Buying New PlayStation Games from Square Enix! Final Fantasy Origins

[@LGRBlerbs]

EDIT: DISREGARD, THEY'RE ALL GONE NOW! There are (currently) still PS2 games available: store.na.square-enix-games.com/en_US/games/all-games

[@somefreshbread]

I'm just bummed that I barely missed the PS1 silver disc because some other KZbinr put out video a couple weeks back.

[@JoshuaJacobs83]

I didn't see any PS2 or PSX

[@thedigital1]

@@JoshuaJacobs83 they got FFX, FFX2, FF12 and a couple of Kingdom Hearts games on PS2

[@lexluthermiester]

@LGRBlerbs Yes, the Final Fantasy Origins pack is a great version of those games to start out with. Fair warning, FF1 is a typical 1980's NES title. It is a difficult title. FF2 is even more so and drags on a bit. However, the storylines for both are fun and compelling. Just be ready for grinding on both.

[@IRMacGuyver]

Sadly none of the Square Enix games I want are acknowledged by them anymore. No Vagrant Story, Bouncer, Parasite Eve, or even Xenogears.

[@TheWatchersDance]

I did this myself a few years ago. They had a few more games available back then and I ended up getting Chrono Cross, FF9, and FF Anthology. Atlus did something similar not too long ago and reprinted a bunch of their Megami Tensei PS2 games, which is why they're available brand new at an affordable price on Amazon. Wish more companies did this sort of thing, especially with the extreme artificial inflation of prices we see in retro gaming stores today.

[@kz.irudimen]

It's weird that more company don't do this. It's pretty common in music, even for small labels, to reprint stuff to "break" the price of collector items like old records. My two favorite punk bands first LP/EPs used to be 100+€ on ebay 10-15 years ago, they reprinted everything and now the prices have all gone down. If you really want that original rare variant release you can still pay too much money, but at least everyone can enjoy the reprints at a normal price. And the money goes to the artists.

[@Damaniel3]

Bad for resellers, good for gamers. Exactly as it should be.

[@MrModamanReviews]

@@kz.irudimen More companies don't do this because they would rather sell you digital downloads that you really don't own.

[@kz.irudimen]

@@MrModamanReviews They could sell both to a lot of people though. You only have to look at the prices of used retro games to see that they are missing out on a lot of money.

[@kz.irudimen]

It happens all the time with music, collector editions remade 20 or 25 years later, with bonuses, new remasters, etc. It's popular in all genres. Same thing with movies. Fans of Evil dead will have 10 copies of the same movie. Many of the people who love collecting video games would also buy things like that. It's weird that there are 534235345 versions of the white album or a Metallica classic but for some reason game devs don't do physical rereleases of their classics. I think it will start happening at some point.

[@henryhughes5832]

Square cycles through them periodically. I've seen Chrono Cross and all the PS1 FF games cycle in and out of being listed over the past year. If it's not there, it may be in a few months. They don't really announce what they're doing unfortunately, and most of the reprinting activity seems to be on their most popular PS1 games.

[@LGRBlerbs]

Good to know!

[@ChillGamerBlue]

This is helpful. If I don't nab FF9 for Switch, I'll absolutely get it for PS1. One of the games I enjoyed most on that system.

[@KakashiOkazaki]

Ever see valkyrie profile? Often, I wonder why of all the games they dont release that as it's demand is quite high.

[@CptJistuce]

@@KakashiOkazaki I'd guess their deal with tri-Ace has expired.

[@Quickened1]

Didn't like rpg games then, and don't like em now! PS1 games in general do nothing for me. They can keep them...

[@GAMEGUY1210]

Yo LGR! I’m the dude that made the original video! I’ve been a fan of your main channel for years! I can’t thank you enough for featuring my video, awesome to hear you checked it out!

[@PindleofKujata]

I went to my local GameStop, and saw brand new Greatest Hits versions of Final Fantasy 9 and Chrono Cross. More game companies need to re-release old stock like this. As for your question about Final Fantasy Origins, I believe it's based on the WonderSwan Colour ports. It's the most recent version that had the old-style spell slot system from the original Final Fantasy, as opposed to just the MP of later versions or the _very_ generous spell slot allotment of the Pixel Remaster.

[@hobbified]

Correct all the way. It's the best way to play a version of FFI that's basically gameplay-faithful to the original, but has slightly nicer graphics and some conveniences like a quicksave and a run button.

