Square announced Final Fantasy 1 + 2 Advance

[defier]

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Square Enix announced Final Fantasy I & II Advance for GameBoy Advance, the game is scheduled to release in Japan in July, for 6090 yen. Both games will feature additional stories and dungeons not found in the original game.

Final Fantasy I will have a new dungeon called Soul of Chaos, in which you will find the four Soul of Chaos monsters (powerful boss monsters), as well as various powerful equipment and valuable items. The magic system in FF1 has also changed to a MP consumption system like in the other FF titles.

Final Fantasy II will feature an extra story called Soul of Re-Birth, the story is about four heroes who died in the story, plus additional background stories for each of the heroes. There are also a number of new events, monsters and special items in the game.



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[defier]

Some more shots.

[DocFrance]

Hmm... Part of me wants to believe these are fake. They just recently FF1 and 2 on the PSX, and they've already released them on another handheld system (the Wonderswan Color, though only in Japan). I've got the feeling that these are just screenshots from the WSC versions, with "GBA" 'shopped in. Especially since on of the monsters in the FF1 pic is just the Doom Train from FF6.

Care to give us a link to where you found this info?

[Heath]

Looks pretty interesting, I certainly hope they aren't fake.

[defier]

Have a look at:

http://www.rpgamer.com/

It's the 2 latest news posts.

[Black Mage FF1]

Its actually not fake. In fact it comes out in japan on 7/15/04. BTW the soul of chaos includes monsters from previous ff games. Which explains the reason for the screen shot with the phantom train.

[Heath]

Yeah, I thought it looked closer to the Phantom Train from FFVI than Doomtrain from FFVIII and I'm glad it's not fake. I'll certainly have to purchase these.

[defier]

I knew they were real so i posted it.

If they turned out to be fake i would have been slapped across the head. :p

[Marble]

Actually, Heath, it's an exact copy of the Phantom Train. ;)

[Sephex]

I MAY get this if it is at a reasonable price since I own the original FFI, have the original FFII on my computer, and own 'Origins' for PSX.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

This is the craziest thing in the world.

[DocFrance]

Alright, it seems believeable. But I still wanna know why S-E hasn't released FFIII or SD3 at all. If you ask me, those two would go great together.

[DJZen]

Perhaps they will if people actually buy this game bundle. You have to admit it's odd, though. They've made FF1 for FC, MSX, FCDS, WSC, PS1 and recently the FOMA cell phone. It seems they have no quarrel with re-making this game until the end of time. Not that *I* have a quarrel...... Although personally I don't think there's a need to make FF2 more challenging (see sig).

[Mr. Graves]

They should've done this before instead of remaking them for the PSX. Now the whole idea of a GBA port of both just seems a lot less appealing now.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

The Origins package was worth doing just for the sake of the beautiful high-quality music.

When I first read about this I was skeptical because it's not really like Square to not wait a while after announcing a product to release a bunch of details about it, but it makes sense: they'd have to really hawk whatever's new about this to try to convince people to buy FFI and II yet again.

And yes, as long as it comes Stateside, I'll be getting it.

[Fredde]

<almost faints when he reads news>

FINALLY! THIS is what I've been waiting for! Oh dear god, PLEASE let them release it in europe.

[Mr. Graves]

The Origins package was worth doing just for the sake of the beautiful high-quality music.

Aye. Beautiful, it was.

[black orb]

>>> Sweet..

[DJZen]

the whole idea of a GBA port of both just seems a lot less appealing now.

It's not a port. The stuff they changed made it pretty DRASTICALLY different.

[Mr. Graves]

Both enhanced versions of FF1 and 2 were released for WSC a while before the enhanced versions were released stateside. So they made some enhancements, but it's still essentially the same game. Hence, the reason I call it a "port". Because it's essentially what it is.

