Around 1986-1987, a little company by the name of Squaresoft, or simply just Square, was in deep trouble. They were facing the threat of bankruptcy, and while they had previously made several previous titles that were somewhat noteworthy at the time, such as Rad Racer, King’s Knight, and The 3-D Battles of WorldRunner, none of those games were successful enough to keep the company afloat, coupled with plenty of other factors that would play a part in this. With a single spark of hope still remaining in them, they had decided to give it one last shot, to develop one final game that would decide the fate of their company. If it had succeeded, they would go about business as usual for the foreseeable future, but if it hadn’t, they would close their doors forever and become a forgotten studio of the past. It was quite a gamble, to be sure, but one that they were willing to take. And so, in 1987, Square would go onto release that game for the NES, known simply as Final Fantasy.

I’m sure we all know where the story goes from here: the game was a smash hit, it allowed Square to keep making games, and since then, the series has become the flagship franchise for Square, now Square Enix, and has been going strong all the way up to this day, with the latest title, Final Fantasy XVI, just releasing a few months prior to me typing this. The series has evolved in many ways over the years, both good and bad, and despite the many, MANY hurdles it went through, it is considered by many to be one of the best RPG series of all time, and even one of the greatest video game franchises of all time. But, with all that being said, how does the original Final Fantasy, from all the way back on the NES, hold up after all this time? Well… it is good… but it has definitely aged A TON since 1987. It did introduce a lot of elements that would be a staple in not just this series, but for RPGs in general, and it can be fun to go back and play every so often, but many will agree with me when I say this is definitely not the first title you would go back to when revisiting older Final Fantasy games, and even if you were to go back to this one, it wouldn’t be with this version.

The story is extremely basic for an RPG, about four chosen heroes on a quest to restore their respective crystals involving the four elements, and saving the land from the forces of evil, but I will give it some slack, seeing as it was the story for the first game in the series, the graphics are pretty good for the time, not being too impressive when compared to other titles, but providing that sense of wonder and adventure that visuals like this need to provide, so it works, the music is iconic, with plenty of main staple tracks of the series being introduced here, and many of these tracks are still great to listen to now, even if they have been made better in subsequent remakes, the control is… exactly what you would expect from an RPG, so no need to discuss it any further, and the gameplay is… also exactly what you would expect from an RPG, but it helped evolve it in ways not seen previously, and would help make the genre a mainstay in many players’ eyes.

The game is a classic role-playing-game, where you take control of four player characters that you give unique names to, as well as choose their own class of warrior for out of six choices, you travel around a large world filled with plenty of towns, dungeons, and more, talk to NPCs, buy items and equipment to give you an advantage in battle, gather plenty of other helpful items that will allow you to explore more of the world, and of course, get caught in a series of random battles, where you and your party take on a wide assortment of creatures, using main attacks, magic, items, and your own strategy to take down these monsters, gain gil + experience, and level up. Now, this is all stuff we have all seen in RPGs before, and plenty of other games before this, such as Dragon Quest, also did a lot of the stuff that this game does, but as any RPG fan knows, execution is one of the big factors that defines whether an RPG is good, and the original Final Fantasy has a pretty great execution.

The game does make it feel like you are going on an epic journey across this world, not only due to the many faces you meet and interact with, but also with the opening sequence seen after beating the first dungeon and setting off into the world. It may not seem like much for players nowadays, but I’m sure back in the day, this was more than enough to get a player sucked into what they were about to experience. What also helps is that the game still plays pretty well, having a basic RPG formula that many can understand and get a feel for pretty quickly, and with all the stuff that you can get not just from battles, but exploring more of the world laid out to you, it definitely keeps you wanting to move on and see what more you can find. This is also made better with the fact that, halfway through the game, your entire party is given a substantial upgrade, where you all now look much more badass, and have plenty more skills that you can dish out on monsters, giving a sense of progression that feels extremely satisfying, especially for someone like me who doesn’t typically play traditional RPGs all that much.

