Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Xbox 360, 2012)

I had a "rosebud" moment with this. I turned it on heard the music and I was almost in tears... I have rediscovered something lost from years passed and enjoy once again. Final Fantasy is the granddaddy of RPGs (this and "Dragon Warrior"). It blazed the trail for all that came after it. It is a bare-knuckles strait-up level-grinding-masterpiece. It is a game base on playability, Item gathering, and task-fulfillment; if you are looking for fancy cut-scenes, go home!!! ...In fact, stop reading this and go back to your X-box and your Call of Duty NOW.

This is an old-fashioned over-head, world-map-level-grinding, talking to every person you find RPG. It's just you, your party, and the world map. There are no fancy animations or cut scenes that take up way to much memory and time, just pure thought and strategy, and your friend: the menu system. This is what an RPG was met to be! This is before RPGs were aimed to sell to more main stream video game player. Not everyone played them, because it was the type of game that made you actively think. You would see this game in a stack of NES carts like: Dragon Warrior, Ultima: the quest for avatar, the gold twins of Zelda series, Crystalis, willow, the mega man series, Destiny of an Emperor, Tetris, and a few Japanese RPG carts that he would have an adapter for. NOT the bone-head-button-mashers that just wanted to push start and play a side-scroller. These games took hours to even get the hang of, hours more to level up and to master. You named your characters and you saved your status.. that's right! ...You would not be able to beat one of these in a day, or even a long weekend. You named your character, you leveled-up your character and stats, and you equipped your character. These are the games that made "strategy guides" a household name.

Final Fantasy was the one that blazed the trail for all that came after, but it captured the soul of a era in gaming that has been sadly lost. Trading game-play-ability and strategy for cut-scenes and 3-D graphics.

I wish I could bring back the era of the mid-late nineteen-eighties. Spending summer nights with a few buddies in your parents game room (a converted basement or some other reclusive area of the house) shooting pool, taking turns level grinding or showing everyone the item or secret you found in the game, eating pizza, drinking Pepsi, and listening to one of those metal albums you hid from your mom on the old Hi-Fi. The TV was most-likely the one that was replaced when your parents bought something bigger that had a remote; the thing had knobs marked "VHF" and "UHF"! ...Unlike today, the only reason you shook the controller (control pad) was due to the fact that you wanted to shove it through the screen, because you had had enough of the level six dungeon in the "Legend of Zelda".

These games were anything but immediate gratification, they made you work and think for hours, but you would love every minute of it, and it was worth the work in the end. Once these games passed the 16 bit threshold, the programmers started to focus too much on graphics and animation, and the game-play suffered dearly.

My thinking is that the formula and game interface where fine. The games should just have become more complex with more (and much larger) world maps, more items, and many more characters. I think of what Final Fantasy 3 (6) would be like, if there were ten or twenty world maps and the game that would take thousands of hours to master... I want that!!

This is the one that started it all, the Phenomenon we know as Final Fantasy. This series has had a giant influence and impact on RPGs and gaming in general today. Final Fantasy is quite arguably the greatest video game series ever. The stories are genius, the music gripping and the character develpment astonishing; Final Fantasy's influence upon the gaming industry is simply amazing. Without Final Fantasy, the competition and layout of RPGs would be really different; infact RPGs might not even exist. Technically Final Fantasy is the greatest game ever made, for without its impact, Gaming jsut wouldn't be the same.

Graphics 7/10- Okay, little 8-Bit sprites are far from state of the art, but they do accurately convey the whole ''Fantasy'' mood. Simplistic yet sufficient, the graphics do their job.

Control/Gameplay 9/10- This classic is more than outdated. The controls only require four buttons and the gameplay is extremely linear, but for an RPG of its age it is the king. Simplistic and short with no tangents and side-quests it will bore you a bit, but its still a fun quick-play through.

Music 8/10- The music is scratchy and 8-Bit but it is the birth of the famous Final Fantasy Prelude!(Which was missing from FFVIII for some reason).

Story 7/10- Compared todays complex storylines, FFs doesn't stand the test of time. Though the story here is used basically over again in the first 5 FFs. Four heros mysteriously show up holding orbs and must save the world from a new evil.

Replay 6/10- Unlike its followers, it really has no optional quests except one. Even still a quick play through once more might be fun.

Overall 10/10- I know what your thinking. How can you give a 10 to a game with such weird scores on the other parts? Well even though this game is very simplistic and bland compared today's standards, where would we be without it? I know its really not a great game, but it deserves our respect because without it we wouldn't have FFVI ot Tactics and all the great games that it influenced. Even though your outdated, I tip my hat to you Final Fantasy.

