Hey all it’s Kern here! I’m coming at you with a game review of Final Fantasy. Yep… we need to go back to where it all started. These days the game is kind of messy and doesn’t hold up the way slightly later titles do, but let’s not judge it too harshly… it did after all save Square Soft’s butt back in the day… lol.

These days, we know them as Square Enix, but back then, they were just a tiny, assumed to be doomed company.

Before we begin, this game has had a lot of ports, but this article here is a pretty staunch defender of the classic title, and it’s worth a read if you want to know about the more modern port of the game.

A Franchise Born on the NES

Final Fantasy is a 1987 fantasy role‑playing game developed by Square for the NES. At the time, Square was practically bankrupt and this game was their last ditch resort. Needless to say, the game was a hit and it saved the company. It also launched what would become one of the best‑selling video game franchises in history… but that’s another story… one we will get to as I review this franchise in earnest.

Now, I’ve played a lot of Final Fantasy games over the years, and my first Final Fantasy game ever was Final Fantasy VI (or FFIII for the NES). I was much older when I played the original game. When I fired up the NES original, I didn’t have high hopes. I mean, the game came out all the way back in 1987. It was all pixels and a prayer. There were absolutely no CGI cutscenes, no espers or materia, and no iconic characters as we know them today…

Beyond that, jobs and abilities were hugely limited. There was only a White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, Thief, Warrior and a Black Belt to choose from when you begin the game, although these jobs change to what FFXI and FFXIV would know of as advanced jobs as you play through the original Final Fantasy.

That being said, since this game set the baseline you can see a lot of the standard Final Fantasy DNA here, along with other role-playing games of the era. Anyway, I fully expected it to feel clunky, flat, and a bit painful… and to be fair, it is…. it’s the very first game, after all.

So, I find that being the first game in such a long running and beloved franchise forgives a great deal, and it excuses Final Fantasy too due to age.

Hey, it’s not like I didn’t have my biases against the game, either. For example, without buying gear or magic, you’ll die almost instantly in the over world. Now, most FF games assume you might do that, and gives you a very basic set of gear to begin with unless you happen to be a very special breed of clunky (Final Fantasy XI, looking at you my beloved MMO diamond in the rough… but, seriously, WTF?!)

I digress… anyway, at least there was one thing players had to help them out a fair bit. Fun fact, did you know the original Final Fantasy came with a beautiful full-color, 89-page manual? It didn’t come with just basic instructions, this thing had it all. I’m talking full on mechanics here; total spell breakdowns, beautiful maps, and all of it decently laid out. The book even included a fairly decent walk-through for most of the game.

Seriously, if you’re going to play the original Final Fantasy, or any of its iterations/remasters, then use that book or an online guide to help out a little. Although, maybe I’m partial to it, there’s just something about sitting in front of a guide, feeling the pages between your fingertips, with a controller in your lap, you know?

I did that with a lot of games growing up, and it’s how I learned to read, actually. I didn’t always write book reports, I wrote full on “game reports” since there’s more reading in one of those games than an average children’s book I got away with it too, lol…

In any case, let’s really talk about just how ambitious this game really is. It is a bit clunky without the guide, I must admit, but let’s chat about what they got right, and horrifically wrong.

The Good, The Bad, the WTF!

First of all, this game is all the standard Final Fantasy joys reduced down to their most simple components… we’re talking towns, dungeons, vehicles, and elemental temples, job classes, and other retro rpg set pieces.

You build your own team in the first game. Four characters, six jobs to choose from, and your choices actually matter a lot.

To rehash, the jobs are: Fighter, Thief, Black Belt, White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage.

Pick wrong, and the game punishes you. Pick right, and it rewards you with just enough flexibility to survive the punishing grind… and yeah, say it with me now…

“Level grind, level grind, makes you lose your freakin’ mind!”

Yeah, the grind is the real deal. This is an old-school RPG, you’re going to be grinding a lot. You need it for your cold hard cash (Gold in this case it wouldn’t be called Gil until later), leveling up, and even just to get from place-to-place enemy encounters can happen a lot. I’ve personally always felt that a sense of slow growth is so satisfying, but here it does feel like a little bit too much.

It’s a slog really…

These characters don’t really have firm personalities, it doesn’t feel as rewarding to level them up. We just don’t have a Sabin Figaro or Cloud Strife to bank on here.

Still, in a general sense at least, every step forward feels earned. Every spell slot, every upgrade, every boss victory… yeah, sure, it fits just fine and dandy. To some degree, it felt like it mattered “enough”, which for the first game ever from a failing company in bankruptcy says a lot.

Without fully fleshed out characters though, the story is downright bare-bones.

