when they die i decide to dance
AT THE VERGE OF TEARS me dejó este Final Fantasy entry. Este ha sido el primero en la serie donde siento que se manifiesta el esfuerzo cumulativo de las previas obras. Es un sólido best of all worlds y se ve en todos los aspectos. Siempre que le doy un game que tiene un rating muy alto me cuesta mucho escribir a cerca de ello. Siento tanta euforia y tanto buen ride, que se me desbordan las palabras de las manos, pero bueno, ojo:
Para un juego que me tomó 24 horas terminar, la cantidad de dialogo y personajes super memorables que hay es impresionante. Finalmente (despues de darle el I, el II y el III), a los personajes se les atribuye un carísma grandisimo y es donde en mi opinion Final Fantasy adquiere ese larger than life aspect que todos amamos con fervor. Gone are the days donde la historia se siente como un laberinto chueco de dialogo trillado. Uno se acuerda de los nombres de los personajes (cosa que me cuesta mucho en pelis y juegos por igual) y creo que lo que más me gusta es que uno empieza como el mae malo hahah.
Es aqui donde entra Cecil, el personaje principal. No quiero hacerles mucho spoiler, pero por primera vez vemos lo que vendria siendo y siempre será uno de nuestros queridos storytelling devices - el famoso character arc. Sé que suena raro (aunque en realidad no sé si ya era algo más comun en esos años (1991)), pero poder vivir la historia de un persona que actually si cambia y crece al pasar de los eventos del juego fue todo un treat. Cecil empieza como un simple peón a las ordenes de un rey sanguinario que lo obliga a llevar a cabo sus bloody deeds y a través de muchísimas tragedias, muertes de personajes y literal trials and tribulations, termina working his way up to being un (sort of) warrior of light (como en los otros juegos!). El juego toca muchos temas que pueden ser pesados como el amor de una pareja y la perdida inminente del mismo, el sacrificio y la redención. Todo el writing se siente más maduro y mas nutritivo. Se siente el upgrade y el colmillo de los escritores evolucionando su habilidad de poder comunicar muchas cosas con poco dialogo.
Esta vez el juego rompe con las convenciones de sus antecesores y lo deja usar cinco (5!!!) personajes en su party en vez de los clásicos cuatro personajes. Siento que este move alienta mucho a los inner child power fantasies que uno tiene dormido en el subconciente porque es algo que se siente bastante gratificante - Y bueno, a pesar de que uno en teoría tiene muchísimo más (wo)manpower, este de fijo es de los entries más dificiles que le he dado. Quien diría que ya no hay que poner las peleas en auto-battle para volarse a 98% de los bosses del juego. Aqui no todas las estrategias son válidas - pero parte del buen ride es usar las especialides de los personajes cambiantes del party para lograr ganar las peleas (un shoutout a mi foursome favorito de evil italian mages en el game: Barbariccia, Cagnazzo (lol), Rubicante y Scarmiglione).
El juego da vueltas muy locas e interesantes. Uno empieza en el clásico planeta generico con mares, desiertos montañas etc, pero eventualmente uno cae a lugares poco convencionales como el infierno o la luna. Siento que lograron un balance muy tuanis de jalar bichos de juegos viejos (hola malboro <3) y mostrarnos bichos originales (aunque si me pesa en los huevos que hubo una cantidad bien grande de bichos que me de dieron muchas ganas de arrancarme el pelo though.
En fin, un GRAN paso hacia adelante para toda la franquicia de Final Fantasy. Un juego que proudly bears la medalla de undeservingly underachieving but underrated underdog que se da muy duro con los grandes players de la serie. Un gran shoutout al overworld theme (y el overall OST) de este game que no le huye a usar mucho modal interchange y odd time signatures para darnos varios epic bops para matizar el juego en su máximo esplendor.
En fin 5 pale blue dots out of 5 🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Para un juego que me tomó 24 horas terminar, la cantidad de dialogo y personajes super memorables que hay es impresionante. Finalmente (despues de darle el I, el II y el III), a los personajes se les atribuye un carísma grandisimo y es donde en mi opinion Final Fantasy adquiere ese larger than life aspect que todos amamos con fervor. Gone are the days donde la historia se siente como un laberinto chueco de dialogo trillado. Uno se acuerda de los nombres de los personajes (cosa que me cuesta mucho en pelis y juegos por igual) y creo que lo que más me gusta es que uno empieza como el mae malo hahah.
