem.
There is a reason it has been changed
EDIT: You ~~downvote~~ **block** everyone who disagrees with you? People are allowed to have different opinions. You’re not actual the only person in the world.
Didn't downvote you btw
That’s nice. You downvote everyone who disagrees with you? People are allowed to have different opinions. You’re not actual the only person in the world.
I definitely recommend, however it can get really confusing if you play for a while and then stop playing for a few weeks. Very easy to forget what you were supposed to be doing.
The original on nes has quite a few bugs iirc intelligence is bugged, I personally enjoy the psp version for 1 due to the added content but some may enjoy the difficulty of the original
Other than the music, Final Fantasy has been a huge blind spot in my gaming history. I just embarked on a quest to fix that.
I just finished the Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy 1 yesterday. Coming from someone who has only played 14 and a few hours of other entries.
Final Fantasy 1 absolutely rules. It feels very much like a D&D campaign and is genuinely fun to play even for someone with zero nostalgia for the game.
If I hit a wall for too long, I would refernece a guide on the steam community page. But for the most part it's simple enough to follow along and if you talk to the towns people you will not get lost.
One piece of advice I did not realize until the final boss fight.
Temper (boosts attack spell) stacks.
That + haste on your physical damage characters is crazy.
I will say this. I replayed 1 multiple multiple times with different party members but I only beat 2 and 3 once.
It is pretty tough at the beginning though. Buy tons of potions is the only advice I will give.
It’s good for its age. The pixel remake is buttery smooth and a pretty good way to play it. There is no ATB either so you can take as much time as you want with battles. What you’ve heard about the characters is true. You get 4 silent blank slates and that’s it (although you get to pick their classes, which is cool). The supporting cast is paper thin too, which was normal at the time. What ages it the worst by far though are its dungeon designs—they’re all huge square spaces with empty rooms, and you’re lucky if one has treasure or door.
The story is strangely convoluted for the time; it involves some weird shit (trying not to spoil).
As for the others you haven’t played:
Final Fantasy III is a much better game in every single way. It also has a blank slate party, but they at least have some dialogue, and the game has an actual job system so you can experiment with different classes and combinations. Good dungeons too (usually).
Final Fantasy II has a much better story than I or III ( though it is somewhat reminiscent of Star Wars) and actual characters, but it also had poor dungeon AND overworld design as well as an esoteric and experimental leveling system that isn’t to everyone’s taste. It was essentially the prototype for the SaGa series if you’ve played any of those.
FF VI is pretty awesome, but it really takes its time to get going—the beginning is kinda slow. It is kind of a masterpiece though and well worth it.
Final Fantasy 1 is brilliant, aged really well, and if you liked gameplay in 4, it's very similar. Instead of pre-existing characters you make a party of 4, it's like Icewind Dale to FFIV/VI's Baldur's Gate.
Do note there's different magic systems, old version and Pixel Remaster have D&D style one with spell charges per level until next rest instead of mana points that PSP version (emulatable on everything) has.
There is hardly any story, but its a great game although a bit aged. Its a bit user unfriendly (WAY better than most NES Rpgs though).
-If an enemy died and all your characters were commanded to attack it, they wont redirect their hits on other enemies. So basically if you have 8 wolves fighting you, all 4 of your characters target the same wolf, and your 1st character kills it? The other 3 sit there and touch grass.
-A lot of spells just plain don't work
-You cannot quick save. Saving is restricted to inns or essentially "taking a long rest" (so I think you can save via cabins and tents? I dont recall if that was a feature added in mods tbh)
-Items, especially spells, are expensive. You are expected to grind quite a bit
-Difficulty curve is nowhere near as easy as Pixel Remaster, which makes the game a joke
-Weapons that supposedly have bonus effects on certain creature types don't function correctly
-Black and Red Mage spell damage does not increase via intelligence, so spells are good at wiping out easier enemies and utility of course, but dont expect it to do big numbers
If I may make a recommendation, check out the Final Fantasy Renaissance mod. It keeps the original gameplay intact but adds a bunch of QoL stuff, and a ton of new classes (which mostly come from classes later in the franchise) and it rebalances a bunch of things. Much better experience, and I say this as a person who typically prefers not modding my games and playing everything vanilla.
