Part 1: Why Does Square-Enix Make It Impossible To Enjoy Their Old Games?

Many months ago, my fellow Final Fantasy compatriot, Gino, concocted an insidious plan. He decreed we play Final Fantasy I, and discover more about how this gangster shit started. There was but one problem: Square-Enix doesn't want you to play any of their 8 or 16-bit era games. At least, not in their original form. This conundrum posed a problem for this series because, as we will get into later, the original version of Final Fantasy I employed a relatively novel magic system.

I cannot preface enough how limited my options were for this series. Initially, I played an emulated version of the NES game but quickly found it untenable. My issue with the NES version is its speed. In its rawest form, Final Fantasy I is undeniably sluggish. The simple act of selecting commands, or waiting for enemies to finish their turns adds literal HOURS to any playthrough. My most significant annoyance was planning party-wide commands eons before the game was able to transition to my next turn.

Likewise, there's an atrocious iOS/Android port of the WonderSwan version. SURPRISE, it's a trash port job. To this day, I cannot fathom how a company as venerated as Square-Enix continues to fuck up the mobile ports of their back-catalog. Seriously, how did they allow the Chrono Trigger mobile port to happen? How is that even possible? The PlayStation One version is regarded as the "best" version of Final Fantasy I, but I wasn't about to buy a PS1 for the sake of this blog. Before you ask, PlayStation One emulation isn't where it needs to be, and most likely never will. These compounding issues left me with one last viable option.

I know this is a tangent, but can someone justify Square's dubious position? They must know people would happily buy their classic games legally, and for a markup. Why is it virtually impossible to play games like Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger in their original forms? Things are even worse when it comes to Final Fantasy I. There's no legal mechanism to play Final Fantasy I, with its Vancian magic system mind you, on a modern platform. What is the justification for Square-Enix's gross incompetence? The only explanation I can concoct is they have no idea what the fuck they are doing.

Part 2: The Combat Is Zero Fun Regardless Of The Version You Play

I'm going to make something abundantly clear before we deep dive into Final Fantasy I's mechanics. I hate this game. It's a poorly programmed nightmare with few redeeming qualities. Additionally, the game lacks a compelling narrative. It's a fucking miracle Square converted Final Fantasy into one of the most important video game franchises. Every distinguishing feature of the series either doesn't exist or is entirely irrelevant.

It is painfully apparent a team of novices developed Final Fantasy I. Despite being a "role-playing game," it lacks every hallmark of the genre. Your characters assume arbitrary classes that never factor into the story. What does it mean to be a "Thief" or "Warrior" besides having different initial statistics? Weapons feel dispensable rather than opportunities for character building. But more troublingly, Final Fantasy I obfuscates entire mechanics.

There are a myriad of stats in this game, but I'll be damned if I could tell you what any of them meant. Sure, "Strength" directly relates to the amount of damage characters output. But the ranges of your attacks is so vast I never felt that was the case. Furthermore, figuring out how to make efficient use of any of the character classes requires a soul-crushing amount of trial and error. Whoever decided there needed to be separate merchants for items, weapons, AND armor is a motherfucker. The process of locating sets of armor or weapons best suited for an upcoming dungeon wastes literal hours.

More importantly, I have fundamental issues with how this game plays. Something as simple as your party's turn order is a complete mystery. More often than not, my magic casters would be the first to queue up an attack and would be the last to execute said attack. Periodically the inverse would happen. To the best of my knowledge, the levels of my characters have no impact on their turn order. If there is a stat that determines it, I have no idea how to improve that stat. So goes the story of every mechanic in Final Fantasy I.

In the world of board games, there's a sub-genre of games derisively called "point salads." In these games, it becomes difficult to take any action without receiving points as compensation. A common pitfall of these games is the point system feels arbitrary, and there are too many viable ways to win. Final Fantasy I is a "point salad" in the worst way possible. Everything provides experience, but you have no idea why you should care. Worse yet, you level your characters with such relative ease; it loses much of its intrinsic value. Watching the stats of my party members go up should mean something, but because I don't know what they correlate to, it doesn't.

Part 3: The Magic System Fucking BLOWS!

The "original" version of Final Fantasy I employs a "Vancian Magic" system. Players can only use a finite number of spells on any given day, and the magic "tiers." In essence, you had an MP pool (one for each level), and each spell costs 1MP from that pool. As you might expect, high-level magic has fewer possible uses than low-level magic. In the Dawn of Souls version, this is replaced with a more traditional "Magic Point" system. Regardless, both systems are incredibly flawed.

The "Vancian Magic" in the original version is interesting conceptually. Getting more uses of low or mid-tier magic spells sounds useful on paper, but it's rarely helpful in execution. A substantial reason is the "range" of your spells does not change based on your character's level. For example, "Cure" has the same range for a level 15 White Mage as it does for a level 85 White Mage. This problem also applies to Dark Magic. Static damage ranges confine high-level magic spells like "Flare" or "Ultima," but physical attacks grow exponentially because they are linked to the "Strength" attribute. Simply put, getting more uses of a magic command doesn't scale as you play the game.

