Final Fantasy (Famicom, 1987 / NES, 1990)

"The world is veiled in darkness

The wind stops,

the sea is wild,

and the Earth begins to rot.

The people wait,

their only hope, a prophecy:

'When the world is in darkness

Four warriors will come...'

After a long journey,

four young warriors arrive,

each holding an Orb..."

In 1987, a little Japanese game developer called Square Soft was on the verge of bankruptcy.  With only enough funds to create one more game, they decided to make a fantasy RPG inspired by Dragon Quest and Ultima.  They decided to call this last game Final Fantasy.  And of course it was a massive success, which catapulted Square into the forefront of RPG development for the rest of time.  The game would take another three years to see a North American release, where it received lukewarm praise and sales.

As explained in the opening text, the four orbs that control the elements of the world (earth, fire, water, and wind) have been dimmed by four elemental fiends, and you control a party of four warriors to restore light to the orbs.  The thing that made Final Fantasy stand out at the time was its deep class system which adds a large layer of strategy to the game.  You may select the character class of all four of your party members.  The choices are warrior, monk, thief, white mage, black mage, and red mage.  Warriors have the highest strength, monks can use bare fists (the advantage is not having to buy weapons), thieves have higher evasion and eventually become the ninja class (the strongest in the game), white mages can use defensive and healing White magic, black mages can use offensive Black magic, and red mages can use some Black and White magic, as well as moderate weapon strength.  

The game essentially gives you no sense of direction, meaning you must figure out where you are supposed to go to progress.  You eventually gain vehicles like a sailboat, canoe, and the series-standard airships, which can be used to fly between locations.  Your first objective is to save a princess from the dastardly Garland, and once you do that, the king issues a bridge to be built, and then the rest of the continent is open to you.  Garland will return in the game's climax, in a turn of events which is as original as it is confusing.

The game is still fun to play today (I have completed the original version of the game) but still comes with its flaws.  For one, this game has what are called "ineffective hits".  This is where if you tell two characters to attack the same enemy, and the enemy dies before the other party member gets to attack, when they take their turn, they will swing at the open air and miss.  This happens more often than it should (it shouldn't really happen at all) and causes much frustration.  Another quirk is the magic system.  There are eight levels of spells for each type of magic, with a number of charges that can be used for each spell.  The maximum number of charges is nine, which severely limits how much magic you can use.  The only way to restore charges is to stay at an inn.  Despite these legitimate complaints, Final Fantasy is a great and challenging experience.  Its combination of fantasy, science fiction, and customization ensures that no two playthroughs will be the same, and always enjoyable.