Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 39
 IV's $40 Fourth Incarnation August 2, 2008
T. Cromer (PA USA)
4 out of 16 found this review helpful
And you thought the number of the beast was triple-six.
If ever there was any shred of doubt left in anybody's mind that Squaresoft is dead, and its replacement, SquareEnix, is little more than a money-generating machine, let this game remove it. This is the fourth time that Final Fantasy IV has been released in the United States. Number four. We've already had the SNES FFII (which, as everybody should know by now, was the original FFIV Easy Type as released in Japan--the old Square of America was unsure about the profitability of the Japanese II and III). We've already had the PSX Final Fantasy Chronicles (which packaged a relocalized FFIV Hard Type together with Chrono Trigger). We've even had a portable port, the GBA FFIV (which can be played on the DS, may I remind you), a slight update on the PSX version.
And now this. Granted, the addition of updated, three dimensional CG is nice. I have to admit, some of the new features are interesting. But I have to question just what kind of rubes SquareEnix takes its consumer-base to be to expect to make a profit simply by adding rudimentary 3D and a couple new shiny add-ons to a game they've released stateside three times previously.
To be blunt: in this day and age, internet piracy is rampant. You can get the original SNES versions extremely easily for free--I can't say I particularly condone that kind of thing, but let's be realistic here. A little more legally, you can get the PSX version and the GBA versions for $17 or $30, respectively, brand new direct from Amazon--and even cheaper from some very reputable 3rd parties selling through Amazon! I highly recommend getting one of them. FFIV is one of the best pre-PSX console RPGs, and definitely worth a play-through for any fan of the old-school style. But $40 for a few extra bells and whistles? That's what I call a scam.
Are there people who are going to be turned off the game by the old sprite-based 2D graphics? Yes. There's nothing particularly wrong with that--wanting an aesthetically pleasing experience to accompany your time spent playing is nothing to be frowned at. I would, however, contend that the kind of people who are turned off of games by old-school graphics like those present in the previous versions of this game likely wouldn't enjoy the old-school gameplay, or the old-school story, of FFIV. As enjoyable as I find it as a gamer who's been playing RPGs since the early nineties, FFIV is kinda dated, something that no amount of prettified graphics or extra distractions is going to cover up for gamers primarily interested in a more modern experience.
 An old school Final Fantasy gamer's dream come true August 13, 2008
B. Harvey (Germany, US military)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Let me start off by saying I have played every Final Fantasy (including the Legend and Adventure series) since I was seven years old and the original Final Fantasy was released.
Final Fantasy 2 (4) for the SNES was always in my opinion the best Final Fantasy and was high above all the other titles in terms of gameplay, plot, music, characters, etc. No other title in the series was capable of dethroning it no matter how good the graphics, in fact the series gradually got worse as the graphics improved and the plot and characters became dilluted. When those graphics improved, I imagined always how it would be to have a remade version of this title with better graphics, and improved features. Many years later, it has arrived.
But this review is not about the series, it's about this specific game. This game is absolutely amazing. The only negative about the re-release was that it wasnt ported to the Wii or a home console and we must stare at a small screen. Even so, for die-hard fans of the game it is well worth your money.
As many have pointed out, there are a lot of new bells in whistles in thsi release. First off, the game is very difficult. An experienced Final Fantasy gamer would have very little to no challenge breezing through the SNES version or the other ports. In this one you have to watch your HP very carefully, because the fights are no joke -- especially with the bosses. This, overall makes for a much better gaming experience.
GRAPHICS -- A huge jump from the previous releases. Think Final Fantasy 7 style graphics and thats what you have. The sprites are not realistic looking, but they are not meant to be. However, what they have done with the technology is an impressive change and adds a lot to the game.
MUSIC -- The music got a minor facelift. Some tunes have added sounds, which overall was very well done. For the most part, the sounds are not tampered with very much and it sounds excellent.
SPEECH and CUT SCENES -- This part to me was what made this remake EXCELLENT. The cut scenes and way the characters talked are almost how I imagined in my mind playing the old version with 2D sprites. It invokes a certain sense of nostalgia that can only be felt by experiencing it for yourself. For example, the scene in the beginning when the ring is delivered to the village of Mist and the encounter with Rydia. Square-Enix has decided to use these cut scenes at perfect moments, and with flawless translation. This will really grab your attention and keep you playing and for me was the best part of this game.
NEW FEATURES -- Quite a bit was added to the game that was not before seen. I will list them:
1. Maps on one of the screen of the dungeons and world maps
2. Character "paper doll" for when you equip weapons with ability to rotate view.
3. Rydia gets a new summon, with multiple mini games and upgrades to enhance it.
4. New translation of the entire dialogue.
5. Added scenes. A lot more is explained as 2/3 of the original dialogue was cut out for the US version. This is all added back in and we learn a lot more about the story.
