How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

[Ketaru]

Finished replaying IX today and thought I'd replay IV DS. But before I do, I was wondering, how is the PSP Complete Collection? Does the sequel to IV add anything to the experience?

[Malacite]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

The sequel only sets you up for a massive disappointment - it plays out like a 14 year old girl's anime fan fiction and that's being generous.


It starts off well enough and has some really cool stuff like the combination moves, but the story just absolutely falls apart by the end to the point of utter disgust. The visuals are amazing however, by far the best of all the 2D iterations. It was supposed to retain the enhanced combat mechanics from the DS remake of IV, but that got scrapped (along with the map system as well).


Honestly, I prefer the DS remake. Even if the 3D is kinda shoddy, the gameplay is superior and I loved the voice acting.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

Yeah, get the DS version. The DS version had some really nice gameplay updates beyond the 3D and voice acting like Augments, which felt like natural additions to a Final Fantasy game. Each character got some revisions to the spells they learn, Cecil in particular gets more useful white magic earlier on which does make combat more bearable than limping by on the must rudimenteary white magic spells for most of the prior versions.

[Firewind]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

I actually preferred the Complete Collection because Augments were such a bullshit mechanic. They were either completely fucking useless or broke the game in half so there was little to no challenge in a game that is already pretty easy if you have a high tolerance for grinding, something that is also inexcusable in a portable game, you know the type of game you will probably play in sessions as long as your average commute time is.

They also gave no real customisation options. The fact that they required that you put them on characters in a specific order exactly when they leave the party in a precise order, they just weren't worth the effort. For some of them you would seriously have to sit there with a printed out guide so you knew exactly when to use one and when so you could get the one useful augment that you would have to then waste on someone who would leave so you can get another later, which is then put on yet another party member that will also leave so that triggers another augment you can collect...

It just gets to the point where you think "Fuck this shit!" and play a version where you don't have to deal with it and can just sit down and enjoy the fucking game without having to be bogged down by such a shite mechanic.

[Ketaru]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

Already have the DS version, so I think I'll just stick with that. But I wanted to know if the Complete Collection adds anything new to the experience. Is the story good, if nothing else. Although I should not have expected as such since the storyline of there original IV wasn't exactly nuanced.

[Malacite]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

I thought 4's was pretty good honestly. And as I said, The After Years actually does a good job of building on it - right up until around the end, where it literally falls apart at the seams I mean WTF?!

That's not a plot twist, that's just retarded.

[Armando]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

Didn't The After Years consist mostly of retracing old dungeons and re-killing old bosses? Never played it myself but I had stumbled upon a pretty scathing review of it a while back.

[Malacite]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

A little bit. There were a few new areas and you do fight some old bosses in the final area.

Having Golbez in your party was one of the coolest things.

[Firewind]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

Interlude and After Years were fun but it felt more like a glorified fanfiction than anything else. Basically it was a game you played because it was fun and not because it was big or clever or insightful.

[Ketaru]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

I thought 4's was pretty good honestly. And as I said, The After Years actually does a good job of building on it - right up until around the end, where it literally falls apart at the seams I mean WTF?!

It's ambitious for it's time, I suppose. But some parts of it were pretty eye rolling. Numerous deaths-but-not-really as the game goes on. The big "Luke, I am your father" moment towards the end. All along, the menacing villain turning out to have been brainwashed. Those last 2 wouldn't have been bad if there had at least been some buildup to it over the course of the game, but there wasn't.

[Malacite]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

It was still better than the other entries. I mean in all seriousness IV was the beginning of SE really taking their plots and cast seriously, with VI being their first true masterpiece (IMO).

[Armando]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

It was still better than the other entries. I mean in all seriousness IV was the beginning of SE really taking their plots and cast seriously, with VI being their first true masterpiece (IMO).

I think it's more like the SNES gave them enough breathing room to do the kind of stories they wanted to do. You could tell they were springing for something more story-driven starting with FF2 (although the generic cast of FF1 was probably a throwback to D&D.)

I never finished IV but it left the same impression on me as Ketaru. I don't want to shit on anyone's childhood, but it always felt like it was leaning too heavily on fantasy tropes. FFV never gave me that impression for some reason. I don't know if it's the fact that my party members were a princess, a cross-dressing pirate and an amnesiac old man, or just the fact that the game doesn't start with a village being burned down.

[Firewind]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

Same here really. Another reason why I preferred FFV was because it also didn't take itself that seriously. You get the feeling that the writers know that the plot is silly but are just having fun with it nonetheless.

Also wasn't FF1 basically supposed to be D&D with the Serial Numbers filed off?

[Malacite]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

Yes it was, it had spells per day and everything.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: How is the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection?

I don't know if it's the fact that my party members were a princess, a cross-dressing pirate and an amnesiac old man, or just the fact that the game doesn't start with a village being burned down.

To FFIV's credit, it's not your village that's being burned down.