Played this many times over many years, so with this version the first thing I did was go to the music section to see how the new tracks sounded.

"Within the Giant" invoked massive feels

"The Final Battle", "Battle of the Four Fiends", and all other battle themes were masterfully rearranged

"The Lunarians" sounds whimsical, and mysterious.

"Dancing Calbrena" is as creepy as it has ever been.

The character themes are all incredible. As for the game itself, well its basically the same as the original. FFIV is where the franchise really started to dip its toes in the storytelling medium. While it isn't the most well written story especially in the modern era - there is still a nostalgic kind of charm the entire journey has which I believe will still be enjoyed by both returning players, and newcomers alike. While I wouldn't recommend FF1-3 for anyone outside hardcore FF fans, Final Fantasy IV I can easily recommend to just JRPG fans in general. Might not be the best game in the franchise to most, but it is certainly worth your time.

Okay... that was a bit of a rollercoaster. Let me preface this by saying that I have played other versions of FFIV before: The SNES american version, the GBA version and the DS version, so how this version stacks against the other 2D versions of the game? Let's find out.

First and foremost, let's address the elephant in the room, and one of the biggest sore points in this version of the game for most people: The difficulty. This is, by far, one of the easiest 2D versions of FFIV, but... do I think it's a bad game because of that? No, of course not. I'll be honest? This has to be one of the most accessible versions of the game so far. Of course, your mileage may vary, and if this is a determining factor for not liking the game, that's your opinion and I respect that.

Besides the Quality of Life features shared with the other games in the Pixel Remaster series (a map with a treasure and hidden item tracker, quick saving inside dungeons, auto-saving on each floor of a dungeon, etc...), there's some more commodities added to the mix:

- The Exp. Levels requirements are cut in half. This is one of the main reasons why this version can be one of the easiest and most accessible versions of FFIV so far, and it's because it helps giving the player more options in terms of spells, making a point of the game a bit more open ended in terms of options to follow. Again, your mileage may vary in this regard.
- Bows and Arrows follow the precedent in FFIII PR, in which the arrows have unlimited charges, allowing the player to use bows and arrows more efficiently, and unlike the 3D versions of the game which restricts the usage of these weapons to Rosa, it keeps the compatibility from the 2D versions, and it also increases the accuracy of the bows and arrows, making it an attractive option for some characters.
- As in FFII PR, party members that leave your party are unequipped automatically, so if you left some precious equipment on them, you won't lose them. A nice and welcoming change, if you ask me.

Let's speak about the plot. You follow Cecil, the captain of the Red Wings, getting him relieved of his duties by the King of Baron after Cecil questioned the reasoning for the order of attacking Mysidia, and then it sends him alongside Kain on a quest to deliver a package to the village of Mist. Following that is a chain of events that sets Cecil and his friends to save the world from the hands of Golbez before he retrieves the remaining Crystals and causing destruction on his path for conquest. And that's just the basics, as I won't detail anything else here in case you haven't played the game before. In terms of plot, it's a more complex affair than in Final Fantasy II, following that template set back then. Speaking of the plot, for the localization of the game, this one goes for the GBA localization for the most part, using the terminology from that version of the game, instead of using the most recent terminology from the 3D versions.

As for the gameplay, it follows the standards set by the previous entry, FFIII, but new to this entry, and becoming the standard for most games to come, is the Active Time Battle system. This is represented by a bar that fills out automatically, which determines when your party members gets a turn to attack or do other actions, and at the same time, enemies also take their turns following the same rules, in turn making the battle system more engaging. In the original, the bar couldn't be seen and it was invisible, and the bar wouldn't be added until the GBA versions. Of course, in this version it can be seen. As for the characters, they have their distinctive capabilities in battle. To take some examples from the beginning of the game:

- Cecil, the Dark Knight is a mostly balanced character with good physical attacks with his Dark Swords.
- Kain, the Dragoon, is a bit more defensive character, whose offensive isn't as good as Cecil, but he compensates this with his Jump command, allowing to inflict double damage with his lances.
- Rydia, the Summoner, can do White Magic, Black Magic and Summons, being quite a versatile mage. However, she's a bit squishy, so being in the backrow is preferred for her.
- Tellah, the Sage, can do both White Magic and Black Magic, but due to his age, he can't remember most of his spells, and his intellect and spirit aren't that great in the grand scheme of things, but he's the best thing you'll have in regards of a mixed mage for a bit, besides Rydia.

And so on and so forth. Each character brings something different to the table, having distinctive strengths and weaknesses. Some characters are better than others, though.

