QuickBlog: Final Fantasy

8.5 [Excellent]

Gameplay: 8

Graphics: 6

Music: 8

Sound: 5

Value: 9

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Square Soft

Multiplayer: None

Console(s): NES (various remakes on other consoles)

Reviwed on: NES

ESRB rating: ???
BMR rating: E (Mild Fantasy Violence)

Good Points:

Great tunes - Addicting grinding-focused gameplay - Open-ended structure - For an NES, lots of value - Customizable party

Not So Good Points:

Slow combat system - Bunches of grinding if that's not your thing - Occasionally confusing to find out where to go next

"Enter a whole new realm of challenge and adventure," proclaims the dramatic text on the front of Final Fantasy's box. And, considering that this game was made in 1990, such a statement wasn't untrue. The Final Fantasy series is, as everybody knows, a huge franchise of RPGs and various spinoffs. When I decided to give the games try, I thought I'd start at the very beginning: the original Final Fantasy for the NES. Final Fantasy is a colorful, addictive game with good old fasioned random encounters, turn-based combat, towns, shops, loot, and all the other classic Japanese RPG additions. While some may find it slow-paced and uninteresting compared to the RPGs of today, I found it to have some great gameplay, contain amazingly catchy music, and to be a very fun experience. The option to choose your party members at the start gives you a number of ways to change around the challenge, which gives the game even more replay value. Sure, it's old, but fun never goes out of style. I had trouble putting my blocky, rectangular NES controller down for long.