Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Requirements For A Remake- The NES Games

  1. #1
    Krankzinnigheid ligt dich Colonel Angus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    The Miami of Canada
    Posts
    5,516
    Articles
    81
    Blog Entries
    4
    Contributions
    • Former Editor

    Default Requirements For A Remake- The NES Games

    While Final Fantasy may be the favorite gaming series for many of us here at Eyes on Final Fantasy, it's far from being flawless. Even in our most favorite games, there are tiny flaws that still nag us every time we play. Since Square Enix is in the remake mood, here are some changes we'd like to see in these Final Fantasy games, if they were to be remade.[prbreak][/prbreak]

    Final Fantasy

    The first Final Fantasy is probably the most bare bones of all the series. You are given a party of four shallow characters, which you can choose from six job classes, who go on an adventure to restore the four crystals (originally orbs) to light. While that may have passed in the late 1980s, in the 21st century, we're used to a little more depth.

    Why not give our team of characterless characters a little background? The vague Warrior (nee Fighter) could easily be made into the Warrior of Light. Our Monk could be from a distant land, who traveled the high seas to meet his destiny to save the planet. The Thief (who could be given a Steal ability as well) could just as well be some rakish rogue from who, while on the run from the law, finds himself the opportunity for redemption.

    The practically blank slate of the original could give the current developers tons of wiggle room to build upon the fantastic world created in the original game. Throw in some modern graphics and a larger than life Chaos, and you have a game worth using that Steam gift card your grandma gave you for your birthday.

    Final Fantasy II

    While Final Fantasy II had a much richer storyline and characters than the first, it also introduced a totally different Leveling system than the one we're all used to. While most Final Fantasy games use some form of the Experience Points system, Final Fantasy II goes in a more detailed direction.

    Every time you attack, get attacked, use magic, lose health, etc., a different stat grows. While that may easily work for mashers like Gus (Attack, Attack, Attack), it doesn't work so well with magic users (where certain spells may only be needed in certain situations). This could leave you with a very low leveled spell in an important battle in the endgame. Having to waste a second or third turn trying to get everyone under the Haste status is a chore and it shouldn't have to be.

    While we don't need the system completely overhauled, in some regards, they do need to tweak it. One way is to reward players in battles against stronger enemies later in the game by boosting stats higher. Another suggestion would be to go halfway between the original leveling system and the experience system by awarding ability points to each character at the end of battle (almost like they do in Final Fantasy V), but allowing the player to determine to which stats they would add those points.

    Final Fantasy III

    Like Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy III had a bare bones storyline with four vanilla Onion Knights making up your party. This however, was remedied in the DS and Steam remakes, which gave the four Warriors of Light a little personality, as well as individual looks and stories. But one thing that wasn't fixed in those remakes was the insanely unbalanced difficulty of the game.

    At any point of the game, you'll easily find yourself with a character decked out in the best available armor, with the most powerful weapon, and you'll get smoked by any random baddie. Out of nowhere a spell will be cast, or a Critical Hit will come down upon your little warrior's head, knocking them out of battle.

    What makes matters worse is the fact that you can not buy Phoenix Downs. No, you have to use what few you find throughout the game, or have to rely on the few Raise spells your mages carry in battle. So if you're deep in a dungeon and half your team gets iced, you're S.O.L. until you defeat a boss or run back to town with your tail betwixt your legs.

    Those aren’t the only potential changes for these games, nor are they the only Final Fantasy games that could use a tweak. No matter how great a game can be, there’s always some room for improvement. Even if these games never get (another) remake, we still love them anyway.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2

    Default

    Final Fantasy
    I'm surprised that no port/remake EVER fixed the Elfheim problem. In every version, you're expected to grind about three hours for gil and experience just so you can survive the Marsh Cave. They really to fix the difficulty curve there. Another problem I have are all those useless "specialty" swords you get around 1/4 through the game. In the NES version they're all bugged so all that matters is the base attack power. They fixed the swords in the remakes so that they do contain special properties, but... By the time you get them, you have a much better sword that is effective against all enemies anyway, so they are all useless! I would like it if those swords has stat tweaks and were replaced in areas where they actually serve a purpose.

