Final Fantasy IV Advance

[Neo Rasa]

Picked it up this morning and I have to say I'm very impressed. I'm of the faction that hates anything with the FF name on it that isn't Tactics or the first six games, so it's great to have I, II, and IV on the GBA now. Square also said that they're going to put V and VI on the GBA as well as release in the US that full remake of FFIII for the DS.

Ballsy cover too, Amano's one of my favorite currently active artists but it takes guts to think his artwork on a cover is going to sell a game in the US:




That said, our stores have gotten tons of these in and the first shipment of them sold out like, not even halfway through the day on which they came in. We got another twenty-something in my store yesterday and there were three left when I left this morning. This and Animal Crossing: Wild World are selling much better than a lot of retailers expected.



This particular port is great, redone the way the WSC/Origins/Dawn of Souls ports were. It's based on the Japanese version of the game with the difficulty tweaked so that it's harder in some ways, but a lot of the cheap bullshit difficulty has been removed in exchange for a more fair challenge. The font is totally redone so it's all very clear and easy on the eyes now and several of the character portraits have been redrawn (almost all of them for the better too, they're more directly based on Amano's art now). The music is ported almost flawlessly from the SNES which I found very impressive for a GBA cartridge (check out Contra: Alien Wars EX, ugh).

They also improved the translation even more, using the re-translated Origins version while also subtley altering some of the transitions and grammar so that everything flows more smoothly. A lot of the stuff that was silly when I first played the US version years ago holds up today. The entire game holds up very nicely.

Graphically it's the NES graphics with much better colors, nice stuff, all the battle backgrounds are totally redrawn and most of the monster sprites and animations are no longer restricted by the SNES color pallette.

Interestingly they also changed the money from "gold" to "gil" to associate it with the later FF games more I guess. The spell names also have their original names again. In the Japanese version they all had suffixes for each level of spell like in the Megami Tensei games but these had to be changed to Lit-1, Fire-3, etc. so that they could fit all the English characters within the font system for the SNES version.

Overall it's a very polished game. I'm having a lot of fun with it, very nostalgic.

[Moogs]

The slowdown during some of the busier battles is a disappointment (I mean, this is a 16-bit game running on 32-bit hardware.. why is there slowdown?). I've also come across a couple of dialogue tweaks that were made to reference internet pop culture nonsense (it's like Working Designs lives on thru this game...), but I'm just happy I finally get to play a localised version of the original game -- difficulty intact -- without a bunch of loading.

And the music is really nice. It's pretty much the same as the SNES version. This game and A Link to the Past are the only GBA games I've played that have managed to match the original soundtracks.

[Zach Keene]

Interestingly they also changed the money from "gold" to "gil" to associate it with the later FF games more I guess.

Money was called "gil" from day one in the Japanese versions.

[jp]

In my eyes, the horrible slowdown (and its pretty damn bad) really hurts this game. I still love it... but damn, that is some annoying shit.

Hopefully FFVI is better off.

[professor ganson]

[OT: I just picked up a nice, complete copy of FF Origins (i.e. FF I and II) for PS1 for $5. I bought it, not so much to play it, but because it was a great price. But if these are really quality games, maybe I should play them. Any thoughts?]

[Diabollokus]

The time has finally come to own a DS for GBA use anyway

Final fantasy 1-6
fire emblem 3 of em
Advance wars 2 of em + dual strike

RPGs of this caliber on a handheld? what next chrono trigger!

[jp]

RPGs of this caliber on a handheld? what next chrono trigger!

Nope, an online version of Secret of Mana called World of Mana. Maybe after that we'll get a DS remake of Chrono Trigger... which would fucking rock *assuming it isn't littered with slow down*.


Whats the ETA on the FF6 port anyways? THATS the one I'm really drooling over. Though I'm only half way through IV (going for the "other Crystals"), can't wait to see what new dungeons they've added and to attempt to 50 level dungeon. I loved that shit in FF1 on GBA.

[Diabollokus]

Hey JP

Are rpgs playable on the handheld DS? I mean is everything actually visible, stats text etc?

