Final Fantasy IV review

I dont know if any of you remember but 2 years ago I mentionned that I was gonna do reviews for the classics RPG games that I had played and the first one I did was FF I for the NES. Now I have decided to finally start back where I had left from and I find only natural to continue in the same serie and will do a review of FF IV (aka FF II on the original SNES version in it's us release).
So let it begin with the story.


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^^US verison

Before getting into much details I would want to point out that this game had many versions i.e. FF II (us Version of the same game) was way easier then the original one not released at first in the US and has been rereleased on the PS, GBA, DS plus a sequel for the wii on the WiiWare entitled FF IV the After Years which takes place many years after the original game. So the graphics have changed alot from version to version specially Snes to DS where the DS had cut scenes. The difficulty as well. Only the story has remained the same. My review will be based on the original version I played first (FF II on the SNES).

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^^Original Version

Ok let's get back to the game now. The kingdom of Baron is on a zealous quest to collect all the elemental crystals. The commander of its air force, Cecil, is dismissed after questioning the king's motives. With the help of of wizards, warriors, and others, he sets out to stop the growing threat that is Baron and in the process, unveils a far more insidious enemy.

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You start of the game as Cecil (a dark Knight) and you start of controlling him when you set of to an adventure with your Friend Kain (a dragoon) ***Note to anyone who has played FF XIII and saw the third tier weapon of Fang "Lance of Kain", this is the where the name of the weapon comes from. So you set of to an adventure (mission) given to you by the king of Baron. Along the way some complications and tragedy happens and not everything goes as planned. I dont wanna get into much more details to spoil the story for those who wants to play it so I will jump off to the actual gameplay and characters.

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^^PSX Version Cut scene

In FF IV you get a lot of surprises, twists , love triangle and things that most probably never expected. So it adds a lot to the fun and wants you to keep playing to see what else will happen. But the battle system is also great and it was the first ATB(active time battle) RPG that I had played which was really new back at the time. Plus if I'm not mistaken this is the only FF game that you're able to have up to 5 characters on the battlefield at the same time (not counting the FF tactics) which makes it even more fun. Another thing I like about the FF IV is the fact that I dont have to choose who to play within your party since the story automatically gives you the ones you use even if you get to use a total of 13 people throughout the story you never get more then 5 characters at a time.

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^^^ DS

This is probably the first FF game that you get to use a Dragoon, a Summoner (my personal favorite), a Bard and more different kinds. Having so many different kind of characters is awesome since each of them have different commands (well except maybe the wizards). I could go on more and more but Im gonna cut it short.

I think The graphics were pretty good in the original at the time and with the new releases it kept getting better, adding the cut scenes in the new version was a good idea from my point of view as well since they could show more details.

I have always loved the music of this game and for those who have played Mario RPG on the SNES the music when you fight the secret guy from another dimension with the four crystals is the actual music that was originally made for this game.

There is also alot of extra dungeons and bosses you can fight in the game to get extra equipment, magic and challenges. This adds up to the gaming fun and challenge. This game would probably take between 20 and 30 hours to finish if you wanna get everything so I guess it's pretty decent which might be the reason I finished it over a dozen times already.

My score would be as follow:

Story: Really great story, one of them best early on RPG story's very original 9.0

Graphics: Great for it's time and even better later on 9.0

Sound/Music: Great music that I love but the sound effect could have been better 8.0

Gameplay: Really enjoyed playing and I never really needed to level up for more then 20 minutes in a few section other then in the end game so it's a plus 9.5

Lasting appeal: what can I say I played it a dozen time 10.0


Overall I would give it a 9.1

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PSP version

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GBA version

Thanks for the review Waaar! I've heard a lot about this game recently, so you picked a good time to write this!

No problem
I'm thinking of doing FF VI next which I like even more then this one
/me wishes he didnt have to work tomorrow

Well, look at it this way - If you're working tomorrow, then you get plenty of time on the site!

Seriously though, good taste pal! I'm looking forward to your review. So many people here are missing out on one of the better games out there, and need to correct that mistake!

Yeah thats what I kinda hope aswell
But about the work part it will be hard since IM working outside tomorrow so no pc access

Great review Waaar! I actually have the PS1 version sitting on my shelf right now. It's the version that comes packed in with Chrono Trigger. My friend let me borrow it a while back but I do intend to play it sometime.

Very nice Waaar. It almost seems like there are a few simiarities between IV and XIII, which is cool.