There's another flaw with this system that is more related to Vancian Magic in general. To make practical use of your mages, players need to know which spells will be useful in the next environment. This problem is rectified when the environments communicate the elemental affinities of your enemies. Caves filled with lava or ice are easy to gauge, but this isn't always the case. When I found myself up against mummies, ogres, or cockatrices, I was flummoxed as to what type of magic would best dispatch them. Furthermore, there are too many fucking magic merchants! SERIOUSLY, WHY THE FUCK DOES ELFLAND HAVE FOUR GODDAMNED MAGIC MERCHANTS?

In Dawn of Souls "Magic Points" are used, but they eliminate one of the only consistent sources of difficulty. Not needing to strategize your use of magic, especially when Ethers are in ample supply, makes the game feel sterile. Plus, this system doesn't address the most significant problem plaguing the magic classes: their physically focused counterparts far outpace them in combat. Even in Dawn of Souls, where the caster's level determines magic stats, spells are rarely an efficient use of one's time. They do an excellent job of dispatching trash mobs early in the game, but nothing more.

Likewise, other additions in Dawn of Souls neuters the necessity of magic. The inclusion of Phoenix Downs reduces the need for specific white magic spells. Another "helpful" addition to the Dawn of Souls version is enemies randomly drop restorative items. Furthermore, it does not help the in-game economy is easily exploited. By the time I reached the second crystal, I had no issues with Gil, and thus, had potions on tap.

Part 3: The Random Encounters Suck All Joy Out Of The Gameplay

As I am apt to say, there's an "elephant in the room." We have yet to address the most pressing issue beleaguering Final Fantasy I. The random encounters are oppressive. In some environments, players take three steps in between confrontations. With a nonexistent story and harebrained gameplay, the fights feel like a "padding technique." The snaking nature of the dungeons, which I will address shortly, seem to maximize the number of fights in any level.

Virtually every random encounter can kill the player's party. It is especially the case during the game's initial hours. During this timeframe, random encounters against groupings of nine to eight enemies are far riskier than any of the in-game bosses. An army of ghouls or ghasts struck more fear into my soul than any of the Four Fiends. I'm not joking... this is the scariest enemy combination you will ever face in the game:

There are several reasons why the random encounters overpower the bosses. First, as I mentioned earlier, the turn order system is FUCKED. Just because you selected magic or restorative spells early, does not mean they will be the first to take effect. Time and time again I desperately needed a party-wide healing spell that never queued up. Second, your physically focused character classes have no AOE options. So, while you wait for black or white magic spells, your fighters are left to noodle away on trash mobs. Speaking of which, THERE A LOT OF TRASH MOBS!

Being wiped by an army of baddies in the middle of a dungeon isn't just demoralizing. Because you cannot save in dungeons, dying can erase hours of hard work. Worse yet, you feel throttled during the early phases of the game. Even if you decide to turn around midway in a dungeon, you still have to ferry your party outside and hope you have enough potions or white magic to survive the journey. Once out, players have to go through the same dungeon as if it was their first time entering it.

I know what a lot of you will argue is the solution to this problem. If a player grinds in earlier locations, players can traverse through the dungeons with more ease. I want you to think about what you are saying. You are forcefully arguing for players to avoid wasting their time, by wasting their time a different way. FUCK THAT! I have a finite amount of time on this planet, and I'm sorry if I do not believe grinding in games is a wise use of that time. Also, what about when shit like this happens:

Part 4: HOLY SHIT! This Game Is Unbalanced!

Paralysis is the worst status effect I have seen in a video game. Straight up, it prevents an afflicted party member from participating in a battle. Additionally, paralysis drops your character's evasion rate to zero, and the attacker's damage increases by 25%. Once it afflicts one of your party members, you have to wait until it wears off. Unfortunately, you only have a 25% chance of paralysis dissipating. WHO THINKS THAT IS A GOOD IDEA?

Paralysis can also be used as a passive debuff for random enemies' attacks. Packs of eight or nine ghouls become the hardest enemies in the game because they attack in quick succession before you're able to connect with a single move. Lord have mercy on your soul if even half of them succeed in landing paralysis. Unlike "Stone," if every member of a party has paralysis, the player has to watch their game slowly end. Simply put, a mob of ghouls is more ferocious than any of the story bosses.

Other status effects are as debilitating as paralysis. Poison has the distinction of carrying over after a battle ends, and afflicted party members take massive damage every step until it is remedied. The remaining status effects are different renditions of pre-existing ones. There's no discernible difference between Stone and Paralysis other than Stone carriers over after the end of a battle. To add insult to injury, Sleep is a multi-character hitting version of both! I feel safe in saying assholes designed this game!

None of these issues would be such a problem if the game didn't lock away revival and debuff magic spells as late as it does. The White Mage SHOULD be able to protect the party from crippling ailments like paralysis. Sadly they CAN'T until the halfway point of the story! Even if the player manages to acquire the Gil necessary to purchase these spells, there's no guarantee you'll be able to utilize them when needed. Often, ghasts and wights cast paralysis before your mage queues up their command. IT'S AN UTTERLY FUCKED SCENARIO!

