The remake of Final Fantasy 4 (originally released in the United States as Final Fantasy 2 for the SNES) for the DS has been THE game I have been awaiting all year, and I was the first person to pick it up. My username comes directly from this game, and I definitely know the ins and outs of this game better than any other RPG in history, and have beaten it (in the SNES, PSX and GBA forms) at least 30 times. I thought I’d open a thread to discuss with fellow players.
Okay, first of, comparisons to the previous releases…well, the first thing you’ll notice is the new graphics. It was totally redone to look like a 3D game, similar to the PSX/PS2 games. It seems odd how thin Cecil’s legs are, like he’s some kind of girly-man. It’s even more amusing to see him sleeping in his armor with the new graphics.
This game also has dialogue…but only for some scenes. Cecil and Rosa are about what I pictured, but Kain’s is a lot deeper than I expected. I’ve gotten Tellah too but he hasn’t spoken yet (I’m almost SURE he’s going to speak YOU SPOONY BARD though).
This game is also A LOT harder than the previous versions. I actually died against the Mist Dragon TWICE, since it does a lot more damage now and you HAVE to use potions to win the battle.
The new map feature which the lower screen uses is weird. It’s nice to have it there, but rewarding you for going everywhere is bizarre. Another thing that’s really annoying is the battle animations, since I’m used to running from EVERYTHING until after Mt Ordeals, and it takes longer than 2 seconds per battle when I have to watch everyone do their dance first.
I’m definitely going to enjoy playing through again, if not for the great story (for the first 3/4 of the game, this is the best storytelling I’ve ever seen in an RPG) but to see what’s old, what’s new, and what’s better/worse.
I haven’t played games for a long time. What is DS? I loved the Final Fantasy series, but when they started making it so that you HAD to play online, I stopped buying them. I am pretty sure I played 4, but it’s been a long time, and it was on SNES if I remember correctly. I also loved King’s Quest and have had a hard time finding any of them for PC.
Nintendo DS… Nintendo Dual Screen. It’s the Nintendo portable game player, probably most well known for its games like “Brain Age,” designed to help improve your thinking skills.
Also, a question for fusoya: I have been playing Final Fantasy 3 for the DS, and I absolutely hate the job system. Does FF4 still implement them? It’s a complete pain in the ass, IMO.
DS is Nintendo’s Dual Screen gameboy system, their newest (although it’s been out for a couple years already) handheld.
FF4 is the one with Cecil & Kain, the kingdom of Baron stealing crystals, airships in the opening attack scene, the spoony bard, etc…best RPG ever made.
And no, there’s no job system. One of the nice things about this game is that a White Mage is a WHITE MAGE. She will never gain the ability to cast black magic (although Sages can, but they’re even worse at physical attacks) or use a sword. A knight is a dumb guy with a sword, and that’s all he can do too. Although there is one class that repeats (with some unique abilities to differ the two characters who are never in the same party together), every other character is completely unique in their job.
So they made him match the other male leads in the series?
I don’t have the DS version but my opinions and experience with the original verison of the game are almost exactly the same as yours. You’re making me want this now.
I’m with you, Hoopy. I appreciated the additional character development options that came in at 5 and 6/3.
I’m not getting the 4 reissue. The reason you might be remembering it as easier is that the US got the easy version of the game since at that time the Japanese game makers thought the US gamers were too stupid to play their sophisticated games.
oh, also…am I the only one who has been calling him Seee-silll for the last 16 years? Hell we even named one of my dogs Seee-sill after him. But the dialogue calls him Sesss-sill.
Also, it was always My-cid-eee-uhh to me, but in the dialogue it is Misss-cid-eee-uhh. I can’t wait until I start hearing Lali-ho spoken out!
And no, this is a new level of hard. I’ve played the Japanese version of the SNES plenty of times, and while it was harder than the US version, I still never DIED (except occasionally if the Magus Sisters battle went wrong or if I couldn’t get Kain in the air before Golbez summoned the insta-kill dragon). Most of the things that were dummied down in the US version were more clearly showing secret passages in caves, and taking away all of those status healing items and instead having one item called Heal, as well as making everything in shops much cheaper.
