The Final Fantasy series will always hold a special place in the heart of many a gamer, and I am no exception. When I was a kid I played the original Final Fantasy at a friend’s house and fell in love. My friend understood how weapon equipping worked, where as I, 8-years-old at the time, did not. Needless to say, I never got more than twenty minutes in before being beaten to death by gigantic pink ogres, and as fruitless as it may have been, my time with the Light Warriors was blissful.
"Dawn of Souls updates a true classic for a new generation."
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The original Final Fantasy has sadly become a chore to play through as the RPG genre developed. That’s why Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls is such a treat. It updates a true classic for a new generation, makes it playable again for those who weren’t old enough to understand it when it came out, and adds extra content for those that did complete it but want to see how much twenty years of forward progress can improve.
Final Fantasy, like many first entries, set the formula for many of the series’ future installments. Empowering magical crystals to save the world? Started here. Exploring the world at first on foot, then a boat, then later an airship? The finger points at this game for this, too. Sure, the story is skeletal compared to later entries, but it’s important to remember this was an NES game, and there wasn’t a lot of space on the cart for text. The simple "save the world from the ultimate evil" idea works here, because it was one of the first places it popped up.
Combat is relatively simple, basic by today’s standards, but done solidly. Some of the loose ends from the earlier days were cleaned up — your characters will now fight another enemy if their selected target has been defeated instead of swinging at the open air. Magic has slight depth to it, but nothing too complex. Undead enemies are damaged by fire magic, and water based enemies are vulnerable to lightning. It’s also nice to have magic points rather than set amounts of spell usage, like it was in the original. Using a spell only four times between Inn visits was kind of a letdown, and made mages useless after a while. It’s nice to see all of the changes here are positive.
Leveling up has also been streamlined to become less tedious, and slightly more manageable. It really helps if you’re looking to take on the added dungeons. They feel kind of tacked on, but are still challenging. The level design is disappointing considering they were modernly designed (far too many dead ends), but it’s cool to see some of the enemies from later entries in the series here. All in all, Final Fantasy is the standout on this cart, and any true RPG fan should give this game a spin.
"... a fantastic remake of the original Final Fantasy..."
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Of course, the flip side of the coin, Final Fantasy II (not the American release for the SNES’ Final Fantasy IV, but the original NES version) has not held up quite as well, even though it’s been retooled for the GBA. It tries too hard to innovate where innovation wasn’t necessary. Progression is sometimes tied directly into talking to characters, by learning keywords. This ultimately ends up as an interesting, but flawed idea. The problem is you don’t automatically learn them, and they sometimes don’t pop up unless you talk to key characters multiple times in a row. This makes it easy to miss one, go to a completely different continent, realize you can’t continue without it, and have to travel back to try and find it.
There are other issues, but the biggest is how you level up. There are no level numbers, instead weapon skill goes up as you attack, defense goes up as you’re hit, and your magic power increases due to usage as well. Because of this, the game can end up overwhelming the player. Without level numbers you have no idea how strong your character is, and how much stronger he can be. Level numbers have become a benchmark for players, and it’s disorienting to not see them here.
"Final Fantasy II has not held up well."
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The story is far more ambitious than that found in the original Final Fantasy, complete with character development and a plot about overthrowing an empire, but it lacks any sort of real drama and ends up as nothing more than a boring waste of time. The music is also a shameful representation of the series. Hardly any of the classic themes were used in this entry, and hardly any (if any) of the themes here have become classic. It doesn’t help that the main map music sounds like filler music from a story sequence, either. There is some truly interesting bonus content should you grow attached to any of the characters, but it’s not something worth playing through to access otherwise.
All in all, Dawn of Souls presents a fantastic remake of the original Final Fantasy, and shows us why the real Final Fantasy II never came to us in its original incarnation. Final Fantasy II might be extra credit, Final Fantasy is required material for RPG fans, and there isn’t a better version than this.