[DJZen]

Guess we'll just have to wait and see on that.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Something about the Soul of Rebirth: it's said to star "four heroes who died in the story [of FFII]," but out of the five people who died in FFII (Prince Scott, Josef, Minh, Cid, and Richard), only three of them were playable characters. So, which NPC is becoming playable, complete with all the appropriate battle sprites? Screenshots show it's Gordon's brother and Hilda's old flame, Scott.

[Rase]

Can you say "Hell yeah!"? Definataly gonna get this one. I need a good RPG for on the go.

[Fredde]

Something about the Soul of Rebirth: it's said to star "four heroes who died in the story [of FFII]," but out of the five people who died in FFII (Prince Scott, Josef, Minh, Cid, and Richard), only three of them were playable characters. So, which NPC is becoming playable, complete with all the appropriate battle sprites? Screenshots show it's Gordon's brother and Hilda's old flame, Scott.

I hope it's Cid. That would rock.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

It's Scott.

[Dr Unne]

In one of those screenshots ( http://forums.eyesonff.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7967 ), it looks like FF1, but they're fighting a train. Is that FF2? If not, what the heck is that enemy? My Japanese is apparently extremely rusty, I'm having trouble reading the name of the enemy. maresshya?

Sad part is that I'm pretty likely to buy this someday. And it'll be the fourth time I've bought FF1, for the fourth different system.

[Rase]

In one of those screenshots ( http://forums.eyesonff.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7967 ), it looks like FF1, but they're fighting a train. Is that FF2? If not, what the heck is that enemy? My Japanese is apparently extremely rusty, I'm having trouble reading the name of the enemy. maresshya?


BTW the soul of chaos includes monsters from previous ff games. Which explains the reason for the screen shot with the phantom train.

It's the Phantom Train boos from FFVI. And yes, that's FF1.

[DJZen]

it'll be the fourth time I've bought FF1, for the fourth different system.

You're not hardcore unless you've bought the MSX and FDS versions :p

[Black Mage FF1]

Here are some new screen shots. One of them looks like Atomos from FFV. I dont know where the 2 headed dragon is from. FF3 maybe? Or FF4? I have never played FF3 so I wouldnt know, and I think I remember a dragon just like that in FFIV. Anyway you can find them here.....

http://www.squarenet.info/gfx/news/982_image_2.jpg

[Dr Unne]

That site doesn't allow direct linking to their images, seems like. I get an error graphic.

I don't know how I completely skipped that paragraph of the first post, which mentions a new dungeon. Too busy looking at screenshots I guess. :( At the risk of sounding like a fanatic or crotchety old geezer, I hate the idea of a new dungeon, let alone mixing non-FF1 elements into FF1. Blah. Blah I says. If a chocobo appears in FF1, I will vomit. How in the world could they change the magic system? Why don't they just call the game something other than FF1, because it sure HAIN'T FF1 if it has an MP-consumption system. I hope they at least put an option in the game to turn off the extra trash they add, like they did in the WSC/PSX versions. But you can't really turn off a whole dungeon can you? Blagh.

[Fredde]

It IS kinda worriying if they change too much. Then it's not gonna be FF1 anymore. I agree with Unne, they should make the extra stuff an option. And perhaps the extra dungeon is a separate adventure that one can choose to complete after the "main" adventure.

[Black Mage FF1]

What is wrong with the link? I dont know how to do the whole attachment thing so I had to post the link.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Yeah, the Two-Headed Dragon is from FFIII, and I find the updated sprite a VERY good sign of the coming of that FFIII revision for which I've been pining for years now.

The images in the article also show the world map location of the Soul of Chaos (which seems to be on an island in the lake at the top of the Waterfall), some non-battle shots of the dungeon interior, as well as a town that resembles Melmond but is populated completely by robots. Great!

[DJZen]

Why don't they just call the game something other than FF1, because it sure HAIN'T FF1

This is probably why it's being called FF1 ADVANCE and not FF1. :tongue:

[Dark Jaguar]

Here's my thoughts. I love the extra dungeon because now there's a reason to attain higher levels than what's needed to beat the last boss. It's something extra.

You want to turn off the extra dungeon? Don't visit it. Problem solved.