[@CanuckGod]

@@hobbified Agreed, probably the best version that's faithful to the original... but even though I was old enough to have played the original NES title as a kid - I'm nearly 45 now - I never did, so the first time I did play FF1 it was the 20th anniversary PSP port, which to me feels a lot less painful (especially the MP usage system) than the PSX/original. Also, I hear that the fact that there are loading times before battles (though this may be more a thing with the FF5/6 ports) can get more than a little aggravating after a while, but having never tried the PSX ports, I can't confirm or deny.

[@ridingnerdy6406]

PS1 CDs didn't have a black coating, the plastic they were molded from was actually black. Memorex sold black CD-Rs for a while too, although IIRC the Memorex ones were actually dark green if you held them to the light and the Playstation CDs are dark red.

[@patrickbyrne5070]

And PS1 discs were literally only black to look cooler. There was no other reason afaik

[@tbirddddd]

@@patrickbyrne5070 I know it is BS now, but back in the day the story around school was the black coating was the reason the discs wouldn't burn right.

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

That doesn't line up with what I heard about how the discs were manufactured. There's a PlayStation Underground video (uploaded to KZbin by PlayStation Museum) that says that a black ink is added to the discs, and that _seems_ to match up with what's happening in the video, though I'm not an industrial guy and I don't really know what I'm looking at exactly at the point in the video where they mention the ink. Also re: "black ink is just to look cool", that same video does say it gives the discs their "distinctive look" but it also says the ink was added to "protect the disc from illegal copying". While it has literally no bearing on the PS1's copy-protection, that doesn't rule out the other interpretation of that; identifying bootlegs, counterfeits, etc by adding a step to the manufacturing that costs more and/or is harder to replicate.

[@Daniel-yz3zf]

​@@LonelySpaceDetective informative comment there, thank you :)

[@LordArikado]

It's actually not black at all, holding it up to a light reveals that the dye used to give PS1 discs their distinctive color is actually a really dark purple. Dyes that are advertised as black are usually an extremely dark purple, blue, or green because it's cheaper to mass produce.

[@Game__Boy]

I've seen reprints of PS2 games made as late as 2019, specifically the Fatal Frame series was reprinted at the request of VideoGamesPlus. The cases are thinner and cheaper feeling in the late reprints but they were making the cases like that for a decade at that point. Square Enix had been doing a great job of keeping their back catalog best hits PS1 and PS2 games available on their store and others for a long time, I got FF Origins, FF9, and Chrono Cross as official "silverbacks."

[@jd213_]

I know there were Square-Enix PS1 reprints still on shelves in Japan at big-box electronics stores like Yodobashi Camera just a few years ago, some locations probably have them still. I assumed they kept them in print until recently due to the PS3's backward compatibility.

[@RonsCompVids]

I was really surprised to hear about this recently. Honestly, more companies should be doing this.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

It's a great idea, and considering how big the retro gaming userbase is, it's lucrative, I would imagine.

[@andlabs]

@@FatNorthernBigot Alas I just know that if a company does that now it'll be done through a Limited Time Only™ publisher to drive up costs via the FOMO machine... In fact I'm honestly surprised Square Enix didn't go that route here (and might even have more in a few months? if another comment here has anything to say about it). And used game buying for the Switch is just always going to be torture, but especially 10 years from now when on every other platform it used to be cheap at around the same time :/

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@andlabs Games companies know how to gouge, that is for sure.

[@Azuris190]

Would be really awsome!

[@BrightSpark]

Yeah, I could even see people springing for full price, simply because they're guaranteed to be in mint condition and official. In fact, I might be enough of a madman, or would be if I had the original systems. Tho, realistically... I would get *a few* games, and then sail the seven seas and use an ODE or something for the rest. Or, frankly, even just an emulator for higher-res graphics.

[@MrTableDesk]

Someone at Square Enix is probably so happy they've finally cleared their backlog they've been sitting on for like 20 years

[@thesteelrodent1796]

These are reprints. They're not that old

[@SpookyDollhouse]

That's a newer PS2 case and not the one it originally shipped with, interestingly enough! Original PS2 cases were thicker and had a memory card holder. Post 2007 Sony switched to slimmer cases minus the memory card holder with simply a PS logo. This here is an eco-style case with those 'cut-out' sections. Sony switched to those post-2011. Fifa-14 comes in one for example.

[@Vinicius_Berger]

Actually, that's not the original PS2 case. The original one didn't have a memory card holder in the beginning, as you can see in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJWUlZ2tbKlrrJY

[@GameRaveTV]

My site's the one the other video sourced. FF Origins is totally worth playing. The remake of FF1 basically turns it into an incredible SNES-like game experience with excellent at-the-the-time quality-of-life improvements. Almost all the same tricks work too, like finding Warmech and the hidden puzzle game. Load times are negligible. Enjoy it!

