No, I haven't started playing FFIV DS yet, even though that's my favorite game of the series. Part of it is that I want to finish the unexpectedly awesome Chocobo's Dungeon first, and part of it is... I don't know, exactly. The remake sounds fun and looks pretty good as far as the original goes. Augments are a nice way to keep it from playing the same way, but it sounds like the story's the same and I long since memorized it. I mean, I bought this game three times before: for the SNES, PlayStation, and the excellent Game Boy Advance version.
The critical reception for this game seems to sum up all of my hopes and fears for the game. The high reviews are astronomical, gushing with praise, and the low reviews are kind of a half-hearted "meh". Is the new FFIV DS really worth your cash, or do you already have the definitive version of the game with the Game Boy Advance edition? Let's take a look at the most noteworthy reviews and see what that 87% metacritic average really means.
The high score is a perfect A from GameShark - yes, same as the cheat code guys - in a review that has a few niggling complaints but nothing really significant. Tony Mitera is one of the few FFIV DS reviewers who puts much effort into talking abut the Augment system. While most reviews will tell you the game plays totally the same, the buzz from fans is that Augments are now the heart of the system and will completely change your approach. You also, apparently, need all of the best Augments if you want to face the game's new optional bosses.
Another new feature is the Augment ability which allows you to customize the abilities of your party. If you happen upon the Counter augment you can use it one time to make a party member learn it and then select what ability they counter with. While one party member could technically learn all of the augments in the game you can only have a small number of them equipped, so choosing who learns what augments and what augments they have equipped can play into strategy as well. Some augments are rare and play into an unlock system of sorts that rewards multiple playthroughs of the game. You can also fully customize each party members battle menu. While you can only rearrange existing commands and cant give Black Magic to your monk its biggest strength comes in the ability to do things like put specific items or spells right on your battle menu, even making it the first selection if you want.
GamePro awarded the game a 4.75 out of 5, and true to form, there is only one niggling complaint about the ameplay in will Herring's review: lack of any significant touchscreen support. You can unlock mini-games to play, but the buzz from players right now suggests nobody really gives a damn about them. That said, unlike the FFIII DS remake, FFIV does seem to put the bottom screen to good use anyway.
While this iteration of Final Fantasy IV is an exclusive to the DS, I'm afraid that there's no stylus-controlled action to be found. But I really can't complain about this design decision, as I'd much rather play a game I knew to be well-crafted than risk ruining the title by clumsily integrating stylus-responsive controls. Thankfully, the DS's touch-screen is still used to great advantage for the player, displaying detailed maps of your current surroundings while exploring the game's towns and dungeons, as well as in-depth character statistics and menus during battle.
The two low scores for the game are still surprisingly high, but very interesting text to look over. 1up's Jeremy Parish, for instance, only gave the game a B score. His review zeroed in on something that is really worth discussing with this game: the fact that a very good GBA remake came out only a few years ago, complete with tons of great features that the DS remake lacks.
Unfortunately, Augments also cut right to the heart of what makes this version of FFIV less than definitive; they're a poor substitute for the solution proffered by Square Enix's last remake of this game, Final Fantasy IV Advance on the Game Boy Advance. There, players were given the option to join up again with all but two of their former comrades and tackle the final dungeon (along with several bonus areas) with a completely flexible party. It was, in every way, a better approach than simply carrying over some of those forgotten characters' abilities -- especially since maxing out Augments is a maddeningly counterintuitive process. Want the best possible skill selections, an absolute necessity if you hope to defeat the new ultimate secret monsters? In that case, you'll need to be prepared to squander the best Augments you earn during your first playthrough or two on temporary characters so as to reap the benefits in a subsequent trip through the game. And Augments are permanently set once distributed, so you'd better hope you can parse their vague in-game descriptions and give them to someone who can actually make use of them.
The absolute lowest score, interestingly, came from RPG Fan, which awarded it a mere 73%. There, reviewer James Quentin Clark is just sick and tired of seeing Square-Enix constantly re-release new versions of a game he believes to be extremely overrated to begin with. I can't say I agree with his argument, but it's worth considering.
Is FFIV really just that amazing? I don't think so. What it has going for it is the same thing as VII, in that it struck a chord with a segment of dedicated fans who will always swear by its classic story and gameplay. While Final Fantasy IV was a solid early SNES RPG, I can rattle off two dozen better fourth generation RPGs with little effort. To the game's credit, it has certainly had a big impact on the genre, with scores of games copying its narrative style (characters with unique talents coming and going) and battle mechanic. Still, the game was hardly revolutionary in its time, and considering how much it has been copied and how little has changed, you're likely to find the game tedious if you are not already a big fan of old-school RPGs.
