Growing up, I never really played any of the Final Fantasy games, which is weird, because I was a huge RPG fan. Quite frankly, I don't think I missed much.
Final Fantasy IV (originally released as FF2 here in the US) was okay I guess. The super-linear gameplay, completely forgettable characters and a blah storyline really failed to impress me. The worst part: almost every single character "dies" at one point then ends up coming back to life. This is completely stupid in terms of storytelling, but what it also does is make you completely unattached to your party. Why give a damn about your characters' level and equipment if they could "die" any moment?
I've now played about half of the Final Fantasy games, and I feel confident in saying that it is one of
the most overrated series of games of all time. There are just so many better RPGs out there... and from the days of the NES to the present, there have been better RPGs available all along.
Whenever the mood strikes, the next FF game that I'm going to try is FF3. I hear a lot of hype about its "revolutionary" job system, but something tells me that Dragon Warrior 3's class-changing system easily trounces it. We'll see.
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And what are your standards?
If this is linear and forgottabble, then what stroy is not?
Good fundaments, must be good.
Go back to playing grandtheft auto sandbox fag.
I agree with Nad Crusher.
Nad: losers like you are the reason I can't stand most people on the internet :p
Teta: A good example of a linear story that *works* in an RPG would be Dragon Warrior 4, which came out around the same time as FF4. Great characters, a plot that builds and actually goes somewhere, and gameplay that isn't destroyed by constantly adding/taking away key characters.
So FF IV compared to Dragon Warrior 4 is boring, plain and not innovative enough.
Then title is wrong, it should say: FFIV is...meh compared to Dragon Warrior 4.
Yep, short post and weak arguments are not satisfying.
You know what, fuck that, here's a response. You didn't like it because the "super-linear gameplay?" What the fuck did you come in here expecting? It came out for SNES. Comparing it to DW4 is fucking stupid, and shows you have a PREFERENCE.
Forgettable characters. Yeah, sure. The dark knight who strives to become a better person. The dragoon who struggles with his inner self. The twins, the start of every annoying child character which managed to pull it off. The revenge driven wizard. The spoony bard. The child summoner who watches her mother die and village burn.
Yeah. Forgettable.
A blah storyline. Were you even paying attention, or were you looking at the game as something you just had to play through to get to the end? There's epic in that story there.
And the fact the characters die. This game came out in '91. What games since have just randomly killed off characters, most of which you can't get back into the party? It adds depth to the characters, and an attachment to the live ones. Go back to whatever else you want to play, just don't make rush decisions on my favorite final fantasy. Is the series as a whole overrated? Yes. But to condemn such a fantastic game in two and a half paragraphs? At least back up your condemnation with some fully thought out opinions.
You're entitled to your opinion, but personally I feel FFIV is my favorite of the 2D FF's. Of course that means I like IV more than VI, which I feel is for sure overrated. (guess some people would call me a fag for making a comment like that....but thats how I feel.)
The only thing I think you should consider in your evaluation of FFIV is that chances are you'd feel different about the game if you played it when it first came out. Why you ask? Well because IV is what started some of the now cliche RPG characters and scenarios because it was one of the first to introduce them.
So I think the reason why a lot of people hold IV and VI up so high is because at the time of their release, they were pretty revolutionary and people had never seen this stuff in a game before. Now I've only played DQ/W III & VIII, so I could be wrong about the whole FF started the cliche thing, but thats the way I see it anyway.
Finally, reserve your final judgment of FFIV after you've played the DS version that comes out roughly a month from now. If this english trailer is any indication, it will be the definitive version of IV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKmuaU2WoKg
@BLEHMAN: You know what system DW4 was developed for, right?
@benmakesmovies: FF4 had a revolutionary battle system with active time battles, something that became a standart for the following FF. Also I don't see, why you like the cliché stories of DW so much, but this one has a rather solid story for its time with quite a few twists.
@Paraparaking
Yes. Yes I do. But I don't recall ben making a point about any "wildly free roaming games" that came out for snes either.
OMG this person has a different opinion *insert flame here*
Yeah you knew this would be hit with flames right away.
Meh I like both games a lot. By today's standards FF4 would never work and is pretty and overdramtic blah right now. Back in the day it was great and especially for the US audience that pretty much ignored Dragon Quest or couldn't find a copy of the later ones.After the one that I got from Nintendo Power I didn't get to play another DQ game until about 5 years ago.
