My Favorite Song of All Time/What Is Greatness?

What is... Greatness?

According Urban Dictionary, "Greatness is an acquisition of status by the people who have contributed to an organization, group, or purpose that is greater than themselves. It is defined by the deeds of people that make this world a better place. To provide a purpose to those who have no purpose, and to sustain it, mitigate it from damage, and praise it in any way they can, while still maintaining their own dignity and greatness."

This definition examines greatness as a status. Something that can be achieved and in a sense, "used" to better the lives of other individuals by said "Great" person. Or it spawns from an experience or path that an individual has taken to help better themselves and in the process, helping other people due to their own dreams and ideals.

According to Wikipedia, "Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object. Greatness can also be referred to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than all others. The concept carries the implication that the particular person or object, when compared to others of a similar type, has clear advantage over others. As a descriptive term it is most often applied to a person or their work, and may be qualified or unqualified."

By this definition, Greatness is not only your status, but a symbol or a power. It also shows Greatness as "mastery", the highest level of skill or presentation.

But again, what exactly is Greatness and how does one get to that point? Let's unpack this topic here and now.

The majority of people who know me on the Facebook know that I might usually share a picture and my text above it is just "Greatness". Showing that said picture showed some sort of superiority or mastery.

A TV Show known as Merlin, features the titular character as a young boy born with the gift of magic, destined for greatness. The story of Merlin is a tale of experience and betterment. The main character, Merlin, has many adventures, spanning 5 seasons, that tell many different tales that set Merlin on the path to greatness. There are countless characters throughout the series that say, "Merlin. Man destined for greatness." They speak like it is a path, and Merlin is walking and along that path to fulfill his destiny.

The theme of greatness and achieving it, is the very foundation of my writings. A story of about someone or a cast of characters that experience countless different trials, because of your specific ideals, actions, or dreams in which during the process, they become "Great".

In history, there are figures who have "the Great" attached to their name. It is usually people who have accomplished feats of great proportions or reached a certain status such as an Emperor or Queen and people have seen such figures as Great. People can even gain the title posthumously because they are recognized and honored for their accomplishments and contributions after their death.

Now, you're probably wondering, "Gothorita, what is all this for? Just tell me your favorite song already."

Yeah, well, I'm getting there.

WARNING MINOR SPOILERS FOR FINAL FANTASY VI

Final Fantasy VI. An extremely influential and ambitious game of its time.

Final Fantasy VI tells a tale of war, rebellion, destruction, madness, and reformation. Featuring an eclectic cast of heroes, the story's pacing goes from Low, Medium, High, Lowest, High, and finally to Neutral.

Now let me explain it in depth. The story starts off at a Low point, in which the characters are being introduced. It gets to a Medium point where the characters are exploring the world and finding a way to fight against the antagonist while meeting new party members along the way. We get to a High point when the characters are finally getting close the antagonist and can finally strike them. The party has reached the highest point, until... Something happens to change the game completely and they literally hit rock bottom. The Lowest. The party has to find their way to get back at the antagonist and defeat them once and for all. Once they gain the strength to go out into the world once again, they reached a new High. And finally, once the antagonist is defeated, balance is restored and the party can finally rest and restore their lives back to a normal, Neutral state.

What I'm trying to say here is that, it is a tale of greatness. The party members experience many trials throughout their journey because of their wish to restore balance to the world. Because of their ideals, it shows the others around them their purpose, while maintaining their drive to do what they believe is right. And in the end they're heroes that saved the world. Even though they fell and lost faith, they eventually stood up, and kept moving forward because of their purpose and dream to restore balance to the world.

To understand Greatness, you must first understand humility and to be at your lowest point, but eventually rise back up and continue to do what you believe is right.

In the words of William Shakespeare, "Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them." There will always be hardship and experiences, but as we learn from it, the hopes and dreams that we carry are what makes us truly great because it influences those around us and those who see us making them believe that they too, can be great.

Now, just what is my favorite song of all time?

My favorite song is, Omen. From Final Fantasy VI. It is musical greatness. Deriving from the mastery definition of greatness. It tells the story of Final Fantasy VI in a beautiful non-lyrical 16-bit musical masterpiece. It combines several songs in the soundtrack while ultimately remaining it's own song. Every second of the song is pure greatness.

