Product Description

Final Fantasy PSP In Final Fantasy, the tale begins when four young warriors, each possessing a Crystal, are summoned to bring the world back to a harmonious elemental balance. During their voyage, they discover a nefarious entity has created turmoil in the structure of time in order to take control of the world, causing the heroes to travel to places they never imagined possible. Remastered exclusively for the PSP system, this all-new anniversary edition features all-new character art, updated graphics, new dungeons, full 16:9 widescreen presentation and an updated camera view that gives players a new vantage point on such a timeless classic RPG.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2118 in Video Games
• Brand: Square Enix
• Published on: 2007-06
• Released on: 2007-06-26
• ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+
• Platform: Sony PSP
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .59" h x 7.00" w x 5.97" l, .20 pounds

Features

• The tale begins with four young warriors, each possessing a Crystal. They are summoned to bring the world back to a harmonious elemental balance. During their voyage, they discover a powerful being creating turmoil in the structure of time. To prevent this entity from taking control of the world, the heroes will travel to places they never imagined possible.

Customer Reviews

A Classic Reborn Again
It's hard to review a re-release of the first Final Fantasy. On one hand, the game is pretty good; great for it's time. The keywords being: For it's time. On the other hand, with yet another re-release of Final Fantasy, you kinda wish by now that Square-Enix would do something to make it more "modern." Regardless of where you fall, Final Fantasy is a good game. The problem is that for the more modern day gamer, there's no assurance that you'll really get into this if you can't deal with the 20 year old mechanics. The other bad thing about Final Fantasy on the PSP is simply that if you've already got Dawn of Souls or Origins, then there's no real incentive to pick up the PSP version. The fact that the other re-releases included Final Fantasy II can also be a sting to the PSP version of the game.

Final Fantasy is a simple basic storyline. Four warriors must come forth and save the world by using the power of the crystals. Your main characters don't say a word, and you begin the game by choosing their character classes. There's no narrative to drive the story along either, and like a ton of RPGs made in the 80's and early 90's there's also no way of telling where you're supposed to go next without talking to lots of people and then running around aimlessly, while gathering tons of levels in the process. To me that spells fun, but if you're an RPGer who began with the later games in the series (particularly from the Playstation era), it's hard to say you'll really love Final Fantasy if you can't let those little tidbits slide. The game is also incredibly slow paced. Again, it's something that RPGers who began with later Final Fantasy games or later RPGs will have to take time to get used to.

Gameplay wise, Final Fantasy hasn't changed a bit. Not in the slightest. Battling is as basic as ever. Completely turn based. However, Final Fantasy is usually pretty fun to battle in. Provided you don't mind that sometimes combat is sluggish (or that you could be attacked by nine enemies at once). The music in battle is upbeat, and the enemies are really nicely drawn. Just the same, it's pretty strategic. You choose a class for each of your characters at the beginning of the game. You can make them a Warrior, White Mage, Black Mage, etc. It makes a huge difference in how hard or easy the game can be as a whole. For example, only Red and White Mages can heal, but only White Mages can learn the more advanced White Mage spells. So battling remains pretty fun, even if it is pretty straightforward.

What will probably annoy gamers is the unforgiving random encounter rate. There are times when you just don't feel like battling. It also doesn't help that the failure rate of running is also somewhat high. If you've been playing RPGs since the SNES days, the slight dip in difficulty might annoy you. The game is still challenging, but not nearly as challenging as its 1987 original, or the 2003 version. It's even easier than the Dawn of Souls remake.

The biggest problem that Final Fantasy on the PSP suffers from is that if you've already played through the adventure in one of the other remakes, there's really nothing here that justifies doing it again. Final Fantasy is a gem; a game everyone should play at least once... but some of its aspects have not aged very well. For PSP owners the only plus they get (aside from all the extras in the GBA version) is one new dungeon. It also doesn't help that the other re-releases of the game came with Final Fantasy II, and they were priced at the same value.

On the positive side, however, the PSP version is the best looking version of the game yet. Everything is given a lot of artistic detail. The sprites and enemies have never looked better. It doesn't quite push the PSP to its limit, but it's still really beautiful to look at. Just the same, the music also sounds really good. It's also really cool that you'll be seeing the game in widescreen too.

Really, the only big problem with Final Fantasy is that it's a remake of a remake of a remake that doesn't offer enough new content to justify a buy to those who've already played it before. Also, like the re-release of Final Fantasy III, its age is really starting to show. There are just some aspects of the gameplay you wish Square would've thrown in for the sake of updating the game. What it boils down to is simple: You're buying an NES game. Expect the NES limitations.

Regardless of whether you believe it needed a more "modern" update or not Final Fantasy isn't a bad game, but investing in another remake if you've already got Origins or Dawn of Souls? That's hardly worth it.

Even if you haven't played Final Fantasy before, the PSP one is hard to justify when you put into account that the other remakes also came with Final Fantasy II, and they were priced at the same value. If you absolutely MUST play Final Fantasy and you haven't done so, I suggest heading on down to your local used game store and picking up the GBA version. It may not be as pretty, but you get Final Fantasy II with it, and it's cheaper.