Even when the enemies don't have horrible status effects, large trash mobs are a pain. During the early stages of the game, there aren't a ton of crowd control options. Dia is a help, and the Black Mage has a few tools in their toolbox, but parties that rely on the fighting classes are shit out of luck. What's funny is this is only a problem until the player gets the second tier of elemental spells or even sleep. From that point forward, using spells is temporarily a necessity to avoid further heartbreak. Furthermore, after fighting classes reach the level twenty range, they become unstoppable.

So, let's review why death is a big deal in Final Fantasy I. The player's revival options are limited. During the initial phases of the game, paying a fee at a church is the only viable solution to a character's death. Additionally, exiting a dungeon to revive one of your characters is ZERO FUN! When down one or two party members, even the most benign random encounters become a possible game-ending risk. Furthermore, successfully reaching a church means the player has to re-do all of their progress in the previous dungeon.

Part 5: Story? Who Said A Final Fantasy Game Needed A "Story?"

I have ranted about Final Fantasy I's gameplay for as long as I have for a reason. There's little to pick apart regarding Final Fantasy I's narrative. After selecting a party, players are transported to "Cornelia Castle." It is here a king presents the game's premise. Four elemental monsters plague the world, and the only way to stop them is by collecting four crystals. Conveniently, four "Warriors of Light" are prophesies to bring an end to this chaos.

That's all you have for what feels like four hours. There are punctuated attempts at lore whenever you enter a new town or city, but these are superficial at best. Everyone is cowering over an army of unseen monsters whose motivations are unknown. Our heroes fare no better. Players never understand where they came from, or how they converged together as a team. Likewise, it's never clear how the characters came across the "empty" crystals.

It doesn't help Final Fantasy I drops players into the fray with little pomp or circumstance. The Four Warriors of Light are whisked away to save the kidnapped princess of Cornelia. It's only after talking to the city's random denizens the player learns they must go north to find her. The game's only tutorial is tucked away in Cornelia's inn, but it doesn't review the game's deeper machinations. When you have your first battle, there's no guidance on what you are looking at, or how to input commands. It's the worst possible example of "trial by fire" game design.

I find the game's lack of a compelling story a massive problem. Because the mechanics do not enthuse me, the sterile narrative feels like salt in a wound. I have forgiven previous Final Fantasy games' mechanical missteps because of the strengths of their characters or events. Final Fantasy IX may well have one of the worst renditions of the ATB system, but who cares when that game has Vivi! Final Fantasy I does not get a pass in this regard. I mean, shit son, it doesn't even try!

Part of this problem descends from Square's development team not having experience in designing a role-playing game. As a result, they prioritized their development time on the mechanics rather than the story. For pity's sake, they gave so few fucks about their art design they plagiarized Dungeons and Dragons! It's a miracle Square didn't get their asses sued when they released Final Fantasy I in the United States.

D&D First Edition "Mind Flayer"	Final Fantasy I "Mindflayer"

Part 6: The First Three Hours Are A Glorified Fetch Quest

After the Warriors of Light rescue Princess Sarah, the king of Cornelia orders the construction of a bridge. This bridge opens a portion of the overworld to the player. Once again, the game provides an empty world with no guidance on where to go. A story interlude informs the player, "And so their journey began. As warriors of light, the four youths faced a staggering mission and a stormy destiny." What this even means, I have no idea.

Luckily the possible visitable locations are limited. Players can either explore "Matoya's Cave" or "Pravoka," with the latter being the location relevant to progressing the story. Once in Pravoka, the Warriors of Light discover the town is plagued NOT by the Four Fiends, but a group of drunken pirates. Bikke's band of pirates are dispatched with relative ease, but how this has ANYTHING to do with the main quest, is beyond my comprehension. The good news is Bikke provides the Warriors of Light with a boat.

The irreverent nature of Pravoka highlights a persistent structural weakness inherent to Final Fantasy I. Several one-time use locations feel isolated from the rest of the world. Don't think for a minute I was impressed by any of the game's "errands." When players enter Elfheim, they discover its prince has been cursed by Astos, king of the Dark Elves. Does Astos have any connection to the Four Fiends? NOPE! Even worse, the game thinks it's an appropriate time for a fetch quest!

Waking up a prince from his nap sounds easy enough to solve, but it isn't. Oh God, how it isn't! First, the Warriors of Light need to travel to the bottom of the Marsh Cave to retrieve a crown for the Elf King in the Western Keep. I would like to preface the crown must be returned to a separate, single-use location you will never visit once this quest is complete. Additionally, the Marsh Cave sucks. Poisonous monsters and dead-ends populate it, meaning it requires hours of planning and hard work to complete.

Upon returning the crown to the Western Keep, the king reveals himself to be none other than Astos. Why the game decides to employ a boss with the "Death" command, this early in the game mind you, is one of life's greatest mysteries. It's also a DICK MOVE! With Astos eventually out of the picture, one might expect this questline to be over, but that assumption is wrong. The crown from the Marsh Cave needs to be converted into a "Crystal Lens." This item is given to Matoya in "Matoya's Cave," which is ANOTHER one-time use location that no longer has any utility once this quest is over! Then, and only then, will the player find a tonic they can use to wake up the elven prince!

