and I must say it’s certainly quite interesting. It’s the classic RPG that I’ve wanted to play for so long, but I’ve noticed a few things:
-You must level. Even before the first dugeon (the “Chaos Shrine”)
-Gaining a level doesn’t mean you’re HP goes up significantly everytime. By level 3 my white mage had more hp than my warrior :x
-And the only way to revive someone is with a 500 gil/gold Pheonix Down?
hey no one said bringing back the dead would be cheap. Well actualy you can also revive them at a church for less than that.
There are churches? Oh.
Are you playing a remake or an original cart? I don’t remember how origins was, but I know DoS was SUPER FAST XP compared to the original. If you’re playing the original cart or a rom, expect hours and hours of grinding.
I’m playing Dawn of Souls.
I think you’ll like it. What party are you using?
I don’t think you could even buy life-restoring items in the original version (NES or PS1).
The only option was a church (or “Clinic” in the NES version, due to NoA’s strict censorship) or a LIFE or LIF2 spell (though you can’t get Life until like halfway through, and you can’t get Life2 until near the end of the game).
And Dawn of Souls is a cakewalk compared to the original NES version.
Your inventory was limited to 4 weapons and 4 armor per character. If you found a chest, and had that much already, you’d have to give up an item just to see what was inside (and many later dungeons, your reward for discarding potentially valuable equipment was crap like a standard knife). Though the PS1 version gave you an unlimited inventory, so you wouldn’t feel as big a slap in the face if you opened a chest with worthless items.
And the NES version would laugh at you if you bought a spell and decided you didn’t want it anymore. Though the PS1 version was more sympathetic, and would let you delete unwanted spells.
And the MAGIC system (you know how each spell has a “Level” (from 1 to 8) attached to it? Well, in the NES and PS1 versions, you had so many castings (max. of only 9, though I believe PS1’s Easy Mode gave you many more) from each level. Not to mention that spells (especially Cure) didn’t increase in power during the game, so you’d have only 9 castings for a single dungeon, and they’d only recover a useless 32 HP per casting). I hated that system, and am glad they went for the standard MP system in Dawn of Souls.
Yeah, i’d forgotten just how much they changed. It’s pretty crazy really. I remember playing FF1 for months and months to beat it, but now I can beat it in just under 10 hours.
I’m using a Fighter, Monk, White Mage and a Black Mage.
Well, I like it the way it is. Although it’s still pretty difficult, but mainly because some things cost so much. Like spells. I’m in the Elf town and spells cost either 1000 or 2500 each! Damn :o
The monk has the potential, when buffed properly, to do the most damage out of any character, just don’t EVER use weapons with him. He does so much more damage with his fists that it’s not even funny.
They cut the spell costs in half too, they were twice as expensive:P Same with a lot of the weapons/armor.
FF1 NES is totally unplayable nowadays, IMO.
I wouldn’t say <I>totally</I> unplayable, but at the very least not for the feint of heart. Only hardcore “old-skoolerz” like Hiryuu and I could put up with gameplay that tedious.
Pussy.
Well, I like it the way it is. Although it’s still pretty difficult, but mainly because some things cost so much. Like spells. I’m in the Elf town and spells cost either 1000 or 2500 each! Damn :o
Aaaaahhahahahahahahahaha!!
2500 is a piece of cake. Try 4000 for the same spells. The trick is to only get what you need, and maybe come back for more later. And if they haven’t changed things too much, you can get most of the armor you need from dungeons if you’re a little patient and still not waste as much time bounty hunting or leveling than just buying the stuff.
Up until about level 12 he does do a little better with nunchucks (or did they change that?).
That’s a good point; they reduced the cost of all of the items/spells on the GBA version, and they also seemed to increase the amount of exp/gold you get after battle. I could be wrong on that second one, it could just be that battles are that much faster.
The changed the monk damage. Now he’ll do more damage at levels 1-3ish with nunchucku, however, you don’t have to wait as long to get rid of that crap.
The remakes of this game are so much easier (or less tedious, however you want to view it) that it almost makes me cry.
Yeah, if you’re having this much trouble with the DoS version, the original NES version would absolutely eat you alive.
But the biggest problem with the NES version is that the cartridge only gave you one save slot… which means, if you beat the game, and want to play through it again, you have to delete your old save… A lot of people keep two copies of Final Fantasy just for this reason.
I noticed BoF2 and DW1+2 did that. I’m guessing they figured many players wouldn’t want to spend as much time on a portable as a console. But still, FF:DoS perhaps did too much (they reduced the amount of Experience required. 10 for Level 2, maybe 40 for Level 3… try 40 for Level 2, 195 for Level 3 in the original… to about 270,000 for level 50 (I think. It’s been awhile) on DoS vs. probably close to 999,999 in the PS1 version (never got there in the NES, I beat it at about Level 35 by running like hell in Chaos’ Temple. Level 50 was the max in the PS1 version (and I’ve heard the NES version).
The old games are hard. Ive got the NES classics versions ov Castlevania and Metroid and they’re hard as hell! The remakes are easier than the originals, and each remake just gets easier. In DOS, you could save anywhere, while in Origins you could only save after wastiong money in an inn, so if youre low on cash and HP, youd better sell something, or else risk your lives trying to raise money for the inn. and in FF2 you could only save outside. I like how in FFIV advance hase the quicksave function; its more like pausing your game than saving. Ive also noticed that ive gone further in the GBA versions of the games than the PS versions. Ive beaten FFII for the GBA but not the PS1 (Im only in the castle with the dragon) and Ive nearly beaten FFIV on the GBA but I barely have Edge on the PS1.
I suppose I should be grateful that the games are a little easrier, but the remakes sometiomes seem more like copyright infringement; same story, different gameplay.
I’m so thankful for the quicksave option - I wish some form of that was in all games, not just portables.
I always hated that FF1 had only one save slot. I especially hated it when I rented it before buying and someone had a great game with dumb character names (in order: Butt, Head, Dick, Weed). I didn’t want to lose the awesome game, but damn those dumb names. 
We still have our purchased copy around here somewhere… but I have FFOrigins, so I don’t know if I’m that much a glutton for punishment.