Ff4

[Aylmer]

I picked this up today. I was hesitant since I had played a port of the original on the GBA just a couple of years ago. But after reading some reviews and seeing screen shots, I jumped.

This version is a complete overhaul with lots of new material. The graphics are the best I've seen on the DS, fully 3d rendered with lighting effects and more. Excellent voice acting and beautiful (and story enhancing) cutscenes have been added. The story has been deepened and fleshed out as well. Minigames (the kind that support spell, wep, stat and armor upgrades), new characters, and very cool level design.

The touchscreen is used very little, except for the minigames. Dungeon maps are displayed there, and you can rotate your characters with the stylus there to see their new weps and armor, but other than that, it's button based gameplay.

Overall, a very tasty JRPG treat for the DS.

Oh, one other thing. The difficulty level has been ramped up quite a bit. Midbosses especially are way tougher than with the GBA version.

I gotta restate that this game is a graphical jewel. I played it for four hours straight, which is way unusual for a handheld game for me. But the gameplay and the eye candy kept me going.

[Gadfly2317]

Aylmer, which of the Final Fantasy remakes on the DS would you most recommend? I haven't played a FF game in years aside from Tactics and have been wanting to. Is 4 better than 3?

I like the idea of minigames that also build stats. Is that a feature in any of the others, or just in 4? Also, when you say its hard, is it frustratingly hard? Its been so long since I've had any experience with a full on RPG that I'd be going in as a rusty amateur.

I think I'll see if I can rent it at Gamefly to see if I like it. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Mochan]

This is the one with Dark Knight Cecil, right? Many people say this was the best FF in terms of story but it was just okay with me. How much better is it than FF3? FF3 was crap, frankly. And is it really going to offer me much more, I already played FF2 before and didn't really like it that much (compared to Chrono Trigger) so is it really worth my time?

[Aylmer]

the story line is more involved, with deeper explanations of relationships and events, tho the basics are the same. it's obvious some real work went into the overhaul. yes, the dark knight is here. but there are chars I do not remember from the gba version. I really like not having to use the touch screen (except for mini games). having the lower screen free makes for much more detailed maps, which is cool, since the complexity of the dungeons has been ramped up. No spoilers, but the way the mini games are implemented is very cool too.

the graphical redo cannot be overstated. this is a beautiful game world.