‘Final Fantasy IV’ Pixel Remaster Review – Reaching for the Moon – TouchArcade

Last Fantasy IV has had extra remakes than any Last Fantasy sport save the unique. Up till now, there have been at least eight distinct variations of this sport, and Last Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster ($17.99) marks its ninth. Is that this lastly the definitive model, or are we left with one more case of a model that’s higher in some methods and worse in others? If you already know the overall thought behind these Pixel Remaster video games, you most likely already know the reply to that query. Let’s journey it out anyway, associates.

Initially launched within the West on the Tremendous NES underneath the title of Last Fantasy II for causes that really feel sillier on a regular basis when defined, Last Fantasy IV had the distinctive pleasure of presenting three sequels’ value of enhancements as a single sport’s soar for English gamers of the period. It follows the story of a Darkish Knight named Cecil as every thing he as soon as trusted and believed in begins to crash down round him. It’s a reasonably linear affair as Last Fantasy video games go, and your social gathering make-up at any given time will all the time be decided by the place you might be within the story. There’s a reasonably massive forged of characters who rotate out and in because the story calls for, every representing a Last Fantasy job class archetype of 1 type or one other.

Within the early months of the Tremendous NES’s life, this robust emphasis on dramatic storytelling and a comparatively wealthy forged of characters was fairly spectacular. There have been talents and spells we had by no means seen earlier than, and the twists and turns within the storyline made for a extremely compelling RPG. Hindsight tells us most of the issues that appeared to originate with Last Fantasy IV had truly appeared in prior video games that didn’t make it to the West, however you actually can’t argue with how properly polished all of these bits are on this fourth sport. Certainly, this sport is extremely accommodating so far as giving the participant a reasonably easy journey. There are some tough bits, but it surely needs anybody to have the ability to see its story by way of to the tip.

I used to be obsessive about this sport when it first got here out. I had a stable fling with the unique sport, sufficient that I took a punt on this one with my hard-earned newspaper supply cash. I had no thought what I used to be in for, but it surely didn’t take lengthy for it to seize me. The opening scene with that tremendous Crimson Wing theme enjoying because the crew of an airship mirror on their doubtful actions. A conflicted man expressing doubts to his king, solely to be forged away alongside together with his finest pal. A late-night discuss together with his girlfriend, who believes in him greater than he believes in himself. The 2 associates embark on a journey to redeem themselves to the king, stepping onto that bridge on the entrance of the fort because the music swells. The Prelude, now usually considered as the primary theme of Last Fantasy, heard by way of that excellent Tremendous NES sound ship. What is that this? What did I get myself into?

For nearly that complete 12 months, Last Fantasy IV was on my thoughts. The music was seared into my mind. I used to be sketching the characters on the again of each college worksheet and within the margins of each pocket book. My associates and I’d focus on potential secrets and techniques. I labored by way of the sport, getting pulled round emotionally by each goofy little bit of melodrama. Last Fantasy IV has melodrama to burn. I obtained to the ultimate dungeon and, feeling unprepared, stopped and spent a while grinding. Considered one of my associates within the neighborhood stopped by, and I believed I’d simply present him the ultimate boss even when I couldn’t defeat him. After which, by some means, I did. And gosh, what a boss. Last Fantasy all the time brings the warmth with these remaining boss battles, even when the set-up is a bit rocky at instances. Once I landed that remaining assault and the acquainted crack of sound and rumbling of a useless Last Fantasy boss hit, my pal and I cheered. I had dinner late that night time, insisting to my dad and mom that I needed to watch the entire ending. What a sport.

Certainly, it made such an influence on me that when the following Last Fantasy installment was launched, I used to be extraordinarily skeptical of it as a result of it had the audacity to not proceed the story of the characters I cherished a lot. Who’re these new chumps? Nicely, I’ll purchase it, however don’t anticipate me to love this as a lot as Last Fantasy IV. Life is humorous. We’ll get to that story in a few months, I think about. Suffice it to say that this sport completely knocked my socks off once I was twelve.

Gosh, however that’s the important thing, isn’t it? I used to be twelve. And video games like this had been a lot rarer again then, particularly within the West. I most likely can’t separate my nostalgia for this sport from this evaluation. Not utterly. I’ve tried many instances, and you will have learn a few of these makes an attempt. I do know this sport’s faults very nicely. The story is so melodramatic and depends on so many low cost emotional pops that it borders on parody at instances. There aren’t an entire lot of choices when it comes to character customization. You undergo so many underground caves, associates. That’s the one piece of music you may be bored with by the tip. It’s a really linear sport, with solely the barest of alternatives to enterprise off the trail for some further rewards. I do know all of this. I nonetheless find it irresistible. I used to be twelve, and to some extent once I fireplace this sport up I’m nonetheless twelve.

