Final Fantasy 1 » Travel

Don't we all wish that in any FF game we have, we could just immediately get the airship and not have to worry about fighting monsters all the time? That'd be nice, but unfortunately that is not the case until later in the game. Square(-Enix) does give us some nice vehicles when the time comes, though...

Walking

Walking. We all know it. We all hate it, especially when there's things like the ship and the airship. All the same, it's a neccesity. Walking is the only way to get around for quite a bit of the game, so you've gotta get used to it.

Walking around on the world makes you vulernable to random encounters. Anywhere you go in the world (except for towns, cities, and other populated areas) will force you to fight against enemies at a certain level. Be ready to fight enemies when you walk out into the world.

Ship

In Pravoka, you'll meet Bikke the Pirate. If you challenge him and beat his scurvy crew, you'll get the ship.

The Ship is a nice change to walking. It's faster than walking in most cases, and gets you to new places. You can go anywhere in the ocean, even under the bridge to the north of Coneria, but you can't go up rivers with it. While on board, you'll fight random battles with Sahags and Sharks and the like. To get off the ship, simply find a dock at a town and unboard.

Canoe

After defeating Lich, the Fiend of Earth, one of the Sages in the Circle of Sages at Crescent Lake will give you a brand new Canoe. Once you receive the canoe, you can finally dock your boat at the mouths of rivers and continue with the canoe.

While aboard the canoe, be careful, because Hydras and Ochos can attack. These enemies are very strong to the inexperienced traveler, so be sure to heal if necessary.

Airship

Although there were many Airships in the world in the past, only one remains, buried under the desert. You must use the Floater from the Ice Cave to raise the Airship from the desert if you are to travel to the lands to the north.

Airships are a trademark of Final Fantasy games. And here's where they first got their icon. Airships are roughly 4 times faster than walking, and that's very handy. Unfortunately, you can only land on grassy plains and fields, so even some castles become hard to reach. But one more good thing: No random battles. Which is a very good thing, especially towards the end of the game when they become useless and boring.