Final Fantasy IV (1991 Video Game) User Reviews

Success at Last

[HedonisticActor · 7/10 · 26 October 2007]

Final Fantasy IV was the first in the series to make it actually popular. Runned over by Dragon Quest series before it finally managed to rise to it's now known glory.

Story is finally descent without clichés (Final Fantasy II) or pointless wandering with little happening (Final Fantasies I and III). Cecil, a dark knight who left his position as the captain of royal air forces by moral reasons, tries with the help of his best friend Kain, girlfriend Rosa and many other interesting people to stop mysterious Golbez from using elemental crystals for evil. Plot has many twisting turns and exiting moments but it's main problem is that characters are quite distant. They are interesting but the members the group changes pretty quickly except Cecil who is probably the best character in this game to feel sympathy for. Also there's not told enough background information from certain characters like Golbez whose past and events that formed him evil would have brought more spice to him. And it annoys that most of the characters are so damn eager to sacrifice themselves.

Music is completely it's own chapter. Nobuo Uematsu's beautiful melodies gets their rightful epic feeling in Super Nintendo's sound chips. World Map-theme, trembling Tower of Babil and epic Final Batlle are just few of the many excellent music pieces. Graphigs are colorful and they have unique SNES charm that even time cannot ravage. There's not much to say about battle system because it's overly simple with it's strict character roles and picking from attack, item and some special properties.

Final Fantasy IV finally succeeded in that where it's predictors failed. Truly worth of playing even after 16 years.

Classic RPG and Classic Final Fantasy

[GeDan · 8/10 · 19 September 1999]

Once again, the Final Fantasy series holds true to form and comes out with an astounding video game focusing on Magic and Hit Points and discovering weapons and hidden treasure. This game does a fabulous job of making the player understand Cecil's internal conflicts, and how all of the other characters relate to him. The various characters rotating in and out of the main plot is very well done. The return of familiar spells and effects is embraced as well. All in all, this is a worth-your-time game. Plus, it is here that Cid makes his debut (at least for the American series...).

The first "great" Final Fantasy game in the series

[EasternZZ · 8/10 · 25 July 2020]

Final Fantasy 1,2, & 3 are ok games I guess, but FF4 is the first one in the series to actually be good. There is an actual story, real character motivation, and a real RPG element gameplay.

The issue for me is that this game (along with pretty much JRPGs of the 90's) is super grind heavy. You pretty much have to spent a lot of time just battling, and these turn based battle systems are really boring and the worst parts of some JRPGs. It gets to a point where enemies become so strong you have no choice to spend time just walking around engaging in these boring turn based battles.

Anyways, play it on a SNES Emulator and just speed up the battles.

8/10

For the thinker, not the thrill seeker

[scottsummers2307-1 · 4 December 2004]

As one of the older Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy IV (originally released as FFII in the U.S.) is one of those early games mostly neglected by the surge of Final Fantasy fans that came in after FFVII. As a game, this installment is set in the more traditional fantasy sense, where there's less emphasis on technology and more on the mystical. Each character has their own specified job, and contrary to what most people who give negative reviews for this game suggest, each one has a distinct personality that really shouldn't take much time to notice. While you're not given a huge in-depth look on the past of most characters, that's not the point of the game. This entry in the series focuses on the journey, the struggle to overcome obstacles to reach the intended goal. All characters must endure and push through some kind of handicap, and each comes out stronger for it.

The traditional modes of transportation exist in this game: foot, chocobos, and airship. However, there are many permutations of each, some of which reappear later in the series. The same can be said of key locations, items, equipment, and concepts: many started with this game that come back later in the whole set of Final Fantasy games. This does not mean this game eventually turned Final Fantasy into the powerhouse it is today, it simply means that it had a big hand in shaping the direction it went.

Music in this game accurately portrays the overall mood, as Nobuo Uematsu often does in his compositions. Fights feel that much more exciting, while sad seems are that much more emotional. Meanwhile, the graphics are fairly well-developed and colorful despite the fact that this was one of the games before the Playstation introduced polygons in place of pixels.