When the prince wakes up, he provides the Warriors of Light with a "Mystic Key." The key allows players to unlock a trove of treasure in several previously explored locations. The only required chests the player must unlock are the chests in the Castle of Corneria. There the Warriors of Light find TNT which they exchange to a dwarf at Mt. Duergar. When an engineer uses the TNT to explode a mountain, a canal opens, and most of the overworld is readily available via boat. WHO DESIGNED THIS QUEST?!

Look, I get it. This game is over thirty years old, and early game design relied on fetch quests. I'm not frustrated the game uses fetch quests as a fundamental lynchpin. What I find unforgivable is how needless these fetch quests feel. The majority of our time in Elfheim is only tangentially related to stopping the Four Fiends. When the Elf prince awakens, the party isn't provided a crystal. Shit, the elf prince doesn't even have the common courtesy to inform the Warriors of Light where they need to go next. If anything, the first three hours of the game feels like filler.

Part 7: Whoever Designed The Levels And Dungeons Needs To Get Punched

Fire every level designer who made Final Fantasy I! There's not a single straight path, and it's incredibly easy to lose your bearings in the city. My grousing applies to virtually every location. Furthermore, not knowing where to go is a constant frustration in Final Fantasy I. Quest givers provide vague hints as to where the player should go, but at best, they'll use generic cardinal coordinates in their descriptions. The overworld is mostly empty, and the story essential locations are painfully spread apart.

The scattered nature of the cities once again underscores my problems with Final Fantasy I's magic and combat system. Often I would enter a cave and immediately identify its elemental affinity. I would then ferry my party to previous towns that had the proper spells and equipment to address the dungeon. However, the process of finding your boat, sailing to another city, walking into the town, and locating the appropriate merchants straight up sucks. It sucks a lot! It subjects the player to dozens of trash mobs and pointless encounters, and it slows the game to a crawl.

The last major complaint I'll issue relates to Final Fantasy I's dungeon design. Players spend most of their time in dungeons. However, the design of the subterranean levels is migraine inducing. When examined literally, most of the game's dungeons are small and compact. The brutal frequency of the random encounters is one reason they drag for hours upon end. In some environments, players can count the number of steps they take in between battles on one hand.

The more pressing annoyance is the layout of the dungeons. I've pissed straighter lines than most of the levels in Final Fantasy I. Most underground levels have objects or pillars blocking the immediate path of the player, causing them to snake around in the environment. Frequently, the game places the player next to a set of stairs they know will progress them to the next level. Unfortunately, the player navigates a gauntlet of bullshit before they can use those stairs.

What further frustrates me are the number of dead-ends in any given dungeon. The designers already programmed these environments to have a deluge of random encounters. They knowingly made it impossible for players to save or use tents in dungeons. They knew most players would have to make multiple goes at the first couple of caves. In spite of this, they STILL put in dead-ends that all but guarantee players find themselves in frustrating circumstances. This game is downright cruel! Which leads me to my final question:

Part 8: Why Do People Like This Game?

Before we continue, I want to make it clear I am not in the business of telling people what they can and cannot enjoy. When I pose the question above, it is me being genuinely curious what others see in this game. How does Final Fantasy I earn your nostalgia? What were the circumstances surrounding your time with Final Fantasy I? These are questions I ask in the hope of receiving actual answers. And again, I am receptive to whatever you have to share.

As a CRPG and tabletop gamer, all I can do is share a perspective. I know sometimes my opinions rile people up, but I wish that weren't the case. To me, Final Fantasy I is emblematic of the PC vs. console split in the gaming community. When I look at Final Fantasy I's novel attempts at gameplay, I cannot help but call them rudimentary or sterile. When I watch Final Fantasy I's attempted story pivots; I cannot help but view them as childish. Call me jaded, but most computer role-playing games had already figured out solutions to the shittiness plaguing Final Fantasy I.

Just as a thought experiment I decided to look up some CRPGs that published before Final Fantasy I, and I was AMAZED at some of the games. Final Fantasy I released in 1987 and Wizardry III, Ultima IV, Might and Magic Book One, and The Bard's Tale all pre-date its release. Each of these games has two things in common I want to highlight. First, they all have deep and immersive narratives that attempt at world building. Additionally, each game features a combat system that does not boil down to you watching numbers grow.

Let's take Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn as an example. Wizardry III is a six-level dungeon crawler, but HOT DAMN did it make great use of those six dungeons! As a whole, the Wizardry franchise is focused on party management, so finding an even balance between the game's classes is a necessity. The classes in the game mean something because they are the key to you being able to finish the game. Your characters also had alignments. Levels in the game were only accessible if your party comprised of "evil" or "good" characters, and the two opposed alignments refused to party up. The result was the player put a lot of thought into how they developed their teams as they played.

