Final Fantasy IV for the DS blends the old with the new quite well.
Final Fantasy IV initially released in North America for the Super Nintendo system in 1991 and was labeled Final Fantasy II. The original game was a profound game in many respects. The battle system was refined for the time, the story was epic back then and the music was more than memorable. Because of all these reasons, Final Fantasy II remains to this day, one of the hallmarks of the Role Playing experience. Now on the DS 16 years later, Final Fantasy comes with a very uplifted look with sparkling 3D graphics and voice acting.
The game starts you off as Cecil, a dark knight of Baron. Baron has become increasingly hostile as the king seeks the crystals of the world to an unknown end. Cecil, against his better judgment continues to follow his King's orders but is eventually brought to a breaking point where he can no longer accept orders blindly. When he finally confronts the King, the King punishes him and relieves him of his post. With his friend Kain at his side, he ventures out to deliver a package and see what else the world has to offer him.
Along the way, Cecil will meet nearly a dozen characters that will join him on his journey for redemption and the true value of the crystals. They all have different job types from bards, to spellcasters.
Battles in the game are fairly old school as they are random. You'll be walking in a cave or on the overworld and then suddenly, you'll be thrust into battle. Battles are turn based but characters and enemies both are on the active time battle system. There is a white bar that fills up and when it does, the character can choose to perform actions. There is quite a bit of strategy to the game especially for the boss battles, because the key is to have the right balance of spell casting, attacking and various other techniques.
In each battle, it is easy to identify what everything is and what status ailments characters have. Also, if enemies are affected, this will show as well. I especially love it when enemies are paralyzed and they actually stop moving! All the spells in the game increase in vibrancy as they get stronger while summon spells have actual cut scenes that are very entertaining to watch but you can always skip them if you've seen them too many times.
Visually speaking, the game is wonderful and pushes the DS to it's limits. All the characters are beautiful and the game runs at a smooth rate and never gets choppy in my experience. The polygons aren't going to blow anyone away and it looks much like a Playstation 1 game, which is pretty good for a portable system.
The sounds of the game are fairly standard and effective as the heavy axe sounds really like it's coming down on an enemies' head when it makes contact. Many of the sounds are from the original game and the music is almost exactly the same.
Each character has unique abilities that others do not have. Rosa has the ability to pray granting more life and magic points to party members while Kain has the ability to jump and land down on enemies causing more damage. Since you'll be going through many characters, they'll be leaving you at certain junctures of the game. What this version of the game has is augments. After characters leave, it is possible to have their skills passed onto other characters so in a way, their unique abilities are still around long after they are no longer in your party.
Another new edition to this version is Rydia's pet, Whyt. Rydia can summon Whyt and he will replace Rydia in battle. Although you can not control Whyt, he does perform abilities that you equip him with and so he can do a lot of maneuvers other characters can not. Whyt's stats can be improved by playing little mini games and you can also battle other player's Whyt's through Nintendo wi-fi.
One of the welcome additions, is the adding of the map. As you progress in dungeons and caverns, the bottom screen is automatically filled in, making it a lot easier for subsequent visits.
If anyone has played the Game Boy Advance version, there were a few extra dungeons and secrets that were not available in other versions of the game. The Nintendo iteration does not have the extras but what it misses in that is surely compensated in the great wealth of challenge and the other additions in this version of the game.
Extra content also comes in the way of the Namingway side quest. Originally, Namingway can change the names of your characters but with voice acting, this makes this impossible and so instead, Namingway can be seen on your journey in many different occupations.
Also, the game allows the new game + feature that was available back in the days of Chrono Trigger, allowing players to play the game a 2nd and a final 3rd time with some previous items and abilities making the game easier and also having secret bosses that are much more difficult than the regular ones. With this feature, the game's replayability is increased and the game can push easily beyond forty hours the first play through.
One of the notable improvements over the original is the story. Back in 1991, Final Fantasy II had a very good story to deliver but some of it was lost in the translation. Though it came off epic at the time, many felt it could have been much better if only it was translated more accurately. This cavalcade does not disappoint and it is greatly improved. The prose and diction is spot on and with the addition of voice acting, this version is the most polished yet to be seen. For some, Cecil comes off a little whiny but other than that, few have complaints and I believe they did a fairly good job of casting the voices.
Even if you're a seasoned veteran of the game, it won't mean the game will be easy for you. Many of the old strategies simply don't work well and the game is generally more difficult forcing players to think through more carefully. One of the things I noticed that makes this version significantly better than the original is the fact that spells like hold, slow, and silence can actually affect bosses. This only adds to the strategic value of the game and the characters are much more unique and useful than in previous version forcing players to adapt to the new difficulty.
The game doesn't utilize the stylus very much. You can direct your character with the stylus but other than that, there is no other use. This doesn't really detract from the game but it is something to note.
In the end, Final Fantasy IV does a good job of blending the old with the new. With updated graphics and keeping the core classic game play intact, old fans and newer fans should enjoy this romp into old school gaming. I recommend this game but get ready for it to be fairly difficult!