This is where Final Fantasy truly came completely into its own. The twist, the turns, the characters, the ups and downs of the story, the atb battle system, the beautiful music, Final Fantasy IV built off the strides of the NES trilogy and made the first truly great game that helped make this series a juggernaut in the industry.
This is the first time the characters had real depth to them which made you care more about them and the story as you want them to succeed. The story has many twist and turns and over arching theme of redemption. It’s honestly very average overall but mind blowingly deep for the year it came out.
This is the first time the music was FF level masterpiece level. The art obviously going from NES to SNES was a huge upgrade over the original trilogy. The character sprites are some of my favorite in the entire series.
The ATB battler system was revolutionary for the JRPG genre. It was adopted by most RPGs and stayed in Final Fantasy for well over a decade.
I played this game as a kid after playing FFVI and VII so it felt like I was going backwards and as a result I didn’t have great memories of it. However as an adult I actually not only enjoyed it a lot more but was able to see its importance in the genre and the small details that truely make this entry shine. This is a must play for any JRPG fan.
This is the first time the characters had real depth to them which made you care more about them and the story as you want them to succeed. The story has many twist and turns and over arching theme of redemption. It’s honestly very average overall but mind blowingly deep for the year it came out.
This is the first time the music was FF level masterpiece level. The art obviously going from NES to SNES was a huge upgrade over the original trilogy. The character sprites are some of my favorite in the entire series.
The ATB battler system was revolutionary for the JRPG genre. It was adopted by most RPGs and stayed in Final Fantasy for well over a decade.
I played this game as a kid after playing FFVI and VII so it felt like I was going backwards and as a result I didn’t have great memories of it. However as an adult I actually not only enjoyed it a lot more but was able to see its importance in the genre and the small details that truely make this entry shine. This is a must play for any JRPG fan.
Although the generational leap in technology between Final Fantasy III and IV isn’t as apparent in the Pixel Remasters, it should be noted that this game matured the franchise in other ways.
The story is much more character-focused, opening on a pretty shocking sequence that I didn’t see coming considering what the last three games were like. The pacing was also a significant improvement over the NES titles, despite still requiring some grinding in the tail-end.
The plot has some holdover tropes from the last few games- the most irritating of which being the constant party shuffling. Allegiances switch on a dime, characters seemingly die but are quickly brought back, and so on. It’s simplistic, but it’s breezy fun with some actually memorable personalities and set-piece moments. That’s a big leap as far as I’m concerned.
The world-map was quite sprawling with lots to discover, upping the ante from Final Fantasy III’s already robust size. If it’s not actually bigger, they did an amazing job making it feel huge. The game’s final area, which I won’t spoil (I know the game is old) was Conman certified Kino™. At least aesthetically/conceptually if not entirely in its design.
One way it evolved the franchise that I’m not huge on is the ATB system. This isn’t the first ATB Final Fantasy I’ve played, but every game with this system I’ve liked despite it. I legitimately think it adds nothing over regular turn-based combat. It doesn’t hinder it too much, I just think it’s superfluous and I’m glad they eventually stopped doing it.
I think the west should have gotten every Final Fantasy game, but gun to my head, between FF II, III, and IV, I’m going IV. We’ll see about V soon!
The story is much more character-focused, opening on a pretty shocking sequence that I didn’t see coming considering what the last three games were like. The pacing was also a significant improvement over the NES titles, despite still requiring some grinding in the tail-end.
The plot has some holdover tropes from the last few games- the most irritating of which being the constant party shuffling. Allegiances switch on a dime, characters seemingly die but are quickly brought back, and so on. It’s simplistic, but it’s breezy fun with some actually memorable personalities and set-piece moments. That’s a big leap as far as I’m concerned.
The world-map was quite sprawling with lots to discover, upping the ante from Final Fantasy III’s already robust size. If it’s not actually bigger, they did an amazing job making it feel huge. The game’s final area, which I won’t spoil (I know the game is old) was Conman certified Kino™. At least aesthetically/conceptually if not entirely in its design.
One way it evolved the franchise that I’m not huge on is the ATB system. This isn’t the first ATB Final Fantasy I’ve played, but every game with this system I’ve liked despite it. I legitimately think it adds nothing over regular turn-based combat. It doesn’t hinder it too much, I just think it’s superfluous and I’m glad they eventually stopped doing it.
I think the west should have gotten every Final Fantasy game, but gun to my head, between FF II, III, and IV, I’m going IV. We’ll see about V soon!
Final Fantasy IV is a game that has been revisited and re-released a bajillion times over the years; I'm pretty sure it's the one that's gotten this treatment the most out of any Final Fantasy? Maybe VII's got it beat in terms of being an actual franchise, perhaps because uhhh TAY didn't. quite. do it for a lot of people. Maybe I'll visit that someday.
And yeah, sure, compared to future games it doesn't go quite as hard as it could. The melodrama is high, everyone's getting brainwashed all the dang time, your party is a revolving door of fakeout deaths... it's kinda silly. Like there's a particular instance in the storyline involving Edge's parents that's supposed to be fucked up and shocking but GOD the musical sting and the dialogue are so fucking funny.
But at the same time, I feel like I kind of get it, you know? It's charming as all hell. Much like FFIII before it, there's a cheeky playfulness to a lot of it that I feel has been present in pretty much all the Final Fantasies I've played. (Yes, even II, there were at least two goofy bits amidst all the grim insanity.) With perhaps one exception, every town has at least one NPC you can talk to in order to watch a goofy little dance sequence where the programmers did their damnedest to get the limited animation to do all it could. This isn't just limited to optional content, either; despite the High Drama of the main storyline, there's a bunch of out of battle story cutscenes where Palom and Porom squabble, Cid drags Edge around to make him help with the airship building, Edge pretends he's not crushing on Rydia... those kinds of things. It's really cute! Like, the way the story is conveyed through the gameplay is probably the star of the show, like the way Tellah's stats work or Cecil's battle against himself to become a paladin and so on, but I think they do a lot with a little in that regard.
I think they tried to do a lot with a little in terms of the Big Themes, as well. It maybe aims a little higher than it manages to convey, in that I feel like the Big Theme of the game as a whole is atonement and redemption. It does feel like the big themes of Cecil's arc comprise the bulk of the beginning of the game and kind of... finish with him becoming a paladin, but I gotta say, I do like that shit. I think it's pretty good, even if it feels like it goes a little fast. The way his relationship with Rydia, the child who he inadvertently orphaned, develops is pretty strong, and his return to Mysidia is good as hell. I love the way Cecil's interactions with the townspeople go in that segment! You get poisoned, you get turned into a frog, and you kind of deserve it, honestly. And Cecil is entirely aware he deserves it.
Of course, you can see it in other characters, as well, from Edward's guilt over his uselessness to Kain getting brainwashed all the time to the dang antagonist. I do feel like Brainwashing All the Way Down is a bit of a cop-out, but at the same time, it does feel like it's aiming at a metaphor. I think it ultimately ends up juggling too much to do any one thing justice as it hurdles to the end, but I kind of appreciate the ambition? I know the DS remake expands on the characterization more, so I look forward to that eventually.
The gameplay itself is kind of an interesting departure from the previous games in terms of giving you set parties with set roles rather than giving you the freedom to experiment. It's less "figure out which tools to use" and more "figure out how to win with the tools you're given." I still feel like there's a range of stuff to experiment with, though. When I played the game as a kid I got stuck at a very specific point (FUCK BAIGAN ALL MY HOMIES HATE BAIGAN) because I didn't really understand how to use the tools I was given, but now I have a better idea of how to deal with, uh, a party with one tank, one punch man, and three squishy mages, one of whom has a pretty bad MP stat because he's old. I didn't actually find myself that frustrated with Tellah on this go around because I discovered the wonders of Osmose, which was a helpful way to compensate for his shitty MP without using Ethers! Just steal it from enemies for free!
It's a little bit of a shame that the game pretty much tells you how to beat its puzzle fights right off the bat instead of giving you some time to experiment, though. There's some spicy fights before the endgame (rubicante... your hot leg distracted me into failure...) but the endgame yanks your training floaties off and tosses you right into the deep end. I was kind of tempted to ragequit on the final boss before I figured out the pro strats to beat him just because it was such a wild shift from what had been going on before and I'd already beaten Zeromus in a different game in a fight that was actually FUN even though I spent most of the fight dead on the floor because my internet died. I'm glad I pushed through, though, the ending was a lot cuter in motion than it was in screencaps.
Anyway, uh. Final thoughts. I wish they actually managed to capture the insane Beard Elemental energy of FuSoYa's Amano art because he actually looks like a weird alien and that's sick. I did like that his eyes flash red and green when he's casting, though, and his KO sprite is cute. Also I love that there's just a part where a robot bigger than a fucking castle starts stomping around and blowing shit up and it's extremely apocalyptic? I'm truly disappointed that's the one thing FFXIV didn't reference in its FFIV expac. Maybe they're saving it for later so they don't blow their whole FFIV Reference load in Endwalker...
Oh yeah and I think we should've been able to let Yang's wife join the party. She would have soloed Zeromus with her frying pan. She is the most powerful person in the game.
And yeah, sure, compared to future games it doesn't go quite as hard as it could. The melodrama is high, everyone's getting brainwashed all the dang time, your party is a revolving door of fakeout deaths... it's kinda silly. Like there's a particular instance in the storyline involving Edge's parents that's supposed to be fucked up and shocking but GOD the musical sting and the dialogue are so fucking funny.
