The 2D FF's

I've beat some of the older FF's: the real 4, 5 and 6. They were fantastic. They weren't perfect and did have a few flaws, but no game is perfect. I thought six was probably the best, but four was my favourite for some reason.

I've not ever played the first three, though.

I was planning to get Final Fantasy 1 and 2 on the PSP, but I've heard so many bad things from them so I'm not sure wether I will or not. I see a majority of people saying they're both the worst FF's, so I'm not sure wether I'll get the cash out for them or just go buy something I know is gonna be good.

I've not heard much about FF3, but from what I know, the only English translation of it is on the DS? So I guess not as many people would've played it. I've only heard that you should skip this game completely because if you wanna beat it you'll have to grind like crazy...

Anyone who has played/beat any of the first three, what're your thoughts?

I've beat some of the older FF's: the real 4, 5 and 6. They were fantastic. They weren't perfect and did have a few flaws, but no game is perfect. I thought six was probably the best, but four was my favourite for some reason.

I've not ever played the first three, though.

I was planning to get Final Fantasy 1 and 2 on the PSP, but I've heard so many bad things from them so I'm not sure wether I will or not. I see a majority of people saying they're both the worst FF's, so I'm not sure wether I'll get the cash out for them or just go buy something I know is gonna be good.

I've not heard much about FF3, but from what I know, the only English translation of it is on the DS? So I guess not as many people would've played it. I've only heard that you should skip this game completely because if you wanna beat it you'll have to grind like crazy...

Anyone who has played/beat any of the first three, what're your thoughts?

Emurozii

I would say that Final Fantasy 1 is not a bad game by anymeans. FF1 does not have the most complex plot granted like later FFs, but it is still a solid game and its fun to play around with. Its pretty straight forward and it is a bit grind heavy but it is still a very solid game. FF2 though is a disaster, an unimitigated mess of a game that I would avoid at all costs. FFIII having played the famicom version is more in line with FF1 however it is where one of the greatest staples of the FF series made its an appearance and thats the Job system which is just fun to play with. It is grind crazy though...

If you are still interested in getting the original Final Fantasy there are numerous options in playing it. You can track it donw for the NES, but it uses battery back up so it may not be the most reliable for saving games. The original NES version is also on the Virtual console if you want it in its purest forms though too. You could also track down it on the PSX final Fantasy origins compilation, the PSP One(I would avoid this one personally, just cause of the price), there is a DS cartridge that has both FFI and 2 which is not bad. You can also get it on an ipod touch or Iphone if you have one of those as well. I also know its available for droid and black berries as well. So again I would reccomend the original FF and not the second one. If you want to play the third just get the DS remake.

The early FF's aren't bad, they're just....early lol. At that point, sprawling narratives didn't really exist and story presentation was not as refined. The old RPGs have more of a focus on grinding and dungeons than story and characters. Still, they're a good play and they show you the framework for what was to come.

the first 2 aren't bad.. but it is a little boring some times.. i have never played the 3rd one tho

I enjoy them quite a bit. With that being said you kind of have to be a FF fan to really want to go back and play them. They are raw games that didn't really have much of a story to get in to but are rewarding and a lot of fun to play.

You can't really criticize the older FF games because they are the games that started it all. They evolved from that point.

You can't really criticize the older FF games because they are the games that started it all. They evolved from that point.

Dahaka-UK

You can clearly criticize FF2 no matter what. how so? Well even for its time the game was unmitigated mess with a broken level up system that can easily be manipulated by the player. Lets compare that to say the FF1 or the orginal Dragon Quest, where those games may be simple but atleast they did not have such a broken unmitigated level up system like FFII did. So yes you can clearly criticize the old FF games....Particularly two when comparing it to other games of the time, its a mess....

ff1 is still one of my favorite ff's. just being able to choose your character class combinations makes the replay value high. i've always enjoyed these

1 fighter,1 black belt, 1 b mage, 1 wh mage
2 fighters, 1 b mage, 1 wh mage
1 fighter, 1 thief, 1 wh mage, 1 b mage

I see FF, and I think Fantastic Four. I'm a comic geek first, and a gamer second. I thought someone was gonna give me the rundown on the first Fantastic Four game, either released for SNES or PSX, can't remember which, it was right in that time period. But I never got to play it.

I haven't played I or II, but recently played the NES version of III with an English patch. It was the most difficult of the FF games that I've played, but there were only 3 instances in the game that grinding was necessary, and one of them was for an optional dungeon. All I really had to do was fight every battle entered, with the exception of those that were clearly best to run from.

Story wise, FFIII is simplistic, as to be expected. This being said it had some good moments, almost on par with moments in FFIV for me.

The job system was also rather nice. There are certain segments where you are strongly influenced to use certain classes to succeed, but for much of the game you can use whichever classes you prefer and get by.

*** Mild gameplay spoilers here***

Some of the diffiuclty in the game is due to a few creative although frustrating dungeon design decisions. Before FFIII I'd never played an RPG that forced me to complete multiple dungeons with a crippling status ailment on the entire team. (There are at least 2 in FFIII that force your team to be in mini status)

***End spoilers here***

One serious complaint I have about the game is the final boss though. It took me about 2-3 hours to get to it with no save points available, and I then lost because of the boss' damage dealing capability. It's one of the simplest battles I've ever played, but if your team doesn't have adequate health/healing capability, your basically dead on arrival. I don't know if I'll ever finish the game because of this, as my party will need 3-4 levels of grinding before starting the final dungeon again in order to win, which isn't really worth the wasted time to me.

Overall I enjoyed the game and would recommend it to people who enjoy the FF series. Aside from the final boss the game was quite enjoyable, and while short there is some potential for replayability due to the number of jobs available.

[QUOTE="Dahaka-UK"]

You can't really criticize the older FF games because they are the games that started it all. They evolved from that point.

TheTrueMagusX1

You can clearly criticize FF2 no matter what. how so? Well even for its time the game was unmitigated mess with a broken level up system that can easily be manipulated by the player. Lets compare that to say the FF1 or the orginal Dragon Quest, where those games may be simple but atleast they did not have such a broken unmitigated level up system like FFII did. So yes you can clearly criticize the old FF games....Particularly two when comparing it to other games of the time, its a mess....

[QUOTE="TheTrueMagusX1"]

[QUOTE="Dahaka-UK"]

You can't really criticize the older FF games because they are the games that started it all. They evolved from that point.

Dahaka-UK

You can clearly criticize FF2 no matter what. how so? Well even for its time the game was unmitigated mess with a broken level up system that can easily be manipulated by the player. Lets compare that to say the FF1 or the orginal Dragon Quest, where those games may be simple but atleast they did not have such a broken unmitigated level up system like FFII did. So yes you can clearly criticize the old FF games....Particularly two when comparing it to other games of the time, its a mess....

From what I understand the game was not that well recieved in Japan. None the less, if you find things to exploint you can easily exploit them, so I am sure people found them. As for the FF1 and 2 remake, you can still exploit sadly in FF....

I have them one PSP which are great. I do kinda of like the old school RPG. I would try to hunt down the originals on their original formats (which is hard to do) but I'm a collector. If you just want to play them the a downloadable format is your best bet. In terms of convenience

I first got into FF when number 10 came around. After that, I wanted to check out all the other FFs. So I checked out FFs 4, 5 and 6 and to tell you the truth, the only 2D FF I got into was 6. I dont know, I cant really get past those early graphics. Do forgive me though because I grew up playing in the N64 and PS1 era. Its tougher for me to take an epic story seriously when they are just sprites running around.