For fights, the traditional Active Time Battle system is in place in this period. Unlike some later Final Fantasy games, each character has a definitive, specific role for each battle, rather than a minor suggestive direction by the game creators. One character mostly uses Black Magic and excels at it, while another has a particular battle skill. The abilities of Fight, Black Magic, White Magic, and Item are commonplace for specific characters throughout the game, but not all characters have all 4 of these choices. In actuality, only two of the four are on every single character: Fight and Item. This game doesn't lend the characters to flexibility, and while that may seem bad to some people, it indirectly adds a sense of identity to the characters. White Magic infers that the character is very caring and self-sacrificing, for instance. This game, unlike many others, actively involves the battle system itself as important to the overall experience, rather than turning it into just a fun thing to do on a Saturday morning.

For the person who simply wants to kill monsters, be entertained by fancy graphics, and doesn't like to think too intently on the subject matter, this one is not for you. But for those who enjoy thinking about their gaming experience more deeply and are heavy in philosophy, this might become one of the shining gems of your collection if you choose to play it.

Final Fantasy II in the US. Probably the best RPG ever.

[behamut · 10/10 · 15 October 1999]

Final Fantasy II is probably the best RPG in existence. I've played it through numerous times and it has been an exciting adventure every time. The story is truly one to be recognized. Cecil, a dark knight, betrays his country once he feels that it's direction has turned more towards evil. During his quest to retaliate, he must face trials that bring him to learn that his ties between the ultimate evil and the ultimate good are more than he could have ever imagined. An excellent cast of characters and a musical score that is absolutely fantastic. A story that should be told again and again. Should be a movie by now.

Things to Come

[freenachos · 10/10 · 14 February 2002]

I should have known when I first saw this game in 8th Grade that Final Fantasy was going to be a great series for a long time. How could I have know though? This was Final Fantasy II (in Japan it was IV). I guess I figured you could only have one "final" fantasy, and the fact that there was a second was overachieving in the first place.

What game are we on now? Ten? They're all good and this was the first Final Fantasy to catch my attention. The story is as gripping as a video game plot needs to be. The characters are diverse and dynamic. Your party members grow and changes as the story progresses and the writers aren't afraid to kill off some really good ones. There are many interesting weapons, items, spells, caves and enemies. Best of all, the battles are fun and not an annoyance.

The game does show age but the graphics are really pretty and I remember they were exceptionally beautiful and he music was awesome at the time this came out for the Super Nintendo. You can find this one for PlayStation now AND it's coupled with what many call "The greatest Role Playing Game of all time" ChronoTrigger. It's a bargain.

The game that made me a Final Fantasy fan.

[Aaron1375 · 10/10 · 3 April 2007]

I was not a huge fan of the first Final Fantasy game, however, I loved this game when it was released as Final Fantasy II. It was just vastly different at the time to anything I was used to. I loved the scenes where the characters acted own their own to add to the story, the music seemed great, and the story was very well played out. The fighting was good too, but this game was mainly story based as the story was more important than the fighting. Here it is turned based, and even though today it looks a bit odd seeing basically a picture blink to indicate an attack it is still great in its simplicity. The story follows Cecil who is a dark knight on a quest for redemption and to discover the mystery's of the crystals. He finds many comrades to aid him along the way, and villains to try and obstruct it. You have your basic element villains and other villains who seem to have connections with our heroes. There is nothing like this game still as the story still sparks emotion as there is a lot of self sacrifice to occur. You travel many lands in this one, including the lands of the drawf and you even get to fly into space. You have your humorous characters and you have your super magic attacks and summons. In this one the characters are also all rather unique unlike other final fantasy where there are no real differences between characters. So all in all still one of the best.

THE BEST

[Budman X · 10/10 · 18 August 2000]

This is truly THE BEST game ever made. It was the first RPG I ever played... I have never seen a game this good. Other games have come close, but this is THE BEST EVER. EVER!!!! I can't believe how cool the story and the characters are. Everything about this game is PERFECT!!!!!!!! IF YOU CAN FIND A COPY, BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!

