Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster: FF35th Anniversary Edition

Glorious back to my youth! I love how these games are now in a handy dandy double pack!

Pros - all six classical Final Fantasy games for the price of one modern game - each looks beautiful with gorgeous sprite work - many solid quality of life features that make the games way more replayable // Cons - none, genuinely can't think of one // The original Final Fantasy is just so simple yet so engaging. While the story is nothing to write home about, it does progression so well I don't really mind. From on foot, to ship to airship it feels genuinely good to explore in this game. Add to that the class upgrade and simple yet fun combat and you have a classic on hand. The often maligned Final Fantasy II plays really well with this remaster. Compared to the original, the addition of xp boosts and cursor memory makes grinding way easier, though it still feels unnecessarily tedious. Unlike the first one, this game actually attempts a story. If you like Empire Strikes Back, you will most likely like this one. I sure did. Final Fantasy III has a way less interesting story, but way more compelling gameplay ideas. Multiple airships and three different world maps keep the game surprisingly fresh for its entire runtime. But the most compelling thing about FF3 is the job system. Allowing you to swap anybody from a physical attacker to a mage, summoner, thief and plethora of other options gives insane amounts of freedom on the fly. Add to that the bosses not being pushovers in this game and you have the most fun combat system out of the original three games. The fourth game in the series is almost the complete opposite of its predecessor. Focused on a tightly told story it forgoes gameplay variety for a cast of well written characters. This lack of gameplay variety is luckily supported by a tight bit of game design, where enemies are perfectly tailored to challenge your current party. The introduction of the ATB system is also a good shakeup to the standard turn based formula, as it allows for certain mechanics (like Haste and Slow) to feel way better than in the previous installments. Fantastic addition to the Pixel Remaster collection. Final Fantasy V is a textbook example of how you innovate on an idea. While the story returns to being more generic like FF I and III, the gameplay improves so far that it completely overshadows all the other games on the Pixel Remaster collection. The improved job system is back, made so much better by being able to master said jobs and implement their skills on all the other jobs. The amount of build variety and the sheer number of ways you can completely shatter the game through things like Dual-Wield/Rapidfire/Spellblade and Dualcast/Mimic only serves the immense replayability. Add to that the best boss designs and you have gameplay that rivals even some of the more modern games. With Final Fantasy VI, we return to a bigger focus on the story and characters with more restricted gameplay. However, unlike FFIV the restrictions feel way less constraining since you have access to most of the cast for most of the game. You get up to fourteen playable characters that can all be angled into physical or magical playstyle, through the use of the esper system. Each of these characters gets a bit of a focus in the main story allowing them to shine and be the center of the attention. The main story also moves way more smoothly between the two acts than FFV, never feels like it is dragging its heels. This game is also the home of one of the most iconic villains for the entire series. Wonderful game that should be experienced at least once. All in all, the Pixel Remaster collection is one of the best deals on the market. Six brilliant games all for the price of a single modern video game. Seeing the begging of this iconic series gave me so much joy and so much more appreciation for the future entries. If you are on the fence, do yourself a favor and take the leap. You won't regret it.