after the downfall of sales of Final Fantasy 2 and 3, Square needed the series to sell
as good as its first entry. They reimagined the series in a way that appealed to new and
old fans alike and ultimately shaped the future of the Final Fantasy series. This is the Final
Fantasy 4 iceberg Sequel A sequel of the game called Final Fantasy
IV: The After Years was initially released for mobile phones in 2008 and was released
a year after for WiiWare. Set 17 years after Final Fantasy IV, The After Years follows
the original cast and their descendants in episodic tales as a new villain appears, setting
into action a mysterious chain of events that threatens the fate of the Blue Planet. It
received mixed reviews with many basking in the nostalgic storytelling while many would
often criticize the old mechanics. Final Fantasy 2 in America In the west, this
game is referred to Final Fantasy 2 despite being the fourth entry in the franchise. The
reason for this is the localization team believed it would be appropriate to name its Final
Fantasy 2 since at the time, it was only the second final fantasy released in the west.
Matching Gameplay There are various examples of the what's happening in the story actively
reflecting the gameplay. You start the game with Cecil and Kain, two
trained knights in the Baron kingdom's service. Both start at level 10 and have some decent
gear. Rydia, the first other character you meet, is a little girl. She begins at level
1 with the bare essentials. Another example is seen in the Battle spells,
like those in past Final Fantasy games, follow the typical element patterns of fire, ice/water,
and lightning. Rydia can learn ice and lightning magic by leveling up, but not fire. Her hometown
was devastated by fire, and as a result, she despises fire. When the gang needs to pass
through a wall of ice to alert another village of an impending attack and there are no other
black magic users in the party, she eventually unlocks fire magic. Because innocent people
will perish if they are not told in time, she is able to overcome her psychological
block and cast fire to melt the ice.
Cut Content In the western edition of Final Fantasy IV, as well as the later Japan-only
Easy Type release, nearly all of the items that could invoke magic spells were made inaccessible.
The Firebomb/Red Fang and the Lit-Bolt/Blue Fang, which were presented in the first demonstration
battles, were kept. However, the Lit-Bolt/Blue Fang item is not available in the game. All
goods meant to heal a single status effect were likewise made unavailable, and the Heal/Heal-All
Potion was made cheaper in stores to replace them. To eliminate the dummied things, many
treasure chests, shop inventory, and monster drops were updated.
The item list in the game's data contains an unused 2-handed sword of the Ragnarök/Crystal
type. It is called "None" (or "Spare" in the original Japanese version)and does not have
a sword icon. When forced-equipped to a character with a cheating device, the weapon graphic,
attack, and sound effect are identical to the Ragnarök sword. It also has the same
Holy attribute as the single-handed Ragnarök, with a maximum attack power of 200. The only
difference is that no one else can equip it. This sword is found in all versions of Final
Fantasy IV, including Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and is unobtainable in any version
of the game. Developer Room There is a secret passage in
the Dwarven Castle of the Underworld's cafe area that leads to the "Developer's Room"
in all versions of the game. It has recolored sprites that are supposed to be the game's
developers. Instead, the developers of the DS remake are included in the DS release.
This area was deleted in "Final Fantasy 4 Easy-Type" and "Final Fantasy 2 (US)" because
a pornographic magazine called Lustful Lali-Ho can be found in the chamber.
Translation Problems Much of the dialogue in the Super NES version of Final Fantasy
IV was changed to tone down or eliminate swearing and sexual references. The dialogue was given
a more accurate translation when the game was eventually re-released in the United States
on the Sony PlayStation. However, one line from the SNES release, Tellah's slur, "You
spoony bard!" was preserved, as the line had grown legendary over the years, despite, or
perhaps because of, its origin as a weird attempt to censor a Japanese statement roughly
akin to "you son of a bitch." Biblical References Final Fantasy IV contains
several prominent references to the Old Testament, such as the Tower of Babel. Kain's name is
derived from the biblical story of Cain and Abel, in which Cain is enraged by Abel and
murders him. This is similar to the many times Kain betrays Cecil and tries to kill him.
Kain's ultimate weapon is Abel's Lance, a reference to the biblical figure.