Now, the graphics. it does look mostly like the 2D versions, but not as polished as FFIII PR, which is in my opinion, still the best looking PR game so far. One bit of an odd duck is that the forest tilesets look wrong. I dunno why, but it seems like someone has an issue with tilesets. It's not a biggie for me, though. EDIT (10/01/2021): The forest tiling got fixed as per the latest update, plus some graphical fixes, so that's now a moot point.

The music... hmm... this is a very difficult subject to talk this time. The music in FFIV PR is... interesting. It's not good or bad, but... interesting. There's really good arrangements, and some interesting arrangements to songs, adding something different to them. Let's speak for example of "Hey, Cid!". This song in the PR Remaster has some guitars to add a bit of a spaniard touch. It sounds a bit different, but doesn't make it a bad arrangement. Another example is "Battle with the Four Fiends", which adds some percussion that didn't exist in the original. "Battle Theme 2" adds violins as a main instrument, making for a really interesting approach. Of course, the best songs for me in this version have to go to: "The Red Wings" and "The Final Battle". The former adds a lot more grandiose to it, and the latter sounds more sinister and has a something added (I won't spoil what that something is) that makes for one of the best versions of the song IMHO.

Overall, despite some odd decisions in this version (the difficulty notwithstanding), I'll recommend this version of the game if you didn't experience FFIV before. If you want a more difficult version of this game that will challenge your knowledge about the 2D versions, you can always go for FFIV 3D, which is also on Steam. In any case, you can always decide which version to pick, or both if you feel like it.

i played very first f.f. game on a whim...i have played and own all f.f. games now and i am addicted...i would very highly recommend this series to EVERYONE!!!'''p.s. i am 66 years old,so i know anyone old or young enough to hold a controller will have a blast...

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy IV is my all time favorite RPG. This doesn't mean I think it is the best RPG, or the most polished, but it is my favorite.

*SPOILERS throughout the review*

Let us discuss the pros and cons:

First, the music. Good gravy the music. It is perfection. There is no other way to describe it. The music is the only thing that will not disappoint you throughout the game. From the first song to the last, you'll be impressed and in love with the music.

The graphics are great. There are parts of the game where you look and see "damn, they upgraded that part" (most notably the water graphics when on the boat). There are small issues here and there (forest tiles) but these minor things do not really stand out to me? I don't go looking for them, and I really don't notice them like others do. but the forest tiles do stand out.

Gameplay is classic ATB. You can change this to however you want, increase battle speed, minor tweaks like that to try and get the game to suit your needs. Darkness is here (Cecil's DK ability), Tellah has Recall, and other characters have the abilities that were removed in the FFII (US).

The pros are basically this: The music is better, the gameplay is improved and things are added that were removed in the FFII (US) version, and the graphics, overall, are better. Plus, you can always downloaded mods to fix some of the tiles if it upsets you that much.

Now...the cons. And this is a big con. I struggled picking to recommend this game or not. But I just....I cannot recommend it in the way it is presented. Why?

The difficulty. The game is ridiculously easy. Apparently characters only require half the XP from the original version. So you level twice as fast. But, you might say, wasn't the SNES FFII easy? Well, yes, and no. It wasn't *this* easy. And I think the FFII US version was just simpler, not easier. I could be wrong. Here's a few examples, from different parts of the game:

(Disclaimer: I did not grind in anyway. The only time I got off the story line path is when I went to Land of Summoned Monsters and Sylph Cave as soon as getting the opportunity to do so, which is right before the Sealed Cave).

The four fiends offer little to no resistance. Scarmiglione was a pushover and offered no threat. Cagnazzo died within a few turns (he didn't even get to use his abilities). Barbariccia was the more difficult one due to lack of magical weakness exploitation, but she still died pretty quickly. Rubicante didn't really do much except cast Fira a few times then die. I think he even cast Blizzara on himself (which he does when his flame cape is up, so he can absorb it, but he did it when his flame cape was down, so he damaged himself). He died pretty quickly.

The Demon Wall encountered in the Sealed Cave? Just as an experiment, I decided to just auto attack this boss. No magic. No buffs. No jumps. Everyone just attacking. And it died in a few turns. Now, in every version of FFIV that I have played, this boss is a sort of DPS check. If you don't know what you are doing, or are underleveled, he will crush your party and kill you. And he didn't do anything to me. I set the battle to auto. All my characters attacked. And he died.

Odin. Odin, like Bahamut, would set a countdown, and if the time limit came up, he'd kill everyone. Odin died in 2 rounds. He didn't even get to put his sword up to start the countdown.

