Customer Reviews

Final Fantasy IV Advance

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While the more recent Final Fantasy games stick out in peoples mind, those who have been gaming for a long time will, no doubt, praise Final Fantasy IV as being the Final Fantasy that made the series what it is! Originally, it was released as Final Fantasy II in the United States in 1991. It later had another release on the Playstation in Final Fantasy Chronicles in 2001. Final Fantasy IV truly does define what Fantasy is, and it's nice to see that after fifteen years, the game is still a blast.

Cecil, a dark knight, is the leader of Castle Baron's airship fleet. As Castle Baron's motives become more warlike and disturbingly unjust, Cecil begins to question his morals. And when he brings about question to the King, he is stripped of his rank, and is ordered to deliver a package to a nearby village. Cecil doesn't suspect that what's happening to the kingdom could be real. He soon sets out to conquer whatever evil it is that has taken over his kingdom, as well as pursuing a more justified course in his life by ultimately giving up being the dark knight.

The story is a classic in the RPG world, said to be one of the best. It's full of memorable characters, and was the first Final Fantasy to incorporate a love story.

Aside from the story, the most memorable thing about Final Fantasy IV were the characters, bringing about some of the most well developed characters that had more than just a name, but a story of their own. The story is told in text on the screen just like any RPG. It has been updated from the original release of Final Fantasy II on the Super Nintendo. The text, for example, is more legible, and it is also a little bigger. This is perfect for the Gameboy Advance. Some backgrounds are also redrawn and made bigger for the GBA.

Those who played the original Final Fantasy II on the SNES will also notice changes in the battle system. Each character, for example, has a special attack. Cecil, for example, has the "Dark" technique which is fairly powerful. If you played Final Fantasy IV in the Final Fantasy Chronicles package, this is no surprise to you at all.

Final Fantasy IV was the first RPG to use the Active Time Battle System (ATB). When entering battle, all your characters have a gauge displayed below them. When it's full, they get to select a command and attack. The difference between this battle system and the original turn based is that your enemies can attack as you're selecting a command. This adds new challenge to the game, and Final Fantasy IV takes advantage of it by being one of the hardest RPGs you'll ever play. Battles do, however, come to a swift conclusion, despite how challening they are.

If you're new to the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy IV is not the first game you should play. Likewise, if you didn't play the Final Fantasy Chronicles version of Final Fantasy IV, you'll also find the game a little too challenging at first glance. This is simply because in Japan Final Fantasy IV had two versions. Easy Type and Hard Type. Easy Type was sent to the states as Final Fantasy II in 1991, and Hard Type was sent to the states as Final Fantasy IV in 2001 with the Final Fantasy Chronicles package. Easily enough, those who started with Final Fantasy VII will be amazed at how quickly Final Fantasy IV escalades into being what is widely considered one of the hardest RPGs ever made.

Graphically, Final Fantasy IV is right on par with GBA graphics. They look a lot better than they did on the SNES and the PSX. Places look a lot smoother, the backgrounds in combat are also incredible to look at. The enemies are about the same however, meaning they don't move, but rather flash when they do something. Despite that, the graphics are a fine update.

Where Final Fantasy IV truly shines is the music score. Branded as one of the best in the series, the music clearly captures the dramatic sequecences. Each character also has his or her own theme (a staple that would go into later Final Fantasy games as well). Final Fantasy IV has a captivating music score that any gamer will love.

It's nice to see Final Fantasy IV on the GBA, but the question has to be, why so long for the wait? The GBA isn't dead, but it certainly isn't lively anymore. It is better than waiting for a revamp on the Nintendo DS, though. Fans old and new alike will enjoy Final Fantasy IV on its new home.

The Good
+Classic RPG
+Compelling story
+Loveable characters
+Fantastic music score
+Good graphics

The Bad
-It's short. Ranging from 15-25 hours
-The game, for some gamers, will be overly difficult

I just bought this game last month, and have played all the way through it, including the unlockable side quests.
I'm not going to write much about the games story here, there are plenty of other reviews for that already. All I'm going to write about is the game itself.
Anyway, after playing all the way through the game, I have to say that I like it even more than the original. The script is much better, and the music sounds much better on the GBA.
One thing that I particularly liked about this game was all of the new unlockables! After beating the game, you unlock a new dungeon to explore, as well as a really cool music player! If you go down to extra and select "Music Player" in the main menu, you can listen to all of the tunes and melodies that you heard throughout the game! My personal favorites include, Hey Cid!, Rydia, Theme of love, Chocobo-chocobo, and Dancing Calcobrena.
The unlockable dungeon, Lunar ruins, is very cool! To fully unlock every room in the dungeon, you have to beat Zeromus once as each character. After that, you get to do some really cool extra tasks as each character! I wont spoil them for you, but just having them in the game highly increases the overall replay value of this game.

Now for the pros & cons of this remake...

