RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Final Fantasy IV is a classic RPG that has seen release on five different gaming platforms, so remaking a game that has been played by so many, and often played so many times by those people, is a particularly difficult challenge. How does one make a game that is so familiar to its fans seem fresh and new while retaining the nostalgic feel at the same time? Fortunately, the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV exceeds expectations and is a new yardstick by which to measure remakes in the future.

The story begins with Cecil, a dark knight of Baron, leading a fleet of airships home after a mission. Though the operation was successful, its requirements weigh heavily on the hearts of the captain and his crew. The king ordered that the Water Crystal of Mysidia, a village of mages, be confiscated, lest the Mysidians become a threat. When Cecil barges in to take it, the townspeople offer no resistance to Baron’s act of tyranny.

Upon return to the castle, Cecil makes his feelings known to the king and is dismissed from his post for insubordination. Instead he is ordered to deliver an artifact to the nearby village of Mist and told that “they will know its meaning.” Cecil’s longtime friend Kain comes to his defense and is ordered to join Cecil on his trip. Thus, the wheels of fate begin to turn and the pair begin to fulfill their destiny.

Cecil pondered briefly how he’d carry a such a large crystal, but then he remembered that his backpack fits 99 cabins. This would be easy.

In the remake, aside from the graphical makeover, the most significant changes have been made to battles. Once again, all fights make use of the ATB system that Final Fantasy IV originated, but now there bars that show not only when each characters are able to act but also when their attack will be executed. This small change seems insignificant, but it can have important effects in strategy when it comes to timing skills in conjunction with those of another character. Though extremely useful, it can become frustrating to know that a mage was fatally wounded mere moments before a critical spell was cast.

This frustration also ties into another major change to the battle system. On the whole, the difficulty has been ramped up substantially. Though it can be refreshing to see that Final Fantasy IV is no longer a cakewalk, the increased difficulty can be unbalanced at times. Some bosses that were previously easy can now one-shot the entire party, and nearly every boss has new counter attacks that can be nothing short of devastating. This is made worse by the fact that nearly every foe hits harder and more frequently than ever before. Mercifully, status-effect magic and items that were previously useless in other renditions of Final Fantasy IV are not only effective but in many cases necessary for successful strategies. These new counters force players to consider the consequences of actions, and it can result in players skipping over weaker characters’ turns for fear of assured death for daring to attack a boss.

Yet another change to fights is the new Augment system. Throughout the game, players will obtain Augments that give new attacks and skills to a single character. These range from the unique skills of former party members to the ability to do things like counter physical attacks or deal the same damage from the back row. Many augments are extremely useful, but the player must carefully consider whom to give each one to. Once assigned, the cannot be changed, and no matter how many augments a character has, only five can be used at once. By going to the Skills section of the menu, players can customize what each character’s battle window will look like. By doing so, you can add any of the currently known skills or any item to the five choices available, but the item skill must always be equipped. Players can also choose any learned spell or item as a shortcut if room allows. As an extra choice, players can assign an action for use when auto battle is used, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be one of the five in the current set-up. Careful use of auto-battling can allow for a sixth skill.

Auto battle is a bit of a double-edged sword in Final Fantasy IV. Used properly, it can make easier random encounters faster, but accidental presses of the button can cause characters to automatically choose to fight instead of casting a crucial healing spell. It can be turned on or off at any time, but it only takes one slip to produce disastrous results.

The final upgrade to the battle system is a new rebalancing of characters. Extra care was put into the game to make sure that every character was useful. For the first time ever, Edward is actually a significant help to the party by adding much needed support with his Bardsong skill. Rosa’s Pray is arguably her most vital asset to the team, especially in later dungeons where curing takes up a significant chunk of MP. Every party member adds something useful to the group, even if it’s not always physical prowess.

Though the battle system got the lion’s share of the changes, there are many other new elements as well. Throughout the game, there are now several FMVs that add new life to the plot, and most of these are in full voice. Amazingly, the voice acting is very well done and really seems to fit each character. And after a certain point, all the new videos are viewable again whenever visiting a Fat Chocobo. Players can also listen to all the music in the game, but newcomers to the game may find that some of the song descriptions contain spoilers to events in the plot that come much later.

Out of all the things Rosa had lost, she missed her pants the most.

There is also a new subquest involving Namingway. Previously, Namingways could be found in most any town and can change the name of characters. Now, there is only one, but he’s not very good at renaming anything other than himself. Throughout the game, he’ll change his name nearly a dozen times as players look for him all over the world with whatever item he needs to complete his quest. Players get items and Augments as prizes for completing each step in the quest, but it’s no simple task to finish. It requires an extremely rare drop to see it to its end.

