Final Fantasy IV

Genre: Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster Collection, along with Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VI)

Final Fantasy IV, originally released in 1991 on the Super Nintendo, was the first game in the franchise to be released on a platform other than the Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System. It was a step forward for its series in multiple ways, and to this day it remains a favorite of many players.

Due to the decision by Square (later Square Enix) not to publish Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III outside of Japan, and wanting to avoid confusion when bringing this game to Western audiences, Final Fantasy IV was retitled Final Fantasy II in its Western release, though it has since reverted back to referring to these games using their original Japanese numbering. Even so, whenever you talk about Final Fantasy II, particularly with those who played the series back in the Super Nintendo era, you often still need to specify whether you’re talking about the American Final Fantasy II or the Japanese Final Fantasy II, which some called Final Fantasy IIj.

In the time since Final Fantasy IV’s original release, it has seen multiple re-releases and remakes. The Super Famicom received a Japan-only re-release of this game with an easier difficulty and other features designed to make the game more accessible, a port to the original PlayStation in the Final Fantasy Collection bundle re-translated the game’s localization and added new pre-rendered cutscenes, a WonderSwan Color port added enhanced visuals, a Game Boy Advance release further enhanced the graphics and improved the localization and added new bonus content as well as adding a new party-swapping option in the late-game, the Nintendo DS received a fully-3D remake of the game, and the PlayStation Portable version of the game comes packaged with Final Fantasy IV Interlude and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, a direct sequel and an interlude between the two.

This release, the “Pixel Remaster” version of the game, originally released on PC and mobile platforms in 2021, with a port to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch with a few extra features in 2023. I’m not about to compare this release to each and every other version of the game, but I will note some of the features and comparisons this release has to other versions. Having said that, there’s good news here and bad news.

I’ll get the bad news out of the way right now – this game doesn’t give us the graphical overhaul the 3D remake on Nintendo DS received, nor does it give us Interlude and The After Years. It also doesn’t have the pre-rendered cutscenes the PlayStation version of the game received (though it thankfully also lacks the horrible loading times of that release). Anyone hoping that this would be anything remotely like a comprehensive package of Final Fantasy IV content is likely to be disappointed.

The good news is that the remade presentation here is still quite nice, though this isn’t the great leap over the original games like Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, and Final Fantasy III received. The Pixel Remaster version of the game adds in some nice added effects like lighting highlights on the ocean, and a really nice flowing water effect in streams, and there are other subtle changes here and there, but overall this doesn’t look dramatically improved over the original release. Also, for players who complained about the modernized text in PC and mobile release of the Pixel Remasters, this version has added options to return the text to the pixelated original look.

The more significant change here has to be this version’s newly-remade soundtrack using a combination of orchestrated, instrumental, and synthesized themes. I tend to think that Final Fantasy IV is when this series’ music started to get good, and this release has some great new versions of classic themes. I don’t have any tracks I can link to directly, but check out this page for samples. In particular, I recommend 7. Main Theme of Final Fantasy IV, 8. Battle 1, 13. Battle 2, 15. Rydia, 25. Mystic Mysidia, and 30. Troian Beauty. In short, this is a solid remake of a solid game soundtrack. Still, for those who prefer the original soundtrack, you can opt to play with the original chiptune music instead.

Beyond the presentation, there are also content and gameplay improvements here too. One of the most noteworthy improvements has to be the new Auto-Battle system, which can really cut down on the grinding this game puts players through. Want to cut down it even more? The PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch release include menu options to boost the amount of gold and experience you get from battles, allowing you to severely cut down on the grinding. If you prefer, you can even eliminate random encounters completely, though of course this could lead to being severely under-leveled when encountering scripted battles like bosses.

This release also adds a quick save feature you can use in a town or dungeon, as well as a new map system. You can also change the button layout to suit your preferences. Finally, the game’s main menu includes a gallery where you can listen to the entire soundtrack and look at concept and publicity art for the game.