But at the same time, I feel like I kind of get it, you know? It's charming as all hell. Much like FFIII before it, there's a cheeky playfulness to a lot of it that I feel has been present in pretty much all the Final Fantasies I've played. (Yes, even II, there were at least two goofy bits amidst all the grim insanity.) With perhaps one exception, every town has at least one NPC you can talk to in order to watch a goofy little dance sequence where the programmers did their damnedest to get the limited animation to do all it could. This isn't just limited to optional content, either; despite the High Drama of the main storyline, there's a bunch of out of battle story cutscenes where Palom and Porom squabble, Cid drags Edge around to make him help with the airship building, Edge pretends he's not crushing on Rydia... those kinds of things. It's really cute! Like, the way the story is conveyed through the gameplay is probably the star of the show, like the way Tellah's stats work or Cecil's battle against himself to become a paladin and so on, but I think they do a lot with a little in that regard.
I think they tried to do a lot with a little in terms of the Big Themes, as well. It maybe aims a little higher than it manages to convey, in that I feel like the Big Theme of the game as a whole is atonement and redemption. It does feel like the big themes of Cecil's arc comprise the bulk of the beginning of the game and kind of... finish with him becoming a paladin, but I gotta say, I do like that shit. I think it's pretty good, even if it feels like it goes a little fast. The way his relationship with Rydia, the child who he inadvertently orphaned, develops is pretty strong, and his return to Mysidia is good as hell. I love the way Cecil's interactions with the townspeople go in that segment! You get poisoned, you get turned into a frog, and you kind of deserve it, honestly. And Cecil is entirely aware he deserves it.
Of course, you can see it in other characters, as well, from Edward's guilt over his uselessness to Kain getting brainwashed all the time to the dang antagonist. I do feel like Brainwashing All the Way Down is a bit of a cop-out, but at the same time, it does feel like it's aiming at a metaphor. I think it ultimately ends up juggling too much to do any one thing justice as it hurdles to the end, but I kind of appreciate the ambition? I know the DS remake expands on the characterization more, so I look forward to that eventually.
The gameplay itself is kind of an interesting departure from the previous games in terms of giving you set parties with set roles rather than giving you the freedom to experiment. It's less "figure out which tools to use" and more "figure out how to win with the tools you're given." I still feel like there's a range of stuff to experiment with, though. When I played the game as a kid I got stuck at a very specific point (FUCK BAIGAN ALL MY HOMIES HATE BAIGAN) because I didn't really understand how to use the tools I was given, but now I have a better idea of how to deal with, uh, a party with one tank, one punch man, and three squishy mages, one of whom has a pretty bad MP stat because he's old. I didn't actually find myself that frustrated with Tellah on this go around because I discovered the wonders of Osmose, which was a helpful way to compensate for his shitty MP without using Ethers! Just steal it from enemies for free!
It's a little bit of a shame that the game pretty much tells you how to beat its puzzle fights right off the bat instead of giving you some time to experiment, though. There's some spicy fights before the endgame (rubicante... your hot leg distracted me into failure...) but the endgame yanks your training floaties off and tosses you right into the deep end. I was kind of tempted to ragequit on the final boss before I figured out the pro strats to beat him just because it was such a wild shift from what had been going on before and I'd already beaten Zeromus in a different game in a fight that was actually FUN even though I spent most of the fight dead on the floor because my internet died. I'm glad I pushed through, though, the ending was a lot cuter in motion than it was in screencaps.
Anyway, uh. Final thoughts. I wish they actually managed to capture the insane Beard Elemental energy of FuSoYa's Amano art because he actually looks like a weird alien and that's sick. I did like that his eyes flash red and green when he's casting, though, and his KO sprite is cute. Also I love that there's just a part where a robot bigger than a fucking castle starts stomping around and blowing shit up and it's extremely apocalyptic? I'm truly disappointed that's the one thing FFXIV didn't reference in its FFIV expac. Maybe they're saving it for later so they don't blow their whole FFIV Reference load in Endwalker...
Oh yeah and I think we should've been able to let Yang's wife join the party. She would have soloed Zeromus with her frying pan. She is the most powerful person in the game.
Beaten: Jan 22 2022
Time: 12 Hours
Platform: Mac
Final Fantasy IV is just so cool. It takes everything cool from 2 and 3 and pushes it all further, mixing it with new ideas like ATB and tying character development to job classes and just really stretching its legs on the new hardware generation. Not that I played the original version mind you, this was the Pixel Remaster. Well, first I started the GBA version (and actually got very close to the end), but ended up taking a break from that and decided to restart with the remaster (mostly for that sweet sweet OST). Aside from the OST change, the remaster is definitely a bit easier, but it’s also much less janky feeling and actually bugged than the GBA version. Both versions definitely have their merits. Now as far as the core game itself goes, I’m not sure I could find anything wrong with it if I tried. It doesn’t have the cinematic grandeur of later FFs, but it doesn’t feel like it’s really missing? Instead, like I said above, this feels like an expanded take on what the Sakaguchi had accomplished with the NES FF games. Specifically it feels like an attempt to take what 3 did, with it’s (multi) world-spanning adventure, character classes with distinct abilities, exploration-focused back half, and just really cool lore, but bring back the grounded and focused storytelling from 2. What resulted is hard to describe as anything other than a masterpiece.
Final Fantasy IV’s characters are all deeply characterized, mature people, dealing with their situations in pretty relatable ways. They want to serve their countries, love their families, and live the lives they’ve set out in front of themselves. Cecil is a Dark Knight sure, and he seems to be proud of his position in his nation’s military, but he also chose that role for its vertical potential. It’s a career to him, a way to earn a living. He’s got a life, a loving girlfriend, and even all of that doesn’t prevent him from getting caught up in the myriad deceptions that make up the game’s plot.
All of the characters are like this. They’re normal people (in this world, at least), fighting for the ones they love. Sure they want to save the world, but they’re saving it for the people they know, the people they knew. The whole front half of the game is about pulling these people out of their lives and into this grand design. You watch an army take what it wants by military might alone and you’re powerless in its wake.
But you’re not locked into this powerlessness. Eventually the grounded, dour first half gives way to exploring the edges of the map, flying around in your airship to your heart’s content, trying to stay at least a little bit ahead of the big bad. It’s still not happy, but it’s hopeful, and it’s where the game really opens up. Even as it’s doing this though, it never loses sight of the story, and never leaves you floundering when it doesn’t want you to. It’s a game with a strong sense of the player’s state of mind, and it always knows how to get you to feel the way it wants you to.
Now, the newest thing here is probably ATB, which if you’re not aware, is kinda Final Fantasy’s defining battle system. It’s the series’ longest running mechanic for sure, at least. (6 games!!). Basically, rather than a normal turn based system, everybody’s turn is on a timer. That timer can be manipulated, whether by speeding it up, slowing it down, stopping it, whatever you want to do (provided you have the MP) to get yourself going faster than your enemies. You can also just wait, let the time pass, to get past an enemy’s prickly phase (like a boss who readies a counter move). It’s a cool idea, but not one I’ve ever fallen in love with. I’m much more of a fan of the system in games like Lost Odyssey and FFX, which get the variety of turn order from ATB but make it less about getting your menu selection up to speed. Still though, the games with ATB in them are balanced around it, and this one is no exception.
The last thing I wanna say about FFIV is that wow, this is the 3rd or 4th Final Fantasy game I’ve played that just kind of is Star Wars. Now, maybe less of this one is Star Wars than 2 or 12, but it outpaces 6 on that front. What’s interesting here though is that rather than a straight homage to SW, it feels more like a remix? For example, there’s at least three characters I could call versions of Darth Vader, and I Love Them All. It feels like Sakaguchi melting Star Wars around themes of his own creation, and I think what came out has a pretty unique flavor to it.
FFIV feels like the first one where Sakaguchi got something out that fully encapsulated his hopes for the series. This is the backbone all the others are built upon, even as much as it’s built upon it’s own forebears. What’s here is nothing short of solid gold, and I’m glad I gave it such a good shot. Also, I’d say it’s super reasonable to finish this game in under 20 hours even if you’re taking your time much more than I tend to, which is NUTS for an SNES JRPG. PLAYITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Time: 12 Hours
Platform: Mac
Final Fantasy IV is just so cool. It takes everything cool from 2 and 3 and pushes it all further, mixing it with new ideas like ATB and tying character development to job classes and just really stretching its legs on the new hardware generation. Not that I played the original version mind you, this was the Pixel Remaster. Well, first I started the GBA version (and actually got very close to the end), but ended up taking a break from that and decided to restart with the remaster (mostly for that sweet sweet OST). Aside from the OST change, the remaster is definitely a bit easier, but it’s also much less janky feeling and actually bugged than the GBA version. Both versions definitely have their merits. Now as far as the core game itself goes, I’m not sure I could find anything wrong with it if I tried. It doesn’t have the cinematic grandeur of later FFs, but it doesn’t feel like it’s really missing? Instead, like I said above, this feels like an expanded take on what the Sakaguchi had accomplished with the NES FF games. Specifically it feels like an attempt to take what 3 did, with it’s (multi) world-spanning adventure, character classes with distinct abilities, exploration-focused back half, and just really cool lore, but bring back the grounded and focused storytelling from 2. What resulted is hard to describe as anything other than a masterpiece.