Some people on have reported they have skipped entire boss phases because they do too much damage and kill them before the change.

The difficulty in this game just does not make it enjoyable for those that have played FFIV in anyway before. In all honestly, some random mob encounters are more difficult than the bosses they guard (some of the later enemies have auto-counter attack). Since you gain so many levels so quickly, sometimes you just don't need to fight any of the encounters in a dungeon because either you are over leveled or it is just a waste of time. And there just is no reason to do anything in random encounters besides attack. Rydia can't cast her magic fast enough before the physical damage dealers kill 2-3 of the enemies in the pack of 4, so her AOE summons/magic just hit one mob. So why the hell did I cast it if it wasn't needed? And this is throughout the game.

Even if I never played other versions of FFIV, I'd be really disappointed and upset over the difficulty. I'm not sure why they decided to make leveling twice as fast, but....it just ruins the game. When you can simply auto-attack one of the more difficult bosses in the game, it just sucks all the fun out of the game. I'm not saying an easy game can't be fun, but when you remove strategy and game plans, you basically just have an autoscroller game that plays itself.

If you played other FFIVs, you'll play this game and feel nostalgia, then disappointment as the nostalgia wears off and enemies and bosses just melt from damage.

If you never played FFIV before, I would suggest buying the 3D version instead. And it pains me to say that. I love this game. But I don't love this version of it.

bard still spoony

TLDR: If you're new to Final Fantasy IV, go ahead and play this version, or just play the 3D remake instead. If you're a veteran of this game...stick to the original.

Note: I'm coming to this version after having finished this game dozens of times throughout my lifetime, so this review is from the viewpoint of someone who knows this game very, very well. It's safe to say that I know this game like the back of my hand.

First off: The Pixel Remaster looks and sounds great and plays fine. But that's pretty much where it ends for me.

Playing this after having finished the original so many times makes all the flaws of this game stick out like a sore thumb. Here's a list:

• The difficulty level and leveling curve has been adjusted in such a manner that it completely ruins any challenge the game had. Yes, Final Fantasy IV is a short game, but never in my life before have I finished this game in under 10 hours.
  
  
• Sound effects of some attacks are just wrong. Yang's claws make sword noises while attacking. What? Why not give it the scratchy claw noise that the original had? Sword noises aren't how the claws should sound!
  
  
• The original game had snappy animations for characters in the world. Remember how characters like Palom and Cid would jump around into the air and spin around quickly? That animation in this game looks like garbage. It's very choppy, slow, and has less frames; it loses the charm that the original game had. It looks bad. :(
  
  
• Some scenes just move slower than they should. There are certain points in the original game where a character would run quickly. There's no such thing in this version of the game. The scene that comes to mind is the scene at the end of the Sealed Cave where Golbez regains control over Kain. When Kain punches Cecil, takes the crystal, and runs towards the exit... in this version, Kain just walks at a normal pace towards the exit. Whyyyyy? Another thing that I noticed is that the Hovercraft moves over the world map much slower than it did in the original game.
  
  
• Certain enemies in the game change stances mid-battle. In the original game; the change would be smooth and have a cool sound effect (Cagnazzo, Rubicante). In this version, the sprite changing isn't as smooth, and the sound effect is gone.
  
  
• The Lunar Whale lacks its signature lights animation; it's just a lifeless, static image now. The animation that plays when the Lunar Whale appears does not convey the same feeling of epicness that it did in the original.
  
  
• Certain music cues start at the wrong times. One such offense can be found in the ending sequences. Another is when Cid and his ship pick up Cecil and company from the Lunar Whale in preparation for their entry to the Giant of Babil. The music cue starts at the wrong time. Side note: The animation of Cid's ship approaching the Lunar Whale is slow and just...wrong. Other ones are peppered throughout the game.
  
  
• This one completely made me hate this version. The Excalibur is now locked behind the completion of the Giant of Babil. WHY? You could previously go and get the Rat Tail (as soon as you're able to get it), use it to get the adamantite, drop it off at Tokkol, and claim the sword. In this version, you can do all of that BUT Tokkol will refuse to give you the sword. Once you have completed the giant, you can return to Tokkol and claim the sword.
  
  
• Very minor, but you can't take the Enterprise back underground once you get the Falchon. I would always drop the Falchon as soon as I got it and use the Enterprise, but now you must use the Falchon if you want to go to the underground.
  
  
• The Dancing Dagger has been nerfed. There's no point in going out of your way for it anymore.

