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Final Fantasy review

Check out our review of Final Fantasy - the classic RPG from Square Enix that finally reaches the iPhone after 23 years...

Final Fantasy for the iPhone

Published on Mar 3, 2010

The first Final Fantasy game to hit the App Store is a direct replica of the original Final Fantasy, released in 1987, although this time it's been jazzed up a little to accommodate the iPhone's vibrant screen and take full advantage of touchscreen controls.

You play the role of four Light Warriors, brought in by the king of Coneria to defeat Garland and save his daughter, Princess Sara. After you've liberated the princess, you set of on a number of quests, slaying evil opponents and restoring the crystals.

Final Fantasy certainly does have a retro feel, but graphics have been suitably refreshed compared to the original Nintendo version, with more detailed aspects such as the Kingdom of Coneria and dungeon graphics.

There are also bonus dungeons added into the mix that didn't appear on the original Final Fantasy game, but popped up in The Soul of Chaos and Labyrinth of Time.

Opponents are invisible, so you'll be whisked off to a fight when you're least expecting it with any number of enemies to defeat.

The turn-based gameplay is effective, with only a couple of taps required to carry out any action. When you enter a battle, you select whether you want to attack, shield, run or view each Light Warrior's weaponry and skills. If you decide to attack, you must then select which of the enemies each warrior should attack, rather than just tap on the controls to have the computer randomly attack them.

Controls are hugely responsive - probably easier to use that any other RPG we've played on the iPhone. The four-way control at the bottom left side and an accelerator button on the bottom right to speed up gameplay are hugely tactile, and large so you'll never find your finger slipping off.

When you approach other characters, or want to carry out an action such as opening a treasure chest, you just have to tap to interact. We didn't struggle with positioning as we have in other RPGs, particularly those with more advance 3D graphics, so that's one thing that's definitely going for Final Fantasy.

There's enough action in Final Fantasy to keep you going for a fair few days, which means you will get at least some of your money's worth. £5.49 does seem a little steep though, especially if you're planning to purchase both Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II.

It's a shame both games don't come in one package, but are separate downloads, ensuring you give Square Enix enough money to keep bashing out more iterations of the game.

If you're new to Final Fantasy, the first episode is the more basic, while the second adds more functionality and is a more challenging experience.

Final Fantasy may not be the best platform implementation of Final Fantasy, but Square Enix has done a good job of using the iPhone's talents to make it work well enough for the platform.