Final Fantasy IV is probably the title in the franchise with the most amount of ports, remakes and expansions only if we don't consider the seventh installment, which at this point might be a franchise on its own. Why is that?
Final Fantasy IV might be considered the first proper Final Fantasy in story beats, characters and presentation. I won't give you an history lesson but this game was kind of a big deal and cemented FF's position in JRPGs: if the 1st to the 3rd were considered experiments, 4th is THE Final Fantasy we default to when thinking about the series, like Metal Slug or King of Fighters with SNK and Trails in the Sky with Falcom.
This port is accessible, holds a lot of minigames and cute side content the original didn't have but most importantly fixes a lot of issues with the game's balance, since the IV on DS is much harder than the original. I remember reading guides to beat some bosses and it was standard to begin every battle with Slow and Haste, otherwise you'd easily be beaten. Not only, but the most important parts in the story are animated and rendered beautifully, with honest to God gorgeous voice acting and animation. The game presents itself wonderfully and the maps are alive and greatly represent its world.
Sore note: the battles are slower and despite being rendered in 3D they don't impress as much as they should thanks to its slow framerate. I played it on the original hardware, I have no clue if the framerate gets better on mobile or PC, but the DS port didn't really color me surprised. I'd add the GBA port has much more content that is exclusive to that version and it's sadly missing here. Not only that, but the story being very linear means you'll have some characters during certain story sections you might not really want and no job system means you'll have your tools handed to you without any real choice. Also really? Getting a Lv.1 character at Lv. 25 does suck a bit.
So, which version should you play? Remastered, SNES original, DS port or PSP? I have no clue honestly, each has its pros and cons and playing each version to see the differences is not something I'd recommend to everyone. You really have to like the characters and the mood of Final Fantasy IV and it's not for everybody. This port? It's fine enough to get you through the story with some cool New Game + elements, but it doesn't have the most amount of content and if you really don't want to replay a game just for the additional content, I would avoid this port. If you get the PSP version you'll also get access to The After Years, but I don't know if that's a plus or not, so really pick your poison.
Final Fantasy IV might be considered the first proper Final Fantasy in story beats, characters and presentation. I won't give you an history lesson but this game was kind of a big deal and cemented FF's position in JRPGs: if the 1st to the 3rd were considered experiments, 4th is THE Final Fantasy we default to when thinking about the series, like Metal Slug or King of Fighters with SNK and Trails in the Sky with Falcom.
This port is accessible, holds a lot of minigames and cute side content the original didn't have but most importantly fixes a lot of issues with the game's balance, since the IV on DS is much harder than the original. I remember reading guides to beat some bosses and it was standard to begin every battle with Slow and Haste, otherwise you'd easily be beaten. Not only, but the most important parts in the story are animated and rendered beautifully, with honest to God gorgeous voice acting and animation. The game presents itself wonderfully and the maps are alive and greatly represent its world.
Sore note: the battles are slower and despite being rendered in 3D they don't impress as much as they should thanks to its slow framerate. I played it on the original hardware, I have no clue if the framerate gets better on mobile or PC, but the DS port didn't really color me surprised. I'd add the GBA port has much more content that is exclusive to that version and it's sadly missing here. Not only that, but the story being very linear means you'll have some characters during certain story sections you might not really want and no job system means you'll have your tools handed to you without any real choice. Also really? Getting a Lv.1 character at Lv. 25 does suck a bit.
So, which version should you play? Remastered, SNES original, DS port or PSP? I have no clue honestly, each has its pros and cons and playing each version to see the differences is not something I'd recommend to everyone. You really have to like the characters and the mood of Final Fantasy IV and it's not for everybody. This port? It's fine enough to get you through the story with some cool New Game + elements, but it doesn't have the most amount of content and if you really don't want to replay a game just for the additional content, I would avoid this port. If you get the PSP version you'll also get access to The After Years, but I don't know if that's a plus or not, so really pick your poison.
This review contains spoilers
This is one of the games I was really excited to getting around to. A ground-up 3D remake of one of the most iconic Final Fantasies... what's not to love? As it turns out, quite a lot of things. Despite some really great added content - a fantastic opening FMV, the mapping system which can be used to earn more items, and the augment system (more on this later) - a lot of the supposed 'upgrades' result in a less effective experience on the whole.
Take the augment system - a way of adding some customization to the rigid character builds of the original game. I'm all for customization (insert obligatory ''FFV is my favorite game" here), although one could argue that the ever-changing party composition combined with rigid builds creates a unique 'puzzle' feel that is core to the FF4 experience and shouldn't be changed. That's a philosophical discussion for another day, but the actual implementation of the augment system leaves a lot to be desired. The fact that new abilities have been added to your party's toolset means that the difficulty level had to be raised to compensate (understandable), but it also means it's very possible to softlock yourself through bad distribution of augment abilities. Also, plenty of augment abilities are 'hidden' in places you have absolutely no reason to revisit, making them seem more like a guide-dang-it bonus than a core part of the gameplay.
