[Review] Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (GBA)

[hawkeye2777]

The Fantasy Hook

Final Fantasy I:

Squaresoft (or known as Square-Enix today) is well known for their RPG's and highly sucessful series, Final Fantasy (which is the best selling RPG franchise of all time). This is the first installment of the Final Fantasy series, at which Squaresoft wasn't the big and sucessful company as they are today. Dawn of Souls is a remake of the original NES title, including new features and updated sounds and graphics.

Gameplay – 24/25
The gameplay system is similar to the other systems of other RPG's during its time (1980's). Final Fantasy features a turn-by-turn battle system with the standard HP/MP system (note that MP is new to the GBA remake of Final Fantasy, the NES/PSX versions did not have MP). You fight by taking turns, characters with the highest speed go first, and so on. You can equip your characters with armor purchased from shops (along with weapons), as well as buy spells for your characters to learn and use (provided they can learn them). Final Fantasy also uses the random battle system, where after taking so many steps, you will encounter a battle. In battle, depending on your character, you can attack using regular physical attacks, use magic to attack or defend, use an item, or flee the battle. Characters, depending on their class, can use different abilities and have different skills. I'll discuss the character classes next.

One unique feature of Final Fantasy is that you get to name your characters to whatever name you'd like (or choose from 10 pre-chosen names). You also get to pick their class. Each class has their own advantages and disadvantages in battle, I won't get into their abilities in this review however. You can view a FAQ to see each class in more detail. The six classes are Warriors, Monks, Thieves (who have been greatly upgraded from the NES version of Final Fantasy), White Mages (can use white magic), Red Mages (can use some of both white and black magic), and Black Mages (can use black magic). You can have a party of four characters, and your party will always remain that size (unless one character dies, then you can't use that character until he is revived). Overworld navigation is fairly simple, you just walk from town to dungeon accomplishing whatever needs to be done. Dungeons are quite complex as well.

Since this is a remake, several new additions have been made to the game itself. For example, the MP system is one improvement. The main improvement, however, are the Soul of Chaos dungeons. These dungeons test your skills with several floors of enemies and four bosses from the later Final Fantasy games (III, IV, V, and VI).

The gameplay is very well done, as it hooked me in right away within the first few minutes of gameplay. While the random battles can get annoying at times, the gameplay is very enjoyable and should last around 15-25 hours depending on sidequests you do..

Plot – 19/20
Now, according to today's RPG standards, this section would have got a much lower score. However, since this game was released in a time where RPG standards were not yet defined, I have to keep that in mind for my scores. I will try to keep spoilers down to a minimum as well.

The plot is very simplistic (the ending is a bit more complex, but I won't reveal that here). You play as the Four Warriors of Light, who according to the prophecy of legend, are to relight the four crystals (each with their own element) to banish darkness from the lands. While this isn't a great plot, it's not bad for its time and is still enjoyable.

Sound/Music – 20/20
Great music in games tend to stick in your head long after you last played it. This is not any different with Final Fantasy. Whether it's the Prelude, Battle Fanfare, or some other catchy theme, it's bound to be stuck in your head and have you humming it long after you play.

Difficulty – 5/15
This is where Final Fantasy I Dawn of Souls fails. It is way too easy compared to the PSX/NES version. If you fight every battle you encounter, you'll easily surpass any boss. I was extremely over-leveled for most of the game, whereas in other games I'd be under-leveled in the same aspect. So, unless you use cheats or do a low level play-through, this game is not very challenging. The Soul of Chaos dungeons are the only somewhat difficult part of this game.

Replayability – 10/10
The replayability is very high here due to the fact you can mix and match character classes differently with each play-through. That offers a mass amount of replayability. For example, you could have a party consisting of a Warrior, Thief, White Mage, and a Black Mage (my initial party) on your first play-through, then move to Red Mage, Red Mage, Monk, and Thief on your second play-through, or do an all Red Mage party. The possibilities are endless, which definitely adds a great deal of replayability.

Graphics – 10/10
If you are very picky about graphics, then there's a good chance you won't agree with my score, as I'm not very picky about graphics. Anyway, this remake features fully remade sprites from the original NES game. All of the sprites and maps are touched up pretty well. The graphics are pretty clean and impressive in my opinion, but aren't so good that they make the game lag or bogged down.

Overview:

Pros
- Enjoyable Story and Gameplay
- Superb Sounds and Music
- Lots of Replayability
- Several new and extra features
- Redone Sprites and Maps

Cons
- Difficulty is very low and too easy

Overall, this is a great RPG any RPG or Final Fantasy fan should pick up and play.

Total score: 88/100
Overall score: 8.8/10
Average score: 9/10

Final Fantasy II:

*to be reviewed

Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (GBA)

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This is my first review, so let me know what you think.

[PikachuMan]

Pretty in-depth. Noticed one typo, though:

The replayability is very high here due to the fact you can mix and match character classes differently with each play-through That offers a mass amount of replayability. For example, you could have a party consisting of a Warrior, Thief, White Mage, and a Black Mage (my initial party) on your first play-through, then move to Red Mage, Red Mage, Monk, and Thief on your second play-through, or do an all Red Mage party. The possibilities are endless, which definitely adds a great deal of replayability.

There should be a period there, but oh well! Made me confused for a second.

I actually had this game a long time ago, but traded it into Gamestop since I didn't play it. Might consider getting it again, since it's only like 7 dollars.

[Hells Guardian]

I can say with absolute certainty that both titles are without a doubt some of the greatest games of there times. they were ground breaking RPGs with some of the best gameplay to be ffered in the genre at the time. I give the both of them a 9/10.