As a review from a person who wasn't alive in the 80s and is playing this for the first time in 2k24, this is an ok game. Very simple story, spells, characters, and little depth to anything. I did enjoy the scope and can only guess at what this would have been like to play when it first came out.
I'll say that if it weren't for the quality of life features for the pixel remaster, I would have never finished this. Being able to turn off random encounters and take control of your own pace through the game is entirely necessary to prevent it from becoming a major grinding slog of an rpg.
I finished it in about 12 hours with a guide because I just don't have the time to waste right now and there's 15+ more of these I need to get through now. Most of the grind is at the end because the final boss is a massive difficulty jump from anything previous. CHAOS doesn't mess around, and requires a very specific strategy to beat which I found irritating.
The rest of the enemies are mostly a breeze and you can just level up as you beat enemies along the main story.
I wonder what it would have been like to sit around the crt tv for hours on end making little numbers go up on pixelated sprites as your only source of entertainment for the entire winter.
What innovative features are going completely over my head? Who knows.
On to Final Fantasy II.