Final Fantasy Origins for Playstation

In the middle of a role-playing game drought, Square has released a collection of the first two Final Fantasies with enhanced features across the board. The Playstation One enhanced edition features better graphics, awesome music and a new interface, making the original 8-bit NES games seem like modern RPGs.

Today's RPGs are characterized by a consistent pace and flowing narrative; in other words, as long as you travel the path and fight most of the battles along the way, you will be ready for anything. Final Fantasy Origins, like many old-school RPGs, is different in that it requires significantly more leveling up and money gathering before you head into dungeons. To some, this may be a tedious affair, but it is also an opportunity for greater challenges.

For Final Fantasy Origins, Square ripped out the old combat and menu systems from the NES versions and replaced them with a modern RPG interface. The result: the games are far more playable and enjoyable and easier to interact with. The floods of text messages in battles are gone and replaced by graphical indicators, making the pace of battles flow much easier and faster. The menus are well organized and the inventory screens are infinitely easier to manage. The underlying systems behind the game are functionally identical, but they have been re-imagined in a nice, modern RPG interface. The first two Final Fantasies were often criticized for being too difficult, and Square has addressed this issue. An Easy Mode is available for playing, making the game far easier (but less satisfying). It is recommended that hardcore RPG players play the game on Normal mode, for it retains the same difficulty as the originals. Additionally, the game supports a “memo” feature, allowing you to quick-save the game at any point and restore from it as long as you keep the game running (full memory card saves require the use of an Inn or Tent item).

The ancient graphics of the NES games have been upgraded to Super NES caliber visuals. Landscapes, characters and battle scenes are displayed in detailed 2D graphics. Spell effects are no longer flashes on the screen: each spell has its own animation and some of them are impressive to behold (area effect spells hit all of the enemies at once rather than one-at-a-time). While the 2D graphics are not stunning by today’s standards, they are certainly more agreeable than the pixellated 8-bit graphics of the NES versions.

The audio is arguably the best enhancement, even though the graphics are great and the interface makes the games far more playable. All of the audio effects have been totally revamped from their 8-bit ancestors, and the music is fully orchestrated. The remixed score is fantastic and veteran Final Fantasy players will be delighted to hear the old music realized in an epic scale.

Final Fantasy Origins is not for everyone. Nostalgic gamers who played the original 8-bit versions will love the enhanced editions of the games, while those who weaned themselves on Final Fantasy VII and up will likely get bored with it. If you enjoy character building, item collecting and dungeon exploration, Final Fantasy Origins is your game. Those looking for a deep, compelling narrative will not find these titles as attractive as modern Final Fantasies. There is another thing to consider: Final Fantasy Origins is budget priced, and at $29.99, you get a lot of old-school gaming for your dollar.

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