One of my top three Final Fantasies

[MissSimonetta · 10/10 · 26 May 2013]

Final Fantasy IV is one of the greatest video games ever made. In its time, this was a truly groundbreaking game, not only for the FF series, but for the RPG genre on the whole. It had a more intricate plot as well as complex characters when compared to all that had come before. Even after two decades, the game play is still solid and its story still epic and moving.

The main character is Cecil, a dark knight who commits atrocities in the name of his king, who is beginning to set his eyes on world conquest. Cecil's conscience eventually catches up to him once the king has him destroy an entire town. He abandons his duty in the hopes of redeeming himself and warning the other nations along with the aid of his best friend Kain, an orphaned summoner Rydia, his lady love Rosa, the vengeance-seeking sage Tellah, the timid Prince Edward, and an assortment of other characters they meet during the journey. Along the way, they face constant betrayal, peril, death, and other complications that make for an exciting story.

The game is never boring. Your party is always changing, so there's variety there. There's a whole world to explore and plenty of side quests. The graphics still look good for an SNES game. The music is extremely memorable. Nobou Uematsu is an amazing composer and FFIV features some of his most memorable compositions such as the Theme of Love and the Four Fiends' of the Elements Theme. (My personal favorite is the world map theme.) I have played through this game at least four times, and even own the DS remake (which is worth the money if you're a huge fan of the original, as it has enough new content to make it fell fresh). It really is a great one, though gamers more used to the post-VII games in the FF series might find it a bit weird and simplistic at first. But give it a chance, and I assure you, you won't be disappointed!

The first Final Fantasy game that had the real magic in it, and a real favourite of mine!

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 10/10 · 7 June 2019]

I really love this game, I think it may have retroactively become my favourite one, because I never played it as a kid, the first Final Fantasy I played was 7 and I gradually worked my way backwards through the series via compilations and ports and such.. I mainly love it for the incredible storytelling and strongly realised characters, the cast of heroes have real arcs and you really cared about what might happen to them next, and it had some really sad and moving moments where characters sacrificed themselves. This relatively early game in the series being so well received must have been a factor for the subsequent success of the games, seeing as it was the chapter that introduced several notable elements and mechanics that would become staples of the latter titles, like the active battle system that made the battles feel like they were in constant motion and imbued them with a sense of urgency, especially during critical boss fights! It also introduced the fixed class designations for all of the main characters, which helped to make them feel more like characters with a certain level of depth, which was something that until this point, the game's hadn't truly bothered to experiment with. Like I said some of the characters have real fleshed out story arcs, such as a troubled young knight named Cecil, who feels as if he's lost his humanity after following genocidal orders from his king, and who sets off on a quest for redemption and to undo the evil he had a hand in causing. And when you've been playing already for a decent amount of time and it gets to the scene where Cecil conquers his inner demon and is reborn as a glorious paladin of light, it feels like the real story begins in earnest and I'd really be finding it hard to put the game down! It wasn't a perfect one but was a very accessible story and wasn't a super overly-complex one where your character was a dream from the future or anything too weird like that! It was a story of darkness and light and redemption and had a lot of heart and lore and pathos to it and I just really connected with this one and loved it. The tone was quite expansive, at the start it's all wizards and castles but by the end you have a highly advanced spaceship that takes you to the moon! Golbez was such a perfectly awesome wrathful dark lord, he was the biggest, baddest, most all powerful hulking overlord in the game and as soon as you see his character sprite and hear his menacing theme music, you knew he was the big bad villain of the story. His fearsome design and grandiose bearing really made him feel like the Darth Vader of Final Fantasy! And just as with Darth he had a close connection with the main hero, and that's something else I greatly appreciated about "Lord Golbez", was that as his tragic story was fully uncovered you discover that he was in fact never the true villain that he appeared to be at all and was in fact a man ensnared by a much greater celestial evil that was controlling his mind and using him like a puppet. I also totally loved Golbez' squad of four elemental archfiends who try to destroy your team throughout the adventure, particularly the devilish looking Rubicante, the fiend of fire, who was quite an honourable sort for a demon and treated the warriors with a level of respect and even restores them to full power before the fight against him! My favourite version of this game was the DS remake because I thought the voice acting and cutscenes enriched the story and experience even more, not to mention the battle difficulty was restored to how it was originally intended! So there were heroic warriors that you loved, epic villains that could seriously dig and overall it was just a great magical adventure that was a huge step up from its predecessors and opened up the series for new ideas and directions to come. It's one of those games that I have a special place for and one that I respect very much and feel holds up amazingly well and I will always love a whole lot! Happy gaming X