I wouldn't mind a sleek black DS........ For inbetween lectures and plane flights

[AWJ]

The slowdown during some of the busier battles is a disappointment (I mean, this is a 16-bit game running on 32-bit hardware.. why is there slowdown?)

You can thank/blame the SNES-quality music for that. PCM music on the GBA has to be totally software synthesized--the sound hardware is just a dumb DAC, whereas the SNES had an 8-voice hardware synthesizer with builtin effects. This is why you generally don't hear PCM music in GBA action games (except on title screens and the like), only GBC-like square waves and noise.

[Andi]

You guys notice the real ultimate power reference in the first town?

"I can't stop thinking about Dark Knights. They're cool, and by cool I mean totally sweet."

Who would've thought?

[jp]

Hey JP

Are rpgs playable on the handheld DS? I mean is everything actually visible, stats text etc?

I wouldn't mind a sleek black DS........ For inbetween lectures and plane flights

Yep, they are indeed playable on the DS. I can see everything fine.


Past the halfway point on FFIV. Its amazing how many people "die" in that game in a short time span, almost as bad as FFII... but not really.

[Moogs]

You guys notice the real ultimate power reference in the first town?

"I can't stop thinking about Dark Knights. They're cool, and by cool I mean totally sweet."

Who would've thought?

Yeah, that's one of the "internet pop culture" references I was talking about. That and the Something Awful reference Cid makes when you first talk to him.

[AWJ]

Yeah, that's one of the "internet pop culture" references I was talking about. That and the Something Awful reference Cid makes when you first talk to him.

Something Awful??

[Moogs]

Something Awful.



The folks from the Something Awful forums are usually referred to as "goons".

[AWJ]

Something Awful.

LOL. I know what SA is, I just didn't make the connection there.

Seeing this, I wonder if the folks at Square Enix know about Awful Fantasy...

[BrianC]

Hey JP

Are rpgs playable on the handheld DS? I mean is everything actually visible, stats text etc?

I wouldn't mind a sleek black DS........ For inbetween lectures and plane flights

Yep, they are indeed playable on the DS. I can see everything fine.


Past the halfway point on FFIV. Its amazing how many people "die" in that game in a short time span, almost as bad as FFII... but not really.

Final Fantasy Adventure/Seiken Denestsu for the b/w GB surprised me with the amout of death in it when I first played it.

[FatCobra]

Nostaliga is pressuring me into buying this game.

The SNES verison was my first Final Fantasy game and I remember renting the same copy each week so I could finish the game.

The story was pretty good and I liked that your party changes up once in a while so you would have to change your tatics.

Of course, I'm talking about the US verison called Final Fantasy II (Boy, when VII came out, I was like, what happened to the other four?)

Hopefully the difficulty isn't mind-numbling easy like in FF1&FF2 Dawn of Souls. (Of course, the US FFII was the Easytype verison, but I still had trouble with some battles).

The most memoriable thing about this game, at least to me, was the music. I loved the boss and airship themes! Hopefully, the GBA's lack of a sound processor doesn't hurt this port too much, I hope?

[jp]

Nostaliga is pressuring me into buying this game.

The SNES verison was my first Final Fantasy game and I remember renting the same copy each week so I could finish the game.

The story was pretty good and I liked that your party changes up once in a while so you would have to change your tatics.

Of course, I'm talking about the US verison called Final Fantasy II (Boy, when VII came out, I was like, what happened to the other four?)

Hopefully the difficulty isn't mind-numbling easy like in FF1&FF2 Dawn of Souls. (Of course, the US FFII was the Easytype verison, but I still had trouble with some battles).

The most memoriable thing about this game, at least to me, was the music. I loved the boss and airship themes! Hopefully, the GBA's lack of a sound processor doesn't hurt this port too much, I hope?

1. The difficulty is actually HARDER. Its the hard version that was released in Japan.

2. The music is 100% intact... but sadly, there is a little slowdown here and there.

3. There are 2 extra dungeons. One is acquired right before the end of the game and the other is unlocked if you beat the game with all the characters. Right now I'm doing my power leveling (I like to be at level 72 or higher before the final boss fight, just because of how much of a struggle it is if you have under 5000 HP).

