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Final Fantasy Origins Hands On

by Christian Kontul

Introduction
Final Fantasy Origins
Final Fantasy

Introduction

When Final Fantasy was released on Nintendo's Famicom (Japan's Nintendo Entertainment System) in 1987, it created a legacy that still exists today. There are a lot of reasons the series has such a legendary history: revolutionary ways of telling a story in a videogame, breathtaking graphics and music, easy-to-pick-up-yet-tough-to-master gameplay, aesthetically pleasing and likable characters, etc. By now, you probably know the list by heart; every preview for a new Final Fantasy game praises the same qualities. And to a degree, each installment in the FF series takes at least one of these characteristics and sets the industry standard. You can't say that of many games in general, but it's expected when it comes to any Final Fantasy.

It wasn't always that way. At least, not outside of Japan. Final Fantasy was released in North America in 1990. Its two sequels were passed over in favor of Final Fantasy IV, the first game in the series for the Super Nintendo, which was released domestically as Final Fantasy II. The fifth game was also overlooked and FFVI landed Stateside as Final Fantasy III. Confused? You're not alone. The exclusion of some games and the renaming of others still have people scratching their heads. At the time, there wasn't much of a reaction towards Square's decisions because role-playing games weren't incredibly popular. That all changed with Final Fantasy VII. A lot changed with Final Fantasy VII.

Love it or hate it, FFVII altered the way a lot of people perceived videogames and it gave the RPG genre a much-needed shot in the arm. Beyond that, Final Fantasy VII gave Sony and its PlayStation an advantage that seemingly still hasn't let up. Since, these shores have received every version of FF, properly numbered, available on the PSone. The quality of the SNES ports is questionable, but FFV is better than no FFV, right? Right. Could we even begin to hope that the long, lost Famicom games, Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III, would somehow see a (re-)release?

Japan could. In a surprising move, Square revealed plans for upgraded versions of all three NES Final Fantasy games ... For the WonderSwan Color. The WSC was itself an upgrade over Bandai's previous handheld, which featured a black and white display. The original WonderSwan didn't do too bad when it hit, but it also didn't come close to competing with Nintendo's Game Boy Color. Due to this, it never came to America. FFII and FFIII were likely to pass us by again.

In a strange twist (though not exactly relevant), Square still hasn't released Final Fantasy III; they likely never will. FFI and II both came out and sold moderately well. Despite rumors of the possibility, the WonderSwan Color never made it over. In the end, it didn't really matter since, oddly, Square announced ports of the portable games for the PlayStation. Would Square bring them over to North America eight years after the PSone launched? Yes. Should anyone care? Yes.

And to think, people said Metal Gear Solid would be the last great PSone game. Psh.

Final Fantasy Origins

For those of you living under some sort of rock or related sediment (yet, conveniently, with the Internet...), Final Fantasy Origins is a compilation much like FF Anthology or FF Chronicles in that it contains two classic Square games in one nice package; in this instance, it's Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II. Unlike the other retro collections, the games in Origins aren't just straight ports with full motion video (FMV), tinny music, and long load times. Instead, both titles benefit from new graphics and sound, tweaked gameplay, refined menus, opening and ending FMV and other more subtle enhancements.

Is this enough to make two very old, very slow games playable and, in the process, fun? From the near finished beta Square was kind enough to send us, things are looking really good; unfamiliar, yet familiar. Both Final Fantasy and FFII have been updated so much that, with the exception of their stories and core play mechanics, they're like completely original games. At the same time, the changes make them feel just like their 16-bit descendants. When you consider that FFIV, FFV, and FFVI are often near the top of most RPG enthusiasts' best games' lists, it's easy to see that Square has a potential hit on its hands.

Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy tells of the Light Warriors, a band of four hearty fighters. At the beginning of the game, the King of Cornelia faces a dilemma: one of his daughters has been kidnapped by ex-knight Garland. All the King's men have been sent to rescue the princess, but the traitor is much too powerful. The heroes, hearing of his Highness's plight, lend a hand to rescue the princess of Cornelia. When the Warriors first present themselves to the King, he believes they could be the spoken of in legend as they each carry a crystal. The first against Garland will test their mettle and prove their identity. After succeeding, the King and his subjects recognize them as the Light Warriors and pledge to assist them in their quest to bring peace to the world.

Because, after all, that's what Final Fantasy is all about. The world has been covered by a shroud of darkness; monsters run rampant and treacherous deeds plague kingdoms everywhere. By calling on the powers of the four elements (earth, wind, fire, and water) and restoring their crystals, the Light Warriors can banish evil. The entire game has them traveling from one end of the planet to the other in search of the elemental fiends. In the process, they help inhabitants of the world in peril; afterwards, they generally assist the heroes reach a previously unavailable area. That sums up the story. There aren't any twisting plot twists, villainous villains, or well-characterized characters.

The Light Warriors are actually whoever and whatever you want them to be. Final Fantasy asks the player to input names and select one of six classes for each of the four playable characters: fighter, thief, monk, white mage, black mage, and red mage. The way a person sets up their party will ultimately affect the way they have to play the game, as each class has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. FF's difficulty can change depending on the party's members. The Nintendo version of Final Fantasy is notorious for its level of difficulty; it's really hard. The same can be said of the Final Fantasy included with Origins. A lot of fighting is required to earn enough experience and money, to gain a lot of levels and buy a lot of equipment, and if you enter a new area at a low level or with poor equipment, you're going to die. It's as simple as that.

There's nothing confusing about Final Fantasy. Battles are turn-based, and each playable character has a few options at their disposal. Mages can cast spells (which have to be bought), but otherwise attacking, defending, using items, and fleeing are available to everyone. Despite low hit percentages (one of the things FF is infamous for), battles move really fast. One reason for this is Square's decision to allow auto-targeting of enemies. It wasn't like that on the NES. If the player's party was battling two goblins, and all four members were assigned to attack only one of them, they wouldn't switch to kill the other one if the first monster died before everyone's turn was completed; they would just strike at thing air. On the PSone, characters will switch to that second goblin. Purists should be glad to know there's an option to turn auto-targeting off. RPG virgins and gamers with little patience will be happy to learn that there are varying modes of difficulty, including an Easy Mode which gives more experience and money after battles.

Everyone will be pleased with the visual and aural upgrades. Final Fantasy now exhibits visuals on the level of FFIV and FFV. Even though they were designed for the WSC's tiny screen, FF's graphics look great on the television, with large, well-animated sprites during battle, huge boss characters, and details towns and dungeons. Lots of colors are also on display, including some bright shades and pastels. Characters outside of fighting are super-deformed, but attractive, and regular monsters don't move at all; they still feature nice designs, though. All and all, Final Fantasy sports some great duds that will undoubtedly have players thinking nostalgically of Cecil.

As impressive as the new graphics are, FF's entirely original musical scoe is moreso tenfold. All the classic tunes are present, in re-composed forms with outstanding quality. For people who have been playing Final Fantasy for a long time, some songs may have goosebumps dancing along your skin. The music is definitely the highlight; that's not a shot at everything else, but a testament to how outstanding the soundtrack is.

Final Fantasy Origins Hands On

Introduction

Final Fantasy Origins

Final Fantasy

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