Stepping previous the fuzzy emotions of youth long gone, I do suppose Last Fantasy IV has loads going for it even now. For all of its twists and turns, it is a very earnest and simple to comply with story, which isn’t one thing we will all the time say about Last Fantasy video games anymore. The emphasis on a set social gathering means the builders know precisely what the participant has of their toolbox at any given second, and that allowed them to place collectively some very attention-grabbing boss encounters that pressure you to truly suppose somewhat. That soundtrack remains to be unbelievable. And by design, this sport is a pleasant introduction to Last Fantasy as a model. Possibly not fairly as consultant because it as soon as was, but it surely’s certainly one of my high decisions if somebody new to the sequence needs to get into it. There are higher Last Fantasy video games, however that is definitely one of many extra agreeable ones.

Now, I discussed initially of this evaluation that there have been a number of variations of this sport. Some are simpler, some are tougher. Some are extra easy, others surprisingly sophisticated. Last Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster leans extra in the direction of the smooth and pleasant finish of these spectrums. In most methods, it takes after Last Fantasy IV Advance. It has all the further gadgets and talents that had been minimize out of the unique Western SNES model and the Japanese Simple Kind model, and the problem of enemies and managers falls largely consistent with Advance. Fairly a distinct expertise from the reasonably difficult and complicated 3D remake that cell gamers have had entry to up till now. Assuredly a greater place to expertise the sport for the primary time.

There are some modest graphical enhancements, however the sport largely preserves the unique look of the sport, and I’m form of right here for that. I preferred the ultra-clean and detailed PSP sprites in that system’s model of the sport, and I even just like the SD low-poly designs of the 3D remake. However the story was initially constructed round these reasonably easy sprites, and I believe they do an in a position job of expressing themselves for all their simplicity. You get a number of extra particulars right here and there on this pixel remaster, however given its unique roots on a reasonably color-rich 16-bit platform it’s clearly not the massive step we noticed within the first three Pixel Remaster video games.

What’s an enormous step is the soundtrack. As with the opposite Pixel Remaster video games, the soundtrack has been changed with luxurious fancy-pants orchestral preparations. This sport already had an exquisite soundtrack, and listening to it like that is an absolute revelation. I’m getting shivers serious about Last Fantasy VI already, associates. Tracks just like the Crimson Wing theme, the Theme of Love, the Prelude, the Last Boss music, and the Battle with the 4 Fiends are stone-cold online game classics and I’m merely in awe of how they arrive off right here. If there’s a purpose to charge this explicit model of the sport above any of the others, it’s on this level.

The largest little bit of unhealthy information is a well-recognized tune for individuals who have been listening to these Pixel Remasters. The sport content material right here is because it was within the unique model of the sport. Not one of the content material added from the Advance model onward is included right here, nor are any of the options from the 3D remake. They’ve even gone and minimize the key Developer Room for no matter purpose. It’s unlucky as the brand new additions in Last Fantasy IV Advance helped tackle a number of the extra apparent criticisms of this sport, notably by permitting you to alter your social gathering make-up close to the tip of the sport. For higher or worse, that is just about the unique Last Fantasy IV when it comes to content material and mechanics. Nicely, I suppose the 3D remake remains to be there for individuals who need extra crunchy RPG mechanics.

So, is Last Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster the definitive model of Last Fantasy IV we’ve been wanting? Sadly, no. It’s simply one other excellent model of the sport, but it surely’s one I’d wholeheartedly advocate for the brand new participant over its 3D counterpart. Its greatest crime isn’t a grand one; it merely leaves out some helpful further content material that enriched some earlier remakes. It additionally doesn’t have controller assist, and the English font remains to be tiny and slender. I don’t anticipate the additional content material factor to be addressed, however I certain hope these different bits are sooner or later.

Should you’re simply enjoying Last Fantasy IV for the primary time now, I wouldn’t anticipate it to be as particular to you because it was to me thirty years in the past. However you already know, it’s nonetheless reasonably playable and satisfying for a sport of its classic, particularly inside the RPG style. There’s a purpose Sq. Enix retains coming again to this one, I believe. It’s a welcoming entry level into the sequence, an thrilling if usually tacky curler coaster journey, and on the entire a sport that by some means makes you fail to spot its flaws as a result of its robust factors are so robust. Furthermore, it’s totally different sufficient that I believe even homeowners of the present cell model of Last Fantasy IV will discover it value grabbing.