Choosing between FFI and FFII

[Lord Relvenous]

I enjoy playing games on my Ipod Touch, and saw recently that Final Fastasy 1 and 2 have been made available for download as apps. I have never played either game for more than a few minutes, but I did enjoy what little playing I did. However, I'm only interested in getting one of the two. Which of the two games did you guys enjoy more? Why?

[Vendetta]

Both have their disadvantages. FF1 is very simplistic, but the latest versions have had all the bugs from the first versions squashed, and if the iPhone version is the same as the latest GBA and PSP versions the class balance isn't completely screwed any more.

FF2 tries to do more, and generally falls on its face as a result. The progression system is wonky as hell (it is generally accepted that beating yourself up is the best way to improve, and you have to spend ages casting crap versions of spells to get at the good levelled up versions), and it's incredibly easy to break the system by levelling shields early and then wandering around naked except for a shield, rendering 90% of enemies completely unable to damage you because they can't hit you, and eventually high HP values are more of a hinderance than a benefit because endgame enemies deal damage proportional to your max HP, far outstripping your ability to heal.

Overall, I'd say that FF1 has less wrong with it, and thus stands up a little better, but the first two games really show how the attention showed to the DS remakes of 3 and 4 have paid off.

[AMT]

I agree with that. FFII seemed to be more of a test bed for new gaming concepts, though it also has a more robust storyline and interaction system. I would echo FFI though. It's the more solid choice.

[Anarchist Bunny]

I'll re-enforce the points already posted here. Final Fantasy is a solid game for a phone app, and is the jRPG at its most basic.

Final Fantasy 2 on the other had was beyond massive in its concept, far too much so at the time and really goes down more as an interesting failure than a classic game.

[General Zod]

Both have their disadvantages. FF1 is very simplistic, but the latest versions have had all the bugs from the first versions squashed, and if the iPhone version is the same as the latest GBA and PSP versions the class balance isn't completely screwed any more.

The iPhone versions are ports of the PSP versions. The interface is nicely tweaked for the iPhone, however. On the downside it feels like there's a bit of lag between tapping the screen and the commands registering. It's very slight, but noticeable.

[Ryushikaze]

I agree with that. FFII seemed to be more of a test bed for new gaming concepts, though it also has a more robust storyline and interaction system. I would echo FFI though. It's the more solid choice.

FFII was a test bed for new gaming concepts. It is essentially the spiritual ancestor of the entire SaGa series, and the SaGa head was in charge of FFII. While not everything in FFII made it into SaGa, the basic 'use it and improve it' got its start there.

[Eulogy]

and it's incredibly easy to break the system by levelling shields early and then wandering around naked except for a shield, rendering 90% of enemies completely unable to damage you because they can't hit you, and eventually high HP values are more of a hinderance than a benefit because endgame enemies deal damage proportional to your max HP, far outstripping your ability to heal.

Not that it matters when endgame enemies fail at hitting you just as badly as early enemies, and like 98% of the enemies in this game are instantly slain with either Teleport, Life (for undead, who are also mostly the kind of enemy who does proportional damage to you), or a Dispel+Teleport combo. Those who can't be instakilled can be crippled by Osmosing away their MP and casting Blink on everyone to make sure their physicals miss (and physicals are all they have when a critter's out of spirit juice).

[Superboy]

I recently downloaded both of these to my iPhone, and I've got to say that the ports are very nicely done. I haven't played either of these games since the NES days, and the updates really make it much more playable. That said, the controls are a little unresponsive at times, but I expect that will get fixed with an update soon, since it's a common complaint so far.

I'll echo what everyone else has said and recommend FF1. A lot of it really depends on what kind of grinding you would prefer, but FF1 is generally more solid and fluid, with a lot less bugs and game breakers.

Does anyone know if any of the other FF games are planned for the iPhone?

[Lord Relvenous]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

[Hawkwings]

I really hope they release FF3 for the iphone. Or rather, the one known as FF3 on the NES, which is apparently FF4 originally. The one I'm talking about is with Terra and all stempunk. I only got about halfway through that game and it was getting very good.

[RecklessPrudence]

It was actually on the SNES, and it was FFVI in Japan, only turned to FFIII in all the translations. Surprisingly, it got through Nintendo America's (and, therefore, everybody else's) "This is too hard for anyone not Japanese" filter, which they had solidly in place by then (witness FFIV/II), and their "This is too controversial for anyone not Japanese" filter, what with the teen pregnancy, (possible) permanent main character death, actual failure on the part of the heroes (at least temporarily), and the like.

I've been trying to track down the GBA version for ages, as that apparently has some of the glitches fixed and an improved translation, but no luck so far. And the PS1 version's not worth playing as you have to wait for it to load every. Single. Random. Encounter.

Oh, well, hooray for emulators!

[General Zod]

I've been trying to track down the GBA version for ages, as that apparently has some of the glitches fixed and an improved translation, but no luck so far.

Have you tried ebay? It's not that difficult to find copies of the GBA version.

[Ryushikaze]

It was actually on the SNES, and it was FFVI in Japan, only turned to FFIII in all the translations. Surprisingly, it got through Nintendo America's (and, therefore, everybody else's) "This is too hard for anyone not Japanese" filter, which they had solidly in place by then (witness FFIV/II), and their "This is too controversial for anyone not Japanese" filter, what with the teen pregnancy, (possible) permanent main character death, actual failure on the part of the heroes (at least temporarily), and the like.

'FFII' US was 'dumbed down' in difficulty, but even Japan kvetched so much about FFIV that they released an even easier version in Japan only months after the US version came out.
Incidentally, FFII and FFIII weren't skipped because they were 'too hard' and FFII was nearly fully translated, they skipped over them because by that time the SNES was the big thing and the figured neither would be profitable.

[RecklessPrudence]

Yeah, I knew that II & III weren't released because the SNES had become ascendant - when I said 'FFIV/II', I meant the the differences between the original Japanese IV, and the translated II.

I did not, however, know that FFIV had an easier mode in Japan - I thought that Square just stopped making games as hard as IV for other reasons, not that even Japanese players complained. Although, considering the whupping Square's sales were getting compared to Enix's Dragon Warrior series, I'm not surprised that Square changed what they were doing to try to appeal to as many people as possible.

That seemed a lot more coherent in my head...