I played back through it again last year and still enjoyed it even though I guess it does rank slightly lower now in my mind than it did when I was a kid -- when it really got me into story telling and Literture. I owe a lot to that game and I think a lot of people do too, which is why its revered and treasured by a vast majority of people.
Your entitled to your own opinion, so please pay no attention to the flamers.
All those movies have corrupted your brain
I hate FF4 because it's the best game ever. The end.
In other news, I hear FF4 is my favorite game ever. And blehman's too.
Personally, I think you're just jaded in terms of older RPGs, specifically of the FF set. The fact that you're already expecting FF3 (NES's, I'm assuming) to carry a worse job system than DW3's interchangeable system says to me that you're looking for flaws in the games you're going to play. I think blehman's got a point that if you're going to condemn a game, at least go out of the way to be a little more thorough in your condemnation.
Or show your appreciation with a really epic review of how awesome you thought E.T. for the 2600 was. (I beat it 21 times!) Everyone loves a good E.T. review.
FF4 was my first FF, and is my favourite in the series next to FF6. I expect linear gameplay from RPGs, I remember the characters extremely well, and the storyline is what made me finish the game.
Because of the way you wrote this, I have to agree with Nad Crusher.
*obligatory hateful comment over someone's opinion on a game*
Anyway, I think the most popular FF titles are overrated in my view. Oh yeah sure, I play them and enjoy them for the story and gameplay but in the end I don't think they're something to orgasm over.
/me fucking loves Blehman
Did I mention that FF Fans are the most overrated fans of any game series ever? So I didn't like FF4. Big deal.
My favorite games are old school RPGs. The Dragon Warrior series, Chrono Trigger, Mother, Tales of Phantasia etc. etc. etc. are all much more enjoyable, *in my opinion*. I don't think that the FF games are nearly as good as other RPGs that came out in their respective eras. DW4 was better than FF4. Skies of Arcadia was better than FF9, etc. etc.
Now when I respond to someone's opinions about games, I don't automatically jump on them with vitriol and hatred. We're talking about games, so who cares? So you disagree with some anonymous dude on the internet; get over yourself.
Oh, and thanks to everyone who is mature/intelligent enough to respond with "I disagree for this reason..." instead of "I HATE YOU LOL OMFG!"
FF4 is also my favorite 2D Final Fantasy, but I last played it probably 6 or 7 years ago and only remember it vaguely, so unfortunately I can't really address any of your points directly. I do however remember it being spectacular. The Japanese version (or the Japanese version translated to english i.e on FF Chronicles) also has probably the most challenging boss I've ever faced in an RPG save for the Red Weapon in FF7. I remember being at level 99 with all my characters and still I was BARELY able to beat it.
Grayfox: Wow... maybe they tweaked the difficulty for the FF Chronicles release? I was playing the J2e translation of the original FF4 cartridge, and I beat the boss pretty easily with my party at level 60. Actually, I felt like a lot of the monsters guarding the treasure chests in the last dungeon put up more of a fight than the boss!
Which reminds me; one thing that I *did* appreciate about FF4 was the solid dungeon design.
Not only is Final Fantasy IV one of the best games in the series, it'a also one of the best games ever made.
In response to the characters "dieing" yes, they may have come back, but they never rejoin your party so you do lose them. Your party is constantly changing which I thought added to the epic feel of the story for the time, you are not stuck with the same characters the entire game. I also think that it one of the best Final Fantasies plot-wise.
I've got to agree, Final Fantasy 4 isn't that great. I had a copy back in the day and sold it before even finishing it because it was just boring.
Final Fantasy 6 however is absolutely fucking amazing and still my favorite RPG. Making the fine, but not great, followup in Final Fantasy 7 all that much more disappointing.
You're definitely entitled to your opinion.
Of course, everyone else is entitled to their opinion about your opinion.
You write it, you own it. :)
I dunno. If you're sitting there with a road map thinking "OK, so this guy dies here, I'd better stop giving him gear", you're going to feel less of a connection, because no you're strategizing around plot points. Its a good way to min/max your way out of enjoying the game.
For what its worth, I don't understand or share your high regard for the Dragon Warrior series and its story telling in its early iterations. Some interesting things were done and they were decent titles, but I can only remember being unimpressed with and unattached from the DW series. Compared to the stories and character development in the latter Final Fantasy games (4 and 6 I'm thinking of), the characters came off as fairly flat by comparison.
its nice that you have opinions, i just don't think anyone really cares to hear them.