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Final Fantasy Review | January 7, 2014
PlayStation, Windows, iOS, Android, Nintendo

Final Fantasy is a turn based random battle RPG. It was released originally in 1987 for the Famicom in Japan and in 1990 in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES. It was called Final Fantasy because Square now Square Enix had fallen into some money problems and the company thought this would be the final game they would make before closing the doors…they were wrong, there is currently over a dozen games in the series. There are Four Orbs that are keeping the planet in perfect balance. Then one day the land starts to die, the seas get rough, and many believe that there is something wrong with the orbs. Four elemental fiends are discovered attacking and draining the orbs of their power but nobody is strong enough to stop them. Four great warriors appear each with a crystal. The people call them The Four Light Warriors and they seem to be the ones predicted as the only group that could save the orbs and balance to the land and bring peace.

In Final Fantasy you get to choose up to Four Warriors of Light, The Fighter, Black Mage, White Mage, Red Mage, Thief or the Black Belt. You could pick all of one warrior class if you want to like Red Mages or all Fighters . But, once you make you decision you are stuck with it. This comes into effect deeper into the game when you get to upgrade your team. The term “Nintendo Hard” could have been started with this game. There are several caves, dungeons and even a volcano that you not only have to find your way through but fight your way out. After you spend all this effort finding and then defeating the Fiends and other boss battles then you have to remember how you got there in the first place and find your way back. Depending on what copy of the game you have you can do a in game save and avoid this but this was the game that got many of us into RPG’s because of the time spend building up our stats by leveling up and buying strong weapons.

For a game this old the story is still deep, it is not a cookie cutter RPG even though many of the story ideas have been used before and since. Final Fantasy has been so successful that it has been remade over 17 times for everything from handheld gaming and iOS and Android. In the early days of the Nintendo if you were a RPG fan there were three games you had to play The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Warrior now called Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. The original 8 bit version can still be bought on Virtual Console through Nintendo eshop. The Final Fantasy Origins for PlayStation is updated version of the original game and has better graphics and different challenge modes. The newer versions are full HD and look great for tablets and PC.

The length of the game averages around 30 hours depending on what version you have and Final Fantasy has a very high replay value. The story is reason enough to play it more than once but you will want to try it out with other team members too, it keeps the game fresh. It is worth buying under $5 still right now, but sales on all of the major systems happen several times a year. For a game that came out in 1987, its influence is still as strong today as it was then. Even now new games are being made in the exact same style. Take the time to remember or find out Final Fantasy’s gaming roots.
 
9.0 out of 10
Worth Your Money

9.0 out of 10
Worth Your Money

Rated
T for
Teen

Rated
PEGI 7

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Final Fantasy Origins

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Final Fantasy IV

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Final Fantasy VI

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Suikoden

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Suikoden II

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Wild Arms

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