The higher difficulty level would be no issue if it were implemented elegantly, and for the most part it is. But FF4DS suffers from strangely inconsistent and opaque ATB mechanics which always seem to appear at the least convenient times - ATB bars sometimes freeze but sometimes continue to fill during battle animations, as one example - quirks like these often would go unnoticed in a more forgiving game but feel really annoying here as they sometimes make strategizing impossible. One thing in particular that I find hard to look past is that the rigidity of the ATB mechanics means that if you are fighting more than one of the same type of enemy, they will always move back-to-back. With this, certain enemy formations can wipe your party because they consistently can hit you with a series of attacks with no window to heal in between. As an example, I once lost a good bit of progress because I ran into two chimeras that used Blaze back-to-back - and I didn't even have the chance to run away because I was back-attacked! I call this the "auto-lose" button and there is no reason for it to exist in a game from 2007.
On a slightly different note, the updated 3D graphics are a bit of an acquired taste. I didn't mind them much, although the shift to 3D did make the battles feel a bit less snappy. But one small way the new graphics detracted from the original experience was in exploration. The original had plenty of 'invisible' treasures: loot that was out in the open but had no visible clue that they were there - you just needed to walk up to an empty space and search it. I'm not a big fan of this in general, but it somewhat worked in the original because it was grid-based and there are only so many squares in each location. The 3D remake makes each map much bigger and more detailed which makes the invisible treasures a lot more annoying to search for. I wish they would have come up with a less lazy way to 'hide' secret loot - it is a ground-up remake after all!
Taking a detour, I'm going to admit something sacrilegious: I think FF4's story is weak. It starts as high fantasy and wildly swings into sci-fi with almost zero foreshadowing, so many of the plot points feel like the result of "we're out of map space to explore so let's just come up with something to pad the story", people die and return more often than in the Marvel universe, and most of the character arcs (the strongest part of the story) are resolved fairly early on in the plot. I will say that its strength is expressing these fairly standard tropes through the gameplay. Tellah is an old man so he loses physical stats as he levels up, and dies because he casts a spell he doesn't have enough MP for. Cecil and Rosa are perfect for each other because as a paladin he can protect her and she can cure him, which Kain was always a bad fit for her because when he jumps he can't be targetted by her cures and she's left as a sitting duck. Both the original and the DS remake handle this well, but the remake leaves out one subtle bit of storytelling-through-gameplay that was in the original: there is one dungeon around the midpoint of the game where you're not allowed to equip heavy armor. It's a neat curveball that forces you to temporarily rethink your playstyle, and in the original version you are best served putting Cecil in the back row with a bow - since he can't equip heavy armor he's not useful as a tank, and he's the best healer in the party at that point. Story-wise, it works well too: Rosa has been kidnapped some time ago in the story, and so the game seems to be reminding you what you are fighting for by saying "hey, you don't have a healer!" and nudging you to put your lead character in the Rosa role, which he can do but not as well as her. In this version... Cecil can't even equip bows, which dilutes the message somewhat.
Okay, I've been negative enough about the game. It's still FF4 so it can't be all bad, and the updated dialogue is a really nice touch. The purple prose and the added interactions between characters adds a bit more personality to everyone, and particularly makes the supporting cast more endearing - I definitely enjoyed seeing the twins' antics and Tellah/Cid's old-man energy. Despite my misgivings about a lot of the changes introduced in this remake, I can't say I regret seeing this classic game through a new lens.
It probably won't happen, but I hope this remake gets a remaster/rebalance someday. The addition of a few more FMVs at key story beats, a less opaque augment system, smoother/snappier combat, and saving the higher difficulty for a New Game+ run (which is when your characters will have access to the stronger augments) would probably make it a definitive upgrade on the FF4 experience.
Take the augment system - a way of adding some customization to the rigid character builds of the original game. I'm all for customization (insert obligatory ''FFV is my favorite game" here), although one could argue that the ever-changing party composition combined with rigid builds creates a unique 'puzzle' feel that is core to the FF4 experience and shouldn't be changed. That's a philosophical discussion for another day, but the actual implementation of the augment system leaves a lot to be desired. The fact that new abilities have been added to your party's toolset means that the difficulty level had to be raised to compensate (understandable), but it also means it's very possible to softlock yourself through bad distribution of augment abilities. Also, plenty of augment abilities are 'hidden' in places you have absolutely no reason to revisit, making them seem more like a guide-dang-it bonus than a core part of the gameplay.
