Final Fantasy Origins

"The Best Playstation Game in a Long Time"

Final Fantasy Origins is basically what it's name says. It is the first two Final Fantasies in the Final Fantasy series. But Square did more then port the games to PlayStation, like many companies do. Square added some totally new features as well.

Graphics: 6/10

I could care less about graphics. Actually, they are probably better then the remade Final Fantasy 5's. Square decided to upgrade the graphics, and they did a very good job on it. Actually, Final Fantasies' graphics are better then Final Fantasy 2's graphics. Like all of the older games in the Final Fantasy series, the enemies look hand drawn, giving the game a more artsy feel to it. I love the enemy designs, as now you can finally see the originals of all the enemies you love and know from the games later in the series. Not like it really matters, but all the graphics are older sprites, of course.
New Era gamers will be turned off by the old school graphics. So if you are one of those gamers: IGNORE THE GRAPHICS! The game play is what truly matters.
The new CG movies Square added to each game are also beautiful, in obvious Square fashion. They are beautiful, and have a lot of detail. Final Fantasy 2's even has a bit of voice acting. The fire and the buildings actually look real. They seems to have a Legend of Dragoon touch to them, though.

Music: 8/10

Square also decided to redo the music for the games. You can tell that it as been remastered, as the music is better then a lot of games you hear today. Sadly, there is not too many tracks, and the same tracks are used from town to town. I only wish there was more. As for sound effects, they are still 8-16 Bit quality. They have been redone, a bit, but not nearly as much as the other parts of the game.

Story: 7/10

Final Fantasy itself, is basically a lot like Dragon Warrior 1. Your goal is to save the world. In Final Fantasy, there is no heroine, no ''sappy love plot'', or anything that we know FF of today. Basically you go from town to town saving the townspeople and going onto the next town.
Final Fantasy 2 is a different story. You start the game in control of a party that has just had their hometown destroyed, and have almost been killed by the evil Empire. Basically a good versus evil thing, but it does have it's twists. Your one lady character (or rather, main lady character), Maria is looking for her brother as well, who disappeared when the Empire attacked you originally. The game starts with this story, and builds on it. Actually, it reminds me a LOT of Final Fantasy 4. So if you liked Final Fantasy 4's plot, you will like 2's plot.

Game Play: 10/10

Final Fantasy (1) is all about game play. When you start the game, you are given a choice between a ''Easy'' mode, and a ''Normal'' mode. The normal mode is what the game first came over here as. The easy mode is a toned down version of normal mode (in which a LOT of people claim is way too hard). Easy modes features include More magic points, easier leveling up, cheaper items, and a higher level capacity (you can get to 99 instead of just Level 50).
The experience system is basically the same as all the other Final Fantasies. Fight, fight, and fight some more, and eventually you will level up and get stat increases. Not that it is bad, it is far from it.
As for the battle system, Final Fantasy had not yet taken into the Active battle system when the original game was made, and so this game does not as well. Basically, your party is given 5 choices, and they must choose one of each at the beginning of each round. There is no time limit, and you can always go back to the last character you entered a command for.
Final Fantasy also started the job system. In the beginning of the game, you are forced to choose one of 6 jobs for each of your characters. Each job has a strength and weakness, and what job you choose also depends on if you are playing in Normal or Easy mode. The jobs you can choose from are Monk, Warrior, Red Mage, Black Mage, White Mage, and Thief.
The worst thing about Final Fantasy is the lack of money. The game itself is not too hard, but the lack of Gil can leave you a bit frustrated.
Final Fantasy 2 is a different story altogether. It has no experience system whatsoever, and basically runs on a Grandia like leveling up system. Each of your characters have base stats, and you can improve on each of them through your actions in battles. You can improve your ability to cast ''Cure'' Spells by using the Cure spell a lot of times. Each time they level up, they get strong, more potent, and are able to hit better. This works with any spell. As for stats, HP is increased by each time you are hit by an enemy. After enough damage to a party member, at the end of battle, their max HP may increase. Your attack will rise each time you physically attack the enemy, and your Defense will rise each time you are attacked by an enemy. Well not EACH time, but after a certain amount of damage. All the stats, Weapon/Armor Skills, and Spells are leveled up like that. Sadly, you can attack your own party members to get Points for it as well. So you can somewhat chest on it.
One thing people may not like about this game is the ultra long dungeons. They can get repetitive, as the random encounters seem to go on and on...
Both Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy 2 have a Special option. In this option, you can see the bestiary, the percentage of monsters you have fought, Original Artwork, the items you have found, and the percentage of items you have found. Being able to see a bestiary at any time makes this a wonderful addition. Plus, I LOVE seeing original artwork.

Control: 8/10

The control in Final Fantasy Origins is very good. Both games basically control the same way, making it easy to learn both control schemes. The control is not new to any FF players on PSX. Luckily, though, Square made the controls more responsive then those in FFA.

Final Fantasy Origins is a MUST for any RPG fans library. With two games for the price of one, this will leave any fan wanting, and desperately awaiting the last remake of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy 3.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/13/03, Updated 04/13/03