Okay, so now that we’ve talked about all the changes made to this release of the game, what about the game itself? How well has it aged?

In my reviews of the previous games in the series, I mentioned the series struggling to find a balance between unique and distinct characters and character customizability, and Final Fantasy IV leans hard in the direction of “unique and distinct”, without any character customization at all. However, unlike the first Final Fantasy, where you can select the classes your party consists of, in this game you are entirely at the whims of the game’s plot.

This is actually even worse than you might imagine it to be. Early on, it’s a problem because after the game’s introduction, the game’s main protagonist Cecil is the only one in your party with any competence when it comes to directly attacking enemies – other early party members like Rydia and Tellah are magic-users, and will repeatedly whiff when you try to have them attack. This means that if you want them to contribute in any meaningful way, you’ll be making use of their magic, and keeping an eye on their remaining MP. So much for the new auto-battle feature, then.

However, while this makes for a frustrating start to the game, the game constantly swapping out your party members also means that any effort you put into long-term planning is frequently wasted when the plot decides that a particular character will now be leaving your party, possibly never to return. Hopefully you didn’t blow all your money on a cool new sword or piece of armor for that guy…

I suppose here’s where I talk about the plot. To the game’s credit, it does indeed have a plot and actual characters with an actual personality. Tellah shouting “You Spoony Bard!” at Prince Edward has become one of the most iconic quotes of the series, and overall the characters here feel far more well-realized than the characters in any of the earlier games (by which I’m mainly saying they’re more well-realized than the characters in Final Fantasy II, since both Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy III didn’t even have distinct playable character).

However, while the characters are memorable and there are some noteworthy scenes here, the plot still feels like the worst kind of juvenile Saturday morning cartoon hijinks. You know how I mentioned characters jumping in and out of your party regularly due to the plot? Half the time it’s because one of them decided to make a silly heroic sacrifice (and then half the time this is undercut by revealing they’re still alive later). The over-arching plot, involving a king who has seemingly gone mad and has started having his military killing people all over the world to get magical crystals, isn’t terrible, and I really like that the game’s protagonist starts his journey as a reluctant villain but gets pushed over the edge and resolves to put an end to it. But the game seems to go through such a circuitous route that it’s hard to take it too seriously.

This game does add more innovations that would echo through later games in the series. This is the first game to use the series’ infamous Active Time Battle system, meaning that enemies can attack you while you’re making menu choices, heightening tension in battles. This system would continue to be used for every subsequent mainline game in the series through Final Fantasy IX. And as I mentioned, this is the first game in the series that I feel really put the emphasis on the plot. However, while this game is definitely important in the series’ history, I don’t think it holds up terribly well today.

Then we have to look at this game’s price. I do appreciate the improvements and enhancements that this version of the game received, but even so, $18 seems like an absurdly high price for a game that’s over 30 years old, especially when this is nowhere near a comprehensive release. Seriously, if they were gonna’ charge an arm and a leg for this game, they could have at least tossed in The After Years to sweeten the deal.

In the end, I really wanted to like this release of Final Fantasy IV. The new soundtrack is great, and some of the new features are really nice. But this game has not aged well, and this release is far too expensive when it is so lacking in content. Again, I know that some people absolutely love this game – I have fond memories of it myself! But for everything it does that’s wonderful and groundbreaking, it seems to have multiple flaws that I can’t ignore. As a result, this is a game for only the most diehard Final Fantasy fans, and even they may find themselves disappointed at the missing content in this release.

tl;dr – Final Fantasy IV is a Turn-Based JRPG that made some major innovations that shaped the franchise, but this game has not aged well at all. And while the remade music in this release is wonderful and some of the new added features are nice, they do not justify the bloated $18 price tag this game has, especially when this release is missing some pretty significant content that was included in other versions of the game. Unless you’re a big Final Fantasy fan or have major nostalgia for this game, skip it.

Grade: C+

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