Pros:
It's the same old game that you used to love, but with some cool upgrades and additions to game play.
New Quick Save feature allows you to save inside of dugeons and towns.
Some of the text from the old game has been fixed so now all of the magic spells aren't abreviated. Example: Meteo has been fixed to read Meteor.
Has new unlockable Music Player and side quest dungeon!
The music sounds much sharper on the GBA, you can really hear the seperate instruments playing in unison.
This version has the old, unedited script, which is far more convincing durring game play.

Cons:
Unlike Final Fantasy Chronicles, this game does not include Chrono Trigger.
They changed the sound effects for some of the moves, and changed the names of some of the moves. For example, Meteor doesnt make that screechy noise anymore, (which I thought sounded cool) and Nuke has been changed to Flare.
In battle, there seems to be a lag in reaction time when pressing down the buttons... (You press the button, but it takes a second to register the command.)

50/50:
None of the graphics have been upgraded, but if you're like me, that doesnt really matter.

If you're like me, and have already played Final Fantasy II for the snes or Final Fantasy Chronicles for the PSone, buy this game! It's well worth the price!

Here is a blast of nostalgia for your Gameboy Advance. Final Fantasy IV Advance aka Final Fantasy II aka Final Fantasy IV Hard-Type is a treat for old-school RPG players. Back in its hayday, Final Fantasy IV was the gold standard for what an RPG should be. The first in a series of remakes of that wonderful streak that was the SNES Final Fantasies, Final Fantasy IV is back and better than ever.
The story is as good as it ever was. Final Fantasy 4 did what Final Fantasy 2 (Japanese numbering) tried to do: mixed a well developed story with memorable characters with good if simple gameplay. This is the story of Cecil the Dark Knight who renounces his loyalty to the corrupt kingdom of Baron. Baron has been making war against the other nations of the world to capture four elemental crystals. When his king commands him to kill the innocent, Cecil sets out on a quest to make things right that will take him around the world, to the center of the earth, and to the moon. As he unravels the mystery of who is really behind the actions of Baron, he is joined by a cast of over ten playable characters. Each of them has a reason to join the fight. Characterization may not seem much by today's standards, but this game was made in an age when Square believed less was more. You revealed a motive once and then you moved on instead of going over and over the same psychological problem again and again.

Unlike the Playstation port that had absolutely no upgrades beyond its retranslated script, FF4Advance has a few minor visual tweaks. Some of the game sprites seem to have been tweaked abit to have more definition and character portraits have been redrawn and put in the dialogue boxes to indicate who is speaking. Most of the new portraits are fairly close to the old ones, Edge's and Rydia's are actually an improvement, but the new one's for Rosa, Paladin Cecil, and Edward in particular aren't so nice to look at. There are also two new dungeons and the ability to tackle the final boss with any of the other (still living) playable characters than with the fixed party of five like in the original. All of these new features are very unobtrusive so you can take advantage of them if you'd like the extra challenge or ignore them altogether. Instead of using the script from the original release that contained numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes and was censored due to Nintendo of America's then extremely strict guidelines, FF4A contains a more accurate revamped version. Of course, the "You spoony bard" line has, thankfully, been left intact. It's a classic.

If not for one issue I'd say that this is undoubtedly the best version of the game available. Final Fantasy IV was a really hard game. FF4A is not that hard at all- at least early in the game. I don't know if the difficulty was scaled back because they thought that people didn't want to waste GBA battery life on hours of leveling up or because I've played this game many times before, but it just seemed too easy. Anyone whose played it when it first came out should remember at least super tough boss battle be it Baigan, the Magnus Sisters, Evil Wall or something else. This time through they where like a cake walk. Also it seems that the Active Time Battle is set up in such a way as it gives your party the advantage. Your party seems to regain their turns twice as fast as the enemy. About half-way through the game, that legendary difficulty starts creeping back and by the final trek to the core of the moon you'll be thankful for any break the game will give you.

Final Fantasy IV shows in this port that it stands the test of time. Instead of feeling hoary, old, and outdated, it feels just as much fun as it was fifteen years ago.

I've grow up playing the Final Fantasy series like Final Fantasy for the NES and Final Fantasy IV for the SNES (used to be Final Fantasy II in US) back when I was 8. That was 15 years ago! Those were the good days. I also play the Playstation version of Final Fantasy IV. It was okay, but at least it has some cool video clips. And when I play the Gameboy Advance version of Final Fantasy IV, I was full of joy and happiness since it has LOTS of new stuff. But what's new in the Gameboy Advance version? You can finally switch characters (that are alive) before the final dungeon, new bonus dungeons, better translation, new enemies, new equipments, a bonus dungeon after you beat the game, and much much more!

Also, Final Fantasy V Advance and Final Fantasy VI Advance are coming soon as well along with Tales Of Phantasia which was a Japanese only game for the SNES is now coming soon to Gameboy Advance! So what are you waiting for? Bring back the memories by picking up your copy of Final Fantasy IV Advance and check out all the changes, today!

This title marks the point where the folks at Squaresoft finally hit their stride. Though previous FF titles offered battle systems, story elements, and world designs that were unique enough to sustain a loyal fandom, FFIV was the first home run.

