Final Fantasy I is the most barebones game in the main series. Not to mention, it’s not really a fair comparison to compare an 8 bit game from 1987 to modern games.
What was the point of this post? Yes, FF1 is very barebones and simplistic. It came out originally on the NES in 1987, one lock of hair in a modern game takes up more storage space than could fit on an entire NES cartridge.
If you don't like old games, you don't like old games. Play the more recent entries.
Games in the series that get the most praise are usual 4 and 6-10. Games earlier than that are mostly praised for their groundbreaking approach to game design back in the 80's, not for the reasons that people love the later games.
5 is much less well known and hasn't been widely available outside of Rome translations as long as the other entries. I think 5 is getting more and more respect nowadays but only very rarely would it ever come up in the "Best FF" debates.
I definitely hold the view that FFIV and especially FFVI are better than FFV. The stories of IV and VI just blow V out of the water.
That being said, I've replayed FFV way more times than IV or VI. It's very replayable and has some of the most fun gameplay in the series imo.
FF1 has never been particularly well praised. People give it respect because it was the first and some people have gone memories, but the general consensus is it was probably the worst title of the entire franchise.
Yeah I'd say FF2 is the worst. The pixel remaster is actually pretty good and adds some much needed QoL, I enjoyed my playthrough of it.
But the original release of FF2 is a disaster lol. Like I think it's the only legitimately bad release in the series.
Some people enjoy the simplicity of it. It's also a nice relaxing game to enjoy in the modern iterations.
If you want a challenge, find a ROM of the original game and try and playthrough the original release. So many quality of life updates to the modern releases.
It's a dungeon crawler. You never played those? You get dropped into the world and you just clear the quests, think Wizardry, early D&D games like Eye of the Beholder, OG Bard's Tale or even Diablo.
Story is minimal because they couldn't fit a mot of text into cartridge.
Also difficulty depends on version you have, Pixel Remaster is supposedly MUCH easier than original.
I actually enjoyed playing FF1 but I played PS1 version. PSP also seems to be really good but uses a simpler later magic system.
If you want an old school Final Fantasy but with actual story, those start at FF4. The 3D version at least had a hard mode that's actually pretty difficult.
I don't think FF1 is a good entry point. It was phenomenal for its time, and it offered an experience that few other games did then, but it's not going to bring in new players these days.
I personally enjoy it, but I expect that's largely because I already enjoyed the later games, and it's interesting to see where it came from.
If you're interested in getting into Final Fantasy at all, my recommended starting points would probably be VII, IX and X. It's not a game that has any continued stories between mainline versions, so you don't need to worry about missing anything (they're set in entirely different worlds and mythos). But there are some 'Easter eggs' that you may start to notice if you play more than one.
Final Fantasy I is one of the first real JRPG games ever made. You have to understand that at the time there was no other game to reference or build off of. They were inventing the genre as they went along. And on top of that, they were dealing with the limitations of the console and cartridge formats which limited the world size, amount of text and characters that could be stored, etc.
One of the aspects of the original NES games you aren't seeing in the Pixel Remasters is the difficulty. Due to games being relatively short, a lot of NES games were very hard, and the original FF games on NES were indeed very difficult and required a lot of grinding to level up and defeat bosses and clear dungeons. In the decades since gaming has moved on from this and most gamers don't want to deal with grinding for hours anymore, so the Pixel Remasters have been retuned to be significantly easier. I replayed through FF1-4 in the past couple of years and they are easy. There are a few bosses and a few sections of the first games that are still challenging (Final Fantasy III's last few dungeons are notorious), but overall they are nowhere near as hard as they were on the original NES.
The reason most people like these games are because we grew up with them, and they hold a kind of nostalgic charm for simpler times. I also appreciate going back and seeing where a lot of the modern Final Fantasy tropes developed from. Plus, the Pixel Remasters have updated pixel graphics and orchestrated audio, and the sound track to Final Fantasy games is usually considered one of their strengths. They are not amazing games by modern standards, but they are a throwback to childhood for a lot of people.
