Old school FF...but could it have been done better?.....
Both F.F.I and F.F.II have sleek updated looks from their original N.E.S. roots. Similar to their Playstation counterpart (Final Fantasy Origins), Dawn of Souls has an almost SNES graphical quality. Backgrounds and menu systems have been overhauled to bring both games into the 21st Century, not to mention the new highly detailed character sprites that now represent your party members.
Musically both titles have cast aside their tinny 8 bit origins and have had their tunes updated, optimized and remixed for the Gameboy Advance. This is perhaps one of the more pleasant surprises especially since after you beat both titles a music player is unlocked giving you the ability to play all the music in both games. Honestly this is one of the nicest extras in any game, handheld or no. I have found myself, on more than one occasion popping the cartridge in just to listen to some of the tunes.
Now that both game’s general features have been discussed we will look a little more critically at each title. Final Fantasy I, originally released on the N.E.S. in 1990 was one of the first console RPGs to grace a videogame console. Starting out you are able to pick your party out of six possible classes: red, white ant black mage, fighter, thief, and black belt. Each of these classes have individual abilities. This coupled with the fact that you could have any number of each class in your group creates a large amount of replay value to the title. After creating your party you are sent on a journey by the King to rescue his daughter from a rogue knight, thus your journey begins.
Final Fantasy I’s battle system is quite basic by today’s RPG standards, attack, magic, item, equip, and run are your only command functions. While I do not like to compare titles, I do find it acceptable to compare this version with its original version. Part of the magic of the original was the difficulty of the title. Veteran RPG players found the original version to be a challenge, even after already beating it once. Part of this was do to the meager experience points and money enemies doled out after being bested. This is not the case with the Dawn of Souls version. Generous experience points coupled with the inclusion of magic points (the original gave you a defined, small number of each level spell you could use), allow for quick leveling up and a dramatic decrease in difficulty. Square tries to offset this by the inclusion of new dungeons but unfortunately with strong characters these dungeons too are easy and to make matters worse these dungeons are littered with difficulty destroying weapons and armor. These alterations take away much of the charm the original had to offer.
Final Fantasy II on the other hand was just recently released in the US for the first time in 2003. Final Fantasy II is a historical title in regards to how Square Enix’s RPGs developed. Square introduced a core group of characters, whom had a background story, as basic as it was. Playing through the title brings these characters in contact with events, new party members that will come and go. This game tells the story of an evil empire that has taken over most of the world. You are cast as the survivors of a village that was just destroyed by the empire. Joining the exiled King and Queen and their rebel faction, you take upon yourself to join the cause and while this is not a terribly new idea now, it was a rather involved plot back in the day.
While the battle system was as basic as the original, the only difference being that all characters could learn all spells depending on what tome you gave to each individual. (A tome is an item that when used gives a character the ability to use that spell, for example a cure tome, when used allows one character to now have the ability to cast cure.) Final Fantasy II ‘s experience system was its most original aspect, as it was not seen prior and has not been seen since its creation. Your character will grow depending on what you made them do. Cast a lot of spells, and your character will gain magic strength, your individual spell level will increase, (say if you cast cure a lot) and your magic-points will also grow. If a certain character takes a lot of damage their defense will get better (though only marginally) and their hit-points will also increase. Individual weapons also grow in strength upon use. By the end of the game your characters will truly be customized in regards to how you have played.
Be warned though you must diversify your group. Using nothing but magic or physical attacks will leave you completely out-matched when you happen upon an enemy with a ridiculously high defense against one or the other. While an interesting premise this system is too easy to exploit as you can beat on your own party members to increase their hit-points and attributes.
Overall Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls is a difficult title to recommend for anything other than its beastiary and music box. For Final Fantasy Fanatics, like myself, you will undoubtedly have fun being able to play these titles on the go with your GBA. Yet as a gamer today brought up on the likes of F.F.X and other stellar RPGs, the ridiculous amount of random encounters, (though easy as they may be) coupled with minimal story and character development will leave most bored without any real reason to add this to their game library. My suggestion is if you want to really play Final Fantasy I pick up a NES and hit up Ebay for a challenging adventure. If you really have the desire to pick up Final Fantasy II you could do worse than this nice little package.