Despite being old enough to be embarrassed by their hairline when they look in the mirror FF 1 is still a game that holds up, thanks in part to the Pixel Remaster. In addition to the upgraded art and OST there is also auto-battle, a mini-map, and checklist feature.
PLOT: The premise is simple. Make a party of four out of six dudes, travel across the world in a boat and airship, battle random encounters, explore ten or so dungeons, and beat the boss at the end. There's no real plot, only some bizarre twist in the ending text-scroll that's pretty tacked-on.
DIFFICULTY: The first half of the game is positively brutal. First there's a large cave full of poisonous enemies. Then a cavern you have to traverse twice topped off with the first REAL boss. Finally an icy hellhole full of foes that can petrify and instant-kill you. After this point a switch clicks and suddenly you can effortlessly mow down foes in a single turn, with only the final boss mustering any actual challenge.
OBSERVATIONS: One key thing I liked was the element of Sequence Breaking. All of the second-half can be done out of order if you wish.
FF 1 is very different to its progeny but one aspect of the series that has been true from the begining is the uselessness of status-inducing magic. They're about as much help as a cup of warm piss used as a missile.
My one complaint is that this Remaster's character-designs are Truer to the Text than previous editions, so the Black Mage eventually loses their signature hat while the Monk dresses like a 70's porn-star.
CONCLUSION: I got the platinum for this game in just under 11 hours. It's a much smaller and simpler game then it appears, but a charming one all the same. My one recommendation is to keep a map handy as the dungeons can get sprawling. This is also a pretty good adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons as it ripped off the entire bestiary but strongly deviates from the crummy ruleset of the inspiration.
Pixel-Remaster: First Time's the Charm
Despite being old enough to be embarrassed by their hairline when they look in the mirror FF 1 is still a game that holds up, thanks in part to the Pixel Remaster. In addition to the upgraded art and OST there is also auto-battle, a mini-map, and checklist feature.
PLOT: The premise is simple. Make a party of four out of six dudes, travel across the world in a boat and airship, battle random encounters, explore ten or so dungeons, and beat the boss at the end. There's no real plot, only some bizarre twist in the ending text-scroll that's pretty tacked-on.
DIFFICULTY: The first half of the game is positively brutal. First there's a large cave full of poisonous enemies. Then a cavern you have to traverse twice topped off with the first REAL boss. Finally an icy hellhole full of foes that can petrify and instant-kill you. After this point a switch clicks and suddenly you can effortlessly mow down foes in a single turn, with only the final boss mustering any actual challenge.
OBSERVATIONS: One key thing I liked was the element of Sequence Breaking. All of the second-half can be done out of order if you wish.
FF 1 is very different to its progeny but one aspect of the series that has been true from the begining is the uselessness of status-inducing magic. They're about as much help as a cup of warm piss used as a missile.
My one complaint is that this Remaster's character-designs are Truer to the Text than previous editions, so the Black Mage eventually loses their signature hat while the Monk dresses like a 70's porn-star.
CONCLUSION: I got the platinum for this game in just under 11 hours. It's a much smaller and simpler game then it appears, but a charming one all the same. My one recommendation is to keep a map handy as the dungeons can get sprawling. This is also a pretty good adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons as it ripped off the entire bestiary but strongly deviates from the crummy ruleset of the inspiration.