Product reviewsFinal Fantasy Anthology (Sony PlayStation 1, 1999)

Great, but a few flaws

Final Fantasy Anthology has 2 games in one, FF5 and FF6. They are both about a 4.3 out of 5 rating as each has their own unique pros and cons.

I first saw FF6 11 years ago at a friend's house and I since wanted to play it. I got Final Fantasy Anthology since it had FF6 and the first thing I noticed was a sudden loss in the frame rate, especially during battles (usually dropping to 30 fps, even 20 under rare conditions). It happens when scrolling through lists, while effects occur (such as from casting a spell or numbers popping out of things) and it makes things a bit difficult. Fortunately the battles were easy enough that this isn't much of a problem. The lag also occurs in towns where there are many objects visible, but rarely. Although the game was originally for the SNES, I was surprised that the faster PS1 couldn't even keep up with it.

Outside the lag, there are some other downsides. The most annoying is the fact you can't do more than 9999 damage. I could very well be doing beyond even 80,000 damage at the best possible. The battles are also unchallenging, even bosses, as I'm able to go through caves and things without having to restore anyone's HP. The sound effects are quite limited in variety and Kefka's laugh sounds very distorted. Lastly, figuring out what you're supposed to do next in order to proceed further was the most challenging part. The case where Locke escapes from a town surrounded by soldiers was the worst, taking me 6 hours to figure it out. It was much easier for me to defeat all the soldiers without curing Locke than it was to figure this out. During the second half of the story, it's even more difficult since you have almost no hints on what to do next, especially where to go next.

FF6 does have some strong upsides as well. The music is the obvious strong point in the audio (especially the world map music early in the game and the battle music). Some of the looks on the characters are also quite funny and like in one of the early boss battles, some of the comments made are humorous. The story is about a 4.1 out of 5 rating.

FF5, however, is a lot different. It's music isn't as well-liked music, but the battle music doesn't even sound like there was a battle (as FF6 does very well with). The design is a bit awkward, but it's the fact you can only equip one single ability and cannot use spells on multiple targets is the game's major downside. The biggest annoyance (flaw?) is the fact that it takes so long to level up (50+ battles) and without doing all that, bosses are very difficult to defeat (and with the case of not being able to use spells on multiple targets, made even worse). On top of that, even when it does take 50+ battles to level up, regular enemies can take as much as 15% of your character's HP in a regular hit (30% if critical), bosses doing 50% more. At first, this isn't a problem, but by the time you get out of the central area that you start in, it gets really bad. Even though it was taking 40 battles just to level up, I could barely manage to defeat a fire-based boss enemy. By 12 hours' play time, I lost interest in the game. Even though battles are my top favorite thing, and that the series lacks difficulty with battles, this is rather ridiculous. The story, from what I've seen, is only about a 2.8 out of 5 rating, but without playing through the full game, it's hard to give an accurate rating.Read full review...

Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy VI is my favorite one out of the whole series. The reason I didn't give this a perfect score is because in battle the in Final Fantasy VI the framerate drops and makes the game laggy. Which for some people that can be frustrating. This collection is an excellent collection because at the time it was released it was the first time Final Fantasy V was released in America. (Now you can get it..and VI for that matter on GBA.) Both games have a good deelopment system, With V being the job system where you get crystals and they give your party the ability to learn different jobs. Final Fantasy VI has a similar system but in the form of espers. As you find various espers in the Final Fantasy world you can equip them to your party members and they learn different magic spells. Both stories for the games at the time were really good but nowadays would be considered cliche. But in my humble opinion Final Fantasy VI itself is a must-play for any fan of the series.Read full review...

Two games that have humor, and epic moments as well.

With Final Fantasy Anthology, you receive both FF V & VI games. Both games have a balance of epic and silly moments. These games were originally released on the SNES, so they are different from future ff games such as VIII & IX. Although, I found out the hard way you can only pause in battle, not outside of battle. And the save points are more scattered out throughout the game(s). That's the only thing I had trouble getting used, too. For anybody who hasn't played FF Anthology...I would definitely recommend buying & giving a chance to play them.Read full review...