Slide Bug It is sometimes possible to open the menu while walking between tiles on the
global map in all SNES versions. The "slide bug" is triggered whenever a Tent or Cabin
is selected from the menu. The collision on the map will be one tile away from the player's
walking direction. This is only cosmetic, but saving and reloading the game will restore
the collision to its original state. This means the bug can be exploited to get around
map triggers and other impassable regions. The PlayStation version of the game has been
updated to make it impossible to open the menu while moving.
Kains White Magic While Kain is unable to use magic in Final Fantasy IV, the SNES version's
data contains a two-frame animated sprite of Kain casting spells, just like all other
spellcasters. The Final Fantasy IV Settei Shiryou Shuu includes a screenshot of Kain
using White Magic, as well as an unused empty magic spell list that was meant for him based
on the internal character order. Fusoyas Unique Portrait FuSoYa is the only
member of the party whose in-game portrait is positioned to the right. The rest of the
group is looking forward or to the left. With the exception of the portraits for characters
in their Pig or Frog status, he is also the only character in The After Years who does
not receive a new portrait. Dark Matter Gag In the Japanese version of
Final Fantasy 4, Edge can steal Dark Matter during the final battle against Zeromus. This
item, which was previously considered to diminish the damage of Zeromus' Big Bang attack, is
actually a joke. If you utilize this item on the Moon's face in the DS version, a superboss
named Proto-Babil arises. Enemies Stoning Glitch When exiting certain
regions of the game in version 1.0 (which is only available in Japan), there was a glitch
that tampered with the game's RAM address of which location the player was in. As a
result, the game mistook you for being inside a lunar dungeon when you exited some dungeons
and flew to the underworld, reading from the incorrect set of enemy AI tables when you
entered combat. As a result, foes will use Stone on themselves and their teammates throughout
the battle until they are all defeated. The sole change between versions 1.0 and 1.1 is
that version 1.1 includes a bugfix. Major Reduction 3/4 of the original script
was removed from the Super Nintendo release owing to hardware restrictions, according
to executive producer Takashi Tokita (original release scenario writer), although part of
this lost material was recreated into the DS version.
Western Distribution Name Changes "In the original Japanese release, Edward and Golbez
were referred to as Gilbert and Golbeza, respectively.
Due to the fact that the Western distribution only allowed for six characters, the names
of these characters had to be modified." Translation Hero "The original concept for
Final Fantasy IV's DS version was to simply copy-paste the GBA script into the DS title.
However, a translator named Tom Slattery was a big fan of the SNES plot and volunteered
to rewrite the script for the new game, which turned out to be a great idea in retrospect."
Zemorus 4th Wall Break If the player moved back and forth between doors a total of 64
times, the game would freeze. Square asserted in its now-defunct newsletter, the Ogopogo
Examiner, that this was the result of Zeromus' sorcery, which is a very clever explanation.
Best Armor in the game You can face an incredibly rare enemy known as the "Pink puff" near the
end of the game in the crystal chamber (just before the last fight). If you are lucky,
you can win a pink tail from him and deliver it to the tail guy, who will reward you with
the best armor in the game, which is called, the adamant armor.
Meteor Foreshadowing Tellah is warned by multiple people about the dangers of casting Meteor
because he lacks the energy reserves he once had. Tellah pelts Golbez with many high-level
spells right before casting the last one, so he is out of MP by the time he casts the
last one, even in versions where he can get his MP boosted to the point where he can actually
utilize the spell. Extra Healing Dungeon There's an extra dungeon
in the GBA and PSP enhanced content where Rosa has to heal as many people as she can
before meeting Luna Asura. The number of persons she heals in a given time period determines
her reward. Soldiers Morale In the game, you will face
off against a small force of soldiers and their commander on two occasions. The commander
will depart if you defeat the soldiers. The soldiers will attack themselves to death if
you defeat the commander first. Avenger Sword Softlock the player will have
soft locked the game by equipping the Avenger Sword on Cecil before the final boss fight
because only he can use the Crystal and you can't change his weapon during battle due
to its auto-Berserk condition. Thanks to the success of Final Fantasy 4,
the series was able to progress forward and become the titan of gaming it is today. Fans
still talk highly of this entry and Square Enix has ported it to many platforms so as
many people as possible experience the game, with constant tie ins and references to Final
Fantasy 4, it's clear it will live on forever.