[@tbirddddd]

This is some minor spoilers ahead about my only gripe with the PS1 FF1. It's a shame the upgraded class sprites were so small. They became so badass when they upgrade in the NES version.

[@nemtudom5074]

More companies should do this

[@MrTableDesk]

I really love the Final Fantasy Origins version of the first game. It's the remake that stays closest to the spirit of the first game, but without all the horrible bugs.

[@AceStrife]

Not to be confused with Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, which is an actual remake (Origins is a tweaked re-release), and one of the worst performing modern games to ever be created. And also buggy and clearly unfinished, but still sold at AAA $60 price and having 3 DLC's squeezed out of it, because modern Square Enix. Still, if you have an RTX 4090, it's got quite enjoyable gameplay. And.. that's all it has. (seriously, pirate it instead. it's Epic exclusive too)

[@Gatorade69]

@@AceStrife Is it really a remake, I thought it was the origins of Garland, the bad guy from FF1 ? So in the FF1 universe but not about the heroes of light ? I haven't played it but at least it gave us a bunch of memes about CHAOS.

[@AceStrife]

@@Gatorade69 I honestly don't know because my first FF game was 7, and the earliest I went back was 6. I'm too far gone to tolerate playing the old RPG-maker style games now, and the remade mobile games are, well, mobile game ports on PC. From what I have played of SOP, it is feeling like a Garland origin story. Especially since, well, the MC's name is literally Jack Garland, so it spoils it from the start. However, you play the game as essentially warriors of light, going to collect the crystals, banish the darkness, kill chaos, yadda yadda. I don't know how far into the game I am, but I'm getting to the 3rd crystal and so far it's pretty much just a "kill enemy" FF game. There's lore bits sprinkled in that are really strange, talking about how the world was created and probably story spoilery things I shouldn't say. "Strangers" in the name is influenced a lot. If I knew the plot/story of FF1 I could gauge it better, but my only experience with FF1 is from Mobius FF, the now defunct highest quality mobile FF game Square Enix ever put out, and that was still your standard "WoL vs Chaos" story. I suppose saying it's a "re-imagining" of FF1 is more accurate than "remake".

[@Gatorade69]

@@AceStrife Haha. Oh man so I asked Google. I got a myriad of answers. "it's more of a spin-off set in the same world that serves as an explanation to the series' recurring time travel theme, featuring some familiar characters." "Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a prequel to the original Final Fantasy, taking place in the same world." "Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is meant to be a reimagining of Final Fantasy 1." "While the game's title might lead you to believe that Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is canon, the reality is that we don't actually know. The story as presented doesn't make much sense as a direct precursor to the events of the first game." So it sounds like people are unsure. Found a Reddit post with a poll and the most voted answer was prequel but it sounds like It's open for interpretation.

[@Gazereths1234]

Legit factory sealed PS2 games have a Playstation2 tear strip on the bottom, at least in the UK and Japan. That PS1 startup sound always brings a smile to my face.

[@Hafk]

Atlus does this with their ps2 games as well I remember picking up a new pressing of the SMT games on ps2 a few years back. CDs and DVDs are so dang easy to reprint so I wish more companies did this. It happens ALL THE TIME for books and music and movies, why not games.

[@Bewefau]

web site ?

[@DampeS8N]

Clint, FF1 is probably a good place to start as long as you remember it is an NES game. The PS1 edition has slow load times, but better graphics. The story hasn't been significantly enhanced, so expect an NES game story. If you want a better place to start, FF6 or FF10 are good places. 7 just hasn't aged well - the graphics are chunky and it was the first 3D so the battles waste your time trying to look awesome. There is something to be said for playing them in order, just as long as you remember that the early ones are wildly different quality levels. How bad two is is no reflection on how great 4 and 6 are.

[@XT-8147]

Many years ago I bought Chrono Cross directly from Squaresoft (early 2000s, possibly before the merger with Enix), because I couldn't find it anywhere locally. Ended up getting a black label copy just before the greatest hits release came out. Chrono Cross gets a lot of undeserved hate, it's not a bad game by any means. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that the game is very different in terms of gameplay. The traditional ATB system was replaced with a system where your characters' stamina and stamina recovery determine how often they can act, and even though there's a tutorial, I don't think it explains it very well.

