Pros: Nostalgia, Updated Graphics, Terrific Sound
Cons: No Final Fantasy III, Both Games on Same Disc
The bottom line: Final Fantasy Origins Isn't For Everone, but should definitely please people who have been playing the series for a while.
Everything has to start somewhere, but things aren't always peachy in the beginning. This can be proven by taking a gander at the original Grand Theft Auto game for Playstation; the game didn't actually generate much attention, and I'm sure that sales reflected this, but I'm really not sure. The best time to discover something is before it is effected by hype, this holds true to many entertainment franchises, take Grand Theft Auto and Gex as examples if you will. Hype is simply a tool used by producers to make people buy their products, and while this may be good for the companies behind the products, hype and good sales usually lead to greedy corporations. Squaresoft is one of these such organizations, who, in the beginning, was just trying to get by with what they had, barely surviving with a few games on the NES here and there, with the sales being enough to keep the company humble. It wasn't until Squaresoft copied Enix's award winning RPG formula though, that they started rolling in the cash. The form that their copying took was released under the title of Final Fantasy, and while it didn't make a very big impact in the US, Japan ate the title up. Of course, one thing lead to another, and Squaresoft has now released 10 Final Fantasy games. Of course, the series is still fun (except FFX), but you really have to play the originals to get a feel for how the series transformed so much over the years, this is the whole point behind the subject of my review; Final Fantasy Origins.

Final Fantasy Origins is the third re-release of older Final Fantasy games on the Playstation, in collection format. Final Fantasy Origins includes both the original Final Fantasy game, and the radically different part II of the series. Of course, when I first heard that this set was set to be released, I had to jump all over it, as I was one of the few people that started playing Final Fantasy back when everyone thought that it really was the "final" fantasy. Of course, Final Fantasy II was never released in the US, but I (being the clever little guy I am) downloaded a translated rom for it, and was able to play quite a bit of it.

I have very fond memories of playing the original Final Fantasy, in fact, I played through the whole game (couldn't beat the Final Boss though) before I reached the age of 8, and given the immense level of difficulty in the game, and the fact that I had no internet, strategy guide, and I was the only one I knew who had even played the game, so times were definitely rough. Final Fantasy was the game that really piqued my interest in the RPG genre though, and without it I probably wouldn't have really gotten into these types of games.

Final Fantasy
This is where it all started folks, although there are many RPG fans who haven't even played this game yet. Without this game (and a little help from Nintendo) Squaresoft would have faded away from the video game scene for sure, as the series molded the developer into what they are today, be it a good or bad thing. The title Final Fantasy is decieving for this game, as it has become one of the most celebrated franchises the video game industry has ever seen, and there really isn't anything "Final" about the series at all.

Imagine a world where airships rise from sandy deserts, and the future depends entirely on the courage of four strangers. This is Final Fantasy. The magic is still there for me, but even through the nostalgia I still have respect for this game, and it's still enjoyable for me. Strangely enough, I actually prefer the original Final Fantasy over this version. Some, but not all, of the game's charm was lost in the updated graphics and sound. The story is best told on the NES.

When it comes to being traditional, Final Fantasy takes the cake, except maybe Dragon Warrior, but that's an entirely different story. You gain experience points to gain levels, and the game follow a set storyline path. You learn magic and equip weapons to help you fight off the hoards of uglies that would like nothing better than to lay your party to rest. The battles are all turn based, meaning the action is played out in turns, and performed by selecting commands from a menu. The menu items are as simplistic as they ever were, but this is understandable given the release date of original game. Nearly all of the monsters are encountered randomly by walking around through dungeons and outdoor landscape with a party of 4 characters. One of the biggest frustrations with this game when it was first released was the unfavorable monster encounter rate, which sometimes causes you to run into enemies with every single little step that you take. The problem still exists in the Final Fantasy Origins version, but it feels like the encounter rate was tinkered with slightly.

