FF1: Killing Imps & Wiping to Madponies
http://finalfantasysequence.com/2011/01/ff1-killing-imps-and-wiping-to-madponies/
People often say that FF1 is so primitive that it doesn't even have a story. This is just plain untrue. Players are given their initial motivation from the king himself, right off the bat:
What is true is that FF1 doesn't have any
characters. The protagonists are all mute, and no NPC has more than 1-2 lines. There are no actual scenes (dialogue or otherwise), and no character development, let alone character arcs.
But still, despite the lack of any kind of characterization, FF1 does have a story to tell. The world has a rich (relative to other games released at the time) history, our four LIGHT WARRIORS have clear motivation for going on the adventures they go on, and plenty of twists and turns keep the narrative rushing forward.
Another common statement about FF1 is that it is
hard. Unlike the plot grousing, the difficulty comments are all true. Random battles will wipe you out if you get hit with some unlucky stuns or other random elements work against you. If you don't go into a situation at the appropriate level, you will meet the "game over" screen with stunning quickness.
Anyway, on to the play through! Hopefully, this will be the start of something big. Let's hope for no major snags...
Due to the aforementioned difficulty, the first thing I did was outfit my LIGHT WARRIORS (a standard party for those wondering - Fighter, White Mage, Black Mage, and Black Belt) with some basic weapons and armor, and bought a couple of spells for my casters. Yes, for anyone reading this that hasn't played FF1, magic spells are bought in shops. They're crazy expensive, too.
Next up, the time-honored tradition in all oldchool RPGs: grinding! I wandered around for quite some time, bashing Imps' skulls in. But before long, I came across something else:
Madpony? Hmm... how dangerous could it be? Turns out... pretty damn dangerous. He one-shot everyone in my party, giving me my first Game Over. Just like that. What was I saying about snags? Sorry... I failed to snap a pic of my... fail. Luckily, I had a recent save.
When I reloaded, I decided to take a closer look at my weapons and armor. It was now that I realized, much to my shame,
I hadn't equipped any of the items I had purchased. Everyone in my party was fighting barehanded, and naked! No goddamn wonder those Imps were giving me so much trouble! I remembered FF1 being challenging, but not as challenging as it had been for me so far.
After actually, you know,
equipping all the gear I had purchased, the experience became much smoother, to say the least. My Fighter hit for 15+ instead of 7. My other three party members hit for more than the ONE damage they had been contributing. And strikes from enemies were no longer dropping half a party member's health.
I quickly made it to level 3, and decided to tackle the Temple of Fiends, where Garland was holding the captured princess. I had somehow forgotten about his infamous trash talk:
Despite his imposing demeanor and bat entourage, Garland is pretty much a pushover, and went down in just a few rounds. My reward? A Lute, which "might just come in handy" HINT HINT.
The king also constructs a bridge allowing the LIGHT WARRIORS to progress on their quest. Crossing it triggers FF1's incredibly cool title credits sequence. And I don't mean "cool for the NES" - there are no qualifiers necessary. It's pretty epic:
I especially like where Square chose to trigger the scene. It's
not the title screen. Depending on how much grinding a player chose to do, they likely didn't see this screen until an hour or more of game time. Only
then are they clued in to the fact that everything they just experienced was essentially a prologue. It lets the player know that "Hey - some epic stuff is about to happen. Final Fantasy is just getting warmed up."
It's also the very first time the Final Fantasy Main Theme is heard. This song has a nearly religious impact on some gamers. It's incredible to think that it has been with us nearly 25 years now, with over 10 unique arrangements. For young gamers first crossing that FF1 bridge in the 1980s, it must have been a magical experience. Hell, I didn't play FF1 until about 2005, and it was
still neat.
You can see the original FF1 Title Credits here (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3pzRgtYDmo#t=0m33s), as well as a compilation of all 10 arrangements here (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciOF-TCp-68). Tell me it doesn't make you misty eyed! I dare you!
Up Next: Matoya's Cave & Pirates!
