Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls

"A bit of nostalgia, and a lot of disappointment"

Introduction
Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls is the third "modern" remake of the first two Final Fantasy games, and the first to be released on a portable system available outside of Japan. The original Final Fantasy is well regarded as a classic, and the only Famicom Final Fantasy game to be released in North America and Europe. Final Fantasy II was only available to a great deal of the world through nefarious means until its release on the Playstation as part of Final Fantasy Origins, a port of the Wonderswan Color remakes of the games. Dawn of Souls is based on the WSC/PSX remakes, and features several notable changes to both games.

Graphics/Sound
The graphics for both games are pleasant enough. They have been upgraded from late 80's NES graphics to a style comparable to the SNES Final Fantasy games. All the monsters and maps in the originals are still recognizable, and look much better. Gone are the windows showing your party and the collection of monsters opposing you. You now fight your battles on actual fields/deserts/cave, depending on your environment. Magic spells now have full animations, rather than a simple casting animation followed by each target being affected in sequence. The graphics don't live up to today's GBA standards, but there's no real reason to expect them to. They are perfectly fine for the WSC ported graphics that they are. The music is highly impressive for the Game Boy Advance, featuring well-done remixes of the original songs. Especially beautiful are the Chaos Shrine songs. The sound effects are tinny and bland, especially in battle, but that's a small detraction.

Storyline
At the time these games were made, stories were very basic in nature. Both games have a very traditional storyline, where you control a party of adventurers who are out to save the world from the forces of evil. The nature of the antagonist varies in each game, but they are traditional RPG fare (traditional RPG fare done well, mind you). The dialogue has been modified to give you a better sense of direction in both games. Final Fantasy generally steers you along in the direction it wishes you to go, gradually opening up more and more parts of the world as you go. However, there is no set order to accomplish your tasks after a point, and you can clear the dungeons of the second half of the game in practically any order you choose. Final Fantasy II is much more linear in nature, and is the more dialogue and storyline intensive of the two. FFII gives you the additional ability to memorize "keywords", which you can ask certain NPC's about as a password for more information, or in order to learn more about the subject. This was (and still is) a rather unique and interesting feature back then, and it helps in telling you exactly where you should go next and what you should be doing there. Still, the age-old "talk to everyone" rule still exists (unless it's an enemy soldier in FFII, because you'll likely be ushered to the New Game/Load Game screen shortly after speaking to them).

Gameplay
Both games are turn-based Role Playing Games, with a simple battle system that's probably familiar to anyone that's played many RPG's. Between each turn, you select what each party member will do, and the computer invisibly selects its actions. Once your selections are made, the round of combat is carried out with each party member and monster performing their selected attack. The battle system is easy to learn and get used to for both games, which is a good thing given their high random encounter rate compared to a lot of other RPG's. They do differ in certain key gameplay elements though.

Final Fantasy has a "traditional" leveling system. You gain experience points for every battle you survive, and gain levels at predetermined experience levels. All stat gains happen during level-ups, as well as the unlocking of a new level of magic spells for mage classes. There are six classes available when you create your party, and you stay with that party the entire game. Later on, you can upgrade your party members to their corresponding advanced class, which makes them more powerful through the ability to use stronger equipment and more magic spells. Still, the characters are mostly typeset in their roles. Final Fantasy has a rather primitive enemy logic system, where they perform magic and special abilities sequentially from a list. This makes the game more predictable, but also a lot more deadly in some cases (surprise attack by four Dark Mages casting 3rd level elemental spells, anyone?)

Meanwhile, Final Fantasy II's leveling system is anything BUT traditional. A character's proficiency at weapon types and magic spells increases as you use them. Stats such as HP, MP, Stamina, and the like may grow after battle depending on what happened during that battle. If a character used a lot of magic, their max MP and/or magic may increase after battle. If they took an especially brutal beating in a battle, they may gain Stamina or max HP, and so on. In this way, you can customize your characters in practically any way you choose. Final Fantasy II has more random and unpredictable enemy logic, plus the addition of rows to the party structure. Any party member in the back row(s) can only attack with bows or magic, and can only be hit by the same.

What's New? Changes From the Original Versions
Here is where Dawn of Souls falls flat on its face. A single look will tell you that the games look vastly different from their original versions. Unfortunately, they play much differently as well. Both games have had a vast number of gameplay changes made from the original versions, and even from the Wonderswan/Playstation remakes, and not all of them are good ones. Both games now feature additional dungeons. Final Fantasy has four dungeons that open up during the game that have new items and enemies as well as some rather familiar faces within. Final Fantasy II has an extra mode with a dungeon that's run through by a party comprised of characters who once fought by your side.

This version of Final Fantasy is roughly based on the Easy Mode from Final Fantasy Origins, and there is no Normal Mode to be found. There are now 99 levels which are gained at a much faster rate than the original game. Any character that was selected to attack a monster that has since died or fled will now automatically select a new target. Many people will likely welcome that, but it does remove a large amount of strategy from battles. Also, every item, spell, and piece of equipment is sold at a 30-40% discount to reflect the rapid level up rate. The save system has completely been changed to where you can create a save at any time, both in the overworld and in a dungeon. One of the new changes made in this version is a plethora of new items sold at the shops (to include Ethers, Phoenix Downs, and items to cure several status ailments). There have been significant alterations to initial stats and stat growth for some classes. Among other things, this serves to make the formerly weak Thief class now a bit overpowered, as they hit many more times than the suddenly outgunned Warrior. The biggest changes are to the magic system. The Intelligence stat works significantly more when dealing damage/healing party members, so a Black Mage casting a spell or using its item equivalent would produce significantly better results than a Warrior using the same item. Also, the spell level-based Magic Points are gone in favor of a more traditional Magic Point system. This causes significant unbalancing when combined with the ultra-quick leveling system. Mages quickly get a bottomless pool of MP, allowing them to blast their way through any dungeon without a second thought. The main bosses of the game have significantly higher HP, but that's not even a concern due to the non-existent difficulty rate of the game caused by the other changes.

Final Fantasy II fared slightly better in its modernization. The infamous select/cancel glitch which allowed for quick weapon skill boosting has been removed. Its much-maligned stat gain system has been retooled, and party members gain stats quicker than in the original game. The rate seems to be a bit too quick though, as the challenge drops off vastly as you go on. Also, "opposite stats" are no longer of concern. No longer will you lose points in a magic stat from raising your strength too much. Other notable new features include item stacking (which removes the limited item space issues the original had), auto selection of a new target when the original one becomes invalid, and a steady HP gain every so many battles no matter what occurs in them. The end result is a game that's significantly more playable than the original, but also noticeably easier.

The Bottom Line
At this point, it's not even fair to call these ports. Both games have been drastically changed from their original versions, which will not appeal to everyone. In being modernized, Final Fantasy literally has no difficulty left in it. The new magic system, class tweaking, and insanely fast leveling speed have made it nothing but a pale shadow of a once challenging game. Final Fantasy II didn't suffer as much from its changes and drop in difficulty and ends up being the better game of the two by default.

At best, one can consider this the "Easytype" versions of Final Fantasy I & II. They still have the same stories, have some neat additional dungeons, and will evoke a feeling of nostalgia in anyone that's played them before. However, anyone looking to fully relive the challenge and excitement of these games will probably find themselves sorely disappointed in these modern versions. The games look better than ever, but the end result is a soulless imitation of what was the epitome of greatness nearly two decades ago.

This game is great for a quick 5 day rental, but not much more.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/08/04