#game-reviews

[milkywaywishesblog-blog]

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest Version Played: SNES Version (the only version...for a reason)

So I finished Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (a few weeks ago...)

The game? It was infamous in the USA for being easy, and it was. Unlike FF4 when it was released here, which was easier but still had fair bits of challenge, Mystic Quest is easy that I basically cheesed the entire thing. I finished it in less than 10 hours, which is shorter than my playthrough of FF1.

The negatives are the game is the the design is awful, the graphics are bad for the SNES, and the writing is nonexistant. It also suffers from overly long dungeons, like the first two games. The game is easy to the point where it's not fun. It's braindead. Last boss presented no challenge.

Also the game is frustrating. Enemies randomly choose their attacks, unlike being scripted in the FF series. This wouldn't be bad, but sometimes enemies like to use their "Autodeath" move twice, three or four times in a row. Also, some enemies can cure themselves after getting hit, and then still have an attack. Which is frustrating, and thus, optimal to cheese everything with high power Magic.

The positives are: you can save everywhere, it has it's charm (I love the Cerebus sprites myself), enemies change sprites when their damage, letting you know how close to death they are), and the music is good in that early 90s style.

Also, I never cried when playing the game.

The Listing:

Final Fantasy 4 Final Fantasy 3 Final Fantasy 1 Final Fantasy MQ Final Fantasy 2

[milkywaywishesblog-blog]

Final Fantasy IV Version Played: SNES Version (Final Fantasy II)

I just finished Final Fantasy 4 (a few months ago). What a game. Definitely the most cinematic of the first four games I've played. Even though overworld spriting was kind of very reminiscent of the NES versions (I especially hate Cecil's overworld sprite. I keep thinking the negative space where his neck is his mouth), they did a good job using the SNES's additional power.

I played the US SNES version, which is different from the original Japanese release as they removed a lot of items and basically streamlined the game. I actually liked this, and it still presents a challenge even in it's "easier" state (i.e you encounter enemies who turn you to Toads very early on in the game, there's a few bosses you have to defeat in a matter of seconds).

I said it was cinematic. I noticed a lot of different call outs to Star Wars of all things. Golbez, the villain for 90% of the game, is basically Darth Vader, and there's even a plot revelation that mimics the famous "I'm your father" revelation towards the end of the game.

Now there's a sequel to the game Called Interlude & The After Years, but I'm not playing those. A lot of it is because it's basically the same game over again, but in episodic format.

Also, FF4 made me cry ugly tears in a few places. I just love it when people come together for a common cause.

The Listing

Final Fantasy 4 Final Fantasy 3 Final Fantasy 1 Final Fantasy 2

[milkywaywishesblog-blog]

Final Fantasy 3 Version Played: Fan Translation

I finished Final Fantasy 3 (famicom) last night (a few months ago...)

What a great game. Except for one part.

The game improves on everything on the first two (especially on the second!). The jobs are varied, the pacing is awesome, and generally it's the first of the "classic" era of Final Fantasies in my opinion.

The only part that sucked was The Cave of Shadows. If you've played FFXIV, this sounds familiar: in order to get to the last area, you need to collect these fangs that represent the four elements. The last one, the Earth Fang, is in the Cave of Shadows. The Cave of Shadows is a cave that is filled with enemies that split when attacked with anything other than a katana, and are very strong against elemental magic. It also has eight floors, hidden routes, branching routes, and is generally a pain in the butt. There's also a really awful boss at the end to, when you're generally weak from whatever the game throws on you.

Now, to the game's credit, it telegraphs this to you - the last dungeon you're in has these enemies too so you know what a pain in the butt they are. Also, there's an NPC that tells you that the enemies can only be beaten by katanas, and you get at katanas for your party during the entire cave, as well as equipment for the katana job, the Mystic Knight. It's just a sucky part.

I love this game. It is phenomenal, and the unofficial translation was good.

The Listing

Final Fantasy 3 Final Fantasy 1 Final Fantasy 2

[milkywaywishesblog-blog]

(first picture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bochalla/32720249433)

Final Fantasy 2 Version Played: NES English Prototype

I didn’t finish Final Fantasy 2. But I am going to rant about it for a minute. I've played enough of it to get an idea what it's like (the second floor of the *real* final dungeon).

It's a badly designed game and it's good thing it wasn't released here until the Origins released, which made it not only easier, but also prettier (although the graphics are a slight step up from FF1).

A lot of the challenge comes not from hard bosses (although plenty of those too), but from pretty bad enemy combinations that will completely end you. And since they're random, you have no recourse but to restart the dungeon.

FF1 had these as well, but it was more manageable. Like, if you were going against eight enemies in FF1, they were usually weak. This game has no control in putting two Mithril Golems in front of you.

I got frustrated by these Golems because not only do they have a high HP value, high attack, high defense, but they are even faster than 3/4 of your party. And not only does the game have a gall to put two of them together and expect you to win, but also put them with four of the hardest enemy in the section, the DoomKnight, which hits you for about 2000 a pop.

Oh, and the dungeons are way, way, way too long, even by Final Fantasy I standards, especially with these hard enemies.  For instance, the last dungeon is in two parts, each with eight floors each.  And no save points and no opportunities to use a Tent.

Yes, old games are hard, and a lot of it comes from design. And the only way to produce good games, is to learn from the mistakes of the past.

And it's a shame because compared to FF1, FF2 has a better story with twists and turns (at least compared to other NES games at the time).

The Listing:

Final Fantasy Final Fantasy 2

[indiegamereviewer]

Join Marty as he teams up with the heroes of Saturday morning cartoons from the 1980s. Use your totally awesome magic powers to vanquish the forces of evil.

[indiegamereviewer]

Spud’s Quest plays like a labor of love for retro adventure games and it also tunes into nostalgia for the Dizzy games, which played a noteworthy role in my early gaming years.

Developed by Chris Davis alone, and successfully funded on Kickstarter in November 2012 thanks to its 475 backers, the game not only emulates the gameplay of such titles but it also strives to capture the feel of this charming era in gaming.

Read the full review...

[indiegamereviewer]

We have covered a surprisingly large collection of tower defense games here at IGR and it follows that we might be a bit jaded about the genre which tends to repeat itself, but Cubemen manages to elevate and renew the excitement by mashing up realtime strategy, solo, multiplayer co-op and versus modes, supporting shareable level creation and doing it in an elegant and uncluttered package that looks as much like an art installation as it does a frantic combat title.