The higher difficulty level would be no issue if it were implemented elegantly, and for the most part it is. But FF4DS suffers from strangely inconsistent and opaque ATB mechanics which always seem to appear at the least convenient times - ATB bars sometimes freeze but sometimes continue to fill during battle animations, as one example - quirks like these often would go unnoticed in a more forgiving game but feel really annoying here as they sometimes make strategizing impossible. One thing in particular that I find hard to look past is that the rigidity of the ATB mechanics means that if you are fighting more than one of the same type of enemy, they will always move back-to-back. With this, certain enemy formations can wipe your party because they consistently can hit you with a series of attacks with no window to heal in between. As an example, I once lost a good bit of progress because I ran into two chimeras that used Blaze back-to-back - and I didn't even have the chance to run away because I was back-attacked! I call this the "auto-lose" button and there is no reason for it to exist in a game from 2007.
On a slightly different note, the updated 3D graphics are a bit of an acquired taste. I didn't mind them much, although the shift to 3D did make the battles feel a bit less snappy. But one small way the new graphics detracted from the original experience was in exploration. The original had plenty of 'invisible' treasures: loot that was out in the open but had no visible clue that they were there - you just needed to walk up to an empty space and search it. I'm not a big fan of this in general, but it somewhat worked in the original because it was grid-based and there are only so many squares in each location. The 3D remake makes each map much bigger and more detailed which makes the invisible treasures a lot more annoying to search for. I wish they would have come up with a less lazy way to 'hide' secret loot - it is a ground-up remake after all!
Taking a detour, I'm going to admit something sacrilegious: I think FF4's story is weak. It starts as high fantasy and wildly swings into sci-fi with almost zero foreshadowing, so many of the plot points feel like the result of "we're out of map space to explore so let's just come up with something to pad the story", people die and return more often than in the Marvel universe, and most of the character arcs (the strongest part of the story) are resolved fairly early on in the plot. I will say that its strength is expressing these fairly standard tropes through the gameplay. Tellah is an old man so he loses physical stats as he levels up, and dies because he casts a spell he doesn't have enough MP for. Cecil and Rosa are perfect for each other because as a paladin he can protect her and she can cure him, which Kain was always a bad fit for her because when he jumps he can't be targetted by her cures and she's left as a sitting duck. Both the original and the DS remake handle this well, but the remake leaves out one subtle bit of storytelling-through-gameplay that was in the original: there is one dungeon around the midpoint of the game where you're not allowed to equip heavy armor. It's a neat curveball that forces you to temporarily rethink your playstyle, and in the original version you are best served putting Cecil in the back row with a bow - since he can't equip heavy armor he's not useful as a tank, and he's the best healer in the party at that point. Story-wise, it works well too: Rosa has been kidnapped some time ago in the story, and so the game seems to be reminding you what you are fighting for by saying "hey, you don't have a healer!" and nudging you to put your lead character in the Rosa role, which he can do but not as well as her. In this version... Cecil can't even equip bows, which dilutes the message somewhat.
Okay, I've been negative enough about the game. It's still FF4 so it can't be all bad, and the updated dialogue is a really nice touch. The purple prose and the added interactions between characters adds a bit more personality to everyone, and particularly makes the supporting cast more endearing - I definitely enjoyed seeing the twins' antics and Tellah/Cid's old-man energy. Despite my misgivings about a lot of the changes introduced in this remake, I can't say I regret seeing this classic game through a new lens.
It probably won't happen, but I hope this remake gets a remaster/rebalance someday. The addition of a few more FMVs at key story beats, a less opaque augment system, smoother/snappier combat, and saving the higher difficulty for a New Game+ run (which is when your characters will have access to the stronger augments) would probably make it a definitive upgrade on the FF4 experience.
This DS version is the one to play. The SNES/GBA/PSP were easy mode and this version retains something more akin the original Japanese difficulty. If you play on DS there's only one difficultly but the Steam version has Normal and Hard. Hard is the DS difficultly and Normal is somewhere between Hard and SNES/GBA/PSP. I still recommend the Hard mode as it makes for the best combat in the series. It's not a grind, you actually get more Exp than in the Easy versions. The PSP version comes with the After Story but its writing and combat is not nearly as good so I'd say skip it. The 3D models look nice and the soundtrack is great. The voice acting is pretty good. The script was entirely redone and sounds great. They speak somewhat old English but not to the point where it gets annoying. Overall this is my favorite FF game mostly for the combat but the rest of the game is great too.
HP is so inflated it rivals Sonic fanart.
Uma historia da luz e da escuridão.
Uma historia de um protagonista tentando conseguir perdão pelos erros q cometeu, tentando perdoar a si mesmo.
Eu gostei bastante da historia desse Jogo, Cecil é um protagonista bem legal, o cast de personagens é muito bom.
Theme of Love é uma das osts mais bonitas dessa franquia.
Uma historia de um protagonista tentando conseguir perdão pelos erros q cometeu, tentando perdoar a si mesmo.
