Final Fantasy on my Chromebook

 

Over the last three years, I have come to love my Samsung Chromebook.  Mind you, this isn't one of those fancy pandemic Chromebooks that benefited from manufacturers who were flush with cash from wildly increased Chromebook sales due to people teching-up to work from home, but one of the pre-pandemic units that were made as inexpensively as possible.  Granted, my first Chrome warhorse is now starting to show a bit of slowing due to its outdated Celeron processor, but the machine still runs great and it still finds ways to show me things it can do that I didn't really consider.  Case in point: some retro-gaming!

As I've written about before, a Chromebook paired with nVidia's Geforce Now cloud gaming service is a match made in heaven.  I continue to find it a stunning experience to play mainstream PC games on my little ol' Chromebook.  The future is here!  But that amazing reality sometimes causes me to forget that Google's Play store is also loaded with games to enjoy on a Chromebook.  Yeah, I know: a lot of mobile games are just dreadful.  No argument from me! But I have also discovered that a lot of classic games, from arcade champs to 16-bit gems, have been converted over to the Android format as well.  

This, of course, brings me to Square Enix's Final Fantasy.  I've never played it before - it was released in the States in 1990, a timeframe that found me comfortably ensconced in wargaming and not the fantasy genre - but now my Chromebook (and Android tablet & phone as well) allows me to fill that lacuna in my gaming resume.  

Honestly, I am enjoying the heck out of it.  I've long noticed (via past experience as well as revisiting classic games on modern platforms) that a lot of old games had a simplistic charm that modern titles often lack.  Back then, being limited by the hardware constraints of the day, developers had to prioritize all-important gameplay over non-critical chrome, such as graphics, and "realistic" minutia (eating/sleeping/dating, etc.) that modern game devs often obsess over.  As with chess - I am contractually obligated to mention chess whenever gaming comes up - Final Fantasy is a reminder that good games do not require tedious complexity to be fun.  Solid gameplay combined with the effective abstraction of the subject matter (admittedly, something hard to describe) goes a very long way. Fortunately, this is a lesson many devs are relearning as lo-fi titles like Terraria and Stardew Valley garner sales that much larger studios wish they had with their AAA bloat But that is a topic for another time.  

I am already looking forward to exploring other classic games that I missed in my youth (some featured on Netflix's High Score - give it a watch already!).  But for right now, you will find me in the charming world of the original Final Fantasy.

Let the Chromebook revolution roll on!

From the official description:

The Ultimate Pixel Remaster

The original FINAL FANTASY comes to life with completely new graphics and audio as a 2D pixel remaster!

A remodeled 2D take on the first game in the world-renowned FINAL FANTASY series! Enjoy the timeless story told through charming retro graphics. All the magic of the original, with improved ease of play. 

Earth, fire, water, wind... The light that once shone within the four Crystals was lost. Darkness covered the land, until the only hope for humanity rested in legends past. Become the Warriors of Light and embark on your own journey to restore power to the Crystals and save the world.

Switch between classes to improve your characters. Traverse the wide world with your airship and other vessels. Return to the game that started it all.

・Universally updated 2D pixel graphics, including the iconic FINAL FANTASY character designs created by Kazuko Shibuya, the original artist and current collaborator.

・Beautifully rearranged soundtrack in a faithful FINAL FANTASY style, overseen by original composer Nobuo Uematsu.

・Improved gameplay, including touch controls, modernized UI, auto-battle options, and more!

・Dive into the world of the game with supplemental extras like the bestiary, illustration gallery, and music player.