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