Fainaru fantajî IV

Final Fantasy II is probably the best RPG in existence. I've played it through numerous times and it has been an exciting adventure every time. The story is truly one to be recognized. Cecil, a dark knight, betrays his country once he feels that it's direction has turned more towards evil. During his quest to retaliate, he must face trials that bring him to learn that his ties between the ultimate evil and the ultimate good are more than he could have ever imagined. An excellent cast of characters and a musical score that is absolutely fantastic. A story that should be told again and again. Should be a movie by now.

Once again, the Final Fantasy series holds true to form and comes out with an astounding video game focusing on Magic and Hit Points and discovering weapons and hidden treasure. This game does a fabulous job of making the player understand Cecil's internal conflicts, and how all of the other characters relate to him. The various characters rotating in and out of the main plot is very well done. The return of familiar spells and effects is embraced as well. All in all, this is a worth-your-time game. Plus, it is here that Cid makes his debut (at least for the American series...).

As one of the older Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy IV (originally released as FFII in the U.S.) is one of those early games mostly neglected by the surge of Final Fantasy fans that came in after FFVII. As a game, this installment is set in the more traditional fantasy sense, where there's less emphasis on technology and more on the mystical. Each character has their own specified job, and contrary to what most people who give negative reviews for this game suggest, each one has a distinct personality that really shouldn't take much time to notice. While you're not given a huge in-depth look on the past of most characters, that's not the point of the game. This entry in the series focuses on the journey, the struggle to overcome obstacles to reach the intended goal. All characters must endure and push through some kind of handicap, and each comes out stronger for it.

The traditional modes of transportation exist in this game: foot, chocobos, and airship. However, there are many permutations of each, some of which reappear later in the series. The same can be said of key locations, items, equipment, and concepts: many started with this game that come back later in the whole set of Final Fantasy games. This does not mean this game eventually turned Final Fantasy into the powerhouse it is today, it simply means that it had a big hand in shaping the direction it went.

Music in this game accurately portrays the overall mood, as Nobuo Uematsu often does in his compositions. Fights feel that much more exciting, while sad seems are that much more emotional. Meanwhile, the graphics are fairly well-developed and colorful despite the fact that this was one of the games before the Playstation introduced polygons in place of pixels.

For fights, the traditional Active Time Battle system is in place in this period. Unlike some later Final Fantasy games, each character has a definitive, specific role for each battle, rather than a minor suggestive direction by the game creators. One character mostly uses Black Magic and excels at it, while another has a particular battle skill. The abilities of Fight, Black Magic, White Magic, and Item are commonplace for specific characters throughout the game, but not all characters have all 4 of these choices. In actuality, only two of the four are on every single character: Fight and Item. This game doesn't lend the characters to flexibility, and while that may seem bad to some people, it indirectly adds a sense of identity to the characters. White Magic infers that the character is very caring and self-sacrificing, for instance. This game, unlike many others, actively involves the battle system itself as important to the overall experience, rather than turning it into just a fun thing to do on a Saturday morning.

For the person who simply wants to kill monsters, be entertained by fancy graphics, and doesn't like to think too intently on the subject matter, this one is not for you. But for those who enjoy thinking about their gaming experience more deeply and are heavy in philosophy, this might become one of the shining gems of your collection if you choose to play it.

Final Fantasy 1,2, & 3 are ok games I guess, but FF4 is the first one in the series to actually be good. There is an actual story, real character motivation, and a real RPG element gameplay.

The issue for me is that this game (along with pretty much JRPGs of the 90's) is super grind heavy. You pretty much have to spent a lot of time just battling, and these turn based battle systems are really boring and the worst parts of some JRPGs. It gets to a point where enemies become so strong you have no choice to spend time just walking around engaging in these boring turn based battles.

Anyways, play it on a SNES Emulator and just speed up the battles.

8/10

In 1991, a little known company gaming company known as Square(soft) in Japan released the fourth segment of it's Final Fantasy series. Little did they know (or maybe they did) where it would lead them.

I would call Final Fantasy IV the "sleeper hit" of the series. It was considered by the few who got their hands on it back in the early 90's their "favorite video game ever". It had rave reviews, and started to garner a cult-like rpg gamer following. And of course, in every aspect, it deserved it.

Hironobu Sakaguchi did a wonderful job in giving depth, for what can be disputed as the first time, to a video game rpg character. The main character of this video game "Cecil" starts out as a "bad guy" with a conscience. Of course, this may be considered cliche nowadays, but back in 1991, it was quite revolutionary. Cecil's predicament, although it may not be original, is a moving one.

Cecil, the dark knight, is the captain of the Red Wings, the Kingdom of Baron's "air force". His story starts with the war mongering of his liege in search for the all-powerful Crystals, which's purposes are shrouded in mystery. After a battle in the mage town of Mysidia, Cecil, torn between his duty and his guilt, confronts his King asking him why he is on this blood-thirsty conquest, and he is promptly banished from the Kingdom on an errand with his Dragoon friend Kain, to make up for this mistake. One must ask, will Cecil ever stand up to his liege and confront his inner demons? Here is where this epic adventure begins.

Following this neat intro, we are introduced to a vast array of different characters that Cecil encounters in his quest; to name a few, Rosa, Rydia, Yang, Palom, Porom, Tellah, and the first of the famous "Cid" characters in the Final Fantasy series. There is a HUGE world to explore (for a 1991 rpg) with many different terrains (even the moon), many different and interesting antagonists (Golbez, the Four fiends), and a mass of evil monsters to be destroyed.

Nubuo Uematsu shines with his inspiring music in this game. This was his first opportunity to show his composing skills and develop a full and rich soundtrack. I was amazed, when this game first came out, at how "orchestrated" a video game can sound...It is no surprise now that Nubuo is now a highly acclaimed composer, both in and out of video game music. If you are a fan, give this soundtrack a listen...These are his roots.

All in all, I give Final Fantasy IV a very biased 5 stars...Although it is reasonably disputed that Final Fantasy 6 and 7 are better overall games, this one will hold a place in my heart. It was the funder of 6...it shaped the things to come.