Well, I'm playing this for the first time...

[johnboy3434]

Well, after much procrastinating, I'm finally giving FF a try. I'll be playing through all the games in the main series (minus XI, since I don't think any game is good enough to warrant a monthly fee), so I can see what all the hullabaloo is about. For the sake of seeing how the series evolved, I'm playing each one in its earliest English translation*. This means I'm playing FF1 on the good ol' NES... emulator.

As for my progress with the first game, I've reached Elfland and have just gotten silver swords for my party (3 Fighters and a Red Mage, since I heard that was the easiest group) and am now grinding away to pay for Levels 3 & 4 spells. To be honest, while I'm impressed with the size of the world (by 1987 standards, it's frickin' huge!), the story is paper-thin at best and the amount of grinding needed to get the best equipment is almost unforgivable, but I'm trying to remember throughout that this IS an NES game, so I'm withholding judgment until I get to platforms better-suited for storytelling and until the FF team polishes everything. Wish me luck!

*This means I'll be playing in a rather skewed order: FF1(NES), FF4(SNES), FF6(SNES), FF7(PS1), FF8(PS1), FF5(PS1), FF9, FF10, FF2(PS1), FF10-2, FF12, FF3(DS).

[Captain Maxx Power]

If you don't play FF3 you're doing yourself a massive injustice. It's far and away much better both technically and from a narrative perspective than FF1. It's easily the best NES FF.

[johnboy3434]

I am playing FF3. I'm NOT playing FF11. FF3 is last on my list because the first English version was the most recent of the 12 main games to hit the States.

[RedPouch]

As for my progress with the first game, I've reached Elfland and have just gotten silver swords for my party (3 Fighters and a Red Mage, since I heard that was the easiest group)

I feel that two Fighters, one Black Mage and one White Mage is easier, since you can pull black magic and white magic on the same turn. That's just my opinion though. You still won't really have much difficulty with three Fighters and one Red Mage.

To be honest, while I'm impressed with the size of the world (by 1987 standards, it's frickin' huge!), the story is paper-thin at best and the amount of grinding needed to get the best equipment is almost unforgivable, but I'm trying to remember throughout that this IS an NES game, so I'm withholding judgment until I get to platforms better-suited for storytelling and until the FF team polishes everything. Wish me luck!

That's a good attitude to have when playing older FF games. It's silly to expect an in-depth story with game length and gameplay rivaling less dated works such as FF IX, Chrono Cross, FFT, etc. With that in mind, we actually are able to appreciate how much they were able to create considering the limitations of the NES [I think when you play through FF II, you'll be quite impressed at what they were able to pack into that primitive little NES cartridge].

As for Elfland, that's my favourite part of the game. I love elves!

If you don't play FF3 you're doing yourself a massive injustice. It's far and away much better both technically and from a narrative perspective than FF1. It's easily the best NES FF.

And this is true by the standards of most people that have played these games, but I don't think it's very fair to compare it to FF I. Of course they are for the same console, but let's not forget that FF I was there very first attempt at this, and they were quite new to it all at the time.

[Roogle]

Well, after much procrastinating, I'm finally giving FF a try. I'll be playing through all the games in the main series (minus XI, since I don't think any game is good enough to warrant a monthly fee), so I can see what all the hullabaloo is about. For the sake of seeing how the series evolved, I'm playing each one in its earliest English translation*. This means I'm playing FF1 on the good ol' NES... emulator.

I would like to address your concern about Final Fantasy XI and paying a monthly fee. The fact is that the actual game itself can usually be acquired much cheaper than most games in the market right now. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game has a high cost of maintenance for any company because of the cost of maintaining servers, customer service, and continuously providing updates. It would be unrealistic to expect to not have to pay for games that take that much time and effort unless you are looking to pirate.

That's a good attitude to have when playing older FF games. It's silly to expect an in-depth story with game length and gameplay rivaling less dated works such as FF IX, Chrono Cross, FFT, etc. With that in mind, we actually are able to appreciate how much they were able to create considering the limitations of the NES [I think when you play through FF II, you'll be quite impressed at what they were able to pack into that primitive little NES cartridge].

Yes, a lot of people lack that attitude when they replay classic games. That is a factor for why Square Enix, lately, continuously remakes the older games to bring them up to an acceptable graphical standard for audiences today.

[johnboy3434]

I would like to address your concern about Final Fantasy XI and paying a monthly fee. The fact is that the actual game itself can usually be acquired much cheaper than most games in the market right now. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game has a high cost of maintenance for any company because of the cost of maintaining servers, customer service, and continuously providing updates. It would be unrealistic to expect to not have to pay for games that take that much time and effort unless you are looking to pirate.

I understand that monthly fees are necessary for the game to run. My question is: does it NEED to run? Why must we play with thousands of people we've never met? Is the no-longer-unique experience of that actually WORTH the extra cash now? It's not that the fees are unneeded. It's that the games they support are unneeded and thus, the fees are ridiculous regardless of whether they're needed or not. My two bits, anyway.

[RedPouch]

I understand that monthly fees are necessary for the game to run. My question is: does it NEED to run? Why must we play with thousands of people we've never met? Is the no-longer-unique experience of that actually WORTH the extra cash now? It's not that the fees are unneeded. It's that the games they support are unneeded and thus, the fees are ridiculous regardless of whether they're needed or not. My two bits, anyway.

FF XI is actually a really good MMO though. It's also only about $13 a month, which really isn't that expensive to be honest. It's a really nice game. It's certainly a lot better than most of the other MMO's currently out there. If it wasn't any good, nobody would play it. When thinking about things like this, it's better to keep an open mind and to not judge so quickly before we properly evaluate them.