Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (Game Boy Advance) Review
~by tankMage (February 2024)
Score: 8.7/10 (Good)
It was the worst of remakes, it was the best of remakes.
Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls is one of the most unusual remakes I have ever played. On one hand, TOSE’s remake of Final Fantasy I is hit or miss thanks to poor design choices that are counterbalanced by bug fixes and a great translation. On the other hand TOSE did a brilliant job on Final Fantasy II by fixing some of its worst aspects and adding a short, yet stellar bonus dungeon. I don’t want to go into too much detail in this introductory paragraph, plus it will get confusing if I try to talk about both games, so read on about each game in the following paragraphs.
Final Fantasy I: DoS Review
Score: 7.9/10 (Decent)
You had one job TOSE!
Final Fantasy I is a favorite game of mine. Before playing the Dawn of Souls remake, I played the NES and PS1 versions of the game. As much as I love the NES original, I felt that the PS1 remake was the definitive version of the game. I hoped that the GBA remake would knock the PS1 remake off its throne, but it failed to do so. In fact, a lot of the changes TOSE made did more harm than good, which is a shame, because all they really had to do was fix some bugs that persisted in Final Fantasy Origins. With that in mind, I want to talk about some of the things I really liked about this FF1, because it isn’t a bad game…it just has problems.
A translation that kicks it up a notch…BAM!
Whoever translated FF1 did a great job. The original NES script was very basic and had a lot of errors. All that was corrected in Dawn of Souls thanks to a shiny new translation that has plenty of personality. A lot of the weird names were fixed and there’s even a few jokes. It’s likely that the translator took a lot of liberties with the script, but that’s fine, because they did so with respect to the intent of the original game. If I have one complaint, it’s that they changed spell names like Fire 2 to Fira, which was the new system Final Fantasy adopted after FF7. I get that Squeenix wants consistency, but Fira and Firaga sound stupid. Well, at least Holy isn’t “FADE” anymore, so you lose some, you win some.
Best FF1 graphics evar?
They did a bang up job on the graphics. I never really liked the way the Black Wizard and Master looked in the original game and the PS1 remake didn’t do much to address the issue. Dawn of Souls replaced the lame sprites for those classes with far better ones. Aside from that it looks a lot like the PS1 version, which is fine. Overall I have to say this is the best looking version of FF1, which is funny since Pixel Remaster (or whatever dumb name they gave it) is supposed to be the ultimate final form of Final Fantasy I.
Those sweet sweet Nobuo Uematsu tunes.
The soundtrack to this game has always been very good, even when it was limited to 8-bit beeps and bloops, but this version is excellent. It uses a lot of stuff from the PS1 release with a few differences to make it work on the GBA. The end result is surprisingly good since it bridges the old school musical style of the series with more modern technology.
Bad decisions were made.
Ok, now it’s time to start slamming this remake. The team that remade this title either didn’t know what they were doing or had stupid orders from Squeenix to bring the game in line with the rest of the series, either way FF1 Dawn of Souls ultimately fails to capture the spirit of the source material. Even worse, a lot of the shitty ideas in this version carried over to later incarnations of the game. First off, they took away the old “Vancian” magic system, which placed strict limits on how many times a character could cast spells, and replaced it with the modern MP system. This was done with zero regard for game balance, so all of the nuance and challenge involved with using mages was stripped away. I guess this makes the game more “accessible” to new players or something, but if an idiot like me was able to figure the original magic system as a kid, I’m sure anyone can do it.
If the changes to the magic system weren’t stupid and clumsy enough, TOSE also boosted the level cap from 50 to 99…why? Oh, because all the other games go up to 99 right? Well, it was done poorly and stripped away even more nuance from the game, because everyone ends up with 999 HP (or close to it) at the end of the day. Once again, this just served to make the game too easy and made the classes feel less unique. A Warrior was different from a Black Mage, not just because one could use black magic and the other couldn’t, they also had very different stats. None of that really matters as DoS progresses, because everyone starts to converge at max stats sooner or later.
Dismal Dungeons
I was kind of excited to learn that there were extra dungeons with special bosses and weapons. Being a dummy, I assumed the dungeons were unlocked near the end of the quest (or even after the main game) and featured some means of raising the level cap as well as new challenges. Oh boy was I wrong. The dungeons are sprinkled throughout the game and have nothing to do with the level cap. They are also stuffed with over powered items that ensure any little bit of challenge left in the game goes out the window if you take time to explore them.
The worst part of these dungeons is their design. It’s hard to explain, but each dungeon is a semi random arrangement of floors that feature random loot. If you want a super special sword or want to fight a particular boss, you’re going to have to go through a dungeon several times unless you are lucky. It goes without saying that replaying the same dungeon over and over got tedious really fast. The devs couldn’t even be bothered to put unique enemies in each dungeon, so you’re gonna fight the same stupid enemies in each “bonus” dungeon. Gee thanks Squeenix.
I’m not gonna lie, I did the first two dungeons and part of the third before I gave up in disgust. Maybe the fourth bonus dungeon is better, but I doubt it and I do not care enough to find out.
Play the PS1 version instead.
Aside from a few virtues, this remake sucks. To be clear, it’s not a bad game, it just fails as a remake. Don’t let this be your first experience with Final Fantasy I, play the NES or PS1 version instead. Maybe there’s another good version of FF1 that I do not know about since there’s like ten of them. If you are familiar with FF1, then this might be interesting if you want a different take on the game, but it might just be better to play a cool ROM Hack.
Final Fantasy II: DoS Review
Score: 9/10 (Excellent)
A great remake of a very flawed game.