6. Augment system. You can now change abilities of characters after they leave your party.
The list goes on and on....
In short, if you are a huge fan of this game, or even remotely interested buy this title. Anything said about it not being "quite different" or the upgrades not being worth it nitpicking because this title deserves nothing short of absolute praise.
Still a great game with sme interesting new features. July 25, 2008
Gaelon P. Morris
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
When this game was first released here in the states a group of us got together and powered through it over the first 24 hours (give or take) of having. We'd each take turns playing for a couple of hours. Eventually everyone else fell asleep and I kept on playing. By dawn the next morning I was in the last dungeon marching through the multitude of mini-boss battle to the final boss. Some great memories there.
Now I get to play this awesome game again, just at a more leisurely pace this time. One of the reasons to take more time with the game is the inclusion of mini-games for you Eidolon Whyt. These mini-games are pretty fun, reward you with items, and increase the strength of Whyt when you summon it for battle. Also new to the game is some nice cut-scenes and voice acting. It brings the game up in the epic feel while still retaining everything that the great offered when it first came out.
If you are an FF fan and a DS owner you probably don't need these reviews to know the game is worth buying, but if you are on the fence rest assured the game is definitely worth buying.
 Hey square, if it ain't broke don't fix it! July 28, 2008
Justin C. Harvey (Greer, SC)
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
Ok first of all i've beaten FFIV at least ten times over the years since the Snes days so i consider myself very familiar with the series. First of all i'll start with the bad. Square raised the difficulty of the game significantly, and some of the boss battles will have you pulling your hair out. It personally takes alot of the fun out of a game that i've enjoyed for years. Again, i'm an rpg veteran, i'm used to grinding levels to beat a boss so i expect a certain level of difficulty but this was a bit much.
With the good, i don't really have to say much, you can look at a screenshot and tell the improvement in graphics and gameplay, though they added a few new skills that add a little more customization to the game.
Overall if you loved the old RPG's from the super nes era or if you are a final fantasy fan, you'll probably pick this up, but i didn't see the point in square adding so much difficulty and frustration to an already great game. I've still had alot of fun with this game, but i've used about every swear word in the book during a few boss battles.
 Mostly Great - But Certainly Not Perfect August 3, 2008
J. Atkins (Pennsylvania, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am a major fan of Final Fantasy games and I have always thought FFIV to be the best in the series. The story is outstanding, the characters are varied and interesting, and the game is just a lot of fun to play.
I have two major gripes with this version, however.
The first (and most major) is the difficulty. I am used to the SNES version, which in my opinion had the right level of difficulty. As long as you fought all of the random battles along the way and reserved running only for desperate situations, you could play through the whole game without too much difficulty. That's not to say you would never be bested by a boss or even a random encounter, but a second try would usually find you successful, as long as you knew the right strategy. In this version, I found myself fighting the same boss battles 4 or 5 times before wandering around to earn more experience points to give myself at least a chance at winning. Now before going on, let me say I have no problem with "level grinding" per se, and I gladly do it in other RPGs. My problem with this in FFIV is the fact that characters join and leave your party so often, in some cases never to return, that it seems a terrible waste of time. Why spend an hour or two increasing the level of a character you know will be permanently leaving the party after the next boss battle (or even worse, before the next boss battle)? Another frustrating aspect to the difficulty is the fact that when you have to replay the same boss battle a dozen times, you have to watch the same cut-scene and go through the same dialogue a dozen times, which slows down game play and can make a person disenchanted with this version of the game.
The other problem I have with this version is relatively minor, but still bothersome. The reworked 3D graphics are nice but they aren't wonderful. The character designs are slightly childish and cartoon looking. This is ok, but the problem comes at the beginning of the game. I sit and watch several minutes of amazing full motion animation featuring most of the characters in the game. In this animation, the character designs are awesome. After this, the actual game graphics (which aren't bad in and of themselves) are disappointing. I enjoy the opening video, but it would have been better if it had been left out. You can't show someone a steak then feed them meatloaf.
Other than these two issues, the game comes through as still being an excellent RPG. I would have liked to see it possible to enter commands using the touch screen instead of the directional pad, but the controls work pretty well the way they are. This version of the game is definitely recommended to all RPG fans, whether or not you are familiar with earlier versions. Just don't expect to win every boss fight (or any boss fight, for that matter) on your first try, and don't be too disappointed when the game itself falls short of the opening animation, and you should really enjoy it.
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