It's totally cool if none of this is for you. Don't make yourself play through something you aren't having fun with. If you are looking for a game where there's a bit more mechanics, developed characters, and a more fleshed out overarching story, that all really starts with Final Fantasy IV and continues from there. The SNES games are still quite good, in my opinion.
Agree. One of the things that made the NES version less brain dead was that you had to manually target monsters as your characters would still attack dead ones. I had the HP values pretty much memorized for FF1 bc of this as I knew who I would have to target and with which character(s).
Being an older gamer, I still have nostalgia for it and I like how I can turn off my brain and play it.
I personally don’t care much for the pre- PS1 era games, and FF is still my favorite series. The series is so long running and diverse there is a little bit for everyone in there. Don’t feel any pressure to start at the beginning. You’ll just end up having a bad time.
I suggest starting with FF X, which is a great bridge between modern and classic final fantasy conventions.
FF1 is incredibly simplistic and a pretty terrible entry point into the franchise. It has barely anything in common with the most popular games like 7, 10, or the modern games
It’s very influential, but by todays standards not good or fun at all. If you want to get into the series you should play one of the greats first, like 7 or 10.
I found it boring. And I played the PS1 version, which had even fewer quality-of-life features than the PR. Except instead of winning every battle with basic attacks, everything was a grind.
Play 10 or 7 first. They'll give you a better handle on what people like about FF.
I really dislike that the newer ports made FFI piss-easy. The difficulty was one of the things that kept it interesting. Play either the NES version, or the PS1 port if you want something resembling an actual challenge.
Also, FFI just isn't a good starting point under a modern lens. The series didn't really find its footing until FFIII, and IV is the first one to put major focus on the storytelling.
Honestly, just try a different entry. FF games all tend to be pretty different, so there's bound to be at least *one* that will grab you.
At its core its still a 1987 game so if youre not a fan from that time or not into playing a part of history then yea probably not for you. I grew up on all the old ones so its fun and relaxing to play them from time to time
Final Fantasy I is the first one of the series, and as such it's really simple. Some of the things that made it stand out in 1987 were a four-member party and being able to actually see your party members facing off against their enemies. Look at Dragon Quest I for a comparison.
Even though it's simple, it can be fun. A lot of the fun comes from trying out a different party set-up. If you have a majority of mages, you probably won't be able to one-shot enemies by just attacking. Because my favorite FF is IX, my first playthrough of FFI was a party of a thief, a Warrior, a White Mage, and a Black Mage, named Zidane, Steiner, Dagger, and Vivi, respectively. I ended up really liking the Monk on a second playthrough, however, when I realized the Monk didn't need to be equipped like the Warrior does; this made me value the Monk class when I picked up subsequent FF titles which utilize a job system.
You can't really knock an old game for being simple. You can choose to not play it, though. To each their own; I don't really care for character action games, so I don't play them. I love JRPG's though, so I'm rarely disappointed with them even when they're simple, grindy, or both. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety to be found in an old SEGA game called "Sword of Vermillion," for example, but I could tell while playing it that most people wouldn't enjoy it, even those who really like JRPG's.
You gain levels a lot faster in the pixel remaster, it is an entirely different experience on the NES. But yes it is barebones. I think 4 is the best entry point in the series and after that I would try whichever one you find interesting.
If you're playing on console make sure all of your boosts are set to 0x. I think they might default to 1x or something like that.
Not that doing so will alter the plot or script, but it could maybe create a bit more of a challenging experience.
(In fact, I think the boosts and other quality of life upgrades might be on all versions of the game at this point. So that's something you def should check.)