Pros:

+The prettiest version of the game yet
+Still sounds good
+There's a bonus dungeon

Cons:

-The pacing of the story is really slow
-The random encounter rate is really high
-There are just some aspects of the game that don't age very well
-It's another remake of Final Fantasy... but this one offers little in the way of new content. You get all those GBA extras, but the only PSP exclusive extras are some enhanced graphics and a brand new dungeon. It's hard to urge a gamer that already has the GBA version or even the Origins version to go out and get his one.

Play it again for the first time
A few years back, Final Fantasy I & II were ported to the GBA under the title Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls. Now the game that started Square's long running RPG series has been re-made again, this time for the PSP. Though there are a few differences between this version and other remakes, this edition of Final Fantasy is basically the Dawn of Souls game minus Final Fantasy II and a little charm. Naturally the graphics have been quite enchanced and are indeed gorgeous to look at on the PSP screen, and the soundtrack is enhanced as well, but the game remains the same in virtually every other department. There are a few extras including a brand new dungeon in addition to the four made for the Dawn of Souls release, but there isn't enough here to warrant picking up if you already own Final Fantasy in one of it's previous incarnations. Not to mention that for new gamers or those who have only played the more recent installments of the series, the old school style of ultra random battles and mechanics will turn you off. That being said though, if you are a long time Final Fantasy fan and have never played any of the previous remakes and you own a PSP, then by all means pick this up and experience it all over again. If you're not a longtime fan of the series though, you could do better as far as RPG's on the PSP go.

Forever a Treasured Classic
I'm a 27 year-old guy who landed this game on NES back when it was first released. Zelda was my first RPG; I loved it, then Final Fantasy came along and sealed the deal for my love of RPG's. Years and many RPG's later (everything from Dragon Warrior to Neutopia to Breath of Fire to Landstalker, etc.), I landed Final Fantasy III for SNES and was - once again - in awe of the superiority of Final Fantasy.

Skip ahead however many years and Final Fantasy gets a HUGE facelift, but becomes linear and nowhere near as expansive as its predecessors. To this day, I've not liked any Final Fantasy past FF III for SNES. There's just something about the overhead view RPG's that has the look and feel I love. Because of this, this remake of Final Fantasy 1 is like a breath of fresh air... even having purchased and thoroughly beaten the, "Dawn of Souls" (FF1 and FF2 in one cartridge) remakes for GBA a year or so ago.

Having just purchased a PSP for the first time since they were released (I know... a late-bloomer), I've been scouring the internet for good RPG's on this platform. Needless to say, I saw this remake and swiped it right up (along with the FF2 remake as well). Now, I know a lot of people here say they can't really justify telling someone who has owned this remake on other systems to buy this one, but... if you love FF1 and still come back to revisit it through its entirity every couple of years or so, DEFINITELY buy this version!

It's everything you're familiar with, and then some. Being a truly COMPLETE rework (that is, this game was developed from scratch), the game looks great. You can check out a graphical comparison of the bosses (from NES development up to the PSP) here:

[...]

With the ability to save anywhere, the game is definitely a lot less challenging than it was on NES, but it's a welcomed addition for those of you who couldn't quite make it to Chaos. The four new dungeons add a lot to the game; including, new weapons, new enemies, new bosses, new levels (obviously), and - thus - new game play. While they're the same as the new dungeons from the GBA remake, the graphics are completely reworked; the whole game is just much more enjoyable to play as a whole.

Nobuo Uematsu's soundtrack is back, but with a bit of a touch-up. I'm an audiophile and a music buff, so I'm pretty fickle about classics being changed (even upgrading something from 8-bit to real instrumentation, lol) but nothing in this game has been changed in what I felt was a negative way; so, that's a definite plus! In addition to his soundtrack, the new dungeons have their own new music that I really dig.

Along with a complete rework of the graphics and an updated soundtrack, the next major PSP-only feature is the addition of the, "Labyrinth of Time." Man, this is one of the most frustrating things I've ever played in ANY RPG! It's EXTREMELY challenging, has NUMEROUS paths and outcomes, and generally just makes the rest of the game seem like a cakewalk (which it kind of is anyway, being 27 and not 9 or 10, lol). Chaos is *nothing* compared to Chronodia (who has artwork that reminds one of the majesty of Kefka at the end of FF III or perhaps a boss that would've been found in Breath of Fire 2)... but that's all I'll mention in regards to that. I won't post any spoilers or additional information, because I don't want to ruin it for anyone. If you want to know more about the Labyrinth of Time, Gooooooogle!

The only gripe I have (and that's just because I'm diggin' for one) is the time it can take to load new enemies you encounter, new towns, new dungeons, etc... but we're talking 3-4 seconds, max; a small price to pay for as much enjoyment as I get out of this game.

So... if you're like me and you're absolutely, hopelessly stuck in the land of - and in love with - 8-bit and 16-bit RPG's (but dig cleaned up enhancements and a few additions to the game), I HIGHLY recommend this version of FF1. I realize there are a lot of people out there who disagree with my opinion, but they have their opinions and I have mine. Hopefully, I've spelled mine out enough to reach out to the exact demographic of those who share it.

Now, if only I can somehow convince Square-Enix to port FF III (SNES) to PSP...

-Stephen