By end of an era, I not only mean the end of the first Sony Playstation's run, but also an era where Squaresoft releases were consistently incredible games. Let's face it; one of the first games they released on the then new Playstation 2 was The Bouncer which was mediocre. There would be only two Final Fantasy games that were not online or direct sequels on the PS2 and while Final Fantasy X was good in its own right it still was not quite up to this delightful and my personal favorite Final Fantasy game. Then XII would come out (I did not bother with XI as I do not like online RPG games) and it still ranks as my least favorite FF. I even liked X-2 better than that one. Not a huge fan of XIII either as the cut scenes at XIII are pretty much what the game's focus is. No, this for my money was the best FF game; then again I enjoyed all three released on the first Playstation unit a good deal. Even VIII which I initially was not crazy about has grown on me. I also enjoyed the ones released for the SNES too, as part II (IV in Japan) is what made me seek out RPG games! The first game itself was pretty good too for the first Nintendo. I often wonder why they skipped so many FF games as the original part II and III and V all would be released, but much later than when they were initially brought out. This one is a bit more like the original games as the previous two were a bit more futuristic, while this one returned to steam powered airships, dragoon knights and kingdoms in peril and that is why I enjoy it so. It also has a vast array of characters, because while I liked the ones from VIII, they just were not varied at all. All teens, all the same age and all the same race and species too. Here we have only one true human character that is a regular in your party in the knight, Steiner.
The story has a theater group coming to the kingdom of Alexandria to perform a show for the queen and her daughter, Princess Garnet. A small black mage named Vivi is also planning on attending this performance; however, the theater group has an alternative motive as they are also planning on kidnapping the princess during the show! Zidane is charged with this class and amid the chaos he finds that the princess is more than willing to go along. Soon they find themselves caught within a forest and Zidane must join up with Vivi and the knight charged with protecting the princess, Steiner to rescue the princess from a monster. As they travel the world, they learn that Queen Brahne (Garnet's mother) has plans to use black mages for war. A weapons dealer named Kuja seems to be prodding her along and helping with these efforts. Soon the group must split as part of the group must help a character named Freya help her kingdom of Burmecia while Garnet and Steiner try to make it back to Alexandria to try desperately to convince the queen to stop her foolish quest. This is only the beginning as there are new continents to find as well as a summoner girl named Eiko and bounty hunters to avoid such as Aramant.
The combat is much more typical of the Final Fantasy series as you battle with a group of four instead of the three you used in the previous two games. It is turn based and basic, though they do a thing called trance here which is pretty much the same concept of the limit attacks from the previous two games, just not as effective or awesome as the limit break from the previous game. The story progression is also a very strong point for me in the this one as there are multiple times throughout the game where you play the game on different fronts as the party splits up. I love this feature in an RPG as it gives you a chance to plays as more characters and it's fun as you get more story too. You did this in the previous one too when Selphie wanted to head to the rocket base, but it is just done a bit better here. I also like the occasional guest party member they use here too.
So yes, this is my favorite Final Fantasy game. Granted there is not one I totally dislike. The graphics here are the best of the three games released on the Playstation as the characters look good and the backgrounds look nice as well. Just not a huge graphics fan, I think SNES graphics look good when applied right and for RPG games I do not think it is all that necessary to make the most realistic looking characters ever. It certainly didn't enhance anything in XII or XIII. Just a shame that this FF game seems almost forgotten. When FF VII came out there were advertisements everywhere. FF VIII would also see its fair number of commercials. This one, I do not recall seeing all that much on it as I just happened to see it at a store. They were too busy propping up the PS2 at the time as this game marked the end of an era.
The story has a theater group coming to the kingdom of Alexandria to perform a show for the queen and her daughter, Princess Garnet. A small black mage named Vivi is also planning on attending this performance; however, the theater group has an alternative motive as they are also planning on kidnapping the princess during the show! Zidane is charged with this class and amid the chaos he finds that the princess is more than willing to go along. Soon they find themselves caught within a forest and Zidane must join up with Vivi and the knight charged with protecting the princess, Steiner to rescue the princess from a monster. As they travel the world, they learn that Queen Brahne (Garnet's mother) has plans to use black mages for war. A weapons dealer named Kuja seems to be prodding her along and helping with these efforts. Soon the group must split as part of the group must help a character named Freya help her kingdom of Burmecia while Garnet and Steiner try to make it back to Alexandria to try desperately to convince the queen to stop her foolish quest. This is only the beginning as there are new continents to find as well as a summoner girl named Eiko and bounty hunters to avoid such as Aramant.
The combat is much more typical of the Final Fantasy series as you battle with a group of four instead of the three you used in the previous two games. It is turn based and basic, though they do a thing called trance here which is pretty much the same concept of the limit attacks from the previous two games, just not as effective or awesome as the limit break from the previous game. The story progression is also a very strong point for me in the this one as there are multiple times throughout the game where you play the game on different fronts as the party splits up. I love this feature in an RPG as it gives you a chance to plays as more characters and it's fun as you get more story too. You did this in the previous one too when Selphie wanted to head to the rocket base, but it is just done a bit better here. I also like the occasional guest party member they use here too.
So yes, this is my favorite Final Fantasy game. Granted there is not one I totally dislike. The graphics here are the best of the three games released on the Playstation as the characters look good and the backgrounds look nice as well. Just not a huge graphics fan, I think SNES graphics look good when applied right and for RPG games I do not think it is all that necessary to make the most realistic looking characters ever. It certainly didn't enhance anything in XII or XIII. Just a shame that this FF game seems almost forgotten. When FF VII came out there were advertisements everywhere. FF VIII would also see its fair number of commercials. This one, I do not recall seeing all that much on it as I just happened to see it at a store. They were too busy propping up the PS2 at the time as this game marked the end of an era.