From the loud organ in the beginning of the song showing the darkness of the world overthrown in war, to the poetic and swift keys that create the feeling of progression that silently tells the beginning of the game's story. How the keys start to get quicker and quicker then slow down, show that progression and then the low point.

The song just drops. Tries to get up...and drops. The keys then play more notes as the party is slowly regaining itself, but is still very weak and not strong enough to defeat the antagonist. Until... they gain new powers and the party feels motivated to go out into the world again. Everything seems to go well, and once the party has finally gained their strength, they infiltrate the antagonist's domain. Then... A moment of silence that will ultimately decide the fate of the world. Will they be victorious...?

As the slow, lovely, and beautiful version of Terra's Theme plays, they rise up and fight the antagonist in an epic final battle. The song slows down and lowers the chord progression as the battle ends and the party is victorous. They can finally live in peace. Balance Is Restored...

It quite literally is musical mastery that tells a tale of greatness. When I first listened to this song, it was also the first time I said something is "Greatness" in the form of mastery. The song seriously changed my life.

It is an Omen, to the game entirely and I believe that the song has a very powerful message and lesson in it. That, no matter how dark things are, it is an Omen of great things to come. If you truly believe in your dreams, your ideals, your hopes, and as long as you stick by them, you will always be successful in your own way because of an indomitable will and unquenchable faith to march forward and continue to pursue your ideals and do what you believe is right. It is those who believe in and follow these principles that truly can become Great.

"Our key to greatness lies not in our ability to project ourselves to others as if we are putting ourselves onto a projector and creating an image of ourselves on a projector screen. Rather, our key to greatness lies in who we are which we can give to other people in a way that when they walk away from us, they are able to say in their hearts that they have taken away something with them quite extraordinary." - C. Joybell C.

Citations:

"Greatness." Urban Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2015.

"Greatness." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2015

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*Cue Final Fantasy VI SNES Victory Fanfare*

"It's not the net worth of one's life that's important. It is the day to day concerns, the personal victories, and celebration of life...and love!" - Terra Branford, Final Fantasy VI

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time! ~Gothorita

~The Tale of Icarus, the Lion King~

This is a tale of ancient times.

The tale of the Lion King.

In the days of old, a man named Icarus, emerged in the midst of a time known as the War of Ancient Finowé. In a continent overthrown by the all-powerful warlord, Stalin. It was Icarus with his mysterious power that came to be known as "Lion" that fought and defeated Stalin. He was heralded as the Hero of the War of Ancient Finowé. In the aftermath of the battle, Icarus was crowned King of Finowé. Known all across the land by the name, "Icarus, the Saint Lion King".

However, unable to control his newfound power, he became corrupt and fell from his graceful and mighty stature of the Hero that the people of Finowé revered. All of his prestige was lost amongst his people. Thus he was dubbed, "Lucifer, the Demon Lion King".

When Icarus came to his senses and tried to atone for his actions, the people denied his plea because they no longer had faith in him. With the kingdom and castle town in ruin, no one believed a word he said.

In this new reality, Icarus took the name of Lucifer as his own to pay penance for his unforgivable actions. Lucifer cast a powerful magic spell to revert the damage that he had caused to the environment. The people were left to wonder, "who restored our kingdom?" Soon after, he left the continent of Finowé never to be seen again...

It was in this time that Lucifer developed the Chaos and the Seraph Magic out of his own Lion power. When he died, his final words were, "The essence of Nature and Destruction shall become one in the True Lion."

Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi

Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi! Sadly, this game does not track play time, but I'd say it took 15-20 hours to beat. I could be entirely wrong on that.

Now.... what do I have to say about the tale of the Shinsengumi? Oh yeah, I know, it made me fucking experience shit-tons of emotions! I loved this game from beginning to end. The opening & opening theme were so beautiful. When you first watch it, it shows a lot of mystery, intrigue, and adventure. It's a very mysterious opening and I could watch it again and again and still be mesmerized by it. It's so beautiful.

