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> Results: Final Fantasy IV Advance
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Dark Knight Cecil of the kingdom of Baron is the captain of the Red Wings, the only fleet of airships in the world. Cecil has been ordered by the king of Baron to seize all the world's magical crystals, by force if necessary. When Cecil questions the ethical aspects of his commands, the king strips Cecil of his duties and sends him and his best friend Kain, who stood up for Cecil, on a mission. They are to deliver a package to the village of Mist, where people have the power to summon monsters. But when Cecil and Kain arrive in Mist, the package opens by itself, revealing a ring of bombs that destroys the whole village! Unable to take the king's vile orders any longer, Cecil leaves the kingdom and finds himself on a much bigger adventure with a varied team of wizards and fighters. Their quest will take them to the ends of the earth and even under it, and when that's all done they even go to the moon!
If you are an avid gamer and in your twenties, chances are this story brought back many good memories of one of the best ever role-playing games. No, one of the best games period. Final Fantasy IV made its debut on the US Super Nintendo nearly 15 years ago under the name Final Fantasy II, as it was the second game in the series to be brought over to the US. This stunning RPG had everything: a huge quest, memorable characters, tons of bad guys to fight and secrets to find, plus a breathtaking musical score by Nobuo Uematsu, whose excellent music was featured in an orchestra concert tour last summer in the US. Final Fantasy IV is now reborn in on-the-go format on the Game Boy Advance.  This isn't just a straight port of the 16-bit classic, however. First of all, the graphics have been totally redone. Battle scenes are more 3D looking and sprites and backgrounds have more color and detail. Since this is a port of the Japanese version of Final Fantasy IV, which was harder than the version in the US, this game has new items, more battle skills and commands, and trickier enemies. The translation in the text has also been touched up significantly to read clearer in English (but they did keep "You spoony bard!" for posterity). Best of all, near the end of the game you have the chance for the first time ever to switch party members and explore a few new dungeons added specifically for the GBA remake. Similar to the new things added in Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls, these new areas provide nearly double the playtime of the main quest and feature lots of tough new bosses and items to find, and the dungeons are really exciting to explore to boot! Gameplay remains basically unchanged. Visit towns, gather items and clues, explore dungeons and fight all manner of monsters in random battle encounters. Newer Final Fantasy fans may not like the aged, clunkier battle system, but for many fans of the older series games, like myself, this is the only way to fight. This port isn't without its problems, though. The biggest of which is that sometimes the animations in random fights get a little choppy and slowed down which can affect the once smooth pacing of the battles. Also, the new font used for the text is a bit too narrow and smooshed up for my tastes. But these problems don't hamper the quality of the game at all. Final Fantasy IV Advance is still a must-have game for RPG fans.  
The story is full of violence but none of it is depicted in any horrific way. Swords and other weapons don't touch any enemy at all, really, and magic spells only do damage in hit point numbers. No blood is ever shown. Good reading skill is important as this is a very text-heavy game. Some light cursing appears in some of the text, but it is used so sparingly that you may not notice. When I showed this game to my little brothers, the first they said was "this is like Pokémon", and in a way, it is. You walk around a huge world, and randomly fight tons of monsters in menu based battles along the way. Older kids who like the gameplay of Pokémon but have since grown out of it may appreciate a game like Final Fantasy IV Advance. I certainly enjoyed it when I was a kid.
This review edited by Dave Long Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Final Fantasy IV Advance |
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