There's probably some things I forgot to add, but you get the picture. Overall, I was really disappointed with this Pixel Remaster. I imagine people new to this game will think it's great, and yes, it is a completely okay version to play if you're new to the game. However, if you grew up with this game and have played it to death like I have, you'll probably want to skip this and stick to the original game. I had high hopes for this remaster (the ones for FF I, II, and III were excellent), but all I came away with after playing this was disappointment.

Of all the Pixel Remasters, FFIV was probably the one I was most reluctant to play. For most of my life I've called it my favorite game; it hit me at the perfect time in both my personal and gaming life back in the 90s. The stories and memories I have from FFIV (II back then for the SNES) both in-game and in real life where my friends ​and I would talk about the game for weeks/years, I will hold with me for the rest of my gaming life.

So naturally I was hesitant to ruin those memories by playing an adaptation, flawed as the SNES version was, and I never bothered revisiting the game through all its releases since then. But as soon as I booted up the Pixel Remaster and heard that re-orchestrated Red Wings theme, I knew it was the right choice to play it again, nearly 30 years later.

As against the redesigned sprites as I was, everything just fit so well together with this release. The colors were more vibrant, the backgrounds more elaborate, and the spell and other effects were taken to the next level with modern, FFRK-ish reinterpretations. And the music, man the music. I've owned and listened to all the official FFIV soundtracks and arrangements (yes even Celtic Moon), but this re-orchestration was a feast for my ears.

I relived my childhood through the vivid aural assault of this soundtrack, from the marching beat of the opening Red Wings sequence, to the techno futurism of the Giant of Babel, to all the emotional strings pulled and played by the final battle and the epilogue. Hell, even acquiring Excalibur had an amazing theme playing on Cecil's/the Red Wings leitmotif. The soundtrack isn't the only reason to play this version, but I will say that it's 5000% the best one.

On a personal note, getting 100% on this game is one of my most important and treasured achievements, since I finally got to find every secret and fulfill every activity I never got to in the original, from acquiring Yang's wife's knife to trading in the Pink Tail. It's also extra sweet since I finally get to beat it with my adult grinding powers on a "Hard Type" version of the game.

I'm thinking of skipping FFV because it's one of my least favorite FFs, but holy airship did this make me excited for FFVI and what the new pixel art and music has in store, plus it's another game I haven't revisited since the 90s. If The Final Battle was already this good, imagine Dancing Mad...

Final Fantasy IV is and always will be my favorite game.

When I first saw this game (then called FF2) being played on the Super Nintendo system at a young age, I remember being so excited that my godmother (who pampered me A LOT) bought me the system AND the game. I credit this game as the spark that started me on the road of computer gaming, and the love of role-playing games above all.

Just 60 minutes into this remaster, and I am in love all over again...

Probably the first Final Fantasy game with a decent story and memorable characters, although it's a lot shorter than I remember. Lots of fun though and a pretty faithful (though quite easy) version of a classic.

Now Square-Enix, bring Final Fantasy Tactics (War of the Lions) to Steam so I can finish my collection.

I played and platinumed all six Pixel Remasters, and wrote six weird rambling reviews! Read them all for comparison and context, or skip to the one you came here for!


This is the most barebones of the series, no pesky characters or plot to get in the way. Kill some enemies, level up, next town, new gear, next dungeon. It is also probably the second easiest. Not going to complain! Short, sweet and to the point. Just over 18 hours for all achievements.

You start out with your four nameless, silent, little pixelated heroes and choose a class for each of them. I chose warrior, “thief,” white mage, and black mage. I did some research and as far as I can tell “thief” is Japanese for what roughly translates to “broke-ass warrior.” I would recommend new players to opt for two full warriors as to have a party of 4 instead of the 3.5 that I ended up with. Sure, his defense, damage, HP, and set of equipable weapons were all worse than my warrior, but his agility was slightly above average, so I had that working for me!

Level-ups come in the traditional way, classes are well defined, spells are bought at shops. Instead of having a global MP pool, each tier of spells has a limited number of casts (recharged by items or at an inn).

Music was good, but nothing remarkable.

Verdict: 3.5/5 “thieves”



This is the weird one where you level-up a skill or weapon by using it repeatedly, Bethesda-style. There are no classes or jobs per-se but each character gets good at what they have been doing. It’s not my preferred way of doing business, but I didn’t mind too much.

For their second entry in the series, they actually bothered to have some sort of plot! There seem to be people in the world who have lives, roles in society and care about stuff. You have your war, an evil empire, and a magical tornado, oh my! Your “characters” however are just pixelated bundles of stats who barely speak. That’s fine, just swing those hunks of metal and wood at the things I tell you to swing them at. Uh, Maria… your bow is pointing the wrong way.

