Funny and Fun

Author's Rating:

Pros: Good story, true to the franchise, fun fights

Cons: Some control irks, leveling job types can be frustrating

The Bottom Line: 
A fun title for kids of all ages, this will take you back to the 8-bit roots of the Final Fantasy franchise!

Author's Review
If you have ever read any of my other reviews, it is obvious that I am a Final Fantasy addict. From figurines to the rest of the games, movies to paraphernalia, I find it an almost obsession that I must buy more and more of the items. Most recently, my husband and I added the re-release of Final Fantasy V to our collection.

Having never played the original, I cannot make a direct comparison as to how much it follows true to the game. I know from experience that when Square Enix chooses to release a newer version of one of their classics, they usually cannot help with tweaking it. Whether it be the graphics, the dialogue, the enemies available or the music, something has to be touched. Oftentimes, this seems to cheapen the game, at least, as compared to what I would consider the original (Final Fantasy IV Advance comes to mind).

But, I cannot make a comparison of this version. That being said, I will have to rate the game based upon what I have played.

Graphics and Sound

Ah, the glorious 8-bit days. The graphics are VERY reminiscent of classic Nintendo titles, and in comparison to recent Game Boy Advance titles, are very dated. The sprites of the enemies are varied, detailed, and colorful. However, the sprites of the characters (your party members as well as other townsfolk), are compressed and not very good, quite frankly. When you can see more detail on a Nutkin (one of the squirrel like enemies in the game), but cannot tell for sure if the character Faris is a ninja, you have to wonder. If you want a comparison, there is not much of a difference between Final Fantasy IV Advance and this title.

Sound is true to the franchise, with the classic crystal melody in full effect. The sound effects are classic slashes and hacks, with sparkly noises for magic. There are no voiceovers, which is probably not a bad thing, since they would probably sound horrible anyway. I personally don’t mind 8-bit MIDI music, but for many people, they would probably be able to turn the volume off and not miss much. I wouldn’t rate the music as bad as other Game Boy titles (can you say, Pokemon?), but it certainly is not an orchestrated masterpiece.

There is lots of color, overall, but not much detail to the maps. If you have ever played any Squaresoft (now Square Enix) title from the NES days, then you can probably get a good idea. Water is blue with white pixel dots for effect, trees are textured green clumps, mountains are beaks of brownish with the occasional white top for snow. It is not bad, per se, but if you have a younger player who has never seen a game from the NES or other 8-bit system days, you will probably hear complaints of how ugly it is.

Gameplay and Story

This game is your traditional turn-based RPG. That is, you have a party of four people, each of whom have special abilities. You select your attack/item/magic/flee/defend option from a menu, wait to make your move, and go through the command list for everyone on the team. The monster(s) will attack somewhere in there too, and since this is the Active Time Battle system, they can attack while you are making a menu selection. You have to be quick on your toes.

In this game, your characters have the option of taking different jobs, AKA, classes, with different abilities for each. Everytime you beat a monster, you gain experience points (which are used to gain character levels, independent of the job class of the character), and Ability Points (ABP), which are used to gain new skills within each job class. Once you have mastered a skill in a job, you then have the ability to use it with another job, however, you can only select one extra skill at a time.

Sound confusing? Not really, once you get going. As the game progresses, you will gain access to new and different job classes, which open up different abilities. Some skills may seem fairly useless at first (who needs a Bard, anyway?!?!), but sometimes, the game may force you to use that class to beat a boss with a weakness to a certain attack. Sometimes, a super hard monster may appear in your travels, and a character class you have never used may have the secret to beating them. If you have played this game, I am hinting at the Skull Eaters and the Beastmaster job class. I say no more.

This game is also a bit unique from other Final Fantasy titles as you essentially have your entire party formed by the first major boss fight within the game. You also have access to various travel methods at each point. In most previous titles, you are restricted to land-based travel until later in the game, when you finally get a boat/airship/spaceship, etc. Being able to travel rapidly right from the beginning is nice, and certainly makes it easier to gain levels quickly.

The only real complaint that I have is the ability point system. While a monster party you kill may give 600 gil (the money in the game) and 1500 experience points, they may only give 1 ABP. That being said, I remember at time where my Red Mage job class needed 999 ABP to gain the next job level (this was fairly early in the game too, like the 4th job level or something). While I don’t mind grinding (that is, killing monsters in a area for the sole purpose of gaining experience or in this case, ABP), 999 fights at 1 ABP per fight is retarded. Now it is possible to get monsters that give 2, 5, 12, or even more ABP, but those tend to be few and far between and possibly more difficult to find to grind on.

The story is very traditional, at least, as far as the Final Fantasy franchise is concerned. The crystals, which are representative of the elements of the world (Wind, Water, Fire, Earth) are each shattering, one by one. Mysterious meteors are landing near each crystal shortly before each one is destroyed. Your party is comprised of 4 people who meet at random; Galuf, the amnesiatic older man that happens to a pretty good warrior, Faris, the fey pirate captain, Lenna, the princess of Tycoon, and you, the boy and his chocobo (you can name the protagonist). You then strike out on a mission to save the crystals by traveling across the continents. The dialogue is funny, and sometimes, borderline risqué. All-in-all, it makes for a good Final Fantasy entry.

Controls

The controls to the game are pretty basic. Use the D-pad to move around or select your menu option. The A button is used to execute a selection or to talk with townsfolk, B is used to back out of menus or to Run (when held down in towns or dungeons), and the Start button is used to access the menus for your party (not the battle menu). The only complaint that I really have is the mapping of the Menu option; I think it would be nicer if it was mapped to the B button or even the shoulders, but since that is the only real complaint that I have, I can let it slip.

In terms of response, they seem to be spot-on. Since this is not a fighting game, the sensitivity is not really an issue. If you select an option, it recognizes it. If you are running in circles, the controls are tight enough.

Overall

This game is funny, fun, and a solid entry in the RPG field. Since I am still torn with Final Fantasy XII, I must admit this is a nice turn-to. It is obvious now at least, where the later game (XII) got some of the gameplay elements that I feel were murdered. But, that is another review.

Some of the commentary in the title may be a little borderline for younger kids, however, the story is fun. The enemies are well designed and the fighting system is solid. There are minor irritations (which I mentioned earlier), and some people may not be able to get past the dated graphics. However, if you can bring yourself to play through 8-bit era goodness, you will find a solid, fun title that helps to embellish the recently flawed Final Fantasy franchise.