I’ll get this out of the way quick: Final Fantasy IV is much better than the first three games. I think I’ve finally reached the “good” Final Fantasy games. Almost everything in this game is done better than what the first three games did, and I can see why people think this is one of the best games in the series. Yet it’s far from perfect.
I got about three-quarters into the game, and thought that
this game is hitting all the right notes, without much to complain about. Any
gripes I had were minor, and soon once again forgotten by everything the game
did right. Unfortunately, it seems as though the developers still couldn’t figure out how to make an
end-game enjoyable.
I’m going to get all of the things the game did well first,
because they don’t really need explaining. I will point out that these are my
thoughts only on Final Fantasy IV,
and not Interlude or The After Years. While you will indeed find my thoughts on
those games below, each section was typed after each game’s conclusion, and
compiled later into one post. I did not want anything to change my opinion on
the original, but still wanted all thoughts in one post. Also, just like in the
past three games, I did not play the original version of the game, but on the
PSP as part of Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection. I really don’t know
what sort of differences there are, besides graphical updates, and difficulty
adjustments.
While the graphics are great, it’s likely an understatement
since I’ve been used to these graphics due to the Final Fantasy I and II
remakes. Still very nice to come back to the sprites after Final Fantasy III
DS, which really didn’t do it for me. The music, on the other hand, continues
to show where the developers excel. I might have been listening to the remixed
versions, but the three Final Fantasy games I’m comparing to were also remixes,
so it’s a fair statement. I loved the music diversity, and how it fit almost
all moments. If there’s any complaint, it’s that most of the final dungeon
music was not epic enough, and that the spaceship music was too upbeat and
cheerful for the scenes the player knew were coming.
The story, for me, is what sets this game apart from the
prior three games. Characters have unique personalities, show emotion, and
there’s an epic plot that never drags. Gone are the fetch-quests, the cheesy
lines, and “four heroes” storyline. The only previous game that comes remotely close to the story is Final
Fantasy II, but even with well personified characters, they can’t match those
in Final Fantasy IV (and the fetch-quests really brought down that plot). Also,
unlike the annoying character deaths in Final Fantasy II, characters dying and/or
leaving in Final Fantasy IV are more sad or moving than frustrating. It didn’t
matter if the characters returned, those dying/leaving fit into the story. I
look forward to playing Interlude and The After Years, because I want to see
what happens to all those characters, which is much more than I can say about
the other Final Fantasy games.
The last good thing I want to say about the game, is that I
enjoyed the hovercraft and Cid’s airship coming up out of the sand and ground,
respectively. I don’t care that this is a reoccurring idea in each of the Final
Fantasy games (and know it happens at least once more, in Final Fantasy X), I
enjoy it.
If there’s a reoccurring idea that I did not enjoy (SPOILERS
AHEAD FOR FINAL FANTASY III AND IV), it’s the last cutscene before the
final boss. Okay, so Fusoya and Golbez fight Zemus and lose, which also knocks
out the player’s party. Back on the Blue Planet, the rest of the characters and
important NPCs know something is amiss, and start praying. One by one, their
praying aids those on the Moon, reviving and healing them all, just in time to
fight the final boss. I wonder how many people out there know that this scene
was stolen from Final Fantasy III? Yes, that’s right, the exact same type of scene plays out in the previous game. The four
heroes of light (okay fine- Luneth, Arc, Refia and Ingus in the DS version) are
knocked out by the final boss. The important NPCs are gathered up by a
recently-deceased sage, who all come to the rescue by praying, which revives
the party just in time to stop the final boss. I cannot find anything online to
show that either scene was added to their respective game (mainly looking at
you Final Fantasy III, since you had character names/personalities added for
the DS version). This is more disappointing since they were back-to-back games,
and the better of the two stories “stole” the scene. END SPOILERS
Anyways, I have more complaints. But before continuing with other end-game frustrations, let me get
three others out of the way, which while minor, I kept seeing the entire game.
The first is that the “X” button is used to run. It sounds dumb, but it’s a bit
frustrating when the same button is used to interact with people and objects.
The problem is such: after opening a chest, the player must make sure to turn
away from the chest before holding down the button to run, or else interacting
with that chest again (or character, other object, etc.). Very frequently I
would interact with something again because I pressed the button too quickly.
