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[François]

I never finished the game. I attempted it maybe three times because it's god damned FF4 what the hell is my problem, and always lost interest somewhere around Fabul. It's not a slight on it, it just never clicked for me.

I never even sought out a LP, until now.

[Rico]

Well yeah, but that specific version has stuff that you can only do on the third playthrough.  That's why it's a thing!  That's also why fuck that.

I remember being able to do everything on a second playthrough, it's just that the optional bosses are pretty brutal so that third trip through for extra augments to make it possible to max your stats is really helpful. Though it still sucks because the extra stat growth doesn't kick in until level 70 or so. Still mostly a great remake, but just not quite all the way thought through. Like having an awesome configurable auto-battle feature but no fucking cursor memory option for manual fights.

[Mothra]

I always got the sense most people lost interest either after the shipwreck, or when you get to the moon.

Also, anyone know if FF4 DS had some horrible, game-breaking flaw? Love the graphic style. Was thinking of getting it secondhand somewhere for a plane trip.

[Rico]

It's pretty solid. Overall it's a tiny bit harder than the other versions. A lot of the bosses (and some of the random enemies) have slight variations to their encounters that make the game slightly more interesting to people who've played the main version to death. Localization is pretty good and some of the expanded cutscenes do a lot to shore up weird bits of the story.

The aforementioned auto-battle feature is really great; you can set your characters to automatically use any command, not just attack like most games' autobattle systems, so you get some good unobnoxious mileage out of elemental Rods and such. The ATB bar has a secondary fill color that lets you keep track of cast time of spells.

The Augment system is pretty guide-heavy (give augments to characters you know are leaving in 5 minutes to get more augments back from them later?) but optional for the main game (Although things like casting-speed increase are pretty handy).

[Brentai]

I heard from the testers that the game balance is skewed in such a way that augment abuse becomes necessary to win, but they may have been referring to the subsequent playthroughs.  When you're stuck playing the same game 40 hours a week for 3 months you tend to make your way down into the raving lunatic areas of content.

[A²]

It is. I tried to do a run through of the game with zero augments at all, and it is very brutal. It expects you to use them, and midway through the game simply assumes you have, and will fuck you like a greased piggy if you haven't.

[Mothra]

Noted.

do you think that kid's going to be ok

[Brentai]

Well, I mean, I'm the party leader.  Presumably if you hadn't killed her she would have been fucked like a greased piggy anyway.

[jsnlxndrlv]

For some reason, one of the things that excited me most about FFIV was a screenshot from Nintendo Power of the village of summoned monsters in the planet's underworld. There wasn't anything really special about it, but the room layouts on that black background appealed to me. It was frustrating, then, that each time I borrowed the game to try playing through it again, I lost patience with the boss fights in the Tower of Zot or the underground dwarven kingdom.

[Brentai]

Phantom World is def. one of the coolest parts of the game, and all it's using is the Inn tileset and some generic monster sprites.  Proof that clever design and atmosphere is all you need to make something memorable, I guess.

[Thad]

I commented recently that Tzen, Albrook, and Maranda in 6 are disappointingly samey.  If you wanted, you could probably add South Figaro, (WoB) Mobliz, Kohlingen, and Thamasa to the list.

But for all that, it's striking how different Figaro is from Doma, how unique Narshe is, and how different Nikeah, Jidoor, and the town portion of Vector are from the rest of the towns despite using the same tilesets.  Not to mention Zozo, and WoR Mobliz.  And does the Returner Base count as a town?  It's got a shop and an inn.

And for all that South Figaro, Mobliz, Kohlingen, and Thamasa are similar, they're also spaced pretty far apart in terms of when you go there.  The major problem with the towns on the southern continent isn't so much that they're all alike as that they're all alike AND you hit them all at the same time.

Course, it works great as a demonstration of imperial rule.  It's perfectly reasonable to EXPECT that the three towns geographically closest to Vector and most directly under its control wouldn't have a lot of variation among them.

But since we're talking about 4: I'd say 4's not quite as good at 6 as making its towns distinct, but it's a lot better than 5.  There are, what, 6 castles?  4 of which have functional towns attached to them?  (5, I guess, if you count the caves under Eblan as an attached town.)  And each has its own unique character.  Mysidia's unique because of its population more than its buildings (though it DOES have the tower).  Lots of clever stuff going on with limited resources.

[R^2]

some of the random enemies have slight variations to their encounters that make the game slightly more interesting to people who've played the main version to death.

Those Frost Beasts I just highlighted? A fight with one of them is devastating and a fight with three of them is an almost-guaranteed partywipe. God help you if you get ambushed. This happens again when Fiery Hounds become random encounters and again again with any random encounter that has "dragon" in the name.

The aforementioned auto-battle feature is really great; you can set your characters to automatically use any command,

As a by-product of being able to rearrange their command windows. This is important for Draw Attacks/Counterattack builds I mentioned in passing earlier; you use the first command in the window for counters. If it's Jump, you jump. If it's Kick, you kick. If it's Holy or Flare or Tornado or Bahamut summon, you use that spell.

