"As long as there is darkness, so will there always be light."
Final Fantasy IV has come in many incarnations, and most of them made it to American shores. I've played them all, but this specifically is about the DS version. I know some would describe it as the pinnacle of all of the Final Fantasy IV releases, but I respectfully disagree. I think that title goes to the PSX version of Final Fantasy IV, which was apart of Final Fantasy Chronicles. But that is another subject entirely.
Final Fantasy IV DS was completely remastered from its original version with new 3D graphics, voice acting, a new script/translation and a new job enhancement system called "Augments". You can also fight two new bonus bosses and use a New Game + feature. However, the core storyline, characters, battle system and maps remained the same. Does a traditional Square RPG from the early 90's have a place on the shelf with today's RPGs, which have shunned random battles, turn-based systems and pretty boy heroes who feel feelings?
The Plot (Spoiler Free)
Final Fantasy IV was the RPG that opened up the door for RPGs to have meaningful story lines that went beyond a couple of obscure orders from a king telling you to vanquish evil. However, the story itself is still pretty simplistic compared to games today. This is a good thing, however, as it gives the most focus to the two main themes of the story: redemption, and love (all kinds of love, not just romantic).
The tale revolves around Cecil, a dark knight from the kingdom of Baron, the most powerful nation on the planet (it is called both The Blue Planet and Earth). Orphaned since birth, Cecil has been raised under the tutelage of the King of Baron himself and has become a Dark Knight at his insistence. He is also made Captain of the Red Wings, Baron's air force, at a young age. Cecil is not very forthcoming with his feelings and keeps to himself, but he does have two companions that seemingly never leave his side. They are Kain, his best friend since childhood and captain of the Dragoons, Baron's other powerful army, and Rosa, a childhood friend-turned lover who is an up-and-coming white mage.
The game opens with Cecil returning to Baron from a particularly troubling mission where he was ordered to invade a seemingly innocent village and plunder a crystal. The mission leads him to question the orders of the King of Baron, which results in him and Kain being banished from Baron and forced to deliver a package to the northern village of Mist before they are allowed to return. The seemingly simple mission spirals Cecil into a conspiracy that threatens the entire planet, and he has to decide if he has the courage to betray his kingdom and leave everything he has known behind to do what is right.
If you take out the random battles, Final Fantasy IV DS features quite a fast-paced, yet in-depth story, with plenty of twists to keep you on your toes. Cecil faces betrayal, devastating loss and one of the more despicable Final Fantasy villains - Golbez, a man who enters the narrative with his own ambitions and will stop at nothing to take anyone who opposes him down.
The characters you meet have memorable and distinct personalities, each with their own desires and goals that do not always mesh well with Cecil's. Near the end of the game players are rocked with the typical "Final Fantasy" twist that ties the narrative together. Unlike most Final Fantasies, this one actually makes sense and keeps you desperate to uncover more right up until the final boss battle. It should also be noted that Final Fantasy IV DS contains expanded plot lines for certain characters that were not originally included in original releases. Most of them are near the end of the game, but they are certainly worth the play through, as they focus on the most intriguing characters in the narrative.
The ending is very satisfying and you get to see the effects of your actions throughout the entire game. It's actually rather strange that Square Enix would choose to do one of their rare Final Fantasy sequels for the Final Fantasy game that arguably had the most comprehensive ending, but if you are interested in continuing the narrative the sequel is called Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and it is only available on Wiiware.
Plot Score: 4 out of 4 Cecils
The Battle System
The battle system in Final Fantasy IV DS gets a very slight update from its original counterpart. It is still ATB (and it can be merciless if you set it to Fast (1) and Active), and certain actions and spells will still take forever to occur. There are many critics of the ATB because there is rarely anything to do except select your action from a series of simple menus and watch your sprite move. While I am personally not a fan of too complex battle systems (Legend of Dragoon, anyone?), I can see how it would get boring fast. Square Enix seems to have wanted to counter the boredom of random battles (and let's face it, you are going to be doing A LOT of them if you want to make it far, because level-grinding is a must), so they added the Auto-Battle feature. Auto-Battle basically means that with the push of a button (X, to be exact!), your characters will automatically battle for you with pre-programmed actions, and you can just sit back and relax (or read, like I did).