The story is something I WILL NOT spoil for any soul. It's so impactful and teaches a lot of lessons. I'm still thinking about it now! The characters were all really diverse and cool. I really like the protagonist and the characters of Isami Kondou, Heisuke Toudou, Sanosuke Harada, Keisuke Sanan, Kyuju Amagiri, Chikage Kazama, Katsuhira Itou, & Sen. But I'd have to say that my favorite character was Heisuke Toudou. He reminded me a lot of myself. (I really loved his alternate costume)

Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi was my first ever experience with the visual novel genre and I enjoyed every minute of it. One thing I really liked about the game was the music. It really suited the atmosphere of the different events. As aforementioned, it made me feel so many emotions. I was crying, laughing, angry, happy, sad, I just felt so many different things playing this game. I loved the writing, the pacing, the music, the action, the tension, there was no bad or uninteresting moment for me in the game. Another thing I really liked about the game was that it taught me a lot of new vocabulary words. Every 2 minutes or so, I'd see a new word and have to Google it. I really like learning from games. The game also had philosophical themes in it that really hit me at certain points especially at the end of the game. Those aspects really engage me that much more because I have such a deep respect and love for philosophy.

There's only one thing I have a gripe about but it's very nitpicky, though. It's just that there are few times they'd say something in Japanese that wasn't in the text box. Like for example, the text box could say, "Yes, let's get going." While the character will say like, someone's name and something similar to that. Obviously it's translated differently (and very VERY well, by the way) and there are different ways of grammar for languages so things are said differently, but the text box shouldn't say "Thank you very much." And then you hear the character say "Arigato" and then "Shinsengumi" when that wasn't in the text box.

However, that does not deter from the game's story or quality at all. It just left me wondering a bit.

Moving on, I had thought since this was an otome game, it was about a female protagonist who's just surrounded by good-looking males and you have to romance them, which made me think it wouldn't have such a grand story. But I was actually wrong, it was more like you go through the story raising affinity and you'll get a trophy or something if you maximize it.

The game's protagonist has a name but you can name her. I named her Madison to reflect as a female version of myself. The protagonist is not silent, though. She is very much her own character, but she does not have any voice acting.

If you're interested in this game you can buy it on the PlayStation Store digitally, or purchase it physically from places like Amazon, GameStop, or videogamesplus.ca.

Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi is an otome visual novel for PlayStation 3 created by Otomate, Design Factory, & Idea Factory. (Hence why I bought it... Idea Factory is amazing.) It is entirely voiced in Japanese with English text. And in my opinion, this game is an in and out masterpiece! I don't give a shit if you disagree with me but aside from nitpicky shit like some minor DLC, maybe it would've been better on Vita, and the not-so occasional text box-to-voice difference, this game is flawless. Fucking flawless. I REALLY FUCKING WANT the Collector's Edition for this game now because surprisingly enough, this is literally one of the best games I've ever played.

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Undisputed Verdict: 10/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

Dragon Quest III: Seeds of Salvation

Dragon Quest III: Seeds of Salvation! I believe I finished it around level 42 or something. I can't remember. I'm gonna take a good guess and say this game is 30-35 hours long. 

Dragon Quest III: Seeds of Salvation is a classic turn-based JRPG originally developed and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. After it's release it has been ported to SNES, GBC, Wii, and iOS/Android. I played the Game Boy Color version which is known as Dragon Warrior III in English territories.

Personally, I believe that Dragon Quest is the JRPG in it's most pure form. Classic turn-based with a world map, towns, dungeons, engaging story, character classes, very grind heavy and the like. I enjoyed the simplicity of Dragon Quest III. It wasn't overly complicated or anything.

The music of the game is very good and fitting. I particularly like the 1st World Map theme and the battle theme.

Dragon Quest III tells a tale of the unnamed hero whose father was killed in trying to save the world from the evil monster Baramos. When the game begins, the hero sets off on their journey looking to save the world and find these 7 particularly colored orbs. There are no "characters" that you play with in III. This reminds me of one of my favorite games of all time, Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. Instead of meeting party members as you go throughout the story, in the beginning of the game, you can create party members of your own assigned a certain class. This can be done at Patty's building. Whom is also a character in Dragon Quest IX. You cannot change the class of the hero, but you can for your three party members and you can gain new classes once certain conditions are met. Which is also a lot like Dragon Quest IX. I also really enjoyed exploring new areas and covering the unexplored gray spots on the world map in game. I kinda miss the feeling in JRPGs when a new location is coming on the horizon and you rush towards it. I really did have a lot of fun with this game. In Dragon Quest III, I thought it was a nice touch to add the male or female protagonist a lot like Pokèmon. I played as the male and named him after myself. There's also a cool little personality test at the beginning of the game which was really interesting.

