An enigma of my earliest years, the incredible scope and mature tone of Final Fantasy was always an alluring presence within magazines and at friends houses, however its brutal difficulty and obtuse mechanics quickly sent me fleeing towards more familiar genres. By the time I developed a taste for RPGs in the mid-90s, the original played like a comparative relic, even less accessible than before. Of the numerous post-2000 ports attempting to modernize this piece of gaming history, the Pixel Remaster might be the best yet, with highly pleasant audio-visuals and new battle options which respect the players' time. There's certainly a deserved sense of triumph from slogging through a dungeon while overcoming interruptions by hundreds of monsters, but all the better that this edition accommodates those whom can't tolerate such daunting quests amongst the rest of life's random encounters.
While somewhat barebones, the original is unmistakably Final Fantasy, establishing most of the series' tropes and filled with its trademark grandiosity: a massive world, sea and airships, and even some token absurdity being tacked to the end of a fairly minimal plot. Assembling your chosen quartet amongst 6 job classes whom later undergo a major transformation felt ahead of its time. The turn based battles and upgrade paths are basic, yet satisfying systems to strengthen your party. The dozens of attempts and careful preparation to finally topple the final boss was worth the effort to complete the 15 hour journey.
The same tiered, point based spell system featured in the 8-bit version feels unusual, but not unwieldy. For the sake of all but the most patient and calculating players, thank the Crystals that the original's peculiar rule where vanquished enemies would still be attacked if targeted within that turn stayed on the NES. At times, the lack of direction and certain dungeon puzzles were baffling, but such games were produced in an era where players routinely obtained secrets from magazines to share amongst each other, so I felt no shame in occasionally consulting a walkthrough.
Both the original and gorgeous new Nobuo Uematsu supervised soundtrack are worthy listens. Songs with more of a punch still sound best in 8-bit, such as the battle themes and engaging Matoya's Cave. Chaos Shrine and similarly mellow songs are more evocative in the arranged mode. With new backgrounds accommodating widescreen displays, neat environmental effects, and more conservative sprite upgrades than the polarizing new graphics of the GBA and PSP versions, the visuals are charming but not particularly interesting unless viewing the highly detailed enemy sprites. Later on, Final Fantasy would really find it's style.
This latest revamp of 1987's Final Fantasy is still an enjoyable experience with a guide handy and by toggling auto-encounters and battle speed as desired. That being said, time is precious and there are now many more worthwhile RPGs, though they all owe a debt to both this game and Dragon Quest. Only those curious of the genres' origins should peek into this repainted, but still somewhat light treasure chest.
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