FelixSH
(He/Him)
I assumed the Black Belt would have been rebalanced, so that it would be a viable option, along with many of the other jobs. At least that was my impression, that most jobs are useful in some way in the remake.
I feel like the Earth Crystal should just have been accessible sooner, anyway. Maybe one or two dungeons earlier, so that you still have time to play around with your new jobs. Because you are right, you don't have much time with them before you get the final two jobs. And Eureka is not treated like a hidden, optional dungeon (which it probably should be anyway). Or, at least, you shouldn't directly run into it. But the game explicitely tells you to go there, Doga and Unei even die for it. There is just no question. Which feels a bit weird, as the stuff in there feels like it should be optional. Which it technically still is, but it just makes no sense not to go into Eureka.
I guess this is just a case of experimentation that doesn't quite come together. Not a big deal, just weird.
Anyway, I started playing FF IV.
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Thus, the Dark Knight
Cecil was expelled from
his command as a Captain
of the Red Wings.
And he and Dragoon Kain
left Baron for the Village
Mist in a valley
enclosed in deep fog.
Airships had been a dream
of many people...
After the realization
of the dream, came
greed and amtition.
Through its fleet of
airships, Baron became
the most powerful nation.
But why is Baron
seeking the crystals?
Why do the monsters
keep increasing...?
The crystal was shedding
its light silently......
Technically, this isn't quite were the game starts, but everything before that is just prologue anyway.Cecil was expelled from
his command as a Captain
of the Red Wings.
And he and Dragoon Kain
left Baron for the Village
Mist in a valley
enclosed in deep fog.
Airships had been a dream
of many people...
After the realization
of the dream, came
greed and amtition.
Through its fleet of
airships, Baron became
the most powerful nation.
But why is Baron
seeking the crystals?
Why do the monsters
keep increasing...?
The crystal was shedding
its light silently......
As a kid, I always knew about JRPGs, and that I wanted to play them. This started when a friend let me play the start of Breath of Fire III, with it's beautiful spritework. I was intrigued ever since, and wanted to play more. But even if I had had a SNES, I would have had no chance to play FF IV or VI. I probably mentioned it already, but FF VII was the first to appear in Europe.
So, when I finally got a PC in 2001 (including access to the Internet for the first time), one of the first things I did was learn about emulators. And soon, I had a bunch of SNES and NES games, which I had never had a chance to play before. My very first game was some card-based DBZ game, because that was my favourite show at the time. But I also soon found the major SNES JRPGs - stuff like Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana, Lufia 2 and, of course, the Final Fantasy games.
As the choices were enormous (I had the whole, unplayed catalogue of SNES JRPGs to choose from), I was a bit paralyzed by choice, and tried out the different games. I also only new the name Final Fantasy, but had only played a bit of FF VII (didn't like it, too dark, not 2D), so they were just three among many other games. I did try out FF IV and V, but only VI caught my attention for real. And even that had to wait, because the game that fascinated me the most was, of course, Chrono Trigger. It had time travel! It looked so pretty!
I'm sure you understand that FF VI and Chrono Trigger just made a BIG impression on me. And, honestly, FF V and IV couldn't compete. From the SNES trilogy, IV was the last one I gave a real chance. I had fun with it, but it also felt hard and looked more like an NES game to me than a SNES game. The comparison to VI was just absurd.
Remember, I was 14 or 15 at the time. I still thought, that Wind Waker looked dumb, because it wasn't super realistic or something. I, thankfully, grew out of that dumb stage eventually.
So, it took me until...dunno, let's say 2003 to play FF IV. But it just felt too old-school to me, and the story, as great as it was when the game came out, was just not that impressive to me. Which is the reason why it became my least favourite FF. I still replayed it later, and even bought a copy of the advance version. I did like the game. I just liked the others more. Except for the NES trilogy, it took me some more time to understand the appeal of JRPGs that old.
So, please keep in mind that, unlike most of the people here, who have played this game as younger kids (I guess?), and had not much experience with the genre, I came at it from the other direction, and had played stuff that built on this game.
Just wanted to get this out of the way, in case I'm more critical of this game than of the earlier ones. From this point on, I have played every game a few times, and this will make me less objective. I will try not to let this get too strong, though.
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One more thing: I had a really hard time deciding, if I should play the SNES or the Advance version, and I will have to decide that for the other two games too. With the NES games, there was never a question: Their remakes were always too different for me to consider them. But here, the advance version seems more in line with the actual game that came out in Japan. The translation is better, Cecils Dark Knight ability isn't gone for no apparent reason and the difficulty was changed. The SNES version is kind of a different game, and the GBA one seems more like the experience that was intended, when the game came out originally.
For that reason, I started to play both versions. No idea if I will keep this up, though. I played both, up to the battle against Octomammoth, and didn't see much of a difference in difficulty. Both were extremely easy, up to this point. And, while the SNES translation is clearly inferior, there wasn't anything missing, except for one excpetion that I will mention later. And DK Cecils ability doesn't really make that much of a difference, at least at the moment. We'll see.
