Another fine recreation of one of the most remade games of all time. It still hasn't lost its impeccable touch.
Now, the old-school Final Fantasy experience has landed on the portable gaming scene, with updated graphics, remastered music and new areas to explore. That's about it with the Final Fantasy: Anniversary Edition remake for the Playstation Portable. Financially, it's not a very nice idea, since the only enhancements are mostly aesthetic. But money aside, this proves to be the best remake yet.
The simple fact that Final Fantasy is on a portable is more than enough for enthusiasts of the series, especially those who are more inclined to Sony than Nintendo. Honestly, it's a better choice, seeing that the Nintendo remakes of the game are graphically and musically on a lesser degree than Sony's. Keep in mind, though, that the PSP is one heck of a multimedia machine. Gamers attracted to visual ooh-la-la are in for a real treat: the sprites are all hi-res and cleaned up and beautiful to look at. Every detail isn't really shining and shimmering, but beautiful enough to resemble storybook locations. The details are also formidable. Often, you could see fog or cloud shadows play across the screen as your little hero prances around to his next location. The overworld is pretty, but can seem flat at times. Often, the towns and villages and castles just appear to be lying on their backs, but it's fine enough, since the details are clear and defined. The music is beautiful, reminding everyone that the Final Fantasy series packs some of the most memorable tunes in gaming history.
The gameplay, as described is the simple fetch-quest/dungeon-crawl/turn-based-random-battle variety, a trademark for the old-school house of RPGs. It's not deeply enticing, but it's also not shallow. It's actually accessible enough for everyone. What's bad about old-school, anyway? Not much, except for the numerous random battles that keep popping up every three, four, five seconds of your walk in a dungeon or the overworld. Resources are plentiful, though, so it's not a big problem regarding the status of your characters. It is, however, tedious. The need to level up in certain areas add to the tedium. Your characters are stuck to only one character class, and will get that chance to evolve into a stronger class. This is both an asset and a disadvantage. An asset because you can focus on only one class and not get muddled by a lot of needs. Disadvantage because there is a lack of diversity. Weapons are different, depending on the character classes. At the very start, you're given the chance to assign classes to your four little heroes and name them, so every game is a fresh start. Experiment, and you'll either flop with your group of four white mages or lack the magical genius with four warriors and/or thieves.
Final Fantasy I, fully remade for the PSP, is one heck of an experience. Final Fantasy and RPG fans alike will look forward to a day of random battles and dungeon crawls and helping out villages-in-need, especially if they haven't played the previous recreations. Although it has its tough spots, blemishes and flaws, FFI:AE for the PSP is one beautiful game, and only time will tell if another FFI remake will supersede this PSP title.