Final Fantasy
I gave this 4 stars awhile back and since I completed it again recently, I'm adding a writeup. To start, it's still a 4 star game. This game deserves so much praise for launching the Final Fantasy series. So many staple gameplay elements for the series were born here - airships, crystals, classes. Many items, spells, abilities, enemies and bosses the series is known for are first represented here. A plot twist at the end.
This was my 3rd or 4th play through. I didn't play the game on NES, my start with the series was FF2(4) on SNES. I originally played this game on Playstation in the Final Fantasy Origins bundle. Then again in the Dawn of Souls "remaster" on GBA, which is what I used for my most recent playthrough as well, on the Analogue Pocket this time. My party was a fighter, monk, white mage and black mage. This was a little challenging at first since the monk is weak in the early game, but towards the end the upgraded monk was an OP attacking machine. With mages, you have to be strategic in your spell selection. Each spell level has 4 spells available, but you only have 3 slots. Most of the time you have 2-3 spells that stand out, but in some levels it feels like you'd want all 4.
The story is pretty standard fantasy stuff - save the world by saving the princess, and also restoring the crystals. As mentioned, there are fantasy elements like airships, castles, dwarves, monsters, etc. There really isn't any story around the characters, other than they have been deemed the 4 warriors of light sent to save the world. It's the NES, it was difficult to make nuanced character arcs.
Gameplay involved exploring the world, fighting battles, leveling up, visiting towns and upgrading weapons/armor/spells. In the early game, gil (your currency) is in short supply.
I had to grind a lot to purchase new stuff at each town. By end-game, I had maxed out on gil. The random encounters are very prevalent - thankfully the Pixel Remaster allows you to turn them off - but this was common in those days. Finding where to go is very hard at some points. I used a guide this time, but I remember on my first playthrough getting very frustrated using the obtuse clues on where to find the airship for example. It gets kudos for having a non-linear path through the game.
Sound for this game is amazing - Nobuo Uematsu is the renowned Final Fantasy composer who gained popularity after his work on this game.
Graphics are also great, they're what you'd expect for a classic JRPG - lots of colors, creative enemy designs, but very limited due to the hardware.
Overall if you are an RPG fan, this is a must-play since it laid the foundation for the legendary series. My only gripes are the random encounters that I am averse to in this stage of my life, and the confusion around where to go next. The Pixel Remaster as I said fixes the first issue, so I'd recommend that for anyone playing it. I may not replay the Dawn of Souls version again knowing this.
Total playtime around 30 hours.
