A classic game, remade into a wonderful masterpiece that is now enjoyed among many final fantasy fans and veterans.
Final Fantasy IV follows the story of a Dark Knight named Cecil, who believed the King of his country was doing wrong and stood up against it. The result is a magnificent story that brings us to many different worlds, meeting many valued characters that add to the richness of the entire value.
Gameplay: FFIV is the 1st Final Fantasy to introduce the timed battle system, in which characters wait for their bar to fill up before any action can be made. In FFIV, 5 characters are allowed to be on the field at one time. Slots 1, 3, and 5 are considered front row slots, which many veterans will know belong to the melee fighters. Slots 2 and 4 are back row slots, mainly meant for mages. The rows can be switched at any time, meaning that slots 1, 3, and 5 can be made back row while 2 and 4 are front. Characters all have their own special skills, but the skills are mainly kept to a minimum, unless the characters were mages, in which either black or white magic can be learned as they increase in levels.
A new option included with the FFIV GBA release is being able to use old characters again. Considering that these characters were never meant to be in the storyline, their is a huge gap in power when comparing these characters to the original 5. Weapons and armors in the end of the game give huge boosts to characters such as Edward or Yang, mainly because they dont have a huge variety of equipment. This puts the main characters at a major disadvantage and might cause people to use the old characters that never came back in the SNES version, instead of spending time to train the main 5, such as Rydia or Edge.
Graphics: The graphics for the GBA version of Final Fantasy IV are mainly just beefed up graphics from the SNES. Characters and the world look very colorful, which adds to the overall effect. In Final Fantasy IV, 3 worlds are shown, the normal world, the underworld, and the moon. All three places have very distinct things about them that make them stand out and easy to remember. Overall, graphics are basically same old same old, with just a better touch.
Sound: The FFIV soundtrack for the game is basically the same that was offered in the SNES. These memorable tracks bring back many good memories and will be adored by old fans and new. It might not be anything spectacular or out of the box, but it does the job, and that is what counts. lol
Value: At the end of the Final Fantasy IV story, a new cave is offered, bringing new weapons and armors that were never seen before. After completing this, there really isnt that much of a point to replay this game again. The walk from memory lane has ended. Even with this sad fact, FFIV is still a beautiful game that can be enjoyed. If you go out and buy this, you wont be disappointed.