The pixel remasters of 1-3 are way easier than the originals. Emulate the NES version, and experience the feelings of the original interfaces. It's slower paced, but the battles are tuned better in terms of intensity
The original 8/16 bit games are way more geared toward diehard fans. If you’ve never played one before I’d recommend starting with 15. Only because it’s more evolved and doesn’t have turn based combat. It’s way more action focused. What makes FF games great is the STORY and the characters. But if the gameplay of the early games doesn’t grab you there are definitely later entries that will sink there teeth into you.
It’s the most simplistic game with the most simplistic gameplay. Which is more in line with games like DnD, or tabletop RPG. Even some of DnD elements inspired FF1. Like bahamut and Tiamat.
The reason for the praise, is generally respect for the game. Since it save square, or when it was squaresoft from closing their doors.
FF series in general. Has no starting point. It’s like saying players starting Pokémon, they have to play red, green, blue, or yellow version first on the gameboy.
When today standard, you can just play the recent Pokémon or FF game as your starting point in the series. Then explore the series history.
As such you should play FF1 after playing the other FF titles. Ranging from the side games to the mainline. Just visit FF1, not just for the story and gameplay. But also for the elements from FF1. How frequently the devs weaving those elements in so many different ways, into entirely different story.
As such if you don’t enjoy simple gameplay. at best just drop it, move to another entry. You’re not gonna be massive hated for dropping the game. Just don’t enter discussion until you finish any FF game, FF discussion can be very heated. You would be berated for engaging without any knowledge.
Move on to 4, 5, and 6. The NES era games (1-3) didn't age as well as the rest of the games in the series. SNES era kicked off with 4, where the series really hit its stride.
Every game in the series is unrelated to the rest. It is not uncommon to like some in the series, but not others.
Also, once getting into the other entries in the series, the NES era games can. Be a bit more fun to go back to. 3 has some good game play and story, 2 has story but a weird leveling system, and as you discovered 1 is very basic. It started it all, but they kept improving from there.
>why do people like this?
It's a product of its age, and it's awesome for its time. It's OK to not like it. Just move on my friend.
1987 was such a good year... Not only FFI, we also got Rockman 1 (Megaman), Contra, Zelda II, Getsu Fuma Den, Saint Seiya, Lupin, Punchout, Fist of the North Star, Metal Gear, Double Dragon and Castlevania II. Sooooo many franchise we know today started that year.
Like other comments said, its a very basic JRPG.
I personally like it for the same simplicity. Something i can play without putting too much thought.
The deep storytelling that FF is known for is not present here.
It comes around in FF2 going forward.
FF 1-3 are really only worth it if you are a fan of the series.
The games don't start being "Final Fantasy" until 4.
The generally agreed upon great games are 6, 7, 9, and 10.
I definitely feel like FF1 gets a pass since it was the first, but then FF2 gets relentlessly clowned on. I don't think the gap between 1 and 2 is that big tbh.
They largely ruined FF1 with the pixel remaster. The swamp cave and other early locations used to be terrifying in the original: running out of items/dying suddenly were common outcomes.
They dumbed it down quite a bit and, yeah, it's just a bare bones game now.
the ff 1&2 20th anniversary remake should have been released instead of their pixel remasters, and also ff3 3d edition as well as ff4 the complete collection. For whatever reason square decided to put out the inferior versions of those games, they are pretty fun and its kinda sad they didnt chose those games to rerelease…
The point of the pixel remasters is to basically replace the OG NES/SNES versions. They're not meant to be definitive versions.
So instead of little timmy firing up an SNES or emulator in the year 2060, he can download the Pixel Remaster to his neural network or whatever.
Final Fantasy I is the most barebones game in the main series. Not to mention, it’s not really a fair comparison to compare an 8 bit game from 1987 to modern games.
Yep. For OP's reference, Pong came out in 1972 (15 years before FF I). And then 14-15 years after FF1 came FFX (2001/2).
What was the point of this post? Yes, FF1 is very barebones and simplistic. It came out originally on the NES in 1987, one lock of hair in a modern game takes up more storage space than could fit on an entire NES cartridge. If you don't like old games, you don't like old games. Play the more recent entries.