Very funny

[cezbanbelubo · 10/10 · 11 June 2020]

This game is very funny. Very amazing. I loved it so much

Doesn't hold up.

[thevacinstaller · 5/10 · 12 June 2020]

Ok --- Take into consideration that this game is 30 years old. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remember as a young kid playing this game all the time and a wave of insanity compelled me to go back and give it a shot ---

Nostalgia is a powerful force but this game simply does not hold up to modern standards.

At times the story feels like it could be the plot for a Saturday morning cartoon. I DESPISE the Japanese RPG cliché of having a mysterious reveal towards the end of the game ---- In this particular case Cecil is an alien from the moon and his brother is Golbez.

The motivations and character arcs are so mundane and paper thin that only my force of will and stubbornness propelled me forward through the story.

I will say the music is excellent ---- plenty of great tracks in this game.

This game doesn't hold up. Masterpieces stand the test of time but this one is average to below average when played in 2020. I'd skipped it and save yourself the boring grind hassle.

The first true Final Fantasy

[Katleikin · 17 March 2004]

In 1991, a little known company gaming company known as Square(soft) in Japan released the fourth segment of it's Final Fantasy series. Little did they know (or maybe they did) where it would lead them.

I would call Final Fantasy IV the "sleeper hit" of the series. It was considered by the few who got their hands on it back in the early 90's their "favorite video game ever". It had rave reviews, and started to garner a cult-like rpg gamer following. And of course, in every aspect, it deserved it.

Hironobu Sakaguchi did a wonderful job in giving depth, for what can be disputed as the first time, to a video game rpg character. The main character of this video game "Cecil" starts out as a "bad guy" with a conscience. Of course, this may be considered cliche nowadays, but back in 1991, it was quite revolutionary. Cecil's predicament, although it may not be original, is a moving one.

Cecil, the dark knight, is the captain of the Red Wings, the Kingdom of Baron's "air force". His story starts with the war mongering of his liege in search for the all-powerful Crystals, which's purposes are shrouded in mystery. After a battle in the mage town of Mysidia, Cecil, torn between his duty and his guilt, confronts his King asking him why he is on this blood-thirsty conquest, and he is promptly banished from the Kingdom on an errand with his Dragoon friend Kain, to make up for this mistake. One must ask, will Cecil ever stand up to his liege and confront his inner demons? Here is where this epic adventure begins.

Following this neat intro, we are introduced to a vast array of different characters that Cecil encounters in his quest; to name a few, Rosa, Rydia, Yang, Palom, Porom, Tellah, and the first of the famous "Cid" characters in the Final Fantasy series. There is a HUGE world to explore (for a 1991 rpg) with many different terrains (even the moon), many different and interesting antagonists (Golbez, the Four fiends), and a mass of evil monsters to be destroyed.

Nubuo Uematsu shines with his inspiring music in this game. This was his first opportunity to show his composing skills and develop a full and rich soundtrack. I was amazed, when this game first came out, at how "orchestrated" a video game can sound...It is no surprise now that Nubuo is now a highly acclaimed composer, both in and out of video game music. If you are a fan, give this soundtrack a listen...These are his roots.

