One of the firsts, and still one of the bests for a reason.
First off, you get to pick four characters of your choosing. After picking up this PS1 remake I decided to go with four red mages, each named Vicks, Piette, Wedge and Biggs. (Yeah, I'm an SNES FF junky, what can say.)Anyway, I beat the first boss and see what my brother originally called "the ending" screen... even though its really only the beginning. Of the original I remembered little else, so going into this new world with no preconceptions, I was incredibly surprised.
Umm okay, what the hell do I do? Soon enough, I discover it doesn't matter. I can do what I want! I was surprised to see something that still remains so firm in RPGs to this day, exploration, already had its footing in the first place. There really isn't much of a story to be found, but oddly enough, I found it works better that way. You're left to find out little bits of information from townsfolk and the like... etc etc.
Now FFII was a nice surprise too. It seemed like it introduced actual "characters" with personalities (well, about as much as is allowed in an RPG this old) and a much more indepth leveling up system. You get hit? You get more hit points. You attack with a sword? You get better with a sword. This had its drawbacks too though. While a good idea, essentially you'll be attacking your teammates because monsters either take away hardly any hit points or simply kill you with a single blow. I thought this was a bit ridiculous. But besides that I found the system alright, yet don't blame them for abandoning it. (Not so sure if FF3 has this same system, as I still haven't played it.)
Anyway, the final verdict: Decently renewed graphics (although they are only about as good as FF4... I would have prefered characters that weren't little stubs), pretty good yet not so noteworthy music, and typical yet always intriguing gameplay leaves this collection for the FF fanatics and even for anyone that enjoys a good RPG (or maybe two). Basically, if you can get past the graphics, you'll find more than a few hours of this dismal thing you call life to have past right before your eyes.