When you first heard of Final Fantasy?
I was living in Davenport, IA (thanks in advance for your sympathies), and the people across the street had a NES. My sisters were telling me about it, and saying things like "you can't play it, because you have to know how to read and do math" and I was sad.
Flash forward a few years, and my friend Robbie introduced me to Final Fantasy IV. I had a NES by this time, but when I asked my mom if she would get me a SNES for Christmas so I could play Final Fantasy 2 (as it was then known), she said "we'll see."
Apparently, a SNES was too pricey, and I ended up getting Final Fantasy 1 for the NES that Christmas.
I was not disappointed for long.
Took me 14 days to beat it the first time.