Final Fantasy

 iOS
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
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  1. IGN
    Feb 12, 2011
    70
    If you download Final Fantasy I expecting a lively, modern RPG, then you'll waste $8.99. This is a remake of a classic that deviates only in appearances, not in spirit.
  2. Pocket Gamer UK
    Feb 12, 2011
    70
    While the revised touch controls offer a mixed bag of accessibility and annoyances, Final Fantasy still delivers simple, solid role-playing.
  3. TouchGen
    Feb 12, 2011
    70
    Final Fantasy I is still a better place to start whether you are a seasoned veteran or completely new to the series.

Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Most Discussed iOS Game of 2010

User Reviews

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User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 54 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 54
  3. Negative: 12 out of 54
  1. QilBoy
    Dec 5, 2021
    2
    Disclaimer for every game released before the fifth generations of consoles: the ideal way of critiquing a videogame would be to do itDisclaimer for every game released before the fifth generations of consoles: the ideal way of critiquing a videogame would be to do it contextually to the time period in which it was released. But since I was born in 1999, with the sixth generation of games being my first, I lack the full perspective and knowledge of previous generations that one would need to critique an older game fairly, and have no other choice but to review this product with modern games' standards in mind.
    Turn-based RPGs, since their inception, have always had a strong emphasis on luck. Everybody is familiar with attacks missing and critical hits, but the element of randomness has found many more forms in the turn-based genre throughout the generations, and it almost never truly died. Most RPGs today have still missing attacks, critical hits and other mechanics purely based on RNG.
    Most of those mechanics are relics of an obsolete game design philosophy and should simply die.
    Because randomness and luck are the death of good gameplay. Because there is nothing fun about crafting a strategy and see it all crumble to dust because of something completely out of the player's agency, because of bad luck.
    But as much as I despise it, it is still a marginal aspect of most turn-based RPGs today, and relatively innocuous, as it is not overly present.
    This is very much not the case with Final Fantasy.
    FF is the absolute worst case of a game based on luck that I've encountered in my life.
    Most people point to the game's incredible amount of glitches and errors when talking about its flaws, whereas I point to the game's core design philosophy.
    Almost every single aspect of this game is plagued, tainted and polluted by such a revolting passion for randomness.
    It's not just missing attacks and critical hits, that are still present, the issue is much bigger.
    Your attack could deal 38 damage point, OR 89, if you're lucky. Same for your enemies, whose attack power can vary immensely based on luck. If your speed stat is high it means that you deal more hits and therefore more damage, but ONLY if you're lucky because sometimes the game does not care. Same for your enemies, as they can either hit you once or twice or thrice, if you're unlucky. A stupid amount of enemies attack you with instant-death spells and magic that can wipe your entire party, if you're unlucky. This game does not care how much effort you've put into planning a strategy, because it can all go to hell insanely fast, if your luck says so. But the game's problems do not stop here, oh no.
    The game gives you the choice of creating your own party by choosing from a big pool of classes. In a good game, these classes would be balanced, each with their pros and cons to ultimately be equal in value.
    But FF is not a good game, so a handful of classes are objectively overpowered and make the game a cakewalk, whereas other classes are severely flawed and will make your playthrough a slow grindy chore. So good luck.
    The game doesn't even reorganize the treasures based on the classes you chose, so you'll frequently find chests full of armors and weapons that you will never use because you dont have the only classes that can wear them. Isn't that funny.
    And even with the best classes, the game still remains a slow, tedious slog because of a frustratingly high enemy encounter rate and the total absence of spells and items that can reduce said encounter rate. Speaking of spells, the magic System is one of the few things that FF actually does right, even better than its main competitor Dragon Quest, with so many different spells that can affect the flow of battles in many ways. Too bad that even this spark of quality is suffocated by the total absence of items that can restore MP inside dungeons, meaning that you'll need to run from almost every encounter to reach the boss with enough MP to have a decent chance. So in a way, even the game doesn't want you to play it.
    The game takes inspiration from Dragon Quest in its progression, with the player needing to gather info in towns and act like a detective to realize where to go next. But it fails even in imitating another game: there are some cool scenarios and interesting situations where the detective work leads to a satisfying puzzle solution, but there are also instances where the player has no choice but to wander around aimlessly and use a random item in a random place to progress, with no clue ever being given to do so.
    Or, in other words: Final Fantasy isn't a 0, because the game works at the very least, and it isn't a 1 because there are some good ideas like the Magic System and some interesting story puzzles, but it doesn't go beyond a 2, as the game is scarred with glitches, lobotomized by incredibly poor balancing, poisoned by an insane obsession on luck and shot in the head by slow, anti-player game design. Really baffling how this was the start of a series that would spawn some of the best RPGs ever.    … Full Review »
  2. BasilZero
    Apr 27, 2020
    8
    Game: Final Fantasy I
    Genre: RPG
    Developer: Squareenix Publisher: Squareenix System: iPhone (iOS) Year of Release: 2010 Length of    Game: Final Fantasy I
    Genre: RPG
    Developer: Squareenix
    Publisher: Squareenix
    System: iPhone (iOS)
    Year of Release: 2010
    Length of Playthrough: 20 Hours

