My favorite game, but probably the worst version I've played. It's not bad by any means, but despite some nice QoL adjustments, there are some things about it that I find lacking or annoying.
Regarding QoL adjustments -- I love only needing one arrow to use a bow. I also appreciate that the Trap Door monsters in the Sealed Cave have enough of a delay on them now that you can respond to their targeting.
Strangely, the design for the same areas as usual ended up a little weird at times, with the areas that should normally scroll from off-screen not doing so until you reached them in larger rooms. This might not sound like a big deal, but it's really awkward in smaller rooms with hidden secrets. The house in Mist is a good example of this, with the room above the front room not actually visible because of a secret off to the right via an entrance through the fireplace. The end result is that you have to move far enough north to see something that should be visible without any effort, while a blank area is the point of fixation in the room. It's extra strange because the map doesn't display this well either in some scenarios, as if they were trying to eliminate the scrolling aspect of the map and cut borders of the map a little too short.
The inconsistency with hidden walls is also weird, as FF3 had highlighted areas whenever you walked into a hidden passage to show your pathing. Unlike the vanilla version of FF4 that obscures passages completely or gives them a slight dark-blue tint (depending on your version), this one elects to display the paths in tile form when you're on them inside buildings and other structures that aren't considered dungeons, while paths in the towns themselves or dungeons are completely clear and indiscernible while traversing them. It's not necessarily a bad thing, just another weird inconsistency that doesn't make a lot of sense.
Finally, I am inclined to agree with people that aren't fond of the pixel art -- this version didn't really feel like an improvement to me, other than glossing up of cutscenes, which wasn't pixel art as much as just use of modern effects and design to elicit something you couldn't get from a regular 16-bit experience at the time.
The game is still grand, I had a fun time in spite of these little things that nagged at me, but I'd rather play any other version again. And I will.
Regarding QoL adjustments -- I love only needing one arrow to use a bow. I also appreciate that the Trap Door monsters in the Sealed Cave have enough of a delay on them now that you can respond to their targeting.
Strangely, the design for the same areas as usual ended up a little weird at times, with the areas that should normally scroll from off-screen not doing so until you reached them in larger rooms. This might not sound like a big deal, but it's really awkward in smaller rooms with hidden secrets. The house in Mist is a good example of this, with the room above the front room not actually visible because of a secret off to the right via an entrance through the fireplace. The end result is that you have to move far enough north to see something that should be visible without any effort, while a blank area is the point of fixation in the room. It's extra strange because the map doesn't display this well either in some scenarios, as if they were trying to eliminate the scrolling aspect of the map and cut borders of the map a little too short.
The inconsistency with hidden walls is also weird, as FF3 had highlighted areas whenever you walked into a hidden passage to show your pathing. Unlike the vanilla version of FF4 that obscures passages completely or gives them a slight dark-blue tint (depending on your version), this one elects to display the paths in tile form when you're on them inside buildings and other structures that aren't considered dungeons, while paths in the towns themselves or dungeons are completely clear and indiscernible while traversing them. It's not necessarily a bad thing, just another weird inconsistency that doesn't make a lot of sense.
Finally, I am inclined to agree with people that aren't fond of the pixel art -- this version didn't really feel like an improvement to me, other than glossing up of cutscenes, which wasn't pixel art as much as just use of modern effects and design to elicit something you couldn't get from a regular 16-bit experience at the time.
The game is still grand, I had a fun time in spite of these little things that nagged at me, but I'd rather play any other version again. And I will.