I just can't stand this game. Going back through the series again and this one is just a fricking slog, I remember liking it more than this. Even the OST just sounds so forgettable to me compared to other titles. I'll obviously admit it was pretty groundbreaking for the time, but I honestly just want to power through it so I can get to FFV with better characters, plot, music, and gameplay.
FFIV has the best soundtrack of the SNES games and FFV only has the gameplay it does because IV built the foundation. VI is the game that fricking sucks, not IV.
FF4's soundtrack isn't even as good as FF3's let alone 5 or 6
It's by far the best and most balanced of the SNES games. It has the best battle and boss themes, great area themes, and the best final boss theme in the series.
I can't stand most of the soundtrack personally. I agree with the other anon that III's soundtrack was better than IV's, if for nothing else than the overworld theme.
I will agree that I am also not a massive fan of VI. Though I quite like the story, gameplay, soundtrack, and world design, the massive cast without a lot of direction along with characters constantly being split up wasn't my thing. Still, I do believe it's tied with V as being the best SNES FF.
The only song I don't like in the entire game is the dwarf castle song and you barely deal with it. It's not like VI making you go through multiple dungeons and a flashback sequence with one of the worst songs in the series playing the entire time or having a trash battle theme or V having one of the worst boss themes in the series.
>by the way your friend had a girlfriend whose basically dead in a neverending coma
>better cue up the whacky clown music
I agree the regular battle theme is Uematsu's worst (for reasons I once explained with harmonic analysis). IV's is more consistently good. But VI also has some really great tracks.
Which scene is that? I don't remember any scenes with Locke/Rachel having anything but serious music.
At least you can't backstab bosses.
>Which scene is that? I don't remember any scenes with Locke/Rachel having anything but serious music.
it's literally the song playing on the map where her corpse is
Yeah I said I don't remember, homosexual. I haven't memorized the entire game.
Now I do. Yeah I always just took that as the background music for the quack keeping her alive with herbal remedies. From a scene-to-scene tone perspective it's certainly jarring but makes sense to me in the videogame context which is probably why I didn't remember it. The game never cues that music for a Locke+Rachel cutscene. I filed that as the environmental background music for the dude's house where she is, not as part of Locke's emotional state.
Overall, a super nitpicky minor complaint about the soundtrack.
>Yeah I said I don't remember, homosexual. I haven't memorized the entire game.
probably because you're some sort of moron lmao did you spend ten years drinking and not getting fricked you fricking failure lmao have a nice day gay
skip to about 3:20
They definitely could have cut the music sooner, but I never noticed that first time playing. I've always wondered who handles which track being played at which time, and how to ensure the composer produces a significant number of them so that there is an appropriate variety to not use the same song for every scene of a particular emotion
4, 5, and 6 are the OG games, 1-3+mystic quest are skippable, very very skippable
6 iis worse than 1 and 3-5 by a lot.
4 has aged like milk, but what can ya do. The FF4 randomizer is actually pretty damn fun and you can tweak it in a number of ways, try that out to mix things up a bit and see if it rekindles any nostalgic love.
If not, try out the PSP version but use cheats because otherwise it's dogshit boring and grindy and has BS difficulty issues that the "easy mode" original SNES version did not (at least in the US, I mean).
Just don't ever play the shitty DS version; it's Dark Souls tier imbalanced in terms of difficulty, from what I hear. Damn shame, too, because it looks kind of neat.
Dark Souls is balanced fine.
Except backstabs, which are so broken they literally make the pvp unplayable. DS2 actually fixes this but it's so shitty it's also unplayable for me.
True, I agree.
>from what I hear
so your opinion is worthless because you haven't played it
>anon is mad at me because I refuse to play games that are ostensibly garbage
have sex
V was so boring I couldn't finish it, the job system isn't as fun as FFT's either
I dropped VI at the final dungeon when it turned into one of those multi party dungeons, tried it after but always dropped somewhere during the world of ruin due to lack of interest
Finished 4 multiple times because of its snappy pace, DS version offered a nice challenge (as far as FF games go)
Overall it's one of my favourite FFs mostly because of its pacing
Beloved RPGs I don't like? Well besides the aforementioned FFVI, there's Earthbound
The good thing about FF4 is that its one of the quicker JRPGs out there, and depending on your version, pretty easy.
