(not so) Final FantasyFinal Fantasy, the first game of one of the most epic video game series known to man. Anyone who considers themselves a hardcore gamer should have heard of the Final Fantasy series before, well this is the game that started it all!
You begin Final Fantasy by choosing your party from 6 classes which include; Fighter, Thief, Black Belt, Red Mage, White Mage, and Black Mage. You get to choose 4 of these classes to make your party, and you could even choose 2 or more of the same class. Each class has its strengths and weaknesses. The fighter is the best melee fighter and is able to use the best weapons and armor, giving him a high attack and armor value. The Thief is a little less strong than the fighter but he is quicker and more evasive. The Black Belt is similar to the thief and fighter but instead of using weapons, he excels in using his bare hands. The White Mage is a master of white magic (obviously) which mostly consists of healing spells and spells that do damage to undead foes. The Black Mage is a master of Black Magic which mostly consists of damaging spells and debuff spells. The Red Mage class is like a combination class of the fighter,white and black mage classes, being not as good as any of those classes at what they do but able to do a little of everything, like a jack of all trades type class. After Final Fantasy 1 most subsequent games of the series got rid of the ability to create your team and instead people join you as you advance further in the plot. I really enjoy this part of Final Fantasy and feel it was a shame they got rid of the idea for future games.
If you have never played Final Fantasy before and you are ready to find out what all the hype is about, I recommend you go out and buy an actual copy of the game because it comes with a load of instructional manuals, maps, and charts of enemies, equipment and spells. These things will make your quest much easier and less confusing. I will never forget my first play-through of the game, I surrounded myself in all of this Final Fantasy memorabilia and also a pen and paper and prepared myself for the quest of a lifetime! Every time I would encounter a new enemy I would be excited to look at my monster chart and look up that enemy's stats and especially what that enemy was weak towards so I could dispose of the menace in the best way possible.
Now that you have created your party and prepared yourself, it is time to embark on your quest!
The game begins in the kingdom of Cornelia. You find out your 4 heroes are actually 4 heroes of legend named the Light Warriors. The world is in chaos, the four elemental crystals have been darkened. With this comes disorder among the world elements. The world is scorched with fire, the sea is evaporating and in turmoil, the wind has all but ceased in places , and the earth is decaying and rotting. It is foretold that only the 4 Light Warriors can bring light back into the elemental crystals and restore order to the worlds elements. Your first mission upon leaving the Kingdom of Cornelia is to head north and rescue the Princess from the evil clutches of Garland, thus begins your Final Fantasy.
GRAPHICS: 9The graphics of the game are pretty much what you would expect from a RPG on the NES. What is done especially good about the graphics is the sprites of all the different monsters that you will face. The overworld map is somewhat bland and your own character sprites are kind of small and undetailed, but later in the game you are able to advance your characters and then their look becomes much better.
SOUND: 10The sound is incredible. I almost had to give this category a 1/10 because the music is so good in this game you wont be able to get it out of your head! Definitely one of those games where you will find yourself humming the music after a play session. If I could say anything badly about the sound it would be the special effects, but the music is SO good that I just couldn't bare to give this category anything short of a perfect score.
ADDICTIVENESS: 10This is a long game and will take upwards of 20 hours to complete. Once you start leveling your party and get into the story you will not want to quit until you find out what happens until the end. But what really made this game addicting for me was the ability to play so many different party combinations. Since their are 6 classes and only room for 4 players in your party , you will have to exclude at least 2 classes , so this will leave you wanting to replay the game to get to play those 2 classes you missed the first time.
STORY: 10The story of this game is probably the best story of any NES game. NES games just do not have much to offer in the story department normally, opting instead for all gameplay. This game breaks that rule. The story had me captivated all the way until the end. Their is even a major plot twist that will leave you shocked. It sure did for me.
DEPTH: 10Like I already said, this game is long and takes a long time to complete. It's one of those games where you may feel a need to grind for levels at some points just so you are strong enough to face the next dungeon. Also the party combinations add to the depth, you can even do things like challenge yourself and try to complete the game with 4 white mages.
DIFFICULTY: 9
This game is hard, you wont find yourself breezing through it from start to finish anytime soon. You also will find that if you try to do certain parts of the game without first properly leveling up your party will soon perish. The composition of your teams party also can drastically increase or decrease the games difficulty. For instance, if you wanted the game to be easy you would want a party with 2 or even more fighters because quite frankly they are the strongest class in this game. Adversely if you wanted more of a challenge you would do the a fore mentioned 4 white mage challenge. Or if you wanted a difficulty in between those two you would just make your party a diverse one of different classes. The game is challenging but if most people invested enough time in grinding it is a game most people could finish.
OVERALL: 9.9
I give Final Fantasy a overall score of 9.9. This game is nearly perfect , only some minor perfecting like slight graphics and sound effect updates and it would be. Luckily Final Fantasy fans get just that in some of the remakes for the game! The only other bad thing you could possibly say about the game is maybe it could be made easier at about the marsh cave because you really have to grind before this level which could become boring to some people. The story, gameplay, depth, and music in this game makes it a must play to all RPG fans. Not to mention just the significance this game played on the gaming and rpg world. Anyone looking to get into the Final Fantasy series look no further than the first game of the series. If slaying monsters, casting spells , and saving the world is something that sounds like fun then play this game!
Graphics
9 Sound
10 Addictive
10 Depth
10 Story
10 Difficulty
9
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