SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Final Fantasy I is now on the virtual console.

Posted: Oct 06 2009 01:57 pm

I think the only way a new player could get the story is through the Dawn of Souls or the PSX version if you could find it still. The original game is probably better for the more experienced or hard-core rpg players.

Translation wise... I think they just gave up or it may have been to much...

Posted: Oct 06 2009 02:00 pm

Okay, as the closet FF Fanatic I feel the need to step in and hereby proclaim that while the NES version holds some nostalgia value for me, it is very outdated and actually outclassed by the later re-releases in terms of both gameplay mechanics and the overall game presentation.

So, now we have two groups of people to satisfy: the newcomers to the series and the hardcore gamers who remember the NES version. You can't satisfy both, so...

The best version for a newcomer would surely be the GBA one. It is easy, yes, but that's the main idea behind that remake and many of us old-timers can't comprehend such an atrocity. Still, I did enjoy it. I played all versions and this was the one I played right after the NES one. It is easier, but it gets really challenging near the end if you don't do any bonus dungeons. And hell, the extra content is actually nice. Square also removed all the fake difficulty bullshit that turned many people away from the NES game - innefective hits, for one. Then they did all the stuff that only us old school people would notice, like nerfing down the Red Mage and buffing up Thief and Monk. Also, more monster HP in some cases, especially some bosses, got turned up to eleven, so yeah.

The best version for hardcore players, however... Tough. I would say either the Wonderswan one or the PS1 one. I haven't played thru the PSP version that much, but from what I have heard, it was made more difficult than the GBA version and is basically the PS1 version on steroids. I will beat that one as soon as I get a PSP and then I shall settle this once and for all. For now, stick to the WS/PS1 ports.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Oct 06 2009 02:08 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Really? The MSX version is worse? My understanding was that the MSX version was the original, a few errors were made when porting it to the NES. Damn.

Incorrect. It was put out before the NES release, but long after the Famicom one.

All of the bugs are present, and in addition, Black belts simply don't work at all.

This has some info on the MSX version of the game, and this page details some of the bugs.

Posted: Oct 06 2009 02:33 pm

Part of the fun of FF1 is that the storyline isn't spelled out for you. You have to explore the world yourself, and figure out by trial and error whether you're where you're supposed to be.

HINT: If the enemies are killing you in one hit, you're in the wrong place!

The NES game requires you to explore, and to familiarize yourself with the land and its inhabitants. If you don't talk to every single NPC, and try talking to them again after you defeat bosses, you won't get very far. This is what an RPG should be. If you are not prepared to fully explore a fantasy world and interview its inhabitants, then RPGs aren't you for. Go play Madden.

The RPGs of today are bullshit. Everything in the main quest is spelled out for you to point where it's retarded. The game starts off, a cutscene tells you where to go. You go and beat a boss. Then there's another cutscene and one of the characters in your party is like "Hey, let's go to Rivendell. It's west of here, through the western cave." So you go to town, and you're immediately given a cutscene that tells you what to do next. Or maybe not. Maybe you have to hold "up" on the controller and walk straight the middle of fucking town, right through the middle of a castle, right into the middle of the the throne room, and then the king says "OMG dudes, you gotta help me!" Where the fuck is the fun in that? That's not an RPG, that's a fucking movie. If you like staring at pretty CGI, go watch a Pixar movie. But if you think that's what an RPG is all about, go die.

Posted: Oct 06 2009 04:00 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Part of the fun of FF1 is that the storyline isn't spelled out for you. You have to explore the world yourself, and figure out by trial and error whether you're where you're supposed to be.

HINT: If the enemies are killing you in one hit, you're in the wrong place!

The NES game requires you to explore, and to familiarize yourself with the land and its inhabitants. If you don't talk to every single NPC, and try talking to them again after you defeat bosses, you won't get very far. This is what an RPG should be. If you are not prepared to fully explore a fantasy world and interview its inhabitants, then RPGs aren't you for. Go play Madden.

The RPGs of today are bullshit. Everything in the main quest is spelled out for you to point where it's retarded. The game starts off, a cutscene tells you where to go. You go and beat a boss. Then there's another cutscene and one of the characters in your party is like "Hey, let's go to Rivendell. It's west of here, through the western cave." So you go to town, and you're immediately given a cutscene that tells you what to do next. Or maybe not. Maybe you have to hold "up" on the controller and walk straight the middle of fucking town, right through the middle of a castle, right into the middle of the the throne, and then the king says "OMG dudes, you gotta help me!" Where the fuck is the fun in that? That's not an RPG, that's a fucking movie. If you like staring at pretty CGI, go watch a Pixar movie. But if you think that's what an RPG is all about, go die.

