Pro Tip 2 (Also didn't see in the video): Do NOT land the airship and walk to the Castle of Ordeals. It is a long walk with many strong monsters. Instead, land the airship at Elfland and sail the pirate ship directly south to the Castle of Ordeals, parking your ship at the mouth of the river nearest the castle using the canoe to make landfall, making your land journey a fraction of what it would have been. This makes the journey home faster and safer as well.
This is very true, but there’s a little desert patch on the way that I sometimes use for grinding! Amazing experience in that little area that you’d miss out on otherwise!
@@TheReturnersHideout very true, but you have to be careful of sandworms. Their special attack is the same as the Quake spell, and can insta-kill. Not to mention rakshasas (green weretiger enemies) also can poison from physical attacks.
Pro Tip (That I didn't see you cover): Immediately after getting the ship in Pravoka, sail over to the Dwarf Cave and grab the two chests in the North-Eastern most room for a total of 1,050 free Gil (which is about 1/4th the costs of a Silver Sword in Elfland for the fighter). Free Gil is free Gil, means less grinding for the Silver Sword and money is tight that early on.
Have you played Final Fantasy Renaissance. If not, it's a MUST. FF1 will all bugs fixed plus many new jobs, plus limit breaks, abilities, side quests for every job, etc... It's so good. Well made.
One thing that only applies to the NES version is the spell restoration of a house happens after the save is made, so if you're planning on stopping playing in the wilderness, use a house to get spells charges back, then use a tent to save the game with the restored magic.
It's deeper than that: The ones fought in Pravoka are "kaizoku" in Japanese, which indeed means pirate. The ones fought in the wild are something like "pairetsu" in Japanese, which is just the English word pirates transliterated into kana. In other words, they technically did translate it: the one that uses the local word and the one that uses the foreign word both still do that in the English translation as well. I think it's pretty cool. It would be a bit like translating a Japanese song into English, but then translating all the random Engrish from the song back into poorly translated Japanese on purpose.
i love this game. started playing it when i was 6-7 years old on my nes. now i play it on an emulator and i've been loving the "randomizer" to change up the game some.
Great walkthrough! It takes me back to 5th grade when I beat this for the first time back in 1991 or 92 (I don't remember when in 5th grade I beat it). I still have the muscle memory from how I would assign attacks for trash battles. A down A down down A up A. My first playthrough was Fighter, Thief, Black Belt, Black Belt. It was not easy, but it also set up a life long pattern of trying to grind to the point that I could one-hit enemies in random encounters with everyone in my party.
this is the way! i never saw the game over screen due to always grinding until i was overpowered for every battle! i think the first time i saw a game over screen was decades later when i checked out some videos on youtube! i never understood how people died in rpg games! id always grind out everywhere to get exp and money to buy the best items before going to the next location! same with stealing from all the enemies! guess that playstyle wasnt only my idea! glad to see a fellow grinder!😊
@ phew thats crazy! i got the game and played it about halfway until i ended up getting the nintendo power strategy guide in the mail! it was a game changer to say the least! i still own the same cartridge and the magazine to this day!
Grinding this much _works._ And for someone without the old players guide at hand, and no familiarity with the game, this is the easiest strategy. That said, I'll continue advocating for learning which fights aren't worth taking, and getting most of your levels from dungeon dives. I'm glad this guide instructs people to march all the way back to an inn after only partially clearing a dungeon. Managing your resources like that is part of the gameplay, and it's not taught directly by the game. (It's taught _indirectly_ by the Marsh Cave being a poisonous slog, and the Earth Cave literally forcing you to make two trips, but nowhere directly states it.)
This is still one of my top three final fantasy games. I played it the year it came out and have beaten it hundreds of times. What makes this game difficult is how storage works. Besides that it's pretty easy
You’re in luck! All month long from December until March I’m releasing a video on FF1 every Sunday! I’m going chronologically through each and every game (spin offs included)! Thanks so much for commenting!
Good walk-through. Would suggest breaking up into multiple videos at maybe not skipping over any sections (I know they were easy, but if somebody’s looking for an online guide, they are probably wanting as much handholding as possible).
I did a lot of similar things as this guide since i got the game in 1990. My usual go to for an easy run is 3 warriors and either black or white mage (and thats just to have an exit spell once i get to the masamune). I started experimenting with other characters and felt them to be boring.
Pro tip: the thief class sucks in the NES version. His high luck stat was supposed to make running from fights easier. In the NES version, they forgot to program the stat to do anything. If you must have a physical fighter who later learns black magic spells, I'd stick with a red mage. Later releases fix the programming, making the thief worth picking.
Definitely harder than the GBA remake 😅 But in all seriousness, I actually preferred RM instead of WM. True, you lose lvl 8 magic and RW does fade later, but being able to have 2 fasting characters is a price I'm willing to pay.
I only used 2 ribbons, they are in my “Here’s my armor screen, pause if you need to” at around 26:42 - I don’t think if you’re going to the last dungeon at Level 29 you need to worry much about anything. In the later versions where everything is fixed I’ll agree with you for sure. Plus the Ribbon brings down your defense - match that with broken elemental properties in this game and I don’t think it matters much in this version as long as you’re able to survive. Thanks for commenting!
I’m super glad that it’s still loved after all these years - it definitely has its flaws, but I love it too. I think my person favorite version is either the PS1 port or the Pixel Remaster!
I enjoy your content and appreciate the effort although I disagree with many things in the walkthrough. I won't negatively judge nor explain everything I do differently.
@@TheReturnersHideout It would take forever to explain everything but here are a few things: -My Black Belt goes unarmed at around level 6 or 7. His attack is slightly lower gets double hits when unarmed. -When getting to Elfland, I get FIR2 for anyone that can use it and grind around there. I get a Silver Sword for my Fighter or Red Mage. Once I have that along with FIR2 & HRM2 spells for mages and about 20 Heal potions and 5 tents, I go to PoP (Peninsula of Power.) ICE2 is next spell and then I keep grinding PoP again until I get to around level 10 or 11 and max out spells with all the extra G I've obtained. All that I do before I even go to Marsh Cave. -When I get Canoe, I go to Castle Of Ordeal for some great items and Tail early. After I get Airship, I upgrade immediately, get EXIT spell for my Wizard and go to Waterfall early for great items.
This is a poor way of thinking, as some folks need more help than others. At some point, we’ve all looked up guides for things whether you want to admit it or not, and that’s who this video is made for; anyone who needs it. Thanks for commenting!
This is exactly what I was looking for as a retuning player! My only experience with the FF series are the first 2 titles and on a weird release I'm talking about the Java version (tough one) and it was sooo long ago we're talking about 2011-2012. I think I'll stick with the GBA version from now on.
really enjoying this video and the quality shines! the gameplay footage is Great. wondering if there'd be any way to help you like maybe providing game footage of different games in the final fantasy series? do you have a discord?
Hey thanks so much! So when I get all this footage, I’m recording the footage while I do it! But I’m open in the future maybe doing some additional videos that need different game footage! There *is* a Returners Hideout discord but its being reworked at the moment!
Pro Tip 2 (Also didn't see in the video): Do NOT land the airship and walk to the Castle of Ordeals. It is a long walk with many strong monsters. Instead, land the airship at Elfland and sail the pirate ship directly south to the Castle of Ordeals, parking your ship at the mouth of the river nearest the castle using the canoe to make landfall, making your land journey a fraction of what it would have been. This makes the journey home faster and safer as well.
This is very true, but there’s a little desert patch on the way that I sometimes use for grinding! Amazing experience in that little area that you’d miss out on otherwise!
@@TheReturnersHideout very true, but you have to be careful of sandworms. Their special attack is the same as the Quake spell, and can insta-kill. Not to mention rakshasas (green weretiger enemies) also can poison from physical attacks.
Pro Tip (That I didn't see you cover): Immediately after getting the ship in Pravoka, sail over to the Dwarf Cave and grab the two chests in the North-Eastern most room for a total of 1,050 free Gil (which is about 1/4th the costs of a Silver Sword in Elfland for the fighter). Free Gil is free Gil, means less grinding for the Silver Sword and money is tight that early on.
Have you played Final Fantasy Renaissance. If not, it's a MUST. FF1 will all bugs fixed plus many new jobs, plus limit breaks, abilities, side quests for every job, etc... It's so good. Well made.
Renaissance is so good!! You can even play Classic Mode for those that want to experience the OG (with bug fixes)
@@Chrisrpg1980 what system is Renaissance available on?
Just playing a bugfix ROMhack is a much more pleasant experience!
@@jeffreyerekson2179PC
@@jeffreyerekson2179 I believe it's PC only. It's a fan made project, not an official release.
One thing that only applies to the NES version is the spell restoration of a house happens after the save is made, so if you're planning on stopping playing in the wilderness, use a house to get spells charges back, then use a tent to save the game with the restored magic.
Oh yes, I always forget to mention that! Thanks so much!
The pirates who died of scurvy
How did you even do that?
Great strategy guide 👍 ❤
Very detailed and informative.
I agree it's a tough/rough game.
Thank you so much!
lmao I never noticed that. They didn't bother translating the word Kyzoku to Pirate. It literally just means pirate(s) in Japanese.
It's deeper than that:
The ones fought in Pravoka are "kaizoku" in Japanese, which indeed means pirate.
The ones fought in the wild are something like "pairetsu" in Japanese, which is just the English word pirates transliterated into kana.
In other words, they technically did translate it: the one that uses the local word and the one that uses the foreign word both still do that in the English translation as well. I think it's pretty cool.
It would be a bit like translating a Japanese song into English, but then translating all the random Engrish from the song back into poorly translated Japanese on purpose.
@@reloadpsi Ah, okay. That is interesting. I didn't know the ones you fight go by a different name. It's been so long.
This was was like a bite size version of U Can Beat Video Games' series of this, good stuff.
I oughtta do something like this for Dragon Quest 2 haha
Thank you! It was certainly an experiment that I’m working with! And you definitely should!
i love this game. started playing it when i was 6-7 years old on my nes. now i play it on an emulator and i've been loving the "randomizer" to change up the game some.
Great walkthrough! It takes me back to 5th grade when I beat this for the first time back in 1991 or 92 (I don't remember when in 5th grade I beat it). I still have the muscle memory from how I would assign attacks for trash battles. A down A down down A up A. My first playthrough was Fighter, Thief, Black Belt, Black Belt. It was not easy, but it also set up a life long pattern of trying to grind to the point that I could one-hit enemies in random encounters with everyone in my party.
this is the way! i never saw the game over screen due to always grinding until i was overpowered for every battle! i think the first time i saw a game over screen was decades later when i checked out some videos on youtube! i never understood how people died in rpg games! id always grind out everywhere to get exp and money to buy the best items before going to the next location! same with stealing from all the enemies! guess that playstyle wasnt only my idea! glad to see a fellow grinder!😊
@adamkaneshiro I played quite a few hours on rentals before I owned the game. Being able to equip items was a revelation!
@ phew thats crazy! i got the game and played it about halfway until i ended up getting the nintendo power strategy guide in the mail! it was a game changer to say the least! i still own the same cartridge and the magazine to this day!
Same as you but 20 years later and on mobile xD
Grinding this much _works._ And for someone without the old players guide at hand, and no familiarity with the game, this is the easiest strategy.
That said, I'll continue advocating for learning which fights aren't worth taking, and getting most of your levels from dungeon dives. I'm glad this guide instructs people to march all the way back to an inn after only partially clearing a dungeon. Managing your resources like that is part of the gameplay, and it's not taught directly by the game. (It's taught _indirectly_ by the Marsh Cave being a poisonous slog, and the Earth Cave literally forcing you to make two trips, but nowhere directly states it.)
Thank you for this comment! I was a little nervous about putting it out but I’ve got a lot of solid feedback from it, including this comment!
Go to the Castle of Trials before going to the Ice Cavern. All you need to get there is the canoe, since there is a river there.
This is still one of my top three final fantasy games. I played it the year it came out and have beaten it hundreds of times. What makes this game difficult is how storage works. Besides that it's pretty easy
I've been on a kick of watching FF1 videos and now this comes out! Nice!
You’re in luck! All month long from December until March I’m releasing a video on FF1 every Sunday! I’m going chronologically through each and every game (spin offs included)! Thanks so much for commenting!
@@TheReturnersHideout I'll be keeping my eye out!
Welcome to Corneria
I like swords
Welcome to Corneria
I like swords
...
Sword chucks!
Good walk-through. Would suggest breaking up into multiple videos at maybe not skipping over any sections (I know they were easy, but if somebody’s looking for an online guide, they are probably wanting as much handholding as possible).
I’ll take that into account when I make future walkthroughs! Thank you!
I never bothered with any of the elemental protection spells. In my opinion you should just save your money
7:59 You can skip the first room. The second room in the second row - that “empty” chest - will have the Iron Armor, instead.
