Final Fantasy: Anniversary Edition (PSP)
- Publisher:
- Square Enix
- Developer:
- Square Enix
- Release Date:
- 08.02.2008
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Action Adventure
- Reality Factor:
- Fantasy
- Extra:
- Other World
- Age:
- Ancient Times
We play Final Fantasy: Anniversary Edition...
Think back to what you were doing 20 years
ago. Some of us were young children, playing outside gleefully,
ignorant of the world-at-large, some were yet to be born, but a few
others were playing a little game called Final Fantasy on the NES. It’s
been two decades since the release of Hironbu Sakaguchi’s RPG – aptly
titled at the time as it was believed it would be Square’s last game.
In celebration of the milestone, Square Enix has released special
anniversary editions of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II for the PSP.
Let’s be brutally honest for a moment. This is the fourth time that Square Enix has re-released the original Final Fantasy (the other three being Wonderswan, PlayStation and Game Boy Advance versions respectively). To make matters worse, the Anniversary Edition is for all intents and purposes the same game as the remake released on the other three formats, albeit with cleaner sprites. Let’s not forget that the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance versions also included Final Fantasy II, which is sold separately on the PSP.
When you compare the Anniversary Edition remake to something like the Final Fantasy III remake, it’s easy to develop a sense of being gypped. The game does, however, have a certain degree of charm, and is still quite easy to enjoy, despite the fact it often feels very archaic in its design, both in terms of gameplay and narrative. You do have to forgive it for this – after all, it is essentially just a 20 year old game with a new touch of paint. Still, the package is almost like a ‘best of’ as far as ports and remakes of Final Fantasy go – you get the highest resolution sprites, widescreen perspective, the FMV scenes and excellent soundtrack from the Origins release, the bonus dungeons from the GBA release, an all new dungeon called the Labyrinth of Time (where ones HP is constantly drained while they are within the dungeon) and an art gallery featuring the works of Yoshitaka Amano, the game’s character designer.
Some of Final Fantasy’s beauty is held within its aged design. When you think about Final Fantasy X or XII, you’d remember that it takes a rather long time for the game to get going, not to mention how long it takes for one to grasp the battle system and such – it’s quite the opposite here. Other than a lengthy, albeit skippable, opening cinematic, Final Fantasy wastes no time getting to the action or the meat of the story.
The story is quite easy to follow – none of that deception or political fluff of later Final Fantasy games; just straightforward good versus evil stuff. The player controls four characters (whose classes you choose at the start of the quest) which are called the Light Warriors. The Light Warriors carry the world’s Elemental orbs within them, though unfortunately these orbs have been dulled by the Elemental Fiends. You must defeat the Elemental Fiends in order to reawaken the power of these orbs in order to save the world.
As mentioned earlier, Final Fantasy grants players a lot more control over their team of characters than future instalments. Four slots are available in your party at the start of the game, and a there are six character classes to choose from; warrior, thief, monk, red mage, white mage and black mage. Each class has their own distinct advantage; warrior is the heavy weapon class, monk is better at unarmed combat, thief moves quickly, red mage is the jack of all trades for magic, white mage uses defensive and curative spells, while the black mage uses destructive spells. It’s best to balance the team out between melee and magic users, but you can always opt for all of one or the other to make the game more of a challenge.
Much of the game is spent navigating the overworld, moving between towns, ports, castles and caves as well as exploration of the aforementioned. Like any RPG from that time, that inevitably means oodles of random battles. The battle system is quite simple, as you’d expect from a pioneering game, however, being basic tends to work in the game’s favour – there’s just simple attack, magic, item, defend and flee commands. A simple battle system really helps to get one into the game a bit quicker, but players will begin to find the battles boring quite quickly due to the strict levelling up requirements; if you don’t like grinding through random battles, then this game is definitely not for you. The stringent levelling up requirements only serve to pad out the game, which is somewhat short by the standards of today’s RPGs.
Realistically, Final Fantasy: Anniversary Edition can only really be recommended for serious collectors and obsessive fans, as the vast majority of what’s on offer in the game has already been provided in either Final Fantasy Origins on the PlayStation or Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls on the Game Boy Advance, both of which are readily available on the secondary market for far cheaper than the Anniversary Edition. Those collections also include Final Fantasy II, which is sold separately on the PSP.