I also like the look of the SNES version more, which seems kind of crazy to me. The GBA version looks basically the same, only more detailed. But then, I saw how flowing water looks in both versions, and the SNES version is clearly supperior there. Really strange, I guess I just don't understand enough about the capabilities of the two systems.
Anyway, on to the actual game.
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The game starts by immediately showing off the SNES capabilities, by showing airships fly with mode 7. I at least think it's mode 7, I don't know much about that, actually. In any case. It looks pretty cool. As do the spells in the automatic battles.
I remember that I always thought, that the crystal Cecil had just taken gave him the magical abilities that he used in the two fights. The GBA translation makes it clear, that he just used items that produced the spells.
Just one more word about the graphics: They still remind me a lot of NES graphics, but you soon notice all the details that make this game look way better than FF III. I don't think I have much else to add here. The spritework is just way more detailed and colored, and the only reason why the difference looks small (at a first look), is that Square got everything out of the Famicom that was possible. FF III just looks really great.
But what I find more interesting than the graphics is, that we immediately make clear that Cecil is a character with a personality. Just the first scene gives him more personality than all your party members in the first three FFs combined. It's a huge jump, and just really impressive coming from the NES games.
We immediately learn, that he is a loyal soldier of the kingdom of Baron, but we also see that he has a good relationship with his crew. He cares for the guy who is going down during the monster attack, and he listens to and shares the regrets of his subordinates. The game positions him immediately as a good soldier and leader.
I find it interesting, that the first victim of Baron is the one city, that avoided being dragged into the war in FF II: Mysidia. Attacking that city makes sense, considering that there are strong mages there.
Back in Baron, we find the new version of Baigan. In FF II, Baigan was a traitor who betrayed Fynn to Palamecia. He was a jerk, and the Baigan here is a jerk too. Cecil just dares to ask, why they attacked people who didn't even defend themselves, and immeditely is stripped of his rank, and sent on a rookie mission. The king, who was once kind and raised Cecil and Kain like they were his sons, has become a jerk too. Hmm, I guess the queen from FF IX is also a reference to an earlier game.
Kain, of course, is characterized as Cecils friend, who tries to defend him, but gets the same treatment. When talking to Kain after that short scene, we learn that his father was also a Dragoon, which is the reason for him to become one. Instead of a Dark Knight like Cecil, who got a higher rank for that reason. This is the part I had talked about, that was just cut in the US version. There, we never learn about Kains father, and his motivation.
We also learn about Cid, the master mechanic who seems to be responsible for building airships in the first place, and who is also friends with Cecil. He seems to be a strict boss, though, his subordinates try to take a break without his knowledge.
The final person we meet is Rosa, a white mage. She and Cecil are clearly in love, but aren't allowed to be together, because he is a Dark Knight. This seems like a plot point that was created, and than immediatelly dropped.
But the scene in the night, when she comes into Cecils room and talks to him is nice. Cecil especially might not be too complex, but again, this is just so much more than we have ever seen in the series. He is ripped apart by his loyalty to a king, who once seemed to have been kind and like a father to him, and his morals. It's good stuff.
In the morning, Cecil and Kain leave, and we are treated by a pretty picture of the landscape (this world has two moons), and the text that I put up, near the start of this post. And, if I'm not completely mistaken, the music is the same "Your exciting adventure starts now!" music, that was used in FF I, when you cross the bridge at the beginning.
One thing I find interesting, is that this also mentions that the militarism of Baron started, when they built airships. Which is basically dropped. The reasons for the militarism are different, and have nothing to do with the advancement in technology, as is implied here. I already feel reminded of FF VII, where this will be the basis of the story. Here, it just seems like an idea that was picked up and dropped again, immediately.
Unfortunately, it seems the easter-egg aspect of the game has been already reduced. The castle only holds a handful of easily found chests, but I have found nothing truely hidden. Similar in the town, no hidden pathways or anything. Here or in the next town, there is some stuff hidden on the ground, but I already miss the hidden ways.
There is a school here, and the series actively teaches us stuff like Chocobos and magical weaknesses directly. We also learn about the Fat Chocobo, and I had a bit of trouble realizing that Gysahl Green was translated as Carrot. Which seems to be still relevant, as the item space is still relatively restricted. I'm curious to find out if I need to store anything.
One of the toned-down aspects of the game is, that there is just a Heal-item for all status effects. Which seems silly, but I don't even mind that much. I don't think it makes that much of a difference, as the inventory management aspect of the game is mainly gone with this game. You can easily buy just all the status recovery items of all kinds, at least if you are a bit into the game. Just giving you one item for them all doesn't seem like big deal. Or are there status effects that you couldn't heal with the singular items, but that is covered by the general heal item?
