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Final Fantasy IV
Review by Hiryuu
The Final Fantasy series has always been about
fun and Square has always made them into excellent games.
Everybody knows that Final Fantasy IV was released in America to
the Snes as Final Fantasy II. What many people don't know is that
our version of Final Fantasy IV was "dumbed down" for
the "stupid" American public. Many of the items were
taken away, and so were many of the battle options (the Dark
Knight Cecil could do the energy wave that his opponent does when
he fights himself, and many more). The game was considerably
easier than the "real" FFIV. Flash forward to the
Playstation era. Now that Square is making games for Soney, they
decided to release FF IV-VI...in Japan only of course. Not even
the Final Fantasy Anthology that is sooned to be released in
America is slated to have this game. How depressing. The quality
of Final Fantasy IV rests in its incredible storyline. Cecil has
to rebel against his own kingdom, Baron, because of their evil
ways. There are enough plot turns to make you dizzy, and you're
always guessing who to trust, and who not to. The characters are
fantastic too. There are many different people who join your
quest and fight for your cause. Cecil is the main character who
although is trained in being a Dark Knight, he is good hearted,
and if he can prove himself, he becomes a paladin later in the
game and can use white magic as a paladin. Rosa is Cecil's
kindhearted love, who's very good with a bow, but her main
strength is white magic. Cain is Cecil's best friend and he's a
dragon knight (dragoon). He doesn't use magic, but can use a jump
attack that he misses a round of action, but is twice as powerful
as a normal attack. Nobody is quite certain where Cain's true
loyalty lies. Rydia is the Caller who at the beginning of the
game can use white and black magic, as well as call summon
beasts, but later when she "grows up" can only use
black magic and call magic. Edge is the ninja who seeks revenge
for his castle being attacked. He can use his own brand of magic,
steal items from the enemies, and throw unwanted weapons at the
enemies. Tella is the wise sage who knows powerful black and
white magic, has forgotten most of his spells. Porom and Palom
are two apprentice mages, one specializing in black magic, and
one in white magic, but their true strength is only revealed when
they work together. Yang is the powerful Monk who can build up an
attack to do double damage, fend off physical attacks for a
round, or simply kick everybody in site. FuSoYa is the old
Lunarian who has the ultimate White and Black Magic at his
disposal, but he won't stay in your party for long. Last, and
certainly least there is Gilbert (known in America as Edward).
Edward's attacks include attacking enemies with a harp for almost
no damage, singing, and simply hiding from an enemy ^_^. As you
can see, there are a lot of characters to keep track of in FF IV.
The gameplay is much like in other Final Fantasies. You can get
powerful weapons and armor, either by buying them, finding them,
or going nuts trying to win them from enemies. Also, unlike the
American version, there are many items that you can use, not only
to heal, but to do other things like attack the enemy, or ring a
bell to fight an enemy! There are side quests you can delve in as
well, where you can get the most powerful weapons and call
spells. And the most difficult challenge of any game is getting
the Adamant Armor, period. As in all of the Final Fantasy games,
the enemies are all there and they look absolutely great. There
are a wide number of them, and the random attacks make this game
difficult, but not so much that you stop enjoying the game. The
battle engine is done so well that even fighting enemies is a joy
rather than a chore. The graphics of this game were top notch
when they came out, and they still hold their own today. Even
with the Playstation re-release, the graphics remained untouched.
Also the sound, like all Final Fantasies, is absolutely
brilliant. If you don't fall in love with the music right away,
there's something wrong with you. The Playstation version of this
game, not only does it retain the original game exactly, but it
also adds brilliant CG movies for you to gaze upon. Anybody who
has played Final Fantasy VII knows how brilliant its movies were,
and now you can see all of your favorite IV characters,
completely rendered! Just the joy of seeing these fantastic
movies is almost enough to make you wanna buy the game, but
they're just the icing on the cake! The replay factor of this
game is good because you'll be so drawn in the story, playing the
game again will give you the same feeling all over again. Think
about it as your favorite food. You don't want to just eat your
favorite food once, you'll want to eat it again and again.
However, if all you eat is your favorite food, then it won't be
your favorite for very long. So if you play this game all the way
through 3 times a week for a year, you probably will get tired of
it. But I'm sure non of you are THAT desperate. There's one word
that describes this word: near perfection. Ok, that's two words,
but I don't think any game can truly reach perfection (this came
awful close though). Although Square is releasing Final Fantasy
Anthology in America, many die-hard fans were shocked to discover
that Final Fantasy IV wouldn't be a part of it. American gamers
were cheated out of having the "real" version of this
game, and being stuck with the "easy type" once gain.
It seems that the only way to play this game as it was meant to
be played is to import this wonderful game. You'll definately be
glad you did.
Reviewer's Score: 10 / 10