Regarding storytelling, Wizardry III did something many games later would embrace. If you love the Fire Emblem games, you owe a lot to Wizardry III. To play Wizardry III you NEEDED to have a save file from one of the previous Wizardry games. Characters in Wizardry III were descendants of characters from Wizardry I and II. Players kept the same name and class for their party members depending on their parentage but could adopt new alignments. I want to preface Wizardry III came out FOUR YEARS BEFORE Final Fantasy I!

Finally, let's talk about the role-playing game Final Fantasy I parrots the most: Ultima. I don't know how anyone can look at Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar and say it doesn't eat Final Fantasy I's lunch. Ultima IV blows everything accomplished in Final Fantasy I through III out of the water. Narratively speaking, Ultima IV is one of the few role-playing games that doesn't have a story that devolves into you chasing after some world-ending evil. It involves the player trying to earn the right to become a unifying representation of virtue. It was audacious then and is audacious to this day.

All of my mechanical praise of Wizardry III applies to Ultima IV, though there is one gigantic difference. There are no fetch quests in Ultima IV. Side quests exist to allow the player to align themselves with virtues, and while the virtue system is wonky, it is also liberating. The world of Ultima IV has a utility to the player beyond picking up items or furthering quest chains. While Final Fantasy I tries to pay homage to games like Wizardry or Ultima, it doesn't seem to have learned the most critical lessons from either: the "R" in "RPG" is an essential part to that acronym.

Most of you played this game in a vacuum. It was a gateway to bigger and better things. Final Fantasy I is a perfect entry-level game for a console-focused audience that may not have had a ton of exposure to role-playing games. But, and I know this sounds harsh, cyclists aren't indebted to the training wheels of their childhood. The same logic applies to gamers. Just because this game was a stepping stone, doesn't excuse its many missteps. And it is on that note; I end this episode. Next time we meet, I'll review acquiring the first two crystals.

So, I like FF1, but I don't think I necessarily disagree with most of your points. Final Fantasy 1 is a 30 year old game and it really shows. I totally agree that the dungeon layout design is archaic and headache inducing, the overworld could probably have been better, random turn order is bad and yes, early-game paralysis definitely sucks.

I'd push back a little on the story being non-existent but for the most part I agree with you and it's not really worth getting into because at this point I can't be sure what memory of the story comes from in-game and what comes from other sources. I'll simply offer that I enjoyed two things about the bare-bones story when I first played the game. First, I thought it was a fun mini-deconstruction of the trope to rescue a princess within the first hour and only have the actual quest start after that and second, the return of Garland at the end was unexpected and his 'scheme', as it were, was a fun idea to play around with. In retrospect, that Garland thing really foreshadows how off-the-rails future entries in the series would get by being so out of place compared to everything else in FF1.

I also agree that the original magic system sucks. I don't really have more to add to what you've said about it. However, I found playing through Dawn of Souls with the MP system actually made magic fun to use. I guess I'm a little confused by your assertion that the most significant problem with the magic in FF1 is that physical characters are better given that you follow that up by saying noting how you get screwed by random encounters without magic but maybe your experience changed later into the game so I'll patiently await future episodes. I'll simply say for now that, from my point of view, magic in FF1 has AoE attack value but shines most in a support role. Having a White Mage makes the game much easier and having a Black Mage exponentially increases the damage output of any physical characters in your party with Temper and Haste. Also, and I could be completely wrong on this due to bad memory, I remember always being able to afford new spells when I came across them so I don't remember any backtracking to get new spells. Having to choose a spell to exclude for each spell level was a decision but not too hard a decision most of the time. As an addendum, I don't know if you did the bonus dungeons but I will say that with a party of Warrior, Monk, WM & BM, spells are absolutely vital to making it through those.

I'd also offer a little pushback to complaining about back-tracking out of dungeons. I don't like back-tracking in general but I feel like FF1 is at least somewhat admirable in this regard with the many unique locations it has (a little confused about your dislike of these too). It's also slightly weird to decry FF1 for backtracking but praise Ultima 3 for making good use of its 6 level dungeon. I agree that Ultima 3 makes good use of that dungeon but it's essentially forced backtracking with how it makes you raise up different characters with all the alignment restrictions.

You may have realised by now that I've played this game more than once. In fact, I've played through FF1 no less than 4 times across different versions, including the GBA and the PSP ones. I think I like this game, though I also think I agree that it's not that good a game. The first thing that came to mind in response to your question of why I like the game was jokey, but I think it's actually the closest answer to the truth. I like Final Fantasy 1 because I like to watch the numbers go up.

You're right that the leveling and stat system is barebones when compared to the stat-assignments of Western CRPGs but sometimes I neither need nor want that in a game. I play and greatly enjoy a lot of games with more granular stat-assignment systems but part of what is fun about FF1 is that simplicity of the numbers just getting bigger, leaving players to explore how best to use their party, whatever its composition. I've played this game 4 times because a party of only mages or one with a thief (ugh) changes just enough parameters within the comparatively simple combat system to make for a decent, yet not insurmountable, challenge. Despite saying all this, I'd still come down on the side of it being a mediocre to bad video game but I think it does appeal to a base pleasure function in the same way modern games do.