I'm not going to argue with you about that. it makes sense that RPG's of today are striaght forward since the general population is dumber to the nth degree. In all honesty though if you were my age when you first started playing the game (I was 6 when we got it orginally and I started playing serious when I was 12) then it's not that good for a kid my age to have no idea where to go. I used to solely use a fighter and a black mage to go out and kill Garland, after that I just winged it and ended up dying in the second continent only because they gave you no real direction other then "Hey I built you a bridge" I know where the bridge is but from there, where the hell do I go? I guess that's why I stopped playing until I found the Walkthrough to help me out granted I had the whole Astos-Fiend of Earth section missing....

Posted: Oct 06 2009 04:07 pm

well, can one be a dragon quest fan and still enjoy the FF games if they never played them before? im obviously talking about me, and i want to see if its worth my time or not to pick up and play.

Posted: Oct 06 2009 04:20 pm

The only thing that pissed me off about the original NES version was having to buy potions one at a time. I would spend 20 minutes just restocking my inventory. So that's the only 'revision' that I found to be necessary. Wasting your attacks on a defeated enemy? Well, I can live with that. I did, for years. That's the way I grew up playing it. FF1 was my very first RPG. I was only 13 when it came out and I had no idea how RPGs worked. I kept staying at an Inn to heal myself before I revived my party members. I know, what the fuck was I thinking? I also didn't know about an inventory screen where you had to equip your weapons. So I was wandering around bare handed thinking fuck this is a hard game! This was back in the day when you rented games from the video store and they didn't give you the instruction manual. That's probably why this game is the most special to me because I had to figure it all out on my own. I had no one to help me. The only remake of this game I played was the PS1 version and it will never be as classic to me as the old NES version.

Posted: Oct 06 2009 04:47 pm

I may be the only person here that actually enjoys the PSP version the most. It was a mix between the GBA and PS1 and it seemed to perfect everything. I played through it multiple times and enjoyed it each time.

Posted: Oct 06 2009 04:50 pm

The NES game bored me to tears, it's probably because I didn't grow up with it, but if I grew up with it I wouldn't be interested in it. If I couldn't bother to play Phantasy Star II on the Sega Channel when I was older, I sure as hell wouldn't have bothered with FF1 on the NES. The GBA/PSP remakes were much better IMO, I could actually play them without wondering why I'm playing this over my other games.

Posted: Oct 06 2009 08:15 pm

Now for my two cents.

I can't stand the GBA FF1, and I love the NES one. Jackasses with pathetic weak RPG skills and the painful inability to distinguish the bland activity of an easy "press attack plays itself" RPG from a videogame like the GBA, but for people who like their RPGs a proper test of out of combat preperation and exploration, in combat threat assessment and general tactics, and overall resource management and decision making, then the NES is the way to go.

Or maybe the new one. I don't know, did they castrate it or bring in that godawful imbalanced mana point system, or did they do a proper port?

Posted: Oct 06 2009 09:38 pm

UsaSatsui wrote:

Of all the versions, I recommend the PS1 version. The bugs are fixed, and you have the option of playing with the game as it originally was, or with the "easy mode" enhancements.

This. Also, the PSone edition has the best quality soundtrack.

I can't endorse the GBA version because of the way they got rid of the old magic system in favor of using MP. I liked the old magic system. Mad

Posted: Oct 06 2009 10:25 pm

Cameron wrote:

UsaSatsui wrote:

Of all the versions, I recommend the PS1 version. The bugs are fixed, and you have the option of playing with the game as it originally was, or with the "easy mode" enhancements.

This. Also, the PSone edition has the best quality soundtrack.

I can't endorse the GBA version because of the way they got rid of the old magic system in favor of using MP. I liked the old magic system. Mad

Did the PSone have the movies other then the opening ones? I can't recall Sad

Posted: Oct 06 2009 10:33 pm

Slayer1 wrote:

Cameron wrote:

UsaSatsui wrote:

Of all the versions, I recommend the PS1 version. The bugs are fixed, and you have the option of playing with the game as it originally was, or with the "easy mode" enhancements.

This. Also, the PSone edition has the best quality soundtrack.

I can't endorse the GBA version because of the way they got rid of the old magic system in favor of using MP. I liked the old magic system. Mad

Did the PSone have the movies other then the opening ones? I can't recall Sad

I don't remember any movies other than the opening cutscene, although I could be wrong.

Posted: Oct 06 2009 11:16 pm

Cameron wrote:

Slayer1 wrote:

Cameron wrote:

UsaSatsui wrote:

Of all the versions, I recommend the PS1 version. The bugs are fixed, and you have the option of playing with the game as it originally was, or with the "easy mode" enhancements.

This. Also, the PSone edition has the best quality soundtrack.

I can't endorse the GBA version because of the way they got rid of the old magic system in favor of using MP. I liked the old magic system. Mad

Did the PSone have the movies other then the opening ones? I can't recall Sad

I don't remember any movies other than the opening cutscene, although I could be wrong.

Then I guess I should pull it out again if I can find it hidden away in my room to HELL

Joined: Sep 17 2007 Location: The Opium Trail Posts: 3475

SoldierHawk wrote:

Slayer1 wrote:

I gotta say that the NES version confused the hell out of me... I made it all the way to the Oxyale situation, and I thought it was timed because the pirate said I was too late. That PISSED me off so I reset the game, started anew and tried to do it faster. Six years later, I buy dawn of souls and realize that I had to find the caravan across the desert. What the fuck...