Classic Retro Brought Back to the Digital Gaming Day

Square Soft was the king of Role Playing Games such as the Final Fantasy Franchise, ChronoTrigger, Breath of Fire, even Super Mario RPG to mention a few but not all. This Vault Come Back was to give a breathe of fresh air to the classic 16bit to when Digital Systems were making their take over of the gaming industry. The Game is exactly how it was during its release for the Nintendo gaming system, except the added dital scenes to add climax to the story line. The Game is very Entertaining for All Ages a very cool way of visting the Past in the changing world of the gaming indsutry. As it was becoming aware that cartridges were now becoming obsolete in now thriving digital AgeRead full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: themajesticgemsbok

Two gems of the Final Fantasy world, now in one package

This game is a must-have not only for Final Fantasy fans, but for all RPG fans. Included are the fifth and sixth editions in the FF series. Both are mostly preserved in there original form, but new FMVs have been added (as well as the loading times the PS1 is famous for). This marks the first time the fifth was released outside of Japan. And while it is an amazing game with a unique job system (which was later adapted into the Tactics series, among others), the true gem of this package is Final Fantasy 6.

VI follows a multitude of characters in a world where an empire is beginning to take over by re-discovering the ancient force of "magic". And while it may sound cliche, it's execution and character depth make it one of the most unique RPGs out there. It boasts one of the largest amount of part members in FF history, an amazing sprite stle, the classic great music of the series, and an updated version of the basic ATB battle system with a lot of new features, like the Blitz tech requiring the player to enter a fighting-game-like combo.

I know I've been going on about FF6, but FF5 is also a truly amazing game. It's just that I played FF6 when I was young and it's more nostalgic for me. Getting either one of these games would be worth the price, but getting two?! That's amazing.Read full review...

The story is just as good now as it was 20 years ago.

The story line is one of the tops (in my opinion) of the FF games that I have played. Despite the limitations on the game (due to age and technology available when it was created) graphics are well done and fluid. Story line is fairly linear with little confusion on what needs to be done and how to do it.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: wesaveyou$

I'm in love...

What I love about it is Final Fantasy 6... I was in love with it ever since it hit the SNES. The game has a well built story around the majestic summoninng powers, this time around known as 'Espers'. And the character with the green hair is half esper kidnapped from their world... human and summoning entity falling in love... ahhh... Anyway. What I didn't like about it was Final Fantasy 5 which, by the way, I have to beat. The old battle system and game graphics don't really amuse me.. they're half the size of Final Fantasy 6's characters! I bought it because I had it before but then got rid of it... then I thought... I have FF3,7,8,9,10,12....let's get five and six to fill in some of the gaps! ... And that's what I did. ^_^ I love FF!!Read full review...

Incredible Game!!!!

Dare I say it is better than Final Fantasy 7??? You need to play this, SERIOUSLY. The world here is a mix of tech and magic. Compelling characters, Beautiful soundtrack, VAST world to explore and secrets to find and unlock! Proof a game doesn't need current gen graphics to tell an incredible story!Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: anthonyla

Great games!

Both of the games include. I think FF6 is the better of the two in my opinion, the reason is because, to me, FF6 feels like it was trying to be more story oriented, more cenematic in some regards. I like FF5 just fine but I really enjoy the way FF6 tries to emerse you into the story. The only problem I have with this set is the booklet, yeah its big and packed full of information, but personally I would have really liked the booklet to have had more information on the charcters, it doesnt even tell you the main chr in FF5s' name is Bartz. 4/5Read full review...

Great game not so great changes.

Anthology is definitely worth the money to get FFVI. I only played half way through FFV it was alright but seemed to drag on. FFVI main graphics are the same as the SNES unfortunately the same can't be said for all the music or the battle intro/exits. They changed the battle intro to a fade effect like FFVIII and has a fade out for the exit which I find very annoying I would rather have the original set up. Some of the music is slightly altered and even some of the sound effects have been changed and not for the better. If you are after a nostalgia fix you could do worse but prepare yourself for some differences that aren't always for the better. FFVI is still amazing to play and worth dealing with the minor changes but if you have a working SNES and copy of FF3 stick with it, the game was perfect to begin with.Read full review...