Final Fantasy 1 (original NES) with a Party of 4 White Mages
Recently, I beat the original NES Final Fantasy game with a party of four white mages, a seemingly impossible task. Here’s how I did it. I beat the game at level 29.
Slow and steady does it! Level up before tackling dungeouns.
Explore dungeouns one floor at a time, then return to town, sell your unusable items, and save. Repeat until you conquer the whole dungeon.
Put your best armor on the first two characters.
Sail to the Castle of Ordeal BEFORE tackling the fire volcano or the ice cave so that you at least have some of the items that cast spells like heal and lightning. After this, battles get much easier, and you gain more experience quicker.
What does this have to do with writing? Final Fantasy is a game that has limited character development. You can name the characters as you wish, and they have no personality whatsoever. While playing, I imagine all sorts of scenarios that lead to stories for my fantasy novels. What if a party of four white mages went out to save the world and got laughed at by a rival party of four fighters? What would happen? What if there really were magical items that cast spells for anyone—magic user or not? The game gives me a background to project my ideas onto, and the ideas form while I play.
Next up a party of four fighters who can’t use a lick of magic.