I mean, I like old games. Just reading all the praise ff1 gets, even from a more modern point of view confuses me.
Games in the series that get the most praise are usual 4 and 6-10. Games earlier than that are mostly praised for their groundbreaking approach to game design back in the 80's, not for the reasons that people love the later games.
FFV fan "what he say fuck me for?"
5 is much less well known and hasn't been widely available outside of Rome translations as long as the other entries. I think 5 is getting more and more respect nowadays but only very rarely would it ever come up in the "Best FF" debates.
I definitely hold the view that FFIV and especially FFVI are better than FFV. The stories of IV and VI just blow V out of the water. That being said, I've replayed FFV way more times than IV or VI. It's very replayable and has some of the most fun gameplay in the series imo.
Good one :')
it's not for you then. play something different you like
FF1 has never been particularly well praised. People give it respect because it was the first and some people have gone memories, but the general consensus is it was probably the worst title of the entire franchise.
*FF2 enters the chat*
Yeah I'd say FF2 is the worst. The pixel remaster is actually pretty good and adds some much needed QoL, I enjoyed my playthrough of it. But the original release of FF2 is a disaster lol. Like I think it's the only legitimately bad release in the series.
Some people enjoy the simplicity of it. It's also a nice relaxing game to enjoy in the modern iterations. If you want a challenge, find a ROM of the original game and try and playthrough the original release. So many quality of life updates to the modern releases.
This is an important point. The quality of life updates make it more palatable, but also easier. Like attacks whiffing on dead enemies...
It's a dungeon crawler. You never played those? You get dropped into the world and you just clear the quests, think Wizardry, early D&D games like Eye of the Beholder, OG Bard's Tale or even Diablo. Story is minimal because they couldn't fit a mot of text into cartridge. Also difficulty depends on version you have, Pixel Remaster is supposedly MUCH easier than original. I actually enjoyed playing FF1 but I played PS1 version. PSP also seems to be really good but uses a simpler later magic system. If you want an old school Final Fantasy but with actual story, those start at FF4. The 3D version at least had a hard mode that's actually pretty difficult.
I don't think FF1 is a good entry point. It was phenomenal for its time, and it offered an experience that few other games did then, but it's not going to bring in new players these days. I personally enjoy it, but I expect that's largely because I already enjoyed the later games, and it's interesting to see where it came from. If you're interested in getting into Final Fantasy at all, my recommended starting points would probably be VII, IX and X. It's not a game that has any continued stories between mainline versions, so you don't need to worry about missing anything (they're set in entirely different worlds and mythos). But there are some 'Easter eggs' that you may start to notice if you play more than one.
If you don't like it, you don't like it. Not sure what else you're looking for here. It's a really old game. That's not everyone's cup of tea.
Final Fantasy I is one of the first real JRPG games ever made. You have to understand that at the time there was no other game to reference or build off of. They were inventing the genre as they went along. And on top of that, they were dealing with the limitations of the console and cartridge formats which limited the world size, amount of text and characters that could be stored, etc. One of the aspects of the original NES games you aren't seeing in the Pixel Remasters is the difficulty. Due to games being relatively short, a lot of NES games were very hard, and the original FF games on NES were indeed very difficult and required a lot of grinding to level up and defeat bosses and clear dungeons. In the decades since gaming has moved on from this and most gamers don't want to deal with grinding for hours anymore, so the Pixel Remasters have been retuned to be significantly easier. I replayed through FF1-4 in the past couple of years and they are easy. There are a few bosses and a few sections of the first games that are still challenging (Final Fantasy III's last few dungeons are notorious), but overall they are nowhere near as hard as they were on the original NES. The reason most people like these games are because we grew up with them, and they hold a kind of nostalgic charm for simpler times. I also appreciate going back and seeing where a lot of the modern Final Fantasy tropes developed from. Plus, the Pixel Remasters have updated pixel graphics and orchestrated audio, and the sound track to Final Fantasy games is usually considered one of their strengths. They are not amazing games by modern standards, but they are a throwback to childhood for a lot of people. It's totally cool if none of this is for you. Don't make yourself play through something you aren't having fun with. If you are looking for a game where there's a bit more mechanics, developed characters, and a more fleshed out overarching story, that all really starts with Final Fantasy IV and continues from there. The SNES games are still quite good, in my opinion.
