Newbie.

[Quindiana Jones]

Bought Origins and started 1 the other day. Currently heading towards Marsh Cave or whatever it's called. My party is: Red Mage, Fighter, White Mage, Thief. Reckon that's any good? I'm finding it OK, though I wish I'd gone Fighter, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage, as the Red Mage is gonna end up kinda lacking, methinks.

Anyway, this game rules. I'm loving the 16-bit redo they did, and am especially chuffed with the ship sliding puzzle minigame. Luckily, I rule at these things and have started off pretty loaded. I'm surprised at how much everything costs though. That's insane.

Anyway, what were your first impressions when you played this game? What was your first party? What is your favourite party? Have you played both the original and the Origins version? What do you think of the redo? Am I missing anything by not playing the original?

Enjoy.

PS. FF9 was my first ever FF, so I'm pretty much soiling myself with joy over all the references I'm picking up. xD

[Saber]

My first party was 2 fighter and 2 red mages. I was playing it on the NES and then when I got origins I used fighter w.mage b.mage monk.

Your not missing anything by playing ps1 version as they just added stuff if anything.

[Lawr]

The first version I played was NES! My first party was... erm... Fighter, Thief, White Mage, and Black Mage. I think I stopped somewhere near (SPOILER)the second elemental fiend. Kari was it?

Of the three recent remakes, I only played and beat Dawn of Souls for Gameboy. I'm guessing the PSX and GBA remakes are quite the same ( extra dungeons ftw ), so you're probably only missing out on the difficulty of the original. I'd recommend only playing it if you want the challenge or you're hardcore about Final Fantasy!

edit
But wait, there's more! First impression of the NES game was that it was somewhat difficult, but I enjoyed the battle theme. My favorite party has to be FI, TH, WM, BM but I haven't really tried out a lot of different combinations. I did start another game with FI, FI, FI, FI but I just lost interest for some reason.

[Wolf Kanno]

My first party was Thief, Warrior, B. Mage, and W. Mage. It was on the NES but my copy is broken and starts to fizzle out once you get to Astos' chapter. Finally played through and beat it on the PSX version with the party above. Played another game on the PSP with Warrior, B. Mage, W. Mage and Monk and must say I will never use Thief again unless I finally do my "8-Bit Theater" game. I have never used a Red Mage in this game but looking at their spells and equipment I must say they are way overpowered if you make the right set-up. Especially since your best use for the mages during end-game is to buff your Melee party members.

I really love FFI and it still astounds me everytime I play it how much thought was put into it. From its world, to its story and even its balance. Its an amazing game.

I was actually toiling with the idea of a "FFI Challenge" for the sequels. Basically, you are restricted to the six starting classes and can only use abilites that existed in FFI. Your Warrior can only use Fight and item and can only use magic connected to an item. Thieves cannot steal, mages are restricted to using only spells that existed in FFI and for their class only. I feel, FFIV and VII would have the most interesting times going through this.

[Breine]

I'm pretty sure I went with the classic black mage, white mage, fighter and thief setup the first time around (and ever since actually). It just works fine for me.

Anyway, I also really like the look of the game. It's nostalgic and fresh at the same time. Never did play the original version of the game, though.

[Jiro]

My first party was Fighter, Thief, Monk, Red Mage on the DoS version! It was tough - the White/Black mages have a few unique spells that are very useful.

I've seen only two copies of Origins ever, and they were selling for like $120 preowned so I have only played the GBA port.

[Raistlin]

I've seen only two copies of Origins ever, and they were selling for like $120 preowned so I have only played the GBA port.

Really?

EDIT: Oh, and my first party was Fighter, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage, though I've since come to the conclusion that a second Fighter is better than the Thief -- at least in the original NES version.