But yeah it hasn't aged well. Its one of the most basic of the ATB era Final Fantasy games with no complex level up system. Characters just gain new abilities as they level up. Pretty simple.
I feel the characters and plot are pretty weak too. The characters are constantly coming and going from your party so it's difficult to get to know them because some of them just last a dungeon, also there's very little party customization in the game and you're stuck with a preset party from 3/4ths of the game.
Plotwise I just felt like it was just "This guy wasn't the real villain, THIS guy was secretly puppeteering everything from the shadows!" over and over. Until you get to Zeromus/Zemus, the second most last minute villain in Final Fantasy next to Necron.
>Until you get to Zeromus/Zemus, the second most last minute villain in Final Fantasy next to Necron.
This is always a lame complaint though. FFIV is not a great story, it's a fun/cartoony plot for adolescents with tropes applied carelessly. If you're a wanker worried about impressing people with your crit skills, you'll have tons of problems with FFIV. If you're just a kid playing a JRPG with a fun story, you'll cheer out loud when Rydia shows up out of nowhere to save the party. But it's better than people give it credit for.
Anyway, here's the Zeromus explanation for pleb critics who complain about last-minute villains:
Zeromus is needed for the redemption of Golbez and his forgiveness by Cecil, redemption and forgiveness being the two main themes of the game and reinforced repeatedly. Zeromus represents the primary corrupting force of evil in the world, the essence of pure hatred and other Dark side emotions that lead men down the path of evil. The final battle (best in the series) involves the player overcoming this symbolic evil after Golbez tries and fails, but gives his Crystal to Cecil so he can do it. Following the battle, Cecil forgives the redeemed Golbez, who cannot reasonably expect forgiveness from the regular people of the Earth given the severity of his crimes, and accepts exile as his punishment.
Also note how both Kain and Golbez both argue to take responsibility when "mind control" is offered as an excuse for their actions. (Kain coveted Rosa, Golbez was "stained with evil"). Cecil, Kain, and Golbez all represent redemption. Cecil, weak and tricked by false king, faces crimes and atones asap. Kain, enticed into petty evil from jealousy, falls off the wagon-- he's forgiven after fighting for the Earth, but self-imposes exile while he gets his short sorted instead of joining celebrations. Golbez does big evil, but redeems in the end enough to gain forgiveness of those closest, before entering permanent exile.
Also, Zemus is introduced as the main villain when you arrive on the moon, and the moon being significant is foreshadowed quite early in the game. It's not a twist out of nowhere that the real villain is up there.
Fusoya literally tells you about him when you are on the moon
>"This guy wasn't the real villain, THIS guy was secretly puppeteering everything from the shadows!" over and over. Until you get to Zeromus/Zemus, the second most last minute villain in Final Fantasy next to Necron
apparently you haven't been beat over the head enough so now it's my turn. the villain was always Golbez until you first land on the moon and FuSoYa tells you it's Zemus. do you even plot, bro? as you pointed out, it wasn't exactly complicated.
The story is darker than it's presentation and had a lot of potential if you fill in the gaps with your imagination. Ultimately it was just too rushed with too many pacing issues though. Still has a nice atmosphere and is interesting as a blueprint for the later games since it was the first one to focus on character driven drama.
Played 4 SNES for the first time recently and while the game's generally pretty simple and straightforward, I really enjoyed the final dungeon a lot. Figuring out ways to beat all of the challenge bosses without just mindlessly grinding was a lot of fun.
You might like Free Enterprise.
Not being able to change your party at the end is what kills this one for me
The final 5-member party is about as well-balanced as you can get. There's nothing major missing, just a handful of gimmicks like BardSong and Twin. Yang is an ezmode character with beefy HP and no real equipment decisions to make, meant to carry you through the first part of the game before upgrading you to the much more versatile ninja, Edge.
You can play Free Enterprise to see what you're missing (and a lot more) as far as what it feels like to play with radically different party combinations (try beating Zeromus with only Tellah and Edward). Free Enterprise is basically the perfect postgame for FF4, essentially giving you an endless template of challenges for different combinations of gear and party members, without any of the bloat of having to play through the story multiple times.