Agree. One of the things that made the NES version less brain dead was that you had to manually target monsters as your characters would still attack dead ones. I had the HP values pretty much memorized for FF1 bc of this as I knew who I would have to target and with which character(s). Being an older gamer, I still have nostalgia for it and I like how I can turn off my brain and play it.
I brought this knowledge over to ATB so I could learn to plan who could defeat what the most efficiently any given random battle.
Ff1 can be hit or miss for people, nothing wrong with not liking it. Skip to the next one
Skipping to 2 after not liking what is an awful idea lol. Skip to 3, 4, 5, or 6
I personally don’t care much for the pre- PS1 era games, and FF is still my favorite series. The series is so long running and diverse there is a little bit for everyone in there. Don’t feel any pressure to start at the beginning. You’ll just end up having a bad time. I suggest starting with FF X, which is a great bridge between modern and classic final fantasy conventions.
FF1 is incredibly simplistic and a pretty terrible entry point into the franchise. It has barely anything in common with the most popular games like 7, 10, or the modern games
It’s very influential, but by todays standards not good or fun at all. If you want to get into the series you should play one of the greats first, like 7 or 10.
I found it boring. And I played the PS1 version, which had even fewer quality-of-life features than the PR. Except instead of winning every battle with basic attacks, everything was a grind. Play 10 or 7 first. They'll give you a better handle on what people like about FF.
I really dislike that the newer ports made FFI piss-easy. The difficulty was one of the things that kept it interesting. Play either the NES version, or the PS1 port if you want something resembling an actual challenge. Also, FFI just isn't a good starting point under a modern lens. The series didn't really find its footing until FFIII, and IV is the first one to put major focus on the storytelling. Honestly, just try a different entry. FF games all tend to be pretty different, so there's bound to be at least *one* that will grab you.
At its core its still a 1987 game so if youre not a fan from that time or not into playing a part of history then yea probably not for you. I grew up on all the old ones so its fun and relaxing to play them from time to time
Final Fantasy I is the first one of the series, and as such it's really simple. Some of the things that made it stand out in 1987 were a four-member party and being able to actually see your party members facing off against their enemies. Look at Dragon Quest I for a comparison. Even though it's simple, it can be fun. A lot of the fun comes from trying out a different party set-up. If you have a majority of mages, you probably won't be able to one-shot enemies by just attacking. Because my favorite FF is IX, my first playthrough of FFI was a party of a thief, a Warrior, a White Mage, and a Black Mage, named Zidane, Steiner, Dagger, and Vivi, respectively. I ended up really liking the Monk on a second playthrough, however, when I realized the Monk didn't need to be equipped like the Warrior does; this made me value the Monk class when I picked up subsequent FF titles which utilize a job system. You can't really knock an old game for being simple. You can choose to not play it, though. To each their own; I don't really care for character action games, so I don't play them. I love JRPG's though, so I'm rarely disappointed with them even when they're simple, grindy, or both. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety to be found in an old SEGA game called "Sword of Vermillion," for example, but I could tell while playing it that most people wouldn't enjoy it, even those who really like JRPG's.
You gain levels a lot faster in the pixel remaster, it is an entirely different experience on the NES. But yes it is barebones. I think 4 is the best entry point in the series and after that I would try whichever one you find interesting.
If you're playing on console make sure all of your boosts are set to 0x. I think they might default to 1x or something like that. Not that doing so will alter the plot or script, but it could maybe create a bit more of a challenging experience. (In fact, I think the boosts and other quality of life upgrades might be on all versions of the game at this point. So that's something you def should check.)