You’re the Warriors of Light, just without the bombastic plot of FFXIV. Of course, there are monsters and a big baddie in your way. This screen here basically tells you all you need to know about the over all plot:

Erm, yeah… that’s about it.

I know, I know, I just described most RPGs of the era, and of course I did… that was the standard formula back in the day, more or less. Honestly, I can’t fault it too badly. The simplicity actually works, and not everyone is like me, demanding heavy and thoughtful plots in their games.

Final Fantasy doesn’t care if it’s got a rich story, it isn’t pretending to be deep. It won’t pull off philosophical themes or cinematic twists. In that way, it may just be the perfect Final Fantasy game for some players.

Where the game really does well is within the overall mechanics and gameplay loop. Although, the game can be hard for those that don’t play rpgs. There are five different ways to travel: walking, canoe, boat, airship, and even teleportation. Without a story, that’s part of why it’s so easy to get lost…

The dungeons are punishing too. Some of them are just straight-up downright brutal and will wipe the floor with you if you go in unprepared. Stock up, seriously…

Stock up!

You’re going to hit battles with preemptive strikes, and some of those hit way harder than you’d think they would. There are no Phoenix Downs in this version (another downside), so if someone dies, your only option is to hike your happy ass all the way back to town and pay to revive them… not a fun thing to do, really.

If half your party gets wrecked halfway through a dungeon, that’s it! You’re kissing your butt goodbye on a game over… either that, or you’re pulling a clinch-kill in that final half with pure luck and gumption alone.

Let’s not pretend the game doesn’t have massive flaws where it counts too. Because it absolutely does. A lot of them. Stats like Intelligence? Erm, they kinda don’t really work… like, at all. As for spells like TMPR and SABR? Those are a real fart in the wind… and it only gets worse from there when it comes down to issues.

Overall, when you’re talking about general Crit rates, those are supposedly tied to weapon position in the data table, which means cheap early weapons are sometimes the absolute best.

Also, basic potions suck hardcore… so there’s that. Enemies can stack large numbers during an encounter (hence the grinding, alllll the grinding).

Then, of course, we have the little spell related issues. Spell slots are so limited, you’ll be rationing magic in ways that can be annoying just on principle… but, that’s the nature of the game and a product of its time.

The problems aside though, combat is pretty basic but a lot of turn based systems are… not much to say about it really. If you’re a fan of old school RPG’s you know roughly what you’re in for.

So… Is It Worth Playing?

Yeah… yeah it is… more or less…

Look, it’s a clunky old fart, to be sure… but, it’s an old fart of a game that deserves recognition, and I’ll give it that.

Final Fantasy on the NES is a rough game to play for some people, but it’s rough in that lovable, if amazingly groundbreaking way that early gaming classics are.

Yes, it does often miss the mark… but think of it more like a beta for what Final Fantasy as a franchise would one day become.

Personally, I can feel the ambition behind every mechanic. I can see what the devs were trying to do, even when game failed to fully accomplish it. failed to do it… and to me, that makes it a special little gem worth playing.

Despite the bugs, the balance issues, the grind, hardly any decent characterization, and even less in the way of guidance, not to mention the glitches, this game is an achievement onto itself.

No matter what we might think about it, Final Fantasy put Square Soft (now Square Enix) into the long lived gaming studio we know and love it to be… even when they still succumb to janky ideas that needed more time to cook (Thank you Dawn Trail).

I was pretty harsh on this game though, so let me put a little balm on the wounds I just sliced into it by leaving a fan song here:

This has been Kern of The Demented Ferrets, where stupidity is at its finest and level grinds are par for the course. I’ll see you next time! For now, check out some other stuff below and don’t forget to support us on Patreon! We’ve got a $1 tier, and every little bit helps!

YouTube Playlists of Interest:

FAIL: Fallen Angels in Limelight – rock, glam rock, hard rock.
City of Shadows Album 1 – A musical story about two cities joining together as one deep in the desert. A literal tyrant has come to lay claim to the city, and an uprising occurs.
City of Shadows Album 2 – The exciting continuation of City of Shadows. Time to set out and travel the world! This story is ongoing, with song releases every Wednesday and Friday.
Roll for Glory Album – An album dedicated to the wonderful world of DnD, and the fictional band in “Thunderous Power Kicks” (T.P.K) led by their fearless leader and Bard.
RWBY Fan Songs – Fan made songs for the RWBY series encompassing several musical styles. (Kern’s on going project).
Video Game Fan Songs – Fan made songs about video games spanning a wide variety of gaming genres and song styles (Kresh and Kern’s ongoing project).
Ferret’s Synthwave – Songs with a Synthwave vibe.