The worst area was the spaceship, wasting a few seconds by interacting with the
controls. All I could find in the menu to change this was setting the character
to “always run”, which for some reason I don’t like. A small complaint, but one
I wanted to point out due to being easily avoided (there are two other
available face buttons on the PSP, Square Enix…).
Another minor complaint. When using some spells like Raise,
the cursor always starts on the upper-most character on the screen. In previous
Final Fantasy games that I played (Anniversary editions which came out before this one, I want to note), the
cursor would automatically jump to a character that needs said spell cast on
them. Honestly, why would I cast Raise on an alive character? Or use a Golden
Needle on a stoned character? I had the settings on “Wait” so taking my time
didn’t matter. But that fraction of a second might matter for a person playing
on “Active”. Just my thoughts.
The last minor complaint is in regards to the cutscenes,
with this version in particular with problems. This game has three types of
cutscenes: in-game cutscenes, rudimentary polygonal cutscenes, and nice updated
cutscenes. After watching the opening cutscene, with it’s pretty nice graphics,
watching the bizarre old, polygonal cutscenes during the game was painful. Any immersion I had in the game
was lost. They stuck out like nothing else in the game, and really make me
question why they didn’t try any sort
of in-game cutscenes instead.
As I mentioned before, my biggest complaints came apparent
during the last quarter of the game, mostly in the final dungeon actually. The
first is that unlike other dungeons, the player is well under-leveled to even
try attempting to trek through; not including the hilarity I imagine would
ensue if the player managed to reach the final boss. I grinded almost as much
for the final dungeon in Final Fantasy IV as I did for Final Fantasy III. Let
me repeat that. I grinded almost as much
for the final dungeon in Final Fantasy IV…as I did in Final Fantasy III.
That’s ridiculous, considering I used a guide for both games’ final dungeons
(only place I used a guide in Final Fantasy IV besides in the Sealed Cave to see which
monster doors to avoid), and the final dungeon(s) of Final Fantasy III are
supposed to be much longer (that’s actually debatable). Granted, Final Fantasy
III has way more grinding overall than Final Fantasy IV, but it at least gets
my point across. If this is supposed to be one of the best Final Fantasy games
in the series, and there was no mention of this grinding in any reviews, I’m
nervous that this is a continued trend in the later games.
So something that is definitely a reoccurring theme in the
Final Fantasy games: final dungeon enemies that become more feared than the
bosses themselves. Final Fantasy IV is no exception. I fled from about 90% of
the battles in the final dungeon, only less than Final Fantasy II (now those
final dungeon enemies were insane). Except unlike the last two games, it wasn’t
just due to difficult fights. It was thanks to about 60-70% of the battles
being back attacks. Early in the game, back attacks were a bit frustrating. But
when the majority of battles in the final dungeon are back attacks, I really
had to question what the programmers were thinking.
It only gets better (plenty of sarcasm here). I, like many
players I imagine, would flee these battles (along with most other battles in
the final dungeon). The further in the dungeon, the longer it takes to flee
from a battle. And of course each enemy gets at least one attack before the
player can actually get away, three to four hits further in. And, as they
should, the enemies get tougher further in as well. The combination of
boss-like enemies, with three to four attacks, and the party in the incorrect
formation, is a recipe for disaster. This forces the player to either use items
or MP to heal after every single battle, fled from or not, and using MP just
leads to more item usage later on (ethers, etc.). Major item conservation went on.
This is incredibly ironic, seeing as how the player can
only carry 48 items. I got lucky that I brought a gysahl whistle into the final
dungeon, or I would have had to make some tough decisions on what to throw
away. I was not going to teleport
out, just to store some items I may or may not need (turns out I wouldn’t have
needed them anyways, but that doesn’t change how I felt at the time).
Honestly, even if I had teleported out, I only had so much
money to spend. I give a big thanks to those who decided it was a good idea to
have the player lose a ton of gil
almost every time the player flees a battle. I can see it as a slight penalty I
suppose, but it really doesn’t make sense. Is the money supposed to distract
the enemies? Or is the player paying off the enemies, and the monsters have hidden
monster-shops somewhere in which to use the gil? I mean, the developers tried
to be somewhat realistic by only being able to carry so many items (that failed
as well, seeing as how 48 different tiny items should weigh less than 99
identical swords…), yet there was no good reason behind this. It doesn’t matter
that I had around 400k gil near the end of the dungeon and wasn’t going to use
it, losing 16k each flee was just frustrating.