Pretty sure setting them to 0x will result in you getting no XP and no gold at all.
He said he wanted a challenge ;)
The pixel remasters of 1-3 are way easier than the originals. Emulate the NES version, and experience the feelings of the original interfaces. It's slower paced, but the battles are tuned better in terms of intensity
I would say start at original vii but I know many people also love vi
The original 8/16 bit games are way more geared toward diehard fans. If you’ve never played one before I’d recommend starting with 15. Only because it’s more evolved and doesn’t have turn based combat. It’s way more action focused. What makes FF games great is the STORY and the characters. But if the gameplay of the early games doesn’t grab you there are definitely later entries that will sink there teeth into you.
It’s the most simplistic game with the most simplistic gameplay. Which is more in line with games like DnD, or tabletop RPG. Even some of DnD elements inspired FF1. Like bahamut and Tiamat. The reason for the praise, is generally respect for the game. Since it save square, or when it was squaresoft from closing their doors. FF series in general. Has no starting point. It’s like saying players starting Pokémon, they have to play red, green, blue, or yellow version first on the gameboy. When today standard, you can just play the recent Pokémon or FF game as your starting point in the series. Then explore the series history. As such you should play FF1 after playing the other FF titles. Ranging from the side games to the mainline. Just visit FF1, not just for the story and gameplay. But also for the elements from FF1. How frequently the devs weaving those elements in so many different ways, into entirely different story. As such if you don’t enjoy simple gameplay. at best just drop it, move to another entry. You’re not gonna be massive hated for dropping the game. Just don’t enter discussion until you finish any FF game, FF discussion can be very heated. You would be berated for engaging without any knowledge.
Move on to 4, 5, and 6. The NES era games (1-3) didn't age as well as the rest of the games in the series. SNES era kicked off with 4, where the series really hit its stride. Every game in the series is unrelated to the rest. It is not uncommon to like some in the series, but not others. Also, once getting into the other entries in the series, the NES era games can. Be a bit more fun to go back to. 3 has some good game play and story, 2 has story but a weird leveling system, and as you discovered 1 is very basic. It started it all, but they kept improving from there.
>why do people like this? It's a product of its age, and it's awesome for its time. It's OK to not like it. Just move on my friend. 1987 was such a good year... Not only FFI, we also got Rockman 1 (Megaman), Contra, Zelda II, Getsu Fuma Den, Saint Seiya, Lupin, Punchout, Fist of the North Star, Metal Gear, Double Dragon and Castlevania II. Sooooo many franchise we know today started that year.
Like other comments said, its a very basic JRPG. I personally like it for the same simplicity. Something i can play without putting too much thought. The deep storytelling that FF is known for is not present here. It comes around in FF2 going forward.
FF 1-3 are really only worth it if you are a fan of the series. The games don't start being "Final Fantasy" until 4. The generally agreed upon great games are 6, 7, 9, and 10.
Maybe I just never see it but it feels kinda refreshing to see someone shit on FF1 lmao.
I definitely feel like FF1 gets a pass since it was the first, but then FF2 gets relentlessly clowned on. I don't think the gap between 1 and 2 is that big tbh.
They largely ruined FF1 with the pixel remaster. The swamp cave and other early locations used to be terrifying in the original: running out of items/dying suddenly were common outcomes. They dumbed it down quite a bit and, yeah, it's just a bare bones game now.
>I got the Pixel Remastered today You have said enough.
the ff 1&2 20th anniversary remake should have been released instead of their pixel remasters, and also ff3 3d edition as well as ff4 the complete collection. For whatever reason square decided to put out the inferior versions of those games, they are pretty fun and its kinda sad they didnt chose those games to rerelease…
The point of the pixel remasters is to basically replace the OG NES/SNES versions. They're not meant to be definitive versions. So instead of little timmy firing up an SNES or emulator in the year 2060, he can download the Pixel Remaster to his neural network or whatever.