Wait till The Tower of Zot. Freakin ice hounds can kill everyone but Cecil in one damn spell.
Though I am loving the new level of challenge. Way back when this first came out, and I played it to death, it always seemed a little on the easy side, barring a few of the extra things you didn’t have to do. This is more reasonable, and more enjoyable, to have to work for those boss kills!
I think I tried to play this game when it came out for the PlayStation as part of the Final Fantasy Chronicles package. But the load times were hideously slow for some reason.
Is there some way I can tell is this is the same game. The only thing I really remember is having my character go up onto a cliff early in the game.
I am thinking about giving it another shot on the DS. (Anyone want to loan me $40?)
You’re PROBABLY thinking about Final Fantasy 6 (originally released as Final Fantasy 3 for the SNES in the United States…damn Square for making everything so confusing)…the opening of that game has the characters looking down on the first town from a cliff, right before they attack it. This game does have two mountain levels early on in the game though.
And the dragon has always been Ba-Ha-Mute to me (as in the Baha Men). I haven’t had enough free time to play any more yet…still in the water passage (when I first got the game for Christmas in 1991, I played it for 5 hours straight, until I got stuck at the Magus Sisters…which took me a whole week of trying and failing to get by…the only other spot I got stuck at was trying to figure out how to get out of the underground the second time…there are certain number of tasks you need to do to trigger certain scenes, and it took me a while to be in all the right places at the right times).
This is one of the things surprising me. I can recall my first playthrough taking something like 18 hours and change. Levels had not quite hit 60. Currently? I’m at the Magus Sisters, 12 or so hours in, and lvl 35ish.
I was the first one to get it from the Gamestop in Kahului, yay me!
I’ve also played this game and its remakes since the beginning, back when it was FFII on the SNES. I’ve noticed the increased difficulty curve, but so far it hasn’t been a terrible problem for me. The only times I’ve been wiped out completely was opening the chests in Eblan Castle, and that’s because at the time you can reach it the enemies are way stronger than you can really handle.
Unless you’re like me and cast “Break” on everything.
Oh, and the only other time was…
When fighting MomBomb upon meeting Yang. When it’s counting down, make sure you have Edward use “Hide”, and everyone else defend. It’ll explode and wipe out at least 2 or 3 characters.
I find the lower map screen to be kind of distracting. I tend to be looking at that as I move around instead of the upper screen, for some reason, making sure I complete the whole map and getting the little prizes. I’ve grown used to the increased difficulty curve, but the only thing I can’t get over is how little money you get in battles compared to how expensive armor is becoming.
I agree Kain’s voice kind of surprised me when I first heard it. Though what makes Cecil more feminine to me is the fact he seems to be wearing purple lipstick at times when he’s talking or gets a closeup. XD
I think you’re right. I dug it out and it’s Final Fantasy Anthology and the game is billed as FF VI. Thanks. Now all I have to do is figure out what I want to spend my money on and it’s either this or Tactics 2A.
Yeah so I’m finally up to the tower of Zot, and I see what you’re talking about. Random encounters should NEVER be death battles before you even get the chance to run away! I was on a hot streak for a while (beat the antlion, mombomb, earth fields, Baigan and the water fiend on my first try) until the Dark Elf, which I had to try 3 times…which is annoying cuz there’s that fake battle and then a dialogue scene to sit through.
Zot was never a problem for me until the Magus Sister battle, which is the hardest mandatory battle in the original game, and so far I’ve died twice before I could even reach the first save point (once from the ice dogs, and once from the fire dog in the treasure chest).
I just finished the first Tower of Babil run, which is freakin’ amazing–Lugae’s second form will kill you 900 different ways until you get haste, so you might as well level to it. Even then, you’re probably screwed unless you’re smarter than me and figure out how to resurrect the dead while Reversal Gas status is on.
So much harder, true, but the engine reminds me strongly of FF7, the character design is great, the translations are much improved…man, I’m in heaven.
…Actually, after the Tower of Zot I found the Magus Sisters a pushover. I crushed the hell out of the tall one ASAP, then just spread the damage love–Delta Attack gets really funny when shorty nukes her sister twice because reflect isn’t up anymore.