If you are familiar with the NES (or more precisely Famicom in the case of Final Fantasy II) you are likely familiar with the “curse of the terrible 2s”, which FF2 was a victim of. If not, I’ll just say a lot of sequels to famous NES games were often considered highly flawed or outright bad. I like Final Fantasy II, but it certainly falls into this category as it uses a lot of ideas that were abandoned later in the series for good reason. While I think TOSE saw mixed results with FF1, they did a beautiful job on this game. In fact, they managed to fix the things I disliked most about FF2 while adding an awesome bonus dungeon that acts as a sort of epilogue to the story.
A huge improvement.
Final Fantasy II uses a natural leveling system where characters gain stat bonuses based on their actions in combat, rather than simply getting stat boosts after getting a certain amount of experience. This means a character that uses a sword will get better at fighting, while one that uses magic will get better at casting spells. It’s a cool system, because it gives players a lot of freedom, but it had a lot of flaws. For starters, characters had to get hit to get HP increases, which meant someone who stayed in the back row casting spells or shooting arrows would rarely (or almost never) get HP. At the same time, building certain stats would cause others to decrease. So someone who used weapons often would gain a lot of strength while they would lose intelligence. It was a stupid idea, because swinging a sword around doesn’t make you less intelligent.
One consequence of the leveling system was that it forced players to grind a lot or use rather odd techniques like shuffling people from the front to the back and having party members attack one another. It also made it difficult to gauge the relative power of party members, since having 20 strength and 200 HP is not as concise an indicator of overall power as being level 15. Ultimately, this made the game confusing despite it being a cool idea.
TOSE made a number of smart decisions that really cleaned up the leveling system. First off, they removed the stat penalties for using opposing skills. This alone cuts down on grinding a bit and takes the frustration out of leveling. The devs also made it so characters would gain some HP after a set number of battles in addition to when they take damage. This makes building back row characters less annoying, yet it preserves the distinguishing features between builds. Finally, they threw in an optional tutorial area where players can talk to NPCs to learn about the game’s mechanics a bit.
While the leveling system still isn’t perfect, it’s a vast improvement over the sorry state of the original game. It’s also a stark contrast to the hack job TOSE did on FF1 and I wonder if two different teams worked on this game or if there was less interference in its development. Regardless, they did a good job and FF2 is better for it.
A short but awesome bonus epilogue.
Beating the game will unlock a special mode called Soul of Rebirth that serves as both a bonus dungeon and epilogue to the original story. I don’t want to spoil anything about Soul of Rebirth, so I’ll be vague. You get to control some of the characters that join the party during the main adventure. These side characters take center stage as they have to clear a tough dungeon filled with monsters and there’s no safe zone until you get to the halfway point. The dungeon itself was fairly simple, but it was competently designed and had some really challenging enemies in it.
Soul of Rebirth was added to the main game in a unobtrusive way that adds to the story and experience rather than detracting from it with needless bloat. It’s a stark contrast to the extra dungeons in FF1, which seemed slapped together and designed to waste the player’s time. I highly recommend playing it if you finish Final Fantasy II.
It’s a shame the soundtrack isn’t all that great.
FF2’s soundtrack is one of the weakest in the series. That’s not to say it’s bad by any means, it just doesn’t pop aside from a few really great songs. The battle theme is particularly bland and you’re going to hear it a lot. Luckily the final dungeon theme is one of the best I have heard and I really like the music that plays in the ending just before the credits. I also had trouble distinguishing the GBA soundtrack from the PS1 version, but that’s likely due to me not being as familiar with FF2 as I am FF1.
FF2 is still FF2.
Final Fantasy II is one of those oddball transitional sequels that were common in the days of the NES. It has a lot virtues and shortcomings that set it apart from later games in the series. Overall, I like FF2 and see it as a major step forward for the series, but first steps often involve stumbling and it sure falls flat on its face from time to time.
In a nutshell, Final Fantasy II improved upon the first game in many ways and began the tradition of the Final Fantasy series being a collection of spiritual successors rather than direct sequels. A more ambitious character driven plot was introduced and there’s a sense of drama that wasn’t present in FF1. They also scrapped the Vancian magic system for a more familiar MP based system. Additionally, a lot of the troupes that make up the soul of the Final Fantasy series got their start in this game, since it’s the first one to feature an evil empire, Cid, and even chocobos.
While its got a lot going for it, this RPG is grindy as they come even if you use exploits. It takes planning and a lot of work to build a party, though the freedom the devs gave players in an era of very linear character building was nice. Furthermore, there are sudden dramatic difficulty spikes that can surprise even seasoned RPG players. Of course, this game is also vague when it comes to giving the player instructions on where to go and what to do, so expect to get stuck sometimes unless you are using a guide.
Even with all its flaws, Final Fantasy II is a good game. If anything, it gets better with successive playthroughs as understanding the game mechanics and where to go make life a lot easier. While TOSE made a lot of small changes, they left the core game alone and it turned out for the better.
Final Thoughts
As I said in the intro to this review, this cartridge is a study in contrasts. Final Fantasy I: Dawn of Souls is easily one of the worst remakes I have played, while Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls is one of the best remakes I have played. However, I have to stress that I don’t think FF1 DoS is awful, it’s just a very troubled rendition of a classic RPG. I really wish both games turned out as well as FF2, but I guess it’s enough to get one really great remake. On a side note Dawn of Souls is a remake of two retro games that can now be considered retro in and of itself. Let that sink in.
Thanks for reading my Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls Review!