It's honestly really really fricking annoying. I'm glad we didn't have to deal with too much of this going forward. It's why while I like FFII, and yes I am one of the people that genuinely likes FFII a lot, the party continuously having a new character enter your party only to die later on is extremely frustrating. I liked that each character had their own special abilities, but it really irritates me when I get into the groove of things with some party members and then they just die unceremoniously. The only one that should have been irreversible is Tellah. I'm not even against character death, I just don't like being jerked around. Same deal with FFVI and its constant party splitting. Just let me have my fricking party goddamnit.
>I DON'T LIKE THING I AM SPECIAL
Frick off.
>what are some popular games you don't like yourself? Mine is X, here is why
>WOW SNOWFLAKE THINKS YOU'RE SPECIAL FOR NOT LIKING X FRICK OFF
you sound like a huge homosexual calm down
How is 4 a slog? It's the only FF game that isn't based around grinding. Job system is inherent grind, Esper/Magicite is grind. FFII/4 is pretty consistant all the way through and doesn't require any side grinding for the most part, and has some side quests for additional challenges if you want but in general the challenge stays consistant.
When I say slog, I don't really think it's the lack of grinding. I think part of it is just that investing myself in the story is much more difficult. This is the first SNES game in the series, but the plot is still pretty standard for a JRPG and you can see developments come a mile away (for the most part). Every time an event concluded and we had to move to the Tower of Zot, or Babel Tower, or whatever, I would think "alright, another dungeon, with another fiend, with one character leaving the party, with one character joining shortly after, with the party getting BTFO by a stronger enemy," etc. There were some exceptions and I did like Tellah's arc, but for a lot of them it seemed so primitive even though FF was still getting its footing with the more expanded character-driven narratives.
It doesn't help that the main character is just the standard Paladin archetype. Sure he has a somewhat dark past but it's not really explored, and after Mt. Ordeal everything to me just felt like going through the motions, up until much much later in the game. Perhaps I'm spoiled by later games in the series like VI, but going back I guess my nostalgia placed a much deeper plot there than there really was.
the only thing 6 did different was having the bad guy win at the half-way point so they could blow up the world and make you re-recruit your team for padding
only 1 party member dies (i'm not counting Leo) and it's off screen in both of the ways it can happen
neither are particularly groundbreaking from a jaded 2022 perspective
When I say spoiled by VI, I mean by its richer narrative. It felt like the main characters were more fleshed out and had some good backstory we could chew into. With IV it just didn't dwell long on the characters other than their very basic archetypes. Which again is probably just my nostalgia adding in something I thought was there that wasn't. FF as a series is kind of iterative in its development of plot of course.
The grand narrative bullshit became horrible, when Final Fantasy games started going 3D and became basically anime cinematics with some shallow Ultima clone in between (which you really started to notice that trend in 6), the series went to shit.
4>2>MQ>1>3>5>6>7>post7
Yeah 6 has a decent story and narrative but the gameplay kills it, world of ruin is nothing but grind, and half of the stellar cast is useless or you have to grind to use (or cheese to even keep the character).
7>4>10>12>8>6>5>the rest
Not even close.
>Yeah 6 has a decent story and narrative but the gameplay kills it, world of ruin is nothing but grind
What? WoR has you running around the world and exploring to find characters, it's not grindy at all. And the gameplay is MUCH better than 4, you cna actually build characters instead of just deciding which one of 2 weapons they'll use.
Character building is worthless when there's only one good option and the game you're building for is trivial whether you do it or not.
>Character building is worthless
I wouldn't say "worthless," but you don't get to go waving your dick around trying to say the gameplay is "MUCH better" under those conditions.
>Character building is worthless when there's only one good option
Maybe if you're a gay who looks up guides
>and the game you're building for is trivial whether you do it or not
Don't know what you mean by this.
It's "much" better in the context of a Final Fantasy game by the simple virtue of allowing the player to make varied decisions about preparing characters, encouraging creative ways to clear.
>It's "much" better in the context
It's not.
You should stop posting unless you have something to say that isn't moronic.
>no response to argument
The critical thinking I expect of 4gays
The argument is there, dumbfrick, you are the one who didn't respond.
