I realized that I never actually wrote the review I had planned for this game; somehow I skipped right over it and wrote the other two, but never did this one. So, finally, here is my review for the first of the Final Fantasy Adventure games for the Game Boy...the last of the reviews, but the first one I played. Sorry about that.
Anyway. This game came out in 1991-two full years before Link's Awakening...which is rather odd, because if you play them both, you'll understand when I say that they are remarkably similar.I can't help but think that perhaps the Final Fantasy team was borrowing from the Zelda team's previous games a bit. It feels that way to me, anyway.
Anyway...this is a top-down Final Fantasy and the monsters you fight are on the screen (much like the Zelda games). That means, unlike most Final Fantasy games, there is no fight scene and no team. That's a huge difference from any other Final Fantasy, including the two Adventure titles that follow (both of which feature teams you can build yourself).
The leveling up process is simple and easy, and like that other game, you can have two pieces of equipment in your hands (a button for each hand, essentially). Unlike Zelda, you get access to magic in this game, and you can put a spell in your off hand and a weapon in your on-hand, which is nice.
As you go along, you collect different weapons that you really need to hang onto...don't sell your weapons, ever, unless you get another one in the same category. You need them for various 'extra' abilities they have-chopping down trees to clear your path, flinging you across gaps, cutting grass (yes, grass). Plus there are certain monsters that you can only kill with certain weapons. You'll find yourself switching back and forth a lot-it's a gimmick they keep up through the entire game. You'll also collect various pieces of armor and thingies which do various things-keys, mattocks for breaking walls and rocks, healing potions, all very Final Fantasy-like in that regard.
Along the way, you will also pick up different companions. They trail along behind you, and depending on who they are, you can "Ask" them to do various things. The girl you have at the beginning heals you if you ask, for example, while later you find a chocobo that will carry you around. Don't expect much from these people though-often times they'll stand there like morons while you're fighting, or (my favorite, sarcasm heavily implied) they'll randomly swing in a direction that's totally removed from where the cluster of enemies is currently chomping on you. Every now and then they're helpful, but not often enough to make it really worth your while.
Graphics: 8
Graphics on the game boy have, rather remarkably, stood the general test of time better than some of the 'fancier' systems with their color and their flash. These are black and white (of course), but as per usual, they are remarkably clear and crisp. Unlike a few other titles, they are a bit flat; the game suffers a bit graphically because they were trying a little too hard to get detail in without being able to actually put a lot of detail in, so it looks forced and sloppy sometimes. That being said, I have to say that I like them anyway. You can see the detail on your little sprite guy and the animations for the magics are neat and short.
Sound: 6
While the Game Boy graphics have stood the test of time, the sounds most definitely have not. This game features more of that electronic, annoying and repetitive music that attempts but never quite manages to get you into a world-saving, epic quest feeling. The sound effects of the weapons are a bit odd, too. Clangs when you'd expect chings, or vice-versa. And the worst part is that you can't even mute the darn game; you can find hidden walls by smacking them with your weapons and listening to sound it makes....which means, because there's now way on these old games to separate the background dooo-do-dooos from the sound effects, you kind of have to turn the music on, at least when you're in a dungeon.
Addictiveness: 9
Like most games of this type, the addictiveness depends on whether or not you like this type of game. If you're into old-school RPG's, you'll enjoy this game and want to keep playing it. If they bore you silly, then this game will too. I happen to enjoy RPG's a lot and found this quite satisfying.
Story: 4
Like most early Final Fantasies, the story on this game is a bit on the thin side. Save the world,and as usual there's a girl involved. The hero is not emo and cliche, which is very nice, but the bad guy is incredibly cliche and a bit on the eh side. There's a bit of the personal revenge plot tossed in, but it quickly gets lost in the general end-of-the-world issue, so you don't really see a lot of it in the later parts of the game. Mostly it's about the girl, as usual.
Depth: 4
This game is extremely linear. You really don't have a choice but to go in the direction they want you to-although the world seems wide open, like Zelda games, there are plenty of things to block your path until you have the right item to pass them by. I have yet to find a single optional area in the whole game. Maybe i missed something? I feel like I missed something.
Difficulty: 6
The controls are super-simple (there's only two buttons, after all. As a surprise, the enemies seem fairly well balanced, so that you're not getting the good parts of your anatomy handed to you on a plate whenever you change areas. The difficulty curve is actually a curve, which is a nice change from several other games I've played recently. It stays challenging without being frustratingly difficult Veteran players of Zelda games will have absolutely no problem. Veteran players of Final Fantasy games might take a bit to get used to it.
Overall: 9.5
This really is the best of the three, slightly ironically so because it came out first. Although it has many features that detract from the "Final Fantasy" aspect of it, it has some very solid game-play and a good enough story to keep you interested, even when the enemies begin their monologues. If you like Final Fantasy and Zelda, you'll love this game. If you dislike Zelda, don't play this game. It's pretty much that simple.
|
User Notice 
iN008 is Offline
| ID: 722977 | 36 Words
iN008 is Offline