Eu gostei bastante da historia desse Jogo, Cecil é um protagonista bem legal, o cast de personagens é muito bom.
Theme of Love é uma das osts mais bonitas dessa franquia.
I love this port personally although I've never played the original, some of the best characters in the mainline series and introduced some of the best jobs in the series as well.
There's a door in the dev room that says the following riddle
"What starts with S, ends with X, and has an E in the middle" and like come on it's so obviously SQUARE ENIX didn't realize this was a baby game
"What starts with S, ends with X, and has an E in the middle" and like come on it's so obviously SQUARE ENIX didn't realize this was a baby game
Don't let people fool you, for other than maybe the washed up colors and low framerate this may be the best version of Final Fantasy IV, the cutscenes and amazing voice acting give a whole bigger shine to the story, the difficulty in this version is more along the original SNES or GBA games, instead of the PSP version that is so easy to the point there is no challenge at all.
Do try to play this on a actual Nintendo DS screen though, the android or PC ports wont look as good because the textures and menus were designed for the DS, PC/android port were made with much less thought and will just end up looking ugly.
Do try to play this on a actual Nintendo DS screen though, the android or PC ports wont look as good because the textures and menus were designed for the DS, PC/android port were made with much less thought and will just end up looking ugly.
The first great Final Fantasy, and coincidentally the first one I ever played, way back in 1997. They really nail just about everything here; the rotating cast of characters means you never lock into a particular playstyle for too long, and the series' storytelling finally hits its stride. The cast isn't drawn with the complexity given to later entries, but they're colorful enough that they're fun to be around. Just a real good meat-and-potatoes JRPG.
This is my first time playing the DS version, and it's a terrific remake; while I am a bit annoyed at how oddly arcane the augment system is (regarding what will trigger a character to drop one or not, I mean), it's a super interesting and fun way to customize your party without breaking the game's balance. Only real issue is the final dungeon, which was always a brutal slog but is worse in this version.
This is my first time playing the DS version, and it's a terrific remake; while I am a bit annoyed at how oddly arcane the augment system is (regarding what will trigger a character to drop one or not, I mean), it's a super interesting and fun way to customize your party without breaking the game's balance. Only real issue is the final dungeon, which was always a brutal slog but is worse in this version.
gosto muito do elenco desse jogo, é muito fácil simpatizar com eles e a história é bem legal, teve alguns momentos que eu quase me emocionei e em outros eu tava morrendo de ódio pq só queria continuar a história e não parava de vim inimigo, tem umas partes que são insuportáveis e eu queria muito que tivesse como ver a vida dos inimigos
some of the bosses at the end hurt me real bad owie owie but it was a good time overall
After replaying 10 hours of this game again I realized, yeah I definitely did get into finally finishing video games (and by extension JRPGs) after beating Earthbound in middle school cause dude playing a remake that wants to mess with your expectations when you're in elementary school is, something lol
an essential classic which often goes underappreciated by gamers nowadays.
if you've ever enjoyed basically any video game cutscene, story, or character arc, you probably owe this game a thank you. obviously video game stories and characters existed before final fantasy 4, but only in the loosest sense of the terms. brand mascots and general sequences of events. in comes final fantasy 4 with shakespearean themes of love, jealousy, betrayal, grief, redemption etc coupled with sweeping digital orchestra and tight cutscenes, all of a sudden video games are a medium for storytelling.
besides the historical importance, final fantasy iv is still a killer game. gorgeous music, fun and fast-paced gameplay, memorable locations and bosses, pretty much still defines gamers expectations of what a jrpg ought to be.
the story has some obvious poorly aged pitfalls like the fake-out character deaths and a certain last-second reveal, but even these shortcomings have come to be characteristic of the genre because of this game.
this version of the game in particular deserves some bonus points for being quite possibly the most difficult mainline final fantasy game, with very punishing and involved boss encounters, at least moreso than what you usually expect in games like 6 and 7.
tldr; final fantasy iv is required reading for fans of the genre and for my money, the 3d version is still the best way to play it.
if you've ever enjoyed basically any video game cutscene, story, or character arc, you probably owe this game a thank you. obviously video game stories and characters existed before final fantasy 4, but only in the loosest sense of the terms. brand mascots and general sequences of events. in comes final fantasy 4 with shakespearean themes of love, jealousy, betrayal, grief, redemption etc coupled with sweeping digital orchestra and tight cutscenes, all of a sudden video games are a medium for storytelling.
besides the historical importance, final fantasy iv is still a killer game. gorgeous music, fun and fast-paced gameplay, memorable locations and bosses, pretty much still defines gamers expectations of what a jrpg ought to be.
the story has some obvious poorly aged pitfalls like the fake-out character deaths and a certain last-second reveal, but even these shortcomings have come to be characteristic of the genre because of this game.
this version of the game in particular deserves some bonus points for being quite possibly the most difficult mainline final fantasy game, with very punishing and involved boss encounters, at least moreso than what you usually expect in games like 6 and 7.
tldr; final fantasy iv is required reading for fans of the genre and for my money, the 3d version is still the best way to play it.