In addition to this, while it doesn’t do too much different when compared to other RPGs at the time, what it does change up does make the game feel more enjoyable. Pretty much every other RPG before this always had battles take place in a first-person-view, which was cool and all, but it does leave a lot to be desired in terms of how battles can be shown. In this game though, battles now take place from a side view, where you can not only see your opponents, but also your entire party at once. Again, it may not seem like much, but it does add that little extra bit of flavor to make it more exciting, seeing these characters that you made and helped get more powerful take on these fearsome foes, and feeling satisfied whenever they do gain experience from these fights, while doing their victory dance after every fight. And finally, this game does have plenty of replayability, with the previously mentioned selection of classes that you can give to your four warriors upon starting the game. This makes it so that you can make whatever kind of team you want, whether it be a varied team with four different classes brought together, or maybe even a team full of people of only one class. It is neat seeing what kind of combinations you can make, how they will fair in battle, and also finding the right set of characters that suit your playstyle.

With all that being said though, any fan of both Final Fantasy and RPGs in general can all agree with me when I say this game has issues. While this game did a lot of things to benefit and popularize the RPG genre, nowadays, it is pretty bland in comparison to plenty of other games not just in the genre, but in later sequels. That is to be expected, of course, but it can make going back to the original game more difficult for those curious about the series. In addition, this game can be pretty fucking brutal at times. There will be plenty of instances where you will be bombarded by a whole gang of enemies, even up to 9 of them, and they can easily take you down if you aren’t careful, with there being plenty of times where they can gang up on one party member, and kill them immediately. And speaking of which, whenever a character dies, you can’t just simply revive them with a Phoenix Down like in other titles in this series. The only way you can revive them is by going to churches in the towns of the game. So, basically, if you are deep into a dungeon, and one of your party members happens to die in a battle, you have to go alllllllllll the way back to a town just to revive them. That pretty much means you will be FUCKED, as it is pretty difficult to get back to a town when you are caught in this scenario, let alone get out of the battle you are currently in unscathed if the dead party member just so happens to be your strongest one.

And finally, I must stress this: if you are planning on checking out the original Final Fantasy at any point in the future, don't play the NES version. That’s not to say that the original version is a bad version, as it is still perfectly playable, but anyone who has played it compared to any other version knows that it is pretty busted. For example, a lot of the magic spells and stats just straight up don’t work, such as the case of intelligence doing nothing whatsoever, and some spells do the exactly opposite of what they are supposed to do, which can be bad when you use them on a tough foe. In addition to this, some of the classes in the game are completely useless compared to others, such as the case with the Thief class. Not only does the class not have the ability to steal anything, making the class’s entire existence a fucking joke, but it also has no access to magic in the first half of the game, and while it is supposed to make running from battles easier, OOPS, that doesn’t work either! So yeah, needless to say, if you are going to play the original Final Fantasy, play one of the remakes, preferably the Pixel Remaster, since it is the most accessible. Trust me, you will have a much better time with it.

Overall, despite having plenty of issues that hold it back from true greatness, as well as there being plenty of updated remakes that make this version obsolete, the original Final Fantasy for the NES is still a good time, and I did enjoy my time with it when revisiting it, even if I will never be touching it ever again after this review, and sticking to other versions of it. I would recommend checking it out for hardcore fans of not just Final Fantasy or hardcore fans of the original game, but also for major RPG nuts as well, but for those who are just casual fans of Final Fantasy or RPGs, then there are definitely much better versions out there. But hey, at least we can appreciate the game for saving Square in their time of need and allowing them to still develop not just this series, but plenty of other games all the way up to this day. Let’s just hope they can keep up this level of quality and increase it further with the next game to come after this. I mean, they couldn’t POSSIBLY screw that one up, right?

Game #366

This seems to be more popular than I had assumed. I think it is the third Batman game I've done thus far, but the other two have less plays on here. I do prefer them, but this one is pretty cool too for sure. It reminds me a lot of Journey to Silius in particular, which is very nice compared to a lot of the NES library.

