Final Fantasy Anthology
Reviewed by CB007
Information About the Final Fantasy VI Remake
The loading times in this new version of FFVI aren't severe,
but they do take away from the overall enjoyment of the
game. This is especially true if you've already played the
game on the SNES. As with most SNES games, accessing the
menus, and entering battles happened almost instantly. With
the Anthology, this is not the case. Before each battle, the
screen fades out pretty slowly, and there is a lag of about
4 seconds before the fight starts. This also happens after
your enemy is defeated, but not as bad. Sure, that doesn't
sound like much, but when you're getting random battles
every few steps, it can certainly be an annoyance.
Also, in the SNES version of FFVI, using the menus didn't
require any time at all. This is the true problem with FFVI
on the Anthology. Accessing the menu is barely manageable. A
lag of three or four seconds when first accessing it, but no
more loading when going into the subscreens. However, when
you want to completely exit the menu, you need to wait about
6 or 7 seconds. This is long enough, and annoying enough
that you will probably find yourself using the menus much
less frequently than you normally would.
The graphics of FFVI, thankfully, are the same as they were
on the SNES. They didn't try to change this at all. What was
added, however, were FMV scenes. You will see one at the
beginning of the game, but you can only access the others
after beating it. They really are excellently well done, and
surprisingly, the characters look a lot like you might
imagine them. I was worried that when shown in FMV, the
characters would look completely different than they did
when they were just Sprites. That's not the case. They look
very realistic, but they also retain something from the
traditional way they were done. You ahve to see it to really
understand.
Information About the Final Fantasy V Remake
Like most people, I haven't played the original version of
FFV, so I can't compare the Anthology version to the
original. The loading in FFV is not signifigant at all
compared to FFVI. Battles come up very quickly... almost as
fast as on most SNES games. There is a lag of a couple of
seconds when using the menus, but it really isn't
noticeable, and doesn't take away from the game.
The in-game graphics are still Sprites, just like they were
when the game was originally released. There are also some
FMV scenes in FFV, but they don't seem to have the same
effect as the ones in FFVI did. They look realistic, but
don't seem much different from most PSX games I've seen.
Perhaps that's because the story in FFV wasn't as detailed
as some other RPG's, and because there wasn't that much
character development.
The Extras, And Things That Weren't Included
The game comes with a soundtrack that has tracks from FF5
and FFVI. The music from FF5 on the set is pretty good, in
my opinion, but it seems that many of the remarkable pieces
of music from FFVI were not included. It's really a
dissapointment, because this could have been so much better
than it was. They really should have put more effort into
making it a great compilation.
Also, the game comes with no Maps FFVI did on the SNES. It's
not really required for beating the game, but I think that
if the original had it, that the remake should also have it.
The instructions also seem to be very short, and aren't very
helpful overall.
Final Thoughts
The FF Anthology will allow many people to play FF5 for the
first time, and it's probably worth the money just for that.
However, this set was not nearly as good as it could have
been. In Japan, they got FFIV. We got a poorly designed
soundtrack, instead. I still have to recommend this for a
purchase, but it could have been much better. At least
you're getting two of the best RPG's ever made.
Overall: 8 out of 10
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