While FFIII is absolutely more iconic with its large sprawling map and the introduction of the job system, I found FFIV to be a tremendous improvement on its predecessor. This game uses the famous ATB system where enemies and party members don't take turns, but rather wait for a timer to fill up before they are allowed to choose an attack/ability and then execute it, making some fights feel a lot more hectic.
FFIV features a fully realized story with lovable characters and in this version, even quite a few voiced cutscenes! There are quite a few party members you'll recruit and they rotate in and out throughout the course of the story so you never have to choose who gets left out. There's no job system this time around so everyone has predefined roles, but I think it works pretty well and you always have a well balanced party.
The structure of the game is fairly similar to III. You run around (or pilot an airship) across the world map as you travel from town to town and dungeon to dungeon. When you open the pause menu, each character in your party will have some comment about the current events in the story which serves to further flesh out their personalities. It's a really nice touch that I kept checking on everytime I noticed new dialogue.
Most dungeons feel pretty long in this game, but to compensate for that, dungeons finally have save points! They are little glowing circles which allow you use a tent/cottage to refill your party's HP/MP and also allow access to the save menu. This was much appreciated after the struggle some of the later dungeons in III felt like.
I think maybe my only considerable complaint about the game is the strategies some of the bosses use. Many of them are fun fights to be sure, but many also resort to spamming AoEs, and until you get the Arise spell there's a good chance when someone is KO'd, it's difficult to bring them back up and keep them alive long enough to heal them to a survivable level because of how ATB works. This is a pretty minor complaint though and I never felt roadblocked at any time for too long.
Overall, FFIV is a tremendous game with a pretty enjoyable classic FF plot and I look forward to playing The After Years eventually just to see these characters again. This game definitely holds up well today.
FFIV features a fully realized story with lovable characters and in this version, even quite a few voiced cutscenes! There are quite a few party members you'll recruit and they rotate in and out throughout the course of the story so you never have to choose who gets left out. There's no job system this time around so everyone has predefined roles, but I think it works pretty well and you always have a well balanced party.
The structure of the game is fairly similar to III. You run around (or pilot an airship) across the world map as you travel from town to town and dungeon to dungeon. When you open the pause menu, each character in your party will have some comment about the current events in the story which serves to further flesh out their personalities. It's a really nice touch that I kept checking on everytime I noticed new dialogue.
Most dungeons feel pretty long in this game, but to compensate for that, dungeons finally have save points! They are little glowing circles which allow you use a tent/cottage to refill your party's HP/MP and also allow access to the save menu. This was much appreciated after the struggle some of the later dungeons in III felt like.
I think maybe my only considerable complaint about the game is the strategies some of the bosses use. Many of them are fun fights to be sure, but many also resort to spamming AoEs, and until you get the Arise spell there's a good chance when someone is KO'd, it's difficult to bring them back up and keep them alive long enough to heal them to a survivable level because of how ATB works. This is a pretty minor complaint though and I never felt roadblocked at any time for too long.
Overall, FFIV is a tremendous game with a pretty enjoyable classic FF plot and I look forward to playing The After Years eventually just to see these characters again. This game definitely holds up well today.
Depois de ter terminado Chrono Trigger, embarquei no FFIV com a maior animação possível e não me decepcionei. Até os dias de hoje, ele é um ótimo JRPG, e se der bobeira o melhor da era pixel de final fantasy, sua história traz algumas reviravoltas e é bem simples, porém não deixa de ser uma história boa até hoje.
Única coisa que pode incomodar é o grind, afinal esse é um RPG muito clássico, então o grind ali pra passar de um Boss é quase obrigatório
Única coisa que pode incomodar é o grind, afinal esse é um RPG muito clássico, então o grind ali pra passar de um Boss é quase obrigatório
Didn’t add pop culture references and/or write Golbez like a Power Rangers villain, waste of a remake
i think final fantasy 4 is not a game that does much that stands out divorced from its context as one of the first notable story driven jrpgs, but it has enjoyable moments and i'd be lying if i didn't enjoy parts of it. it certainly doesn't get anywhere near the same highs as pretty much any other story-driven game but i'd say it's okay at what it tries to do. a lot of the story beats could definitely be improved, but i'd be hard pressed to say i hated or even disliked ff4
One of my favorites, it is not perfect. There are many Deus ex Machinas in the story, and the last boss just wasn’t great. Still, amazing game!
