Finally did it. I took this on a trip along with a professional reprint of the 1987 DnD-lookin-ass guidebook and fumbled my way through it. Its such a vibe the music is so good in this version, just goes to show what a capable team put it together that after so many years and so many iterations, the original can still shine.

That last dungeon is an absolute fucker though. Even with the 4x exp mulitplier i had to grind for an afternoon.

Would hearilty recommend though.

Final Fantasy I is a lovely game. It's not really all that complex, in fact, most of the story is just very standard "heroes must go on a journey and restore order" but it works because the game very much centers around the idea of it being YOUR journey. It's very charming. The dungeons are simple and effective. The progression feels natural. The towns and NPCs add enough charm to make the world feel alive. Also, the music is stellar and adds a lot to the world. The combat and customization is also pretty neat; not overly complicated, but still fun... FF1 just does a great job of being short, sweet, and to the point. Nothing overstays it's welcome, and while it's not the best game ever, it holds up really well as an entry for this legendary franchise.

I liked this remaster a lot. The rearranged music is very beautiful, and the pixel graphics look sweet. I also got the Platinum during this run and it was cool. It's pretty dang easy to get, although the RNG with spawning monsters (needed to 100% the Bestiary) was being kind of a bitch to me... made the run like 2 hours longer than it needed to be, but the rest of the trophies were so easy I can't really complain. Overall, this is just a timeless game and I can easily revisit it :)

Played on Nintendo Switch with the default party setup of Warrior, Thief, White Mage and Black Mage. Found and looted every treasure chest in the game, but only encountered 123/128 monsters on the bestiary, as I didn't care to attempt spawning the rarer ones. Got Bahamut to upgrade my party's jobs, and beat the final boss with my party at Lvl. 46. Though the remaster gives you the option, I did not use the EXP or Gil boosters, my grinding was legitimate; I did, however, disable encounters in the overworld occasionally, so that I didn't waste time and over-level.

Let me just say that I'm happy I had the opportunity to enjoy the original Final Fantasy on a modern platform, with numerous accessibility options that make it less of a slog. This game hasn't aged perfectly, but having the option to turn off enemy encounters, enable auto-battle, view a map at all times, read the bestiary, and multiply the money & experience you earn are all great ways to allow more people to enjoy it. Most of all, I really enjoyed the new music arrangements; they're masterful renditions of tracks from an already great OST, and raise the bar for remakes of retro soundtracks. My only complaints are that the new pixel art is a bit of a mixed bag, and that both of the font types are too small, but other than that, this is the ideal way to experience the game some 35 years after the original.

Now, onto the game itself. This is an old RPG after all, and because of this there are some aspects that haven't held up terribly well. At the beginning, there's a dancing girl near the fountain in Cornelia who gives you tips on where to head next. I thought this was a great way of guiding the player, and appreciated the devs' foresight, but not very far into the game, she stops offering advice and leaves the rest up to you. It's not easy to know where to go next, and you might end up circling every continent's coast like I did, or miss a key item from a cave halfway across the map. Unless you've played the game before or plan on investigating on your own, you'll want to consult a guide after restoring the Earth Crystal, because the solutions are very cryptic at times, and the land itself often leads to nowhere (which would've been a huge pain had I not turned off encounters every so often). You're going to end up talking to as many NPCs as possible, and their dialogue ranges from silly little quips to absolutely vital info, yet many of them look indistinguishable from one another. Yeah, just read a guide, the alternative isn't worth the time and effort.

On the other hand, there some aspects of FF1 that have held up splendidly. The boss battles are a lot of fun, and you can see just how much of the groundwork for strategizing turn-based battle was established right here. I also really liked the progression of travel: going from walking everywhere, to sailing across the seas, canoeing up rivers, and finally, riding an airship through the sky. The dungeons aren't good, often being filled with empty rooms and dead-ends, but the magma floors in Mount Gulg that encouraged me to carefully plan out my path was a fun gimmick. Lastly, there's a nice variety of items available for purchase, even some handy tonics that boost your defense or attack power. As long as I had the guide to help me solutions, Final Fantasy was not boring.

This game is a neat little piece of history, and one that I'm glad was made accessible to me. I'm not willing to recommend it to just about anyone, but for those who love the Final Fantasy series or just RPGs in general, I say give it a shot. It's not very long, so it's more than likely that it'll be worth your time.