walter world

You can't buy Final Fantasy these days. I mean, you can buy a game called Final Fantasy on most platforms. It's this one:

It's really pretty, and has some nice orchestral music. It's a lot of fun, too. A very breezy affair that even those less inclined to like turn-based RPGs might have a nice time going through. Every party is viable! That's nifty. Yes, I like this game a lot. I recommend it. But it's not Final Fantasy. It's based on Final Fantasy, it has the same name, but it's not Final Fantasy.

Also not Final Fantasy.

Still not Final Fantasy.

Not Final Fantasy either.

Okay, we're back to Final Fantasy.

So, I've been replaying Final Fantasy via the Japanese 3DS Virtual Console release. The original NES game, that is. It's been a while since I played this version of the game, as I generally go to whatever remake is newest when I feel like playing Final Fantasy. Playing this has reminded me of just how far away the game has gotten from the source material through those various remakes, and it makes me a little sad there's no real way to access this version of the game through official means right now. It's a problem we see a lot when there are remakes in play, unfortunately.

I'm not trying to be a gatekeeper about any of this. What I said about Pixel Remaster goes for any of the Final Fantasy remakes. They're all very good games in their own right, and I wouldn't be surprised if any of them were the one that someone fell in love with. But I also don't think they are the same game as the original, and I think we lose something by not having that version readily accessible alongside whatever spiffy new version Square Enix wants to sell.

Final Fantasy is kind of slow. Turns take a long time to resolve, especially when there are a lot of enemies. Your characters and the enemies both frequently miss their attacks. Level-ups take a lot of experience, and getting enough money to stay equipped with fresh gear and spells pretty much requires a lot of grinding. If the enemy a character targeted is already dead by the time their turn comes up, they'll just whiff the air. A bunch of the spells are bugged and just don't work, or work in weird ways. Some of the enemies accidentally show up in edges of areas where they shouldn't. People figured this out and a Peninsula of Power was born.

It's really easy to die in Final Fantasy. Healing options are more limited than in many other RPGs. Potions heal so little they are almost useless past a point. Status ailments are deadly. You can only save at inns or by using tents, cottages, or houses on the overworld map. The jobs are horribly balanced. A barehanded Master/Super Monk can take out the last boss with ease. Really, by the time a Black Belt/Monk reaches level 8, there's no point equipping any weapons on him anymore. Just how the math works. Whenever you open or close the menu or world map, you get this funky colorful flashing.

Final Fantasy is a 1987 console RPG. It has a lot of friction. It was coded by one guy, and it often shows. It sometimes has more heart than sense, and it's definitely short on modern niceties. Final Fantasy is a very challenging game, and it's easy to lose a ton of progress with just a bit of bad luck. Dungeons are genuinely dangerous because you can't save inside of them. Even normal enemies can hit really hard, and bosses can thrash you. Spell management is a pain because you never really have enough charges to let fly the way you would like to. Getting to the end of the game takes a lot of persistence.

The remakes of Final Fantasy make for more accessible and comfortable experiences, but those qualities in and of themselves mean those games are not the same as that NES original. And that's fine. Lots of people don't want to deal with all that nonsense. But Final Fantasy is the game that was enough of a hit that all those sequels and remakes happened, and it doesn't deserve to be scrubbed away. I'd love if the Pixel Remasters included the original games as an extra, so that people could at least choose to break their teeth on them if they want.