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Final Fantasy IV wiki page
Released in 1991 in the Japan for the Super Famicom. FFIV was released in NA later that year for the SNES under the title Final Fantasy II due to the original II and III not being released in NA. IV was the first FF game to be released for a 16-bit console.
Final Fantasy IV's story exponentially improved on the tales told in prior games. Characters now were devloped beyond single lines and simple traits and had relationships that grew and changed through the game. Villains were not simply evil incarnate, but had a past and motives beyond "death to everything because I say." Well, mostly. IV also featured a much larger and diverse cast of characters including:
- Cecil Harvey: The main character and a Dark Knight from the kingdom of Baron. In the game he has to discover the goodness within himself.
- Rosa Farrell: A white mage and Cecil's girlfriend (fiancé?). She supports Cecil and stands at his side.
- Kain Highwind: A childhood friend of Cecil's. He also harbors feelings for Rosa, but doesn't pursue them out of respect for the pair.
- Rydia: A summoner orphaned through Cecil's actions. She learns to trust Cecil and fight's at his side.
- Tellah: An old mage who has sworn revenge upon the man who killed his daughter. Dislikes spoony bards.
- Edward von Muir: A spoony bard, but also maybe something more regal in disguise. Edward was in love with Tellah's daughter, and assisted Cecil after she died.
- Yang Fang: A monk from Fabul. Yang joins Cecil after his kingdom is attacked by Baron.
- Palom and Porom: Two children mages from the village of Mysidia. They are assigned to assist Cecil in his ordeals and ultimately give everything to help him.
- Edge: Prince of Eblan and a ninja. Edge has a personal vendetta against Cecil's enemies and assists Cecil in defeating them.
- Cid Pollendina: We'll get to him later.
Systems introduced to the series by IV:
- The Active Time Battle system. Rather than each character in battle patiently waiting their turn to strike, battles ran in somewhat real time. A specific amount of real time would have to pass before a character, whether an enemy or PC, could have a turn. This meant the battle continually advanced without pause. If set to "Active" enemies would even attack if the player was in a menu looking for an item or spell.
- Characters now had a preset role (inspired by the "Job system" from III) that could not be changed. They learned spells and abilities by levelling up with no other input from the player. There are only two instances where a character changes roles or grows within their roles; these are both determined by the story.
- The party line-up constantly changes throughout the game. Unlike later games, this is entirely decided by the story. Characters would enter or leave the party as the story dictated. The only constant was Cecil.
- Due to the lack of input into character's growth, players now had the use of up to 5 characters in battle at one time. This is the only FF game to allow more than 4 characters in battle.
Several different versions of IV have been released in NA:
- As Final Fantasy II for the SNES. This version had many changes to it beyond the simple name change. Primarily, the game was made much easier for the American audience. Certain rare items (like Ethers) were made more common while certain spells and abilities that added more strategy to game were removed. "II" was also edited slightly for content. This version was later released on the Wii's Virtual Console.
- Released as part of the "Final Fantasy Chronicles" collection for the PlayStation. It was released as IV for the first time. It contained the original version of the game (minus the changes made during its initial localization) and an new and improved translation. It also featured new FMVs before and after the game.
- Released as Final Fantasy IV for the GameBoy Advance. This version slightly upgraded the graphics in the battles menus and further improved the translation. It also added the "ATB bar" to the menu similar to later FF titles. Finally, it added the ability to switch party members later in the game and several new dungeons after the final boss has been beaten. Unfortunately, this version also included numerous bugs and glitches not in prior versions.
- A complete remake for the Nintendo DS. This made many slight changes to the game overall. Primarily, however, the game now had full 3D graphics and voice-acting during certain cutscenes. It also added a few more scenes to further flesh out the story. Also included was the new "augment" system which allowed characters to use additional abilities to their own and Whyt, a new summon for Rydia whose appearance is customizable and whose stats grow through various minigames.
Additionally, Final Fantasy IV is the "earliest" FF (but not the first) to receive a sequel. "Final Fantasy IV: The After Years" was released as an episodic game, similar to the original IV in gameplay, for mobile phones. It was released in NA as WiiWare for the Nintendo Wii. It takes place 17 years after the original game and showcases the return of every surviving character, plus some new characters such as Ceodore, Cecil and Rosa's son.
And finally, Cid Watch!:
Cid Pollendina is the first out of only two Cids to serve as a playable character. His appearance and role in the story is somewhat similar to III. He is the chief engineer in charge of Baron's airship fleet. Having more loyalty to Cecil, however, Cid joins him in his battle.
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I will be playing the DS remake. The "FFII" version is... not really real. The PSX has awful loading times and the GBA version has all those weird glitches and such. The DS version is the best, IMO, minus some shaky voice acting.