For a Game Boy Color game, or well, NES game back when it came out, Dragon Quest III is a fantastic JRPG that is surprisingly grand in scale. There's a lot you can do in the game. You can explore two different worlds, get new classes for your characters, collect mini & monster medals. There's a ton of different types of enemies and locations in the game. It's a very big game for it's time. Just like Final Fantasy III on Famicom, Dragon Quest IV, and The Legend of Zelda 1 & 2. All really grand scale games for their time. Dragon Quest III is a very sad game, at least to me. It's actually the first in the Loto trilogy. I believe it follows as - Dragon Quest III, Dragon Quest II, Dragon Quest I.

I have never even beaten Dragon Quest II or I and I plan to play them in reverse on Game Boy Color because I played III first.

Dragon Quest III: Seeds of Salvation! A fantastic JRPG, especially portably on Game Boy Color. It's not my favorite Dragon Quest game, but I really did enjoy my time with it and recommend it to anyone who loves classic JRPGs because this is truly a classic. I suggest you play it on Game Boy Color, iOS/Android, or a SNES emulator. The most accessible way to play it is buying it on the iOS or Google Play Store.

And finally, I'll end this with saying that my party was the Male Hero, Female Mage, Female Priest, and Male Martial Artist. Their names were Matt, Jess, Tori, and Yuri, respectively.

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Undisputed Verdict: 8.5/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

Picture is somewhat unrelated, but cute Dragon Quest girls are always welcome!! <3 ^o^

Legend of Mana

Legend of Mana.... *Nostalgic Song plays*

I believe I was at Level 50 when I finished it. It's about like, 30-40 hours long.

Legend of Mana is an action RPG for PSOne developed and released by Squaresoft. Being part of the Mana series it is expected to be a somewhat fast and fluid action RPG. But Legend of Mana was different. The battles were more stiff and took some precision with hits. Especially the command moves.

One thing I liked about Legend of Mana actually was the combat. It wasn't very deep but it was fun. The battles usually took place with the main character and a group of enemies. In battle you can use up to 4 command moves, a skill that is assigned to one button, and physical attacks. It's actually very well put together in my opinion. By using a skill, you can gain more command moves. You can also combo a bit with physical attacks and command moves or skills. I thought it was very fun. 

The world of Legend of Mana is very vibrant, diverse, and contains many different adorable little creatures and characters. The game progresses on quests and once you clear quests you get new artifacts to place on the world map and go to new areas and advance the story.

The music in Legend of Mana is fucking amazing. Very Yoko Shimomura. My favorite songs from the game are Nostalgic Song, Legend of Mana, Story of Mana, World of Mana, and The Wind Sings For The Journey. 

The graphics or well, the artstyle is beautiful. It's one of the best looking PSOne games. I think Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles got a lot of inspiration from the Mana series. You can even pick from a male or female protagonist and choose your weapon of choice. I chose a female and used Claws as my weapon.

Before I get to my favorite part about the game, let me just say that I did not like how some quests were difficult and left me clueless as to what to do. I also did not like that the majority of quests you do not get a reward from.

Now, my favorite part of Legend of Mana was the story. It was very VERY philosophical, mystical, in some cases strange. I also really liked the characters/party members that joined you throughout the game. But I suppose what I really liked abut the story was because I really felt like I was the protagonist and the story taught a lot of lessons as well. It even got very philosophical by the end. I couldn't let go of the controller. I really loved it because this philosophy is actually something I believe in and live by today.

If you're interested in playing Legend of Mana you can purchase it as a PSOne Classic on the PlayStation Store which is playable on PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, & PlayStation 3.