Just one thing, it's absurdly fucking hard. Like, brutal for 80s standards even. Manageable early on, but the clock tower for example is a total nightmare as are the two last bosses directly afterwards (and if you have to use a continue on them, you're back at the start of the tower). It's not as hard as like, Battletoads or Ghosts n' Goblins or something, but it's definitely worth a mention and not super far off from those two. I'd probably like it more if it was a bit toned down in that field, but maybe I'm just a scrub or whatever.

There are two constants to internet culture: Impact font memes, and the insatiable bloodlust to ascribe solid-but-unconventional sonic games to an abomination against humanity. No case is more clear than with Labyrinth, which gets constantly lauded as the absolute bottom of the franchise's barrel because gamers have zero literacy and can only judge games in hypothetical voids.

Sonic Labyrinth is good.

"But you go so slow" No you don't, the spindash is right there. "But it's so wild and uncontrollable" Uh, get good? Sorry, can you say 'skill issue'? Filtrado? Shit and poop and fart?? It goes in a straight line, you curve it slightly with the d-pad, or stop it with a button. Sonic skids to stop and you have to anticipate that in advance when on the move. That's not janky controls. That's not a lack of testing. That's game design. Learn it, sillies. The contrast between slow walking and risky spindashes DEFINES Labyrinth's design economy: It's an intentional juxtaposition. You can't think of it as platforming, it's more akin to golf: Spindashes are your putt, and walking is for modifying your lay on the green. You are playing a nonstop, high-speed game of mini-golf. Every level is designed intimately around this, with wide boxed areas divided by slopes, doors, springs, and other railed transportation devices. You can't divorce control methods from the environments they are contained in; they're tangential to each other, and Sonic's controls work for these levels, period.

The REAL problem is the last few levels, which are just genuinely terrible, giving 'Labyrinth' its name, expecting you to trudge through poorly-directed mazes of teleporters and gates. 4-3 is basically unbeatable without a map and is what people THINK this game is.

Bosses ain't too hot either, but at least they're easy, with the one exception being 2-4's crab (which SUSPICIOUSLY looks like a gadget twins enemy). The Eggman robot with a feathered helmet is fucking ridiculous-looking; Robotnik commited too hard to the castle bit.

One other critique is the length and visual variety; 4 zones is kinda slim, even as someone who prefers short games. And of those levels, there's only a small amount of level palettes that they distribute between them. There's a lack of distinction per zone that creates the same sense of world other Sonic games have.

Anyway, bottom line, it's good. I stand my ground that careening through its levels is really cathartic, at least until endgame. If you took Kirby's Dream Course and made it a real-time platform game, this is it: The textbook example and a great exercise for it. I think people should have more open-mindedness for the way Sonic games are designed instead of shutting themselves off because it's dissimilar to the traditional speeds and flows that define the classics. People are fully capable of understanding divergent or intentionally discomforting gameplay schisms for so many other franchises, and I will never understand why Sonic specifically is the one who cannot be blessed with that same respect.

I missed out on a lot of platformers after the fifth generation of video game consoles. Never owned a PlayStation 2 at the time. Thus, IP's such as Sly and Ratchet alongside a certain J. series. Were some franchises I never played. In order to rectify such a mistake. I decided to play another Naughty Dog(ND) platformer except in a 3D open-world environment. with Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy for the first time.

Gone are the restricted side-scrolling segments we were forced to endure in Crash Bandicoot 1 and disconnected world through warping in 2 and 3. Jak feels like a natural evolution from the studio's PS1 days and wickedly refreshing with a narrative starting with an act of disobedience. Against the elders' warnings, the protagonists travel to a forbidden island. There the two witness mysterious figures who are sinisterly planning some horrible deed using dark eco and precursor artifacts. Knowing this is well above their usual tomfoolery the duo try to leave. However, before sneakily trying to leave the island... they were ambushed! The events that follow from here have the titular characters embark on a vital quest to fulfill for the elder, any side-missions to complete, and uncover what dastardly plans those two figures were plotting.