Es aqui donde entra Cecil, el personaje principal. No quiero hacerles mucho spoiler, pero por primera vez vemos lo que vendria siendo y siempre será uno de nuestros queridos storytelling devices - el famoso character arc. Sé que suena raro (aunque en realidad no sé si ya era algo más comun en esos años (1991)), pero poder vivir la historia de un persona que actually si cambia y crece al pasar de los eventos del juego fue todo un treat. Cecil empieza como un simple peón a las ordenes de un rey sanguinario que lo obliga a llevar a cabo sus bloody deeds y a través de muchísimas tragedias, muertes de personajes y literal trials and tribulations, termina working his way up to being un (sort of) warrior of light (como en los otros juegos!). El juego toca muchos temas que pueden ser pesados como el amor de una pareja y la perdida inminente del mismo, el sacrificio y la redención. Todo el writing se siente más maduro y mas nutritivo. Se siente el upgrade y el colmillo de los escritores evolucionando su habilidad de poder comunicar muchas cosas con poco dialogo.
Esta vez el juego rompe con las convenciones de sus antecesores y lo deja usar cinco (5!!!) personajes en su party en vez de los clásicos cuatro personajes. Siento que este move alienta mucho a los inner child power fantasies que uno tiene dormido en el subconciente porque es algo que se siente bastante gratificante - Y bueno, a pesar de que uno en teoría tiene muchísimo más (wo)manpower, este de fijo es de los entries más dificiles que le he dado. Quien diría que ya no hay que poner las peleas en auto-battle para volarse a 98% de los bosses del juego. Aqui no todas las estrategias son válidas - pero parte del buen ride es usar las especialides de los personajes cambiantes del party para lograr ganar las peleas (un shoutout a mi foursome favorito de evil italian mages en el game: Barbariccia, Cagnazzo (lol), Rubicante y Scarmiglione).
El juego da vueltas muy locas e interesantes. Uno empieza en el clásico planeta generico con mares, desiertos montañas etc, pero eventualmente uno cae a lugares poco convencionales como el infierno o la luna. Siento que lograron un balance muy tuanis de jalar bichos de juegos viejos (hola malboro <3) y mostrarnos bichos originales (aunque si me pesa en los huevos que hubo una cantidad bien grande de bichos que me de dieron muchas ganas de arrancarme el pelo though.
En fin, un GRAN paso hacia adelante para toda la franquicia de Final Fantasy. Un juego que proudly bears la medalla de undeservingly underachieving but underrated underdog que se da muy duro con los grandes players de la serie. Un gran shoutout al overworld theme (y el overall OST) de este game que no le huye a usar mucho modal interchange y odd time signatures para darnos varios epic bops para matizar el juego en su máximo esplendor.
En fin 5 pale blue dots out of 5 🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
I love having my party being dissolved every 5 seconds!
Literalmente lo jugue porque mi amiga me mostro la animacion de introduccion del juego y es la puta polla.
Pero igual que los anteriores, sin las putas guias de mierda te pierdes cual conejo en laberinto de queso.
Pero igual que los anteriores, sin las putas guias de mierda te pierdes cual conejo en laberinto de queso.
Playing through this game again through the Pixel Remaster was an absolute treat. This was the Final Fantasy that I started with and hearing the redone music while re-experiencing the whole thing was a joy.
Story and character-wise, FFIV is a big step up. The cast is incredibly charming, and everyone gets their time in the spotlight. Unfortunately, a lot of the personality disappears past the halfway point, and most of the cast starts feeling like cardboard cutouts, and the sliver of character development that's there feels superficial and unfulfilling. On top of that, most of the heavy-hitting story moments get completely undone for no reason at all.
It's still a blast to play through, but the second half was such a letdown that it somewhat soured the experience for me.
It's still a blast to play through, but the second half was such a letdown that it somewhat soured the experience for me.
it's kinda like star wars, except vader is your brother, and the emperor is a space ghost on the moon
Dude the story is so bad...like seriously...so many fakeouts and Cecil goes from cool dark knight to beautiful boring paladin...
I played this around 2021 after losing most of my life to XIV and wanting to brush up on some of the references I missed. Cecil and Kain are iconic, and few main protagonists get development as stark and solid as Cecil does.
You know I ride or die for Squall, and I turn up for Zack, but Cecil is a close third.
You know I ride or die for Squall, and I turn up for Zack, but Cecil is a close third.
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.
Thank god they learned their lesson to never use 5 party members again 🙏
Hasn't aged super well, but the music has! And that's how I could access the feelings this game evoked 30 years ago, with that red mislabeled SNES cart I got from a yard sale for $20 -- if only for a moment.
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.