    Final Fantasy II
    The only thing I think they really need to change about FF II is what you said about boosting stats with tougher enemies. Specifically, alter enemy rank by adding more enemy ranks. Yes, the higher the enemy rank the higher your stats increase, but enemy rank goes up to 7 while all weapon and magic stats go up to 16. Weapons are easier to max out because you'll probably be using one weapon the whole game, but magic? Somewhere around the teen Levels, magic should come to a halt. Then, magic won't want to upgrade unless you do some PAINFUL grinding. That's no fun when you have really work just to raise one point. Adding more ranks (no need to add enemies, just change their ranking) should make leveling up more bearable around end-game.

    Oh yeah, and redesign Ultima!

    Final Fantasy III
    By the time you get the final job classes, it will take forever to make them useful so you might as well stick with what you already got. Apparently they already re-balance how jobs are developed for the 3D remake, but I think they need to try again. That's about it for me. I can live without Phoenix Downs. White Mages have more than enough magic for any dungeon. Then again, I probably grind more than most players because I'm a wuss!
    Last edited by Electroshock Therapy; 07-02-2015 at 03:22 AM.

  3. #3
    Depression Moon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Warrior Falls
    Posts
    6,050
    Articles
    45
    Blog Entries
    2
    Contributions
    • Former Editor

    Default

    It's been a while since I played III, but I forgot all about that when it came to reviving characters. I think you're right about the difficulty needing to be adjusted a bit.

  4. #4

    Default

    I see that the party has 4 members in these games. Why they changed it to the three-men party?

  5. #5
    Radical Dreamer Fynn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Tower of the Swallow
    Posts
    18,929
    Articles
    57
    Blog Entries
    16

    FFXIV Character

    Fynnek Zoryasch (Twintania)
    Contributions
    • Former Editor
    • Former Cid's Knight

    Default

    It changed in VII, I have no idea why.

    You should try the older games!

  6. #6

    Default

    I think they wanted to try something different on PlayStation, but these are just my guesses. XD
    If I'll get a better PC and some good emulator, I'm gonna try them! :P

  7. #7
    Ghost of Christmas' past Recognized Member theundeadhero's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    In Jojee's pants x_~
    Posts
    15,557

    FFXIV Character

    Villania Valski (Adamantoise)
    Contributions
    • Former Cid's Knight
    • Former Senior Site Staff

    Default

    I'm sure you could emulate them with what you have now. I was doing it almost twenty years ago with an IBM that was kinda crap at the time.

    It's hard out there for a purist. I'm sure there's tons of ways the games could be better, just as I know that people like all the remakes that have come out, but somehow I just like the originals better. I don't even have reasons for it! Maybe I'm broken
    ...

  8. #8
    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Nowhere and Everywhere
    Posts
    19,544
    Articles
    60
    Blog Entries
    27
    Contributions
    • Former Cid's Knight

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by TheZanmato View Post
    I think they wanted to try something different on PlayStation, but these are just my guesses. XD
    If I'll get a better PC and some good emulator, I'm gonna try them! :P
    It had to do with technical limitations. They didn't know how to program four characters onto the screen without chugging the loading times. It's one of the reasons why IX's battles take forever to load compared to VII and VIIIs. I think after that, it was just a matter of gameplay mechanics and new traditions making a four man team on console kind of obsolete.

    Frankly I would only flesh out the story and characters of FFII and focus on world building in FFI and III. Having finished both the original and DS versions of FFIII, I can honestly say the DS version feels like a downgrade and the shoe-horning characterization really didn't do the plot any favors as much as I feel expanding the games lore would have helped. If you want character driven narrative for FFI and III, you would have to rewrite their whole stories to make it work.

    I'm not sure I would really want to see remakes of the first three entries that brought them into the mold of more modern entries. Dissidia already tried to retcon the hell out of FFI's plot and it's a convulated mess that does little to really add to the story and more to show that no one at SE knows how to write a decent plot anymore.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •