At last, Final Fantasy appears on the Windows Phone Marketplace

By Paul Acevedo
last updated

Final Fantasy, one of the most-anticipated Windows Phone games ever, is now on the Marketplace! Why so popular? First off, it’s the only straight-up RPG (or JRPG) in the mobile Xbox Live library. Besides, while the Final Fantasy series is extremely popular the world over, Final Fantasy (part I) is only the third entry for Microsoft platforms, the first two being Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 on Xbox 360 (if we count the online-only XI, that makes a total of four). Windows Phone gamers finally have a chance to experience the series’ origin.

While the first Final Fantasy initially appeared on the 8-bit NES system, the mobile version is based on 2007’s enhanced Playstation Portable remake. Players will assemble a party of four warriors from a pool of iconic classes and then set out to save the world from the surprisingly unhelpful Elemental Fiends. Overworld and underworld navigation utilizes a funky-looking virtual pad for movement while the battles are more tap-focused. Mainstay RPG elements like grinding for experience and money to purchase new equipment and a huge danger-filled world to explore promise hours of entertainment.

When we revealed the first screenshots of the Windows Phone version, we were slightly disappointed that the game still runs in the same aspect ratio as the iPhone game it was ported from as opposed to the wider ratio of the PSP and Windows Phone screens. The screen remains off-center, a seemingly odd decision – until you notice the clock occupying the black space. Tap that area and the phone’s battery life, wireless, and cellular signals appear as well. Considering the length and addictive nature of Final Fantasy, having instant access to the time and your phone’s battery life is actually quite useful.

Strategy

Since many of you are new to this installment of Final Fantasy, we’ve got a few tips to get you started. The first decision you make upon starting a new game, that of which character classes to take along, is very important as you’re stuck with those for the rest of the game. Choose poorly and you’ll face a much greater challenge. The default selection (Fighter, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage) is actually one of the best parties to go with. At any rate, you absolutely must have a single White Mage or Red mage on hand to heal the rest of the party.

Saving is another important area to wrap your head around. Whenever you exit to the title screen, press the Home button, etcetera, that creates a temporary save file. To start back where you left off, simply pick Resume from the title screen. The file is temporary though, as resuming, choosing to Continue a permanent file, or starting a New Game will overwrite it. To create permanent saves, simply enter the menu by tapping the names of your party in the lower-right corner of the screen while outside of battle. Then choose the Save option at the bottom of the screen. (Thanks to Cadwr for the correction!)

One last thing - pressing and holding on the party status indicator in the lower-right corner of the screen while outside of battle brings up the overworld map. You'll need it!

For more Final Fantasy tips, check out the following resources:

Now that you're prepared...

Final Fantasy costs $6.99 and there is a free trial. It clocks in at a whopping 91 MB. If you love RPGs, don’t wait for a sale. Head over here to the Marketplace and start adventuring!

Paul Acevedo
Paul Acevedo

Paul Acevedo is the Games Editor at Windows Central. A lifelong gamer, he has written about videogames for over 15 years and reviewed over 350 games for our site. Follow him on Twitter @PaulRAcevedo. Don’t hate. Appreciate!

52 Comments
  • So excited! :D
  • I can see how this game really influenced Dragon's Blade.
  • Already downloaded :D bring on more games square enix! I want secret of mana!
  • pretty good！
  • Seems to be really cool. I especially like the look of it. Remembers me of the days when I was a kid. :) What pisses me off a bit is the fact that every single achievement is secret. :/
  • I find secret achievements fine if they are story related and "unmissable", but we'll have to see that. I myself am a bit put off by the price tag of $6,99 but I downloaded the demo and going to check it out.
    PS: afaik, the iOS Version of this game is even $8,99
  • Buy it cheap skate.
  • Hah! I am not cheapskate, I just don't know if i'll enjoy the game as much if I buy it.
     
    After all, for that price I can currently get Psychonauts, Limbo, Amnesia and Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP for Steam/PC and those are top notch games :-)
  • Not to mention Bastion and Sole Survivor.
  • but for that you have to pay more than $6.99 (I did though :D)
  • We have an article coming up that reveals the Achievements.
  • or one could check xbox360achievements.org
    They also cover the WP7 games, not sure if FF is already in there :-)
  • Nope, not there yet. trueachievements.com at least has it listed, but every single achievement is secret there as well as of yet.
  • xbox360achievements has had it listed for a little while. There is also a forum post there that lists what the achievements actually are. Mostly story related, although there are a couple difficult ones.
  • Coming up means when exactly? ;)
  • Once I'm done writing it! :D In other words, later this morning.
  • it would be great if you could divide them into story related/non-missable and non-story related/missable. I wouldn't want to have spoilers but see if there are achievements to be missed :-) (I know, it's an old game, but one I have never played. I have only played 2 Games of the Final Fantasy Series: Mystic Quest for Gameboy and Mystic Quest for SNES)
  • Not completely sure on the missables, but I did label the ones that are definitely unmissable! That's funny that you only played the spin-off Final Fantasies. My past FF experience includes 4, 6, and 13. Played a tiny bit of 7, but not enough to count.
  • I actually forgot that I played FF 12, too. But other than that: yeah, I was never a Final Fantasy person, my games included Lufia, Zelda, Terranigma, Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore etc. :-)
    I really wish they made Terranigma, it's probably my most favourite RPG, ever.
  • Already bought it :D
  • I just bought it. More Square Enix games would be great!
  • All I want is Terranigma!
  • Terranigma is awesome! I doubt we'll ever see it though.
  • I would LoVE final fantasy tactics. Man I loved playing that on my game boy years ago.
  • 6€!!!!!!! Square-Enix esta loca!!! Que tiene 23 años! :-/
  • Johnny, La Gente Está Muy Loca. WTF?
    that's it for my spanish :D
    It's a Square Enix Game and a high price was to be expected, given that the iOS Version is even more expensive than that ($8.99)
  • You don't need to rest at an inn to create a permanent save. Just go to the menu and select Save and you can save to one of the game's 3 save slots. Going to the inn doesn't save as it did in the NES version, just the usual health/magic refill.
    What party are people rolling with? I decided to go for Monk / Monk / White Mage / Black Mage.
  • This is usually only possible on the world map. Don't know about this game though.
  • Going with the starting lineup. Warrior,thief,white mage,black mage. Kicking it old school.
  • Thanks man. Was in kind of a hurry earlier and forgot they'd changed it. Fixed!
  • This was insta buy. Now if enough buy I hope they bring more titles. Off to play game lol
  • Dragon's Blade is a straight up Rpg.
  • Not an Xbox Live game though. FF is the first Xbox Live RPG.
  • Oh no.  My good buddy is seriously hooked on this game.  He's 37.  His ex fiance told him he would have to choose between the game and her back in 2005.  He chose the game, they broke up and he moved in with his brother for a few years.  His brother kicked him out of the house a year ago because he was embarrased of him playing for hours and hours in from of his friends.  He lost his job and while he was trying to find a new one, he turned down a couple jobs because the hours did not coincide with his Final Fantasy schedule with his online friends.  He lives with a new girlfriend now who is about to break up with him over it.  She moved here from a different town and didn't know about his problem until she moved in.  Last month, she decided to go to her home town for a few days to cool off after he turned down his birthday sex to play the game.  He doesn't stop playing when he has company.  The other day she came in the room and said, "Honey, it's been 8 hours.  You haven't eaten or showered today."  Good thing my friend is an iphone fanboy who makes fun of my Windows Phone.
  • That's sad. Don't know why anyone would stay with an MMO addict. But the offline Final Fantasies are vastly different and less habit-forming than the online ones.
  • .....Dragon Quest....please...
  • I hope good sales bring on other square enix games. Final fantasy 2 and 3 would be great, and as I mentioned tactics would be perfect for the phone. Seven is too big, maybe for wp8 tablets?
  • It hardly counts, but there was FF XI on the 360 as well, if I remember correctly.
  • Oh yeah, I always pretend the online entries don't exist. Will correct soon though.
  • FFXI was addicting and an amazing game. Luckily I had enough willpower to pry myself from the game when needed. It was tough for me but I could see how some can not put it down and cause domestic issues.
  • "Final Fantasy (part I) is only the third entry for Microsoft platforms..."   I believe you're leaving out Final Fantasy XI.  While not a great game, I recall it being a fun break from Diablo II back in the day.
  • Finally.. I can say my life is complete now.
  • I'd love them to port secret of mana and chrono trigger after they do all the final fantasy games. Beat 1-13. Guess I got to redo it. Great games to kill time on the bus.
  • Gonna check out the demo, but will probably end up passing for now.  Not exactly my type of game.
  • It'd be nice if they could have at least bothered to center the game between two black bars...
  • It almost seems offset this way for a reason, since they didn't want to alter the aspect ratio. If you flip your phone over, you'll still find that it's oriented with the black bar along the top/notification edge of the screen.
  • So is all the text in Japanese? Or are just the screenshots in japanese?
  • Just the screenshots. Rest assured you'll be able to play the game in English.
  • ok, those are misleading. All the talk about story, it would be odd if the story was not in english :p. 
  • Given how often I change devices, and how long it might take to play through does this game have any way to save to something more permanent...like Skydrive?
  • Fraid not.
  • Surely you can beat it in a month if you try... I do wish for cloud saves though.