Final Fantasy IV Advance
by Square Enix
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Video Game Reviews of Final Fantasy IV Advance
Customer Review: Fantasy comes true
Summary: 5 Stars
You know that a game has stood the test of time when, years after it was originally released, it gets re-released, and then still finds itself a hit despite its age. Final Fantasy VI, a legend on the Super Famicom/ SNES (as Final Fantasy II), is such a game. Sure, maybe it doesn't look as good as the games of modern era, but the intense storyline and engaging gameplay more than make up for the lack of sophisticated graphical presentations. Add a series of audibly memorable music, and you've got a game that makes you proud to tell others that you're a gamer.
The story revolves around Cecil, a captain of Baron's airship fleet, and a man who's questioning his king's growing tendency towards bloodshed. When his suspicions turn verbal, he's stripped of his rank. There begins a journey that sees Cecil slowly unveiling the evil plans of the dark forces that are controlling Baron. During his adventure, Cecil will make many friends that will in turn join him in his quest for the truth.
And this is when the real fun begins.
Taking on the evil forces isn't going to be a walk in the park, so Cecil and his party will end up fighting monsters, ghouls, and the likes rather regularly. Unlike traditional turn-based combat systems that are commonly found in RPGs, Final Fantasy VI Advance features an active time battle ("ATB") system that combines the strategic element of turn-based fighting, as well as the spontaneity of active fighting. Essentially, the party members will still attack the enemies in turns, but instead of patiently waiting for their turns, the character that recovers his or her HP fastest will have the opportunity to execute a command first. This means that if a character has a speedy recovery rating, he or she can easily execute a command twice, consecutively, while the slower characters in the party are still building up HPs for their own command decisions. Meanwhile, enemies will also be charging their HPs for their own assault, so if the party so decides to stand around doing nothing, it will get hit real bad. This basically means that random fighting encounters will end faster, and as a result, the characters will tend to get level up faster. And we all love to level up faster, don't we?
Final Fantasy IV Advance also features a colourful selection of characters. Apart from the usual melee fighters, who do damage primarily with the use of weapons, the game throws in magic users who can perform a variety of defensive and offensive commands. White mages, for example, can heal, or cast a wall to protect the members in the party. Black mages, the more offensive magic users, can cast powerful spells on enemies, attacking them with bout of fire, ice or even thunder. Summoners, the most powerful magic user, can even summon the abilities of mystical beings to aid them in battle. And if you think that melee characters can only issue the "Attack" command, you may be interested to note that some of their additional commands include "Ninjatsu", "Power", "Jump" and even "Hide"! Planning on how to use the abilities of these different characters is, therefore, an important challenge of the game - knowing when to heal the party, for example, can save the team from dying unnecessarily.
It'd be boring to go through the entire game with the same party members, so at certain times of the game, characters may leave the party for one reason or another, only to be replaced by others. Characters who leave may also return after a while, thus keeping the roster lively and reducing repetition. The only character who's exempted from this is Cecil, but then again, he's the lead, so he has immunity. Towards the end of the game, you'll also be given the opportunity to choose your own team. This gives players a chance to challenge the final moments of the game with their favorite characters.
The game is played through a variety of locations. The overworld, for example, is broken up into different continents, much like this planet that we're residing in. It's littered with towns, castles, mountains and caves. Random battles can occur anywhere on the map, as well as within dungeons. Dungeons, commonly found in mountains and caves, will usually end with a boss fight. Not all dungeons are immediately accessible though, as the paths towards them are blocked. As the game progresses, however, you'll get the necessary transport to bring you to these previously inaccessible areas. A transport late in the game will even take you to the moon! The sheer amount of locations basically means that you'll encounter a lot of activities, items and of course, enemies.
About enemies, Final Fantasy IV Advance offers to a large amount of them - a whopping 253 in all. You'll fight blood-sucking bats, mystical dragons and even CPU-powered mechs (!). The great variety makes the fighting interesting. Summoning characters can also master the skills of some enemies after beating them, giving you an edge in future encounters. Some enemies are immuned to certain attacks, while others are weak against others, so understanding what command can cause damage to who will definitely help in your quest. Thankfully, there's also a wide range of items that you can use to make things easier. You'll get your usual health and magical points refills, as well as weapons and protective gears. You can usually buy them from the shops that are commonly found in towns, but some enemies will also drop items for you, which also make fighting a little more purposeful than merely levelling-up.
Final Fantasy IV Advance also has some extra features. The Bestiary menu, for example, is a list that shows the details of every enemy you've slained. If you want to see a complete list, you'll have to kill all 253 enemies at least once. Now, this should make completists glued to the game for quite a while. Even if you don't intend to kill every enemy, you may still find the unlockable dungeon offering you some great replay value. Unlocked only if you complete the game under certain circumstances, this very difficult dungeon boasts 50-storeys of action! On top of this, you'll also unlock individual trials for certain characters while playing the game, and you'll be rewarded with the most powerful weapons for these characters if you manage to complete them. Again, this will lengthen your playtime for the game.
For all its goodness, the graphics for this game are perhaps a little dated. This isn't exactly a problem though, since most people will enjoy the gameplay too much to notice. To be fair, Square Enix did make an effort to make it easier to play the game. The wordings are enlarged for easier reading for the GBA, and a more realistic image of the characters will appear beside a dialogue box, giving you a more direct indication of who's talking. The game's minimal 3D graphics are also quite good to look at, but the real killer for its presentation is the musical score. The music is among the best I've heard for a video game, and it goes to show that good things never go out of date.
