22 June, 2008 |
Final Fantasy Review
Final Fantasy, for the original Nintendo Entertainment System console, changed forever the expectations of game players. This multi million selling classic Role Playing Game set the bar for RPG's by combining excellent storytelling with an expansive game world and a symphonic musical score. To this day, fans from all walks of life are willing to spend hours, and sometimes days, waiting in line to be the first to buy a copy of the latest Final Fantasy game release.
What makes Final Fantasy different is its quest theme in which players aren't simply frantically pressing buttons to overcome various obstacles. Its turn based strategic combat forced players, for the first time, to plan their moves carefully and far in advance of the implementation of these moves. The writing and musical score for Final fantasy also are ingeniously used throughout the game in order to heighten the emotional impact of game events as well as the involvement of players.
At first glance, Final Fantasy can be off putting to some players; there is far more walking and puzzle solving than the in your face combat some games offer. Most gamers that have actually played Final Fantasy very quickly lose their skepticism towards the game however; the reason for this is that the action in Final Fantasy is layered. At nearly any point in the game one can find themselves ambushed by progressively stronger enemies in battles that must be won in order to build the experience points that are vital to improving the strength, endurance and abilities of the player controlled characters.
Final Fantasy did so many things right so early in the nascent era of video game consoles that its actually hard to name all of them in one sitting. Quest style gaming in which characters abilities improve, the use of character classes (white wizards, black wizards, thieves, knights, and so on), the ability to buy and sell items, a battery enabled save game feature and so much more than the typical "Save the princess" fare that was once the be all and end all of video games.
Interestingly, Final Fantasy was supposed to be the last video game ever created by its director Hironobu Sakaguchi. Sakaguchi named the game "Final Fantasy" because he fully intended to stop creating games after releasing it if Final Fantasy was not a success. Fortunately for Sakaguchi, and all of the legions of Final Fantasy players around the world, Final Fantasy was positively reviewed in Famitsu (one of the first and most highly respected gaming magazines in Japan). Gamers instantly fell in love with this game, making it one of the highest selling games in the classic console era and one of the all time best selling video games ever produced.
From a simple concept that tested the limits of Nintendo's classic gaming console to a world leading franchise in just a short number of years, the original Final Fantasy is still replayed by thousands of fans today as well as new players seeking to learn about how the legend actually began. Final Fantasy by Square (now Square Enix) continues to be one of the most loved and endearing games ever to be created.