So this isn't strictly Pico-8 related but I just came across a video series on Youtube which I thought others here might enjoy.

The Animation of Final Fantasy

The intention seems to be to follow the evolution of FF animation all the way from FF-I up to FF-whatever-number-they're-up-to-by-the-time-he-finishes-the-series.

So far he's only up to FF-IV (the first Super Famicon/SNES release) but I think the first three (the Famicon/NES releases) are probably most interesting to Pico-8 developers. I thought it was an interesting look into how the developers managed with so few assets and—especially in FF-II—how they were able to use those assets to tell a story and convey at least some very basic sense of character.