Apparently I have thoughts about FF1 because that was a lot more than I intended to write. I will close by saying that I don't think anybody should play the original version of FF1 in the year 2018 and perhaps Square Enix agrees as well. That said, their mobile ports still suck.

That game is definitely a product of its time. I cannot recommend this to anyone wanting to play a JRPG unless they are doing it for educational purposes but isn't my least favorite mainline FF game. I pray you never have to play Final Fantasy II.

Like you said too there are better RPGs that were released before or after the time of this game coming. Final Fantasy really benefited the most from jumping straight to the SNES when Final Fantasy IV (then FFII in the US) came out like you guys had discussed on the Deep Listens podcast. However I will say that none of the RPG games that came out during that time were inherently easy to understand and/or play.

Unlike you I do like the Vancian system of Magic for this. I think MP trivializes the game (especially the end game) when you aren't having to make conscious choices about when and how to use Magic. However the biggest downfall of this game is the super confusing and shitty combat system. It's the reason normal mobs become boss mobs at times.

This was also a game (much like the original Dragon Warrior) that was used to sell Nintendo Powers back in the day. Some of those dungeons were god awful and without a strategy guide of how to get around would have made my 8 year old self miserable. Without those I don't think I would have completed either game.

To add to the D&D designs and Amano's designs being partly based on them, this wasn't an issue for the Mind Flayer which was called "Sorcerer" on the NES probably more because it needed to fit the 8 character limit. The real problem was the "The Beholder" which was changed to "Evil Eye" and given a different looking sprite in the US release

To explain why FF is so poorly programmed they hired a man named Nasser Gebelli, a living legend in Apple II video game development and someone greatly admired not only by the staff at Square but also by Richard Garriott himself.

He was first hired by Square to produce "3D" games for the Famicom which resulted in a Space Harrier rip-off and Rad Racer (complete with Power Glove compatibility, it's so bad) but then Sakaguchi suddenly sprung the idea of making an RPG game like he'd always wanted. The problem was not only the language barrier but also that Nasser was completely unfamiliar with the concept of an RPG game and by his own admission didn't understand health as numbers which lead to the tons of oversights since Nasser programmed almost everything game by himself.

To explain why FF got so popular is to explain why FF has always become popular across it's lifetime. It replicated old ideas and presented them in a way that was appealing to a broad audience especially one who's only experience with games were on consoles. Final Fantasy also just stood out massively at the time, Amano's illustrations were a huge draw for sure for the Japanese audience.

Kazuko Shibuya, who doesn't get enough credit, should also be credited with rendering Amano's designs into 8-bit sprites (as much as they are mostly D&D "ripoffs" they are really good looking sprites) and also for her generally inventiveness. For example the "late text crawl" scene was a hugely impressive feat on the Famicom. It might be overblown with nostalgia but people hold that shot of the 4 Warriors in silhouette against the panorama as the magical moment of "adventure" awaits. This translated interview is well worth a read for Kazuko Shibuya and her work.

The "side by side" battle scenes were also huge at the time and inspired the future of console RPGs battles.

And not forgetting Nobuo Uematsu, a veteran of 16 games already, composed some of his greatest tracks on this first FF, Montoya's Cave is genius in melody and it's mind boggling that it was arranged on such rudimentary equipment.

To sum up, FF has always been more about presentation over mechanics. It has always been good looking but hollow inside. A "popcorn" movie if you will which would only get more apt when the series would be taken over by director Yoshinoi Kitase with VI who would take it to even more "cinematic" heights with the opening magitec walk credits scroll, opera staging scene and a recurring "let's try to involve every character for the final dungeon and one of the bosses"

I have to say this was an excellent write up on the first final fantasy game. About a year or so I attempted to play through the catalog of the first 4 final fantasy games, as I only played the 4th game and that was 20 something years ago. I really feel you with this game, it's a slog, tedious and a bit of a pain if you don't have a proper walkthrough, even with the GBA version, is broken and unfair.

I enjoy this game because I enjoy RPG mechanics but don't always feel like sitting through a million hours of dialogue to do some dungeon crawling or overworld exploration. I also don't always want the stress of a roguelike. To me Final Fantasy 1 and the Dragon Quests are simple pick up and play RPGs while a lot of more complex and objectively better games are buried under dozens of cutscenes, dialogue sequences, and railroading I often don't feel like dealing with.

Interesting point about the console vs. PC divide though. I think you should bear in mind that in the 80va PC gaming was so much harder than what it's become (and I'd argue that even now it's still significantly harder to get into than consoles due to the resources involved). An NES is simple to use. MSDOS isn't.

There's a really great podcast about a couple of guys slogging through the Final Fantasy series one game at a time. They're on the SNES FF2 right now and it's worth a listen if you're into Final Fantasy at all. It's called "No One Can Know About This". I'm glad they fell on the FF1 grenade so I can just listen and never have to play it.

I really liked playing FF1. I knew it wasn't very good but I got very attached to my party because I kept losing one or two of them and having to got bring them back became a tense and painful experience that added to my own little drama.

