Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition

"The original 4 start their journey all over again"

If there was a poll for which game was remade the most, I'd bet money “Final Fantasy” would win hands down. I've read many other reviews for this specific remake, and I have to say, they haven't been too positive. Personally I don't understand why, mostly because I never really get bored playing a truly classic and fun game, and that is exactly what “Final Fantasy” is. Classic games come in all categories, and “Final Fantasy” is the classic for the RPG category. But, enough with the praising, lets get realistic, no game comes without faults. One thing that most of these other reviews have gotten right is the fact that there really isn't much new content, which surprises me, since this is the 20th anniversary and all. Overall though, it's a pretty package and will keep you entertained for hours.

Ill start with the positive things. The look of this remake could not of been done any better. If you would compare this version to the GBA version, you would not believe you were looking at the same game. All the of the characters and enemies have been given a new gloss and shine and the details are amazing. The weapons are better then ever, simple, but all noticeably different. The world map has a nice 3D feel to it, like when you see the towns from the outside, you can see the shadows it cast, which is a nice touch for a 2D game. Colors were the one addition that stood out the most to me. I turned the game on and I was astounded by how much more colorful and lively “Final Fantasy” looked. Turn on the GBA installment, and all you'll see it dull greens and reds. One other installment, which isn't necessarily new, is the addition of the Full Motions Videos, (FMV). These were introduced when the PS1 version came out in 2001, and they looked great, and they still do, just a little dated. But, nether less, PSP games could use more FMV and this is a good start. Overall, I was impressed with the graphics and the detail of the characters and environments.

I was never a big critic when it came to soundtracks for video games. I tend to just play games with the sounds on mute. “Final Fantasy” is the one exception. Everyone has that little thing they remember doing when they were a kid, and they still love to do that certain thing from time to time. Listening to “FF1" music while I play is my thing from childhood. The tracks were redone for the PSP version, so they sound as crisp as ever.

“Final Fantasy” is your typical RPG. You are the four light warriors set out on the quest to restore the crystals back to full strength. You go from town to town searching for new quests to go on. The bad thing is that “FF1" is as simple as you can get when it comes to quests. Basically, it goes like this: 1)Go to town 2)Talk to King/Person in Power 3)Go to dungeon/cave 4) Kill monster. Now, believe me, I'm all for simple storylines that don't give players headaches. **CoughFinalFantasyXIICough** But this just is a little too simple. Oh yes, I can hear people right now saying, “Well, they could not have changed the story for this installment, it wouldn't be the same game.” Yes, I agree with you. I would of said the same thing with the story if I was writing this review all the way back then. But, on the lighter side, the story does take a while to complete.

On the negative side, the extra hours you spend playing is because of the difficulty. Before I get into that, I want to say that this is the easy version compared to the original. Being the easy mode still does not mean “FF1" is easy if you understand what I'm trying to say. One of the most annoying factors of “FF1" is the gigantic amount of money you need to buy anything in any store. Right from the get go, you have to spend thousands of money (Gil) on magic and weapons and armour. This ends up in hours of extra training, not only for HP, (which I will get into in a bit) but for the piles of Gil you'll need just get your supplies to go from place to place. More difficulty peers it's ugly head when you get to the latter boss battles. If you have any kind of Mage or a Monk in your party, they could and will most of the time, be knocked out in one of two hits from the boss. This gets extremely irritating towards the end of the game when you have to train for hours on end just to beat a boss that unlocks the door to another completely insane boss battle. You never can win either way. Most of your characters hardly get any HP throughout the game, and this is probably the most important stat. Every level, you'll be waiting for that huge HP bonus, but all you'll get is “HP rises by 3. Intelligence rises by 5.” All I can say is that the huge fiery boss in the 20 level cave isn't gonna be sustained using how well your magic works.

Now I know that I'm seeming pretty negative when it comes to the challenge of “FF1", so I'll add a positive in there for you optimistic people out there. A nice addition that wasn't in the Playstation version is the ability to save anywhere you want, in a town, right in the middle of that cave you're stuck in. The only thing that the PSP game could of had that would of really made it easier was being able to save mid battle!! If only.....

At the end of the day, you just have to ask yourself if you want to spend money for a game that you've probably played before many times. If you enjoy old school type RPG's, and are bored with the rest of the PSP library, (well come on, who isn't) then you should check this out because it has everything the “Dawn of Souls” remake for the GBA had, with an extra dungeon, slicker graphics, and a more crisp sound.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/07