Final Fantasy IV’s characters are all deeply characterized, mature people, dealing with their situations in pretty relatable ways. They want to serve their countries, love their families, and live the lives they’ve set out in front of themselves. Cecil is a Dark Knight sure, and he seems to be proud of his position in his nation’s military, but he also chose that role for its vertical potential. It’s a career to him, a way to earn a living. He’s got a life, a loving girlfriend, and even all of that doesn’t prevent him from getting caught up in the myriad deceptions that make up the game’s plot.
All of the characters are like this. They’re normal people (in this world, at least), fighting for the ones they love. Sure they want to save the world, but they’re saving it for the people they know, the people they knew. The whole front half of the game is about pulling these people out of their lives and into this grand design. You watch an army take what it wants by military might alone and you’re powerless in its wake.
But you’re not locked into this powerlessness. Eventually the grounded, dour first half gives way to exploring the edges of the map, flying around in your airship to your heart’s content, trying to stay at least a little bit ahead of the big bad. It’s still not happy, but it’s hopeful, and it’s where the game really opens up. Even as it’s doing this though, it never loses sight of the story, and never leaves you floundering when it doesn’t want you to. It’s a game with a strong sense of the player’s state of mind, and it always knows how to get you to feel the way it wants you to.
Now, the newest thing here is probably ATB, which if you’re not aware, is kinda Final Fantasy’s defining battle system. It’s the series’ longest running mechanic for sure, at least. (6 games!!). Basically, rather than a normal turn based system, everybody’s turn is on a timer. That timer can be manipulated, whether by speeding it up, slowing it down, stopping it, whatever you want to do (provided you have the MP) to get yourself going faster than your enemies. You can also just wait, let the time pass, to get past an enemy’s prickly phase (like a boss who readies a counter move). It’s a cool idea, but not one I’ve ever fallen in love with. I’m much more of a fan of the system in games like Lost Odyssey and FFX, which get the variety of turn order from ATB but make it less about getting your menu selection up to speed. Still though, the games with ATB in them are balanced around it, and this one is no exception.
The last thing I wanna say about FFIV is that wow, this is the 3rd or 4th Final Fantasy game I’ve played that just kind of is Star Wars. Now, maybe less of this one is Star Wars than 2 or 12, but it outpaces 6 on that front. What’s interesting here though is that rather than a straight homage to SW, it feels more like a remix? For example, there’s at least three characters I could call versions of Darth Vader, and I Love Them All. It feels like Sakaguchi melting Star Wars around themes of his own creation, and I think what came out has a pretty unique flavor to it.
FFIV feels like the first one where Sakaguchi got something out that fully encapsulated his hopes for the series. This is the backbone all the others are built upon, even as much as it’s built upon it’s own forebears. What’s here is nothing short of solid gold, and I’m glad I gave it such a good shot. Also, I’d say it’s super reasonable to finish this game in under 20 hours even if you’re taking your time much more than I tend to, which is NUTS for an SNES JRPG. PLAYITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
The first SNES FF has a bit of a muted transition in some departments in the pixel remaster form thanks to squeenix sprucing up the prior entries a bit visually/a consistent level of treatment for the OST reworks. (Not a complaint of course even if I'm missing out on the excitment original players would have had) In other regards, though, the coat of polish given to the earlier entries still can't hide how signficant a step up this was- namely the battle system and story or story presentation, more to the point.
4 brings the arrival of one of the franchise's biggest contributions in the atb system. The most immediate impact of this, to me in this specific context coming off ffs 1 - 3, was the reworking of agility and turn order into something far more grokkable/pleasant to plan around. Now, when you tell a party member to do something, you can expect it to happen immediately (or relatively, in the cast of casting) vs having to wonder whether x move will land before or after a teammates ability or attack. Similarly, heal timing can be relied upon more easily- with the added risk management of casts being delayed so item based healing has more appeal in a pinch. You can also delay allied turns a second to respond to crucial enemy actions as quickly as possible or setup combinations of actions with teammates. And on top of all that, it just adds a feeling of speed and energy to the fights outside all the tactical possibilities.
That's not to say it was all a pleasant changeup though. The need to respond quickly can be gamed weirdly by just going in menus. (Although this can be disabled apparently? Not sure what the intended experience is here) That said, the player might want to keep it on intended or not as the UI is not set up to accommodate rapid information processing and decision making well at all. Your commands appear in the bottom left corner of the screen but the party member whose turn it is/turn order itself/health are all displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, so you have to glance all the way over sometimes to even know who youre giving a command to. Furthermore, enemy actions show up at the very top of the screen so if you ARE trying to base your actions or time them around what theyre doing, you need to look at third completely separate point. The game actually maximizes the amount of screen you need to take in at once for.... relatively few things you really need to even look at, which is just bizarre. It's a small quibble to be sure, but just felt it worth noting.
The progressions in combat don't stop at the atb introduction fortunately. Moreso than any prior FF, this game devises new and different strategic considerations from boss to boss and enemy to enemy. (At least, for a good chunk of them) Leveraging curative magic to fight undead is given increased prominence early on when, as a dark knight, Cecil can barely hurt them. Enemies can counterattack now, both generically and even selectively towards magic attacks or debuffs or physical attacks etc. and some of these counters are absolutely brutal- clearly not something the player is just supposed to tank/heal through- enabling the enemy design to demand more precise solutions than just setting your party on auto attack. A group boss battle sees one boss reviving the others if players prioritize incorrectly, another boss goes invulnerable thanks to a wind shield to all but your dragoon who must open up the shield for your party to attack, yet another repels or worse absorbs all attacks while his cape is open asking the player instead to actively utilize the ability of the atb system to let party members pick their moments, dangerous electrical enemies can be "reprogrammed" (ie Confused) with lightning damage to turn the tables, the list goes on and on. You can uncharitably call these fights and their solutions gimmicks, but its a definite progression from the series to date to see so many new ideas tried out across the encounters and it keeps the combat more fresh well into its endgame than prior entries have.
Which is needed coming off III, since the complete lack of any progression system whatsoever has made the naturally growing player investment in seeing their various builds come to life as the game goes on completely absent here. Stepping back from FFIII's true first try at a job system, FFIV sees each playable character in the story locked to a job as dictated by their position in the story. There's little new here too, as most/all? of these identities are built on jobs you could have chosen in III. A couple characters get pivotal job changes at specific story beats but otherwise everyone keeps those jobs all the way through.
While disappointing from a character customization and planning standpoint, it does feed into one of the other massive jumps forward FFIV makes for the franchise- building its character work and narrative moments on top of game mechanics themselves rather than just isolating them to cutscenes. There was the odd forced losing battle in FFII (and maybe the others? can't recall) but now a whole host of scenarios play out in the battle screen itself. The protagonists dramatic job change from dark knight to paladin doesn't happen in a menu or automatically- happens in a battle against himself where the player must very literally stop attacking and start defending to win, mirroring the change in philosophy such a job transition would actually accompany. When heroic sacrifices are made later, characters attempt to actively employ the game mechanic solutions to the problem- phoenix downs and a status remover- in logical fashion tying the two together more tightly. A powerful life ending spell for its user is available earlier in the game but cannot be cast with the characters mana pool, making the strain of the moment they do use it and take their life understandable not just at a narrative level but at a mechanical one.
This.... ludonarrative expressiveness? is the true triumph of the game's story to me. Yeah, the story gets more weight and detail than prior entries and yes the heroic sacrifices are better figured out here than FFII, since FFIV doesn't have a progression system that actively punishes getting characters later in the game and its departures aren't as telegraphed as II's "cursed" position 4. (Just about anyone short of Cecil is fair game for leaving the party) But honestly that stuff doesn't strike me as anywhere near as impactful. (And it's worth noting its heroic sacrifices will work against themselves with how much the game is willing to undo them too- not the last time this franchise will make this mistake!) Spoilers for the next review, but I even prefer the writing, pacing and actual story of 5- a game never really lifted up for it- more than 4 baseline. I'm just giving props where they're due here for recognizing the potential of the medium itself in telling these moments.
It was a tight fight overall in the end for me, between this and III, but the progression this does make for the franchise is just so substantial that even finding it a bigger step back in some ways than any entry to date has stepped back is not enough to keep it from taking the top spot. (Well, again, tell the next entry at least....)
4 brings the arrival of one of the franchise's biggest contributions in the atb system. The most immediate impact of this, to me in this specific context coming off ffs 1 - 3, was the reworking of agility and turn order into something far more grokkable/pleasant to plan around. Now, when you tell a party member to do something, you can expect it to happen immediately (or relatively, in the cast of casting) vs having to wonder whether x move will land before or after a teammates ability or attack. Similarly, heal timing can be relied upon more easily- with the added risk management of casts being delayed so item based healing has more appeal in a pinch. You can also delay allied turns a second to respond to crucial enemy actions as quickly as possible or setup combinations of actions with teammates. And on top of all that, it just adds a feeling of speed and energy to the fights outside all the tactical possibilities.
That's not to say it was all a pleasant changeup though. The need to respond quickly can be gamed weirdly by just going in menus. (Although this can be disabled apparently? Not sure what the intended experience is here) That said, the player might want to keep it on intended or not as the UI is not set up to accommodate rapid information processing and decision making well at all. Your commands appear in the bottom left corner of the screen but the party member whose turn it is/turn order itself/health are all displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, so you have to glance all the way over sometimes to even know who youre giving a command to. Furthermore, enemy actions show up at the very top of the screen so if you ARE trying to base your actions or time them around what theyre doing, you need to look at third completely separate point. The game actually maximizes the amount of screen you need to take in at once for.... relatively few things you really need to even look at, which is just bizarre. It's a small quibble to be sure, but just felt it worth noting.
