Very chill introduction to JRPGs. The RNG can get crazy though.

This was the first Final Fantasy game I ever beat. It is definitely a departure from the other classic Final Fantasy, but that was done purposefully. This was designed to be an introduction to the genre to help popularize it in western civilization.

The story is really basic. The world is plummeting into chaos because the Crystals need saving. Go do the hero thing.

You only ever have one party member accompanying you at a time to help keep battles simple. And it can be even more beginner friendly by setting their battle mode to Auto.

As I said enemy RNG can get kind of ridiculous and they love to spam status effects, but that's okay. As I said, it's very beginner friendly so you can retry after every game over. Also if you fully explore dungeons and beat all of the battle arenas along the way, you will get equipment that makes you immune to status effects.

The battles can get really repetitive, but I still really find this game charming. It's a fairly short adventure. The art style is very cute. The monster designs are kind of funky and I love them (the shocked Medusa sprite when she is at low HP is my favorite).

The music in this game was really fun, although it doesn't feel anything like the other Final Fantasy games at the time. This isn't a super complex JRPG so if you are looking for a big challenge and super bosses, this isn't really it. This was totally designed to be accessible to people who had never touched a JRPG before. I think they accomplished that goal.

It'd be cool to see this one remade like the Pixel Remasters one day, but I don't think enough people liked this one for Square Enix to want to invest in that.

This game is a neat little part in gaming history. If you are interested in trying it out, I say go for it. But remember it is kind of it's own thing and brace yourself for repetitive battles.