Eurogamer has a review up of the fourth remake of the original Final Fantasy. I enjoyed the GBA remake well enough, but I didn’t feel an overwhelming urge to play the game more than once, 20th anniversary or no. Mostly because of the stifling concentration of monsters in the game. Outside of a city, you can hardly move without stepping into a gaggle of horrors.
“The random encounter battles, abandoned at last in the most recent FF, won’t fail to grate upon even the most ardent Square devotee, however. Though losing or altering their frequency would mean FF1 departs from its original nature, this late in the day they’re a serious obstacle to enjoyment. Whatever Square’s algorithm for judging when you’re attacked out of the blue is, it’s broken. If buying a new abacus means changing history, so be it. Ambushes often happen within two or three steps of each other, and to walk for more than ten seconds before another strikes is high fortune indeed.”
Now I know why I never find NPCs outside of towns, you can’t leave the city borders without being armed to the teeth.
Link! (Eurogamer.net)