Legend of Mana was a fantastic action RPG on PSOne and my first ever experience with the Mana series. I look forward to playing the other games on the series and experiencing them!

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Undisputed Verdict: 8/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

Final Fantasy III (DS)

Final Fantasy III! This was the DS version I played and I think I beat it in 34 hours or something at Level 58-60. I really can't remember.

Alright kats, this will probably be my shortest review ever.

This is my least favorite Final Fantasy game, right off the bat and one of my least favorite games of all time. NOW WAIT BEFORE YOU PISS AND SHIT IN THE COMMENTS! I'm specifically talking about this specific version of this game. Final Fantasy III on Famicom is a fucking phenomenal and absolutely fantastic game. But why did I dislike this version in particular? Well, let me tell you why.

I do not like the feel of the gameplay. The music is fine. (Sounds horrible on DS, though.) And characters and story are good, but the fucking gameplay is so boring. I don't even like walking around on the field. I don't know why, I start getting so bored and fall asleep. Maybe because it feels so slow compared to Famicom and it probably feels a lot better on iOS/Android & PSP. But the DS version is just boring. It's so slow and sluggish even in battles. Also this is nitpicky, but I would have like to have been able to use the Onion Knight class but it's so complicated to get. ._.

There are a few things I like about the DS version, though. The new ending is better and some of the jobs have better moves, opening is nice. It has a great song for it. That's really it.... I guess that's all I have to say.

My party was the Ninja, Dark Knight, Devout, and Sage. Don't suffer through the sluggish agony of this version of Final Fantasy III, if you guys wanna play the 3D version of Final Fantasy III get it on iOS/Android or PSP from the PlayStation Store. The PSP version is also playable on PlayStation Vita.

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Undisputed Verdict: 4/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

Final Fantasy II

Final Fantasy II! Finished in 39 hours. This is my 4th time playing through Final Fantasy II. I played it 3 times on PSP and now for the first time on PSOne. Never beat it on GBA or NES, but I'd like to someday.

Final Fantasy II did not have the same director as Final Fantasy I and it came out in the "sequel-itis" era back on the NES with games like Zelda II, Mario 2, Castlevania 2, Dragon Warrior II, and so on. These games were different than their predecessors. This doesn't mean they were bad, but they had significant changes in content.

Final Fantasy II was the first Final Fantasy to tell a very well made narrative with dialogue, plot, and characters. The graphics of the NES were fairly good for it's time, on GBA/PSOne it was a step up to more visual improvement, but the PSP's visuals just knock it out of the park. Those super clean and sexy HD-style sprites and graphics. I REALLY wish Final Fantasy III was redone this way since Final Fantasy IV was. It'd be so beautiful.

It was also a very expansive game as well. You could walk out on the world map to far and just get pummeled by monsters. In order to be able to actually defeat some monsters, you had to battle yourself and gain experience and levels. However unlike Final Fantasy I, gaining experience and getting stronger was an entirely different beast. To have your weapons and magic get stronger, you had to literally use them until you win a battle and it says "Sword level has increased!" The same goes with HP and MP. You have to lose them to gain them. It seems weird, but works perfectly fine. A cool thing about Final Fantasy II is that you can have your characters be anything you want. Anyone can use any type of magic or weapon. They can even dual wield. But, say for example you use physical attacks a lot, your strength stat will go up, but your intelligence stat will go down and vice versa. Which is why you should watch how you raise your characters.

On the PSOne & NES version (I'm not sure about GBA) leveling up magic can be annoying unless if it's Cure which you use frequently. This is because you have to use a spell 50 times in order to level it up and there are 16 levels. This also goes for weapon levels, but you don't notice because you usually end up always pushing attack for every character. The EXP gain can differ on the enemies you're fighting, though. That said, you can use the EXP trick which is what I used in the PSOne version to level up my spells to higher levels. But, the PSP version really refines the leveling system. It uses gauges that fill up quicker. Like you only have to use a spell or weapon 5 times or so to get it to level 2 and it just gets slower to fill the gauge. This process is a lot easier and quicker, too. The item function in the PSOne version of Final Fantasy II was not so great. (Not sure about NES & GBA) You couldn't use items in battle, but you had to equip them and go to the Equip command in battle to use them. However, I never really took advantage of this because you could only equip two items. I thought it was stupid since I couldn't use all of items unlike in the PSP version. I actually didn't notice items worked like that until I needed to use a Phoenix Down on battle. I took a second and was like, "Holy shit! There's no item command!" It drove me nuts. Especially when I needed to use an Ether but I wasn't sure because they cost so much damn money. Another interesting thing about Final Fantasy II was it's Key Term system where you had to talk to specific characters to gain new terms and advance in the story. Really nice concept. Final Fantasy II was really an ambitious game back on the NES.