This game seems widely celebrated, and considering how many references Final Fantasy XIV has from it, I felt like I should finally give this game a go. While I don't think it's a bad game, it doesn't resonate with me at all like other Final Fantasy games. The music and the story are pretty awesome, but the cast of characters that comes in and out of your party really makes it a challenge to care about anyone as you travel. Unlike III and V, IV doesn't have a job system and it really makes the combat feel simple to me.
I got to the final dungeon, too busy to finish now, I know what's up so feel comfy with stopping here.
This game has better scenario design than Final Fantasy 16 which is so funny to think about. FF16 is certainly /trying/ for something like this, but it's baffling to notice that this game has better female characters and more consistent plotting. It's hard not to compare the two, with both games having very thin characters with singular strong concepts and a narrative focused on moving from cool image to cool image. But... one is a game from 1991 and the other from 2023 which makes the extent to which the comparison is unfavorable downright strange.
The use of the battle system as a narrative space-time (and TIME is important, it's "Active Time Battle" after all) is breathtaking today as historical curio as it would have been as a formal innovation at the time. Such a masterful understanding of games as theatrical works, battles as stages, command based gameplay as directing a play. Certainly an aspect lost within the move towards action combat, even in half-steps like the FF7 Remake series or even FF13.
This game has better scenario design than Final Fantasy 16 which is so funny to think about. FF16 is certainly /trying/ for something like this, but it's baffling to notice that this game has better female characters and more consistent plotting. It's hard not to compare the two, with both games having very thin characters with singular strong concepts and a narrative focused on moving from cool image to cool image. But... one is a game from 1991 and the other from 2023 which makes the extent to which the comparison is unfavorable downright strange.
The use of the battle system as a narrative space-time (and TIME is important, it's "Active Time Battle" after all) is breathtaking today as historical curio as it would have been as a formal innovation at the time. Such a masterful understanding of games as theatrical works, battles as stages, command based gameplay as directing a play. Certainly an aspect lost within the move towards action combat, even in half-steps like the FF7 Remake series or even FF13.
the gold standard for remaking a game. i used to greatly want square to remake V and VI in this style. now, i don't want them to bother, because this was lightning in a bottle.
The 3D graphics and voice acting are cute, but not quite as timeless as the original pixel art.
This version eschews the GBA's option to swap characters in and out for your final party and instead implements this Augment system that's geared specifically towards replaying the game ad nauseam. An absolutely bizarre choice in a super linear game with no story branches or alternate endings. Feels absolutely lousy not to be able to really get into this feature if you're not up for grinding your face off.
This version eschews the GBA's option to swap characters in and out for your final party and instead implements this Augment system that's geared specifically towards replaying the game ad nauseam. An absolutely bizarre choice in a super linear game with no story branches or alternate endings. Feels absolutely lousy not to be able to really get into this feature if you're not up for grinding your face off.
FF4 is where I feel Final Fantasy started to get its own identity and started to separate itself from dragon quest more, there's a good reason Final Fantasy XIV's plot/aesthetic has so many callbacks to this game.
this game uses the classic final fantasy battle system but with a larger party than the usual 4, and the party dynamic switches out a lot during the playthrough of the game, as well as having them be in different rows, making you have to use all the characters abilities to their full potential.
For example when you do not have your healer in the party so you have to make use of the bard to support your attack and defense or use status ailments to put enemies to sleep,
this game also has an amazing cast of characters, I will say that the main character Cecil Harvey carries the game and there is a good reason why he is the protagonist.
The game has plenty of good characters but it is hard to say anything about them without spoiling the games story,
I will say they use the class system from previous games into the characters personalities and backstories rather than just the playstyle they have
sadly because the nature of the pacing and characters leaving the party some of them do not get the same development as others, its not like they are bad or don't serve a purpose its just some are going to get less for obvious reasons
also especially for the ds version this is an old jrpg there is random encounters and the gameplay is difficult to new players, which is why I love it and find it rewarding but others may not
either way I still hold this game up in very high regards to inspire RPG of the future and the influence it has had on me
this game uses the classic final fantasy battle system but with a larger party than the usual 4, and the party dynamic switches out a lot during the playthrough of the game, as well as having them be in different rows, making you have to use all the characters abilities to their full potential.
For example when you do not have your healer in the party so you have to make use of the bard to support your attack and defense or use status ailments to put enemies to sleep,
this game also has an amazing cast of characters, I will say that the main character Cecil Harvey carries the game and there is a good reason why he is the protagonist.
The game has plenty of good characters but it is hard to say anything about them without spoiling the games story,
I will say they use the class system from previous games into the characters personalities and backstories rather than just the playstyle they have
sadly because the nature of the pacing and characters leaving the party some of them do not get the same development as others, its not like they are bad or don't serve a purpose its just some are going to get less for obvious reasons
also especially for the ds version this is an old jrpg there is random encounters and the gameplay is difficult to new players, which is why I love it and find it rewarding but others may not
either way I still hold this game up in very high regards to inspire RPG of the future and the influence it has had on me
The PC port is (now, after being fixed in a patch) pretty competent and the animated cutscenes really add more than you would think.
