Final Fantasy Origins

"A ~Realistic~ Review"

When composing a review for a remake of an old video game there are two mind-sets one can take. Ultimately, one needs to consider that the reason he or she is writing the review is to provide information to other people who are considering a purchase. The first of those two mindsets is best described as "How does this game measure-up to the most recent of its series?" It's a silly way to review a remake of an old game because it's just that -- a remake. It is not intended to live up to Final Fantasy X's quality. It is not meant to be as awe-inspiring as the latest day installations of the series.

This is where the second mindset comes in: "How does this game compare to the original?" That is the question any review on Final Fantasy Origins should be answered. It should take into consideration the effort and improvements that were made to bring this game back to life and -- believe it or not -- better than it ever was to begin with.

Let me explain. Final Fantasy Origins contains ~two~ games -- Final Fantasy 1 and Final Fantasy 2. This is not the same Final Fantasy 2 that you played on your Super Nintendo. The USA release "Final Fantasy 2" on the Super Nintendo was actually Final Fantasy 4 in Japan. The second game included in Final Fantasy Origins is the ~actual~ "Final Fantasy 2", which was also a Nintendo (NES) game just like Final Fantasy 1.

Graphics: 10/10

They're so much more detailed than the original, for one. The Nintendo was notorious for horribly pixelated and undetailed graphics, and original version of Final Fantasy 1 was no exception. I believe any given character had as many as three different colors on its sprite pallette. Now, however, these character graphics have been drastically upgraded so that they not only have crisper, sharper definitions but also are amazingly better colored. Squeenix could have just done like what they did with Final Fantasy Anthology and made you pay for an emulated copy of an old game; instead, they chose to really beef it up!

Music: 10/10

That's right, the game has all the old music just as you loved it. However, instead of the bloops and bleeps of the old Nintendo the music -- like the graphics -- has been revamped to be cleaner, deeper, and so much more beautiful. For example, I point to the Temple of Fiends where you fight Garland at the very beginning of the game. The recomposition of that song is so beautiful I've been known to leave the game running in the background just so I could listen to the music while I work on writing my books. I really can't say the same thing about the music in Final Fantasy 12. Imagine that...

Sounds: 10/10

You know, a lot of people tried really hard to bring this game down by comparing it to Final Fantasy ten and twelve. I'll openly admit that the sounds aren't the prettiest you'll ever hear, but then again the sound of a white mage getting a critical hit with his hammer on some dumb monster's head is beautiful in its own respect. The sounds for this game were DRASTICALLY improved from the original version, and given the quality of the graphics and whatnot the sounds are very appropriate. It's fair to give the sounds a 10/10 score because they aren't obnoxious and they fit the style of the game. I'm sure there's some way the sound effects could've been made even better, but was such a thing necessary for Final Fantasy Origins? Absolutely not.

Gameplay: 10/10

The gameplay is largely the same. You still have the old-school Dungeons and Dragons "Spells per day" deal instead of MP like the newer Final Fantasy games. The battle system (aside from being more aesthetically pleasing) hasn't changed aside from a few exceptions. The thing where you set two characters to attack the same monster and the first character kills that monster with the second attacking empty space NO LONGER HAPPENS. They reprogrammed it so that the second character defaults to a random living monster instead of just swinging at the air. I can't begin to describe what a relief that was to me. Likewise, there are all kinds of controller short-cuts you can take to reach different parts of the menu. For example, hitting the square button takes you directly to the items menu and pressing the L1 button (I think) takes you directly to equipment.

Other such improvements that were made is that unused equipment stays in the PARTY inventory. There are five different equipped item slots per character instead of the previous game's four, and like all the other Final Fantasy games they are designated for each type of equipment. Much, much better than the original. Oh, and can you believe it, the boat mini-game is still there! My only gripe with it is that you can use it to earn vast amounts of money and thus make the game really easy in the process.

Story Line: N/A

The story line didn't change between the first release and Final Fantasy Origins. It was made just a little bit more detailed with little bits of added dialogue, but there really wasn't any update on the story. I don't give it a review because there really wasn't any kind of need for a change in the story. If they changed it, it would've been a completely different game which defeats the purpose of re-releasing it.

Replay Value: 10/10

After you've beaten the game with your favorite team, there are all kinds of challenges you can work for! For example, the game (just like the original) lets you choose which class you want each of your four characters to be. Normally, I choose Warrior, Monk, White mage, and Black mage. However, for a nifty twist this time I'm playing it through with all White mages. It REALLY changes how you play the game, and it makes it a ton more challenging. There are also "single character challenges" where you try to play the game through with just one character. Those FAQs can be found right here on www.gamefaqs.com!

Overall: 10/10

If I had to choose whether to play the original Nintendo versions of these games (yay emulation) and the remakes of them on my PSX (okay, so I sold my PSX to buy the PS2 years ago, but you get the idea), I would choose Final Fantasy Origins every day of the week and twice on Sundays. The original version of the game was painfully slow when it came to battle text, and the "Soandso attacks -- INEFFECTIVE" gave me head-aches with frustration after only an hour of play. Origins has taken everything I did like about the games and made it better; then they took everything I didn't like and got rid of it. Simply fantastic.

If you're looking to reminisce about old-school RPGs I highly recommend picking this up. If you want an RPG to really challenge yourself with (since all of the newer Final Fantasy games (and even the Super Nintendo ones) were painfully EASY), then this is the game for you. If you just want something to compare to the most recent Final Fantasy, you should also buy this game just so you can broaden your horizons. It's not complicated, but it's easily the most challenging Final Fantay game Square ever created.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/30/07