I still remember vividly, after all these years, the impact that Final Fantasy had on me as a young gamer. Between FF and Dragon Warrior, these sealed my fate as a die-hard RPG fan and I have never looked back.
At the time, the graphics, storyline, and gameplay were new and enthralling. Modern RPG'ers would undoubtedly scoff at this fossil, and many would not have the strength of will to finish it to the end. I feel bad for new gamers who missed out on the dawning of one of the most popular and highly acclaimed series in video game history. They'll never know just how far back moogles, chocobas, and marlboros go, and have missed out on this strong foundation for the later gems in the series. That's not to say it can't be played now (Final Fantasy Origins for the Playstation) but suffering through it after experiencing the technical marvels and advanced gameplay of FF XII would probably be too much for even the most diehard RPG or FF fan. Still, it might be worth the trouble for some.
Gameplay consisted of four characters that you customized according to your own preferences out of six different classes, ranging from black belt and thief to various mages. At the time, this was exhilirating. Customizable gameplay? A new idea then that will never get tired. The graphics were big back then also, and I'll never forget the thrill of seeing my characters literally "grow up" in stature after meeting the requirements. The music was, and still is, memorable and stirring, and will ring a bell for many FF fans.
The fighting is turn based, with a humorous twist in that once you marked a foe, that turn was dedicated to that, and only that, character. If the baddie was slain by your allies, when your turn came you just swung uselessly at empty space. Not a major problem, but one that was eventually ironed out in subsequent versions.
I remember many hours of toiling to both level up and gain gil to purchase items and equipment, which is still a basic of all FF games. The storyline was engrossing and the character development was quite decent, also hallmarks of most subsequents installments, and major incentives for me as a player. I still remember the thrill of that last "quest", marching into the castle for the last time to defeat the big boss, and still get it in later games.
I would recommend this for the serious RPG'er, especially those enthralled by the FF series. Playing the original games might be tedious at best, but players can appreciate the growth and development of video gaming through each part in the series as well as get a solid background for all things FF. You might enjoy it more than you think.

PROS
- Introduction to character development and customization, and to many unique aspects and roots of FF series.
- Awesome musical soundtrack.
- Still get a thrill when you beat the final baddie!
- Great graphics (for its time.)

CONS
- May be too rustic for new gamers to appreciate.

I really loved this game. It's a huge improvement on the first Final Fantasy XIII, as it changes up the gameplay in favor of more along the lines of traditional Final Fantasy. With much much more to explore, there is a lot more to do aside from just the main story.
Although the combat stays the same, that was always one of the strongest aspects in Final Fantasy XIII as well. Many people complained that it was too easy as you could simply press Auto-Battle to let it unfold, but the truth is, that's not the point of his new battle system. Paradigm Shifts are the focus of FFXIII and XIII-2 battles as you switch between classes in-battle accordingly, and sometimes rigorously, making it one of the most exciting and flashy Final Fantasy battle systems.
To analogize, you could play Metal Gear Solid by simply running and shooting through every level, but that's no fun. That is pretty much what is going on here. And if the Auto-Battle bothers you so much, there is an option to remove it altogether, in lieu of the more traditional combat.
I do miss the use of Eidolons (summon monsters), but the new monster capture system is fantastic. It's a lot of fun to have monster allies that you can train and personalize to an extent. It may sound gimmicky in words, but it's much more fun that you might anticipate. Primarily, they give more depth to combat with their Feral Link abilities, allowing you to strategize further as the game progresses.
The story is a chaotic and complicated one, as it deals with time-travel, but is good nonetheless. The main characters are not as interesting as the ones in the first game, but they are still likable. However, the villain is superb, this time around.
In regular Final Fantasy fashion, the music and visuals are breathtaking. One aspect of the music that I absolutely adore is how the regular background music turns into a more aggressive version of the same song when an enemy is nearby. For example, a soft song could suddenly have extra electronic beats added to it or a violin could chime in.
Overall, it is a great game with tons of objective to accomplish, even after you have beaten the game. The gameplay is a vast improvement on the first game, although the plot and characters are not much better, they are still good.
For Final Fantasy fans who still enjoy the Final Fantasy games and choose to not scoff at any game past FFVII, you should definitely try this one out. The series is not dead, I assure you.

The one that started the Final Fantasy franchise, that's saying a lot. There is now 12, soon to be 13 games in the Final Fantasy, and that's not including the other branches like Crystal Chronicles. But this review is about the very first Final Fantasy. Being an Original Nintendo game, you can't expect mind blowing graphics, a story that will tug at your heart strings, or game play that will get you totally immersed in the action, but there is a story none the less, the graphics look very nice for a NES game, and in spite of a few problems with the combat; it is still fun.

This game is likely to cost you quite a bit being such a classic and no doubt a much sought for collector's item, so I'd say if you are not a hard core retro gamer or collector, you should pass this one by. This may be a biased opinion, for I am both. I love this game, but the fact that it contains the roots of the arguably greatest RPG series ever made, that fact may be blinding me to think that a sub-par game is excellent. Well I give this game an Excellent rating because even though it was made in Japan a little over 20 years ago, and then brought to North America in 1990 (The English version of Final Fantasy is as old as I am!), I enjoy playing this game 18 years later.

So to finish this painfully long review off, I say this; if your more into modern games with the latest in graphics, gameplay, and what not, and you wouldn't even look twice at an N64 or PlayStation 1, then pass this game up. I'm confident that you will be turned away from this game immediately once you hear the beautiful 8-bit music and graphics. However if you enjoy older games, perhaps you still enjoy your SNES or Genesis and you really enjoy classic games, then you should definitely get this game. Your sure to get quite a few hours of gameplay out of it :)