[@revenile]

Final Fantasy Origins is the way I played FF1, it's a great way to play the first game. I like the options you get for gameplay, like choosing between the MP system of later games for magic, or the charges system from the original game (I chose the latter in my run, I liked it better honestly, meant I knew exactly how many spells I had access to at all times.)

[@rojovision]

I bought a bunch of these on sale a few years ago. I was baffled as to how or why, but really pleased that they were still available - there were some classics and other interesting games sold at very affordable prices.

[@marccaselle8108]

The remasters are great. I have both of these on my retropie in CHD format. The games are very fun all these years later.

[@FakYuhGoogel]

I like it, if there's a demand they will sell and older copies won't skyrocket in price as much. Though personally really turned off that the discs don't have the black back, I really liked that, just like with the early PS2 blue/purple discs. I might be a haptics freak, but it bothers me when jewel cases feel cheap. If one needs to be replaced, I try to find "90s" cases that are still in good condition and use them instead of buying modern replacement cases.

[@ww21943]

My 100% original copy of MOH doesn’t have a black bottom. I can remember a few other games didn’t as well.

[@captainviggo4575]

Back then, official PS1 games were mass-manufactured by Sony with their own specificities like the black back. These reprints are produced by Square with generic material. It would be way more expensive to manufacture them today with a black back just for a few reprints, and the retail cost would not be the same.

[@LordArikado]

Scott the Woz proposed a great way to harvest old game cases: buy up a bunch of old sports games and just swap out the artwork!

[@TonyGearSolid]

They've had these older games available for quite some time, I remember buying a few of the DS Dragon Quest games back in around 2015 and they also had about 8 or so PS1 games available as well. The available games slowly dwindled down in time and it looks like they finally sold out of them completely, so I think it was very much them having an overwhelming amount of new old stock.

[@Mirauge]

The start up splash screen and sounds for the ps1..... so good man..

[@XeonProductions]

I remember buying some bootleg playstation games from oversees and they had silver bottoms, but they were also pressed and worked in an unmodified PSX. Still cool to see an official silver bottomed disc.

[@metooblueshoes]

Omg I forgot how beautiful fresh jewel cases were. That's pretty awesome

[@hjalfi]

Does it have that slightly toxic fresh jewel case smell, I wonder?

[@metooblueshoes]

@@hjalfi 😆 right

[@LiEnby]

Makes sense. All you'd have to do is press it so that it has that "SCEA" wobble data included. And since square owns the rights to Final Fantasy. They aren't gonna get in trouble for piracy or anything

[@KopperNeoman]

All you need is the right pressing gear. And a PS1, PS2, or PS3. The PS4 and PS5 aren't compatible with that DRM.

[@LiEnby]

@@KopperNeoman ps4 and above have CD reading completely disabled in the kernel iirc I've wondered what it would take to press my own ps1 cds from time to time honestly

[@aerendyll]

I checked the EU store out of curiosity, but I haven't seen any PS1 or PS2 games listed there at all, sadly. I don't know whether that's because they got sold out or because they simply don't reprint them at all, though.

[@_greenleader]

So pumped you're finally gonna experience final fantasy! If all fails goes straight for 7 so lifechanging

[@Gatorade69]

I would actually recommend IX. I like it a bit better than 7, I feel IX is definitely underrated.

[@madcrowmaxwell]

I wish they would do some SNES reprints. A few companies do SNES and Genesis reprints from time to time and if Square would reprint, say, Chrono Trigger, it would be glorious.

[@jasonalec6573]

Cartridges are significantly more expensive to reproduce than CDs, unfortunately.

[@ドリフト180X]

I remember a few years back they did a limited reprint run of Gleylancer for MegaDrive.

[@Schwarzorn]

Hold down the L Button and R Button simultaneously to command all your parry members to flee. At least, the GBA port worked that way. This is probably one of the best ways to play FFI and FFII. Maybe the new Pixel Remaster versions are better, but I prefer the arrangement of the music in this version. Also, revive fallen party members in the church. Reading the instruction booklet might be helpful. XD

[@theconfusingwords]

I just ordered these myself! I got two copies of Final Fantasy- one to use and one to keep sealed. 😄

[@TravisFPV]

FYI: Final Fantasy Origins on PS1 originally came on a regular silver backed disc. (At least the greatest hits version did). I just checked my copy that i got back when it came out to confirm, and it's a silver disc. I believe there were quite a few PS1 games that were on silver discs. Or maybe it was just a "Greatest Hits" thing, I'm not sure. I just know that I have seen many original PS1 games on regular silver. EDIT: After looking at some of my other "Greatest Hits" titles, it seems that all (or at least most) of the greatest hits releases were on silver discs. Also... A few PS2 discs were originally blue on the back, but I don't think that lasted for very long.