The beauty of Auto-Battle is that you can use it to give your character more actions than they have allotted ability slots for. For example, let's say you have Cecil and all of his ability slots are filled up with Kick, Counter, Draw Attacks and Level Lust (you get four, five if you count "Item", which you cannot swap out for anything else). There is a separate menu for Auto-Battle, and it is there that you can tell Cecil to simply "Attack", or tell him to use an item (and then select the specific item, like a Stardust Rod). If you want Cecil to perform that extra action, simply turn on Auto-Battle when it is his turn and he will queue it up, then turn it back off.
It should be noted that Auto-Battle can only really be implemented when you are level grinding or going through a relatively "safe" area if your people have high enough levels. Most of the boss battles still require super-specific strategies and I can assure you that if you try to use Auto-Battle on a boss that needs to be killed a certain way, no matter how high your level you will get your ass handed to you. With that said, the boss fights are ridiculously hard, so even if you are breezing through a dungeon you might still be unpleasantly surprised by a boss if you don't implement a perfect strategy from the first action you have available. This might be flustering for RPG novices or even for veterans who may not be used to the brutalness of old-school RPGs. There is pretty much no wiggle-room in the more intense battles, but they are a breeze if you know just what to do right from the start. The balance is certainly a bit off.
Your characters each have an allotted amount of HP and MP. HP allows your character to act in battle, but once it is depleted by your enemies the character is knocked out and can no longer act unless revived. MP allows certain characters to cast magic spells, once they are out of MP they will not be able to cast any more magic until it is replenished. It's as simple as that.
Battle System Score: 3 out of 4 Cecils
Gameplay
Final Fantasy IV DS is a pretty simple RPG. You are given a variety of quests to go on, which can range from fetch-quests to rescue missions. You battle monsters in random battles that occur on the world map and in caves and dungeons. The monsters are not on the screen, so you can't avoid a battle unless you try to run away after the fact. Pretty much the only place you won't be in danger of getting into battle are in the towns and castles you visit on your journey. And yes, random battles are plentiful.
You shop in towns to replenish your healing items and to upgrade weapons and armors for your party members. You can also talk to NPCs to try to get some information on what to do next or helpful hints. For the most part, the quests are linear and you are told where you need to go, but sometimes extra investigation on your part is needed. Side quests are very limited, and you cannot really access any until the second half of the game. The side quests are hidden pretty well - you will need to talk to NPCs or even backtrack to previously visited areas to find them.
Augments are the biggest addition to the game, and admittedly they alone are worth a re-purchase of the game if you have played it previously on another system. Augments are basically abilities that you can get from other characters (NPCs and party members) that you can use to give your characters abilities that they would otherwise never get. The augments you get can also be determined by how many augments you share with your party members. For example, Palom and Porom will give you the Augment Twincast, which you can give to two of your party members and is a magic they only they were previously able to use in other versions of the games. If you give Palom and Porom some Augments as well, they will also give you Cry and Bluff. If you thought Twincast was awesome when just Palom and Porom were able to use it, try giving it to Cecil and Rosa. The result is the ability to cast Ultima, the most powerful spell in the game.
Augments can range from abilities (Kick, Twincast, Counter) to party enhancements (Gil Farmer, Level Lust, Treasure Hunter). If you couldn't tell already, they add an amazing twist to the previous gameplay and give you an opportunity to turn the tables on some of the tougher bosses (if you give the right Augments to the right people)!
After you beat the game the first time, you can start a new game +, which will basically just take all your rare items and Augments (both assigned and unassigned) and start a new game with them. This allows you to to get through the first half the game much easier and to hopefully power up your people enough to take on the two hidden bosses, Geryon and Proto-Babil. These guys are so hard that all you get for beating them is some EXP and the satisfaction of kicking their asses. I managed to beat Geryon on my 2nd play through, but Proto-Babil is nearly impossible without netting yourself some rare equipment and doubles of Augments that you can only get from previous play throughs, so there is plenty to keep you busy and to add replay value.