The progressions in combat don't stop at the atb introduction fortunately. Moreso than any prior FF, this game devises new and different strategic considerations from boss to boss and enemy to enemy. (At least, for a good chunk of them) Leveraging curative magic to fight undead is given increased prominence early on when, as a dark knight, Cecil can barely hurt them. Enemies can counterattack now, both generically and even selectively towards magic attacks or debuffs or physical attacks etc. and some of these counters are absolutely brutal- clearly not something the player is just supposed to tank/heal through- enabling the enemy design to demand more precise solutions than just setting your party on auto attack. A group boss battle sees one boss reviving the others if players prioritize incorrectly, another boss goes invulnerable thanks to a wind shield to all but your dragoon who must open up the shield for your party to attack, yet another repels or worse absorbs all attacks while his cape is open asking the player instead to actively utilize the ability of the atb system to let party members pick their moments, dangerous electrical enemies can be "reprogrammed" (ie Confused) with lightning damage to turn the tables, the list goes on and on. You can uncharitably call these fights and their solutions gimmicks, but its a definite progression from the series to date to see so many new ideas tried out across the encounters and it keeps the combat more fresh well into its endgame than prior entries have.
Which is needed coming off III, since the complete lack of any progression system whatsoever has made the naturally growing player investment in seeing their various builds come to life as the game goes on completely absent here. Stepping back from FFIII's true first try at a job system, FFIV sees each playable character in the story locked to a job as dictated by their position in the story. There's little new here too, as most/all? of these identities are built on jobs you could have chosen in III. A couple characters get pivotal job changes at specific story beats but otherwise everyone keeps those jobs all the way through.
While disappointing from a character customization and planning standpoint, it does feed into one of the other massive jumps forward FFIV makes for the franchise- building its character work and narrative moments on top of game mechanics themselves rather than just isolating them to cutscenes. There was the odd forced losing battle in FFII (and maybe the others? can't recall) but now a whole host of scenarios play out in the battle screen itself. The protagonists dramatic job change from dark knight to paladin doesn't happen in a menu or automatically- happens in a battle against himself where the player must very literally stop attacking and start defending to win, mirroring the change in philosophy such a job transition would actually accompany. When heroic sacrifices are made later, characters attempt to actively employ the game mechanic solutions to the problem- phoenix downs and a status remover- in logical fashion tying the two together more tightly. A powerful life ending spell for its user is available earlier in the game but cannot be cast with the characters mana pool, making the strain of the moment they do use it and take their life understandable not just at a narrative level but at a mechanical one.
This.... ludonarrative expressiveness? is the true triumph of the game's story to me. Yeah, the story gets more weight and detail than prior entries and yes the heroic sacrifices are better figured out here than FFII, since FFIV doesn't have a progression system that actively punishes getting characters later in the game and its departures aren't as telegraphed as II's "cursed" position 4. (Just about anyone short of Cecil is fair game for leaving the party) But honestly that stuff doesn't strike me as anywhere near as impactful. (And it's worth noting its heroic sacrifices will work against themselves with how much the game is willing to undo them too- not the last time this franchise will make this mistake!) Spoilers for the next review, but I even prefer the writing, pacing and actual story of 5- a game never really lifted up for it- more than 4 baseline. I'm just giving props where they're due here for recognizing the potential of the medium itself in telling these moments.
It was a tight fight overall in the end for me, between this and III, but the progression this does make for the franchise is just so substantial that even finding it a bigger step back in some ways than any entry to date has stepped back is not enough to keep it from taking the top spot. (Well, again, tell the next entry at least....)
Final Fantasy IV is neat because the story pacing is absolutely frenetic. Characters die/revive/betray/un-betray you every 15 minutes or so.
The boost of the Pixel Remaster (at least the Switch version) makes the game really easy and snappy. There is almost zero challenge in the game's systems, it's more just trying on turn-based JRPG clothes.
This is a very breezy way to experience the world of Final Fantasy IV and looks good on Switch's handheld screen.
The remixed music is cool... but the original was also great and didn't really need touching up.
I still don't really understand the philosophy of these pixel remasters? I believe there was some talk of making them look better on a modern screen but these sprites are big and chunky... they look like sprites designed for a CRT but on an LED... why not design higher-resolution sprites? I don't hate it I just genuinely do not understand why they have done it. Seems like emulating the original and adding some bells and whistles could have been just about as good? Anyway, this is the modern way to play FFIV and it's a pretty good one!
The boost of the Pixel Remaster (at least the Switch version) makes the game really easy and snappy. There is almost zero challenge in the game's systems, it's more just trying on turn-based JRPG clothes.
This is a very breezy way to experience the world of Final Fantasy IV and looks good on Switch's handheld screen.
The remixed music is cool... but the original was also great and didn't really need touching up.
I still don't really understand the philosophy of these pixel remasters? I believe there was some talk of making them look better on a modern screen but these sprites are big and chunky... they look like sprites designed for a CRT but on an LED... why not design higher-resolution sprites? I don't hate it I just genuinely do not understand why they have done it. Seems like emulating the original and adding some bells and whistles could have been just about as good? Anyway, this is the modern way to play FFIV and it's a pretty good one!
kinda goes hard
introduces ATB, suddenly some fights are strategy game affairs, im holding my controller to my chin like im in an ad for a bargain bin dreamcast game or in a textbook as the image next to the subheading 'video game addiction'.
the plot's more developed than the 3 previous entries, they've defaulted to straight-forward, you're a guy, you kill enemies, you level up (thank god). it's simple, its fast, its fun, it kicks ass
introduces ATB, suddenly some fights are strategy game affairs, im holding my controller to my chin like im in an ad for a bargain bin dreamcast game or in a textbook as the image next to the subheading 'video game addiction'.
the plot's more developed than the 3 previous entries, they've defaulted to straight-forward, you're a guy, you kill enemies, you level up (thank god). it's simple, its fast, its fun, it kicks ass
the lunar whale should've flown them into the sun
The increased story focus is appreciated, although it's not as developed as a more modern RPG's would be. Gameplay wise the characters have more going on than their FF3 job system equivalents, although the frequency with which the game both gives and takes away party members can be a little annoying.
The best part of the game is when the characters do the spinny jumpy twists
Yup, still kino. (played it with classic font + ost mods)
This game is so cool. it takes everything good from II and III while mixing it with new ideas like the ATB system. It's a bit easy but doesn't really matter and it's not janky at all. I can't really find anything negative with it.
The story is great and the main characters feel like people, not like III. This game makes the ATB system first appearance, it was weird for my brain but once i got used with it, all went smooth and fine. Great game, all around.
The story is great and the main characters feel like people, not like III. This game makes the ATB system first appearance, it was weird for my brain but once i got used with it, all went smooth and fine. Great game, all around.
I love having my party being dissolved every 5 seconds!
There’s nothing I love more than playing an entry in a series where it feels like they finally found their footing. Much like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past felt like the instant standard for that series, Final Fantasy IV feels like the entry where the formula got fully realized. Granted, I skipped FFII and FFIII so I’m not fully aware which additions are brand new to FFIV and which are from the previous two installments but what I know for sure is that by this game, they have figured it out.
There’s a dramatic story with twists, betrayals, love triangles, self-sacrifices, and identity in FFIV that feels akin to what I expect from a Final Fantasy story nowadays. Alongside a ragtag group of unique characters with different roles in the party, I was just gripped from beginning to end. The cast of characters is pretty iconic too.
The gameplay also feels refined, with each party member being designed around their role in the party. The characters are pretty much on a set path in terms of the abilities they unlock which makes things simpler and tighter from a gameplay standpoint. Also, I’d like to say hello to the ATB system, which would be a series staple for a long time. It’s to good to see that they got it right the first time. The introduction to the ATB system is the biggest thing that made me instantly say “okay this is Final Fantasy!” It’s what makes these game have a more unique gameplay loop compared to traditional turn-based RPGs.
Overall, I am very pleased and impressed with FFIV and how gracefully it aged. The systems are so streamlined and tight that I would honestly call it the best entry-point to 2D Final Fantasy.
There’s a dramatic story with twists, betrayals, love triangles, self-sacrifices, and identity in FFIV that feels akin to what I expect from a Final Fantasy story nowadays. Alongside a ragtag group of unique characters with different roles in the party, I was just gripped from beginning to end. The cast of characters is pretty iconic too.
The gameplay also feels refined, with each party member being designed around their role in the party. The characters are pretty much on a set path in terms of the abilities they unlock which makes things simpler and tighter from a gameplay standpoint. Also, I’d like to say hello to the ATB system, which would be a series staple for a long time. It’s to good to see that they got it right the first time. The introduction to the ATB system is the biggest thing that made me instantly say “okay this is Final Fantasy!” It’s what makes these game have a more unique gameplay loop compared to traditional turn-based RPGs.
Overall, I am very pleased and impressed with FFIV and how gracefully it aged. The systems are so streamlined and tight that I would honestly call it the best entry-point to 2D Final Fantasy.
This one's pretty good! The remaster helps in making it more accessible too. Next to FF1 remaster, I would recommend this one just as much as your starter Final Fantasy. With every party member being predetermined in their abilities, and the world being fairly linear in its design, you don't have to worry about much of anything else other than leveling them up, equipping them with the right gear, and making use of boss weaknesses. It's simple, easy to get into, and satisfying to explore.