[@LordArikado]

Not all of the Greatest Hits titles came on silver-backed discs, but ones made later in the PS1's life, especially ones like Final Fantasy Origins that came out well into the PS2's life, were silver-backed. Also, the blue-backed PS2 discs were for games that weren't big enough in file size to warrant printing them on a DVD, so instead they were printed on CDs. This is why you'll often have trouble playing those blue-backed games on actual PS2 consoles now, as the first thing to start failing on these nearly 25 year old disc drives is the ability to read CDs.

[@patrickmccutcheon8860]

The blue PS2 games, I forgot about those.

[@rodhester2166]

Final Fantasy 7, It was not my style of game but after grinding out a few days of it I was very happy with it. I never did play another game like it back in the day but it is worth playing through at least once. They did do a remake of it that some reviewers really like.

[@jeremy2283]

I had this video in my recommended feed as well. I bought 2 copies-one to keep sealed and one to play.

[@GamerbyDesign]

Same video popped up on my feed and it kind of blew my mind.

[@goodchildmusic0]

WOW. I wished more companies did this.....example, Nintendo has to have a surplus of mini disk for the Game Cube :D

[@TheMadAfrican1]

I've been getting a lot of new old stock original Xbox and PS2 games from various places recently. Love it so much.

[@MikeReiner]

I remember being surprised buying new copies of Final Fantasy VIII, IX, and Chrono Cross in like.. 2008 I think it was. Those games I believe were originally released under the Squaresoft name before the merger but the packaging was updated to reflect Square Enix; as was the splash screen in IX.

[@modulusshift]

Square Enix was formed in April 2003, the Greatest Hits re-release of IX was in June 2003, so it makes sense they'd take the opportunity to change the logo.

[@radron22]

Watching you play this was great to see. You should definitely think about getting into the series. Worth it!

[@neuro_davinci]

Good man for shouting out the original video.

[@boarMcberry]

funny story: FF are literally where i jumped ship when adventure genre starts dwindling on late 90s & got absolutely smitten since. This franchise is HUGE & even has 2 major MMORPG still running till these days & even part of its mainline series, which I also still plays. FF itself also known to produce other series & collabs, Kingdom Hearts itself is a collab between SE & Disney in which game has both characters from FF & Disney albeit with original story. Your experience does reminds me on very early childhood days, where RPG still felt too confusing, hence my love with adventure genres, it does felt similar in silliness. might be wise to try later modern series, which is how i did when FF6 became my introductory gate to the whole franchise, enough to build my curiosity on how the older series delivers & later how the series evolves. ;)

[@dingusmcgillicutty9183]

after playing final fantasy games for 30 years that was utterly excruciating watching you play. still love ya! keep up the good work!

[@retrogameon]

I remember going into an independent game store in the late 2000's and seeing a bunch of brand new PS1 Square games. I guess that explains that.

[@ramiking745]

I bought Kingdom Hearts a few years back and it was definitely a new re-print like the KH one you showed. That case is more lightweight and cheaper than new PS2 cases in retail in the late 2000s-early 2010s.

[@TheGershon]

The PS1 version of FF1 was the last version made with the original games' lead designer iirc, every version after made more drastic changes to the gameplay like removing the magic charge system in favor of a more traditional MP system as the most notable example. You can consider it the most updated official revision of the original FF1.

[@digibubs86]

Thank you for the video! I was happy not to pay eBay prices for the Final Fantasy Origins. I check recently but they are showing sold out now.

[@ricksandstorm]

In the nes version there is a spell for Black Mage called "Nuke" so naming him Duke was spot on.

[@Kordanor]

In case anyone is interested, you can also buy "new" games from the 90s. Amigashop and Vesalia are still selling "Jaktar der Elfenstein", which is a German RPG for the Amiga. Ordered my floppy version and it came in some cardboard box (size bigger than DVD but smaller than Big Box). With just 12.5€ it was just so cheap that I had to get it for my collection.

[@stevekramerf242]

Vesalia are still in business? Man, I bought my Amiga 1200 (as a tower version) from them way back in 1999.

[@KordanorsReviews]

@@stevekramerf242 Seems so. I bought my copy from Amigashop though ^^

[@stevekramerf242]

@@KordanorsReviews Good to know.

[@ProgrammerInProgress]

I went "yeahhh" at the same time you did when you started the PS1 up.