Now, let me get into what I think the nitpicky things or whatever. Personally, I think it should be easier to get Gil because it really takes a while unless if you went through a dungeon or something. Upon beating the game there should be a Hard Mode option. I think they should get rid of the Flee command (because it never fucking works in Final Fantasy II...) and replace it with "Skills". These "Skills" would relate directly to weapon mastery. Like if you get to Level 6 with the Bow & Arrow, you get Straightarrow and other abilities as your weapon levels up. I got this idea from Dissidia Final Fantasy. Straightarrow is one of Firion's Square moves. And for mastering each weapon you get a "Mystic Arte/Limit Break"-esque ability with it. I got this idea from one of my favorite games which is Grandia on PSOne. These two are very similar. One thing I loved about Grandia was that the characters would gain new abilities for leveling up their specific weapons and their abilities would get stronger just by using them like Final Fantasy II.

I know this is so nitpicky, but I wish I could set who I want as the party leader or at least set the formation. In RPGs, I love to walk around as my favorite characters. While I love the protagonist Firion, I would have liked more of an opportunity to control one of the other party members as well. And finally, I think at the end of the game you should be able to choose your party out of the characters you could play with. I'll elaborate more when I get to the story.

Final Fantasy II has a fantastic soundtrack. Especially the PSOne/PSP soundtrack with songs like: Battle Theme, Rebel Army, Ancient Castle, Main Theme, Prelude, Castle Pandemonium, Battle 2, and lots of others. I honestly believe that this game has the best Prelude in the series. It's so elegant with the PSP version's logo...

I love Final Fantasy II, but there's one thing I have yet to talk about and I feel it's the most important and that is the story.

Final Fantasy II tells a surprisingly great tale of rebels trying to fight against a warring empire. The thing about Final Fantasy II that really surprised me was it's story and the fact that people actually died in it. Some of the deaths actually made me cry. I always wanted to be able to make the party I want out of the party members that are left at the end of the game like in Final Fantasy IV, VI, or VII. The party members that die end up in the afterlife and after you beat the game, you get to play a mode call Soul of Rebirth which is literally a whole game kind of. You get to play with 4 characters who died in the main story. The story of Soul of Rebirth actually ties in directly to the main story in a very serendipitous way. I've never beaten Soul of Rebirth, but I've watched the ending on YouTube and... it's really something else. I loved it. Soul of Rebirth came out on the GBA remake and was carried onto the PSP remake as well. Another reason this game reminds me of Grandia so much is because just like in Grandia, you stay with the main cast, while the other party members come and go until you finally get the last party member.

But... I'm not done yet. The PSP version actually expands more in the back story of the world more by introducing a multi-area dungeon known as the Arcane Sanctuary. By exploring it, you get to see mini cutscenes and get new Key Terms to access new areas. The later areas tell more about the world of Final Fantasy II featuring a character called Deumion who is actually a superboss! I've done the dungeon to completion but there are times when you reach the end of the dungeon and Deumion gives you a certain weapon. This weapon is the ultimate weapon for a specific character in the party. This makes the dungeon really accessible because even the first party member's ultimate weapon is there. You don't have to be afraid of fighting the superboss, though, because it's stats depend on yours so it's not overly difficult. You can even do this for the party members that eventually die. Give them their ultimate weapon and they'll have it in Soul of Rebirth. I thought that was really fucking awesome. The main villain, Emperor Mateus is a badass motherfucker in Dissidia Final Fantasy.

This time around playing Final Fantasy II, I had my party as 2 physical attackers, a Red Mage, and a White Mage.

