So this is the third Final Fantasy game for the DS done by Matrix software. The guys Square hired to create the 3D versions of Final Fantasy III and IV, and who - once upon a time - made the Alundra games on PSOne. They seem to have quite a grasp of what made classic Final Fantasy games work, which is likely why Square let them make this throwback title. Not only did they embrace the classic elements and create a new game to evoke that, but they decided to try a few forward-thinking design elements as well. By all accounts, this should be the Final Fantasy equivalent to the excellent Dragon Quest IX. A new-skool RPG with the heart of a classic, with modern design elements borrowed from western RPGs, like multiplayer, and customizable party members. But as much as it's heart is in the right place, and for as much as it gets right, it's just not interesting enough to keep you motivated all the way to the end.
So, 4 Heroes actually gets a lot right. Visually, the style here is charming. It's storybookish - it actually borrows the "rotating drum world" from games like Animal Crossing and Deathspank - and the character models evoke the sprite art of the classic games. The game SOUNDS like a long-lost Final Fantasy game as well; the synthesizer at work is clearly inspired by the NES/SNES. But neither element is that inspired. For as cute as the game looks, it's merely workmanlike. It works, but there's nothing here that stands out. The music sounds great, if you're into chiptunes, but there's nothing here that's memorable (except, perhaps, the main theme). The localization is strong too; none of the dialog sounds weird, and all the characters have unique voices. None of the dumb, generic, anime stereotypes from Final Fantasy X, XIII, VIII, etc. Again, they have little personality though. These are classic (apprentice) Knights and Mercenaries and Princesses, and they get the job done. But... that's it. Oddly enough, they're also clearly children. This seems to handicap them somewhat, especially the "edgy other guy" of the main four...
Why don't I give him a name? Because none of them have names; the entire party is customizable. Which is commendable. Most JRPGs are so married to their character designs, they forget that this is a ROLE PLAYING game. And the gamer is supposed to have ownership over these characters, not the writer at the studio. That's an element western RPGs get; look at anything Bethesda does. Even Bioware games let you take ownership over their characters by a) letting you choose how they deal with choices in-game, and b) letting you dress them up in armor that changes their visual appearance. Dragon Quest IX also did this, so Level 5 gets it. Apparently Matrix SORT OF gets it, because you can customize the appearance of your entire party, including switching helmets (which is how this Final Fantasy handles Jobs). But they whiff it because, ultimately, it's just a visual change. Your characters aren't mute, and there are no conversation trees. So any ownership over these characters are illusions. They still have the voice of whoever wrote the story, which is frustrating. Tiny spoiler alert; your party splits up a few hours in. You'll encounter other characters while going on your individual quests, and can talk to them. But where you might think, "Yes! Now I can partner up with so-and-so again!", the character thinks, "Pfft. This character will just slow me down". It's baffling.
The quest is the biggest problem, ultimately. It's just not very interesting. It seems to be written by people who remember classic Final Fantasy games, clearly - perhaps TOO classic - and trying to recreate story beats from those games. Again, the lack of inspiration here is killer; there's no ambition to find it's own voice. It just seeks to remind you, "Hey! Remember Final Fantasy I, II, or III? Yeah, those games were alright!". That's also a disappointment; it only seeks to live up to FF1-3. Those were fine games, but ultimately, they're very simplistic. The pinnacle of story-telling in this series came a little later, with games like Final Fantasy III (6), 7, 9, etc. When they could get involved enough to show sequences like the opera in FF6, or the destruction of Midgard in FF7, but things weren't detailed enough to distract Square's artists with fully realizing terrible characters and awful dialog (as in Final Fantasy XIII). Matrix should've really sought to live up to Final Fantasy 6, instead of Final Fantasy II. That's a personal thing though; if you really, really dig the NES games, than this will be awesome. For me though, the game is too simple. And uninspired.
The battle system is fine. Some professional reviews really hated that the game auto-targets. That's right; this game doesn't let you target individual enemies! It can get annoying, but the AI is smart enough to avoid dumb moves. It kind of just refines the experience, and seeks to speed it up. But it still is quite slow; compare this to Dragon Quest IX (where you CAN attack individuals... but you can also turn on AI routines for all your characters to get a similar experience to here), and it's night and day. Another big contrast with Dragon Quest IX, and most RPGs nowadays actually, is that all the battles are random here. You can't see squat on the world maps. And the Encounter Rate is relatively high... Skies of Arcadia high. It can get annoying. But the system, which revolves around Action Points, works well. Leveling up is pretty natural; there's some grinding (what's a classic RPG without it?), but - from what I played before quitting - it wasn't that bad.
So there you go. "Wasn't that bad". That about sums up my feelings for this game entirely. I wanted to love it, and it really does a ton right. But where it matters? It's just lacking. If you're looking for RPGs that respect the past, go play Dragon Quest IX. If you're looking for, quite possibly, the best RPG on DS, go play Dragon Quest IX. Or Radiant Historia. There are a lot of great RPGs on the DS, including - Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest 4/5/6/9, Golden Sun DS, Radiant Historia, some Shin Megaten games, etc. - and 4 Heroes isn't better than any of them. And everything it seeks to do, Dragon Quest IX does better. I can't suggest this over any of them. But if you've played them all, and/or you find this for cheap enough (Amazon IS good with the prices), you might wanna give this a shot. It's pretty good technically - which is why my overall score is 4/5 - but ultimately, it's only solid. Which is why my score for "How fun is this game?" is only 3/5.
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Top reviews from other countries
Andrew Li
An early attempt at giving the Final Fantasy job/combat system more strategic depth
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 3, 2018Mark Jimenez
she seems to enjoy it! Product shipped rather quickly brand new
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on March 24, 2017
