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TGS 2007: Final Fantasy IV DS hands-on
by Dale North on 09.21.2007 18 comments

TGS 2007: Final Fantasy IV DS hands-on screenshot

Many fans of Final Fantasy were pleased to hear that the fourth game in the series would recieve the "Final Fantasy III DS treatment", and a 3D portable port was more than enough reason to be excited. Now that we've had a chance to get our hands on the remake at this year's Tokyo Game Show, we can say that Final Fantasy IV DS is quite a bit more than just a FFIII DS treatment, and fans now have several more reasons to be excited.

First off, recent magazine screenshots do not do the title justice -- Final Fantasy IV DS looks as good as you'd hope, and maybe even a bit better. The entire cast has undergone an extreme makeover, and all of your favorites have made the transition well. Cecil and Kain look impressive, Rydia is impossibly adorable, and Rosa is hotter than ever. If it wasn't for the soundtrack, you could easily forget that Final Fantasy IV was originally a Super Nintendo game.

Hit the jump to read more on Final Fantasy IV DS.  

Speaking of sound, although the soundtrack has only recieved a slight upgrade from the original soundtrack, key events and video are accompanied by spoken dialogue. It's a nice touch, and along with the gorgeous pre-rendered video cutscenes, it leaves you wondering how they fit all of that content on a DS cartridge.

Square Enix has changed up the control scheme a bit. All of the action takes place on the top screen while the bottom is reserved for things like maps and stats. In the game's overworld map mode, travel is shown on the top screen while the bottom displays a sattelite-style view of the world. Your party can be controlled via d-pad or the stylus, with your character moving in the direction you specify with the touchscreen.

Battles take place on the top screen while the bottom displays stats like hit points and active- time battle meters. Also, when an enemy is targeted, its vitals are also shown on the bottom screen under the party's stats. The demo version we played did not support touchscreen control during battles, though we're not sure if that will be the case in final versions.

The Final Fantasy IV DS Tokyo Game Show demo didn't reveal any real changes to gameplay, although we heard earlier a few were in store. For the most part, this is still the turn-based role playing game that Square released back in 1991.

This demo was just enough to give us an idea of the visual changes applied to this classic RPG, and these changes seem like they'll do a good job of complementing the rich tale that Final Fantasy IV weaves. The characters all have a sense of individuality now, which should help with the large and diverse cast of this story. Summon spells have also recieved an upgrade with full- on, epic Square-style cinematics -- Shiva and Ifrit have never looked so good, and that's saying a lot for a portable game. Magical spells and attacks and items have all undergone upgrades, making them stand out like never before. The towns, maps, and dungeons all seem famaliar, but now have a lot of visual depth and detail, making gameplay for veteran Final Fantasy fans feel like a deeper exploration.

Final Fantasy IV really deserves a visual upgrade, and this particular upgrade should serve its deep and involved storyline well. It really is so much more than a port -- it's a reimagining, and it's obvious that Square Enix knows how much of a treasure this game is. With the game's newfound visual appeal and focus on storyline, long-time fans and newcomers will see that Final Fantasy IV DS has truly recieved the royal treatment.

- - - Nerdy Music Blog! OriginalSoundVersion.com

MORE IN OUR Tokyo Game Show 2007 SECTION

Latest comment by cikoaragorn |view all 18 comments
Thanks so much for this! This is exactly what I was looking for ...





Necros's Avatar
Necros at 09/21/2007 22:26

Dear Square: Put your goddamn games on Virtual Console. I just want to play whatever final upgraded versions of FFI-FFVI cobbled together from PS1 and GBA you have with the original difficulty on a big screen. Is that too much to ask?
generaldane's Avatar
generaldane at 09/21/2007 22:54

This is nice i was playing ff4 when i heard about this remake so i stopped and decided to wait for it.
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 09/21/2007 22:58

Im glad there's something I can use my DS for other than pokemon now.
AngelsDontBurn's Avatar
AngelsDontBurn at 09/21/2007 23:47

Final Fantasyyyyyy!
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 09/22/2007 00:06

Nice, I'm very tempted despite how much I normally can't stand RPGs.
madninja's Avatar
madninja at 09/22/2007 00:08

I am so jealous of you Dale. I saw the trailer that was shown and I near shated myself. When is this game coming out and when are we going to see stuff on Star ocean 4?
deiga-the-semivaliant's Avatar
deiga-the-semivaliant at 09/22/2007 00:12

I'm glad they put the stats and such on the bottom screen, separate from the battle animations.

It irked me to no end in FFIII that there was a perfectly good second screen for Squareenix to utilize in that fashion, but for some reason opted to forsake it.
SourGr8pes's Avatar
SourGr8pes at 09/22/2007 00:27

Damnit! I feel like a chump for buying FF4 for GBA last year, because you know I'm gonna be buying this.
Nex's Avatar
Nex at 09/22/2007 00:48

@ chee:
Sure, but you cant get awesome bidoff gifs out of Final Fantasy, now can you?
Fading_Star's Avatar
Fading_Star at 09/22/2007 01:26

I must buy you.
Tino's Avatar
Tino at 09/22/2007 01:40

I can NOT wait. I can't even fathom playing Final Fantasy 4 in full 3d.
Rainbowblack's Avatar
Rainbowblack at 09/22/2007 05:26

I dont like seeing FFIV DS in the same sentence with FFIII DS

FIV DS was a pile of shit imo
sbshootme's Avatar
sbshootme at 09/22/2007 06:43

rainbow: you mean II right? why? i'm about 3 nhours into the game and i really liked what I played.. apart from the job system which I hate and will never get used to(but thats the curse of people who played ff7 first I guess)
sbshootme's Avatar
sbshootme at 09/22/2007 06:44

II=III in that post.
want edit button :(
Joseph -Orcist- Leray's Avatar
Joseph -Orcist- Leray at 09/22/2007 10:15

DO WANT.
NukaCola's Avatar
NukaCola at 09/22/2007 13:16

Correction: FFIV was not turn-based, it was the first Final Fantasy to use the Active Time Battle System. It just didn't have the option to use a time-meter until the PS1 and GBA iterations.
boxhound's Avatar
boxhound at 09/22/2007 15:41

Can't. Fucking. Wait.

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