Final Fantasy IV Advance Review

After the original release in 1991 on the SNES, Final Fantasy II proved itself to be one of the best in it's genre. Knowing there was more to the game, people searched for the Japanese version, which was called Final Fantasy IV. Man would soon find out that this version of the game was far more challenging. The re-release on the Sony Playstation in 2001 seemed rather sloppy to most fans and thought the game didn’t show its true potential. So now, 15 years after its original release date, we find ourselves playing the Gameboy Advance version. Will Square bring new life in the game, and let it's light glow as it should? Or will history repeat itself by failing to perfect the game?

Storyline
The story behind the game is a rather classical one; you start off as a Dark Knight, Cecil, leading the royal air force for the kingdom of Baron. One day, you are sent to acquire a crystal held in an innocent village. Many people are slaughtered and it makes you question your own king’s true purposes. You are quickly drawn as a traitor and relieved of your command as captain of the Red Wings, the royal air force. Afterwards you are sent on an errand, and once again, many innocent people fall because of the king. This is the last drop; you turn against the king and whatever evil forces that plan other things than peace. You quickly find out that there is more than first catches the eye...

In comparison to the original version, not much has changed, story-wise. There are some things explained in the added dungeon; the Lunar Ruins. The characters are far more developed and every character has their own unique personality. This is something that keeps the player focused on the game, and it keeps them entertained.
Score: 96%

Graphics
The graphics of the earlier versions of FFIV were rather mediocre and looked a lot like a NES quality game. Square could’ve fixed this when they released the Chronicles version, but didn’t, which was a shame. In the Advance version, the dungeons have better palettes, meaning everything looks smoother. The battle backgrounds look much sharper and interesting, and the character sprites are really nicely detailed this time.

Back in the older days, they had to make the people on the field small to take up less space in the game. Now, they’ve used this to their advantage, by using it as a theme. It’s really fun to see all those small folks run around, it’s a very nice atmosphere. In battle, the characters do seem to be more serious than on the field. They look almost the same in comparison with the older versions. But then again, the battle graphics make up for that. One more thing, which I liked very much: When someone speaks, you see his face in the corner of the message window. This small thing makes the game less boring, because you can see who is talking to you, making everything much easier to follow.
Score: 94%

Gameplay
Final Fantasy IV was known for its excellent gameplay. This was because of the well varied cast, including a White Mage, a Dragoon, a Summoner, a Bard and more. Because the story sucks the player right into the game, it shows to be no problem to keep on playing it over and over. The game offers you a lot of entertainment with the variety of thrillers that keep the story interesting. So as the game flows, you will soon find yourself in multiple towns, buying many items and unusual weapons, levelling up your characters and learning new spells as they do. The gameplay is that of a standard RPG. The only thing different is Final Fantasy shows that it can perfect that.

Unlike the previous versions, you have the opportunity to switch your characters right before the ending. Now you can play with your favourite characters, even before the last Boss. In the new version they’ve added two extra dungeons to the game. One is designed to attain the best weapons for the characters that didn’t participate in the final battle in the original version. The other dungeon they added is one located on the Moon named the Lunar Ruins. It has 50 complex floors and is a very difficult, yet makes an interesting addition to the game. It is very similar to the Soul of Chaos bonus that was released in the Dawn of Souls version of Final Fantasy I. You come back to previous areas, or so it seems, and you have separate challenges for each of the characters. It is a real challenge, even for the FFIV veterans, as the replay value is enormous once again. Especially because of the extra amount of available characters at the end, compared to the older versions.
Score: 100%

Difficulty
Instead of using the difficulty that they used in the American version of FFIV, they’ve decided to use the slightly more challenging Japanese version’s difficulty. The game might be old, but it shows it can still cause a sweat to a veteran RPG’er. The fact that you have five different party members doesn’t make the game any easier. You will need each and every one of them in order to not get annihilated. The game keeps challenging you to keep it fresh and interesting for you. So it is very useful if you train every now and then to keep your characters on level.
Score: 98%

Music
All of the old songs are still in the game, with improved sound quality. As before, the music is very fitting for each situation and could seize the moment excellently. So even though the game is played on the Gameboy Advance, the music can still impress you, which is by itself an astounding achievement.
Score: 94%

Overall
It is hard to speak of this game without wanting to play it yourself again. Although it is even harder to hear about it without wanting to play this excellent game. Square managed to perfect this amazing RPG and should be proud of themselves. It seems every flaw in the game has been taking care of. Once you start to play, you are hooked and you will be amazed of how this classic game can move you. All RPG’ers, and perhaps even most gamers, will definitely not be disappointed by this game, as it exceeds your average expectations.

All in all Final Fantasy IV Advance deserves to be recognised as one of the best RPG’s that has ever been released as a 2D game…
Score: 97%

Written by Inferno Mage.