Final Fantasy Anthology

Written by Tom Clare in PSOne Game Reviews, Tuesday 24 May, 2005

A couple of old Fantasy's relived...

Whether you like it or love it, the Final Fantasy legacy has firmly established itself among the very most popular franchises in gaming today. It was, of course, the emergence of Final Fantasy VII back in 1997 that sent the Japanese RPG series rocketing towards its current worldwide-phenomenon status, but for many years we European gamers had been kept in the dark as to the series' beginnings.

After a ridiculously long wait, Final Fantasy VI was given a half-hearted budget release on the PSOne format and despite Squaresoft's considerable doubts, it exceeded all expectations, selling out country-wide in a matter of days. So it hardly came as a surprise when, a few months later, Final Fantasy Anthology was granted a UK release at the ever-so-slightly cheeky price of £19.99.

Final Fantasy Anthology (FFA) is a collection of sorts that comprises of two slices of the sizable FF back-catalogue. They are Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V, two pioneering role-playing games originally released on the Super Nintendo format and both of which over a decade old upon their re-release, so how would they hold up in the 21st century?

It's a logical enough collection, though instantly provided me with my ultimate reviewing nightmare - covering two games in one text. I sense it could be a long one, so if you are sitting comfortably, I will begin…

FFIV firstly then - initially, you assume control of the unfortunately-named Cecil; a Dark Knight and loyal servant to King Baron. Over time, Cecil has become increasingly worried as to his masters motives, as he finds his mission objectives becoming more and more extreme, culminating in the ruthless destruction of a village and its innocent occupants. Cecil questions his King's decisions, and is promptly stripped of his position and banned from Baron. This subsequently leads our hero off on a gruelling journey of self-discovery and the search for forgiveness from the people he had previously wronged under the King. Cecil must attempt to uncover the mystery of the King's clouded judgement, whilst also restoring the worlds crystals and fighting off the camp-villain-in-a-cloak, Golbez.

Many of the features on display will be instantly recognisable to veterans of the later instalments - the main bulk of the adventure involves traipsing through monster-riddled dungeons and mountain passes, visiting towns and talking to villagers in the hope of gleaning some useful information, and generally trying to achieve one set task at a time to move the story along.

It's your typical Final Fantasy fare - battles and exploration start off on a predictably small scale, but extended play opens up both the storyline and the gaming environment, as your characters improve and uncover new forms of transport to reach previously uncharted areas. The further you progress, the more characters you meet, many of whom choose to join your party (which can hold as many as five people at a time - the most of any FF to date) at certain points. Impressively, each character has a different title (such as Paladin, White Mage, Ninja and so on), meaning that not only are their general statistics and weapons unique to them, they can also uncover a plethora of magical spells - offensive black magic, curative white magic and Summons (mythical beasts each with their own individual battle tactic) that have become so popular in the series recent history.

Initially, the sheer difficulty of the game may surprise and alarm fans. It's nothing specifically to do with the gameplay mechanics or menus - both of which are a doddle to pick up on - it simply throws you right in at the deep end from the get-go with hordes of tough monsters attacking your inexperienced and vulnerable party, and it isn't difficult to see why an 'Easy-Type' version of the game was released into the American market. It may take a few hours before your characters have evolved enough to regularly defeat the beasties, but after a somewhat sluggish start, Final Fantasy IV becomes every bit as compelling as its younger siblings.

It carries a rather more pessimistic storyline than any other of the Final Fantasy titles I have come across, with several key characters going missing or being killed off completely to make way for new ones. Don't let this put you off though - back in the early nineties, the new SNES hardware really gave Squaresoft a chance to add bulk to their gameplay and storylines, and the result is some truly inspired touches within, not least the chance to explore the centre of the Earth and, unbelievably, the Moon! Though the adventure can be polished off in a relatively paltry (by today's RPG standards anyway) 25 hours, there is still an admirable amount of depth to be found in here, and it will certainly keep the aficionados happy. So far so good then…

…Final Fantasy V on the other hand sees you controlling the even-more-unfortunately-named Butz. Butz, along with his troop of allies (including a pink-haired Princess and a cross-dressing Pirate) must undertake the task of investigating how and why a mysterious meteor had fallen to the Earth, whilst also protecting the worlds crystals (sounds a bit familiar…). Also, they find they must withstand a torrent of verbal abuse from the camp-villain-in-a-cloak (is this FFIV again?); X-Death.