A pretty easy entry in the series, with a weird difficulty spike at the end, but even that wasn’t too bad. You can quick-save between fights. Buy your spells at town. Cast them with a global MP pool this time. Cost is based on how much you have leveled the spell. (Spells are are trash btw in this one, but a few enemies are highly resistant to physical.)

Again, music was par for the course.

Verdict: 3.5/5 evil empires




Our third entry here seems to be the birthplace of jobs. A job is like a class but a bit more focused and you can swap in out of them at any time. Your job levels up independently of your character level, but character level has much more barring on your effectiveness, so you are encouraged to bounce around jobs from time to time.

This was definitely the easiest of the six games, and just barely the shortest, clocking in at about 18 hours for 100% achievements. Auto-battle, Hello. Much like the first, the story is bare-bones and player characters are just stat-sprites. Just bellybuttonless palette-swapped clones who occasionally grunt. The magic system is the same as the first game. It’s probably the weakest entry in the series, unless you're into the whole “brevity” thing… man.

I caught some of the music, but to be honest I was listening to the Cyberpunk 2077 score for much of this game. A little weird, I know… Moving on!

Verdict: 3/5 floating continents


Oh sh*t, here we go! We have characters, they live, they love, they suffer, they grow. Romance, betrayal! Ok, sorry, let’s start over. The third entry takes a big leap forward in terms of characters and story, as in, it has them. You have your main main characters and then some guests that come and go. Jobs are gone, and the characters each have a set, permanent class. The classes are well defined with unique abilities and equipment sets. Spells, for those who can use them, are learned naturally through leveling.

This is probably the second best game in the series. Challenge and length are moderate. The story, characters, and destinations are all well above average. Some extremely unforgiving RNG from the original has been toned down significantly for those of you interested in treasure-hunting all the treasures huntable.

The music takes a big step up at this point in the series. The moon music is strange yet awesome. The “giant” music is epic and gorgeous. Could it be that this is just the nostalgia factor due to playing this game as a wonder-filled, wide-eyed child? Nope!

Verdict: 4.5/5 spoony bards


Jobs: check
Acceptably life-like characters: check
High concentrations of chocobo: check
Verdict: Not yet? Ok.

This is the hardest game in the series, and second longest. We’ve jumped up to almost 57 hours for all achievements! *sigh* What am I doing with my life? Annoying status effects abound in the later dungeons (where are those damned ribbons?), and optional superbosses make their first appearance! Think Ruby and Emerald in FF7.

As mentioned above, jobs are back. And how. There’s a ton of them, and you’re going to master every bloody one if you want that final achievement. Yes, even the geomancer! Especially the geomancer!! One really great thing is that you can master certain abilities or passives unique to one job and then “equip” it on another job (one at a time only). Buy your spells at the local grocer. Standard MP pool is present. If you enjoy a grind and a challenge, this is the one for you.

The music quality remains high, especially on a certain larger-than-normal bridge, and when fighting one not-so-mysterious swordsman. \m/

Verdict: 4/5 cartoonish, one-dimensional villains


We made it. Here we are at what is definitely the crown jewel of the Pixel Remasters. Maybe even the best RPG of its era? I would still argue for Chrono Trigger, but elder millennials and gen-xers of good faith can disagree. Where to start? We have a massive cast of memorable characters (including the best villain of all time), romance, comedy, tragedy, and the best spectacle and story-telling in the series. The locations, the towns, dungeons, forests, and factories really come to life through excellent art direction and detail. And the music is stellar! “But this isn’t the end of the review...” Don’t care!

Note: Some reviews mention a strange rainy town filled with thieves and liars. Never heard of it. Not in this game.

My only gripe with VI is the class system. There really isn’t much of one. Every character has a unique ability, but equipment sets have huge overlap, and characters are frequently rotating in and out of the party. So you never feel like you have clear defined combat roles. Really, it’s nitpicking though. This is the longest of the games, though it ends up feeling appropriate. Difficulty is middling.

Now, I know you're dying for me to tell you how magic works in VI. Well, dear reader, for that you will have to subject yourself to a fairly minor spoiler. Later in the game anyone can access any spell. You find espers to equip throughout the game, each one of which teaches a handful of spells. After a learning period, you can rotate that esper to a different party member.

Well, that’s it! The music is amazing. The overworld theme, the blonde’s theme, the villains theme. And the town that doesn’t exist has terrible music!

Verdict: 5/5 16-bit laughs, 5/5 opera-loving octopi, 5/5 B-day suits. I can’t decide!