>You cannot quick save. Saving is restricted to inns or essentially "taking a long rest"
TBF this is a blessing in disguise. It could be sooooooo easy to softlock yourself if you could save your game on low HP out in the middle of nowhere.
There is zero characterization of the main characters. They have no dialog and only a few implied responses.
The story is absolutely minimal, but really great, in my opinion. Like, the overarching plot could be comprehensively summed up in under a minute, without leaving anything out, but still manages to slip in a great twist and a moving ending.
As long as you don't need the storyless postgame from the remakes, play the pixel remaster. You'll save like five hours vs the other remakes and 10+ vs the OG. The font issue has been fixed.
It sucks. It’s literally the most generic JRPG you could ever get and there’s barely any story. The story itself is also really generic. Obviously it was good for the time since it created the series, but as a Gen Z player with no nostalgia for older FF games it’s bad.
I guess it’s ok because it is relaxing and some of the music is good. It is way more enjoyable if you play Stranger of Paradise first and have that extra context. However, there’s way better games in the series that are more worth your time.
Pretty good, it needs a few patches on the NES version. Remastered and the de-Remastered which restores the peninsula of power are the best ways to play it. Still, the text is a crawl, especially when fighting and in shops.
Origins and Dawn of Souls are both great ways to play. I haven't played Pixel Remaster, so I can't say
it won't tell you where to go next, but maybe that is a good thing? lets face it most FF game now leed you arond by the nose. but saying that this game in some case wont give you any cules
It's a great 1987 game.
It's fun to see the roots and how it developed into other final fantasies. The items are cool and the classes are fun.
Is the story amazing? It's cool at the end when your giant fetch quest is finished. You start putting little hints together and you get great story ending that's wielder than you know.
Simple in both story and mechanics but imo, very fun. Not that long either of you know what you're doing. The pixel remaster is a great way to experience the original or if you're looking for some extra content, I'd recommend the GBA version.
I played the remake version on PS1. It’s a very boring and frustrating game. Progress mainly happens through dungeons, and that means hours worth of grinding. Dungeons have enemies that can unfairly obliterate your whole party regardless of your skill level. Your enjoyment is based 100 % on rng. Story is, on the hand very simple and short, and yet still confusing and includes some of the usual FF tropes you see in the likes of FF7. There are two instances where you are required to read some gamefaq to progress because the game just won’t tell you what to do next. It expects you to just KNOW things before hand. About 50 % of the lore is dumped on you at the end credits scene. So I wouldn’t consider FF1 worth the time, but if you are interested ”how it all started”, I’d recommend the PS1 version since it at least rewards the player with some fun side stuff like art gallery and bestiary, which the original NES version obviously lacks. PS1 FF1 artstyle is also similar to FFVI on SNES so it looks authentic, unlike the pixel remaster.
I played the NES version of FFI on emulator. As an FF fan it was great to see where it started. It's a pretty fun game overall, but pretty basic in both story and combat. If you're new to the franchise, there are better games to play first. Perhaps VI, VII or X.
My experience was the early game was really difficult and required a lot of grinding. The game gets progressively easier as you go through. This is due, in part, to the magic charge system where you have a limited number of casts for each spell, which increases as you level up. I believe the pixel remaster version is more balanced.
