On Dec 7th, my father’s birthday, Apple Arcade let me know that Final Fantasy IV (or as I remember it II) had a remake being released that I could download.
I was playing through it with a lot of nostalgia. When I was young, I have vivid memories of my dad, in his underwear, playing Final Fantasy II on the SNES. Basically in actual chronological order of Final Fantasy Games released it is IV, but in historical US releases it was the second game.
The actual II and III were released on the Famicon. They look and feel very similar to the original Final Fantasy (another game my dad played). However there was no Famicon here so we didn’t get the full Final Fantasy experience until way later on when localization of language had improved and we had easy ways to play older games on any system.
Moving on, I was playing this game and really asked myself if it was good.
Older Final Fantasy games are a grind fest
I can’t speak to newer Final Fantasy games but I know at a certain point they do get really great stories making the grind worth it.
My memory of this story feels a lot better than the current feeling I have for the game. It’s very minimalistic. Granted this is an early 90’s JRPG. They could only do what they could do.
There is a full plot and a big range of characters. I can’t wait to see what the moon part is like with the new cinematics. It’s still a grindfest. Every like minute or so another random battle with the old timey live action, but turn-based combat.
Yes there is a story and stuff but mostly you grind your way for experience points to get stronger to have an easier time with the overly difficult boss fights that break your ego.
For real you’ll be crushing your way through the basic minion fights, feeling like a champion. Then all of a sudden the boss wipes out half your party with a crazy attack you have no defenses for. These old games are not like today. There is no relative scaling. It’s easy peasy minions for hours of grinding between boss fights that inch the story along at a snail’s pace.
And yet I love the format. It’s nostalgic and almost peaceful. It’s easy, it doesn’t take a “get good” mentality to win. You need to just go take more time to get your party stronger and come back and fuck shit up appropriately.
The only real path forward is to grind.
Still it’s harsh to relegate any Final Fantasy game into being simply a grindfest, there is more to it.
Despite the grinding you do need to think to beat the game
The first time you discover there are optional summons you can get in Final Fantasy IV it’s a trip.
The game provides a lot of secrets and reasons to explore. It’s also got crazy hard bosses that take real time to beat. I mean literally the fight can be 30 minutes of low graphic turn based fighting.
I vividly remember my dad swearing a few times because a boss killed his party when he went to the bathroom and failed to pause it. There were also limited save points without the wonderful temporary memory tools of today. If there wasn’t a save point in a while, and someone kicked the SNES adapter and he lost progress. He was a real grump. I get it now.
If a monster kills you in the remake you spawn right before the fight. There’s almost no pain to dying like there used to be. Back when you went alllllllll the way back to your last save point.
You need to talk to NPCs to discover secrets. You need to pay attention to what people say to figure out what to do next. It’s definitely not like the hand held experiences of a Cyberpunk 2077.
When I was young, maybe 7-12 years old, I really got into JRPGs like this one because I saw him playing them. He really liked those and these old KOEI strategy games that were like army simulation games set in ancient China. While we dabbled in all kinds of games for sure, it was really an RPG first home.
The very first video game I ended up completing was Dragon Quest (Warrior), the first installment.
My dad felt if I were to play video games they should force me to read and think.
Managing a party and discovering the best plan of attack forward did get me comfortable with tactics and strategy.
I don’t really think this game is that fun but it is nostalgic
I sincerely don’t know if I’m having fun playing this game.
At first it was exciting to reunite with Kain and Cecil. Then to see they dropped some expansion pack stuff is cool, so I felt I’d play through the main game then go try the chapters stuff. But then my dad died and it just felt different playing this because this game, among a few others, really was this bonding point between him and I.
I don’t have many great memories of spending time with him. Even playing video games it was best to let him win and just come in second. But there were some multi-player strategy games we’d play together for hours. Just entire days playing the literal NES having a moment.
When I think back on it, those were really nice times. I remember when I was finally old enough to play Final Fantasy IV back in the day. It felt like a big deal. I was able to do more adult stuff like my dad did.
Playing it through now feels a bit like a chore if I’m being frank. Every time I return to a JRPG I remember that back in the day it really was just grind fests and repetition. Though, it’s pretty fun to play something mindless like Final Fantasy IV (until a boss wrecks you) while watching TV.
I don’t think anyone should pay for it unless they really geek out on JRPGs, or like me, have a weird nostalgic connection to their recently deceased dad via this very game. But if you see it in Arcade or for cheap cheap, probably worth scooping.
It’s true to form and hit me in the feels.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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