Bu oyun ne kanka ya
The first Final Fantasy to heavily prioritize having a dramatic narrative. Although it stumbles in spots it still manages to be interesting and goes places that would have been mind blowing at the time of its original release. Final Fantasy IV is also the introduction of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, has plenty of (sometimes annoying) side content, and contains the best OST of the first four games. It's one of the JRPG greats of the SNES era.
Gameplay? Really good. Story? Fakeouts galore and super on-the-nose dialogue that makes me roll my eyes. The 3D remake has a new script, so maybe that'll be a better experiance?
ATB and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race
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.
A huge leap forward for the franchise. An amazing sequel with solid storytelling, world building, and mechanics.
I have to say this has been my favorite of the originals so far. Being my 8th FF game to play (only 5th finished though) I enjoyed this one from beginning to end. It truly feels like they pulled everything that worked from the prior games and utilized the better tech available to create a near perfect game.
The story is not dissimilar from the prior 3, and is nothing to write home about, but the storytelling and worldbuilding are the best yet. It's the same old fated heroes tasked with saving the world from evil, and it involves crystals. This one changes things up a bit though where you start out as a dark knight, on the wrong side of things and makes the decision to leave that path behind. All of the characters feel truly unique with pretty decent dialogue. This one also offers a lot more storytelling through cutscenes (including battle sequences) that truly add to the depth of the game. The story is fairly linear, with an open world, but there are some side quests you can miss out on if you're not paying attention. The end game was a challenge, but was pretty rewarding in my opinion.
Gone are swappable classes (or jobs), and magic is no purchased this time around. You learn new magic at certain levels based on the characters predefined class. Though characters swap out in your party throughout the game, it did not feel like a burden. You had a pretty consistent core of characters with one or two that change periodically. There weren't a whole lot of puzzles, and the dungeons were fairly straightforward, with secret paths throughout.
Combat felt really good and varied. You had to use your characters abilities and specialties more, and it didn't feel forced. Mini-bosses and bosses felt like a proper challenge, and progression made feel like you had to grind too much to continue on in the story.
Exploring the world was pretty straightforward as well but you get an airship much sooner. There were a number of dungeons littered throughout the world, and a couple other zones related to the story (no spoilers).
The game felt cohesive, challenging, interesting, and fun. All of the game systems, story, and world made for a remarkable experience.
I played this entirely on Steam Deck and it ran flawlessly. 60hz/60fps and didn't break a sweat (not surprising, but still nice). I had 0 crashes or frame dips. The deck is tailored for this kind of experience. It took me just over 22 hours to complete.
Overall, this is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. It had awesome storytelling, the progression and combat felt solid, and it was just a fun experience. Highly recommend for any RPG/JRPG fan.
I have to say this has been my favorite of the originals so far. Being my 8th FF game to play (only 5th finished though) I enjoyed this one from beginning to end. It truly feels like they pulled everything that worked from the prior games and utilized the better tech available to create a near perfect game.
The story is not dissimilar from the prior 3, and is nothing to write home about, but the storytelling and worldbuilding are the best yet. It's the same old fated heroes tasked with saving the world from evil, and it involves crystals. This one changes things up a bit though where you start out as a dark knight, on the wrong side of things and makes the decision to leave that path behind. All of the characters feel truly unique with pretty decent dialogue. This one also offers a lot more storytelling through cutscenes (including battle sequences) that truly add to the depth of the game. The story is fairly linear, with an open world, but there are some side quests you can miss out on if you're not paying attention. The end game was a challenge, but was pretty rewarding in my opinion.
Gone are swappable classes (or jobs), and magic is no purchased this time around. You learn new magic at certain levels based on the characters predefined class. Though characters swap out in your party throughout the game, it did not feel like a burden. You had a pretty consistent core of characters with one or two that change periodically. There weren't a whole lot of puzzles, and the dungeons were fairly straightforward, with secret paths throughout.
Combat felt really good and varied. You had to use your characters abilities and specialties more, and it didn't feel forced. Mini-bosses and bosses felt like a proper challenge, and progression made feel like you had to grind too much to continue on in the story.
Exploring the world was pretty straightforward as well but you get an airship much sooner. There were a number of dungeons littered throughout the world, and a couple other zones related to the story (no spoilers).
The game felt cohesive, challenging, interesting, and fun. All of the game systems, story, and world made for a remarkable experience.
I played this entirely on Steam Deck and it ran flawlessly. 60hz/60fps and didn't break a sweat (not surprising, but still nice). I had 0 crashes or frame dips. The deck is tailored for this kind of experience. It took me just over 22 hours to complete.
Overall, this is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. It had awesome storytelling, the progression and combat felt solid, and it was just a fun experience. Highly recommend for any RPG/JRPG fan.