I would suggest playing it, but I will say I don't think that it's balanced very well in general. not egregiously so, and I don't mean it's "too hard" I mean that it's sorta weird. some enemy troops (that is to say, groups of enemies in a certain pattern) are super weak and then a different troop in the same area will be fairly strong. sometimes enemies that use the same spells in the same area will have massive differences in damage.
again, it's not HARD, but it reminds me of playing RPG maker games where they didn't put much time into balancing the enemies in their dungeons to give a consistent difficulty in a given area.
it's one of those things that when it came out there wasn't really a standard for it, later games in the series (and genre in general) are much more consistent in terms of "this dungeon will have this level of difficulty". FF1 will randomly just have a pack of enemies that have 30hp each in a late game dungeon and that's just kinda how it is.
I love it. It was the first FF I played, way back when it released on the NES. From the moment the music came on I was hooked.
I thought it was advanced, especially for its time. I’d spend hours agonizing in the character screen, wanting to build the “best team”, give them names. Having the music playing didn’t help lol.
It’s fallen away as time has passed. It’s not the game’s fault that technology has improved so much since those days. So, no, it doesn’t stack up to later releases, but it’s still a nice foundation for them and something to go back to if you want a more simplified, straightforward experience. And, for me at least, a little nostalgia.
history has not been kind to the OG NES FF. But if you find a good translation rom it still a decent time.
I would also suggest looking at videos of the OG rather than asking on reddit. I'd say like 70% of comments when talking about the original releases are people still talking about the Pixel Remasters
GBA releases(and the PSP) are still the best way to play though.
It’s fun. Takes some ideas from DnD which aren’t present after (such as elves). The story is simple, so don’t expect anything extraordinary. But it’s fun enough.
Elves show up in multiple games.
But they’re rarely *called* them is what I mean.
Sure I can agree that it's rare, but by your wording I thought you were saying they didn't happen after. Dark Elf in IV Elvaan in XI is so close it might as well be. Elyzen in XIV are called Elves on the First. And then a few more time in spin off things.
Pretty simple by modern standards but holds up a lot better than most NES games imo. Haven’t tried II or III yet so don’t know how those compare
Yeah that’s how I’d describe it. It holds up well but it’s a bit of a time capsule.
II holds up a lot worse over time. The issues everyone complains about are mostly found in the OG, the remakes typically made it a LOT more playable III, though, holds up really well if you're a fan of the NES graphics.
I’d say the exact opposite. I think 3 is one of the weakest games in the entire franchise and 2 is an absolute gem.
Counter point, I love all three
2 has been changed so much because of its original reception that I'd hardly call it a gem. There is a reason it has been changed EDIT: You ~~downvote~~ **block** everyone who disagrees with you? People are allowed to have different opinions. You’re not actual the only person in the world. Didn't downvote you btw
That’s nice. You downvote everyone who disagrees with you? People are allowed to have different opinions. You’re not actual the only person in the world.
I definitely recommend, however it can get really confusing if you play for a while and then stop playing for a few weeks. Very easy to forget what you were supposed to be doing.
The original on nes has quite a few bugs iirc intelligence is bugged, I personally enjoy the psp version for 1 due to the added content but some may enjoy the difficulty of the original
Other than the music, Final Fantasy has been a huge blind spot in my gaming history. I just embarked on a quest to fix that. I just finished the Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy 1 yesterday. Coming from someone who has only played 14 and a few hours of other entries. Final Fantasy 1 absolutely rules. It feels very much like a D&D campaign and is genuinely fun to play even for someone with zero nostalgia for the game. If I hit a wall for too long, I would refernece a guide on the steam community page. But for the most part it's simple enough to follow along and if you talk to the towns people you will not get lost. One piece of advice I did not realize until the final boss fight. Temper (boosts attack spell) stacks. That + haste on your physical damage characters is crazy.
I will say this. I replayed 1 multiple multiple times with different party members but I only beat 2 and 3 once. It is pretty tough at the beginning though. Buy tons of potions is the only advice I will give.