The characterization goes so far, to give Rosa and Cid their own houses in the city. Rosas mother is either scared or angry, because she knows that we did horrible stuff, and doesn't want Rosa to be dragged into it. And Cids daughter is scared for him, as he always seems to get into fights, when people speak bad of the king. Characterization!
There are Chocobo Woods near Baron, and inside, you find the first non-yellow Chocobo! It's a white one, who will heal your MP. Which is completely useless at the moment. But I'm happy to see that the game is continuously expanding on what Chocobos are and can do.
We also get into our first fight, which are extremely easy. The monsters in both versions are too slow to even get an attack in, and they all die in one hit. It's a good way to get introduced to the ATB. Which suprisingly, has no "Active" and "Wait" modes. You don't even see a bar. But you do learn, that characters attack in different intervals, and that the whole system has completely changed.
The Mist Dragon is, of course, the main tutorial. We learn, that you can actually just wait, and monsters will still act. It's no problem with the dragon, the gimmick is just not to attack it in fog form. But I think It's a well done way of introducing you to this weird, new system.
The whole ATB seems, like it is born out of motivation to do the Hein and Garuda battles from FF III correctly. Especially the Hein battle would work so much better, if the game used an ATB system. The ATB allows you to react way more dynamically to what the enemy does, which allows for more interesting, or maybe gimmicky, boss battles.
It also finally gives you a good way to flee, which was just problematic in the first three games.
I don't see the need to repeat the story beats, everyone here knows what happens. I just want to add that I really like the idea of "if the summon dies, the summoner dies too". Rydia gets introduced in a well-done fashion, and she too, reacts like a character. The game combines mechanics and story really well. We also learn that Rydia is damn powerful, even if she can't access her full power yet.
I don't quite get Kains reaction. He, too, has trouble between being loyal to the king, and acting like a honorable Dragoon. But he also gets angry at Cecil, (something like "I'm not doing this because of you.") which confuses me. There is also a nice bit of differentiation between Cecil and Kain. Cecil immediately tries to be kind to Rydia, and is horrified by what happens. Kain is rougher, and has no time for Rydia being afraid.
The story also moves at a very fast pace, which reminds me of Chrono Trigger. Stuff happens all the time, it's pretty cool.
Of course, Rydia changes pretty fast from "I hate you" to "Ok, I guess I should trust you." But Cecil DOES save her from Barons troops, who want to kill a little girl. At least here it's obvious, that Baron is horrible.
I don't like that Rosa seems to be incapable of being without Cecil, or whatever. Instead of just joining him at the beginning, she comes later (maybe it's just after the earthquake, and she gets scared for him?) and than gets immediately ill. Back in Baron, we also learn that she only became a White Mage to help Cecil. Which, ok, I guess I shouldn't expect too much from such an early game.
BTW, the character models look great. Just wanted to get that out there.
We soon meet Tellah, and learned about his motivation. I'd like to punch him in the face. Not a sympathetic character, really. I mean, Edgar isn't great either, but maybe let your daughter marry the guy she loves.
It's really cool how everyone is now so clearly differentiated from each other, and defined by their jobs. They are parts of their characters. Cecil is a Dark Knight, which means he is strong, but also uses darkness as his weapon (he can't hurt the undead), and people are scared of him. He is just drendged in darkness. Rydia is a young sage, who knows nearly nothing (except how to summon a Chocobo, like the young evoker in the village in FF III!), but she has a ton of unused power, which is shown by her learning new spells nearly every level. You just see her getting stronger every battle, at the start. Tellah is a Sage, which means he has studied magic his whole live. This also means that he is old. It's really neat, and well done. A big step up in terms of story telling, when compared to FF II and III.
The dungeon here feels surprisingly long, and I guess a reason for that is, that we finally have save points. Together with the comeback of tents (there were non in FF III), and the weak monsters, the series has pretty much reached the point, where the ressource management part is pretty much gone. Even with longer dungeons, you just need to put save points into your dungeons. Monsters also die really fast to the right spells. It's probably the first time, that I use it so freely, because I tend to not use finite ressources. In earlier playthroughs, I probably hacked away at everything, maybe except for the flans and zombies (and I probably didn't even use magic for them).
That said, the tiny mages (which I thankfully only encountered one time) are really obnoxious. Ethers are still very finite, and Tellahs spell doesn't give him back many MP from them (I got a single point back). Really annoying jerks, considering that magic is pretty important here.
Octomammoth isn't much of a problem. I'm not even sure if the gimmick does actually exist, but it seems like he hits rarer, the longer you fight, because you slowly hack off his tentacles. It's cool that they have eight different sprites for this boss, even if the head never changes, and the tentacles are probably just arranged differently. But still, it's nice to visually see him getting weaker and weaker.
Well, that's were I am in both versions. As I said, there is no difference in difficulty, both versions were very easy, up to now.
While it doesn't feel as much like distilled fun as FF III, I really enjoyed the beginning of this game. As I said, the story moves very fast and new things happen all the time. I'm looking forward to continue playing.
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