Also, I like to get the copper armlet in the first room, second row if you have mages in the party. I mean, it’s right there…
I played this game blind with a turbo on emulator and having attacks miss a dead target easily made the game twice as long if I didn't plan attacks
I did a lot of similar things as this guide since i got the game in 1990. My usual go to for an easy run is 3 warriors and either black or white mage (and thats just to have an exit spell once i get to the masamune). I started experimenting with other characters and felt them to be boring.
I think you’ve got a solid strategy there, if you want to get through the game as quickly as possible!
Pro tip: the thief class sucks in the NES version. His high luck stat was supposed to make running from fights easier. In the NES version, they forgot to program the stat to do anything. If you must have a physical fighter who later learns black magic spells, I'd stick with a red mage.
Later releases fix the programming, making the thief worth picking.
I never had issues picking the thief but I also rarely ran from fights.
@matsujonen He's workable in the NES version. He's just worse than everyone else. He's much better in the rereleases.
Definitely harder than the GBA remake 😅
But in all seriousness, I actually preferred RM instead of WM. True, you lose lvl 8 magic and RW does fade later, but being able to have 2 fasting characters is a price I'm willing to pay.
There was no mention of Ribbons in the whole guide? They are the most powerful armor in the game and should be pointed out in all 3 places they exist.
I only used 2 ribbons, they are in my “Here’s my armor screen, pause if you need to” at around 26:42 - I don’t think if you’re going to the last dungeon at Level 29 you need to worry much about anything. In the later versions where everything is fixed I’ll agree with you for sure.
Plus the Ribbon brings down your defense - match that with broken elemental properties in this game and I don’t think it matters much in this version as long as you’re able to survive. Thanks for commenting!
Theres a third ribbon you missed
So you don't use the Hall of Giants in the Earth Cave?
I don’t personally. Often times I’ll find myself right in the middle of it and need to get out!
i thought that black belt did more damage with unarmed vs weapons? is that not correct?
They do, but only after level 10 or so. By that level, they'll be able to land more hits unarmed.
@ yup i knew i remembered that correctly! my 10 year old brian memories werent wrong! thanks
NES Version is the best version for some reason
I’m super glad that it’s still loved after all these years - it definitely has its flaws, but I love it too. I think my person favorite version is either the PS1 port or the Pixel Remaster!
1:12 I imagine someone said during game creation, "Sex sells, show a sexy leg or something in the game."
I enjoy your content and appreciate the effort although I disagree with many things in the walkthrough. I won't negatively judge nor explain everything I do differently.
Hey that’s totally fair - I am curious as to what you do differently
@@TheReturnersHideout
It would take forever to explain everything but here are a few things:
-My Black Belt goes unarmed at around level 6 or 7. His attack is slightly lower gets double hits when unarmed.
-When getting to Elfland, I get FIR2 for anyone that can use it and grind around there. I get a Silver Sword for my Fighter or Red Mage. Once I have that along with FIR2 & HRM2 spells for mages and about 20 Heal potions and 5 tents, I go to PoP (Peninsula of Power.) ICE2 is next spell and then I keep grinding PoP again until I get to around level 10 or 11 and max out spells with all the extra G I've obtained. All that I do before I even go to Marsh Cave.
-When I get Canoe, I go to Castle Of Ordeal for some great items and Tail early. After I get Airship, I upgrade immediately, get EXIT spell for my Wizard and go to Waterfall early for great items.
Anyone that plays this game doesn't need a pro guide. It's an eight bit finite game.
This is a poor way of thinking, as some folks need more help than others. At some point, we’ve all looked up guides for things whether you want to admit it or not, and that’s who this video is made for; anyone who needs it.
Thanks for commenting!
If no one needs it then why it has so many views and stuff?
Check mate, troll.
This is exactly what I was looking for as a retuning player! My only experience with the FF series are the first 2 titles and on a weird release I'm talking about the Java version (tough one) and it was sooo long ago we're talking about 2011-2012. I think I'll stick with the GBA version from now on.
really enjoying this video and the quality shines! the gameplay footage is Great. wondering if there'd be any way to help you like maybe providing game footage of different games in the final fantasy series? do you have a discord?
Hey thanks so much! So when I get all this footage, I’m recording the footage while I do it! But I’m open in the future maybe doing some additional videos that need different game footage! There *is* a Returners Hideout discord but its being reworked at the moment!