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Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls Review - GBA

The originals, the games that redefined RPGs, Final Fantasy 1 & 2 are now on the GBA. Final Fantasy I - four young travelers appear, and in the hand of each was clutched a crystal. Battle through your adventure and gradually the crystals will regain their glow. Final Fantasy II - Four youths from Fynn flee the imperials. Help them escape to freedom in the second epic journey of the series. Dawn of Souls offers dozens of hours of gameplay, as you take a trip back in real time to tackle a journey that is never too old to be fun.

Gameplay

If you've played Final Fantasy I and II before then there's nothing new to learn here. The game works fine on GBA, and offers a fresh breath of life if you wanted to play through the games again. If you're considering visiting the first Final Fantasy games for the first time though, you may want to read on to find out whether or not this title is worthy of your $70. Dawn of Souls is filled with new plots in Final Fantasy II, and new dungeons in Final Fantasy I to keep you busy working through new areas. The updated graphics engine will also keep you happy, but there's more about that below.

Starting the game in Final Fantasy I, you'll choose four characters out of six different classes ranging from a Warrior to a Black Mage. Once you've selected your desired characters you'll be ready to start your Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy II however, the characters are preset allowing more of a storyline to develop, with some background available on each character: Firion, Maria, and Guy (He can communicate with animals, much like Guy Sebastian). There is space for a fourth spot in Final Fantasy II and you'll find Leon occupies it for a little while until he disappears, however other characters will come and go, helping you on your tale. Final Fantasy II is basically a Final Fantasy I full of upgrades and new features, as one might expect - it's better developed, and definitely the more enjoyably title.

The Final Fantasy games were the first games ever to be released to the Western world which involved an in-depth storyline, and many gamers didn't know what to make of it at first. Sooner than later though, Final Fantasy was a well known title amongst gamers, and now it's flourishing with the release of Final Fantasy XII soon, and the recent release of Final Fantaxy XI Online on PC. If you were able to get a hand on the Playstation's versions of the early Final Fantasy games known as Final Fantasy Origins, then you'll hardly find anything new here, but it's still a great game to have in your pocket.

The battle system works most like any RPG and doesn't need much explanation. The fighting is ... (continued next page)