Final Fantasy IV made 3-D

Many of us know Final Fantasy IV (or FFII for the american SNES) as one of the first games ever to have a deep storyline and amazing character development. It introduced the famous ATB battle system to the RPG genre and became a notable standard for the RPG genre during the SNES/Genesis era. Now Final Fantasy IV is back completely redone from its 2-D graphics to full 3-D goodness of today. While this game stays mostly faithful to its original and add more to the gameplays depth, it is also quite possible the most controversial remakes of all time.

• Great Gameplay
• Great Storyline
• Wonderful Graphics
• High Replay Value
• Challenging
• Remake has some good additions
• Grinding isn't needed all that much
  

• Can be a little too difficult for some
• Not a carbon copy of the original
  
• Random Battles can be annoying
• Rare Item Drops are too hard to obtain
• Some of the changes made from the original may bother some FFIV fans
  

Gameplay - 9.5/10

This game has absolutely wonderful gameplay and is about as perfect as a ATB based RPG can get. With real time action and quick battle action selections, this game is both fast passed and highly strategic at once. The game uses the ATB (Active Time Battle) system where each character takes his action once his action bar fills up. The faster the character, the quicker his actions will come. The same applies for the enemy, so quick thinking and fast reflexes are still important if you want to survive intense battles. However, all of this is relative as the player can customize the speed of battle and toggle between Active and Wait battle options (Wait is where if you open a tab such as magic or items, the game pauses and waits for your selection). This makes battle customizable to fit the speed and skill of any player engaged in this game.

Final Fantasy is the only Final Fantasy to feature a party of five characters. As the game progresses, characters will join and leave your party, providing diverse strategy throughout the game. Each character has their own class from Summoner to Ninja, Dark Knight to White Mage making each character unique and skilled in different abilities. Unlike the original Final Fantasy IV however, the game is a lot more selective as to what weapons each character can equip. That means Cecil and Rydia can no longer equip Bows as well as other characters. While many may hate this change, it makes more sense to keep the characters as different as possible as well as provide the player with a larger challenge during certain part of the game that used to be a joke.

The biggest change to Final Fantasy IV is the addition of the Augment system. This new addition can make the difference between the game being insanely difficult to bearable. As you progress through the game, you may come across special items called augments (many of them are missables so be careful when playing the game) which allow you to give characters new abilities. However, each character can only have a certain number of abilities as one time, so you must change the characters ability list to best suit the situation or characters role. All augments are universal in that any character can use any augment. Once you have used a augment though, you cannot get it back, so the character you gave it to cannot remove it. You can play the game three times through total using the New Game+/++ option, which allows you to keep the augments you obtained in your last playthrough as well as the ones you gave to your characters. This makes it possible to get three Dual Cast augments and multiple Kicks as well.

The only downside to the gameplay is that rare items have now become MUCH MUCH harder to obtain. That mean secret summons and tails are incredibly hard to come by and can make your basic farming into a dust bowl... Also, the leveling system past Lv70 is really complex and may confuse gamers who dont understand how it changes as this point. All the downsides can be relative, as this usually only bothers people who like having "ultimate" equipments and characters. For a casual gamer, this is hardly a flaw.

Storyline - 9.5/10

Final Fantasy IV has a wonderful storyline. The characters are rich of personality and full of development as the game progresses. The story is complex and filled and I mean filled with twists. You will never expect what will happen next in the story and is far from the standard defeat the bad guy who wants to destroy the world storyline. Cecil, the main character, is one of the best heroes of the Final Fantasy series as he is a highly complex character. Other characters such as Kain and Rydia are unforgettable and make the storyline even that much better. Final Fantasy IV is a prime example of a game with a deep storyline that is much more than going around and killing stuff and saving the world. If you are looking for a game with incredible depth, look no further. Final Fantasy IV is here!!!

Graphics - 9.5/10

This game has some of the best graphics on the DS. If you love vibrant atmospheres, plenty of cutscenes with great action, and models that look complex and detailed, look no further. If you have played Final Fantasy III on the DS, this game is the next step up. This game has wonderful visuals that will make any DS owner go "wow!!!" The menus are wonderfully nostalgic yet fresh and the overworld and dungeons are colorful and detailed. This game shows what the DS is capable of.

Sound - 10/10

This game has voice acting cutscenes, great music, and wonderful sound effects. One of the best additions to the game is its cutscenes, which feature full voice acting. The characters voices are all fitting and very well presented. The game has remastered soundtrack of the original SNES version and is made more fresh and current to fit the DS's generation. The sound effects but a great atmospheric feel to the game and mixed with the great sound track, make for a wonderful combination. If your looking for a game with a great musical score on the DS, this game has it!

Replay Value - 10/10

This game has the New Game+ as well as the New Game++ feature. That means you can play the game a full three times to further enhance your experience. There is nothing that will make you think about not trying a New Game+ either since the game itself is so wonderful it makes you want to play more! There are plenty of benefits for playing the game through New Game+/++ including more augments and optional bosses obtained through collecting a certain special item from the last boss (you must steal it btw). If anything, I think most players will find themselves playing this game at least three times through if they enjoyed the first playthrough. Great Replay Value!

Overall - 9.5/10

This game is one of the best RPGs on the DS. If you love a challenging game or Final Fantasy as a whole, this game is perfect for you. If you are obsessed about the original and hate it whenever people change subtle things about your game, this game is not for you. For anyone who has never played Final Fantasy IV before, this version is quite frankly the best imo. This game has it all from an amazing storyline, innovative gameplay, a wonderful musical score, impressive graphics, and an immensely high replay value. Final Fantasy IV was great back in the NES days and it is still great today. Take a stab at it! I ensure you, you wont likely regret it!