That being said, this story is... something. I feel like ever since Final Fantasy II (the nes one), RPG storytelling thought that killing off several characters 60 minutes after introducing them constituted as emotional impactful storytelling. But FF4 takes it to an almost parody-like level. Characters just drop like flies in this one, constantly. Every time a new death scene happened, I was more and more baffled. That's on top of the entire story just being one unlucky event for the protagonists after another. It's very dramatic, but it's so relentless about it, you just can't take it seriously after a certain point.
That being said, this story is... something. I feel like ever since Final Fantasy II (the nes one), RPG storytelling thought that killing off several characters 60 minutes after introducing them constituted as emotional impactful storytelling. But FF4 takes it to an almost parody-like level. Characters just drop like flies in this one, constantly. Every time a new death scene happened, I was more and more baffled. That's on top of the entire story just being one unlucky event for the protagonists after another. It's very dramatic, but it's so relentless about it, you just can't take it seriously after a certain point.
Moon Fantasy IV is a sizable step up from Final Fantasy III in regards to narrative and character ambition. Giving each playable character you come across a name, class, and history in part of a larger story outside of simply collecting the crystals to save the world is what the series needed to keep itself fresh in the early 1990's. While the story pails in comparison to what the series would later have in FFVI/VII and beyond, I was shocked at the amount of effort put into making this piece of antiquity a memorable experience. Cecil as a protagonist was actually pretty alright, having a simple hero's journey from dark to light and a responsibility to protect those around him that he held so dear. Kaine's evolution as his sidekick was well done, Rosa as Cecil's effectively betrothed was a good inclusion for overall character depth, Rydia having a background of her own with the summoners is a great way to give a character out of the initial limelight some depth, and Edward despite not being playable for much of the latter half acted as a great voice of valor and motive. For a game that came out when it did, this was a much better plot experience than I initially thought after knocking out the Pixel Remaster of FFIII however many years ago. The overall story isn't too in depth, there is a big bad that has a sinister motive that uses other big bads to do his bidding, but it was enough to keep me going from one destination to the other. Outside of the improvement to the story, the music (as per usual with FF) was top notch and the pixel remastering of the sprites and world was again well done.
Where the experience waned for me occurred in a few places. One major issue being that the frequent party switches interrupted a lot of ryhthm and preferential party makeups throughout the game. There were times where I felt like I didn't have enough melee options, then not enough magic options, and had to constantly equip and re-equip party members that would be leaving and coming back. While I liked this story more than FFIII, I felt like the ability to level in III towards the end game made more sense and was overall easier. I got my jobs in III all to the level I needed and pretty much waltzed through to the final boss. In FFIV I spent a decent bit grinding just to be at an acceptable level for the game's final dungeon, which was adequate but made me sweat a little more than I'd like. Outside of those slightly minute detractions, the world was pretty bland across the main map, underworld, and moon. I know this is partially evidence of the system and time, but man it's hard to run around these towns and areas and have any sense of belonging or want to spend any extra time in this fantasy world. FFVI came out just three years later and greatly improved upon making these areas mildly enjoyable. The world in FFIV was devoid of flavour and greatly bland. In relation to that, making it from point a to point b in dungeons and on the overworld was a grand chore because of the annoyingly high random encounter rate.
Overall I'd recommend Final Fantasy IV as a necessary stepping stone for fans of the Final Fantasy series. It's a good time generally speaking and has some memorable moments, sounds, and characters held within.
Where the experience waned for me occurred in a few places. One major issue being that the frequent party switches interrupted a lot of ryhthm and preferential party makeups throughout the game. There were times where I felt like I didn't have enough melee options, then not enough magic options, and had to constantly equip and re-equip party members that would be leaving and coming back. While I liked this story more than FFIII, I felt like the ability to level in III towards the end game made more sense and was overall easier. I got my jobs in III all to the level I needed and pretty much waltzed through to the final boss. In FFIV I spent a decent bit grinding just to be at an acceptable level for the game's final dungeon, which was adequate but made me sweat a little more than I'd like. Outside of those slightly minute detractions, the world was pretty bland across the main map, underworld, and moon. I know this is partially evidence of the system and time, but man it's hard to run around these towns and areas and have any sense of belonging or want to spend any extra time in this fantasy world. FFVI came out just three years later and greatly improved upon making these areas mildly enjoyable. The world in FFIV was devoid of flavour and greatly bland. In relation to that, making it from point a to point b in dungeons and on the overworld was a grand chore because of the annoyingly high random encounter rate.
Overall I'd recommend Final Fantasy IV as a necessary stepping stone for fans of the Final Fantasy series. It's a good time generally speaking and has some memorable moments, sounds, and characters held within.
I'm not going to go on and on about why Final Fantasy IV is one of my favorite games of all time (2nd to be exact, see my note on my Top 100 Favorites Games List). This game means so much to me, and pixel remaster is a wonderful way for you to jump in. My recommendations for you, fix the font to classic (this should be done for all the titles) and set the soundtrack to original instead of arrangement (I'd recommend arrangement for 1-3 but please please experience this GOAT soundtrack in its original form). From there, just get lost in the story and the characters and the world and everything that comes with it. This game lived endlessly in my imagination when I was a kid. This showed me what video games can be.
Platinum trophy #132
Platinum #8 of 2023
Platinum trophy #132
Platinum #8 of 2023
Just like FF3 was a much better version of FF1 that seemed to not have learned much from FF2, FF4 is a much better version of FF2 that seems to not have learned much from FF3.
This is the first Final Fantasy to just have a decent story with no caveats. It’s not some masterpiece of storytelling, but it’s a pretty good story and it even has some really cool intersections of story and gameplay, especially the Mount Ordeals section. The Mount Ordeals section and Cecil’s character development in general is by far my favourite part about the storytelling.
My least favourite part about the storytelling are some of the female characters. There are exceptions (Rydia is pretty good and Yang is also pretty bad) but overall, the female characters don’t really get to talk or do much. Porom gets to be the voice of reason to the much more interesting Palom, Rosa gets to say “Cecil…” a billion times, Yang’s wife gets to be Yang’s wife, and I am not sure if there are any other female characters that appear more than once. Oh right, there’s Barbariccia but uhhhh yeah
There’s also a gameplay-related story issue. Up until now, Final Fantasy protagonists have been kids and teens, so it made sense that they were weak. Kain and Cecil, two of the highest-ranking soldiers in Baron’s army being as weak as they were at the start of the game was a bit weird.
Speaking of the gameplay, this game made some pretty radical changes to the combat. The ATB system was overall very fun but when you have all 5 party members (take notes modern games, you can have more than 4 party members) it can get a bit stressful.
There’s also not as much variety as in FF3 due to each party member being forced into a job and not having much/any build variety within those jobs. The fact that black magic is near-useless again doesn’t help and neither does so many party members leaving before you properly get used to them.
Just like the game itself, I saved the worst for last. The last dungeon is awful. It’s not quite as bad as Crystal Towers/World of Darkness, but it’s close. It’s a massive spike in difficulty. Before I started it, I blasted through Odin and Bahamut so quickly that I was worried the rest of the game might be a bit too easy. I wish it had been.
At some point I was considering if I should stop opening chests because Behemoth is a pretty rough fight and it was becoming a bit of a drain on my resources. When Behemoth started becoming a random encounter, I couldn’t believe it. And then eventually there is a double Behemoth random encounter. One big issue with this difficulty is that Rosa, as your only healer, just doesn’t get to do non-healing things anymore.
I ended up being slightly too weak for the final boss and probably could have beaten him with some grinding but at this point I was very tired of this game, out of ether, and also streaming the game for my partners and I didn’t want to bore them so we just ended up watching the ending on Youtube.
Despite the last dungeon souring the experience a lot for me (especially because as of writing this the last dungeon was only a few hours ago) and despite the other issues I mentioned, this game is super decent. An important step in the history of Final Fantasy and maybe even video games in general and absolutely worth your time if you want to check it out.
Oh and of course the music is amazing though I can’t hear the boss theme without thinking about this
This is the first Final Fantasy to just have a decent story with no caveats. It’s not some masterpiece of storytelling, but it’s a pretty good story and it even has some really cool intersections of story and gameplay, especially the Mount Ordeals section. The Mount Ordeals section and Cecil’s character development in general is by far my favourite part about the storytelling.
My least favourite part about the storytelling are some of the female characters. There are exceptions (Rydia is pretty good and Yang is also pretty bad) but overall, the female characters don’t really get to talk or do much. Porom gets to be the voice of reason to the much more interesting Palom, Rosa gets to say “Cecil…” a billion times, Yang’s wife gets to be Yang’s wife, and I am not sure if there are any other female characters that appear more than once. Oh right, there’s Barbariccia but uhhhh yeah
There’s also a gameplay-related story issue. Up until now, Final Fantasy protagonists have been kids and teens, so it made sense that they were weak. Kain and Cecil, two of the highest-ranking soldiers in Baron’s army being as weak as they were at the start of the game was a bit weird.
Speaking of the gameplay, this game made some pretty radical changes to the combat. The ATB system was overall very fun but when you have all 5 party members (take notes modern games, you can have more than 4 party members) it can get a bit stressful.
There’s also not as much variety as in FF3 due to each party member being forced into a job and not having much/any build variety within those jobs. The fact that black magic is near-useless again doesn’t help and neither does so many party members leaving before you properly get used to them.