Oh that is PAINFUL. That Oxyale part really is confusing. My first time through I actually managed to find the caravan and buy the bottle, but then when I used it, it said the fairy had "disappeared and was gone." 7 year old me did not think to go check the spring in Gaia, and thought the fairy was lost forever, so I started over. *shakes head.*

Shit like this why I tell the conservative "original harder game is bettar" crowd to go stick a plugged in lamp up their ass and jump in the hot tub. I don't have any problem with test of skill (hence why I still play Contra III after all these years) but the skills you are exactly being tested on needs to be defined.

Posted: Oct 07 2009 05:18 am

Syd Lexia wrote:

The RPGs of today are bullshit. Everything in the main quest is spelled out for you to point where it's retarded. The game starts off, a cutscene tells you where to go. You go and beat a boss. Then there's another cutscene and one of the characters in your party is like "Hey, let's go to Rivendell. It's west of here, through the western cave." So you go to town, and you're immediately given a cutscene that tells you what to do next. Or maybe not. Maybe you have to hold "up" on the controller and walk straight the middle of fucking town, right through the middle of a castle, right into the middle of the the throne room, and then the king says "OMG dudes, you gotta help me!" Where the fuck is the fun in that? That's not an RPG, that's a fucking movie. If you like staring at pretty CGI, go watch a Pixar movie. But if you think that's what an RPG is all about, go die.

You just totally described FFX. And yet, I love that game. Confused

Posted: Oct 07 2009 11:21 am

SoldierHawk wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

The RPGs of today are bullshit. Everything in the main quest is spelled out for you to point where it's retarded. The game starts off, a cutscene tells you where to go. You go and beat a boss. Then there's another cutscene and one of the characters in your party is like "Hey, let's go to Rivendell. It's west of here, through the western cave." So you go to town, and you're immediately given a cutscene that tells you what to do next. Or maybe not. Maybe you have to hold "up" on the controller and walk straight the middle of fucking town, right through the middle of a castle, right into the middle of the the throne room, and then the king says "OMG dudes, you gotta help me!" Where the fuck is the fun in that? That's not an RPG, that's a fucking movie. If you like staring at pretty CGI, go watch a Pixar movie. But if you think that's what an RPG is all about, go die.

You just totally described FFX. And yet, I love that game. Confused

My problem with FFX was the fact that it was a fucking movie... I felt like I barely played and instead it was me just watching a horrible Romance movie. I think with the increase of Voice acting, it's become more of a movie replacement.

Joined: Sep 18 2009 Location: Fairfax, VA Posts: 11

Syd Lexia wrote:

Really? The MSX version is worse? My understanding was that the MSX version was the original, a few errors were made when porting it to the NES. Damn.

Sounds like you're thinking of Metal Gear. The Famicom/NES port was released after the MSX version and changed some things around, but also introduced some bugs and other issues.

Posted: Oct 07 2009 01:25 pm

There was a lot of interesting stuff on the MSX.

Posted: Oct 07 2009 03:08 pm

Personally I agree with those who say that the PS1 version is the best since it has the faster pace of the later versions, and the overall difficulty of the original. Now if you want the best looking one overall, the HD update of everything in the PSP version easily beats out all others. This isn't to say that the GBA version is terrible. I burnt through that game about 6 times my sophomore year playing it on my Game Boy Micro (laugh if you must). It also saves you the time and money of finding a copy of Final Fantasy II, even though Firion is badass, the level up system is too radically different for the hardcore fans, although fans of SaGa games will feel right at home.

Posted: Oct 07 2009 03:22 pm

Swayze's_Revenge wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

Really? The MSX version is worse? My understanding was that the MSX version was the original, a few errors were made when porting it to the NES. Damn.

Sounds like you're thinking of Metal Gear. The Famicom/NES port was released after the MSX version and changed some things around, but also introduced some bugs and other issues.

If Metal Gear on the NES equals one level of awesomeness, then the MSX version is equal to eighty-three million, sixty one thousand eight hundred twenty three.

The NES version didn't even have the Metal Gear.

Oh hey - I derailed a topic!

Posted: Oct 07 2009 04:57 pm

Oh the humanity!!!

Posted: Oct 07 2009 05:19 pm

I think I've had enough of the Re-re-re-re-releases of this series...

Posted: Oct 07 2009 06:24 pm

Nekkoru wrote:

If Metal Gear on the NES equals one level of awesomeness, then the MSX version is equal to eighty-three million, sixty one thousand eight hundred twenty three.

Metal Gear on NES wasn't even one level, I hated the guards respawning after leaving the screen.

Posted: Nov 08 2009 07:32 pm

Hopefully they will release the original versions of FF2 and 3 on the virtual console. Translated into english of course.