Final Fantasy 4 - Final Thoughts

Here we are again...another month and another Final Fantasy finished!
Really hoping I can keep this effort up...ON TO THE REVIEW!

Final Fantasy 4 - Final Thoughts
Final Fantasy 4 Stats
Hours Played - 31 Hours
Final Party and Their Levels

• Cecil - Level 58 
• Rosa - Level 57
• Edge - Level 56
• Rydia - Level 55
• Kain - Level 58

Now..onto my final words for Final Fantasy 4!

     Overall, I can say that I greatly enjoyed this game. I had played a good portion of it before, but this time I actually finished it! I had a pretty good time, and the only reason I wanted to finish is in keeping with my schedule of beating one a month. This might get harder as the games get longer, but I think I'll manage it for at least two or three more titles in the series. The PSP version of this game looks REALLY good in HD and with the CG cutscenes (taken from the DS version...which is 3D). The music has been rearranged and made to sound like the original but more up-to-date. The PSP version has it all plus TWO extra games (FF4 Interlude and FF4 After Years), and although I have no want to play them now, I might eventually go back and give them a shot. Now...we'll start with the gameplay talk.

     Gameplay of Final Fantasy 4...nothing new here really. The system resembles lots of things done in Final Fantasy 3 (job stuff), but they eliminated the ability to change jobs (minus story stuffs) and took out the multi-hit physical attacks that was used ever since the first game. Battles kept the front and back row system allowing your mages to keep out of harms way. Most of this is generally the same as past games, and it's still a really good system of doing it. No real flaws here. If I had a complaint...it would be that some jobs lacked any real punch or pointless extra abilities. My best example would probably be Kain as a Dragoon. He was overall well rounded, but he never really had a lot of kick to him. Only ONE boss required the Jump ability, and after that battle, the Jump was generally a waste of time. It didn't do enough damage to be worth using over a regular attack, considering it took twice as much time. The Twins (Palom and Porom) had their Twincast ability that did a huuuge amount of damage for NO MP, but they took forever to cast it and seemed better off to not use it. Minus these meager complaints, I had fun with many of the battles. On top of that, they actually included many "story" battles that were set to look and play out like battles but had a very different point. They were fairly cool looking and fun to watch. There weren't any real puzzles outside of battles, and there was always plenty to look for. There was always plenty to do in-game, and with how each airship/vehicle worked, you easily gained new areas of exploration as the game moved on. The level-up system worked well enough, and I never really had to go out of my way to gain levels. I'm so glad for this part. I don't mind having to grind a few extra levels, but most games (I feel) should be easily played without having to do extra leveling. I mean more to the extreme of extra levels rather than just a few. Anyways, the gameplay gets a GREAT score, and now I'm going on to the story.

     Story...That's one thing Final Fantasy 4 actually gave you quite a bit of. They story had everything from romance and drama to even a little comedy here and there (very little but still there). It was an interesting direction to go how it all went down as well. The idea of constantly failing just to succeed in the end! There were deep plots and mysterious secrets. Had I not learned of Golbez's secret from alternative sources, I would have found it a great and crazy twist! The characters (unlike many previous titles) all felt different and unique. They each had different things to do and say. It also helped that many of them did little things in-game with their sprite animations (many of them jumping and spinning around a lot). Overall, each character actually had their own story and reason to be doing what they did. This is a big step up from basically all the previous Final Fantasy titles. I definitely enjoyed the Cid in this game...fo sho. Although I liked the look of Dark Knight Cecil over Paladin Cecil, it was still really cool seeing the transformation take place in story. The deaths of people in-game were also well done...by which I mean a decent number without going crazy. Final Fantasy 2 basically killed everybody you possibly knew or loved and MORE. There was also a cool number of SURPRISE NOT DEAD! moments. Overall, I liked the story and where it went. It's a huge leap up from basically all the previous titles. Final Fantasy 3 did well, but the characters weren't really that great. I had fun with it, and that's what matters.

     The gameplay and story are really great. It is sad to know that Final Fantasy 4 is a fairly underrated title in the series. It honestly deserves more attention than a lot of the newer ones like 7 or 13. I'd definitely recommend this one! It also is one of the shorter games in the series it seems...I've put more time in almost all of them except Final Fantasy 1, and that's even with a bunch of extra bosses that were pointless outside of the experience. Overall, Final Fantasy 4 is a must play in the series, and I'd say you should go play it right now!

Thanks for reading and get ready to Final Fantasy 5!

SIDE NOTE - I mentioned it partway, but Final Fantasy 4 actually has two extra side games that are continuations of the story. I would love to play them, but I'd almost rather move on right now. I figure I might come back and finish them at some point in the future, and if/when I do, I will make a small post about my overall opinion on it. The sucky part is that Interlude might be exclusive to the PSP release while The After Years is only available on the PSP or as Wiiware (I think...). 

~May the Crystals Guide Me~