Here:
I somewhat agree with the other poster, though perhaps not so strongly. The magicite system is highly customizable, but also really ripe for exploitation. I have never had a single time I got to the end of the game where my party was remotely challenged, it's just too easy to break the game by simply playing it imo.
You don't need to look up a guide to notice that putting points in STR isn't doing shit.
>encouraging creative ways to clear
Having different stats is not creative. FFV had creative ways to deal with encounters like equipping a Doom axe and casting Mini on the character with it to kill the crystals boss because it didn't completely frick up status effects the way VI did and its mechanics weren't clearly one sided the way VI's are.
>I did like Tellah's arc
Best character in the game, just because he was the only one with the balls to make an actual heroic sacrifice, instead of showing up a couple hours later like nothing happened.
There's also Palom and Porom but it was so fricking contrived. Even when I first played decades ago I thought it was moronic
But they get better.
Everyone just gets better, except Tellah.
True. I always went and revived Yang, if you don't do it does he just show up out of nowhere regardless?
Yeah if you don't go find him, he shows up in the big confrontation with the Giant of Babil. After that point, you can't do the spoon quest anymore. It's one of the only permanently missable items/quests in the game. If you go to the Sylph cave after that, Rydia will just learn Sylph immediately.
Interesting. Since you seem pretty knowledgeable, do you happen to know if Interlude and After Years are worth checking out? I never tried them back when they first came out since they looked like cheap follow-ups but now I am wondering if I missed out. And also I want to see more Rydia milkers
>Interlude and After Years are worth checking out?
No idea, I've only played the original, the DS version, and the Free Enterprise randomizer.
>And the gameplay is MUCH better than 4
No, it's not. VI's gameplay is a mess. Gameplay is primarily the combat, not the dicking around in menus between battles. IV has great combat and VI's is just good. For example in IV you actually have to care about healing. Early in the game you'll often have two healers but for most of the endgame you'll have to make do with just one. Meanwhile once you gain access to Espers it's trivial to just give everyone healing magic. Boring.
>you cna actually build characters instead of just deciding which one of 2 weapons they'll use.
As opposed to VI where it doesn't matter what weapon you use because most of the melee characters have 100% hit defense-piercing moves better than any weapon attack and those who don't (like Terra) probably have powerful magic anyway.
There are a good number of equipment options in IV and they make a big difference in how the character performs, without being totally busted like the Thunder shields or Gem Box. Plus you have more subtle mechanics in IV in the form of APR (which in VI has been dumbed down to the overpowered Offering/X-Fight gimmick). Since the "Fight" command is actually relevant, you might care about the choice between an Axe with a higher damage but lower to-hit rate vs a more reliable sword. IV also has cast times on spells, which aren't balanced perfectly but VI just doesn't have any spell delays at all unless you use the Gem Box (which incurs a barely-noticeable delay). IV also has meaningful HP and defense differences between characters, with glass cannons like Edge and Rydia and meatshields like Cecil. In VI, everyone's HP is the same and defense is similar outside stupidly OP shit like Mog+Snow Muffler.
>VI's gameplay is a mess. Gameplay is primarily the combat, not the dicking around in menus between battles.
Is clicking around in menus not the general form of combat for most jrpgs? You're just complaining that half of the game (equipping characters and preparing strategies) is more complicated in 6, that doesn't make it worse.
>For example in IV you actually have to care about healing. Early in the game you'll often have two healers but for most of the endgame you'll have to make do with just one. Meanwhile once you gain access to Espers it's trivial to just give everyone healing magic. Boring.
False on many accounts. Did you even play 6? Different espers scale to different healing spells, some of which become irrelevant as you level up. To even get a higher level healing esper before WoR you have to track down a guy using information from people in a town (which is an actual nonlinear sidequest by the way, something 4 is severely lacking.) You don't even have to grind very much to teach people magic, just pay attention to how characters level up as you go through dungeons and switch espers when they learn spells. And once again your argument essentially boils down to "It's better because you have less options." You can argue whether the encounters are better or not (personally I think they're about the same) but 6 has a more robust, creative, and engaging character building system.
(1/2)
>Did you even play 6
clearly more than you have
>You're just complaining that half of the game is more complicated in 6
I'm not really complaining about anything other than you saying moronic shit. I think it's insanely stupid to ignore the quality of the actual combat and dwell entirely on pre-combat preparation while ignoring the actual fricking centerpiece of the gameplay.
