If you are into retrogaming or want to go back in time to see what your parents played and which games really caused an evolution on gameplay. There are few iconic games that you should give it a try. Final Fantasy III (really is VI) for the Super Nintendo was one of those.
If you ever ran a SNES emulator and played some of the classics like Zelda and Secret of Mana, this one is a most play. They are classics on their own space, but many of the hardcore RPG gamers might have strong opinions for both of them. Looking back 25 years ago with a sophisticated brain in the genre (as opposed to being a child playing them in the 90s). I remember Zelda had so much halo coming out of the traditional NES with their two titles, The Legend of Zelda and The Adventures of Link.
Zelda, A link to the past made even hardcore Sega gamers want to switch to the SNES just because of that game. SEGA did had plenty of RPGs but Zelda and FF were the heavyweights. FF was developed by Squaresoft. Looking for some expert opinion on Youtube, I found this debate here:
I played both games but never finished them. However I have to say that the gameplay of Zelda felt a bit more fluid while the FF is more of a traditional computer style gameplay. The world building however and even theme and lore, I have to give it to FF as the concepts are more mature, the world is a bit darker and less of a fantasy than a real world, steampunk allegory to our world.
The music is great on both, I think Zelda has a better quality but the complexities of FF sound also have theatrical 'serious' music. Let say it was more in tune with the play action. Is also more variety of sounds. For example the opera theme on FFVI. Zelda just feels more childish and FF more diverse.
Storywise, FF really shines as Zelda is more of a ethereal script. You don't really know what's going on on the Zelda universe until you see all the games coming together, and even then is also debatable. The timeline is debatable and connecting the games have been a work of years and generations to make it, make sense. You can see complicated charts on how the games connect and have also different timelines. Not saying Final Fantasy is a walk in the park either, but they keep the stories more into themselves.
The fact and probably one of the biggest difference is that you are doing a group RPG, where you have multiple main characters while in Zelda hasn't been a need to introduce more players or character rather into the story. Zelda, the princess, and that's about it!!
At the end comparing both of these games is a challenging one, as most people will defend their games according to their perception. What do you think? Was there one that you just enjoyed playing more than the other? Do you have any FOMO and want to play both again. Let me know in the comments.