    Total Score: 81/100
    Value Score: 8.1/10

    • Story: 7/10
    • Characters: 8/10
    • GamePlay: 7/10
    • Graphics: 9/10
    • Sound: 8/10
    • Music: 10/10
    • Length: 7/10
    • Replay Value: 7/10
    • Player Value: 8/10

    Pros
    +Same as the PSP version, includes all the content added
    +Resume game option allows you to start off from where you last left off (similar to a quick save)

    Cons
    -Touch screen controls may take some time to get use to
    -The icons/user interface is a bit clunky especially in battle
    -Some text disappear off due to the borders from left to right    … Full Review »
  3. Wesson
    Feb 6, 2020
    7
    I've had this in my backlog for god knows how long now, and with the upcoming Final Fantasy VII remake garnering hype I wanted to give theI've had this in my backlog for god knows how long now, and with the upcoming Final Fantasy VII remake garnering hype I wanted to give the series a try, before hopping onto the remake so my first experiences with the game series could be of more humble origins.

    I wasn't expecting much from this game as most people recommend avoiding this game unless you are an avid fan of the franchise already as it's dated mechanics and almost non existent story don't really deliver what people now are yearning for. So I'll try to divide this up into multiple sections, story, game-play, graphics, and music.

    So with the story to call it serviceable would call it a compliment, your party has no dialogue, and the entire plot can be summed up in a couple of sentences, but I won't spoil you on that as that is part of the fun if you decide to play that. My biggest gripe however is the almost complete lack of direction you are given for the game, you get hints from talking to NPCs on where to go, but you're essentially on your own with figuring where to go, which in the later stages of the game becomes quite troublesome as you have to do a lot of trekking around the entire world. I personally used a guide as I don't have as much free time as I used to and after using it I would recommend the use of one as well.

    Game-play: This is the bread and butter of basically the entire game, if you don't like what you're seeing from video's that you've watched you're not going to enjoy the game. This is one of the original turn based RPGs and as of 2020 is going to be 33 years old! Can't believe I'm playing a game that if it were a person it's kid would probably closer to my age than the game! But the port/remake/remaster holds up very well. I play a quite a bit of DnD so seeing a lot of monsters in the game that WotC pull from helped me in combat as to what it will probably be throwing at me, as well as class roles. Combat is fun, at least for me it is. If you like turn based RPGs you'll have no problems finding your comfort zone in the gameplay, my only recommendation is DON'T USE THIEF. Absolutely a waste of a character slot.

    Graphics: I haven't done the research but my best guess is that the original remake/remaster was done for the Game Boy and the android port is ported and tweaked using that game not the original NES version, and in terms of graphics for the Game Boy this is pretty middle of the road with really only the bosses and some higher level spells getting good sprites which have a very nice look to them even if dated you can tell some hard work was put into making them with the limited technology at the time.

    Music: I am not a music expert nor do I claim to be but to me, a like just about every other part of this game, the music is serviceable. Now don't get me wrong there's some very catchy stuff that appears to continue being used for the next 15+ games but nothing really gripped me with the exception of the title screen score. Which I just looked up and is called Final Fantasy Prelude.

    This game is old, so I don't want to be to rough on it, but there are some things that could have been some small tweaks and quality of life updates to the game to make it much less of a grind, so I'll probably be giving this game a 7/10 maybe a 6/10 but this is an old game so I have to show some respect to the game that birthed a 3+ decade spanning franchise.

    This was my first time actually reviewing a game if you feel liked I missed anything important, or disagree with what I said feel free to let me know.

    Regards,

    Wesson    … Full Review »
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