Just like the game itself, I saved the worst for last. The last dungeon is awful. It’s not quite as bad as Crystal Towers/World of Darkness, but it’s close. It’s a massive spike in difficulty. Before I started it, I blasted through Odin and Bahamut so quickly that I was worried the rest of the game might be a bit too easy. I wish it had been.
At some point I was considering if I should stop opening chests because Behemoth is a pretty rough fight and it was becoming a bit of a drain on my resources. When Behemoth started becoming a random encounter, I couldn’t believe it. And then eventually there is a double Behemoth random encounter. One big issue with this difficulty is that Rosa, as your only healer, just doesn’t get to do non-healing things anymore.
I ended up being slightly too weak for the final boss and probably could have beaten him with some grinding but at this point I was very tired of this game, out of ether, and also streaming the game for my partners and I didn’t want to bore them so we just ended up watching the ending on Youtube.
Despite the last dungeon souring the experience a lot for me (especially because as of writing this the last dungeon was only a few hours ago) and despite the other issues I mentioned, this game is super decent. An important step in the history of Final Fantasy and maybe even video games in general and absolutely worth your time if you want to check it out.
Oh and of course the music is amazing though I can’t hear the boss theme without thinking about this
This is the first truly great final fantasy. It's got an amazing story featuring incredible characters one of the best battle systems in JRPG history and an incredible map splattered with fun environments. One of the greatest games ever made.
This review contains spoilers
The first of the SNES trilogy and proves to be a strong first entry in the collection. I believe I completed it (all bestiary, summon magic, etc.) with a total of 20 hours, but I thoroughly enjoyed this journey despite my few issues with it.
The beginning of the story seems to promise a dark story, as I loved the dark tone that Final Fantasy II offered, since Cecil’s former crew slay a bunch of innocent people to retrieve a crystal for the King of Baron. However, unknown to Cecil, Kain, and the rest of Baron, this isn’t actually the real king. Still, the recent actions lead Cecil to question given orders, which is super neat, and eventually makes the space between him and Baron farther away. He then becomes a Paladin, officially beginning a new chapter for the heroic character. What starts off as a really strong and interesting story, gets underwhelming in the middle with lots of fake out deaths, almost worthless temporary party members and loses its footing, but has a great ending. I do really love the “main”/“permanent” cast, though and want to say it’s one of my new favorites.
I loved Final Fantasy III’s combat/job system and moving to IV’s differences, with no swappable classes, also which introduces the ATB system and grants new magic from leveling up instead of buying them from town’s shops. However, the gameplay felt fine and still offered variety for the game’s journey. Some dungeons were annoying to traverse to (mostly the ones you had to cast Float for every floor), but weren’t the worst in the franchise. Lastly, I will say that there were some challenging, but fair encounters, which felt rewarding when defeating them and moving forward.
The upgrades that stood out the most to me were the towns and the OST. While they were neat for what they were in the previous 3 entries, the new places you visit feel a lot more unique with their individual presentations. The OST though… Uematsu never fails and these Pixel Remaster arrangements are really neat, ranging from “Theme of Love,” “Rydia’s Theme,” and “Within the Giant.”
Overall, Final Fantasy IV offers an important role in the beginning of a new era for FF by contributing to helping establish the franchise’s identity. Accomplishing creating memorable characters that feel realistic in the game’s world and story, FFIV is a great entry in the franchise that deserves its place as the impressive SNES JRPG great that it is.
The beginning of the story seems to promise a dark story, as I loved the dark tone that Final Fantasy II offered, since Cecil’s former crew slay a bunch of innocent people to retrieve a crystal for the King of Baron. However, unknown to Cecil, Kain, and the rest of Baron, this isn’t actually the real king. Still, the recent actions lead Cecil to question given orders, which is super neat, and eventually makes the space between him and Baron farther away. He then becomes a Paladin, officially beginning a new chapter for the heroic character. What starts off as a really strong and interesting story, gets underwhelming in the middle with lots of fake out deaths, almost worthless temporary party members and loses its footing, but has a great ending. I do really love the “main”/“permanent” cast, though and want to say it’s one of my new favorites.
I loved Final Fantasy III’s combat/job system and moving to IV’s differences, with no swappable classes, also which introduces the ATB system and grants new magic from leveling up instead of buying them from town’s shops. However, the gameplay felt fine and still offered variety for the game’s journey. Some dungeons were annoying to traverse to (mostly the ones you had to cast Float for every floor), but weren’t the worst in the franchise. Lastly, I will say that there were some challenging, but fair encounters, which felt rewarding when defeating them and moving forward.
The upgrades that stood out the most to me were the towns and the OST. While they were neat for what they were in the previous 3 entries, the new places you visit feel a lot more unique with their individual presentations. The OST though… Uematsu never fails and these Pixel Remaster arrangements are really neat, ranging from “Theme of Love,” “Rydia’s Theme,” and “Within the Giant.”
Overall, Final Fantasy IV offers an important role in the beginning of a new era for FF by contributing to helping establish the franchise’s identity. Accomplishing creating memorable characters that feel realistic in the game’s world and story, FFIV is a great entry in the franchise that deserves its place as the impressive SNES JRPG great that it is.
Excellent game. It's interesting to see the series evolve from "gameplay first with a little bit of story as a treat" to "we treat gameplay and story with equal levels of seriousness." Obviously what you get here isn't on the same level or of the same depth as some of the narratives you get in later Final Fantasy titles but compared to what comes before it? It's practically War and Peace.
Also I love the ATB system. Thank you so much for gifting us that.
Also I love the ATB system. Thank you so much for gifting us that.
femdom rosa doujin is responsible for making me who i am today
My first ever Final Fantasy that I’ve played start to finish, and what a solid start!
I really enjoyed this game. The cast of characters grew on me a lot over the course of the game, and by the end I was a big fan of (almost) all of them. The music was gorgeous, and the combat + runtime didn’t overstay it’s welcome.
I did feel like the game was a bit rushed—to my knowledge this was the first FF game where they tried to focus on more of a fleshed out plot, but that didn’t stop it from feeling a bit all over the place.
All in all though, I’m glad I decided to start my FF journey with FF4 PR, and I’m eager to jump into FF5 next!
I really enjoyed this game. The cast of characters grew on me a lot over the course of the game, and by the end I was a big fan of (almost) all of them. The music was gorgeous, and the combat + runtime didn’t overstay it’s welcome.
I did feel like the game was a bit rushed—to my knowledge this was the first FF game where they tried to focus on more of a fleshed out plot, but that didn’t stop it from feeling a bit all over the place.
All in all though, I’m glad I decided to start my FF journey with FF4 PR, and I’m eager to jump into FF5 next!
a tale about the catastrophic repercussions of the italian space program; blowing their budget on a cool gundam robot instead of a rocket ship, forcing them to wage war on hell to recoup their losses. somehow, they were successful
avoid this game like the plague it is not fun at all 5 and 3 are astronomically better
The first Final Fantasy where I got attached the characters, I imagine this is the one that kind of kickstarted where the rest of the series would go. Active Time Battle a great addition to the combat, which I loved, some amazing boss fights in this game. Good dungeon design, and the optional sidequest to defeat the God of Summons and claim the power of Bahamut... whew. Anyways, I feel like I GET Final Fantasy now, so I am excited to keep going through the rest of the series.
This game is just so special to me. I will always take a Final Fantasy that has a slew of fun characters with specific roles on the team than all that job system stuff, and this one really sets the standard for that. The plot is silly and cheesy, but it's a fable, it's what I expect. These Pixel Remasters are really great, polishing the classic games up while retaining the magic that made me love them.
Thank god they learned their lesson to never use 5 party members again 🙏
For some reason IV was the only classic Final Fantasy I hadn't finish once in my lifetime yet despite numerous attempt at doing so over the last few decades.
I'm both impressed and underwhelmed by it.
The former because the narrative is as Final Fantasy as it gets, with a lot of unique setpieces that are impressive for a SNES RPG. Especially how every single character's personality shines through their body language. A lot of cutscenes contains absolutely no line of dialog whatsoever, yet you FEEL what's going on so clearly just by seeing these sprites eccentrically spin around, emote and jump.
The later because the game is so short and the pacing is so fast that the most pivotal moments in the story doesn't really hit you like it should. You really have to fill in the blank in your mind and assume these characters have been traveling together for weeks and got to know each other between every location you visit, otherwise it doesn't really make sense why they develop such a sense of camaraderie in the span of 30 minutes.
Despite the game being really short, including the extra optional content, I find it pretty insane that the final boss isn't really doable before reaching lvl 70. I was barely level 50 when I reached the final dungeon, and if it wasn't for the Pixel Remaster 4x exp boost option I would have been stuck mindlessly grinding for hours before I could see the end of it.
Out of all the Final Fantasy games, I think IV is the one that deserve a proper remake the most. It's a shame all the attention goes to VII when the original was already an amazing experience through and through. IV really needs more padding so you have time to build up a meaningful relationship with these characters and feel the weight of every sacrifice made along the way.
Also, I think that games that takes inspiration from Divine Comedy are awesome and we need more of them.
I'm both impressed and underwhelmed by it.
The former because the narrative is as Final Fantasy as it gets, with a lot of unique setpieces that are impressive for a SNES RPG. Especially how every single character's personality shines through their body language. A lot of cutscenes contains absolutely no line of dialog whatsoever, yet you FEEL what's going on so clearly just by seeing these sprites eccentrically spin around, emote and jump.