You know, maybe the monsters do need the gil. They clearly
are buying chests from somewhere, to hide in. And that shopkeeper is an awful
person. Monster chests are awful the whole game (first time in the series,
thanks developers, another “great” idea- one I know does not go away in future
games unfortunately), but none worse than in the final dungeon. This complaint
is the sole reason I used a guide for the game. The first time I fought a
Behemoth in a final dungeon monster chest, and got my ass kicked, I knew it was
time for a guide. I was not about to
continue losing time due to random enemies that cannot be escaped. Another idea
that makes no sense- monster chests are unescapable, even if they’re the same
as any other enemy.
Okay, end rant.
You get the point. I hated that final dungeon. I used a
guide for the final dungeon of all four Final Fantasy games so far, which is
disappointing. More disappointing is that the final dungeon in Final Fantasy IV
seemed worse than any of the other three. Yes, worse than Final Fantasy II’s
many dead-ends, or Final Fantasy III’s triple-final dungeon.
Yet Final Fantasy IV is still much better than the first
three games, hands down. Barring the final dungeon frustrations, the rest of
the game does everything else better. Current ratings are as follows:
1. Final Fantasy IV
2. Final Fantasy II
3. Final Fantasy
4. Final Fantasy III
Interlude
Well, that was…interesting. Completed in a little over two
hours, the Interlude really was an interlude. I don’t have much good to say
about Interlude, besides that it was neat to see the characters again, shortly
after the original game. And I suppose it sets up The After Years. I do,
however, have some complaints. This should not be a surprise at this point. But
only three and this will be brief.
First, the amount of random battles almost seems higher than
in the original Final Fantasy IV, and annoying or frustrating are both large
understatements. Really, ALL random battles in Interlude are completely unnecessary
and pointless. There is zero need to level up or fight random battles. The few
bosses in the game need no leveling to beat (though I thought I might have to
grind for one, but got lucky on my second attempt). And even if one did want to level up, they’d be grinding
for hours, since all characters are way over-leveled for the areas they are
stuck in. I understand that the random battles needed to be there, because it
wouldn’t make sense for there to be zero enemies in these old areas that once
had them. But the developers could have at least toned down the encounter rate.
Though I suppose the encounter rate didn’t matter in the
Sealed Cave, considering the player is forced to fight at least a few monster
doors. Yes Square Enix, that’s exactly
the place the player wants to revisit. Of all the dungeons to choose from, the
Sealed Cave was the worst choice (barring the lower floors of the final
dungeon). Not much else needs to be said. Those monster doors are awful.
Finally, I have a qualm with the player’s inventory. The
player controls different characters in different areas, possibly at different
moments in time. Yet they all share the same inventory. This is really dumb,
and does not make sense. It’s not like a character joins the party, then
leaves, and might have part of the inventory items. That never happens, and
therefore not a concern for the developers. I thought they wanted some realism
with the “48 item inventory limit”, yet this negates any sense of realism. I
hope The After Years is better in this sense.
The After Years
After about three and a half hours of playtime, I called it
quits in The After Years. This is quite disappointing, because I really wanted
to play this “game”. The overall plot of The After Years may or may not be as
interesting as the original Final Fantasy IV, but after having become invested
in all of these characters, I was curious to see how their lives have
played/will play out.
To give one an idea of how far I got, I finished the first
chapter, Ceodore’s Tale, in about two hours and forty-five minutes. I then got
stuck on the next chapter, Rydia’s Tale, and accepted the fact that grinding
would have been the only answer, and I was not in the mood to waste my time due
to a poor gameplay decision (in my opinion). I could have skipped that chapter
and played any of the other four chapters, but it didn’t feel right. I wanted
to play through The After Years as the developers intended, to see the story
revealed in the correct order. More on that shortly.
The pros of The After Years? The story seems interesting,
the characters are given depth again, and the 48 item inventory limit appears
to be gone. That’s all I could think of, which is really sad. I mean yeah, the
fantastic music and great sprite graphics are still in place, but after so many
years between the original and The After Years, I would hope something would
grab my attention.