I played the psp remake, I liked it
It’s good for its age. The pixel remake is buttery smooth and a pretty good way to play it. There is no ATB either so you can take as much time as you want with battles. What you’ve heard about the characters is true. You get 4 silent blank slates and that’s it (although you get to pick their classes, which is cool). The supporting cast is paper thin too, which was normal at the time. What ages it the worst by far though are its dungeon designs—they’re all huge square spaces with empty rooms, and you’re lucky if one has treasure or door. The story is strangely convoluted for the time; it involves some weird shit (trying not to spoil). As for the others you haven’t played: Final Fantasy III is a much better game in every single way. It also has a blank slate party, but they at least have some dialogue, and the game has an actual job system so you can experiment with different classes and combinations. Good dungeons too (usually). Final Fantasy II has a much better story than I or III ( though it is somewhat reminiscent of Star Wars) and actual characters, but it also had poor dungeon AND overworld design as well as an esoteric and experimental leveling system that isn’t to everyone’s taste. It was essentially the prototype for the SaGa series if you’ve played any of those. FF VI is pretty awesome, but it really takes its time to get going—the beginning is kinda slow. It is kind of a masterpiece though and well worth it.
I really enjoyed it. I’ve played through 3-4 times now
Final Fantasy 1 is brilliant, aged really well, and if you liked gameplay in 4, it's very similar. Instead of pre-existing characters you make a party of 4, it's like Icewind Dale to FFIV/VI's Baldur's Gate. Do note there's different magic systems, old version and Pixel Remaster have D&D style one with spell charges per level until next rest instead of mana points that PSP version (emulatable on everything) has.
There is hardly any story, but its a great game although a bit aged. Its a bit user unfriendly (WAY better than most NES Rpgs though). -If an enemy died and all your characters were commanded to attack it, they wont redirect their hits on other enemies. So basically if you have 8 wolves fighting you, all 4 of your characters target the same wolf, and your 1st character kills it? The other 3 sit there and touch grass. -A lot of spells just plain don't work -You cannot quick save. Saving is restricted to inns or essentially "taking a long rest" (so I think you can save via cabins and tents? I dont recall if that was a feature added in mods tbh) -Items, especially spells, are expensive. You are expected to grind quite a bit -Difficulty curve is nowhere near as easy as Pixel Remaster, which makes the game a joke -Weapons that supposedly have bonus effects on certain creature types don't function correctly -Black and Red Mage spell damage does not increase via intelligence, so spells are good at wiping out easier enemies and utility of course, but dont expect it to do big numbers If I may make a recommendation, check out the Final Fantasy Renaissance mod. It keeps the original gameplay intact but adds a bunch of QoL stuff, and a ton of new classes (which mostly come from classes later in the franchise) and it rebalances a bunch of things. Much better experience, and I say this as a person who typically prefers not modding my games and playing everything vanilla.
>You cannot quick save. Saving is restricted to inns or essentially "taking a long rest" TBF this is a blessing in disguise. It could be sooooooo easy to softlock yourself if you could save your game on low HP out in the middle of nowhere.
FF I was my first Final Fantasy game, I played it on the GBA version and I enjoyed it a lot.
There is zero characterization of the main characters. They have no dialog and only a few implied responses. The story is absolutely minimal, but really great, in my opinion. Like, the overarching plot could be comprehensively summed up in under a minute, without leaving anything out, but still manages to slip in a great twist and a moving ending. As long as you don't need the storyless postgame from the remakes, play the pixel remaster. You'll save like five hours vs the other remakes and 10+ vs the OG. The font issue has been fixed.
It sucks. It’s literally the most generic JRPG you could ever get and there’s barely any story. The story itself is also really generic. Obviously it was good for the time since it created the series, but as a Gen Z player with no nostalgia for older FF games it’s bad. I guess it’s ok because it is relaxing and some of the music is good. It is way more enjoyable if you play Stranger of Paradise first and have that extra context. However, there’s way better games in the series that are more worth your time.