Often lauded by long-time FF fans or oldschool JRPG connoisseurs as the peak of the series, I've been wanting to play this game for a LONG time but happening upon a copy in a retro game story finally gave me that chance.
In many ways, FFIV is the template on which modern JRPGs are built. It was one of the first with a big, sweeping story with high stakes, multiple "worlds", and a party of characters who, gasp, have actual personality and development! While the plot and character arcs are hardly ground-breaking these days, I'd imagine they were amazing for their time, featuring themes of redemption, overcoming trauma and even a few major deaths.
This is all aided by an excellent re-translated script by Tom Slattery. In fact this script is why I chose to experience this version first, as it lacks the censorship and rampant mistranslations of the SNES version (where characters "swoon" or "fall down" instead of die, I wish I was making that up) or the awkward pop-culture references of the GBA/PSP version. It's very flowery, think Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon, which might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it.
Gameplay-wise, it's interesting. The DS version is the most difficult iteration of FFIV by far, to the point where the iOS and Steam ports made its default difficulty the "Hard Mode". And I admit, there were many, many times the game kicked my teeth in: as just one example this version turns the first Golbez battle from effectively an interactive cutscene into a brutal fight you actually have to win, that comes DIRECTLY AFTER ANOTHER BOSS. (And starts with 3/5 of your party KO'd) And the enemies in the final and optional dungeons are... something else.
At the same time, this is a rare old-school FF where strategy actually matters and buffs and debuffs are vital. The best tip I can give is Slow works on every boss. Always, always use it. For many dungeons or bosses, I'd get wrecked the first time, but come back the next day with a new strategy and find they weren't so bad.
The core party members all have clearly defined roles and are very good in said roles, the White and Black Mages feeling especially fun later on. The DS version's main addition to the gameplay is "Augments" but... I'll cover that in the negatives section.
Something great about this game that I've missed in modern JPRGs is it goes for "quality over quantity" in its sidequests. I'd estimate there's no more than 10 total sidequests in the game, but all (besides the ongoing Namingway meetings) involve a new area or dungeon, end with a unique boss fight, and give a VERY worthwhile reward. Either a strong item, a new skill for a character (such as a powerful summon) or closure on the fate of a guest party member. I'd take this over a hundred "gather 20 bear skins" missions any day.
But no game is perfect, and I've got a few clear negatives to discuss. The first pertains to both story and gameplay: FFIV REALLY loves temporary party members. I guess it was a limitation of the old party systems, but you'll be meeting a ton of playable characters who don't stick around, and most get enough development that you'll wish they did. There's a few who were so developed I was shocked and saddened to find they were temporary. And not in a good way (see FFVII), I mean I would've vastly preferred them in both story and gameplay to...
Edge. Edge is the one party member I never "clicked" with and him being part of the "final five" felt like a waste to me. His relevance to the plot is over after one dungeon, his gameplay role isn't much beyond "he's really fast and has some ailments I guess", and he's clearly meant to be a comic relief character but that's hard to tell when he gets next to no scenes. It's telling that most of his pause screen dialogue boils down to "I have no idea what's going on but I guess I'm stuck with these guys." Out of everyone, THIS is the guy who gets to stay?
For gameplay, there's the Augment system, which lets you assign new skills to party members (and also influences their stat growth, not that the game ever tells you this...). Giving up to 2 Augments to temporary party members rewards you with more augments when they leave. On paper, this is supposed to ensure you aren't punished for giving Augments to someone you didn't know was temporary... the problem is that all the best skills in the game are locked behind doing this, meaning you have to carefully "ration" your Augments to avoid missing them, and it can be VERY tight. For example, missing ONE optional Augment early on prevented me from getting the amazing Dualcast. Also, every Augment uses up one of your character's menu slots, even passive skills like MP +50%. It's a great idea in theory but... it shouldn't be this easy to miss out on the best tactical options in such a difficult game.
And as I mentioned, the difficulty can be frustrating. It's usually well-designed, but there's one or two enemy types (looking at you Red Dragons) that feel unfair, mostly summed up as "if they decide to spam their AoE attack you're DEAD, if they don't they're no problem."
Overall, I can see why this game is held in such high regard, and the DS version is a great way to experience it, provided you're okay with the difficulty.
In many ways, FFIV is the template on which modern JRPGs are built. It was one of the first with a big, sweeping story with high stakes, multiple "worlds", and a party of characters who, gasp, have actual personality and development! While the plot and character arcs are hardly ground-breaking these days, I'd imagine they were amazing for their time, featuring themes of redemption, overcoming trauma and even a few major deaths.