The world design is richly goofy. But has a certain serious aesthetic I like. To the extent I was venturing off the beaten path considerably to see what secrets lay in store for me. I bravely ventured into a diverse amount of biomes: A jungle with an old ruin, murky swamp, underwater laboratory, volcano with a spider-cavern, and a snowy peak, with huge snowballs rolling down a path to riding a hoverbike on racing segments and one larger zone to go ham. Reminded me heavily of Spyro using a skateboard. Seems ND was a fan of that and devised their take on a particular basin. Battled a wide assortment of foes from goofy but deadly frogs, drill enemies, shield dudes, not cute at all blue jumping rabbits, long centipedes, and the good old regular animals, but naughty dogified in every biome. Worms, bats, spiders, rats. You name it! Sooner or later they shall appear! Heck faced quite a bit of environmental hazards from falling to my death, being shot by smog, lava deaths, or shocked to a crisp. Not quite quicksand but quickmud. Encountered spiked traps, and spiked logs swaying from trees, and overcame countless jumping sections within. Not too hard and not too easy thankfully. Didn’t see much if any copy paste from the enemy design or world design. Everything was consistently varied and the final zone itself proved a serviceable final act.

Concerning the gameplay loop. I would say it’s consistently fun from the beginning until the very end credits. The open world without any loading aside from using fast travel when you need to is a plus. Allowing anyone to venture as far as they can within reason. The plot will stop you from venturing further until you accrue enough power cells. A collectible item and usually one that stops you from exploring more biomes until they reach a certain number. Didn’t have trouble getting these since I was already forgetting about the main quest to complete some side missions offered by NPCs here. Individuals who look similar to J-man. Although, he doesn’t look like a regular human. To me, he seems like a cross between a mad scientist trying to combine an elf and a human resulting in a humanoid with long ears and inheriting an athletic body to boot. Tasks can range from moving bulls into a pen, pushing an egg, doing a favor for a future mayor, or a fishing dude in a mini-game. I enjoyed finishing these day-to-day jobs since a majority are elderly. Didn’t feel right to leave them to their struggle. And I didn’t mind giving a helping hand for a power cell after the job was done. Thus, my reward felt adequate for my services rendered. Aside from the cells, you can also come across other collectible precursor orbs. Think of these like the apples from the Crash series you’ll often find on the paths, tucked away around the corner, nooks or crannies. Except, you can amass over a hundred to trade them in for a cell. Additionally, scout flies are in special boxes you need to slam into to release the flies. Gather seven of these spread throughout any major level to be awarded a cell. Kinda thankful they're here, so the player doesn’t amass orbs all day ya know?

Furthermore, the world has a varied amount of colored eco. These differ from absorbing orbs changing the gameplay formula in fun ways. They're a temporary power-up granting our main characters a wide array of elemental passives. Blue charges our dudes to move faster, jump a bit farther, and make it so easier to absorb collectibles nearby like a magnet. Red strengthens attacks and invincibility against exploding crates. Plus, a nice interactivity emerges when enemies die. Leaving off green residue for their remains. Once we accrue enough scraps, up to fifty to restore a ⅓ of our health points. In total, we have three health bars. And no finite life stacks to keep track of. Die and you respawn at a nearby point of a large level. Didn’t find too much trouble with re-spawning. They were fine for me. And the inclusion of colored eco’s is gratifying to add spice to the experience. An extra edge in both combat and traversal.

Usually, platformers(broadly speaking) offer some enticing gameplay to differentiate themselves from others in the same genre. To various degrees of enjoyment. Have you noticed other games conduct themselves around their mechanics through level design, encounter's and etc. Below are several examples I pulled from my limited experience in the genre.