All in all, I give Final Fantasy IV a very biased 5 stars...Although it is reasonably disputed that Final Fantasy 6 and 7 are better overall games, this one will hold a place in my heart. It was the funder of 6...it shaped the things to come.

One of the best Final Fantasy Games

[Emphinix · 18 July 2003]

I love this game as much as I love the other Final Fantasies, this game is really cool. The game is about Cecil is returning to the kingdom of Baron after a raid in Mysidia for the Water Crystal, the soldiers in the airship atone for a moment when they're attacked by monsters and Cecil defeats them both, succesfully they land to Baron safe and sound and then Cecil gives the Water Crystal to the king of Baron then Cecil asked the king why they had to take the crystal of Mysidia by the force.

The King of Baron accuses Cecil of treason and strips him from his command as captain of the Red Wings of Baron and sends him to Misty Village to get rid of the summoners to prove his loyalty.

Well i'm not telling a lot more for the ones who haven't played the game very much.

I assure you people that this Final Fantasy game is one of the best FF games you have ever played, great story, awesome music and great battle system.

If you download it to play it on the emulator, I suggest you to download the hardtype, it's a lot better than the easytype.

I can't understand you people!!! some spoilers maybe!!

[superadde69 · 15 July 2003]

THIS adventure game.."Final Fantasy 2" or in Japan "Final Fantasy 4", IS Terrific.

The Story is interesting cause there's lots of characters which are cool. Some Die and some come back after a while.

I've Completed this game lots of times and am satisfied everytime i play it. If you compare this game with the third one, i think this game has better Characters. In the third game, there was too many OLD characters, well, they looked old but in fact they were Young. And take a look at the maincharacter in the third game?? HAHA, he looks like a tramp.

This game has, i think Excellent Music, Maybe not so good graphics but that isn't important. You think a lot bout' there lives and What is happening around. The Atmosphere is good. The Bosses is good. And there isn't a single battle which is annoying or boring. That's GREAT.

One thing which also is very good in this game is that "Cecil, The Dark Knight" becomes the "PALADIN".

I really Liked The End Bosses in this game too. First "Zemus" and THEN, "ZEROMUS"...this is the Best Final Fantasy Game i've ever played. Final Fantasy 7 is Also one of the Best. ooohhh yeah, man!!!!

I can also tell ya that THIS game is Really Big. That's a +!!!!

I have many Feelings about this game. I think that's because of the Music. It makes The Game alot better, Interesting and more Fun to Play!!! What can i say more?? hmm, Many New FFgames has characters which originally comes from FF2. Take Magus sisters for example??

Without a doubt the best (DON'T READ UNLESS YOU'VE PLAYED)

[parasitex2000 · 2 January 2006]

Some Believe that Final Fantasy VII is the best, I disagree. FFIV is definitely the best, the only problem is that the U.S. translated version is far harder than the Japanese, but it's still an extremely fun (and addicting) game that deserves attention. The story was deep but involved little thought. The comedy is excellent and witty, and Cid is just hilarious. I hated it though when it was revealed about Golbez and Cecil being brothers, I thought to myself "Wow...I nearly killed family...hello nightmares..." I do believe though that FFIV will never be surpassed in means of fun and challenge. I do like the thing about "Penthouse" showing up in the developer's room, that was funny.

One of the lamer old FF's.

[Chibi Riza · 16 June 2000]

Man,after playing through some of my old games,I've noticed now that FF4 is not especially my favorite.

Here is why:

Un-original storyline.Man,this is exactly like "Star Trek" disguised as a Fantasy.

Bland characters.I had to agree with some one Anonymus here.Only 3 or 4 characters actually showed some personality w/o making a fool of themselves.Other than that,the characters were free of personality and mainly fell off the face of the Earth.Not to mention that the characters were less-than-memorable.

Yoshitaka Amano seemed like he was lacking something here.His drawings aren't as vibrant as they were in FF5 or FF6.They looked really washed out and simplistic.

Better off without this one,but heck,I'd only play this over the "dreaded" FF8!