>To even get a higher level healing esper before WoR
Which you don't need.
>once again your argument essentially boils down to "It's better because you have less options
No, the argument is this:
FF4 is better* because the options you have are more interesting and meaningful within a reasonable balanced framework. The options in FF6 tend to be flashy, simplistic and overpowered elements of a massively unbalanced game, with many apparent options being rendered pointless by other mechanics (you complain about only having 2 weapons to choose from... when does Shadow's or Sabin's weapon choice EVER matter?)
*My actual argument is not so much that FF4 is better, it's that FF6 is NOT better. They are both good in their own ways, with FF4 being deeper and more balanced to yield reliably exciting combat where FF6 is more absurdly fun doing crazy shit like casting dual-casting Merton to deal 20k damage to all enemies while healing all your allies to max in a single turn.
I do have to agree with this anon. Granted I don't have a deep understanding of the mechanics of VI other than having played through and beaten it a few times, but invariably by the end of the game my characters all have several thousand HP and can tank pretty much anything, and all do close to the damage limit every turn. There's definitely more variability earlier on as you experiment with the mechanics and tailor your party, but by the time you get to the WoR your party is just obscenely unstoppable. Most times when I get to the end of IV unless I seriously go out of my way I still face some challenge and have to say dip into my elixirs or be mindful about strategy. With VI unless you play like an actual idiot and never bother trying to get any better equipment or spells you are totally untouchable.
Thanks anon.
I do have to say that hacks like BNW often make me realize that in spite of all my criticism, I kind of like FF6 the way it is (apart from bug fixes and perhaps wanting a more impressive endgame). I don't necessarily want FF6 to be more like FF4, I just want FF4 to get the respect it deserves for what it does well.
(This thread inspired me to check out the FF6 Worlds Collide randomizer, though, which looks reasonably impressive at first glance, having been inspired by Free Enterprise)
BNW only made me double down on how much I hate FF6 for fricking up everything that was good about FF gameplay before it.
>As opposed to VI where it doesn't matter what weapon you use because most of the melee characters have 100% hit defense-piercing moves better than any weapon attack and those who don't (like Terra) probably have powerful magic anyway.
So you mean I can actually use useful, flavorful abilities instead of spamming attack for four rounds in a row? The "fight" command is already a simplified way of conducting combat that quit frankly is underwhelming to sue at endgame. And some of the abilities you're talking about still rely on weapons to scale damage, like Cyan's multiple attacks. Strong magic spells are also actually hidden in the world and are rewarded to you as you clear dungeons and defeat optional bosses, unlike 4 where characters inexplicably lean powerful abilities as they level up.
>Plus you have more subtle mechanics in IV in the form of APR (which in VI has been dumbed down to the overpowered Offering/X-Fight gimmick).
You mean the late-game ability you get right before the final dungeon, hidden in an optional area, and you have to fight a hidden boss to use, and can only be equipped on one character? That isn't a mechanic, it's a bonus. APR is only useful in the context of leaning hard on the "fight" command as the only viable option for melee characters.
>Since the "Fight" command is actually relevant, you might care about the choice between an Axe with a higher damage but lower to-hit rate vs a more reliable sword.
How is this a meaningful difference. You will average out to roughly the same damage anyway. Either way you are still pressing the same button and your character is effectively playing the same role in combat. Not even close to 6's array of options where you can create a white mage thief, utility magic samurai etc.
(2/3)
>IV also has cast times on spells, which aren't balanced perfectly but VI just doesn't have any spell delays at all unless you use the Gem Box (which incurs a barely-noticeable delay).
Nerfing magic doesn't make combat better
>V also has meaningful HP and defense differences between characters, with glass cannons like Edge and Rydia and meatshields like Cecil. In VI, everyone's HP is the same and defense is similar outside stupidly OP shit like Mog+Snow Muffler.
Half-correct. HP is the same, defense is not. Different characters wear different armor. Ultimately hitting Terra with a melee attack will deal more damage than hitting Celes, even if they are the same level.
>Different characters wear different armor.
This is largely cosmetic. The supposedly squishy characters who can't wear heavy armor (Strago, Relm, Gau) have the animal suits which are on par with heavy armor for the most part (BehemothSuit has higher def than Genji Armor). They can also use shields and require no special relic to do so.
