Final Fantasy IV. It’s been 17 years since it was first introduced to gamers. A lot has changed since then and the game itself has been re-released a number of times. So will the latest release of IV be anything new for gamers to buy again? Well, yes. What? Did you think I’d drag out this question till the end of the review? This fantasy of a review starts now.
Now if you had played any of the incarnations of Final Fantasy IV then you know what’s in store for you and you already bought this game. For those that haven’t experienced this fantasy yet, then you’ll be very much delighted. Things are intact.
The story is the same. Crystals, Knights, Airships, and Moons. Cecil is taken on a winding adventure that changes his life for good. While a couple of things were added to the story from the original, it doesn’t do anything to change it. While not the most scattered story in Final Fantasy, IV’s story helps carry you along the whole way. You’ll be taken from setting to setting, fighting your battles, meeting and making new friends, and it will be easy to follow. Sidequests are around, but not too far to deter you from the main story.
The script has been updated to fit the royal setting the game is in. Along with the script being updated is the voice acting. Oh wait, there wasn’t voice acting before. Voice acting has been added. While there isn’t a ton of voice acting that is now littered in current and future Final Fantasy games, your characters talk during the more crucial parts of the story.
Along with things added are the updated graphics. Taking a cue from the 3D design of Final Fantasy III, IV now has a third dimension. Characters and monsters are vastly more detailed than their ancestral sprites and they benefit in almost every aspect. Characters are more emotional and memorable (also in thanks to spoken dialogue) and monsters and bosses can seem more intimidating.
Maps and environments also get the 3D makeover. All dungeons and towns stay true to their forms with maybe a few hidden passages taking a few extra steps to reach to fool veteran players. Final Fantasy IV wasn’t the largest world of fantasy made, but that just means there is less to re-recreate.
Augments act to give your party new abilities whether they are found or left behind by departing party people. This can add a great sense of strategy as you can have characters bump up their powers.
And since this is a DS game, there are touch screen functions. If your want, you can make your party run and or fly all over the world by pointing where you want them to go. Other than that, the rest of the touch screen play time is on mini-games to help power up a new summon character for Rydia, Whyt. Whyt does also come with some multiplayer function allowing other owners of this title to have their Whyts battle it out. Well…Rydia never needed to use Whyt in the past and she really doesn’t need to use Whyt now. There is very little to not like about this latest version of Final Fantasy IV. From a great story with memorable characters to upgraded features for this generation of games, it’s hard to find something to dislike. The tougher curve of difficulty will have you playing longer and the New Game + option will have you playing longer even longer. More play, more love, more fantasy, more IV.
There is very little to not like about this latest version of Final Fantasy IV. From a great story with memorable characters to upgraded features for this generation of games, it’s hard to find something to dislike. The tougher curve of difficulty will have you playing longer and the New Game + option will have you playing longer even longer. More play, more love, more fantasy, more IV.
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