Gameplay Score: 4 out of 4 Cecils
Presentation
There are cut scenes that occur between missions where the characters will talk to each other with live voice actors. The voice acting isn't anything stellar, but it's not terrible, either. I've certainly heard worse. Cecil's voice work is very well-done and sounds appropriate for his character, as is Kain's. Rydia's voice is better in the second half of the game. Rosa, Edge and Golbez are definitely weaker, which is a shame because their voices sound appropriate - they just don't have personality behind them. It was especially a disappointment for Edge, who is a particularly stand-out character in the game. They did make an effort to make the characters from different regions have different accents though. Cecil, Kain and Rosa certainly speak differently than Yang and Edge, they use different language (more eloquent) and have a slight British accent to their words. That was a nice touch.
The script differs from the SNES, PSX & GBA versions of the games. It isn't bad, but in my opinion the PSX version had the best script. The DS version is much more medieval, which again, isn't bad, but Final Fantasy IV DS isn't just a medieval game, and it sounds a little out of place in later parts of the game.
They also slightly retouched the music for this version. All of the tunes are recognizable from their earlier versions, and I honestly feel the music is better this time around. Some of the tunes, such as Kingdom Baron and The Theme of Love, are far more remarkable in the DS version. But Final Fantasy IV's soundtrack has always stood out as one of the best in the series, and all the DS version does is really just enhance it so it doesn't sound too MIDI-ish on the DS. To really hear the difference between the old version and the new one, plug some decent earphones into your DS.
The biggest overhaul the DS version got was obviously the graphics. The entire world has now been rendered in 3D, and the characters are now 3D models instead of sprites. The 3D graphics are the same "cutesy" ones that were used for Final Fantasy III DS. They are very well done, but it's unfortunate that they couldn't make the in-game graphics as amazing as the ones used in the opening FMV. It is a bit jarring to go from one extreme to the other. Still, that's a minor complaint. The characters are faithfully re imagined from their sprite counterparts, right down to Rydia's crazy fro (well, for her in-game character, not her CG model). The monster animations are very well done. Seeing Cagnazzo snarl and snap his jaw at you as you give him a beat down is surprisingly scary. The Four Fiends definitely benefited the most from the 3D makeover, making them even more terrifying than before. My only complaint about the graphics are the character portraits. It might just be nostalgia, but to me nothing beats Cecil's SNES portrait and the only person whose portrait improved after all this time is Rosa's.
Presentation Score: 3 out of 4 Cecils
If you didn't get an opportunity to play this game the first (or second, or third or fourth...) time around, and you are a Final Fantasy fan, I urge you to give the DS version a spin. Although the SNES version shouldn't be THAT hard to find if you have access to a good used games store or Ebay, if you do find it it might be pricey ($25+ without box or instructions). You can certainly download the SNES version on Wii Virtual Console as well, but if the script is lacking. The PSX version is a good choice, in my opinion it is the best script and it still has the classic graphics, but the loading times are a shame and it is probably the most difficult version out there. The GBA version is very clean and refined graphics-wise, the sprites look like they were made for the GBA SP screen (or DS!) and there are bonus dungeons that allow you to play as any character you want for the final boss (very awesome), but there are bugs in the ATB and the script is a slightly less-horrible version of the SNES script.
You can find the DS version for $19.99 or less new at most retailers, and probably less than that used.
Final Fantasy IV not only set the standard for storyline and presentation that the rest of the Final Fantasy series would follow, but it did so for the entire RPG genre coming out of Japan. It would be replicated and imitated for a long time, until around the time Final Fantasy VII came out, which was when JRPGs became cool again and then suddenly everyone had a new game to copy. But whether you are a fan of Final Fantasy IV or not, it was thanks to the game's successful reception in America that opened the door for Earthbound, Final Fantasy VI, and Chrono Trigger to get English localizations.
The reason why I chose Final Fantasy IV as my first reviewed game is because this game has held a very special place in my heart ever since I was a child, and the characters, story, and lessons in friendship and loyalty have stuck with me even as I have grown into an adult. I've often played new JRPGs looking for my next "Final Fantasy IV", the next game that would get my heart racing for what would come next and that would keep me up for hours at night dreaming about the characters and their world. I haven't found it yet.
Overall Score: 4 out of 4 Cecils
