Final Fantasy – Review (iPhone)
With the recent release of Final Fantasy 13 on consoles, the timing couldn’t have been better in giving gamers a chance to experience where the series got it’s start. While Final Fantasy on the iPhone is great for a trip down memory lane, be warned that this new version has received only a graphical overhaul and many standard features that are found in today’s RPGs are nowhere to be found.
Being what is basically the first game in the genre, it can be somewhat forgiven for how simply things start out. You start by selecting four characters of whom you choose a name (limited to six letters) and class. The class balancing seems a bit off, especially when considering the melee classes. The warrior does more damage and can wear better armor than the other two classes. The monk class is completely useless since they are the weakest in melee, wear little to no armor, and can never learn spells. There is also no warning that half way through the game, all bosses become all but immune to melee attacks, so having either a red or black mage in your party is a necessity. Going in knowing these facts will make the end of the game far less frustrating.
Once the game begins, your party of heroes find themselves in a town in need of help. From here, you are posed numerous questions throughout the game and at many points, no direction as to where to find the answers. The random wandering can provide a feeling of discovery, but most of the time it seems tedious.
The battles are exactly what you would expect. Each side selects their attacks and then a round of battle plays out based on how quick each combatant is, which can be fairly unpredictable. Just because your warrior goes before your mage in one battle doesn’t mean it will happen in the next. Using items or casting spells will still occur if assigned to a character even if the their effect becomes useless during the round. For example, if you tell one part member to use a potion on another with low health and that character dies first, the potion will still be used on the dead character and go to waste. Personally, I would have much preferred to give commands to each character only when it was their turn.
The final boss is a reminder that this comes from a time when games weren’t supposed to be beaten. My party was made up of all level forty-seven characters (max is fifty) and the final enemy can one hit kill any of my characters and fully heal himself at any time. After several tries, I came to realize that he could not be beaten by my chosen party and I would have to play the entire game again if I were to have any hope. Since I breezed through the rest of the game without ever losing a battle, the final boss being so strong seemed completely out of place.
Dungeon exploration can be fun but has one drawback: no map. Each dungeon has it’s own tile set, but there is no variety to the walls and rooms, making it very easy to get lost. You also must fight your way back out of every dungeon after reaching the end, which I felt was an unnecessary way to extend the game. I don’t mind exploring my way into a dungeon, but having to explore my way back out without the help of a map can be quite annoying.
The plot is relatively non existent. You play as the four Heroes of Light who must recharge their crystals to save the world. There is no explanation as to why this will save the world, and after the beginning, there is no more story development. Almost every NPC in the game says two things to you, “Here’s what I need,” and, “Thanks for getting it.” It is surprising that in a series that is known for it’s memorable antagonists, the final enemy isn’t revealed until you meet him in battle at the very end of the game. At this point, the game tries to throw a time travel plot twist at you, but it really doesn’t make any sense.
The graphics strike the perfect balance between looking great and remaining old school. Each battle area has a hand painted background and character sprites look great. There is a minimum of actual animation; enemy characters have none at all. They are simply still images that shake or flash when hit. The sounds also keep this same balance. The same amazing Final Fantasy theme song found in all the other games will greet you at the title screen and all the sounds fit the adventure perfectly.
There are a few oddities that slip into the game. The world map button in the menu doesn’t work, but there is a second way to bring it up that is just as simple. The game also suffers from some extreme slowdowns that get worse as you progress through the game. There is no way that this game is pushing the limits of the iPhone, so the slowdowns seems completely unnecessary.
It may seem unfair to judge a twenty-two year old game so harshly, but re-releasing it with little update for full price is inexcusable. The remake of Lunar that just came out on PSP, which gave the entire game a complete overhaul, was 25% cheaper than any new titles on the system. Had Final Fantasy been three or four dollars, these faults could be forgiven. Charging nine dollars when there are so many better RPGs available is completely overkill. Nostalgia and name recognition can only carry you so far. We gamers should expect more for our money.
The Bottom Line
| Pros |
|---|
| Good memories for older gamers |
| Cons |
| Lame plot, Unexplainable slowdowns during gameplay, Poor direction leads to random wandering, Over-priced |
| Verdict |
| May be interesting if you are curious where the series got its start, but after the price starts dropping. Otherwise, it is a perfect way to find out what improvements have been made in gaming over the last 20 years. |
| Overall |
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