>So you mean I can actually use useful, flavorful abilities instead of spamming attack for four rounds in a row? The "fight" command is already a simplified way of conducting combat that quit frankly is underwhelming to sue at endgame.
What's "flavorful" about Drill? It's literally "Fight" but stronger (until you obtain endgame weapons). No tradeoffs to consider, no decisions to make beyond "am I too lazy to select 3 menus instead of just hitting fight".
>spamming attack for four rounds in a row?
What does it matter when you have five(5) characters to manage? There are plenty of decisions to make when you look at every turn one at a time and end-game boss battles aren't over in 2 seconds with insane combos. Plus when you really just want to spam attack in FF4, berserk is the ideal way to do it, which either costs a semi-rare item (JP) or a turn+mp from your white mage.
Final Fantasy IV is one of the two classic Final Fantasy ATB games where the ATB part is actually fun (the other one is FFVII). The "fight" commands set the pace of the battle. The emphasis isn't on choosing fight, the emphasis is on how and when you choose to NOT fight and do something else like use an item or spell. IOW for ATB to be fun, you should get a lot of turns that fly by quickly, so you feel like you're making decisions fast.
>APR is only useful in the context of leaning hard on the "fight" command as the only viable option for melee characters.
Like I said, fight isn't the only option for melees. Even Cid gets a hammer that casts Quake and items are important in FF4. Even in the original US version which doesn't have some of the cooler items like HourGlasses and Starveils, timely use of healing items by a character like Kain or Edge can make or break a battle.
No idea, I've only played the original, the DS version, and the Free Enterprise randomizer.
(sorry meant to quote you in previous reply)
NTA, I do not recommend either title. Interlude is pretty uneventful and does nothing with the gameplay. It lacks the balance of the original IV, so it is just IV but with nothing going for it. TAY is better than that, but it's mostly a mess. It tries to revamp the vanilla IV's gameplay with some added features/"features" like the group attacks and moon phase effects. The group attacks are the kind of attacks that you use once just to see it and never again. The moon phases are a gimmick that barely works. It boosts one battle element while gimping another, but you cannot choose your party until the final dungeon, so it is mostly needless. The cast, once assembled, is huge, but there is almost no reason to run anything but the final IV party again since it is usually the most balanced team that you can assemble. If it had some of the mechanical improves of the DS remake, maybe it would have been more fun to play, but I largely found it to be a chore.
Tellah's death is not a heroic sacrifice. His tard rage is a effective way to advance the plot and does technically save the party by weakening Golbez enough to recognize Cecil, but it's portrayed more as reckless foolishness than bravery.
I now see why Edge couldn't get this minx out of his mind
Same.
The only good part of FFIV is Cecil's job change.
The rest of it is just monotonous.
I could never get into Dark Souls and I never understood why people like it.
The story seems terrible.
The graphics are bad.
There isn't any roleplaying.
The character creator is ugly.
The combat is boring.
Whenever I ask people to shill the game to me they can only repeat some pathetic "do i fit in yet?" meme with everyone bringing up "bruh it's like so hard haha!". If the only thing interesting about your game is that you constantly die and have to reload every 5 seconds then your game is garbage.
You are a lost cause. Dark Souls is atmosphere and worldbuilding done to a 11/10 level. And how you gonna say there isn't roleplaying when you can choose your class, stats, weapons, covenant, who to kill/keep alive, etc.? You have clearly never played it past the tutorial because you got filtered, just admit it.
just because you're a shitter doesn't mean everyone else is smoothbrain
earthbound
i wouldnt say i dislike it, but i do think its overrated compared to mother 3, which is better
It had the best story.
You start out your adventurer by killing israelites, only to then kill a e-girl family and kidnap the e-girl
i don't like earthbound because you can't see the characters during battles. i don't like any dragon quest prior to VIII for the same reason in addition to just thinking DQ is a boring series
FFIV was my favorite of the series growing up but after I played a translation of the Japanese version I realized the US version is shit. They dialed the difficulty way down and removed most of the humorous/risque stuff stuff for the US release.
Play the DS
>Earthbound
>Xenogears
>Xenoblade
common denominator? shit gameplay