4. I'll be posting an all out review when I beat the last extra dungeon. Right now, I see it as the best version of FFIV available though. And FFII on the SNES WAS my childhood.

[LoneSage]

My stupid ass still needs to beat the PS1 port. Happens to me everytime in RPGs, I get near the end, take a break for a few days and that turns into weeks, then months. Now I feel the need to go and beat it, problem is I haven't played it in so long I've forgot what I was supposed to be doing. I'm just in Cid's airship, dickin around with some Ogres.


That box art is face rocking, though. I remember back in the summer of '01, the reason I bought FFChronicles was simply because I loved that silhouette of Kain.

[BulletMagnet]

Happens to me everytime in RPGs, I get near the end, take a break for a few days and that turns into weeks, then months. Now I feel the need to go and beat it, problem is I haven't played it in so long I've forgot what I was supposed to be doing.

You and I must be distantly related or something, because that's happened to me more times than I can count, including my personal favorite RPG, FF6...though I DID manage to finish both the SNES and PS1 versions of FF4.

[Ganelon]

Happens to me everytime in RPGs, I get near the end, take a break for a few days and that turns into weeks, then months. Now I feel the need to go and beat it, problem is I haven't played it in so long I've forgot what I was supposed to be doing.

You and I must be distantly related or something, because that's happened to me more times than I can count, including my personal favorite RPG, FF6...though I DID manage to finish both the SNES and PS1 versions of FF4.

Nah, that happens to everyone in RPGs once people reach a certain age.

[FatCobra]

Happens to me everytime in RPGs, I get near the end, take a break for a few days and that turns into weeks, then months. Now I feel the need to go and beat it, problem is I haven't played it in so long I've forgot what I was supposed to be doing.

You and I must be distantly related or something, because that's happened to me more times than I can count, including my personal favorite RPG, FF6...though I DID manage to finish both the SNES and PS1 versions of FF4.

Nah, that happens to everyone in RPGs once people reach a certain age.

It also happens when you go to college and work a job. Thank goodness for RPG's with save-anywhere features (or at least convenently place save points).

[benstylus]

Thank goodness for RPGs with recaps. Phantasy Star 4 was great in that if you forgot where you were, you could just talk to your party for a quick reminder.

[FatCobra]

Thank goodness for RPGs with recaps. Phantasy Star 4 was great in that if you forgot where you were, you could just talk to your party for a quick reminder.

Nothing wrong with fortune tellers, either. I don't mind if I forget what I was doing, I tend to wander around in RPGs anyway.

[Nemo]

This game is sweet and Amano's artwork indeed rawks, the slowdown may suck, but it's nice to have the original game (plus some bonuses) w/o loading times and a feel of emulation (PS). I'm a sucker for the original FF games, no matter how many times they re-release them, I always buy them.

[FatCobra]

This game is sweet and Amano's artwork indeed rawks, the slowdown may suck, but it's nice to have the original game (plus some bonuses) w/o loading times and a feel of emulation (PS). I'm a sucker for the original FF games, no matter how many times they re-release them, I always buy them.

Slowdown? Like how bad is it?

[Nemo]

As other people mentioned, it occurs in battles. It's a minor annoyance but certainly doesn't ruin the game.

[jp]

As other people mentioned, it occurs in battles. It's a minor annoyance but certainly doesn't ruin the game.

It also occurs when you're flying.


But after awhile I quit noticing it. So it isn't that bad. The main times I notice it are during Meteor or Comet.

[FatCobra]

Is it choppy slowdown like a PC game on an underpowered computer, matrix-like slowdown like when there's too many goombas in SMB3, or the slowdown on an emulator where EVERYTHING, including the music, is playing at a quarter of the original speed?

[jp]

Is it choppy slowdown like a PC game on an underpowered computer, matrix-like slowdown like when there's too many goombas in SMB3, or the slowdown on an emulator where EVERYTHING, including the music, is playing at a quarter of the original speed?

Just a very slight choppiness/matrixy type thing. Its not too bad.