[@justintantiongloc6987]

I just did this maybe a year or two ago for FF Anthology too! Growing up, I may or may not have had a copy that may or may not have required a PS1 with a mod chip to run it....but in any case, as an adult with actual income now, I finally bought one off the official Squenix store to add to my collection and couldn't be happier!

[@justoneofmany]

Did this get taken down from the store or did they sell out that quickly? I can’t find any of the older games on their strode

[@JimPlaysGames]

I love that your party turns up to the castle and the king says "ah the four warriors of light!" "But your majesty one of them is dead" "It doesn't matter, he has a shiny crystal!"

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

They do it every so often apparently, so they’ll probably be back at some point.

[@neilthomas8070]

An interesting and enjoyable video. Nice to see these games being sold today. I sold my games and consoles a few years ago because I needed the money; for a pittance actually. My collections are CDs, Bluray and DVD. When I buy something I always try to buy a new and sealed unit; even though it might cost more. You balance cost with condition. I have bought used stock and it can be a crap shoot in what state the case is in and if the disc has scratches, despite the info the seller posts.

[@TheAbandonedAccount7]

Replace the case, resurface the disc. Save tons of $

[@RetroGamingNook]

I bought mine right off Amazon a few years back on the Square Enix Amazon Store. They still have new PS1 games.

[@livefreeprintguns]

Final Fantasy II was by far my most favorite SNES game.

[@KingofHearts67]

I still have my original kingdom hearts games for ps2. My ps2 is boxed away somewhere, but i have a few select ps2 favorites displayed on my TV stand. I miss just being able to throw a disk in your console and play without downloads or updates or anything. I also miss the booklets that came with games, they were always fun to look at.

[@JillyMaysHere]

I bought a new copy of Chrono Cross back in 2010 and it had the silver data side and I was genuinely confused and wondered if I obtained a phony copy, but years later i learned that...yeah, Square still manages to print some of their own games themselves.

[@shadowtheimpure]

The PlayStation versions of FF1 and FF2 are actually pretty good, as long as you don't mind the loading.

[@TheLeggedOne]

I remember them selling more of these games a few years back, wish I picked them up when I had the chance

[@Markimark151]

So Sony and Square Enix was reproducing PS1 and PS2 discs, I’m shocked that they reprint the games for retro consoles. PS1 games are also used in backwards compatible PS2 and PS3 consoles!

[@humanistwriting5477]

Well since you got the first two, I'd say you have more of a "where did we come from" sort of thing then any of squares bests. That said I started in final fantasy with a fan translation of 2 before the PS1 version was released and got hooked! But it was originally for the NES so temper those expectations appropriately

[@hbomb168]

I still have my original copy of Final Fantasy Origins from when it came out, and it has a black bottom disc and the old style jewel case, with "Compact Disc Digital Audio." It also has the original SquareSoft logo, but does say Square Enix below it.

[@johnsmith-mi2uc]

holy crap i wish i knew about this. i have all the original titles i got when i was a teen in the 90s but i've no doubt that if they stopped selling the ps1 stuff thats gonna go up in price fast. hell i'd be happy if companies even still printed out old titles in general so i wouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg for games that are difficult to get.

[@Purepecha]

Nice video, I got my copy too from the recent video that came out about it also.

[@pokehybridtrainer]

Whelp, thanks for the heads-up. Need to find these for sure.

[@dingusbingus7463]

Am i the only one who thinks regardless of whether they reprint the games or had extra new/old stock; more companies should do this to help re-center the retro gaming market

[@FightingForceSoulless]

I didn't get anything from Square Enix or anything for the PS1 from them, but I too have been shopping around recently, and I got a few nice pieces. State of War, a Slovak strategy game, new-old stock from the original publisher with truly terrible and hilarious Slovak voice lines and story, Populous: The Beginning (new, sealed) and KKnD II from France, new, complete in box (not sealed). It really amazes me how many old games you can buy new or even sealed. I mean, 20 to 25-year old games? Madness. But if you want it as a decorative piece in your gaming room, it's a no-brainer.

[@TheDarkestPhoenix]

Yeah, I saw that video too and it was sold out by the time it was recommended to me. I was hoping to get one of them, but oh well.

[@noimjory]

I got most of them around 2018 or so! They had a huge sale and were going for like $4 a pice for the ps1 games. Really cool reproductions

[@maticselite]

It's an enormous back stock I bought about 10 copies of every PS1, PS2, and original ds game listed back in 2010. I still have about 5 copies of this left.

