Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy IV is a very popular game, but I've never completed it. I started to play it once a long time ago, but for some reason I abandoned it before getting very far. Now that I'm playing through the entire series, it's time for me to finally play this one all the way through.
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Final Fantasy IV is a simple game. Party changes are forced at certain points in the story and, as far as I can tell, characters have fixed stat growth and learn abilities at fixed levels. When I was younger, I would have found this boring, but as an adult I find it relaxing to just play the game without worrying about that. "Freedom from choice", if you will.
The story is undoubtedly the highlight of the game. This is the first game that really feels like a proper "Final Fantasy". The party has many memorable characters with their own backstories. I was saddened by the many apparent sacrifices made by various party members during the game. Although, I was actually disappointed when most of them were suddenly revealed to still alive at the end because I felt it kind of lowered the stakes. Despite the short length of the game, the plot still has quite a few twists and I was pleasantly surprised while playing. Well, except for that repeated mind control twist which I found rather silly (fool me once...).
I guess my biggest problem with this game is the ATB (Active Time Battle) implementation. While the series would become well-known for this mechanic, this is the first game to use it and it shows. There's no visible ATB bar yet, so it's unclear which characters will act next and when. Worse, spells have a casting delay which makes powerful but slow spells somewhat impratical to use. However, this is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for complaints.
Ultimately, I think Final Fantasy IV makes for a great "beginner's RPG" — it has an memorable cast of characters, but it is short in length and has simple mechanics. While there is little replay value here, I've heard that this translation is poor (despite being done in-house by Square), so I may eventually play one of the many ports/remakes.
- 👍Interesting plot and characters
- 👍Wonderful soundtrack
- 👍No grinding
- 👍It's a short game
- 👎Most dead characters are suddenly not dead at the end
- 👎ATB not as smooth as later games
- 👎No customization
After completing a game, I add it to my overall enjoyment ranking which orders the games I've completed from those I most enjoyed to those I least enjoyed. It's a tough decision for me between this game and Final Fantasy III, but I'll choose plot over gameplay and put this game on top!