I also played the Pixel Remaster, it was a lot of fun. I get lost very easily so ended up hitting level 99 quite quickly, which honestly made the rest of the game easy as pie. I couldn’t find the final enemy to complete the bestiary, that annoying one you have to run up and down a bridge to find… but apart from that, I quite enjoyed it. I agree that it would be fun to try it again with a different party composition, and I also hated the floor is lava mechanics. Onwards to 2?!
I had a really similar experience although I stopped at around level 50ish. I think that’s how I managed to complete the bestiary on this run through. There’s an enemy on I think the last level that apparently has a really low spawn rate I ran into pretty early in the dungeon so I just got suuuuuper lucky! Overall very enjoyable experience!
I started 2 a couple days ago and I certainly have thoughts on it! I think my write up is going to be a little more mixed next time.
Great review, thanks! I liked your thoughts about party composition and how different classes act later in the game. If you did go back to FFI, would you change the party up? I know there are people who try things like having a party of white mages or other challenges, though there's also just having fun with things like two fighters and two white mages. Any thoughts there?
Oh I absolutely would change the party up! I think the game itself was short enough that I’ll probably circle back and do some novelty runs like all thieves but I would like to try out the two classes I missed. I’d imagine I’m not missing much since there isn’t a ton of meat on its bones already but I imagine swapping classes gives it a fresh take that should keep me interested for another 10ish hours. I genuinely did not expect to like it as much as I did!
It's interesting that you say that about swapping classes, because getting to change classes in III, VI, and Tactics was extremely novel and fun. I wish more games did it.
That’s so cool. I’m playing Final Fantasy III, and I’m finding the same thing. For me, I was worried that the game would be a slog, and maybe the Pixel Remaster tuned things up a bit to shave off some of the rough edges, but even if I had to do some more grinding, I think I would still enjoy the game.
I definitely think the pixel remaster has tuned down some of that. I have been reading about the differences and have found that I think the originals are a bit more grindy. For me those are massive quality of life changes that are definitely helping in my enjoyment of it tho. I don’t mind a little bit of grind but if most of my time is spent there idk how much I’d enjoy it. There’s definitely debate on if the pixel remasters are the way to start but I’m definitely happy it’s how I found my way into it
Regarding how you felt about bosses being immune to a lot of spells, I'm sorry to say, but that's something you're going to see a lot of in the series. Final Fantasy loves to make bosses immune to status ailments and elements. The general strategy for bosses is to keep fighters buffed and healthy. Rarely will you be able to debuff a boss.
II is next, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you think about it; it's extremely different from other Final Fantasy games
See it’s crazy to me that my casters were basically useless for the final fight. They didn’t do any damage at all which was
frustrating. It almost felt like the game wanted the caster classes to be good in the begging but scaled them way back towards the end. It’s not something I hated but I certainly didn’t love it. I eventually gave up on even trying to use my caster classes to cast spells on the bosses so I didn’t even try debuffing I assumed it just wouldn’t work. I’m curious to see if this is all something I get used to or if it’s a through line throughout the games that I just accept.
I’m about a third of the way through and I definitely have thoughts. I do know it’s maybe one of the most divisive games in the series and I think I agree with some (but not all by any means) criticisms so far
Im so glad I found this post! An quick but detailed look into Final Fantasy 1. This is what I like reading about. Things I never would've thought I would look into. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
This is so nostalgic! I remember playing FF1 on my Game Boy Advanced (I still have the cartridge), it was a collection of the first two or three games in the franchise, I found at a very cheap price at my local GameStop.
Although I am team Dragon Quest, it’s still nice to see how much loved is Final Fantasy!
I also played the Pixel Remaster, it was a lot of fun. I get lost very easily so ended up hitting level 99 quite quickly, which honestly made the rest of the game easy as pie. I couldn’t find the final enemy to complete the bestiary, that annoying one you have to run up and down a bridge to find… but apart from that, I quite enjoyed it. I agree that it would be fun to try it again with a different party composition, and I also hated the floor is lava mechanics. Onwards to 2?!
