The Let's Play Archive

Final Fantasy IV

by Mega64

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Original Thread: Final Fantasy IV - The Before Years (FF2US)

 

Introduction




Welcome to my second Let's Play! Apparently The After Years hasn't killed my enthusiasm for the original, because here I am to LP it!

Final Fantasy IV is the first Final Fantasy game to hit the Super Famicom, and the second to be released outside of Japan. This game is responsible for the Active Time Battle system, eliminating turn-based combat in favor of everybody going at their own pace.

This game is also the first to really sell the idea of the FF franchise being a story-oriented franchise. It wasn't the first to try the story, as FF2 and FF3 both have pretty good stories, and it's not really that FF4's story is spectacular. Rather, I'd say that Final Fantasy IV has one of the best well-told stories I've seen in a game. The game has a lot of interesting ideas, including incorporating story into gameplay, beginning in the middle of the story, and building on themes and character arcs. It's a prototype of the story and character-intensive RPGs that are so numerous today, and while it didn't originate many of its ideas, it did a great job selling those ideas to eager young gamers like myself and introducing many to the RPG.

Perhaps this is why FF4 has been ported and remade so many times. You can find it on the SNES, Wonderswan Color, Playstation 1, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PSP, Wii and even on cell phones over in Japan. This game is also one of several FF games to actually get a sequel, though I don't really recommend it. There's good reason Square keeps introducing this game to new audiences, and I plan to show you all why.

This Let's Play will cover the original US release, known as Final Fantasy II. It may seem a weird choice considering how I plan to delve into the story since the SNES release has a pretty bad translation. Between Nintendo's strict censorship and the rather bad standards for translations in the day, it's a wonder the game holds up at all. Still, I think it's the best game to examine, since it was many's introduction to the Final Fantasy franchise and still managed to be memorable enough to stay in many's hearts.

This Let's Play will have a heavy focus on story, though there'll be gameplay discussion and the like. I'll also show off what glitches and oddities this game has, though I will warn you that I don't know all of them. If you want to make sure I show something off, feel free to tell me and I'll try my best to do it. I am also going to include videos of cutscenes, though they're optional and I will still cover them with screenshots. I'm just throwing in cutscene videos for those who want to see how scenes play out in the game itself.

Standard spoiler policy here. Use spoilers for stuff that hasn't been revealed yet, and try to stay away from the big stuff. Granted, it's not a big deal for this one since I'm sure 95% of people reading already know the big twists. Still, be considerate for the 5%. If, for some ungodly reason, you just have to reference the sequel, be sure to spoil that, too, considering it is a sequel and all, and make sure you designate that it's The After Years spoilers.

I likely won't be updating this one as frequently since I'll be busier and since I'm putting a bit more work into this. Don't worry, it'll balance out due to stuff actually happening in this game.

Time to start with the good stuff!

Table of Contents

Bonus Stuff

Fan Stuff


Thuryl takes Nakar's advice to try giving Cecil a bow.

Thuryl posted:



You're right, that was fun!

vilkacis takes it one step further and hacks it into the game.

vilkacis posted:

I think this is the best I can accomplish without getting hugely involved in FFIV palette hacking



And here's the IPS patch!

Not extensively tested, I might add, but what could possibly go wrong?

...

Shaezerus has recreated the most important of the Dark Crystals: The Beard Crystal.

Shaezerus posted:





Raitzeno decides to reunite the band - or at least, a band of Dark Crystal emotes.

Raitzeno posted:

You know what? It's the little emote at the end that inspired me. This is all your fault.



Magma, Darkness, Metal, and Beards. If there was an emote with an electric guitar, Metal would have been better, but I am not about to sprite one myself... this is bad enough already.

Shaezerus shows off what would happen if Yang's Wife were a party member.

Shaezerus posted:

Well, not quite.




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