Let’s Play Final Fantasy 1! I guess it’s not much of a secret that Final Fantasy 7 is arguably my favorite video game of all time. That’s high praise coming from someone whose life used to revolve around video games, and from someone who owns a moderately successful let’s play channel. I love the entire Final Fantasy series and what it represents and what it’s meant to me for much of my life… but before Final Fantasy 7 or any of the other veritable classics in this single series, there was the game that started them all, Final Fantasy 1.
The name itself came from the creator of the game’s belief that this game was to be his final attempt at pursuing his dream in making video games. Fuck, no pressure there, right? I read that if this game didn’t take off that he was going to get a more traditional job, and in my mind that also meant that he’d basically be miserable for the remainder of his life, forever scarred knowing that he had failed at what he truly longed to do, what he felt was his calling. Maybe I read too much into it, but just knowing that that was what was at stake when this game was made by Square seems to make it resonate all the more.
Let’s Play Final Fantasy 1:
I adored this game as a kid. I figure from when you’re a kid you can pretty much work out whether or not you’re going to be into RPGs or not. You either like them or you don’t, there’s not a lot of middle ground there. Most people, kids especially, don’t “put up with” RPGs and play them because they’ve got nothing else. I fell into the former category where I really enjoyed them. This meant I got a rush every time I saw a notification that I had leveled up, seeing my stats marginally improve in most categories. It sounds like I’m being sarcastic, but I really did like it.
It was also pretty fantastic designing your party; I absolutely loved that as a kid. Every party of mine had to have a black belt, and I remember thinking it was cool as hell that his attack actually began to jump after a few levels if you UNEQUIPPED HIM and just let him raise hell with the fists that God/Square gave him.
This is one of those games that I can gush and talk at length about, but if you’re reading this, then the overwhelming odds are that you love this game and series as much as I do. So rather than babble on about all the ways that this game is amazing, how the Nobui Ouematso’s score was excellent and just the first of hundreds of instantly identifiable and classic pieces to come, rather than gush about how much I and you love this game, I’ll just share a few random memories which I associated with this game but won’t expound on at all:
Running into the neighbor’s yard to find my brother in the middle of a snow ball fight.
My friend Robyn.
Fitz and the Tantrums.
Random. I know.