[@RidgeRacer]

As a near lifelong Final Fantasy fan, it's really fun to see someone play it for the first time like this, whether they end up liking it or not. I'd give a lot to be in your shoes there.

[@zerogeewhiz1]

I wish I’d have known about this a few years ago when I was rebuilding my ps1 collection.

[@jazzbox7120]

For anyone new to the series, these are definitely the most difficult of the Final Fantasy games. While these editions are a little easier than the originals, they're still remembered for being very grindy dungeon crawlers, with not a whole lot of story. Though the series as a whole is known for being very story-heavy, and that started with FF3 and FF4. Either of those would be a good place to start, but it doesn't really matter. Every game (except the sequels) is its own standalone story and universe.

[@ドリフト180X]

Back in 2012 a FYE by my place at the time was going out of business and selling off everything for super cheap. I was able to get a brand new FF7 and Omega Boost, only paid $7 for each. Still printed on the black discs too. Even back then I thought it was crazy to still be able to buy new sealed PS1 games. But now in 2023 (not anymore I guess) that’s wild!

[@chaospoet]

I saw the same video a little while ago also. I forgot about it. When I saw your video, which ironically I watched while grinding levels on Final Fantasy 5, (the Super Famicom original on a Retron 5 with a patch), saying it's not sold on their site I checked Amazon and they thankfully had a few left. Although it said one left in stock, but after buying it and refreshing it still said that so either there are more or I bought the last copy and it hasn't updated that fact yet. 🤷‍♂️ Like I mentioned I'm playing FF5 for the first time. The only other one I've really played is 6 (or 3 as it was titled here in the West). I've played I think the first disk of 7 but didn't stick with it. I remember a friend had Final Fantasy 1 on NES when it came out so I saw it back then but remember almost nothing now and nothing of the series other than a game and a half. It'll be interesting to see what FF1 is like.

[@Geenix7]

Are the Re:CoM manuals in black and white for all greatest hits copies or is that the reprint? I checked my original non greatest hits and the manual was in color.

[@sarah1390]

I have had plenty of official PS1 games that are not on that black CD. I had obtained most of the games when the PS1 was EOL and EB Games wanted to get rid of their stock of used machines and it was received as a birthday present.

[@lemagreengreen]

Had the same video recommended to me and watched it, got confused when I saw yours recommended too, thought it was the same one! Silver discs really look like bootlegs and it's not helped by the US style PS1 packaging in those standard jewel cases, the official European discs all came in fatter cases (but not double height like some places). I am shocked you haven't played through FF7 though! I'm not a huge RPG guy but most people who love that game aren't, it's just the best... play through it on PC with all the neat graphics mods that are available now (7th heaven, from memory) and I'm sure you will get really into the story.

[@LaDeXi]

I got instant chills from the PS1 boot sound 😄

[@FrithRa]

Hey Clint! Would absolutely recommend playing the Final Fantasy games. Not only are they some of the more classic JRPGs out there but they really have interesting stories especially in later entries. 1 and 2 are fairly basic and don't really give you a lot of guidance but they're worth checking out all the same. But as you continue from III onward you start to see more iteration and experimentation like when they bring in different forms of the Jobs system to change the classes of the characters. You're in for a journey if you decide to venture down the rabbit hole that is Final Fantasy games. And it's honestly worth it! :D

[@Robbie-mw5uu]

final fantasy 2 is not worth it

[@lasarousi]

Devaluing old releases is the best side effect of this kind of reprint. Squeenix just knows they can't get a piece of that resell market pie, so they'll make their own.

[@runratchetrun]

This video smells like an after-school trip to EB Games and I love it.

[@ZeromasterVT]

A friend of mine used to work at a game store and told me they used to be able to buy brand new black box final fantasy games such as Final Fantasy 7 from Square Enix directly so they always had a stock of their games

[@Letsbrewthis]

I got chrono cross new a few years back from Amazon. It was a nice little surprise.

[@tipulsar85]

Origins is a good version of the first two Final Fantasys, but be warned about the spell casting bug of Intelligence not affecting spells in FF1. That would be fixed in the versions after, but it's not a complete game breaker. Also the stats in 2 work on Skyrim logic, where the more you use it, the more that particular part of the character grows. 2003 would be the date for the Greatest Hits run.

[@spartonberry]

That Final Fantasy Origins (released in 2003) reprint manual is in B&W. It looks like my copy is a "black label" copy (though I'm sure I bought it about a year after release, so 2004). But I know my manual has color screenshots.