The later because the game is so short and the pacing is so fast that the most pivotal moments in the story doesn't really hit you like it should. You really have to fill in the blank in your mind and assume these characters have been traveling together for weeks and got to know each other between every location you visit, otherwise it doesn't really make sense why they develop such a sense of camaraderie in the span of 30 minutes.
Despite the game being really short, including the extra optional content, I find it pretty insane that the final boss isn't really doable before reaching lvl 70. I was barely level 50 when I reached the final dungeon, and if it wasn't for the Pixel Remaster 4x exp boost option I would have been stuck mindlessly grinding for hours before I could see the end of it.
Out of all the Final Fantasy games, I think IV is the one that deserve a proper remake the most. It's a shame all the attention goes to VII when the original was already an amazing experience through and through. IV really needs more padding so you have time to build up a meaningful relationship with these characters and feel the weight of every sacrifice made along the way.
Also, I think that games that takes inspiration from Divine Comedy are awesome and we need more of them.
This review contains spoilers
Final Fantasy IV is the first entry into the SNES console for the franchise and it makes a fantastic impression. You’ve got war, love, friendship, dedication, repentance, and everything that you’d expect of a Final Fantasy title based on what you’ve experienced with the last 3 titles. From inspiring acts of heroism, to crazy strong adversaries, Final Fantasy IV gives you everything.
The narrative in this story starts with an interesting premise. Your king turns out to be evil and you decide to stand up against him. While on this path you make several allies, some who join you for a time, and some who aid you when you need them. By the end of the game you have 5 party members that all fill a specific role. Overall the game gives you about 6 characters that end up leaving your party and 5 characters that are permanent by the end of the game. The characterization of each party member is better for some and not so great with others. Cecil is the repentant Dark Knight who early in the game becomes a Paladin. Rosa is the White Mage who is in love with Cecil and (when she’s not separated from the party) stays by his side to the very end. Kain is a very vapid character. He’s supposed to be Cecil’s best friend but ends up spending the majority of the game working for the enemy due to mind control (more on that later). Rydia starts off as a whiny child who eventually grows into a more confident and powerful Summoner (and grows up due to time dilation shenanigans). Edge is a Ninja introduced late in the game and is the leader of a fallen kingdom known as Eblan. His character is head over heels for Rydia and tends to (physically) bounce around. Each of these characters have interesting and unique designs. I just wish we had more time with them to define their personalities. We get Rosa early in the game only to lose her, then we find her much later in the game. Once we do, she’s an invaluable asset. Until then you are stuck having to deal with several interchangeable characters that have their own agendas.
Tellah is obsessed with finding his daughter and upon discovering that she’s been killed by Golbez he then swear vengeance against him and marches off and leaves the party. When you get separated from several party members via an attack on the ship by Leviathan, you lose Rydia, Rosa, and Edward. Edward is the prince of Damcyan and lover of Tellah’s daughter. He joins you to help you defeat Golbez only to leave the party after Leviathan’s attack. You wash up on the shores of Mysidia a town you had sieged at the beginning of the game and (somehow) convince them to help you because you’re really really sorry that you killed their people and stole their precious crystal of light. You meet Porom and Polom, they help you for a bit and then they die. You reconnect with Cid, he helps you for a while, and he dies. You meet Yang, he helps you for a time and then dies. Except, none of these characters (except for Tellah who ends up dying when he casts Meteor to defeat Golbez) actually die. For one contrivance or another these characters all survive. Cid literally jumps out of the airship and falls to his death so he can explode the whole leading from the underworld (more on that later) to the overworld. But somehow he survives and is able to help you a few times more afterwards. I don’t have problems with characters going away and coming back but when you kill of a character they need to stay dead. And while we’re on the topic of character death. Not every character needs to go out in a grand act of heroism. None of these characters are “killed” by the villains. I’m willing to forgive Porom and Polom sacrificing themselves and being brought back because they turned themselves into stone and their master came and restored them later. A bit obvious of a plot point but not as indefensible as “killing” off 5 characters and bringing them all back. Even Tellah makes an appearance from the grave by the end of the game.
Now let’s talk about Golbez and Kain. For the majority of the game Golbez is the villain. He rules over the four elemental lords and is on a mission to gather all 8 crystals (4 of light and 4 of darkness). Golbez mind controls Kain three times before you find out that Golbez himself is being mind controlled by the actual villain of the game. Having a “real villain” once the main villain has been stopped isn’t new to this series. That was the done in FFIII. There’s not an issue with that inherently but at least the main villain of FFIII was his own person up until his death. Golbez being mind controlled by Zemus (the real main villain who is of an alien race called the Lunarians) feels like a cheap way to undercut the fact that Golbez has committed several atrocities throughout this narrative. The redeeming factor of this is the fact that they allow for Golbez to be remorseful without expecting the world to forgive him despite it not being his fault. They’re able to avoid undercutting the weight of his actions while still addressing them. His choice to exile himself and stay with the Lunarians is fitting for the character. I still would have preferred Golbez just being a villain in league with Zemus. There was plenty of narrative reason for this. Golbez being Zemus’ son being one of the main reasons.
This game introduces some new and innovative gameplay design. Namely the Active Time Battle (ATB) system. Previously in Final Fantasy you would select all of your team’s actions, the enemy would have preselected actions, and then based on the character’s stats a turn order would play out in which each character would do their selected actions. ATB changes this by giving each character a timer. When the timer fills up that character gets to conduct an action. Most actions are taken as soon as they are selected. I did notice, however, that some actions (namely high level spells and summons) take longer to conduct. A spell like Firaga has the character standing there for an undeclared amount of time casting the spell. The only other action that seems to have a delay is Kain’s Jump action but that makes sense. I don’t think strong spells taking longer to cast is a bad thing. I just wish we were told how long it takes for the character to cast said spell or summon. I’m personally not a fan of ATB but I don’t think it’s a bad system.
Something new they introduce in this game is the black chocobo. These birds can fly over water. You ride it to where you want to go and it stays put when you get off of it. When you get back on it the bird will automatically take you back to the chocobo forest that you found it. It’s a neat feature that is sadly underutilized. It only demands use one time in the game. We get a hovercraft for the first time here too. It’s interesting in its implementation as you need it to access a few dungeons. We also get three different airships. Each one is effectively meant for the three different maps you get to explore. You get an airship that eventually gets a hook designed to pick up the hovercraft to carry it to a late game dungeon. You get an airship that allows you to travel between the underworld and the overworld (as well as fly above lava. This one gets used probably the most. Then lastly we get the Lunar Whale. It’s an aircraft designed to carry our heroes between the planet and the moon. You also use it to travel around the moon. The Lunar Whale is also equipped with a healing station which we also saw in FFIII. Changing between ships is a bit cumbersome but it’s not that bad since there’s a central point in which you change between the ships.
The job system in this game is back to being static only this time you have no choice in what roles your characters fill. Cecil is a Dark Knight and has a good early game multihit move that costs HP to use. Then fairly early on in the game you undergo a trial and Cecil is transformed into a Paladin. He loses the multihit attack and gains some basic white magic along with the ability to protect party members from damage. While it is nice having the ability to create your own party composition and customize characters to the style you want to fill. Having characters with fixed attributes allows the game to present you with unique challenges that require you to play to your character’s strengths and weaknesses. This is well implemented as each area and boss is designed with this in mind. Also every character you meet is a different class with little overlap. This system also helps define the characters better as it gives them more uniqueness. Another nice touch is that we get to experience characters learning spells by leveling up for the first time. Up until now you’ve had to purchase and teach spells to your magic wielding characters. It’s nice not having to budget gil to make sure your mages are properly equipped along with having to buy equipment for them as well but on the other hand this game gives you a large abundance of gil so it really wouldn’t have made a difference. As far as leveling goes I should mention that I don’t spend a lot of time grinding (except for in FFII because of obvious reasons). I did however feel compelled to level grind at two points in the game. I read in patch notes that they lowered the exp given by enemies overall and I don’t think that served the game well. One of two moments in the game that I found myself level grinding are right after Cecil becomes a Paladin and his level is reset to 1, and in the endgame where my party was about 5-10 levels short of being able to handle the dungeon without having to explore to get treasure, warp out to heal, and then rush to the end to save resources for the boss. I spent a collective 2 hours on level grinding which I don’t believe is inherently bad. I do believe that the developers choosing to reduce exp gain which potentially caused this need to grind levels to be problematic.
Dungeons have seen a massive improvement in this title. I think this game does dungeons the best out of the series so far. The dungeons include lots of twists and turns and secret passages that lead to treasure and sometimes nothing at all. Doors almost always have a purpose even if it’s a single treasure chest but pathing is never guaranteed to see a reward. Another interesting mechanic I came upon is casting the spell “Float” on your team to make them avoid taking damage from lava that’s on the ground. This status effect also makes your characters immune to ground spells like “Quake.” Dungeons have interesting boss fights, each with unique mechanics. Some bosses retaliate to being hit by a spell while some are effectively immune to damage unless their sprite is in a specific position. This is a nice way of changing up the battle monotony and making full use of the ATB system. This also requires you to strategize instead of setting up your party’s strongest moves and then auto-battling through. I found some of the bosses in this game to have the most challenging battle mechanics I have faced thus far.
The last thing I want to touch on here is the music. This soundtrack has some gems but overall feels the least inspired of the series. I know the first two games are very repetitive and this game isn’t like that but I find some of the tracks to be interesting but entirely too short. The battle theme has a good, catchy tune but it loops way too soon and leaves me wanting for more. My favorite tracks in this one are “Battle with the Four Fiends,” “Welcome to our Town,” and “Mystic Mysidia.” Some tracks that are worth noting include “Dancing Calcabrena,” “The Lunarians,” and “Battle 2” (which I prefer over “Battle 1”). The tracks that are good are great but the rest just didn’t quite land for me. I don’t think any of the tracks were bad by any means but it just didn’t land for me this time.