This is all aided by an excellent re-translated script by Tom Slattery. In fact this script is why I chose to experience this version first, as it lacks the censorship and rampant mistranslations of the SNES version (where characters "swoon" or "fall down" instead of die, I wish I was making that up) or the awkward pop-culture references of the GBA/PSP version. It's very flowery, think Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon, which might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it.
Gameplay-wise, it's interesting. The DS version is the most difficult iteration of FFIV by far, to the point where the iOS and Steam ports made its default difficulty the "Hard Mode". And I admit, there were many, many times the game kicked my teeth in: as just one example this version turns the first Golbez battle from effectively an interactive cutscene into a brutal fight you actually have to win, that comes DIRECTLY AFTER ANOTHER BOSS. (And starts with 3/5 of your party KO'd) And the enemies in the final and optional dungeons are... something else.
At the same time, this is a rare old-school FF where strategy actually matters and buffs and debuffs are vital. The best tip I can give is Slow works on every boss. Always, always use it. For many dungeons or bosses, I'd get wrecked the first time, but come back the next day with a new strategy and find they weren't so bad.
The core party members all have clearly defined roles and are very good in said roles, the White and Black Mages feeling especially fun later on. The DS version's main addition to the gameplay is "Augments" but... I'll cover that in the negatives section.
Something great about this game that I've missed in modern JPRGs is it goes for "quality over quantity" in its sidequests. I'd estimate there's no more than 10 total sidequests in the game, but all (besides the ongoing Namingway meetings) involve a new area or dungeon, end with a unique boss fight, and give a VERY worthwhile reward. Either a strong item, a new skill for a character (such as a powerful summon) or closure on the fate of a guest party member. I'd take this over a hundred "gather 20 bear skins" missions any day.
But no game is perfect, and I've got a few clear negatives to discuss. The first pertains to both story and gameplay: FFIV REALLY loves temporary party members. I guess it was a limitation of the old party systems, but you'll be meeting a ton of playable characters who don't stick around, and most get enough development that you'll wish they did. There's a few who were so developed I was shocked and saddened to find they were temporary. And not in a good way (see FFVII), I mean I would've vastly preferred them in both story and gameplay to...
Edge. Edge is the one party member I never "clicked" with and him being part of the "final five" felt like a waste to me. His relevance to the plot is over after one dungeon, his gameplay role isn't much beyond "he's really fast and has some ailments I guess", and he's clearly meant to be a comic relief character but that's hard to tell when he gets next to no scenes. It's telling that most of his pause screen dialogue boils down to "I have no idea what's going on but I guess I'm stuck with these guys." Out of everyone, THIS is the guy who gets to stay?
For gameplay, there's the Augment system, which lets you assign new skills to party members (and also influences their stat growth, not that the game ever tells you this...). Giving up to 2 Augments to temporary party members rewards you with more augments when they leave. On paper, this is supposed to ensure you aren't punished for giving Augments to someone you didn't know was temporary... the problem is that all the best skills in the game are locked behind doing this, meaning you have to carefully "ration" your Augments to avoid missing them, and it can be VERY tight. For example, missing ONE optional Augment early on prevented me from getting the amazing Dualcast. Also, every Augment uses up one of your character's menu slots, even passive skills like MP +50%. It's a great idea in theory but... it shouldn't be this easy to miss out on the best tactical options in such a difficult game.
And as I mentioned, the difficulty can be frustrating. It's usually well-designed, but there's one or two enemy types (looking at you Red Dragons) that feel unfair, mostly summed up as "if they decide to spam their AoE attack you're DEAD, if they don't they're no problem."
Overall, I can see why this game is held in such high regard, and the DS version is a great way to experience it, provided you're okay with the difficulty.
Definitely improves the FF4 experience, doesn't make it that much better but there's some cool stuff in there. Brutally hard though especially as a 8 year old kid back then
Paladins in space.
What? You're saying it's not?
What? You're saying it's not?
A good remake. The final boss kicked my ass for like a year, but after beating it I'd say the experience overall was amazing. I didn't even use a guide for a majority of the game.
All the signature Final Fantasy story-telling elements can trace their roots back to here. Character growth is not just an RPG mechanics anymore, but a vital narrative element, and often works together with the main story. Romance becomes a series staple. Villains are given more attention, and sometimes take on a new sympathetic side.
The soul crushing difficulty keeps the experience fresh for FF veterans, but it also can stump a newcomer. This was my first introduction to ATB system, and I was stumped.
Younger me had no problem with the 3D graphics. Older me appreciates it even more as this game has already got so many different 2D rendition.
The soul crushing difficulty keeps the experience fresh for FF veterans, but it also can stump a newcomer. This was my first introduction to ATB system, and I was stumped.
Younger me had no problem with the 3D graphics. Older me appreciates it even more as this game has already got so many different 2D rendition.
Cecil Harvey is the quintessential WHAB