Urgh...how much more?

[Quindiana Jones]

I'm quite bored of this game. It's pretty funky, but I just can't find a reason to keep playing. The storyline works in almost exactly the same way as 12 (that is to say there are massive gaps between story-related events), but at least in 12 it's because there's something fun to do. All you have to pass the time in 1 is power level in order to be able to survive the next dungeon. Admittedly, this got a lot easier with the Hall of Giants, but it's still boring as buggery.

Anyway, what am I missing if I just stop playing (I've recently obtained the Earth Crystal - no further) and move onto 2? I decided to have a read through the walkthrough and it seems like not much. The main bosses appear in later games, so I can already get all giddy about that link, I've already met Garland and squeed over that little piece of trivia, I know about class upgrades, Bahamut etc blah blah blah Square stuff. So am I really missing anything?

I want to play through it all, but it's so mind-numbingly samey that I think I may just hate everything FF-related if I manage to. xD

[qwertysaur]

The personal satisfaction of beating the game as well as knowing that you are that much closer to finishing the main story of all the games in the series? :p

[Yar]

Which version are you playing?

You could play the PSP insanely-easy version and finish it over a coffee.

[Anniexo]

Well if you finish 1 then you're one step closer to finishing all the FF games.

[Jessweeee♪]

Hmmm...so the only thing you get out of beating it is glory, I guess :P

[Zeromus_X]

The GBA version is a lot easier too, if the PSP isn't an option.

[Quindiana Jones]

I'm playing the Origins version on Normal, since I didn't want to miss anything or take too much away from the original.

Conclusion: the original was :bou::bou::bou::bou:ty. :(

I reckon I'll just play it in short blasts. xD

[theundeadhero]

To get the story you actually have to talk to people and piece it together. Imagine that, an RPG that doesn't spoon feed you everything.

[Quindiana Jones]

Nice assumption there, tuh. I am speaking to everyone and I already think the story rocks. My problem is that you've usually forgotten the story by the time you're a high enough level to continue it, hence the FF12 analogy.

[theundeadhero]

I've never once spent time leveling in the game. I go from place to place with ease. The only extra fighting I do is for a little gold at the beginning and at Elfland.

[Anniexo]

Nice assumption there, tuh. I am speaking to everyone and I already think the story rocks. My problem is that you've usually forgotten the story by the time you're a high enough level to continue it, hence the FF12 analogy.

That my friend is why I find walkthroughs useful so I know where I should be going next after levelling up, because that's what I'm doing in FF5, I waited till I was at level 22-23 before going to get Mid because I knew at level 10-11 I would have a hard time.

[Quindiana Jones]

I've never once spent time leveling in the game. I go from place to place with ease. The only extra fighting I do is for a little gold at the beginning and at Elfland.

Really? Wow. What party do you use? Maybe I just suck. xD

[theundeadhero]

Fighter, Black Belt, Red Mage, White Mage.

It's common for people to need to grind, I've just beaten it enough to know exactly who needs to attack which monsters how many times at what level to kill a monster. For example, at this point in the game Fighter can kill this Ogre, who has 100HP, in one hit and it takes the Black Belt, Red Wizard and White Mage together to kill the other in one turn.

[Quindiana Jones]

I'm pretty sure I'm just lost without an ATB, as it's my first time playing the originals. My tactics usually revolve around timing etc., which is difficult to gauge with this game as you can never be certain when everyone's going to attack. I'm battling on at the moment, since I'm pretty sure I'll regret not playing it.

[LunarWeaver]

I say just quit. Games are meant to be fun, not a chore. Don't force yourself to play it because of the franchise it belongs to. Pure Quitter14.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Grinding is largely unnecessary, and the "Hall of Giants" is a terrible place to do it, anyway. You can get through the game quite smoothly by taking more deft advantage of its mechanics, such as the fact that the character at the "top" of your party will take the bulk of the enemies' hits, and you can swap characters in and out of that position at will. Things like that.

[Quindiana Jones]

Yeah, I understand the top and bottom thing, but I still get mauled by standard enemies whenever I go somewhere new, even though my equipment is top notch (thank you ship puzzle :)).

[Wolf Kanno]

Once you start getting the items that cast spells, the game becomes much easier and its easy to blast through. I usually only grind for gil, once you get the full amount for the best piece of equipment or all the spells you need, you find you don't need to grind for levels. Its difficult to explain the story you will be missing cause its pieced together by the people you talk to and the places you go. Its finally conclusion is when you meet Chaos and see the ending.

I'd say give up playing it straight through and take it in smaller bites while playing something else on the side but if FFII is your next title and you can't finish FFI, you may want to skip to the SNES era cause II and III are very similar to FFI in the sense of being grind heavy and exploring more than seeing story. While they are not as bad as FFI, if you are here to see the story, you might want to just read them on gamefaqs or wikipedia cause the titles are more gameplay-oriented than plot-oriented.