I had a really similar experience although I stopped at around level 50ish. I think that’s how I managed to complete the bestiary on this run through. There’s an enemy on I think the last level that apparently has a really low spawn rate I ran into pretty early in the dungeon so I just got suuuuuper lucky! Overall very enjoyable experience!
I started 2 a couple days ago and I certainly have thoughts on it! I think my write up is going to be a little more mixed next time.
Oh damn that’s so lucky! I spent like 6 hours trying to get it to spawn with no luck, so just finished the game and moved on 🙈
Look forward to reading your entry on 2!
I’m so sure that my luck won’t be as good in the other games lol. I’d like to 100% all of them but we’ll see how I feel when this is done
I remember emptying out my stock of potions on the lava tiles. My poor party was pouring on the potions like suntan lotion.
I definitely felt the pain of this on my play-through. It felt like being poisoned in pokemon with no poke center in sight
Great review, thanks! I liked your thoughts about party composition and how different classes act later in the game. If you did go back to FFI, would you change the party up? I know there are people who try things like having a party of white mages or other challenges, though there's also just having fun with things like two fighters and two white mages. Any thoughts there?
Oh I absolutely would change the party up! I think the game itself was short enough that I’ll probably circle back and do some novelty runs like all thieves but I would like to try out the two classes I missed. I’d imagine I’m not missing much since there isn’t a ton of meat on its bones already but I imagine swapping classes gives it a fresh take that should keep me interested for another 10ish hours. I genuinely did not expect to like it as much as I did!
It's interesting that you say that about swapping classes, because getting to change classes in III, VI, and Tactics was extremely novel and fun. I wish more games did it.
I know enough about the job system in 4 to know I think I’m going to like it when I get there. Hopefully that thought sticks!
IV is my personal favorite, though in terms of just gameplay V is the best.
That’s so cool. I’m playing Final Fantasy III, and I’m finding the same thing. For me, I was worried that the game would be a slog, and maybe the Pixel Remaster tuned things up a bit to shave off some of the rough edges, but even if I had to do some more grinding, I think I would still enjoy the game.
I definitely think the pixel remaster has tuned down some of that. I have been reading about the differences and have found that I think the originals are a bit more grindy. For me those are massive quality of life changes that are definitely helping in my enjoyment of it tho. I don’t mind a little bit of grind but if most of my time is spent there idk how much I’d enjoy it. There’s definitely debate on if the pixel remasters are the way to start but I’m definitely happy it’s how I found my way into it
Regarding how you felt about bosses being immune to a lot of spells, I'm sorry to say, but that's something you're going to see a lot of in the series. Final Fantasy loves to make bosses immune to status ailments and elements. The general strategy for bosses is to keep fighters buffed and healthy. Rarely will you be able to debuff a boss.
II is next, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you think about it; it's extremely different from other Final Fantasy games
See it’s crazy to me that my casters were basically useless for the final fight. They didn’t do any damage at all which was
frustrating. It almost felt like the game wanted the caster classes to be good in the begging but scaled them way back towards the end. It’s not something I hated but I certainly didn’t love it. I eventually gave up on even trying to use my caster classes to cast spells on the bosses so I didn’t even try debuffing I assumed it just wouldn’t work. I’m curious to see if this is all something I get used to or if it’s a through line throughout the games that I just accept.
I’m about a third of the way through and I definitely have thoughts. I do know it’s maybe one of the most divisive games in the series and I think I agree with some (but not all by any means) criticisms so far
Im so glad I found this post! An quick but detailed look into Final Fantasy 1. This is what I like reading about. Things I never would've thought I would look into. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
This is so nostalgic! I remember playing FF1 on my Game Boy Advanced (I still have the cartridge), it was a collection of the first two or three games in the franchise, I found at a very cheap price at my local GameStop.
Although I am team Dragon Quest, it’s still nice to see how much loved is Final Fantasy!
Funny enough I’ve never actually played dragon quest. I really should get around to that but with 14 games looking back at me it may be a minute.
I know exactly which gba cartridge you’re talking about too. I almost bought it at the start of this challenge but opted to go for steam instead.
This was a great. It made me want to fire up the pixel remaster and see how far i can get before I get stuck.
Thank you! I will say FFI is not a terribly difficult game to get through so it might surprise you!