Now, the magic system, changing it into one pool instead of individual magic points per spell level, I don't like. I find it as big, or bigger, a change than changing the equipment system from the original version.

Regarding the magic change, they should allow you to revert to old school style. That is of course hard to do and keep the numbers, so it should be a choice at the very start of the game to avoid the glitches that might be involved entirely. Also, they should add the option at the very start to choose the retro equipment system (invididual party members holding stuff, limited space for it too). That'll keep everyone happy.

Again, extra quests I like (you can just avoid those anyway if you want to stick with the original, but hey I know you won't be able to avoid the temptation of beating up Kefka or Sephiroth with your level 50 warrior :D), but the gameplay, if they want to change it, should always have an option to revert to the classic style.

If they are really changing the gameplay a lot, and do include options to go classic or original mode, then might I suggest giving thief/ninja the ability to steal stuff (again, it can be shut off and all).

[DJZen]

*sigh*

The game is called Final Fantasy I Advance, not Final Fantasy, clearly they're differentiating internally. :rolleyes2

[Dark Jaguar]

Still, I REALLY think they should do this. Honestly, I like that each FF game has it's own DIFFERENCES, things that make then unique. The old magic points per spell level system wasn't an annoyance, it was a unique way of handling magic that was in fact fun. The equipment system change they did in the PS1 version, while making things easier for people, removes the whole challenge of having to manage your equipment and decide what you want to keep and what you have to ditch. These sorts of gameplay things, CRITICAL things that seperate it from other FF games, should be left alone, or at the very least have an option to revert to the original mode at the start of the game.

As for things that are PURE extras that you can just flat out ignore, like this dungeon, I don't mind it at all. It's not changing anything UNLESS you choose to visit the place yourself. Oh yes, I wouldn't exactly vomit if they tossed in a Chocobo or Moogle, though just as a cameo thing, not to actually be ridden or whatever.

[Fredde]

You want to turn off the extra dungeon? Don't visit it. Problem solved.

That is, of course, if it's just a side-quest and not a part that must be completed to advance in the game. Time will tell...

[DJZen]

You know, it's not like they're NOT going to deviate from the original. How about instead of whining about it we wait and see how its changed. It's not like they've gone and changed the original, this is a remix. Just judge it for its own merits, not just on what they changed. *stops ranting and eats some potato chips*

[Rase]

Mmmmmm... chips. :D


Sorry, did you say something?

[DJZen]

Nah, not really. Want some chips?

[Rase]

Hell yeah!

*eats chips, than gives huge smile*
*eats Mentos to help chip breath*

[DJZen]

I wonder if they'll remove the select/cancel trick for this release...

[Dark Jaguar]

A remix is fine so long as the original is still there, and that's all I was asking for, a way to play the original mode.

Fredde, from what I can tell, the bonus dungeon is only a bonus. I doubt they are going to change any major flow of the game. It just seems like another step past Origins. They seem to be just adding some more extras here and there, and as such, I honestly don't think it's something one will NEED to visit.

Anyway, just to reiterate, no problem with them adding extras so long as they let you play it in original mode. This isn't so utterly massive an overhaul that they can't do that, like in the case of Sword of Mana for instance. It's just Final Fantasy 1 + + + (the first two pluses being WSC and PS1 remakes).

Hmm, I wonder if this will be enough to get Unne to update his site one last time?

[Doomgaze]

STOP RELEASING I AND II AND GIVE US III, YOU SADISTIC BASTARDS

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Dear Adam,

It's in the works (http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q2-2004/042004a.html).

Love,
The Gooch

[Doomgaze]

they keep saying that, AND YET.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

But this time they swear they mean it.

[Clyde Arronway]

Please let them insert save points and on map saving!!!

I hope yes.

[DJZen]

A remix is fine so long as the original is still there, and that's all I was asking for, a way to play the original mode.

If you want the original, get the original. If I want the original mix of Safri Duo's Samb-Adagio I'm gonna get the original mix, not the Marc Et Claude remix. Maybe you guys should all start DJing. Maybe it'd help put things in perspective more.

