
	Platform DS Genre Role-Playing Publisher Square-Enix Developer Square-Enix ESRB E (Everyone) Released July 22, 2008

- Great character and world designs - Great voice acting - Remixed music fits in perfectly - New Whyt summon - Not as many random battles as the original

- Not very much voice acting - Doesn’t label places on the map - May be too difficult for some

Review: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS) Review: Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS) Review: Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
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Final Fantasy IV

Score: 9.0 / 10

Final Fantasy has been one of the biggest franchises in video game history for the last 20 years, and with its newest remake for the Nintendo DS, it doesn't disappoint. It’s not one of those simple remakes that barely improves on anything or just improves on one aspect, it’s much better on every level. The graphics, the music, the battle fluency, all of it has been improved for the better, not to mention the beautiful CG video at the beginning of the game, as well as the great voice acting. If you skipped out on buying the Final Fantasy III remake for DS, do not

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- DS Game Reviews
- Role-Playing Game Reviews
- Games Published by Square-Enix

make the same mistake, for everything in this game is better.

The main character of this adventure is a man named Cecil, the captain of the Red Wings. He starts to have doubts about his king's intentions after he is ordered to burn the town of Mysidia to the ground, and steal their sacred crystal. Once he confronts the king about this, he ends up losing his title as captain. Though he no longer has troops to follow

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him, he decides to set out, and try and save the remaining crystals. Kain is Cecil's best friend, after both their parents were killed; they were adopted and cared for by the king. Kain accompanies Cecil on his journey after he is disbanded, until suddenly, Kain goes missing in battle. Later on in his journey, Cecil runs across a lot of new people such as the summoner Rydia whose village was destroyed, Rosa the White Mage who follows Cecil after he is disbanded, Tellah the Sage who is looking for his daughter, and many others who are willing to help him on his journey.

One of the best things about this game is that there is not a random battle every three steps; the time between each random battle is still high, although reasonable enough. As expected, this game is quite difficult, so you will need to level up at least a few times for bosses and dungeons. The gameplay system is pretty much the same, with the exception of the summon Whyt. The auto-battle option becomes useless unless you are at a spot where you are overpowered as you will almost always need to use some strategy to win a battle. The one problem I discovered with this game is that if you miss one important line as to where to go next, it will not be repeated and you’ll find yourself wandering aimlessly for possibly hours before you get back on track.

Whyt is a new summon for this remake, it takes quite an amount of MP to summon him, but if Rydia is in danger of dying, Whyt will replace her in battle and is able to fight for her as well. You don't get to control Whyt which is one of the downfalls, but he can fight on his own. You can also customize Whyt's physical appearance as well as level him up by playing brain training mini-games while visiting the Fat Chocobo. These mini-games take advantage of the dual screen action, as well as add some brain power into the game. While at the Fat Chocobo, there is now an ‘Event Theatre’ option as well as a ‘Music Box’ option.

The voice acting is certainly a welcome addition to the game. The voice work by such voice actors as Yuri Lowenthal, Liam O’Brien, Michael McConnohie, and many others really add to the game. It will allow you to connect more with the characters and how they’re feeling rather than just reading the text. The only flaw is that there is not enough voice acting, so you may not get any voice acting at your favorite scenes. However, at important scenes, such as the White Paladin scene, it adds so much feeling into it, and allows you to see more clearly about what is happening to Cecil. The remixed music is also quite welcome as it is very fitting to the game and a pleasure to listen to. You may also listen to the games music as well, and Edward will play it for you.

Final Fantasy IV is not just a re-release of something that has been done a thousand times before, it is worthy of being called a remake as they added a lot of new stuff to the game as well as did a serious touch-up of many of the games aspects. The graphics, the soundtrack, the voice acting, and Whyt are just a few of the things have made this game a great remake. If you want to play a great RPG on the go, then this is definitely the game for you.

- J'Tonello

(October 13, 2008)