So the fifth instalment isn't going to win any prizes for originality; either in its basic gameplay structure or storyline, and in many regards is strikingly similar to its 'Anthology' partner. Its one main innovation here comes in the form of the Job System, which is somewhat inspired. Basically, you can assign one of thirty 'Jobs' to each of your party members, and depending on their occupation, they will learn new techniques, abilities and spells. The jobs available range from your standard role-playing fare - Black and White Mages, Monks, Knights and Sorcerers, to some decidedly quirky ones that include Bard, Blue Mage and Pet Trainer!

Gameplay and controls are almost exactly the same as those featured in FFIV - villages can be utilised to stock up on weaponry and the locals are, as ever, up for a good old natter about anything and everything. Objectives must once again be reached in order to progress both in the plot and in the gaming environment, and progression leads to ever tougher battles and challenges.

Despite a fairly brisk start, Final Fantasy V runs out of steam alarmingly quickly, and because its storyline and characters are among the weakest and most forgettable in the series' history, it has to rely on the novelty of its nifty Job System to carry the player through to the end. More of a concern is how lethargically the game unfolds - the evolution of your characters (brought about by defeating monsters in battle) happens horribly slowly, and you may often find yourself having to take a few hours break from the main story just to build up your heroes statistics.

Don't get me wrong; it's still a highly absorbing and enjoyable RPG, and delivers a hefty 35+ hours of gameplay, though it showcases for me the only instance in the series whereby the overall feeling is of a samey, unoriginal and stale affair. A bit of a low point by Squaresoft's own high-standards though they would soon recover.

Graphically, both titles in Final Fantasy Anthology have dated rather badly, though neither is without its retro charm. Environments and character sprites hardly challenge the 32-bit PSOne console, though they nevertheless come across as colourful, crisp and clear, with a definite hint of nostalgia radiating from each two-dimensional area. Neither FF games have been altered for the Anthology re-release, except for the addition of a couple of FMV intros and endings for each. Strangely, FFIV's look really low-fi with unremarkable backgrounds and minimal animations, whilst FFV's fair much better and come across as rather stylish - it's odd that there is such a notable difference. On the plus side, loading times in-game are kept to a minimum throughout, and the control configurations have made a pleasingly successful transition from SNES to PlayStation joypads, losing none of the original accessibility. The top-down, two-dimensional viewpoint adopted as standard in FF Anthology will be the most striking difference between the old Final Fantasy's and the new. A lot more of the playing environment can be seen at any one time compared to later games, with the restriction of movement meaning only four directions can be travelled in, rather than eight. Though this leads to an obviously more basic and less free-roaming playing experience, it's difficult not to appreciate how well designed all the locations are, at least taking into account their age.

Soundtracks score favourably throughout FFA, despite the understandably basic sound effects that accompany the tunes. Squaresoft never fail to deliver when it comes to the musical side of their adventures, and here is no different - the background songs will soon have you humming along with their intoxicating charm, though as several tracks are used in more than one location, they do start to grate a little in the long-term.

Without doubt the packages strongest forte is its longevity - I clocked up over sixty hours of gameplay between the two games, and so consequently they should keep even the most demanding of fans happy for a good couple of months. Replay value isn't as strong as in some of the newer instalments as there is less of an onus on sub-quests and mini-quests, though that's not to say FFIV & V are without their own secrets.

Who would FFA most appeal to? Well, I can't see it suiting those who can't stand pointy-hat clad Wizards, mystical Dragons and the word 'Mythril' - this is role-playing in its purest, most basic form. Fans of the series who aren't put off by the plain visuals should find a great deal of enjoyment here. Newcomers to the genre would probably be best starting with either FFVII or FFIX though. It's suitable for all ages as there is no gore and little more than cartoon-violence within, though I suspect that those at the younger end of the gaming spectrum would find the pair a little too difficult.

To conclude, I would say Final Fantasy Anthology is a mostly successful trip down memory-lane. The first part of the compilation fares better than the second in my opinion, though I feel this is simply personal preference. The £19.99 price-tag is a little steep when you consider that both games are upwards of ten years old now, though for the sheer playability and lifespan factors, I can't find too much to grumble about. Ultimately then, there's a great and a good game that both deliver challenging and enjoyable action by the bucket-load, and prove once and for all, that they don't make 'em like they used to...

Leave a Reply