Though FFII brought a story charactewr based story telling to the series and tried to revolutionize the genre before it really began, I would still have to say FFI was a bigger deal. In comparison to each other, II seems the logical choice but when you think about what else was avaliable back then... FFI was a greater leap for the genre. Zelda was an action RPG, DQ1 and 2 were simple "Descendant's of the hero! Stop the evil Demon Lord!" and anything else remarkable in the genre was stuff for the PC which were D&D games.

FFI was the first console RPG to allow mutiple party members and allowed you to decide what they were in your party. It's story isn't about stopping an evil Dark Lord from destroying the land (though it becomes that eventually but so much more delisciously so ). The world is dying and four heroes are to appear and save it. The first task assigned to you is to test to see if you really are the "Light Warriors". Immediately, FFI sets istelf apart by placing you in a world that's a bit closer to home. Pirates? Dark Elves? and Curses? FFI's world is plagued by many things and your task through out most of the game is to find out why the world is dying...

Hell, the world is threatened with destruction, unlike the other games I've mentioned; where you're tasked with overthrowing an evil (sometimes demonic) dictator and thwart their plans for world domination. In FFI, you are trying to save the world from being destroyed. The metaphors of the elements and the places you visit are certainly more profound than other titles at the time and the ending is what really set this game apart...

In other games, the hero saves the princess, stops the Overlord, and everyone lives happily ever after (or until the sequel) but in FFI, your party learns they are forever trapped in a time loop. Forced to battle Chaos for all time, never aware of their fate until it's too late. Though very pessimistic, FFI creates a vision of another type of hero. The hero who is forced to sacrifice themselves to save others. I think it's these very themes that allowed FFI to succeed. There really wasn't anything like it at the time.