A classic RPG that started one of the best RPG series in gaming history.
THE GOOD
-Great story
-Great music
-Plenty of good weapons and spells
-Epic Boss fights
THE BAD
-Too many random battles
-Not enough experience gained for your troubles with random battles
OVERVIEW
Final Fantasy is a great, classic RPG. From the beginning of the game you find out that the world has been engulfed in darkness. Mass chaos and fear have crippled the people of the world. The only hope they have lies in a prophecy that says, "When the world is in darkness Four Warriors will come..." These Light Warriors have to bring light back into the world and in order to do this they must recover the crystals. On your journey the Light Warriors will encounter different types of people, travel to different places and eliminate the darkness for entire world.
GAMEPLAY
At the beginning of the game you select your party of four (4 Light Warriors) from six character classes. The six classes are Warrior, Monk, Thief, Red Mage, White Mage, and Black Mage. Choose wisely because this is the only time you get to pick the classes for each character. Each character does, however, get an upgrade about three-fourths of the way into the game. The Warrior is your main fighter that is very strong physically and can take a lot of hits. Later in the game the Warrior turns into a Knight which allows him to use some white magic. The Monk is a great fighter (ends up dealing the most physical damage in the end) but doesn't wear any armor which makes him weak defensively. Later he changes to become a Master which doesn't give him anything new. The Thief is a weaker fighter with a higher speed then the rest. Later he changes into a Ninja which allows him to use more weapons, armor and gives him the ability to use some black magic. The Red Mage (later the Red Wizard) is decent at everything. He can use white and black magic along with the ability to wear decent armor and carry decent weapons. The White Mage (later the White Wizard) is your main healer. She can not only keep your party from dieing but do a hefty amount of damage to the undead. Lastly, the Black Mage (later the Black Wizard) is your main nuker. He can use all the black magic until your hearts content.
The leveling system in Final Fantasy works like this. Every time you win a battle your party gains experience. When a character reaches a set limit they level up. When this happens their attributes like strength, HP, evasion, etc... increases but at different rates based on the class of the character. For spell casters, you don't have MP. Instead your current level determines how many times you can use a certain spell before you need to rest. The tougher the spell the less frequent you can cast it before you need to rest again. All equipment and spells can either be found in treasure chests, dropped from enemies or purchased in towns.
The battle system for this game works this way. First, a random battle can happen anywhere, except in towns, and when this occurs all your characters line up on one side and the enemy on the other. All the actions work on a time based system so the enemy can attack at any time. This means you have to act quickly in battle. In each battle you can physically attack with a weapon, use and item, flee from the fight, or cast a spell. One down fall is that the random battles happen way to often which can get old really quick. Also, you don't obtain a lot of experience points from each of the fights which is a real downer. But on the plus side, the bosses that you come across are challenging and rewarding.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
For an NES game this one has pretty good graphics. The level design for the game has a good amount of detail to make you feel like there is plenty to explore.
Great sound. I really enjoyed all the music for this game. Each piece of music fits with the situation involved.
CONCLUSION
I would recommend this classic RPG to anyone. Square Soft has really put together a great game that is easy to pick up and play. You'll have fun helping the Light Warriors vanquish the darkness.