Games worth discovering
37 View2024-08-29
Final Fantasy IV marks the beginning of a new era, and the evolution from the prior NES games, to the much more capable SNES system, and i remember, that i was incredibly excited, when Final Fantasy IV was remade in 3D for the Nintendo DS, and such, available for european players for the first time.
I also remember, though, that i was very disppointed of the very conservative changes that had been done, and that the game could have been released for the NES without any compromise. In fact, the SNES-debut felt surprisingly barebones, and, i never found the motivation to finish it...
With the release of the Pixel-Remasters, the series was finally dusted professionally, and the time to experience the origins had come...
Today, i beat Final Fantasy IV for the first time, after a total playtime of about 11 hours. It was the shortest playthrough so far, resulting from the fact, that the storyline is very streamlined, and that the open-world mechanic from the previous games, where the player needs to literally find his way through the story, has been abandoned.
Another relevant fact is a fixed party, that changes during the game, but cannot be affected by the player. Equipment is very strict for each party-member, and spells are automatically learned by leveling, which means, that you dont need to reload leveling-ups like in the first game, that you dont need to relearn every new spell like in FFII, that you dont need to level up different classes like in FFIII.
And, in addition with the mapped dungeons, as well as the experience-boosters and skippable random encounters, that were introduced in 01/2024, Final Fantasy IV has become a short but fluid experience.
What else can i say...
Like every Final Fantasy game, part IV experiments with new mechanics, and introduces a real-time battle-system. What i like about it, is that faster characters get to act faster and more frequently, giving certain classes a new meaning. What i dont like about it, is that the time cannot be stopped, once a character is ready to make an action. The best you can do, is make the timer stop, while you are selecting an item or spell...
The storyline is alright, but in the end, not much more than an instrument, to explain why characters in the party are switched. Which i personally did not like...
Do i still recommend the Pixel Remaster?
Yes, i do! Its the least annoying Final Fantasy that i have played so far, and although it doesnt do anything better than its predecessors, the developers have learned from their mistakes.
Altogether, i rate Final Fantasy IV PR with 6.5 out of 10 points...
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