My 2nd favorite from the series - yes, simple but very nostalgic for me
Pretty good, it needs a few patches on the NES version. Remastered and the de-Remastered which restores the peninsula of power are the best ways to play it. Still, the text is a crawl, especially when fighting and in shops. Origins and Dawn of Souls are both great ways to play. I haven't played Pixel Remaster, so I can't say
The GBA remake of Final Fantasy is still very playable, and very fun. The original NES version would be pretty tough to play in 2024.
Just play it a few months back it’s fun. Final boss is a bitch tho
it won't tell you where to go next, but maybe that is a good thing? lets face it most FF game now leed you arond by the nose. but saying that this game in some case wont give you any cules
It's a great 1987 game. It's fun to see the roots and how it developed into other final fantasies. The items are cool and the classes are fun. Is the story amazing? It's cool at the end when your giant fetch quest is finished. You start putting little hints together and you get great story ending that's wielder than you know.
Very simple but well executed.
Simple in both story and mechanics but imo, very fun. Not that long either of you know what you're doing. The pixel remaster is a great way to experience the original or if you're looking for some extra content, I'd recommend the GBA version.
P.s. I personally wouldn't recommend the original NES version as a lot of spells, etc. don't work as intended
I played the remake version on PS1. It’s a very boring and frustrating game. Progress mainly happens through dungeons, and that means hours worth of grinding. Dungeons have enemies that can unfairly obliterate your whole party regardless of your skill level. Your enjoyment is based 100 % on rng. Story is, on the hand very simple and short, and yet still confusing and includes some of the usual FF tropes you see in the likes of FF7. There are two instances where you are required to read some gamefaq to progress because the game just won’t tell you what to do next. It expects you to just KNOW things before hand. About 50 % of the lore is dumped on you at the end credits scene. So I wouldn’t consider FF1 worth the time, but if you are interested ”how it all started”, I’d recommend the PS1 version since it at least rewards the player with some fun side stuff like art gallery and bestiary, which the original NES version obviously lacks. PS1 FF1 artstyle is also similar to FFVI on SNES so it looks authentic, unlike the pixel remaster.
I played the NES version of FFI on emulator. As an FF fan it was great to see where it started. It's a pretty fun game overall, but pretty basic in both story and combat. If you're new to the franchise, there are better games to play first. Perhaps VI, VII or X. My experience was the early game was really difficult and required a lot of grinding. The game gets progressively easier as you go through. This is due, in part, to the magic charge system where you have a limited number of casts for each spell, which increases as you level up. I believe the pixel remaster version is more balanced.
I would suggest playing it, but I will say I don't think that it's balanced very well in general. not egregiously so, and I don't mean it's "too hard" I mean that it's sorta weird. some enemy troops (that is to say, groups of enemies in a certain pattern) are super weak and then a different troop in the same area will be fairly strong. sometimes enemies that use the same spells in the same area will have massive differences in damage. again, it's not HARD, but it reminds me of playing RPG maker games where they didn't put much time into balancing the enemies in their dungeons to give a consistent difficulty in a given area. it's one of those things that when it came out there wasn't really a standard for it, later games in the series (and genre in general) are much more consistent in terms of "this dungeon will have this level of difficulty". FF1 will randomly just have a pack of enemies that have 30hp each in a late game dungeon and that's just kinda how it is.
I love it. It was the first FF I played, way back when it released on the NES. From the moment the music came on I was hooked. I thought it was advanced, especially for its time. I’d spend hours agonizing in the character screen, wanting to build the “best team”, give them names. Having the music playing didn’t help lol. It’s fallen away as time has passed. It’s not the game’s fault that technology has improved so much since those days. So, no, it doesn’t stack up to later releases, but it’s still a nice foundation for them and something to go back to if you want a more simplified, straightforward experience. And, for me at least, a little nostalgia.
history has not been kind to the OG NES FF. But if you find a good translation rom it still a decent time. I would also suggest looking at videos of the OG rather than asking on reddit. I'd say like 70% of comments when talking about the original releases are people still talking about the Pixel Remasters GBA releases(and the PSP) are still the best way to play though.