- Ape Escape using the analog stick ingeniously. Left stick for movement. Right stick for your gadgets.
- Trine used the stick to coordinate with your allies. The thief can shoot a bow & arrow and a grapple hook in any possible direction when applicable, the knight can block enemies with his shield in any direction, and the wizard can conjure different objects by drawing to help them overcome obstacles or fall on unsuspecting enemies.
- Super Mario 64’s long jump, triple jump, wall jump combined with grabbing, kicking, running, swimming, crouching and etc. proved to be a simple, yet effective formula to endorse player freedom in the whole world.
- Pac-Man World’s shift from the classic game into a 3D landscape works oh so well. Heck P-man can interact with objects, solve puzzles and use new abilities!
- Spyro & Crash's basic movesets were frequently used and tested in various large levels from a hub to straightforward linear segments. Overcoming multiple obstacles both vertical and horizontal. Calling back once again if it ain't broke, don't fix it with sequels largely staying true to the same moves.
- Mirror's Edge smooth parkour capabilities lends itself well into the whole level design employing minimal visual aid to your destination.

Aside from the slew of other platformers. And returning back to Jak. Story-wise I felt the narrative had a stop-and-go momentum. Perhaps owing to the fact, that I completed sidequests along the way while not truly investing in the adventure, making the pacing slow to a crawl. However, the beats in the narrative were like a slow burn in a good way. I think this could be intentional to convey an absence of agency from an immediate save-the-world aspect vs. uncovering a devious plot. Allowing player freedom vs. player urgency to flourish for the former rather than the latter. As someone who adores freedom a great deal in games, such an aspect appealed to me greatly. I don’t like being rushed. Therefore Jak 1 succeeds at least for me in creating a freshly wacky fun world to navigate and a decent story. Unreasonable to expect a masterpiece in the first entry of a new franchise. However, the attempt to do so is noteworthy.

As someone familiar with several PS1 games in the same genre. Although, not an expert or veteran, I was pleasantly surprised how Naughty Dog did not regress in the sixth console generation and boldly made a new IP direction to positive acclaim. Back in the day, I felt plenty of rigidness in their earlier works in how levels were constructed and punishing in a way. Jumping on scaffolding, but hold up we got countless traps, and obstacles to drop us dead. Sure I could use Aku-Aku help, but hey it sucks having to redo a segment ‘x’ amount of times. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Crash series to the point I replayed them in the remastered trilogy. By comparison, Precursor Legacy in my opinion eliminates the rigidity in favoring a more open-freedom in gameplay and combat. The power to go anywhere you physically can is a compelling motivation to fulfill a wanderlust. Exploring what is on the horizon and saying “Oh I can go there.” Busting my athletic skills to their limit. Fluidity at work too. Where I didn’t experience much clunkiness from controlling J & D as one character. Weighty animations from his spin-to-win moves felt satisfying. The long almost Falcon punch from a select Nintendo IP has an immensely awesome feel to wham enemies. Uppercutting and ground slams extend the combat capability of our heroes. Blessing us, a nice reactivity to enemies dying.

Concerning my feelings on platforming. I was initially apprehensive due to the fact I am super horrible at managing timing, and the right jump distance, and easily frustrated if I have to restart a whole level after almost completing a dungeon/level. So after seeing the end credits and witnessing the 100% mark. I couldn’t believe I had the patience and perseverance to keep going. Perhaps owing to the fact the re-spawning mechanic and save system felt very generous, not punishing with ease to let players keep trying. The former mechanic felt quick and would make the duo spawn near the start of a level or a certain point within a zone. Usually after overcoming a major obstacle. The latter on the system feels very safe. In addition to saving at any time. Whenever our main character receives a cell, an autosave will occur. Considering there are over a hundred of these to collect I didn’t find much trouble losing progress upon dying or returning to the original point of death.

