Japanese website eg is having a preview of what Square Enix called the first wave of Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary celebration. Both the original Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II will get a separate release on the PSP this April 19th and June 7th respectively in Japan, with US releases likely on June and July (RPGamer has the first English screens). I have a lot of interest in these titles, so here’s a look into what we can expect.

New Elements

FF and FF II has seen many ports and remakes but the PSP will be the most beautiful yet with effects that make use of PSP’s processing power and amazing 2D sprites and backgrounds that have been remade to fit into the PSP’s widescreen. When compared to the GBA version, the screen size is almost doubled and the dialog boxes are now easier to read as well.

CG fans should be really happy now that Square includes all the animated cut scenes into one disc, in PSP widescreen quality. Among them are the opening movies from the PlayStation (PS) and new scenes found in GBA version. While separating a GBA game into two PSP games may seem a rip-off for some, Square has at least make the efforts to make them worthwhile by including everything that has been on the games’ various ports and remakes. To top it off, an illustrated monsters gallery and music player are in the PSP UMD disc as well.

If you owned virtually every FF games to date, then fear not as a PSP exclusive in the form of a PSP-only dungeon and famed illustrator and FF image and title logo designer Yoshitaka Amano’s gallery is here as well. Apparently the artworks will include his latest works for FF and will be unlocked as players make their progresses in the game. Concept art fans should be happy that the entire Amano’s FF work is available as portable gallery now.

Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition

Final Fantasy tells the story of four youthful Light Warriors with powerful crystals in their hands who arrived at the town Coneria. They would later save the kingdom’s princess and set off a journey to save the world.

PSP processing power allows for some interesting effects and the 2D graphics has been remade to take advantage of PSP’s widescreen. The resulting adjustments also made the game easier to play now.

The most obvious enhancements can be seen in the fighting scenes. The monsters were redrawn beautifully and the various effects look more dramatic than ever.

The extra “Soul of Chaos” dungeons found only in GBA version are here as well, these dungeons house bosses found in the other FF games and some of them are harder than the final boss of the game itself. However, great rewards like rare items and powerful weapons await those who complete these dungeons.

The PSP exclusive dungeon is “Labyrinth of Time” and is probably the hardest one for the game. The dungeon eats up your HP the longer you spend in there and your commands will be restricted as well.

Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition

The story of FF II begins with a princess rescuing three friends who would later help her to recapture her country.

FF II was also famous for not using experience-based levels, your characters growth will depend on his/her action during fighting.

The game was well remembered as the origin of many FF series elements such as the chocobos.

Useful Links

• Official Website
• Japanese website eg preview.
• Yahoo Japan reproduce the preview in 8 pages.
• Pre-order Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition from Play-Asia: Japanese Version, Asian Version & US Version
• Pre-order Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition from Play-Asia: Japanese Version, Asian Version & US Version
• PlayStation Japan product page: FF and FF II.
• Rakuten product page: FF and FF II.

Posted in PSP on Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 at 8:27 am | Comments Feed | Leave a response | Trackback