The one aspect that set Final Fantasy apart from Dragon Warrior for me was the ability to create your own party. This allows for some major differences each time you start a new game, which adds a thick layer of replayability. There are several different flavors of fighters and mages to choose from, all of which have different strengths and weaknesses. It's fun to mix and match teams when starting new games, but some characters are pretty much necessary in completing the game, for example, the game would be extremely difficult to complete without using at least one white or red mage as healing magic is extremely helpful throughout the game. Of course, there are a few different types of fighters in the game, but choosing which ones work best with the rest of the team is completely up to you. An interesting element to the game is that your characters will upgrade their class (the upgraded class is determined by the character's starting class) at just around halfway through the quest, and so this makes for even more diversity amongst the characters in your party.

Surprising as it may seem, Final Fantasy has one of the greatest told stories in the series, this may not seem to be the case when you first start out playing, as the storyline may seem very miniscule with execution in the beginning, but the story as a whole blossoms out to a very epic tale about halfway through. Storywise Final Fantasy blew all the competition away when it was released, and while the story may seem a little on the weak side when compared to modernized RPGs, but because of the sheer nostalgia I have for it I can still enjoy re-experiencing it. The only semi problem I have with the storyline is the characters. Since you are the one who creates them, they have no interactions in the storyline, but really I can't imagine the game any other way.

Final Fantasy isn't how it used to be though; the Final Fantasy Origins version has been completely redone. Visually and musically the game has undergone massive improvements, as it probably wasn't too hard for Squaresoft to realize that in the sea of casual gamers, it would generate very little interest if the graphics had been left unchanged from the NES version. The enhancements go a long way, as a game that was once difficult to look at, Final Fantasy has been re-imagined and looks as beautiful as the prettiest of 16-bit RPGs. Seriously, this game now contains some of the prettiest 2-Dimensional sprites that I've ever seen, and only after playing Final Fantasy Origins can you realize just how limited the NES was, graphically speaking.

Audio-wise the game has a lot to offer. I always thought to myself that Final Fantasy had a very interesting soundtrack, and I wondered what it would sound like if it was redone and orchestrated. My thoughts materialized though, as Final Fantasy Origins features a completely redone soundtrack, all the old songs have been redone. Everything sounds crisp, and the end package is just completely and utterly awesome to listen to.

The concept of FMV is definitely not foreign to Squaresoft, and to all you cinematic fans out there, the developer opted to include a few into the game, not many though. There are several other additions to the game, but there are three that particularly stand out to me. First one is the ability to save to a memo file; in the original version you could save only by visiting an Inn, but now you can save anywhere on the world map, but temporarily, as the file will be deleted if you turn off the playstation. Permanent saves are still done at the Inn and whenever you rest.

The next positive enhancement is the system used for buying items in shops. In the past, it was very time consuming because you had to buy each item individually, and you could not purchase more than one at a time. Now, however, you can buy up to 99 of an item at a time, this makes it easier to stock up on the necessities, much easier. The final addition that struck me as genius was the ability to choose between easy and normal difficulty settings. I prefer the normal setting, as it's the way that I played the game in the first place, but the easy is much better for someone who hasn't played the game.

Final Fantasy II
I have had far less experience with this game than the original Final Fantasy, even despite the fact that I've played through it. Of all the NES Final Fantasy games, FFII is the most radical, and also the least traditional of the three, and sadly enough, I would say it is also the worst of them. Even being the worst, it is still a good game though.

When I said this game is the most radical of the three 8 bit Final Fantasy games, I was being completely honest. The major difference is in how the characters become stronger. Like in most RPGs, you are in control of a set of four characters, monsters are encountered randomly, battles are turn based, and you can learn spells and buy new weapons. So what then is different you ask? Characters do not level up in Final Fantasy II, but they gain stats through a different method. This method doesn't have a name, so I just call it proficiency gaining. Through this method, you gain stats when you need them. For example, if you are attacked a lot, your defense rises, if you lose HP a lot, your hit points rise. All the increases are determines after battle, and this allows you to groom your team exactly how you want to.