In conclusion, Final Fantasy IV Advance is an exceptional RPG experience. Fans who've played the game from before will find it worthwhile to play it again, while those who've never touch a Final Fantasy game will soon find themselves being converted. Quite simply, Final Fantasy IV Advance is one of the best RPGs ever to appear on the GBA, and you'll find that, even by today's standards, it's one damn fun game.
Customer Review: Great update of a classic game.
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Customer Review: A wonderful classic RPG
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great game, especially for people like me who haven't experienced FFIV before. Endearing characters, a good story, and plenty of dungeons to explore and loot to collect, all in a convenient handheld format. The only reason this gets four stars instead of five is that the simplistic format is a little outdated these days--but this is still a must-play for any RPG fan who's too young to have played the previous versions.Customer Review: RPG Classic now imported to Game Boy Advance!
Summary: 5 Stars
I think this game is cool because for fans of the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy 4 has been rereleased on Game Boy Advance which it was originally released for the Super Nintendo since 1991 and it was rereleased for the Playstation1 back in 2000 and now rereleased on Game Boy Advance. I like the storyline and it reminds me of the old days when we played video games in 2D graphics. Besides this is one of the best Final Fantasy games ever released on Game Boy Advance!Customer Review: Disappointing remake
Summary: 4 Stars
Don't get me wrong, this game is by no means a disappointment, it just is not as good of a remake that I thought it would be. I'm not sure if the other reviewers who've posted before me are actually talking about this version of the game, or Final Fantasy IV in general.
Final Fantasy IV (when it came out as II here) was and has remained one of my favourite games of all time, even in comparison with some of the more recent games for the SNES/SFC, PS, and PS2. Over the years I have played through various versions of this game countless times, and have tried to get my hands on many versions of the game, even the original Japanese version for the Super Famicom. This version, however, has turned out to be somewhat disappointing (not in all ways, but certainly in some).
First of all, the sound is not that great (well, it is the Game Boy Advance, so it's about as good as it will get here). The music of this game is actually good for the system, but is still sub-par in comparison with the original (keep in mind the original came out in 1991...we're not talking highly-complex synthesised sounds here). The sound effects themselves also suffer in this remake. I might be more willing to let this slide if the sound and music had not been one of the most captivating qualities that kept me glued to my first play-throughs of the game. In 1991 the only games to compare to Final Fantasy IV (II here) were those for the original NES and the few first games to come out for the SNES, so this was a MAJOR leap in quality that seemed impossibly good for the time. Those that haven't played through the original FFIV/II might not care as much as the same technological leap in quality does not exist today.
Secondly, there is an unacceptable amount of lagging and system slow-down, especially at critical times such as battles where the fast pace of the original provided an exciting and enjoyable experience. Yes, the original had slowdown, too, but not at this level, and it did not detract noticeably from the overall playing experience. In FFIVA it actually gets frustrating at times, and does take some of the fun of playing the game out.
That being said this game is not entirely a negative experience. Many of the graphics have actually been updated, and the menu system has been updated some (positively). Some things have been magnified to better suit the small Game Boy screen. A bunch of new stuff, including a new dungeon, have been added to this one that did not appear in the original, even the ability to have characters in your party at the end of the game that were not possible beforehand. There is also a quicksave feature on this one that lets you make a save and quit the game anywhere outside of battle, and start back up exactly where you left off (this is nice when you have to stop playing immediately and you are not near a saving spot).
Most importantly, this game is based on the original FFIV Japanese game, not the American FFII. In Japan, when FFIV was released, there was a "Hardtype" and an "Easytype", where the Easytype was a simplified version of the Hardtype. Unfortunately, the American FFII was a stripped down version of the Easytype version (i.e., even more simplified from the Hardtype). Many of the items in the original were taken out, and the difficulty level was decreased significantly. The translation of the text was also horrendous. This version, like the PS remake, includes all of the items and abilities missing from the original American release, and fixes the terrible translation. However (and this is a big negative for me), the difficulty level on this one so far seems to be suspiciously easy. Some of the other reviewers have stated that this game is very difficult, and indeed the original and the PS remake are, but I think that that does not apply to this remake in particular as I am about halfway through this game so far and am blasting through it with almost no problem at all (I had some trouble with the PS remake...this is not nearly as difficult).
I'm still giving the game four stars just because it's Final Fantasy IV, and I love this game, even when it's not perfect. On top of that there is some new content that may warrant a playthrough by veteran players. I'm just baffled that, after all these years, a faithful remake of this game cannot be made. This game is almost 14 and 1/2 years old, and it's unbelievable that I have yet to see a remake that matches the original Final Fantasy IV in quality. The PS version came close (as part of Final Fantasy Chronicles), but that one had some issues with sound-effect quality and loading times. I had been under the impression that the GBA was designed to make faithful remakes of SNES/SFC games, and the fact that a first-generation game cannot be faithfully remade on this system is unbelievable. I've been playing this game on the Game Boy Player for the GameCube, and even that does not make the sound/music nor the playing experience as good as playing the original. If you do want to play Final Fantasy IV as it was meant to be, get the PS remake. It's not perfect, and does not have all of the added features that FFIVA has, but it is as close to a true translation of the Japanese FFIV that Americans have so far. If the sound and slowdown don't bother you as they do me, then this one will be good enough for you. I just hope that in the future we will have a faithful remake of this game that at least meets the quality of the original, or better yet exceeds it. Until then enjoy this game, as it is still the great Final Fantasy IV, and is outstanding even when not as good as the original.