Thank you for doing this because I needed proof that someone else found it IMPOSSIBLE TO GET OFF THE DAMN BOAT! I was so over levelled after hours lost at sea that the game I cleared through most of the rest of the game with ease.

Also the end of FF1 is broken.

FF1 is certainly a product of its times, but I don't believe it to be nearly as obtuse as you make it out as. Remember that this was the time of 50+ page instruction manuals that you were expected to read and have available. No tutorial was needed in game, as it was all right there in the manual. There are certainly some broken aspects to the game, but overall, it was an attainable challenge. I don't think you can ever tell someone that they are playing a game wrong, but I do think you are making it more difficult by trying to pick and choose spells and equipment to match the upcoming dungeons. It does take some grinding (particularly when you hit the elf town), but it is generally much easier to just get all the new equipment and get your full allotment of spells when you get to a new town before advancing to new dungeons.

The Swamp Cave is absolutely the toughest part of the game, and there is no good way around that but to use a tent outside to save and hope you have a good run. Possibly going in once for loot and a second time for the Crown. Once you get to to the Earth Cave, most of your equipment needs are taken care of by dungeon chests and you can use your money for spells.

The random encounter rate is too steep, there is little story at all until the end of the game, and some of the stats are completely broken, but there is a surprising amount of customization compared to other console RPGs of the time (Ultima IV was released on console, but not until 3 years later. Ultima: Exodus was released around the same time, but that game was nearly inscrutable on the NES.). The music is fantastic, and the art/sprite work is very good. Personally, I've beaten this game around a dozen times in its various forms, but the original NES version is my preference. It is no longer a great game by today's standards, but if you accept that several of the points you are counting as flaws are actually challenges (spell management, no resurrection outside of town, status effects), there is certainly still enjoyment to be found.

Wow, I have to say I am incredibly surprised by the input you all have provided. Never before have I received such eloquent and verbose input as I have on this blog. So, without further ado, I will to the best of my abilities, respond to your many points of possible contention. Apologies Ife my occasional vain attempts at humor or academic philosophizing.

*DING DING* Pay this man his money for saying in one paragraph, what I have struggled to say in the span of four seasons.

It's odd to hear your story. If they had just plagiarized Ultima Iv or Wizardry III more, I suspect the game would have been better. The gameplay to RPGs is almost always secondary to the narrative highs you feel from accomplishing something in the game. When Lord British declared my character the "Avatar" in Ultima IV, that meant a lot to me. You'd think even with their inexperience with the mechanics, the game would go to further lengths to provide more opportunities to roleplay.

@zirilius: I am relatively knowledgeable about board games and would even hazard to say I am a traditional "wargamer." At one point in my life, I could actually explain the rules to Advanced Squad Leader (i.e., ASL). Given that, I have this to say about Vancian Magic:

I will not play it in Forgotten Realms.

I will not play it in Dominaria.

I will not play it in Dark Souls.

I will not play it, Sam, I Am.

I agree the MP system in the Dawn of Souls version makes the game too easy, but Vancian Magic has many pitfalls. Final Fantasy I seemingly manages to put these flaws under a greater spotlight. I order to make any Vancian magic system "work" the world needs to communicate what suite of spells are effective in the next environment. If this is not communicated, your mage is useless. In Final Fantasy I, even if the elemental affinities of a location are clearly communicated, you have to travel long distances and between several merchants, just to be able to have a full grasp at what you are going to deal with in the dungeon.

On the matter of FInal Fantasy II... @thatpinguino legitimately has it on the docket of games we need to play. I am not excited, though, as someone who will defend The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion until the day I die, I'm not entirely opposed to the mechanics of the game.

@imhungry: I guess my viewpoint about Final Fantasy 1's lack of storytelling comes from a solid CRPG perspective. There's not a ton of built-in storytelling in Final Fantasy 1. In something like Ultima, Might & Magic, or Wizardry every item or environment would have some grounding in the world. For example, when I eventually discovered the "Murasame" sword, the only reason why I understood it was powerful was by examining its stats. In a similar CRPG at the same time, I would have read a weapon biography detailing where the iron of the sword was forged, and the lives of every previous holder of that exact weapon. This might sound like overkill, and in many cases it is, but genuine attempts of grounding what you see and get into the world were made be games even preceding Final Fantasy 1.

On the matter of combat, I agree in this entry my point about magic got a bit muddled. My point of contention is magic basically is only effective in dealing with mobs, and just that. Using spells is ONLY a viable strategy when managing mobs. The physical attack classes grow exponentially, and as @jeffrud could explain in better detail, the DPS classes outpace their Magica-based counterparts even before the mid-section of the game.

@redwing42: You pretty much negated your statement of "it's not as obtuse as you think it is" by then listing all the reasons it's obtuse. Final Fantasy I is absolutely, stubbornly obtuse.

@zombiepie: Thanks for the reply, your article did make me have a good think about how FF was even like to play back in the day (I came to it late because us Euros didn't get an official release until the PS release in 2003) and I ended up looking up the manual for information on what the game actually tells you and boy is it a tome.