Another addition is the hunt for various tails. Previously, a monster in the final dungeon had a rare drop that could be exchanged for an extremely powerful suit of armor. Now there are four more tails that are rare drops that can also be turned into new pieces of Onion equipment in an homage to the initial class in Final Fantasy III. Naturally, these are the best pieces of equipment in their class and can be carried over into new games. Once finished, players are allowed to go through Final Fantasy IV up to two more times with all augments and rare equipment carrying over. All stats and levels reset normally, and the game will play much like it did before, except there are two new powerful bosses to fight.

Another major change to the game comes as yet another translation of the script. Even though Final Fantasy IV Advance featured a complete retranslation, Square Enix thought that it still had places where it could be refined. With the exception of the Mysidian legend, which is almost so archaic as to be incomprehensible, the new translation is by far the best yet. Everything flows much more naturally, and there are even two new scenes towards the end of the game that offer new backstory to the main characters that was previously untold.

Visually, Final Fantasy IV is one of the best looking games on the DS. The graphics have undergone the same transition to 3D that FF3 DS got two years ago. Monsters have never looked better and dungeons are faithfully recreated and are equally gorgeous. The only downside to the shift to 3D is that dungeons can be difficult to traverse. Unlike Final Fantasy III, the dungeons in Final Fantasy IV have multiple layers. To assist in getting around, there is a new mapping system that draws a map as the player walks around. Filling in the maps for each floor of dungeons also gives a small prize, and completing every map in the game has a worthy reward for all the work that goes into it. It is so easy to go through the dungeons by looking at the mini map that players may choose to use it nearly exclusively.

Another new visual change comes from the summons, now known as Eidolons. Each summon has its own FMV, similar to the ones found in games from the PlayStation era and later. Graphically, they represent some of the best visuals in the entire game, and thankfully, they can be skipped with the press of a button. As gorgeous as they are, seeing the same animation time and time again would get old, especially considering the bulk of Rydia’s actions will be summon magics.

Big Bird used to be a TV star. Now he’s a lowly shop owner. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

There is also a new summon called Whyt. He serves as a partner of sorts to Rydia, and on his own, he’s not very useful. He gains strength by playing minigames while visiting Fat Chocobos. By the end of the game, five minigames become available, and four of them are a lot of fun to play and are oddly addictive. It’s not hard to waste an hour playing Cecil’s Goblin Gauntlet or Kain’s High Jump Hijinks. The games are played entirely with the touch screen. They are easy enough to learn, but getting the max score will take a lot of practice. After you’ve leveled your Whyt, you can even challenge other players to a Whyt duel, so long as they are close by with their DS and game.

Final Fantasy IV performs aurally as well as it does visually. Much like the translation, the music has been remastered yet again. Compared to Final Fantasy IV Advance, the music focuses more on mid tones and has less bass. In general, the GBA version had much stronger bass that dominated the music. The newer emphasis on treble and clearer separation of left and right channels found on the DS make this version the easiest to listen to. Add in the aforementioned voice acting, and it is a real treat for the ears.

As for the plot as a whole, it is one of the best stories found in a Final Fantasy game. Though some of the plot twists seem dated by today’s standards, it needs to be stressed that this is a remake. At the time Final Fantasy IV first hit shelves, this plot was completely unparalleled. That said, it can still hold its own among other RPGs for the DS, even for a new audience. It is a classic story, and the addition of new scenes to flesh out the backstory of some of the main characters is a welcome inclusion.

Though it is easy to point out the many positives to this game, it is not without its shortcomings. It is disappointing to discover that there are no new dungeons this time around, and the extra dungeon from Final Fantasy IV Advance is missing. Also gone is the ability to change out party members for the last part of the game, but with the Augment system, previous characters can be built from the final party. And it bears mentioning again, the difficulty can be a bit unbalanced for certain bosses and stronger monsters. Even highly leveled parties can be wiped out before they have a chance to run if enemies found in the last part of the game choose their powerful area of effect attacks twice in a row. There are Augments to mitigate this, but it is frustrating nonetheless. There is also a shortage of gil throughout most of the game, particularly in the first half.

In conclusion, Final Fantasy IV was a revolutionary game for its time, and the DS remake is a perfect example of what a remake should be. Everything about the game hearkens back to its oldschool roots, while making an excellent transition to 3D. The game is filled with tiny details, like the winds over the sands of Damcyan, that make the world seem more lifelike and less like a static map than ever before. Fans of Final Fantasy IV will find that it is worth yet another trip through the game, and fans of the series that never got a chance to play it in its older incarnations should definitely pick it up. It stands on its own as both a new game and as a remake of a classic and should have a spot in any Final Fantasy fan’s collection.