Square so far has set (in my mind) a high standard of quality for this series. Final Fantasy IV, while not perfect, meets those expectations. The innovation of a brand new and innovative battle system demands praise. The presentation of the game is well executed. Even though this won’t go down as my favorite Final Fantasy, it has left a lasting impression.
The narrative in this story starts with an interesting premise. Your king turns out to be evil and you decide to stand up against him. While on this path you make several allies, some who join you for a time, and some who aid you when you need them. By the end of the game you have 5 party members that all fill a specific role. Overall the game gives you about 6 characters that end up leaving your party and 5 characters that are permanent by the end of the game. The characterization of each party member is better for some and not so great with others. Cecil is the repentant Dark Knight who early in the game becomes a Paladin. Rosa is the White Mage who is in love with Cecil and (when she’s not separated from the party) stays by his side to the very end. Kain is a very vapid character. He’s supposed to be Cecil’s best friend but ends up spending the majority of the game working for the enemy due to mind control (more on that later). Rydia starts off as a whiny child who eventually grows into a more confident and powerful Summoner (and grows up due to time dilation shenanigans). Edge is a Ninja introduced late in the game and is the leader of a fallen kingdom known as Eblan. His character is head over heels for Rydia and tends to (physically) bounce around. Each of these characters have interesting and unique designs. I just wish we had more time with them to define their personalities. We get Rosa early in the game only to lose her, then we find her much later in the game. Once we do, she’s an invaluable asset. Until then you are stuck having to deal with several interchangeable characters that have their own agendas.
Tellah is obsessed with finding his daughter and upon discovering that she’s been killed by Golbez he then swear vengeance against him and marches off and leaves the party. When you get separated from several party members via an attack on the ship by Leviathan, you lose Rydia, Rosa, and Edward. Edward is the prince of Damcyan and lover of Tellah’s daughter. He joins you to help you defeat Golbez only to leave the party after Leviathan’s attack. You wash up on the shores of Mysidia a town you had sieged at the beginning of the game and (somehow) convince them to help you because you’re really really sorry that you killed their people and stole their precious crystal of light. You meet Porom and Polom, they help you for a bit and then they die. You reconnect with Cid, he helps you for a while, and he dies. You meet Yang, he helps you for a time and then dies. Except, none of these characters (except for Tellah who ends up dying when he casts Meteor to defeat Golbez) actually die. For one contrivance or another these characters all survive. Cid literally jumps out of the airship and falls to his death so he can explode the whole leading from the underworld (more on that later) to the overworld. But somehow he survives and is able to help you a few times more afterwards. I don’t have problems with characters going away and coming back but when you kill of a character they need to stay dead. And while we’re on the topic of character death. Not every character needs to go out in a grand act of heroism. None of these characters are “killed” by the villains. I’m willing to forgive Porom and Polom sacrificing themselves and being brought back because they turned themselves into stone and their master came and restored them later. A bit obvious of a plot point but not as indefensible as “killing” off 5 characters and bringing them all back. Even Tellah makes an appearance from the grave by the end of the game.
Now let’s talk about Golbez and Kain. For the majority of the game Golbez is the villain. He rules over the four elemental lords and is on a mission to gather all 8 crystals (4 of light and 4 of darkness). Golbez mind controls Kain three times before you find out that Golbez himself is being mind controlled by the actual villain of the game. Having a “real villain” once the main villain has been stopped isn’t new to this series. That was the done in FFIII. There’s not an issue with that inherently but at least the main villain of FFIII was his own person up until his death. Golbez being mind controlled by Zemus (the real main villain who is of an alien race called the Lunarians) feels like a cheap way to undercut the fact that Golbez has committed several atrocities throughout this narrative. The redeeming factor of this is the fact that they allow for Golbez to be remorseful without expecting the world to forgive him despite it not being his fault. They’re able to avoid undercutting the weight of his actions while still addressing them. His choice to exile himself and stay with the Lunarians is fitting for the character. I still would have preferred Golbez just being a villain in league with Zemus. There was plenty of narrative reason for this. Golbez being Zemus’ son being one of the main reasons.
This game introduces some new and innovative gameplay design. Namely the Active Time Battle (ATB) system. Previously in Final Fantasy you would select all of your team’s actions, the enemy would have preselected actions, and then based on the character’s stats a turn order would play out in which each character would do their selected actions. ATB changes this by giving each character a timer. When the timer fills up that character gets to conduct an action. Most actions are taken as soon as they are selected. I did notice, however, that some actions (namely high level spells and summons) take longer to conduct. A spell like Firaga has the character standing there for an undeclared amount of time casting the spell. The only other action that seems to have a delay is Kain’s Jump action but that makes sense. I don’t think strong spells taking longer to cast is a bad thing. I just wish we were told how long it takes for the character to cast said spell or summon. I’m personally not a fan of ATB but I don’t think it’s a bad system.
Something new they introduce in this game is the black chocobo. These birds can fly over water. You ride it to where you want to go and it stays put when you get off of it. When you get back on it the bird will automatically take you back to the chocobo forest that you found it. It’s a neat feature that is sadly underutilized. It only demands use one time in the game. We get a hovercraft for the first time here too. It’s interesting in its implementation as you need it to access a few dungeons. We also get three different airships. Each one is effectively meant for the three different maps you get to explore. You get an airship that eventually gets a hook designed to pick up the hovercraft to carry it to a late game dungeon. You get an airship that allows you to travel between the underworld and the overworld (as well as fly above lava. This one gets used probably the most. Then lastly we get the Lunar Whale. It’s an aircraft designed to carry our heroes between the planet and the moon. You also use it to travel around the moon. The Lunar Whale is also equipped with a healing station which we also saw in FFIII. Changing between ships is a bit cumbersome but it’s not that bad since there’s a central point in which you change between the ships.
The job system in this game is back to being static only this time you have no choice in what roles your characters fill. Cecil is a Dark Knight and has a good early game multihit move that costs HP to use. Then fairly early on in the game you undergo a trial and Cecil is transformed into a Paladin. He loses the multihit attack and gains some basic white magic along with the ability to protect party members from damage. While it is nice having the ability to create your own party composition and customize characters to the style you want to fill. Having characters with fixed attributes allows the game to present you with unique challenges that require you to play to your character’s strengths and weaknesses. This is well implemented as each area and boss is designed with this in mind. Also every character you meet is a different class with little overlap. This system also helps define the characters better as it gives them more uniqueness. Another nice touch is that we get to experience characters learning spells by leveling up for the first time. Up until now you’ve had to purchase and teach spells to your magic wielding characters. It’s nice not having to budget gil to make sure your mages are properly equipped along with having to buy equipment for them as well but on the other hand this game gives you a large abundance of gil so it really wouldn’t have made a difference. As far as leveling goes I should mention that I don’t spend a lot of time grinding (except for in FFII because of obvious reasons). I did however feel compelled to level grind at two points in the game. I read in patch notes that they lowered the exp given by enemies overall and I don’t think that served the game well. One of two moments in the game that I found myself level grinding are right after Cecil becomes a Paladin and his level is reset to 1, and in the endgame where my party was about 5-10 levels short of being able to handle the dungeon without having to explore to get treasure, warp out to heal, and then rush to the end to save resources for the boss. I spent a collective 2 hours on level grinding which I don’t believe is inherently bad. I do believe that the developers choosing to reduce exp gain which potentially caused this need to grind levels to be problematic.
Dungeons have seen a massive improvement in this title. I think this game does dungeons the best out of the series so far. The dungeons include lots of twists and turns and secret passages that lead to treasure and sometimes nothing at all. Doors almost always have a purpose even if it’s a single treasure chest but pathing is never guaranteed to see a reward. Another interesting mechanic I came upon is casting the spell “Float” on your team to make them avoid taking damage from lava that’s on the ground. This status effect also makes your characters immune to ground spells like “Quake.” Dungeons have interesting boss fights, each with unique mechanics. Some bosses retaliate to being hit by a spell while some are effectively immune to damage unless their sprite is in a specific position. This is a nice way of changing up the battle monotony and making full use of the ATB system. This also requires you to strategize instead of setting up your party’s strongest moves and then auto-battling through. I found some of the bosses in this game to have the most challenging battle mechanics I have faced thus far.
The last thing I want to touch on here is the music. This soundtrack has some gems but overall feels the least inspired of the series. I know the first two games are very repetitive and this game isn’t like that but I find some of the tracks to be interesting but entirely too short. The battle theme has a good, catchy tune but it loops way too soon and leaves me wanting for more. My favorite tracks in this one are “Battle with the Four Fiends,” “Welcome to our Town,” and “Mystic Mysidia.” Some tracks that are worth noting include “Dancing Calcabrena,” “The Lunarians,” and “Battle 2” (which I prefer over “Battle 1”). The tracks that are good are great but the rest just didn’t quite land for me. I don’t think any of the tracks were bad by any means but it just didn’t land for me this time.
Square so far has set (in my mind) a high standard of quality for this series. Final Fantasy IV, while not perfect, meets those expectations. The innovation of a brand new and innovative battle system demands praise. The presentation of the game is well executed. Even though this won’t go down as my favorite Final Fantasy, it has left a lasting impression.