Pros - Still FF4 with some updated sprites.
Cons - WSC's screen is too dark and the game has noticeable lag in menus and spell casts.
Imagine, if you will, that is the year 2032 and Final Fantasy 20 has
just been released. It is an instant success and for many, it becomes
the one and only true Final Fantasy game. Keep in mind that most of
these people have never played another Final Fantasy game in their
lives. Would you, as a fan of the series, feel obligated to share the
greatness of the series' predecessors? Would you say, "Hey dude, you
should play FF18, FF15, FF13, FF12, FF10, FF7, FF6, FF4, FF3, FF2, and
FF Tactics."
Well, you may have encountered a similar situation. Simply put, just
because it's old, doesn't mean it isn't good... well, in Final Fantasy
games to say the least. You play as the game's leading man, Cecil, a
Dark Knight of high rank in the Baron Kingdom. Cecil is a loyal servant
to Baron, but lately he's been thinking about the horrible task he
commits in the name of the king; murder and theft of the Crystal. From
here, as you can imagine, the game unfolds in an epic tale of
friendship, betrayal, redemption, world-saving and all of that good
stuff. The game is full of plot twists and mature moments that really
make the game's characters and atmosphere interesting. The music is
beautiful and the graphics, spell animations, and enemies are good
looking. Fans of the series will be pleased to see many familiar job
classes appear in the game; Dragoon, Summoner, Bard, Monk, Ninja, etc.
The game is also full of secret dungeons, towns, summons, equipment,
and side quests that make the game feel expansive. The newer Gameboy
Advance version of the game has even more extra content. The newest DS version lacks the extra content of the Gameboy Advance version but makes up for it with unique abilities, replay value, and mini-games.
Since this game has been remade so many times, it has seen changes in
the difficulty setting. The Playstation port of the game is possibly
the most challenging, since it was based on the Japanese "hard type" of
the original Super Famicon cartridge. However, the newer GBA version of
the game seems to be "just right". The ports are a little slower than
the original SNES versions, but many fans agree that the dialogue is
much better. The US version of Final Fantasy IV was actually named
Final Fantasy II and was based on the Japanese "easy type" and has some
of the worst translation work in the history of gaming. It is almost
worth playing on emulator just to laugh at how silly some of the
mis-translation is. On top of this, the US version was censored in some
areas which is equally undesirable. Sure the sprites walk in place and
there aren't any cool limit breaks or CGI cutscenes throughtout the
game, but Final Fantasy IV is definitely worth your time. Final Fantasy
IV's memorable characters, epic story, and production values
exemplified the capabilities of Square and although seemingly dated,
Final Fantasy IV is an excellent game that Final Fantasy and RPG fans
alike should play.
-Philosoma-