Though FFIV, originally released in the U.S. on the Super Nintendo as "Final Fantasy 2", lacks the complexity of proceeding titles such as FF6 and on, this game offers much to RPG fans. I'll add that if you've never played an RPG before, FF4 is a wonderful choice as an introduction balancing challenge and simplicity well.

In this game you control Cecil and his band of warriors as they attempt to thwart a powerful dark wizard and a corrupt kingdom from unleashing ultimate destruction upon their world. Cecil is a conflicted character who must betray his own kingdom and his whole way of life to wield the power to fight evil. (I'm not giving much away here, you find this out in the first five minutes or so).

When I say world I mean world. This game was one of the first to enable you to explore a mode 7 "globe" complete with continents, landforms, and towns. As you seek new powers to aid you in your quest, you will also make new friends, discover new weapons, more efficient forms of transport, and you will add and (gulp) lose beloved party members along the way. A new player could spend 40-60 hours playing this game before reaching the end of this tale.

Ultimately, FF4 delivers well designed gameplay and an easy to use battle system, a compelling story, memorable characters (slashdot.com still uses Tellah and Edward as icons for their gaming articles), and beautiful music to keep you playing to the finish. Trust me, you'll like it.

Final Fantasy IV was originally released here in the US, in an extremely edited form, as Final Fantasy 2. then later it was re-released onto the psx along with chrono trigger as Final Fantasy Chronicles. the PSX version had "new" features such as the restoration of most of the features cut out in our final fantasy 2. But enough of the past, let's get to this edition: this latest iteration features many new features that were not in any of the previous editions. for starters, they have increased the quality of the music and visuals. on top of that, they have added the ability to choose from several different characters to fight through the final dungeon, and to go along with them, new weapons and armor have been added. To top it all off, once the game is completed a new dungeon will be unlocked with 50 levels of randomized dungeons that will be tailored to your characters levels. all in all, my opinion is that if you already own any of the past models,it is worth picking this up and giving it a playthrough just to see some of the new features. if you have never played any of the others, and you like old school RPGs, definately pick this one up.

This version of the game introduces an unfortunate lag between the selection of special attacks and their execution. This lag is so long that most special attacks become completely and utterly useless, and even spells become less effective, so in combat you'll be mindlessly attacking again and again until all foes are dead. Such was the greatness of the original game that it's still playable, but I'd recommend using another platform.

(Incidentally, if my information is incorrect, and the lag was as great in previous versions, then I take it back--this game sucks.)

By the look of this game, I knew it was going to be maginificent. There are many towns, in which carry different armor, weapons, potions, and antidotes that is, mostly, specific to it's environment. That was a great show of CLASSIC RPG. I loved the classic-renewed graphics of the game, and even though the graphics aren't as good as some of the recent games like SOM or Goldensun, this game portrays many possible role-playing selections that neither of those games have had. In FFIV, you can switch characters swiftly, use various amounts of magic spells and summons, have specific weapons for specific characters, and has great and imaginitive settings.
Overall, this game is fantastic. It gets extremely challenging at the end, but that is what makes it more fun. In the beginning, the monsters are small, tiny, and weak. But soon, the monsters are big and the art is done fabulously.
I think that if you love fantasy, adventure, RPGs, action, or even tactical games, you should go buy this game RIGHT NOW! =)

Since there are already several well written reviews already posted, I just wanted to add one huge thing that they've failed to mention.

This new version has an option for you to select and swap out different players in your party. This has never been available in any other version. Much like Final Fantasy III (ff6 in Japan) where you comprised your team from a pool of characters, Final Fantasy IV Advance lets you take Palom, Poram, Cid, & Yang to fight on the moon if you'd like!

There's also a new dungeon (Cave of Trials) in Mt. Ordeals that requires you to take each of those characters to face a boss in order to unlock their powerful end-game weapons. Each of these weapons (specific to each character. I.E. you can't equip Rydia with Palom's dagger even though they're both black mages) is ultra powerful and instantly makes them a worthy addition to your party (especially Yang's), well maybe not Edward. lol

Anyway, I'm sure that the vast majority of you who buy this game have played a previous versions and let me tell you that you will not be dissappointed. New fight scene/magic graphics, better music, reworked dialogue unique to this version, and new areas will make you feel like you're playing a classic for the first time!

PS- Playing this on the DS Lite

I've probably played Final Fantasy IV (Final Fantasy II back on the SNES) around 10 times, for the SNES and the PS1 version, and even a Japanese version. I was originally not going to purchase or play this version.
A friend got it for me for xmas, and I am overjoyed with the changes to this version!

Besides some improvements to graphics and minor additions (and also some things that are worse... the in game portrait of Rosa is HIDEOUS!) the translation of the game is AWESOME. The dialog in the game is much closer to the original Japanese version, and what was intended. The voice and character added to what the characters say is so impressive that, even though I've played the game 10 times, I feel like I'm experiencing it for the first time again. I am that excited to keep playing.
I feel there is so much added to the story (sometimes by adding so little, or changing how something was said) that this is by FAR the best version of this game to hit the US.
Even if you own the SNES or PS1 version, you should highly consider purchasing this game.