[Dark Jaguar]

I'd rather never become a DJ thank you. Well, actually technically I am a DJ, if you look at my initials... You see, if the game was still actually being SOLD in it's original form, no problem, but it's not unless you find it used somewhere. That's why we demand the original be given to us somehow. Companies are doing it all the time, like including the original version of Metroid 1 in the Metroid Zero Mission cart (that game being a complete and total reimagining and expansion of Metroid 1). It's just being kind to the fans. The fans might just LIKE to be able to play FF1 portably but with all the original gameplay greatness. Why not give it to us?

Anyway, Clyde, they kinda have that already. You CAN save on the world map if you just use a tent or something, and inns are the save points outside that. They also added the whole memo save feature to both the PS1 and WSC versions so you can save at any time, though each with their own little built in flaws to prevent it from being TOO cheap.

[Clyde Arronway]

Still needs free menu world map saving and interior save points. there also would need to be ways out of the final dungeon besides warp.

[DJZen]

I agree with Clyde on this one. I know people would whine about how it changes FFI too much, but in portable games, you NEED that sorta feature. Actually, they had this in the WSC version so I'm not worried about it.

[Flashback007]

I tottally agree with these two guys. They are absoluty right. I just hope, when it's out in Japan it also comes to Europe.........and af course the USA for the Americans.

[Carnage]

Those are gonna be kewl. 3 was great tot ehy should make that for gba.

ya know wuts weird though is gba has better graphics then nes.am i right??

[UltimateSpamGrover]

what you guys havent noticed is that, FF1 has a new MP consuption system unlike Origins or the original.

on the original it looked like this:

HP 600/600
MP 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0

Now it looks like

HP 600/600
MP 0/ 0

See what I mean?

[Flashback007]

So, I don't think that's a big problem. At least not for me. Altough I think it's more......euhm.....how do you call that.........intense(???) You need to be more carefull with your spell, which I thinks gives a curtain exictment to the game.

[Rase]

Those are gonna be kewl. 3 was great tot ehy should make that for gba.

ya know wuts weird though is gba has better graphics then nes.am i right??

First, congrats on the mad typing skills.

Second, the GBA/GB:SP have graphics far better than the NES. In fact, it is capable of graphics that outclass the SNES.

[Dark Jaguar]

Yes, and some of it's skills, though not all, outclass a PS1's 2D abilities (3D obviously goes to the PS1 by all accounts). As for sound, the sound is actually a little worse than an SNES. Most games that have been ported transfer pretty accuratly though, so obviiously it wasn't enough to hurt anything much. Anyway, the one concern I have is that the PS1 origins happens to have some VERY great music, likely using a lot of prerecorded stuff. Anyway, unless it's straight red book (and I think there's more to it than that, because the PS1, when doing straight red book, has a notorious delay when looping to the start of a song), or even if it is, the GBA could have problems. Likely they are remaking the music specially for the GBA. I know they wouldn't just use the WSC music, being NES level, at any rate. What I'd hope they COULD manage, if they didn't need too large a cart size, would be to compress all that music into MP3 format or something similar and thus get all it's quality right there. A lot of GBA games have a LOT of voice in them (because even though music is a bit worse, direct sound is one thing that's far better than SNES, namely due to larger cart sizes), and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories game coming out actually has FMVs in it, full quality ones too. If Square-Enix can manage that, then I ASSUME they could manage full recordings of the music from origins in there. The FMVs... I dunno, maybe they could do that too, but I don't think they'd bother (not that I didn't love seeing a warrior (we can all agree now it was a warrior right?) take on that dragon, and I did think they had great art direction).

Anyway, we'll see. Even if they don't get all that music, oh and those prerecorded battle sound effects as well, in there and have to just mix yet another version of those songs with GBA in mind, it'll still be great I imagine.

