Final Fantasy Origins

"Square does good justice to remakes of their classic Final Fantasy titles"

It has finally come time from when a lot of people have completely finished playing Final Fantasy X and are waiting impatiently for Final Fantasy XI that Square gives us something to whet our appetites in the meantime, remakes of the first two Final Fantasy games that started it all: Final Fantasy 1, that classic NES title that had us isolating ourselves from our street-hockey friends for when we were kids, and Final Fantasy 2, an impressive title of it's own despite being somewhat of black-sheep among Final Fantasy games, making its first official debut in the West.

Gameplay - 9/10
Strangely, I find Final Fantasy 1 more difficult than I remember it in 1990 (or was it 1991?). This is a good thing, considering I have actually died a few times, it means I'm actually being challenged. Leveling up is an absolute must before entering the dungeons, and in this game, dungeons feel like dungeons, far removed from the linear know-where-to-go dungeons of all later Final Fantasy titles. Prepare to spend a lot of time fighting, healing, exploring, and backtracking, like any true adventurer would.

Final Fantasy 2's gameplay is a tad more difficult to get used to even for the seasoned RPG gamer. Individual statistics are leveled up depending on their usage in battle; your HP goes up only when you are hurt a significant amount in battle, for example. The problem here is this also pertains to magic spells -- Cure only becomes Cure 2 when you use Cure 50 times. And I believe from there on Cure 2 only becomes Cure 3 when you use Cure 2 100 times as with any other magic spell. Magic is effectively pointless in this game, except when you're given a fourth story character who comes pre-equipped with powerful magic, and yet you do not hang on to story characters for long. Besides the magic system, this form of leveling up is actually better for the impatient who wish to get through the game; I have been playing through FF2 based on strategy moreso than I have been playing through FF1 based on time spent leveling up on fighting weak monsters.

Story - 7/10
Not much to say here for either game. The stories of both games are decent enough to provide a reason to continue playing, it's just that the story isn't forced down your throat as in later Final Fantasy titles. Whether this is a good or bad thing only you, the reader, can decide. I personally find it a refreshing break from cutscenes.

However, one problem with Final Fantasy 1 is that, in-game, the story is important to progress to the next place, and yet you're not always fully aware of where to go next. I can tell you, from my experience with Final Fantasy 1 on the NES, that if you're far into the game, save it, and not play for a few months and come back, it will take you a lot of effort to remember what you were supposed to do next. Keep a tiny notebook handy. The townspeople in Final Fantasy 1 really don't seem to be as concerned with the plight of your characters as you are, unfortunately.

Thankfully, Final Fantasy 2's story is a little less ambiguous no matter how far into the game you are, so finding out where you have to go next is not as big problem as it is in Final Fantasy 1.

Sound - 10/10
The old tunes recycled into fresher compositions is perfect. Final Fantasy 1 shines moreso than Final Fantasy 2 in this regard, which isn't to say Final Fantasy 2's music is bad.

It's just that in Final Fantasy 1, it feels more like fantasy music. The town music has a live acoustic guitar playing much in style of a medieval bard, and the dungeon music has a spooky new age inspired flair to it as if Nobuo Uematsu and Jean Michel Jarre held a jam session together by the catacombs of Rome. That's not to say these tunes are alien and distant -- in fact, I found myself -- hit by fond nostalgia like a ton of bricks -- immediately humming the same melodies I heard in the original FF1 when I last played it on the NES a little over a decade ago. Beautiful work.

It would have been nicer if as much effort were put into Final Fantasy 2's new compositional treatments. Again, there is nothing wrong with Final Fantasy 2's updated music, it's just not as beautifully executed as Final Fantasy 1's. FF2's new music is more like from a MIDI wavetable card (think SNES-era Final Fantasy music) rather than like a lush Korg pad synthesizer or real-life guitar player. It is still, nontheless, very impressive, and worth turning up your volume for anyway.

Graphics - 10/10
Very nice updates of sprites from the original games. No longer are you presented with just the tiny background graphics on a pitch-black backdrop during battles, but nice full-screen backgrounds that correspond with the environment you are in. The character sprites are nicely rendered, and I may dare to say these remakes look more aesthetically pleasing than Final Fantasy 4 and 5's graphics do.

Some people have complained about Final Fantasy 2's sprites. I must agree they look awkwardly proportioned in the worlds they are in, though I can't put my finger on exactly how to describe it. Not only does Final Fantasy 2 play like a Romancing SaGa (Japanese Super Famicom series also by Square) title, it looks like one too. The overworld in Final Fantasy 2 is also loaded with more pastel-ranged colors than Final Fantasy 1's more widely-varied environments. This really isn't that big an issue to fuss over, but if you play Final Fantasy 2 right after playing Final Fantasy 1 you will notice it. Because the graphics do not hurt gameplay, and they are still beautifully done, there is no reason to take off any points for this.

Overall - 9/10
To put it in perspective, let me say this: if you are a gamer my age who has played Final Fantasy 1 as a youngster (and assuming you still play these titles -- why else would you be reading these reviews?), then go buy this game. Final Fantasy 1 is timeless, and I am loving it now just as much as I did when I beat it a decade ago on my old NES (which I still own). Final Fantasy 2 is a welcome official addition to Western gaming audiences, and it stands up on it's own as a great game just as much as Final Fantasy 1 does. A lot of things are ''repaired'' in Final Fantasy Origins -- you don't take swings at nonexistant monsters during battle, you can dash through dungeons, even use life spells during battle now. Some of you may not like these updated changes -- don't fret! You can enable and disable these in the Configuration menu, so you may play Final Fantasy 1 and it's little tiny quirks and details exactly as you remembered it if you so desire!

If you're one of the newer generations of Final Fantasy gamers who were just developing zygotes with gills at the time of 1990, with Final Fantasy VII or VIII as your first titles, I also wholeheartedly recommend Final Fantasy Origins. Final Fantasy 1 and 2, no doubt, bring back something intangible and strangely indescribable that seem to have been missing from the ''soul'' of these games in recent years, so Final Fantasy Origins will provide fresh experiences for newer Final Fantasy enthusiasts.

Another nifty bonus is the Extras that come with both titles in Final Fantasy Origins. As you progress, each game has a Collections menu in the Configuration menus. As you progress, you unlock monster data and artwork (some concept drawings by Square's in-house development team, others being beautiful, dreamlike Yoshitaka Amano paintings in lush watercolor) as well as Item information. According to the game's menu, with a ''????'' under those, you supposedly get something cool in each game for getting 100% dungeon items, all monster data, and all artwork, but I do not know what.

To buy or not to buy? BUY IT! -- AND give thanks and gratitude to the good people at Square/Square-Enix!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/15/03, Updated 04/15/03