FINAL FANTASY III

FINAL FANTASY III

I had actually been dreading this version of Final Fantasy 3, since Square Enix’s releases of mobile games on Steam have been very hit or miss, mostly the latter. So, I’m honestly surprised to find myself recommending this release, to the point it might be the best version of Final Fantasy 3 to date. This game has tons of smart changes that make this the most definitive way to play this game, the finest of the Famicom released trio. With a lot of nice QoL changes, this game plays like it has the best features of the 3D release and the original Famicom version.

Real player with 112.1 hrs in game


Read More: Best Class-Based Singleplayer Games.


Final Fantasy III is a NES game so ambitious it feels like a SNES game. While it has the tropes of old like the Dragon Quest combat, the party of blank-slates, and Vancian magic-system, it stands as a highly ambitious work that measures up with the classic SNES trilogy.

After the stinker that was II the series went back a step and took to making a bigger, better, and more original version of I. Four light-warriors, four crystals, but now twice the length in a world twice the size.

You have versatility. You can change your job at will. You can swap magic around instead of forgetting expensive spells. You could make a lot of weird party combinations work.

Real player with 68.2 hrs in game

FINAL FANTASY III on Steam

FINAL FANTASY VI

FINAL FANTASY VI

The original FINAL FANTASY VI comes to life with completely new graphics and audio!

A remodeled 2D take on the sixth game in the world-renowned FINAL FANTASY series! Enjoy the timeless story told through charming retro graphics.


Read More: Best Class-Based 2D Games.


FINAL FANTASY VI on Steam

Space Debris

Space Debris

This is a great party game for rock-blasting retro space fun. I love the drop in/drop out feature and the massive number of gamepads supported.

There’s also a bit more to it than you might expect:

Several ships to choose from, each with their own unique style

Bring dead allies back to life

Collect space dust to power up

Collect debris from destroyed alien ships to unlock new ships and upgrades

Play it now! you know you want to.

Real player with 3.4 hrs in game


Read More: Best Class-Based Casual Games.


Space Debris on Steam

FINAL FANTASY II

FINAL FANTASY II

I’ve always loved FF2. I realize most people do not. But I’ve probably replayed it more than any of the others, honestly, due to how freely you can customize your party. It’s just so fun and satisfying to increase your strengths in any manner you wish, and this remaster makes that experience better than ever.

I hope I don’t get in trouble for this, but FF2 was the game that got me interested in emulation back when I was younger and perhaps not so scrupulous. This was before the game had seen an official English translation (in Origins). I had just gotten into computers and the Internet, and I loved Final Fantasy (the original, that is). I still have a printout of Zach Keene’s FF1 walkthrough (dated July 1996, if memory serves; printed March 2000/2001) in a stack of notebooks right on my dresser. It was on the early fansite Mysidia.com (Nintendotaku) that I saw a link to Final Fantasy Fever, and on that website I discovered what was then called “FF2j”. It all just sounded so cool, this game like my beloved FF1, that had never been released outside Japan. I just had to play it, and embarked on a frustrating journey to find the means to do so. Long story short, I was deeply engrossed from start to finish… sadomasochistic HP training, canceling hundreds of magic commands, and all.

Real player with 85.9 hrs in game

The definitive version of a stillborn mess of a game.

If you’re reading this, I’m sure by now you’re seen review upon review calling out the terrible experimental leveling and progression system in the game. But how is the rest of the game? Can’t you just read a guide, figure out how to navigate the leveling system and then enjoy the game from there? Well, I’m here to tell you, the answer is NO.

I’m going to talk about the REST of the game that I rarely see mentioned. Outside of the leveling system, the game is pretty bad all-around, here’s a few of its most egregious faults.

Real player with 35.8 hrs in game

FINAL FANTASY II on Steam

FINAL FANTASY

FINAL FANTASY

This is where it all began and where it might have just ended. The word “Final” in “Final Fantasy” really meant a Final stretch for Square at the time. This title was either going to be a success or the nearly bankrupt company would be no more. Well we all know how that ended. Final Fantasy is a flagship for Square Enix for decades and this title started it all.

To be clear, you’re not really getting the original experience with this release. The old pixel art Final Fantasy games have been re-released and re-made so many times by now on various platforms, each making some changes to how the game works, a lot of people have different favorite and are ultimately going to be disappointed when another release does something differently. The original FFI came out on NES and GBA and if you want a real authentic experience, you’d turn to those. The game on NES was significantly harder and it’s what any purist really wants to play. My very first experience with FF I was actually on a Java phone back in 2007 or 2008 if you can believe that exists. The pixel remaster series we have here are far from the original feel. So what do we have on our hands anyway?

Real player with 36.5 hrs in game

I’ve never played FF1 before now. It was an enjoyable experience, overall… There were times the next step in game-play was unclear, & I traveled the entire map, so it became a real grind battling the same monsters over & over again, & I still didn’t find any clue as to where I needed to go next. I ended up needing to refer to online forums to eventually figure it out, & I needed to do that many times after that, so I took the fun out of discovery, (but it was either that or continue grinding seemingly endlessly). There is a feature that allows you to battle automatically, but it isn’t without its flaws; it follows the last choices you made were, which may or may not be ideal for the monsters you’re battling. It became boring toward the end, but I eventually made it to the final mega-boss. By then I had become lazy & died the first try, but soon discovered the final boss was a real challenge, which once again made the game interesting. Of course I wouldn’t want every fight to be as challenging as that, perhaps it would have been better if there weren’t as many monsters while wandering dungeons, or perhaps the fight dynamics could have been more unique to make it more interesting. I also like to be able to complete all challenges, but for as thorough as I thought I was, somehow I missed some treasure chests & some beasts, that was disappointing, because I really don’t want to play this game from the beginning again.

Real player with 33.8 hrs in game

FINAL FANTASY on Steam

FINAL FANTASY IV

FINAL FANTASY IV

Brings back memories, played this over and over when I was a kid.

Absolutely love the new soundtrack!

Real player with 48.2 hrs in game

I finally killed Zemus.

also epic game

Real player with 35.8 hrs in game

FINAL FANTASY IV on Steam