| Title | Final Fantasy IV (US: Final Fantasy II) |
| Year | 1991 |
| System | SNES |
| Developer | Square |
| Publisher | Square |
.jpg) |
| US Cover |
%20(Japan).jpg) |
| Japan Cover |
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.
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 may have found this disappointing and 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 highlight of the game is undoubtedly the plot. This is the first game in the series that really feels like an epic "Final Fantasy". The party has interesting and 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 consider playing one of the many ports/remakes eventually.
8/10
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 (NES), but I'll choose plot over gameplay and put this game on top!
More Enjoyed
- Final Fantasy IV (SNES)
- Final Fantasy III (NES)
- Final Fantasy II (NES)
- Final Fantasy (NES)
Less Enjoyed