[Rico]

The features shouldn't be mutually exclusive, though. Anyhow, I'm playing along with 4 DS since it's been a few years and it's fun to see the differences side by side. Just hit Babil part one so I'm slightly ahead, and it's the first time I got wiped (to the boss, but I probably would've run or eaten a few more from 3 Flame BeastFiery Hound groups were it not for giving Rosa Dualcast, one of the two real difficulty-changing augments you get from the weird party drop system instead of handed right to you).

As a lifelong Dragon Quest fan, it's nice to see stuff like Slow and Cry work on bosses. I'd forgotten about that change since the last runthroughs. Maybe it's only because I just played V, but the fighting reminds me a lot more of FFV than original FFIV: Lots of counters from enemies, bosses are more about initial setup and then burning them down really fast than a steady resource grind.

[R^2]

Music: Golbez, Clad in Darkness


Hey! It's those two guys!


Mongrel: Golbez!
Brent: Where's Friday!?
Golbez: First, the Crystal.
Niku: She'd better be alright!
Golbez: Hand over the Crystal now or she dies.
Brent: Here, take it!


Brent: There, now where's Friday?
Golbez: Friday? Whomever are you talking about?
Brent: What!?
Niku: You two-timing cur!
Mongrel: Return her this minute!

Wow, what a surprise twist. 


Mongrel: How can I ever forget the monster who killed my daughter!?


Once more full of piss and vinegar, Mongrel slaps Brent aside to stare Golbez in the... uh, eyeslits.

[R^2]

Golbez: A vain attempt at revenge.




Mongrel does his best -- burning through 110 of his 90 MP in the process -- but Golbez is unfazed.


Brent: No!
Kabbage: It will destroy you!
Mongrel: I have no choice. Witness my final power!










Mongrel: 1, Golbez: 0. Game, set, match.

[R^2]

Brent: Mongrel!


Oh. Turns out Golbez is fine and Mongrel, as expected, is dying. So Mongrel: 0, Golbez: 1.

Except Golbez has all the crystals and has had us on the defensive for the whole game, so his score is actually much higher. Way to throw your life away, Mongrel.


Golbez: So Meteor broke my spell over him. So be it. He no longer serves any purpose. Mark my words, Brent. Someday, I will destroy you.


Golbez turns to leave, and Brent charges. Can a paladin really stab somebody in the back like that?




The question goes unanswered. Despite never using a beam attack like that in combat, Golbez throws around so many bolts that he got a move or two based on it in the Dissidia series.


Brent: Ugh... Why don't... you finish me...?
Golbez: You...
Brent: ?
Golbez: What is going on? Ugh... Agggh!
Brent: !?
Golbez: We will settle this the next time we meet!

And Golbez leaves.

[R^2]

Brent: Yeah... Meteor must have weakened him. Mongrel! Are you okay!?


Niku: Keep still!
Mongrel: I'm such a fool... I lost myself... in my own hatred. Avenge my daughter... for me... I beg of you...
Brent: Mongrel!
Kabbage: !
Mongrel: ......
Niku: Get up, you old geezer!
Mongrel: ...
Kabbage: Mongrel...
Niku: ...I'll bet your daughter's mighty proud of you. You did good.

Mongrel's corpse flickers and disappears, so he's well and truly passed. See you in Abburoth, ya vindictive old bastard.




Well... now what?

[R^2]

Mars: Brent... I... I'm so sorry... What have I done?
Brent: Don't blame yourself. You had no control over your actions.
Mars: But... a part of me inside was awake and yet, I just stood by and watched...
Brent: Where's Friday?
Mars: Beyond those doors! We must hurry!




Hey, we're in that room we've seen in cutscenes a couple of times!




Brent yanks Friday out of the way just as the guillotine blade drops.

Music: Theme of Love


I'll get her to a Namingway as soon as I can, folks.

Friday: I knew you'd come.

huehuehuehuehuehuehuehue


Brent and Friday share a long smooch, censored to a mere embrace in the SNES release.

Friday: Brent...
Mars ...
Niku: You realized what!? Be a man! Spit it out!

This game's version of Cid might be an abrasive old fart who is outclassed by pretty much every other character in the game, but he gets major points from me for this line alone. Every Japanese-made piece of media needs someone like him now.


Not shown between the tiny sprites and his concealing helmet: Kain's look of utter emotional wounding at having been entirely ignored by Rosa up to this point.

Brent: He's okay now. Mongrel's Meteor broke Golbez's spell.
Mars: But I was still aware. And yet... Friday... I wanted to keep you close at any cost!
Friday: Mars...
Mars: ...
Brent: ...
Friday: Let's fight together, Mars.
Mars: After all that I've done... It's too late.

Pff, save your journey of self-redemption for the epilogue, like Leon did!



Cid/Niku karma++


Brent: We need your help more than ever.
Mars: Brent... Friday... Thank you.




Don't ask who put it on her. Anyway, it's wise to equip Friday with any gear you've got -- perhaps you had the foresight to take Mongrel's equipment before his fatal showdown -- before moving even a single step.


Yeah, that's good stuff.

[TA]

Is the Blood Lance really any good?  I've been playing the PSP remake, and ... in that, it was ridiculously inaccurate.  Like, misses on jumps in the upcoming fight.

[Mothra]

Awww yehhh