Played on Nintendo Switch with the default party setup of Warrior, Thief, White Mage and Black Mage. Found and looted every treasure chest in the game, but only encountered 123/128 monsters on the bestiary, as I didn't care to attempt spawning the rarer ones. Got Bahamut to upgrade my party's jobs, and beat the final boss with my party at Lvl. 46. Though the remaster gives you the option, I did not use the EXP or Gil boosters, my grinding was legitimate; I did, however, disable encounters in the overworld occasionally, so that I didn't waste time and over-level.
Let me just say that I'm happy I had the opportunity to enjoy the original Final Fantasy on a modern platform, with numerous accessibility options that make it less of a slog. This game hasn't aged perfectly, but having the option to turn off enemy encounters, enable auto-battle, view a map at all times, read the bestiary, and multiply the money & experience you earn are all great ways to allow more people to enjoy it. Most of all, I really enjoyed the new music arrangements; they're masterful renditions of tracks from an already great OST, and raise the bar for remakes of retro soundtracks. My only complaints are that the new pixel art is a bit of a mixed bag, and that both of the font types are too small, but other than that, this is the ideal way to experience the game some 35 years after the original.
Now, onto the game itself. This is an old RPG after all, and because of this there are some aspects that haven't held up terribly well. At the beginning, there's a dancing girl near the fountain in Cornelia who gives you tips on where to head next. I thought this was a great way of guiding the player, and appreciated the devs' foresight, but not very far into the game, she stops offering advice and leaves the rest up to you. It's not easy to know where to go next, and you might end up circling every continent's coast like I did, or miss a key item from a cave halfway across the map. Unless you've played the game before or plan on investigating on your own, you'll want to consult a guide after restoring the Earth Crystal, because the solutions are very cryptic at times, and the land itself often leads to nowhere (which would've been a huge pain had I not turned off encounters every so often). You're going to end up talking to as many NPCs as possible, and their dialogue ranges from silly little quips to absolutely vital info, yet many of them look indistinguishable from one another. Yeah, just read a guide, the alternative isn't worth the time and effort.
On the other hand, there some aspects of FF1 that have held up splendidly. The boss battles are a lot of fun, and you can see just how much of the groundwork for strategizing turn-based battle was established right here. I also really liked the progression of travel: going from walking everywhere, to sailing across the seas, canoeing up rivers, and finally, riding an airship through the sky. The dungeons aren't good, often being filled with empty rooms and dead-ends, but the magma floors in Mount Gulg that encouraged me to carefully plan out my path was a fun gimmick. Lastly, there's a nice variety of items available for purchase, even some handy tonics that boost your defense or attack power. As long as I had the guide to help me solutions, Final Fantasy was not boring.
This game is a neat little piece of history, and one that I'm glad was made accessible to me. I'm not willing to recommend it to just about anyone, but for those who love the Final Fantasy series or just RPGs in general, I say give it a shot. It's not very long, so it's more than likely that it'll be worth your time.
Let me just say that I'm happy I had the opportunity to enjoy the original Final Fantasy on a modern platform, with numerous accessibility options that make it less of a slog. This game hasn't aged perfectly, but having the option to turn off enemy encounters, enable auto-battle, view a map at all times, read the bestiary, and multiply the money & experience you earn are all great ways to allow more people to enjoy it. Most of all, I really enjoyed the new music arrangements; they're masterful renditions of tracks from an already great OST, and raise the bar for remakes of retro soundtracks. My only complaints are that the new pixel art is a bit of a mixed bag, and that both of the font types are too small, but other than that, this is the ideal way to experience the game some 35 years after the original.
Now, onto the game itself. This is an old RPG after all, and because of this there are some aspects that haven't held up terribly well. At the beginning, there's a dancing girl near the fountain in Cornelia who gives you tips on where to head next. I thought this was a great way of guiding the player, and appreciated the devs' foresight, but not very far into the game, she stops offering advice and leaves the rest up to you. It's not easy to know where to go next, and you might end up circling every continent's coast like I did, or miss a key item from a cave halfway across the map. Unless you've played the game before or plan on investigating on your own, you'll want to consult a guide after restoring the Earth Crystal, because the solutions are very cryptic at times, and the land itself often leads to nowhere (which would've been a huge pain had I not turned off encounters every so often). You're going to end up talking to as many NPCs as possible, and their dialogue ranges from silly little quips to absolutely vital info, yet many of them look indistinguishable from one another. Yeah, just read a guide, the alternative isn't worth the time and effort.
On the other hand, there some aspects of FF1 that have held up splendidly. The boss battles are a lot of fun, and you can see just how much of the groundwork for strategizing turn-based battle was established right here. I also really liked the progression of travel: going from walking everywhere, to sailing across the seas, canoeing up rivers, and finally, riding an airship through the sky. The dungeons aren't good, often being filled with empty rooms and dead-ends, but the magma floors in Mount Gulg that encouraged me to carefully plan out my path was a fun gimmick. Lastly, there's a nice variety of items available for purchase, even some handy tonics that boost your defense or attack power. As long as I had the guide to help me solutions, Final Fantasy was not boring.
This game is a neat little piece of history, and one that I'm glad was made accessible to me. I'm not willing to recommend it to just about anyone, but for those who love the Final Fantasy series or just RPGs in general, I say give it a shot. It's not very long, so it's more than likely that it'll be worth your time.