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/pdf/CLV-P-NABJE.pdf

The manual literally spells out everything for you (including how to park the boat :see page 4) and is a full walkthrough up until you get the mystical "floater" which at that point means exploring isn't a hassle since no encounters in the air (take that Wild Arms!). It also came with a map which marks out everything and had lists of all the equipment and monsters in the game. I feel that if you'd read this beforehand you could've saved yourself a lot of pain but then I guess that's part of your fun.

I tried to play the NES version without a guide and got horribly lost and didn't want to continue playing the game. As you mentioned, even in the GBA version, which is admittedly easier, none of the NPCs are especially help in directing you to the next location. Without a guide, you kind of have to explore the world and hope you locate the next set piece important to the progression of the story. Worse, the locations are spread across multiple continents and don't progress linearly.

It is endlessly frustrating to have to backtrack to a city you visited three hours ago, and not have a clue where you can find it.

I'll certainly give it a listen when I have a chance. From what I have been told, Final Fantasy IV is where the Final Fantasy franchise basically begins. If I have this correct, it's the first game with a cast of characters worth a damn, and a nuanced combat system that doesn't feel like you are banging your head against a wall. I look forward to checking it out when the time comes.

I stand in solidarity with your boat problem. The game gives you no directions on which of the ports are near your next location, and so, after slogging away on sharks and giant eyeballs, you're over-leveled for most of what is in the next dungeon.

And I have no idea what to make of the ending of Final Fantasy 1. I honestly do not understand what happened. Like, I don't understand the basic concept of who I fought and why. Man... that ending is something else.

The end of FF1 is great. On this point alone I will not be moved.

@imhungry: Yeah because the best part of beating Final Fantasy 1 is not having to play FF1 anymore.

Final Fantasy 1 is definitely not a good game. I still hold some nostalgia for it, but I wasn't able to bring myself to finish it even when I went back to play through it again. It might have been my very first RPG experience ever, though, which could be a large part of the reason it's as significant as it is. I hadn't ever seen anything like it before. There wasn't much story but you were still on an adventure. To my little kid self that didn't know any better, it was exciting.

I think I played Final Fantasy the correct way last time: the game simply requires you to bring more to it and do the leg work for it. Setting a self-imposed challenge upon myself made the experience significantly better, as otherwise it is a fairly paint-by-numbers game. I would encourage anybody seeking to try FF1 again to set some stipulations on yourself. I played with three characters and managed to get through the game. You could also limit the weapons, spells, armor, etc. that you allow yourself to use. I've seen variants where players could only equip gear found in chests. Solo runs with different classes are a real challenge. This is certainly not what the original authorial intent of the game was, but we're talking about a "solved" thirty year old JRPG with not a lot going on for most of the run time. Bring your own fun.

Looking forward to Final Fantasy II, a game with keywords!

I can't look at Final Fantasy 1 with rational eyes. I've played it across three consoles and finished it each time. Your criticisms are valid but I think a lot of them can be waved away with the fact that it was a NES game and things like classes changing the story or world navigation would be hard to program with their budget, although I cannot confirm this.

At least the sprites were put to good use in 8-Bit Theatre.

It's how the Swamp Cave creates difficult that drives me crazy. It's long and filled with an army of status-effect inducing baddies. It's a bad time, but it made me realize something: that's the only way Final Fantasy I creates "difficulty." The game is indisputably at its hardest when you are powerless. Case and point, "paralyze," is one of the worst status effects in video game history. But the game is armed to the teeth with tricks like this at every turn.

A lot of JRPGs prior to Final Fantasy I's release knew not to do this, and even they knew to also include some semblance of a story. Just look at Dragon Quest II and III as case studies on how Final Fantasy I could have aspired to be more than an RNG simulation.

Thanks for the resource, but I ended up using Strategy Wiki's Final Fantasy I page for my playthrough. At some point you are right, playing this game without a manual is a fool's errand. Of Final Fantasy's MANY old-school trappings, this is the one I am least offended by. I still have many of my game manuals for Ultima and they are amazing stuff. I will, however, remind some of my critics that Ultima and Wizardry still attempt to bring you up to speed about the state of the world within the game. Final Fantasy I relies entirely on optional conversations with random NPCs at a smattering of cities, and I cannot help but question the efficacy of such storytelling.

Now I do want to go on the record about my choice of playing the Dawn of Souls version of this game. Because many of them spoil end-game bosses I have yet to see, I did not attempt any of the optional dungeons.

This user right here get's "it."

I guess I can understand a certain level of nostalgia for Final Fantasy I, as long as it comes with a few caveats. For example, if this was a "gateway game" to bigger and better things, I can understand why it holds a special place in someone's heart. Other than that, there's really no reason to go out of your way to play Final Fantasy I. This franchise as we know it today, doesn't honestly start until Final Fantasy IV, so I think it's okay to give people a "pass" for not going out of their way to play it.

Oh man, never knew people actually.. played these games :P Like i feel pretty strongly about putting this in a dusty corner of a museum. No one should want / have to play this in the year of our lord 2018. There's no enjoyment to be had until FF IV rolls around.