Game Reviews: Final Fantasy 4

Final Fantasy 4 Review

August 23rd, 2014

   Final Fantasy 4: An epic addition to the series on the Super Nintendo!

   Now that I’ve finished the SNES FF2 which is 4, it’s time to get down to my thoughts. It’s surprising how easily I got into this game given it’s on SNES, a console which I’m not a big fan of and only own a handful of truly great titles for. The one thing it’s most well known for is it’s powerhouse lineup of expensive RPGs that stand the test of time. Now having played one to completion, I understand the hype behind that legacy.

   The game starts off with no bullshit, in the thick of the action with the snagging of crystals coming into play to kick off the story. The main characters quickly get introduced in powerful, engaging, and thought provoking ways that envoke conflicts in the world’s government immediately. The story is a lot like Golden Sun wherein these powerful elemental crystals that can shape the world’s fate are stolen and continue to be the driving force for the characters to adventure. So the story in the game was well written with the exception of a lot of jarring jokes injected at unneeded times which were to add a light hearted charm but often just extended the scenes for me.

   The graphics and effects on everything were really good for SNES standards and they Mode 7ed the fuck out of this game.  This was a major worry since I’d done PSP remakes for FF2 and 3 but it was fine going back.

   The dialogue and world building was generally always interesting and I wanted to read all of it. The characters were all well integrated and some I even got emotionally attached with like Rydia, who was probably my favorite character. Kain was interesting in the sense that he’s a villain with genuine motives for one until later on when even he realizes what he’s doing is wrong and rejoins the main cast, which was excellent to have the return of the badass Dragoon class from FF3.

    That is a minor complaint I have is that in this game the excellent job system from FF3 is gone  and replaced with the ones the characters embody  which takes away a bit of my freedom but is fine as I know that system is a one off thing in this series until Tactics Advance and in the Dragon Quest series it is isolated to game 3 as well [with the exception of 7].

   Overall though the combat was really solid in this entry. The spells and summons were fun to use and did enough damage. The timed gameplay always kept things moving at a steady pace. The experience system was also really well balanced and felt absolutely natural given the lack of grinding necessary after a certain point in the game which is good because the enemies always felt challenging but fair due to there not being some bullshit disconnect wasting a ton of my time to sit bored grinding enemies excessively. Instead I felt like I was naturally getting stronger as the enemies were and was never concerned that I wouldn’t be strong enough which made things a lot more fun. The weapons and powerups were hidden nicely as well and handed out at a reasonable pace which felt fine. The RPG elements were near perfect in my opinion, which seems the natural progression to the series at this point chronologically.

    While the world was small and mostly separated into 3 worlds, it was fine and well done as there was not a lot of getting lost and not a lot of blank empty land. It was a tight, vibrant world that was easy to explore which is perfect for people like me who often get overwhelmed by massive overworlds. The dungeons also had save points in this game which are a God send for not having to backtrack a million miles away for an inn thanks to handy tents and cabins that can be used at these spot to basically substitute for an inn while mid dungeon as you cannot just save anywhere in dungeons. Really nice feature. The dungeons themselves were generally easy to navigate and the bosses were usually fun and rewarding through satisfaction. 

      That’s the main draw of this game though is its pacing. Whether it be for the story perfectly balancing and integrating when necessary or the battles that didn’t drag as they were always fun and satisfying.  The game’s dungeons don’t drag either due to save points which are spaced just far enough to be convenient. The game clocks in at a comfy 25 hour runtime which was perfect for me as some RPGs tend to drag with grinding which as I mentioned is not a problem here. All in all the pacing is just about perfect.

     So overall, Final Fantasy 4 is a fantastic jump into the 16 bit Final Fantasy games! It’s easy  to get drawn into with its great story, awesome characters, solid graphics, excellent gameplay, rewarding combat system, great dungeons, and nearly perfect pacing. It’s easily recommendable and somewhat affordable. It stands the test of time. Final Fantasy 4 on SNES gets an 8.5/10.