Now, onto my final statement about those changes. Now, if this was something like Sword of Mana, where the ENTIRE game from start to finish was being completely reimagined, then I'd have no issue with any gameplay changes they made. Indeed, playing Sword of Mana compaired to Final Fantasy Adventure leaves pretty much no comparison except the same BASE for the story. However, that was a complete reimagining. This is more like an upgrade to the original, and thus the original should be represented accuratly in the gameplay. Had they truly reimagined FF1, with a massive expansion on the story, adding all the classes of FF5 to choose from, an updated battle system, a COMPLETELY remapped world and dungeons, I'd have no complaint. I know it's odd, but my beef is that they are changing too much without just going all the way. Think of it not like a complete remix of a song DJ guy, but more like rerecording the same old song on a new crisper cleaner format. You want the same song, just without all the static that came with it being on a record, am I right? You don't want them to change stuff around on that upgrade, unless it's a complete remix, in which case you don't want them calling it "the original". Am I right about this?

Essentially, that's my deal here. FF1&2 Advance is not a complete reimagining at all, at least not from what I've seen so far. It's just Origins but with some added optional features. As such, they should leave the gameplay intact. Either completely reimagine it, or leave the gameplay alone. That's my deal. It's like Super Mario Bros DX. That game wasn't a complete reimaging of the story, but it certainly was an upgrade. They added SO much to that game, stuff making it so much harder than it originally was in fact. The important thing was, they didn't decide to completely reimagine it, so they left the core gameplay intact. Rather than do something like add in super feathers and ridable yoshis to the original levels, they left the actual main game completely intact, except for that bare minimum change in adding the ability to scroll the camera a little bit to make up for the smaller screen and resolution. All the extra stuff was just that, extra stuff you went into on your own choice. They could have even added feathers and yoshis, but they knew they would have had to still keep those original levels that were sans those upgrades in order to appease the original crowd. On the other hand, should they decide to totally reimagine the 1st game with some upcoming Gamecube fully 3D "Super Mario Bros", they can change all they want and no one cares. Just to give an example of what happens when they do it WRONG, look at "Super Mario Bros for Super Players" inside Super Mario Bros DX. That's Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels, but renamed. It's a great addition, except they changed the gameplay to, what they thought, would be an improvement. They removed 5 worlds due to being too hard, and worse, they changed the gameplay by taking out the wind, shortening jumps that required you to bounce off flying enemies to make it, and giving the character more powerups during the game. This in essence made it the least favorite part because they had essentially ruined the original. Had they just made a bunch of completely new levels, there wouldn't have been a complaint at all, but due to what they did to old levels, it was pretty much rated very low.

I hope you get what I'm saying here. Essentially, if it turns out they really ARE Totally reimagining FF1, with only the basic story keeping it in common, then I really won't care because it really WILL be a totally different game. As it stands though, it looks like they are messing around with an old game in ways that make it less unique. That adjusted magic system I believe will make things too easy in the same way that easy mode in Origins' complete boost in overall MP made things too easy. Not a problem so long as they let you choose "original MP mode" at the start of the game, but a problem if that's the ONLY way to play it. Have we come to an understanding?

[golden_queen_mercury]

Cool! FF1 and FF2 on a handheld system, neat. I can't wait to buy it when it comes out. By the way, do you guys know if they are going to release FF5 and FF6 on GBA anytime soon?

[Rase]

No word on that yet.

[UltimateSpamGrover]

It would be cool though if they released Final Fantasy II-VI in an GBA Anthology. But if they could put the ghost train from FF6 to FF1 that means eventually....

[Flashback007]

Oh, that would be very nice dreams.......I hope they become reality.

[DJZen]

Square has not announced any plans to release FFIV-VI on GBA in any form. Sorry.

[aeris2001x2]

i hope this new version of ff2 has some character development. then i might buy it.

ff1 remake...*drools*... :tongue:

[UltimateSpamGrover]

rumor is going around that FF5-FF9 are gonna be released on the DS

EDIT: It was just confirmed that this was WRONG, sorry for any confusion

[DJZen]

Rumors make baby jesus cry, why do you hate baby jesus?