Top game moment: Hearing the Final Fantasy overture on the title screen, something you just never get tired of.
Let’s be brutally honest for a moment. This is the fourth time that Square Enix has re-released the original Final Fantasy (the other three being Wonderswan, PlayStation and Game Boy Advance versions respectively). To make matters worse, the Anniversary Edition is for all intents and purposes the same game as the remake released on the other three formats, albeit with cleaner sprites. Let’s not forget that the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance versions also included Final Fantasy II, which is sold separately on the PSP.
 |
 |
|
| Cold blooded killers |
Six heads are better than one |
When you compare the Anniversary Edition remake to something like the Final Fantasy III remake, it’s easy to develop a sense of being gypped. The game does, however, have a certain degree of charm, and is still quite easy to enjoy, despite the fact it often feels very archaic in its design, both in terms of gameplay and narrative. You do have to forgive it for this – after all, it is essentially just a 20 year old game with a new touch of paint. Still, the package is almost like a ‘best of’ as far as ports and remakes of Final Fantasy go – you get the highest resolution sprites, widescreen perspective, the FMV scenes and excellent soundtrack from the Origins release, the bonus dungeons from the GBA release, an all new dungeon called the Labyrinth of Time (where ones HP is constantly drained while they are within the dungeon) and an art gallery featuring the works of Yoshitaka Amano, the game’s character designer.
Some of Final Fantasy’s beauty is held within its aged design. When you think about Final Fantasy X or XII, you’d remember that it takes a rather long time for the game to get going, not to mention how long it takes for one to grasp the battle system and such – it’s quite the opposite here. Other than a lengthy, albeit skippable, opening cinematic, Final Fantasy wastes no time getting to the action or the meat of the story.
The story is quite easy to follow – none of that deception or political fluff of later Final Fantasy games; just straightforward good versus evil stuff. The player controls four characters (whose classes you choose at the start of the quest) which are called the Light Warriors. The Light Warriors carry the world’s Elemental orbs within them, though unfortunately these orbs have been dulled by the Elemental Fiends. You must defeat the Elemental Fiends in order to reawaken the power of these orbs in order to save the world.
 |
 |
|
| A field of five frolicking fairies |
Uh-oh, drug bust! |
As mentioned earlier, Final Fantasy grants players a lot more control over their team of characters than future instalments. Four slots are available in your party at the start of the game, and a there are six character classes to choose from; warrior, thief, monk, red mage, white mage and black mage. Each class has their own distinct advantage; warrior is the heavy weapon class, monk is better at unarmed combat, thief moves quickly, red mage is the jack of all trades for magic, white mage uses defensive and curative spells, while the black mage uses destructive spells. It’s best to balance the team out between melee and magic users, but you can always opt for all of one or the other to make the game more of a challenge.
Much of the game is spent navigating the overworld, moving between towns, ports, castles and caves as well as exploration of the aforementioned. Like any RPG from that time, that inevitably means oodles of random battles. The battle system is quite simple, as you’d expect from a pioneering game, however, being basic tends to work in the game’s favour – there’s just simple attack, magic, item, defend and flee commands. A simple battle system really helps to get one into the game a bit quicker, but players will begin to find the battles boring quite quickly due to the strict levelling up requirements; if you don’t like grinding through random battles, then this game is definitely not for you. The stringent levelling up requirements only serve to pad out the game, which is somewhat short by the standards of today’s RPGs.
 |
 |
|
| You save the world and still have to pay VAT! |
Blinded by the light, as Manfred Mann once sang |
Realistically, Final Fantasy: Anniversary Edition can only really be recommended for serious collectors and obsessive fans, as the vast majority of what’s on offer in the game has already been provided in either Final Fantasy Origins on the PlayStation or Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls on the Game Boy Advance, both of which are readily available on the secondary market for far cheaper than the Anniversary Edition. Those collections also include Final Fantasy II, which is sold separately on the PSP.
Top game moment: Hearing the Final Fantasy overture on the title screen, something you just never get tired of.
