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+4 Spoonweaver by Spoon Weaver
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Final Fantasy H vs. JSH357
Final Fantasy H
Fenrir-Lunaris
Download: 3.02 MB
V.S.
JSH357
Play Time: 7 hours and 30 minutes
Review # 4 for JSH357
Them's Fightin' Words
    Let me say a few things before you begin reading my review of this game:

A. Final Fantasy does not equal God to me. I enjoy some of the games in the series, FF1 included, but it isn't my favorite series.
B. Graphics do not make a good game. I do believe the reason that this game is so popular is its graphics. Argue all you want, but it's the plain truth.
C. Yeah, I know people are going to hatet he grade that I give this game. It might even drop FFH from the 'top 3.' But I have a right to my opinion, and so I shall express it.
D. Yes, I stole the screenshots from MCW's review. Sorry, this game is too big for me to download again without taking ages. My computer is so slow it's pathetic. Sorry.
Graphics
    The graphics in this game rock the house. They're absolutely great. They even raise the rating that I give this game.. by a lot. Granted, 50-60% of the game's graphics are ripped, but they just fit so well. It's rare that an OHRer with such great talent with graphical design comes along. I don't like ripped graphics, but I can't help but say that they look good in this game. The original graphics are also excellent. Lots of detail, etc. They're just... better than everything else.  
Storyline
    It falls apart here.
FF1 didn't have a good story to BEGIN with; and in my opinion, Fenrir did nothing to improve it. I like simple games, and I like plotless games sometimes, but this game is an exception to this. The main problem? The ending. I won't spoil it, but it just about completely ruins the entire game's story. (I'll give you a hint: Think FFIX)
The added characters aren't anything interesting, just RPG standards. The FF1 characters haven't really improved much either, except for Bikke and possibly Garland. (Although, he's just an 8-Bit Theater rip-off) It's amazing. Fenrir makes a completely unoriginal game- and then he rips things from OTHER places to add along. Now, I won't just shed negative light here. The plot actually makes sense,(until the end) which is more than can be said of most OHR games. But still, when _I_ think I could have done a better job, it shows when I'm playing the game.
 
Gameplay
    This is reason #1 with neon letters that I dislike this game. I liked the original FF1 better. You have more classes to choose from, but the differences between races are so miniscule that it doesn't even matter. An Elven Monk is every bit as good as a Dwarven Monk.  
  Battle
    As I said before, the characters are too similar to be balanced. A team of Red Mages will sweep this entire game. Hell, I could have won with a team of White Mages. Why? Because you can use Spells as items. This game's battles are either aimed toward FFVII/X fanatics, or a complete mistake altogether. Either way, they aren't good at all. Most bosses toward the end can be killed in 2-3 hits, and none of the enemies in the game require you to do much other than attack physically and heal. Forget Red Mages, just use Fighters or Monks.  
  Map Design
    Well, this is probably the best thing about the game other than the graphics. The maps are very well put-together. Mostly, the game's maps try to imitate FF1, which they do well. Anyone who's played FF1 will recognize most of the patterns in the dungeons. Let me say this though: FF1 was better with a world map. Why? Because it was much simpler getting from town to town. The airship idea used in this game is neat, but a world map would have been much less complicated and more user-friendly if you ask me. On the bright side, not having a world map creates more 'dungeons' since you have to walk around from town to town. BUT, this creates a new problem... the music.  
  Balance
    I think I covered this in the 'Battles' section. Refer to it.
 
Music
    The music is bad. It's too soft. Too much piano. I like a good piano piece, but when every frickin' piece in the game is piano, it just gets irritating. Also, you'll be hearing the World Map theme in _75%_ of the maps in the game. Granted, there are a few variatons of it,(I think) but it's still really annoying. Also, I couldn't even HEAR the battle theme sometimes. A battle theme should be loud and battle-ish! It should inspire the player! This one simply doesn't. (Note: This is one of the rare cases I'll accept ripped music in a game... so that's why I'm not counting off for that)  
Enjoyment
    I dislike this game for similar reasons that I dislike Wingedmene:(Which is much better, in my opinion)
A. It's too slow. The large amount of maps are nice, but most of the play time is eaten up walking around, not doing anything interesting. The game itself isn't even that interesting, and the main reason is that it isn't challenging to the player at all. Don't quote me on this, but you could PROBABLY get through this game without armor, and with no difficulty whatsoever. Anyway, because the game is so easy, it takes away from what I think an RPG should be. It doesn't have to be mind-numbingly hard, but I'd like to be challenged at least a little.
 
Final Blows
    Well, I probably just made an enemy of half the OHR Community, but hey, the other half ALREADY hated me, so now I'm the king!

.. Back to the topic at hand, play this game if you like tedious, simple games. But me? I'll stick with FF Origins. The only real reason I would recommend playing FFH is to see the graphics, as they kick ass. Toodles~!


Final Scores
Graphics: 9.5/10.0
Beautiful.
Storyline: 3/10.0
As dry as FF1, only now with.. pointlessness!
Gameplay: 2/10.0
Abysmal. Not even the 'Hardtype' can salvage this game from its fatal flaw.
Music: 3.5/10.0
The right choices, obviously, but wrong instrumentation. This can actually be fixed very easily... but Fenrir didn't notice, obviously. I'll give it an extra .5 because Uematsu is so great.
Enjoyment: 2/10.0
Wish I could give it a better grade, really, but it just isn't worth playing since FF1 is out on Playstation now. And it isn't even what I would expect in a 16-bit RPG. Get the original goods, folks, or just play a better game. I recommend FFIV.
Overall Grade: D
Final Thoughts
    Not what it's cracked up to be. The name "Final Fantasy" is probably what makes it so attractive, to be honest.  


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