I usually die plenty in the Bandicoot games far more in the first and second. Consequently, I was holding my breath and mentally strengthening my willpower if I encountered similar levels of difficulty. To my sheer delight, most if not all platforming levels, sections, and areas are relatively easy to medium in challenging. Some examples I came across were: jumping on dais floating above water and above in mountainous regions. Sometimes moving while the water below is filled with electricity. Falling and rotating in some respects. Camera shifting to a traditional side-scrolling segment. Navigating through falling debris, snowballs, and slides while avoiding exploding crates. Maneuvering through a section to unlock switches, and levers and thus unlocking a new path. Add in timers to complete a task and you may have to think of an optimal route to beat the clock. Trick players into venturing into a dark room and force them to utilize unconventional crystal lights to persevere. Combine these elements in a lesser manner during riding segments and you have a recipe that tastes better as you eat more of the dish. With an excellent difficulty curve for beginners and a nice incline for enthusiasts looking for a challenge to master every level by acquiring everything.

Despite the praise I’ve been sprouting, I do have some mixed feelings. Not a positive or a negative, but some concerns I had during my playthrough I think should be important to note.

In the beginning, I had trouble adjusting to the inverted controls for the camera. But, ultimately got used to the control scheme as an hour or two passed. I felt meaningful collectibles were lacking in rewards. Could be a better incentive to introduce various extensions to temporary powers, permanent move sets, or classic increasing the player with more health would work wonders. Furthermore, I think having a timer for different eco uses is weird. I had to rush constantly to gather new types to utilize during combat. I propose a different alternative. Make the gathered amounts a stock type. Depleting when in use and able to switch between different types when the situation calls for it. Also, I didn’t know there was a secret ending upon gathering everything possible only to reveal a pretty underwhelming scene in the end. Therefore, going for 100% can be a chore in some respects since the collecting aspect doesn't seem to affect the overall gameplay by rewarding the player to search for them. Lastly, the game has a weird texture pop-in. Some textures in the far distance have muddy paint adorned. But upon closer inspection would magically reveal the appropriate textures. And I couldn’t help but feel the game dipped at times. Wonder if there is a definitive version out there to play the series… Well lo and behold OpenGOAL does. A fanmade PC port to play the series with higher fidelity. Currently, at the time this review was published, the team is working on Jak II. Here’s a comparison video I. Am. Amazed. At the difference in quality. While internally slapping myself why I didn’t start the first game with OG’s version. As a result, I recommend checking out the version differences from PS2, PS3, PS4, and unofficial PC port. And select the best one depending on your preference.

Ultimately, despite some minor mixed feelings I had. The overwhelming positives outweigh the concerns by a great deal. Jak’s seamless goofy yet serious, open world is a refreshing 3D experience without being too difficult and not too easy to deter newcomers and veterans. Resulting in a nice curve of challenge in approaching cool-level design. A solid fun gameplay loop kept my interest for a long while and doesn’t overstay their welcome by having enough of their own identity. Distinct from the Bandicoot days. Temporary elemental passives provide a nice spice to the movesets and offer interesting resolutions to tackle both enemies and obstacles. A decent story with a great sense of freedom brings a bright smile to my face constantly. Bringing relief with a generous save system and a painless re-spawn mechanic. Heck, your ottsel companion will incentivize the player upon dying with various quotes. “Don't worry, I'll avenge you! Not...!” “Hey, Jak! Can I, uh... have your insect collection?” Yeah… Oddly motivating.

Still for what it's worth I enjoyed my playthrough with the first installment. Chuckling in amusement at times at the silly things our heroes undergo. I'm looking forward to what awaits me in the franchise. Maybe I’ll dive into Daxter or Jak II next! Anyways! If you’re looking for an excellent platformer from the PS2 days. I recommend Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. Watch how a young foolish duo starts their adventure with an act of disobedience. Tsk tsk. What a naughty d-

8.2/10

References & Additional Material:
Jak and Daxter - PS2 vs PS3 vs OpenGOAL Graphics Comparison
Jak & Daxter PS4 VS PS3 VS Vita VS PS2
Fifth generation of video game consoles
OpenGOAL Jak Project