FINAL FANTASY I-III pixel remaster Cheats and Tips
Planning your party in the original FINAL FANTASY
In the original FINAL FANTASY, there’s no more difficult decision than the line-up of your Warriors of Light.
With six classes to choose from, and only four heroes to assign them to, you’d be forgiven for needing time to consider who you want to take on your journey to save Cornelia. Each class has its advantages and knowing how best to utilise them is all-important for the action ahead.
Let’s take a look at each class and their various strengths and weaknesses.
- Warrior – Want a powerhouse in your team? Warriors are your main go-to for damage, able to wield a wide variety of weapons, equip gear with higher defensive stats, and can learn some healing spells.
- Thief – Want someone nimble? Thieves strike fast and have high evasion, along with a small cache of offensive spells, but sacrifice some strength to do so.
- Monk – Want to pack a punch? The Monk’s formidable fisticuff skills allow you to save money on weapons but comes with the caveat that they’re unable to learn any spells whatsoever. That means they may have to rely on buying items to stay in fighting shape.
- White Mage – Need a healer? Then look no further than the White Mage and their wide variety of healing spells and ability to buff your party. However, their physical offense and defence are weaker than the others, meaning they often require protection.
- Black Mage – Black Mages are as weak in the physical department as White Mages. However, they trade healing for devastating magic that lets them attack foes with numerous offensive spells.
- Red Mage – This balanced class can learn both healing and offensive spells and isn’t too bad in the fighting department either. Unfortunately, they aren’t able to unlock the most powerful spells, meaning that while they’re extremely versatile early on, they may become less useful as other classes come into their own.
What’s the best party combination for FINAL FANTASY?
It may be a lot to consider, but each class has strengths that help make playing with them a joy, and the potential combinations of parties at your fingertips means there’s no end of ways to enjoy FINAL FANTASY.
If you want a well-balanced party for a first-time excursion, why not try the combination of Warrior, Monk, White Mage, and Black Mage? This way you’ll potentially be able to unlock all the spells available throughout your quest, as well as have two strong attackers, one of whom can help heal if your White Mage is incapacitated.
If you want a more physical band of heroes, then try the Monk, Warrior, Red Mage, and Thief, so you’re able to fire off spells in a pinch but can otherwise concentrate on full-scale assaults on your enemies.
Or, if you’re finding the choice too hard, nothing says your Warriors of Light can’t all be the same class. Do you want your Warriors of Light to show their foes the way of the fist? Set out with four Monks. Want everyone to be a little bit good at everything, but a master of nothing? Your Red Mage squad is ready to roll out.
As for a party of all White Mages? Good luck.
FINAL FANTASY II: Cracking the combat
The history of the FINAL FANTASY series is full of innovation, and when you play the FINAL FANTASY pixel remasters, you’ll be able to witness where many of them began. From the first appearance of chocobos to the debut of series mainstay Cid, and a sprawling story full of twists, turns, and sacrifices, FINAL FANTASY II wasn’t afraid to make changes to the formula of its predecessor.
One big change for the second game was its levelling system, which eschewed convention and focused on increasing your skills the more you used them. If you wanted to get stronger, you’d focus on physical attacks, and if you wanted to be a more potent spellcaster you’d use more magic.
This gave battles a great potential for high-risk, high-reward encounters, where letting your heroes get roughed up more could give them more health and a higher defence, but also could leave them knocked out. Strategizing how best to power up your heroes will pay you dividends in the long-term.
How to hit harder in FINAL FANTASY II
It was an innovative battle system when it first released, and while it’s not been replicated in the series since, there are plenty of viable strategies that you can utilise to power up your warriors the way you wish.
- Equipping a shield on all your characters is a great way to raise their evasion, which is all-important for avoiding attacks.
- Focusing on one or two weapon types for each character early on will also help hone their skills for the early parts of the game, allowing you to branch out with some ease later.
Don’t forget to frequently save, either: the pixel remaster allows you to save wherever you are on the overworld and in dungeons with the Quick Save feature, allowing you to walk back any mistakes made in battle.
FINAL FANTASY III: Dress for the jobs you need
FINAL FANTASY III was the first title in the series that allowed your heroes to switch between a wide variety of jobs.
At the beginning of your journey, your Warriors of Light are but humble Onion Knights, but as your adventure continues, they’ll gain access to a wide variety of jobs. From the original FINAL FANTASY’s familiar classes of Black Mage, White Mage, and Warrior to the ability to play as Dragoons, Vikings, and Summoners, there are a wide range of options for any situation.
Variety is the spice of life, as they say, and the ability to switch between different jobs easily opens up a world full of new strategies and battle experimentation. Can you make an aggressive squad of physical attackers work, or focus solely on magic and watch the summons and Mega-Flares fly?
Experimentation matters
One of the biggest advantages of being able to switch between job classes in FINAL FANTASY III is that you’re not just restricted to one path from the word ‘go’.
Nothing is stopping your most formidable fighters from becoming mighty mages, and that hero you earmarked to summon Bahamut to the battlefield can just as easily become an unarmed weapons master. One of the greatest things about the game is that this level of experimenting isn’t just possible, it’s encouraged.
With the possibility of mastering a range of master jobs, there are plenty of tactics to utilise, and no need to have your team be the same static classes and types throughout your quest.
You could give everyone a wide skillset and make them a viable jack of all trades for all situations, hyper-focus heroes into physical tanks, or make them the ultimate spellcasters.
Experiment as much as you want and find the balance that works for you and your Warriors of Light. Or stay as an Onion Knight for the entire adventure for bragging rights? The choice is yours.
