Final Fantasy 4: DS

This is going to be a review of FF4 and a comparison of the versions.

So. FF4 is my favorite Final Fantasy. I have memories of playing it when I was scared to go into the basement alone. So, a good 15 years ago. I've played every version of it with the exception of WSC and PSX. However, as far as I know, those versions do not have significant changes. To enumerate these versions:
FF2 Easytype (What was released here on SNES)
FF4 Hardtype (The SNES game as released in Japan, but with a translation patch by J2E)
FF4 Advance (Released on GBA. Has all the features/difficulty of Hardtype. Adds in 2 new dungeons and the ability to switch party members)
FF4 DS

FF4 DS! First, the game is graphically beautiful. Okay, admittedly, for a portable game. I was impressed at the summon cutscenes and the quality of the pre-rendered scenes. There's noticeable jaggies and such, but it's pretty clean for a DS game. Cecil looks a bit ... bishounenish to me, but considering he was originally drawn by Amano (A man whose artstyle I've never liked) ... Well, I suppose it had to happen some time.

The music sounds very close to the original. For those that haven't played the original, that's a great compliment. FF4 had a, quite literally, epic soundtrack. It does a great job of conveying scenes, and when something big is happening, you know. The sound effects are a bit off, which disappointed me in a cursory way. And, I like the VAing the game has. The voices fit ... Though, the pronunciations make me ... cringe a bit. Not that they're bad, just different from how I said the things in my head. "Ceh-cul"? Really? "See-cil" is much better sounding to me. But, this is nitpicking.

The story has been spruced up from the original. There's a few scenes that have been added in, mostly to link the game to FF4: The After, a Japanese Cell Phone game that takes place a number of years after the original. They give a bit more backstory and don't feel forced, though. Another nice addition is that when you go to the menu, it has a thought bubble for the current lead character. This gives each character's perspective on the events that have been happening. It's small, but a cool detail none the less. The plot itself, well, is hard for me to describe without nostalgia clouding my accuracy. I think it has a great plot, if a bit simple. There's no heavy-handed doses of philosophy (If that's a good or bad thing is up to you), but there is a decent amount of depth. It's one of the few FFs that's ... actually fantasy. The only technology are a couple appearances of airships and tanks, and those are more the token bit of technology in a magic land. The game is about magic and monsters and such. The events are big and a bit yellow, but that's not really a bad thing in my mind.

The gameplay. Aah, back in the day when there was no standard party size and a party of 3 characters as is the standard now would seem down right anemic. FF4 had a party size of 5, and I really liked that. Your party also heavily switches around, from a pool of 12 people, though this is entirely determined by plot events, not you. Each party member has their own unique set of abilities and set of growths for magic. I like customization, but the FF series has sort of done it heavy-handedly, so I rather prefer the FF games with no customization. Either you have no/little control over how your characters grow, as they have a set list of spells, or each character can become any other. So, in a way, I prefer how FF4 has done things.

Now, FF4DS has made the most changes to Gameplay. Added are augments. They're items you can find that allow you to give new abilities to characters. Also, if you give augments to certain characters, you can get other augments based on their abilities. This does give you a fair amount of customization. Each person can equip 4 abilities, from Attack, default skills, and Augments you put on them. This includes even passive augments. Item has to be included, but you can swap out any other built in ability.

The game has been made much more difficult. Even FF4Hardtype only had a few moments of difficulty to me, but FF4DS has had a number of boss fights that have forced me to fight them multiple times. Admittedly, twice has tended to be enough. Once you learn a boss's trick, they tend to be effectively neutered. And if you keep status effects in mind - as they actually work on bosses, even crippling ones like silence or hold - you can get through hard fights with ease. I've died a few times to random battles, but those have felt more like "... Wow, really? Dealing [large damage] to my entire party before I could react? Yeah, that's fair" than anything more my fault. So, that's a definite fault. Hell, I even seem overleveled, due to very rarely running and being a terrible completionist. Overall, though, the extra difficulty is welcomed. Keeps you on your toes.

Another added thing was a bonus for viewing 100% of a map in a dungeon. This has caused me to do a bit of excessive running around, hence the overleveling >_>. actually useful, bit it's still neat. The story is the same as it was on the SNES and the script isn't as good Still, it's a solid version of the game.

FF4 DS is the other solid contender. Personally, I prefer the 2D graphics of the original, and the script is better than FF4 Advance's script, due to being a bit of a rewrite. The augments are neat, and the new plot bits are neat. The difficulty is a bit of a mixed bag. There is, actually, a bit of epilogue type content, in New Game Plus and 2 extra bosses, but this isn't really that much.

So... It's really a hard pick. My personal bias is toward FF4 Hardtype, but FF4 DS has been a great runthrough of the game.

Well, regardless of which version you play, you should play the game. Get to it.