[@shsrpr]

Origins is the best way to play the original FF1 imo. It has the "difficulty" of the NES game, but with many bug fixes and QoL updates, like B-button dash, auto-targeting, stat and magic bugfixes, stacking items, better inventory management, walkable shops, buying more than one item at a time, 5 slots for equipping each party member (weapon armor shield headgear handgear), improved graphics, etc. Later versions of the game from GBA onward nerfed the "difficulty" of the main campaign, but made up for it with extra dungeons and items and such. And then still later versions just stuck with the nerfed "difficulty" from the GBA/PSP version, but ditched the extras that made those versions worth playing.

[@shaggysweetness]

I bought some a while back. Got every one they had offered except for FF8, which they never reprinted. They had Chrono Cross, FF Origins, FF Chronicles, FF Anthology, FF8, FF9. All brand new and sealed.

[@dadahound]

Oh man, the FF Origins is making me lusty. The classic Amano art in a physical manual. Remixed soundtrack. Choice of classic spell slot OR a mana meter. Bug fixes. Functional buff spells. Mint condition jewel case. *drool* ... Sorry, I spaced out there a bit. Uh, great video! Glad to see the old greybox getting some action!

[@samthemultimediaman]

TBH if they sold out that fast it shows there is a huge demand for these titles on physical format and they could make a lot of money if they started reprinting them again.

[@StronkiTube]

I'm pretty new to Final Fantasy myself, having only beaten the first game so far. Seemed like a solid start to me. I played the Pixel Remaster on Steam, which did speed up the fights a bit, saving a lot of time in the long run. Later in the game I definitely started appreciating that. If you're a lot more patient than I am, I don't really see any problem in playing it on PS1. Only thing I recommend is to head into town first and buy some weapons, armor and spells for your characters before going into battle. :)

[@Cimone90]

Bought one of these a couple years ago from their website. Pretty neat

[@JulesVonBasslake]

Huh, I can't remember if any other re-release of FFI calls the group "Light Warriors" since online they're practically always called the Warriors of Light.

[@Jamiesonfrox]

Theory on why FF isn’t on a black disk. They had a miss print of 100,000 or so, and decided they couldn’t sell them. And they sat in a box somewhere and they were like hey let’s sell them now😊

[@Damaniel3]

It's also possible that the combination of the very late release of these games and the size of Square Enix meant that Sony gave them more latitude in terms of disc mastering (i.e. the company could source their own mastering facilities instead of using Sony's).

[@wryyyy]

Wasn't the PS1 black disc originally just a poor attempt at copy protection? Makes sense of they would just drop the black disc after the PS1 was discontinued.

[@FrecklesOpenMic]

It's because they're still reprinting them now. The black disks aren't made anymore.

[@ErrorMessageNotFound]

That's the version of 1 & 2 that I played. The new animations are worth watching imo.

[@GreyWolfLeaderTW]

I own an original copy of Final Fantasy Origins (complete with the black [more accurately blue/purple dye added to the plastic] backing to the PS1 game that was used up until the last few batches of post PS2 launches PS1 games. It's crazy that Square-Enix decided to release FFO in the West in 2003 and apparently it sold poorly enough that they have held onto new old stock for their games long enough for them to sell up until late 2022, when that video on buying the games brand new from Square-Enix's store made what was left of the stock disappear. Honestly, I prefer the Dawn of Souls GBA port to FF Origins because A. very short load times there on GBA cartridges and B. the soundtrack had to be compressed and given a crusty low-fi feel, which actually ties the games into the fact that they were 16-bit remakes of older 8-bit games.

[@MrBenMcLean]

It is hard to say where to start with Final Fantasy because so many of the games are so good and have so many versions. It really depends on how much you feel like you can handle the retro vibes and slight inconveniences of the 8-bit or 16-bit era. Maybe the best place to start of all would be a mix of old and new, which would be the NES demake of Final Fantasy VII fully patched up by hackers. It has the largest file size of any NES game ever AFAIK.

[@LotoTheHero]

I saw the original video when it dropped (I had it recommended as well). It's pretty cool that new Ps1/2 games were available. I looked around the Square Enix shop myself, but there was nothing in particular that piqued my interest. I absolutely recommend playing some of the Final Fantasy series! The first game is actually my favorite in the entire series, although the first games I played were Final Fastasy 4 and 6. I really like 1,2,4,6, and 9. The Playstation version I believe is easier than the NES original. It also has the obviously improved graphics, new music, and cutscenes. It should be a good version to play through, though I do recommend the original NES one as well if you are into JRPGs.