I haven't played the original too much, so I'm not exactly the most informed person on the subject. Obviously the graphics and sound have been improved, along with the menu system. Added FMV to the game allows for a very interesting opening. Beyond that, I can't remember any contrasting improvements between the NES version and this. So just keep in mind while reading this that there is no nostalgia to cloud my judgement here, and so I can be completely honest with my feelings for this game.

The storyline is easily the best of the three NES Final Fantasy games, as FFII features individual characters that are set to the epic story. The plot also features the betrayal theme, which is a commonplace in most of the Final Fantasy games. One interesting note about the storyline to FFII; a segment of it was retold on FFIX by Ramuh, but of course I didn't realize this until after playing FFII. Another interesting aspect to the game's plot is that there are actually more than just 4 set playable characters, as some will come and go in the party, and this makes for more varied gameplay than that found in the original Final Fantasy game, while at the same time allowing for some characterizing similarities to shine through.

Final Fantasy II is one of the three Final Fantasy games that never saw a domestic release outside of Japan, well until now. This was probably due to the immense differences from other RPGs to Final Fantasy II. The strangest aspect of the game is, without a doubt the leveling up system. While it is in fact a little strange to get used to, in the end it works out very nicely and brings a refreshing feeling to the RPG scene, even though this game is old enough to be considered ancient.

Despite the radical change in leveling up, FFII is strangely similar to modern Final Fantasy games, well moreso than the other two NES FF games. The story unfolds in a more enjoyable manner than that of Final Fantasy, and one thing that drew me in was the fact that in the very beginning your team is destroyed by enemies in a battle, it's a really strange way to start out the game, but it was one of the aspects that attracted me to the game, I'm really not sure why, maybe it's because it's the first time I've ever seen an RPG do something like that.

The graphics in FFII were redone to look just as lush and colorful as those in FF. The NES version was just about as ugly as the original Final Fantasy, with slighty better looking graphics, and so this is why playing the Origins version of the game is really easy on the eyes for me, and probably for others who lost their vision because of the heavy pixelation and bland colors in the original version of this role playing game. Side by side, Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II on the Origins collection look very much alike, with the size in characters being the most notable difference I've noticed. Final Fantasy II does look slightly better to me, but this may just because I didn't really play through it until after I had already beaten Final Fantasy. The music in FFII isn't quite as memorable as that in the original Final Fantasy; some melodies are better, while others are worse. For example, the standard battle music in FFII is more upbeat than that in Final Fantasy. The song that plays during each boss battle in Final Fantasy II definitely leaves a lot to be desired though.

The characters are completely individualized in this game, which works out nicely as a follow up to the original. Firion, Leon, Gus and Maria are the game's main characters. As I mentioned earlier in this review, you won't be stuck with the same exact party of characters, as some will come and go throughout the long quest. The supporting characters that join are fairly interesting, but for the most part, I much preferred the background stories for the main characters in the plotline.

Final Fantasy II is a good game, but I consider it to be bad as far as the series goes. It's not quite as bad as Final Fantasy VIII, but it lacks a certain magic that you can't hide with most of the other FF games. There are some good points to the game though, as it uses pretty much the same menu system as the original game included on this collection, and the graphics are again something very nice to look at. The music lacks the magic of the original, and I actually prefer the gameplay from the other game included on this collection. Not everything is bad though; the storyline is better than that of the original for sure, and the game itself is well... unique.

Final Recommendation
While I do like the Origins package, one major thing was not included. What now? The answer is Final Fantasy III, which is easily the best of the NES FF games. Overall though, the package is a must buy for any RPG fan, or for all long time gamers. Anyone who missed out and wants a history lesson should also check this game out. The original versions are still the best however, but this collection comes in a close second.

Overall Rating: 8.9

If you like Final Fantasy Origins, Then You May Also Enjoy the Following:

1. Final Fantasy X

2. Final Fantasy Chronicles

3. Skies of Arcadia Legends