My first experience with Final Fantasy II was on PSP. I don't even remember how old I was. I think I was 10. XD And I was so excited when I first got it. I thought it was really amazing but really hard too. I used to end up running out into the world map and dying instantly. I never really understood the game to the point where I ended up grinding for days. I had 2000 HP at the beginning of the game. Final Fantasy II was my first numbered Final Fantasy game. Crystal Chronicles on GameCube was my first Final Fantasy game, though. I have a lot of nostalgia for Final Fantasy II. I seriously just start to tear up listening to that amazing world map theme.

Final Fantasy II is a unique turn-based JRPG originally released for NES only in Japan. It was remade in English for the first time on PSOne as Final Fantasy Origins which came with Final Fantasy I and they both had unlockable artwork that you could obtain after beating the game. It was also released on GBA, MSX, Wonder Swan Color, PSP, and iOS/Android. The PSP has the most definitive version but the most accessible way to play Final Fantasy II is purchasing it from the PlayStation Store as Final Fantasy Origins which is a PSOne Classic playable on PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, & PlayStation Vita. Or you could purchase it on the iOS Store or Google Play Store which is a port of the PSP version.

My favorite version is the PSP version. Which is also known as Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition. It's one of my favorite games of all time and it's the best version, but it's sadly not on PSN/Vita. I wish more people could enjoy it. Most people consider it the black sheep of the series and scoff at it, but Final Fantasy II really is a unique game in it's own right and I had a lot fun reliving it.

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Undisputed Verdict: 9.5/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

Final Fantasy I

Final Fantasy I! I beat it in one day. Just kidding, I beat it in 24:00 as my play time said. I've played the original Final Fantasy 6 times. 3 times on GBA, 2 on PSP and now for the first time on PSOne.

Now I suppose I'll start off with the gameplay and graphics. Exactly the same as PSP, gameplay-wise. But the PSOne has that Final Fantasy VIII/Final Fantasy I NES style of magic with the charges/limited uses instead of MP like on GBA & PSP. Personally, I like the MP style better because charges can be annoyingly hard to not use. Especially in dungeons, on the world map, or at the beginning of the game. You get used to it though. I also liked the Memo File. I used it in Final Fantasy II as well. It basically is like quicksave, but you're still playing. It creates a "Memo" that is there until you turn the system off. It came in handy in dire situations like in Chaos Shrine. I'd make a Memo File in the middle of a dungeon just in case if I died and if I did then I wouldn't have to start back too far. It's really a cool concept. Just don't turn your console off while using it. XD

Now, let me talk about the stuff I don't like about in Final Fantasy I/the things I wish could be in a remake possibly before I get to the stuff I love.

Okay, this goes for really any old RPG, but I much prefer to take a turn and have it execute rather than choosing everyone's turn. Just because it feels more fluid and progressive. This is more nitpicky I guess, but there should be a choice to pick male or female for each class. The Warrior should be able to use Cover and gain the ability to use Guard when becoming a Knight as well as up to Level 5 White Magic. The Thief should be able to use Steal (and Sprint when he's the leader) and gain the ability for Throw and Dual Wield as a Ninja. The Monk should be able to use Kick and Mantra and gain the ability of Focus as a Master. I say this because I have always HATED the fact that the Monk/Master, Warrior/Knight, Thief/Ninja has a Magic command, but it just sits there because they can't do anything with it! That always irritated me.

Anyway, there should also be more Nunchuks for the Monk/Master instead of having to resort to Haste/Saber/Temper and Barehanded.  The Red Mage should be able to learn spells up to level 8 but just have higher MP than the White or Black Mage. The Red Wizard should be able to use Dualcast thus making use of that high amount of MP. The White Mage should be a lot more proficient/powerful with their exclusive weapon, the Hammer. I think that could be a really cool and unique weapon. The White Wizard should be able to exclusively learn Aeroja and Drain as useful attack spells. The Black Mage should be able to learn Osmose and the Black Wizard should be able to learn more extremely powerful spells like Freeze, Burst, Break, and Meteor. I will also say that those two classes should be renamed Devout and Magus as well as Sage for Red Mage's class up. Honestly, I feel like this is kinda hinting at why I love Final Fantasy III so much. XD I didn't like how you couldn't save anywhere like on the PSP version. There doesn't need to be a "Flee" command. There should just be buttons in the command menu that show "L1 + R1 = Flee/Escape" or whatever. To end this, there should be no "levels" for magic. You should just be able to buy it at a specific level. (I.e White Mage can only buy Cura at Level 10 and up.)

