In 1992, Square Enix brought upon us a brand new Final Fantasy titled Final Fantasy II. While it was only the second game to make it to the shores in the US, it was actually the fourth installment in the Final Fantasy series proper in Japan. This was the first Final Fantasy to appear on the Super Nintendo and it introduced many of the key features we now attribute to the series: A narrative driven story, the Active Time Battle System (ATB) and an epic musical score. It was available later for the PS1 in a package titled Final Fantasy Anthologies, with a CG opening cinematic. In 2005, an enhanced port called Final Fantasy IV Advance (renamed to keep with the numbering of the series proper) was also released for the GBA and that featured post-game bonus, rearranged musical compositions and enhanced sprite-based graphics. Now fast forward to 2008 and we have a DS version of this classic, but what new does it bring to the table after so many revisits?

Final Fantasy IV for DS is the first remake we’re seeing for the title. While the previous ports had enhanced content and the like, Final Fantasy IV is the first complete overhaul the game is getting. Everything from the graphics -- which is now rendered in full 3D to story sequences -- to the gameplay balance has been redone to provide a new, fresh experience for even the most seasoned Final Fantasy IV players.

For those not in the know, Final Fantasy IV tells the story of Cecil - A dark knight on a quest for redemption after questioning his King’s bloodthirsty desire for the power crystals which hold the world in balance. Alongside Cecil is a sizable party that will hop in and out of the group as you battle your way through this quest, and as you follow the plot there are several twists and turns as you’d expect. The story is pretty standard fare for an RPG, even though 16 years ago it was something not regularly seen in a videogame. The characters for the most part are personality filled and unique in appearance but those spoiled by recent modern RPG might find them paper thin. The same goes for the pacing of the story. You’re thrust from one scenario to the next without any of the filler in-betweens you see these days, so what you have is a short, straightforward narrative without any fillers in between: this means the narrative doesn’t get in the way of gameplay and there are no dead spots were you just feel like you’re going through the motions. The remake adds a couple of new scenes to the mix, and sports all new voice acting for the major scenes which on the whole renders the story much more dramatically. In addition to that, these major scenes sport excellent scene direction that has no rival on the platform. Clever use of camera angles and subtlety go a long way to presenting the classical story in a more modern fashion. It makes following the story a lot more exciting despite the familiarity of it all.

Final Fantasy IV is presented in full 3D, replacing the 2D, sprite based look of the original. While the 3D models and environments are understandably low polygon and the textures appear low resolution and pixellated when up close, the use of clever stylized polygon models coupled with the general aesthetic of the art makes this an eye pleaser on the small DS screen. Characters move and animate well which gives them more life than ever and the usual special effects are done reasonably well; Rydia’s summons on the other hand are excellently done almost rivaling the PS1 Final Fantasies. Unlike Final Fantasy III remake where enemy count per battle was capped to a maximum of 3, Final Fantasy IV advance features up to six enemy models and thus makes the turn based battles as chaotic as the original, enemy and character models had their polygon count cut from FFIII DS to compensate for this, but it doesn’t show at all to the naked eye. The character models themselves are rendered in a way the makes them truer to the Amano character illustrations than their 2D sprite counterparts even though they’re still super deformed.

Unto the gameplay, and like the graphics this is another part of the game that has been redone. First we have is the auto mapping feature. In the previous versions of FFIV, there was no map and you just traverse the dungeons normally. FFIV DS features an auto mapping system which plots the map depending on which area you have covered. There’s a percentage complete for ever portion of a dungeon map and getting 100% for each area of the dungeon gives you an item for a reward. It sounds simple on paper but it’s an addictive addition that creates incentive for the player to explore every inch of the dungeon. The only potential downside to this is that I sometimes find myself looking only at map, situated at the bottom screen: I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing but at least a second screen comes in hand in dungeons unlike in FFIII where we were treated to a black empty screen. So maybe it’s a good thing.

Second are the augments. If you’re familiar with FFIV, you will know that party members had a notorious habit of hopping in and out of the party nearly as quickly as the pace of the plot itself and you found yourself with very different party setups within short spaces of time. In Final Fantasy IV DS, these characters tend to leave behind special abilities unique to them that you can augment to active party members, so you can now have Rydia and Rosa cast Twin cast which was unique to Porom and Polom previously. Alongside these are other augments unrelated to specific character abilities that you can explore to find, like auto potion and counter attacks. These augments help add some dynamic flair to the gameplay and added customization to the previously static characters classes and abilities we had in the original and it will be fun for both newcomers and veterans to try and play around with the possibilities. They also come in handy during some of the many tough battle and boss encounters you’ll face in this game.

Speaking of battles, Final Fantasy IV significantly ups the difficult of them. While the original was no slouch in the challenge department, FFIV DS goes up several notches higher with highly tough, strategic boss battles and sometimes devastating random encounters that may have you running out of battle for lives or spamming pheonix downs and potions. Battles play similarly to the original. There’s the Active Time Bar (ATB) that fills up and dictates whose turn to input a command and the remake retains the unique five party battles. The remake understandably plays a little slower due to the added flash and sometimes dynamic camera play but it retains the pace and element of tension and quick strategic decisions the ATB generally forces the player to make, you can customize the speed of the ATB to the level you prefer and while oldies will want the fastest speed possible, newcomers are encouraged to try out the slowest and then work their way up from there.

The boss battles have been completely redone and you will find that certain strategies that used to work in the original will no longer work. Each boss works like a puzzle you must overcome. Some will counter your character attacks with one hit kills depending on what king of attack you use and when; others may kill you if you don’t finish them on time, others will inflict various status effects on your characters that greatly impede what you can do. They’re intense, tough and highly strategic, encounters very much akin to say boss fights in SMT 3 on the PS2. And defeating them creates an overwhelming sense of satisfaction as they will challenge even the most ardent Final Fantasy IV fans.

The music in the game is slightly rearranged but the sample quality is much better than in was in the GBA version. It sounds much closer to the original Super NES version but also inspired by the Celtic moon original sound track. It remains a great soundtrack to this day, with enough variety and mood to match all the scenes that come up in the game. It’s fantastic to listen to, never grows old and is completely filler free, much like everything else.

Extras include a new customizable eidolon (summons), a white looking creature that you can use the stylus to customize its looks and you can even power it up by going through a plethora of mini-games. It’s generally a mindless diversion and not necessary to make use of but it’s an extra nonetheless. Also added are character thoughts that can be read when accessing the menu. At various plot points and situations, depending on the character you have a your avatar, you can read their thoughts on certain matters and it works a bit like a version of the party talk feature you see in Dragon Quest games. Another nice feature that carries over from the GBA version is the sound test after beating the game. There is no bonus dungeon like in FFIV Advance and you can’t use any party to face the final boss like you could in that version. In that sense this stays truer to the purpose of the original game and the developers insist that this stays truer to the story as well.

With the key original developers behind this remake, Final Fantasy IV for the DS is something of a complete overhaul but manages to stay true to the original work. The music has been redone, there’s a gorgeous opening cinematic, the graphics have been given a 3D facelift and accompanied by great cinematic qualities not regularly seen on the DS and the gameplay has been rebalanced almost completely. This is the first true remake of the game and like other great remakes, manages to improve on the original in most ways while keeping its essence intact. It may be a relatively short RPG experience by modern standards in that it can be breezed through in less than 25 hrs, but it features excellent pacing rarely seen in today’s RPG and never has a dull moment. Final Fantasy IV DS is not only worth the time for veterans of the series, but it’s also a worthy addition to every DS owner’s library.