I have pushed myself through some tough times in my quest to
play through every Final Fantasy game, whether it be Final Fantasy II’s final
dungeon, Final Fantasy III’s areas of grinding or fear-inducing final dungeon,
or even Final Fantasy IV’s need to grind in the final areas. But this area of
The After Years pushed me too far. I quit playing because of the Sealed Cave. I’m
not sure what went through the minds of the developers, but for some reason
they honestly thought that forcing the player through the Sealed Cave again
(for the third time- Final Fantasy IV, Interlude, and now at least once in The
After Years, possibly more) would be either fun or a good idea. There are zero
required monster doors to fight this time around, which obviously was the
developer finally realizing the player’s frustration with this dungeon. It’s
too bad they forgot to focus on who
they were bringing into this dungeon.
First I need to explain that what is great about The After
Years is that the story bounces back and forth between different characters, so
the player gets to see the different perspectives of the situation as a whole. I
liked this idea, and how the chapters are set up so that the focus is on one
character, and what they are focusing on during these new events. Without
giving away spoilers, Ceodore is trying to make his way back to his parents,
and Rydia is trying to find out why the Eidelons have disappeared. However,
thanks to a handful of other cutscenes given to the player (and through the
events of Interlude), we as the player know of other plots going on at this
time, and are curious to see how those are progressing. Occasionally characters’
paths cross, and timelines start to fall into place. The plots might not be all
that creative, but it’s a well written game when played out in this fashion.
The one major problem with giving character’s their own stories
is that it forces them to be split up, teaming up with maybe one other
important character. Ceodore spends most of his chapter working with the
mysterious Hooded Man. From what I played of Rydia’s chapter, she fights
alongside Luca, the daughter of the dwarven king Giott. I’ll let you in on a
secret: Luca is not a mage. So, if you look at this team, you’ll notice that
there are no white mage-type abilities. Ceodore at least had Cure and Cura at
his disposal, which I took advantage of and used often. The game forces the
player to make a choice near the beginning of Rydia’s chapter: spend what
little money the player has on items to heal, armor to better survive enemy
hits and pray to get to a save point, weapons to kill enemies before they can
do damage, or spend time grinding for money. I chose defense and items.
So now we get to where I quit. I rushed through the Sealed
Cave, and fled from every random battle, seeing as how I was underpowered and
also had no way to heal. This should have been the first sign of trouble, but I
had been through worse in these games, so I pushed on. The second sign was
enemies having two turns before I was able to flee. Yet I pushed on, all the
way to the last save point. By now I was low on health, had no healing items
left, and the two minor party members in my team besides Rydia and Luca were
dead. These were two characters just randomly given to me to fight with, yet it
was a slap in the face by the developers. They had 100 HP, did maybe 8 damage a
hit, and had close to 0 defense. I didn’t bother once they died, since they didn’t
help my team. The boss was a Demon Wall. Wow, what a surprise. Even Rydia makes
an offhand comment like “I had a feeling this would happen”. It’s the
developers laughing again at the player, for forcing them through one of the
worse dungeons they’ve created over four Final Fantasy games. Anyways, I was
demolished. It didn’t help that Rydia had no summons, thanks to the story at
hand. Yet I already knew well before this point that I needed to grind. I can
accept some grinding, but the amount needed to overcome this boss and potential
future areas was well beyond what I was willing to put up with. So that was
that.
I do have other frustrations I would like to point out. I mentioned
that I like how the game jumps between characters to show what is going on, and
I stand behind that. The one problem with this is that some of these scenes are
from different points in time, and it can be very difficult to tell when this
is taking place. This is especially true with Rydia, since not only does she
have different scenes with her at different ages, but time passes differently
in the Feymarch. I like the complexity behind what the developers were going
for, but at some point it become too much for me to handle.
Speaking of time, I have a gripe with the moon phases
changing automatically. Nowhere in the game is there a clock to show the player
how long until the moon changes phases. So while a player such as me may
put a strategy in place by using a certain amount of tents to force the moon
into an advantageous phase, knowing that it could change into a disadvantageous
phase in the middle of a dungeon is disheartening. The game pushes the player
to grind while in the dungeons, but the player may be more apt to rush through
to fight a boss on the moon phase they personally forced into place. I feel
this could have simply been avoided by removing the system of the moon able to
change phases automatically. Personally, I would rather they remove the moon
phases idea completely. It seems neat until one realizes how hard it could make
the later portions of the game.
Finally, the amount of character swapping during chapters is
annoying. Over the course of Ceodore’s chapter, he had Biggs and Wedge, two
soldiers, a white mage and black mage, and the Hooded Man with him in his party
(and maybe others I cannot recall). It just felt unnecessary and annoying to
have that many characters come and go in such a short period of time,
especially since most will not be returning later.