Final Fantasy I has a timeless soundtrack. Absolutely fantastic. Many great themes like Lute, Prelude, Dungeon, Battle Theme, Sunken Shrine, Chaos Shrine, Mt. Gulg, Airship Theme, World Map, Boss Theme, Ruined Castle, Town Theme, Shop, Boat, Matoya's Cave, Flying Fortress, so many other good songs. Oh, and don't forget the PSP version has the absolutely kick-ass versions of Final Fantasy III, IV, & V Battle 2, Battle on the Big Bridge from Final Fantasy V, and The Decisive Battle from Final Fantasy VI. I love Final Fantasy I's soundtrack. The GBA soundtrack especially is also really good with those GBA sound effects. Especially Chaos Shrine, Battle Theme, and Sunken Shrine.

Oh, and btw, I liked the Super Saiyan look for the Master class on PSP, but the design for the Master was bitchin' on GBA and PSOne with dat awesome bun on his hair and the cool robe, dammit.

In the PSP and GBA version, I thought it was really cool that there were dungeons and secret bosses representing Final Fantasy III, IV, V, and VI. However, I never really understood why Final Fantasy IV Battle 2 plays even though you're fighting the Four Fiends....

Okay, I explained a lot of what I like in Final Fantasy I and what I wish for but not I'm gonna talk about what I fucking LOVE about the original Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy I is an incredibly nostalgic game for me. I first played it on the GBA when I was like, 11 years old. It wasn't my first Final Fantasy game, but it really touched me. What with the beautiful GBA prelude coming up as soon as you turn on the game, to the game's simplistic and fun gameplay. I always loved going to new towns. The first thing I'd do is, "Oooooh! Where the magic shop? I wanna see all the new spells!" And I loved that feeling of discovering the spells and choosing the ones that I want for my mages. The world of Final Fantasy I is also surprisingly big. I always loved getting to new dungeons. Especially the offset ones like Waterfall Cave. I like the idea of "classing up". I always thought it was such a cool moment once you get those awesome new clothes for your characters and they walk around looking fucking badass.

When I was a kid, and I still do now, I thought the simple story of the game was so cool because I always liked to imagine what the warriors of light were like before they came to Cornelia.

Well, Final Fantasy I. It was a joy to play through it again. My team was the White Wizard, Knight, Master, and Red Wizard. Named Tori, Ashley, Eden, and Angus, respectively.

Luckily since the game retains your memory and has several unlockables if you beat the game a second time, I'll be playing the game again on Vita with a new party in New Game Plus on Easy Mode. Final Fantasy I is always fun to play because it is simply a classic and very well made JRPG. Especially for it's time back on NES. Final Fantasy I is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games, in my Top 5 favorites for the series and it's one of my favorite games of all time. It's hard to choose a specific version because the GBA has the nostalgia, while PSP has the added content/difficulty and amazing visuals & music. But I'd have to go with GBA because it how I first enjoyed this phenomenal game. Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls.

You can play Final Fantasy I on many different platforms because it's been rereleased many times since the original came out on NES. Accesibly, it can be purchased as Final Fantasy Origins which comes with Final Fantasy II on the PlayStation Store as a PSOne Classic playable on PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, & PlayStation Vita. You can also buy it on the iOS Store which is the PSP version (I'm not sure about the Google Play Store) and the NES version is available on the Wii Shop Channel/Wii U eShop.

Final Fantasy I is a revolutionary and classic JRPG inspired by Dragon Warrior and other role-playing games of the time. It is a legacy of Squaresoft which was it's developer. The company was about to go bankrupt and they made one final game that was a fantasy RPG for the NES. Thus being called "Final Fantasy". The gane did so thst it went on to create an entire franchise and revived the company. The result was one of the most recognizable and influential franchises of all time: Final Fantasy

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Undisputed Verdict: 8/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita